SP: the Conservation instinct

[No name]

I recently read an old article that Ichazo wrote about the instinctual types. I really like the term he used for Self preservation. He called it the Conservation instinct. I think that describes it better than SP. People see SP and equate it with selfish, or money hungry, which can lead to mistypings They think "I'm not selfish, so I can't be SP." or " I don't care about money, so I'm not SP." But when you look at it through the "Conservation" lens you get a fuller picture. Conservation is about preventing waste, and keeping things from becoming depleted. Some may conserve their time, energy, resources, health, money, or nature, etc. And they aren't just concerned about themselves, but those they care about.
For me, this perspective really helps me see the value of SP, re-evaluate some prejudices I've had, and recognize some of my own SP needs.
I picture it like an internal alarm that clicks on before you're on empty. And depending on whether the person is healthy or neurotic and their core E type, their alarm will sound at different times.

[No name]

ppl with sp never overwork themselves if they don’t have to. It’s only to maintain the same lifestyle they have. There are high paying jobs that require people to stay away from home and those are the ones that no sp user would go for, things like journalism etc.

Also high paying jobs that require you to work overtime is really unnecessary if there are 9-5 jobs with average pay. Unless there’s a reason to ill always maintain the sp.

Yeah it's really about maintenance.

[Samson]

ppl with sp never overwork themselves if they don’t have to. It’s only to maintain the same lifestyle they have. There are high paying jobs that require people to stay away from home and those are the ones that no sp user would go for, things like journalism etc.

Also high paying jobs that require you to work overtime is really unnecessary if there are 9-5 jobs with average pay. Unless there’s a reason to ill always maintain the sp.

Yet the Sp 3 is known as THE workaholic type.

Also, Trump is an Sp 8. The Conservation instinct as described by Ichazo includes aggression. The aggressive HUNT for RESOURCES is 100% Sp / Conservation instinct. You will find a great number of type-A people with the Sp instinct in those high-paying jobs. The archetypal hunter is away from home for long stretches of time, so that he can provide for this home, or just for himself.

Yeah it's really about maintenance.

Maintenance AND acquisition. All instinctive behavior comes with an active and a passive element. Maintenance is the passive element and is the easiest to recognize as Sp in type circles. The active element is acquisition; the aggressive drive to gain more resources; "more for me" is totally Sp, yet is often mistaken for Sx (as aggression is wrongly attributed to Sx).

[Samson]

I don’t really agree, not with your statement nor with your typings. Sp3 is the most workaholic of all sp subtypes but not compared to sp blinds and so/sp

IMO the thing that drives an sp3 is the so instinct in sp/so, and this becomes clear when you compare them to sp/sx. It’s ESPECIALLY clear with sp/sx 3 because they will never turn into workaholics unless their sx (like a father figure, or a lover etc.) demands so.

Let us not forget that sp pairs up with another instinct, and the ‘source’ of workaholism can stem from there. It’s what brings the passiveness into sp-users -that’s why sp blinds aren’t passive.

Sp 3 is the workaholic archetype amongst ALL the instinctive types. Have you read Naranjo? Insecurity around having enough + fear of failure = doing and doing and doing. Acquisition of resources is Sp in nature and has nothing to do with Soc. The issue of aggression is also Sp in nature, which Ichazo also talked about.

[Samson]

The self-preserving instinct is associated with vigilance, protectiveness and aggression; in one way or another you have to fight to stay alive, and you must destroy in order to eat.

Enneagram Monthly #7, September. 1995
by Marika Dentai


-- Yet, for one reason or another, most people in typology circles such as this forum only think of Sp as the "protectiveness" instinct, completely leaving out the other side of it: aggression. Destroy to eat.

[Samson]

Beautiful movie, and extremely Self Preservation instinct:

[Metamorph]

Don't make Sp into Sp/So please.

[Muddy]

I think survival horror games like dead space and resident evil might be very sp. Zombies could be seen as representing so/sx through the view of sp/sx.