Explain Information Elements with Jung's Original Texts

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A lot of people don't understand why Socionics' definitions are the same as Jung's. So I attempt to explain all the 8 IMEs with Jung's original texts, trying to reveal the connections between Jung and Socionics.

The article contains three parts: quotation, remark, and example. All quotations are from Jung's Psychological Types and Tavistock Lectures. Remarks and examples are written by me. In general, I quote the texts that support the dichotomy-based definitions and the texts that contradict common misinterpretations.

1) Introversion and Extroversion


Remark 1.1 The concepts of introversion and extroversion are core concepts in Jungian Typologies. They are essential to understand the eight information elements correctly. It's very easy to misunderstand them.

Quotation 1.2 the introverted is distinguished from the extraverted type by the fact that, unlike the latter, who is prevailingly orientated by the object and objective data, he is governed by subjective factors. (The Introverted Type)


Remark 1.3 A fundamental definition is given in this quotation. However, the meaning of "subjective factor" in Jung's texts is different from what we usually mean.


Quotation 1.4 As the subjective factor, then, I understand that psychological action or reaction which, when merged with the effect of the object, makes a new psychic fact. Now, in so far as the subjective factor, since oldest times and among all peoples, remains in a very large measure identical with itself—since elementary perceptions and cognitions are almost universally the same—it is a reality that is just as firmly established as the outer object. (The Introverted Type)


Quotation 1.5 The introverted attitude is normally governed by the psychological structure, theoretically determined by heredity, but which to the subject is an ever present subjective factor. (The Introverted Type)


Remark 1.6 The "subjective factor" is determined by heredity. It's a cognitive pattern originating from our evolution. Hence, being introverted doesn't mean being personal. Instead, it has some internal similarities among all human beings.


Quotation 1.7 The psychological structure is the same. Semon has termed it ‘mneme’, whereas I call it the ‘collective unconscious’. The individual Self is a portion, or excerpt, or representative, of something universally present in all living creatures, and, therefore, a correspondingly graduated kind of psychological process, which is born anew in every creature. Since earliest times, the inborn manner of acting has been called instinct, and for this manner of psychic apprehension of the object I have proposed the term archetype. (The Introverted Type)


Remark 1.8 Jung defines the terms "collective unconscious" and "archetype" here. Also, in the same paragraph, he states that another word for archetype is "primordial image".


Quotation 1.9 The contents of the collective unconscious are represented in consciousness in the form of pronounced tendencies, or definite ways of looking at things. They are generally regarded by the individual as being determined by the object—incorrectly, at bottom—since they have their source in the unconscious structure of the psyche, and are only released by the operation of the object. (The Introverted Type)


Remark 1.10 Here, Jung points out that real "introverted" tendencies are easily misunderstood as being determined by objective factors. This is a common misinterpretation. Many may think that "my views" are subjective and hence introverted. This is different from what Jung means by introversion. The Jungian concept of introversion is about the collective unconscious. Such introverted views are easily misunderstood as objective ones. We will introduce more examples and explanations in the next.


Remark 1.11 In Socionics, introverted information elements are defined to be relationship-oriented. This is exactly the same as Jung's original ideas. Both definitions could be viewed as logical negations of "object-oriented". It differs since Jung is an introvert while Aushra Augusta is an extrovert. Also, they have different background knowledge. In fact, when we process information from the perspective of the collective unconscious, we are dealing with relationship-oriented information. For instance, syllogism is a logical archetype shared around the world and it's relationship-oriented. It points out the relationships between three logical propositions.