What Soup, bro?

DON’T

Don’t use it to justify your flaws. Being a thinker doesn’t excuse the fact that you acted like a dick, and being a feeler doesn’t justify your inclination to stubbornly believe in things that make abslutely no logical sense. Being a sensor doesn’t automatically make you the supreme expert on the objective reality, and being stupidly blind to details because you’re an intuitive is not cool.

Don’t use it to plan you career. Just because your type is generally good at something, it doesn’t mean that you in particular are good at it, nor that you’ll automatically enjoy doing it as a job. Don’t let a stupid test tell you what path you should take, find your own passions and ambitions through introspection, experimentation, and independence.

Don’t let it establish your worth. As we all know, one of the biggest problems in this community is the mythological aura that hovers on some types (you probably already know which ones). If you read Jung’s “Psychological Types”, though, you will soon find out that there’s none of that shit in his works, so …

… if you belong to a rare type, don’t ever think that it makes you special, somehow. You can be an ESFJ/ISTJ/ESTP/etc. and a happy, productive, interesting, and intelligent person, or an INTP/INTJ/INFJ/etc., but a total waste of air and potential, useless and ill-suited.

Don’t let yourself be fooled by the nicknames. They mean absolutely nothing, they’re only good at increasing the stupid, dangerous, and false notion that some types are better than others (I mean, who wants to be an “Inspector”, when you can be a “Mastermind”?).

Don’t learn about typology on the internet. Read Jung’s “Psychological Types”, instead (at least the X Chapter). No, even the official sites aren’t enough, trust me. And forget about memes, they’re often based on stupid, even incorrect, stereotypes.

Don’t push your friends to take the test! First of all because tests are never accurate, secondly because it’s their right not to know it. Knowing your psychological type can often do more damage than good.

Don’t try to explain the things you do and think with the functions. They don’t work separately, you can’t take a picture of a function, or isolate the moment you’re “using” it. They work together, all the time, always.

Don’t equate functions with skills. It’s the most common misconception about typology. Memory, intelligence, creativity, reflexes, curiosity, emotions, traditionality, ambition, sensitivity, sensibility, attention, etc. ARE NOT FUNCTIONS. Jungian functions are more about the general attitude (both towards the object and the subject), they’re not clearly defined (the more you try to do it, the less they make sense), as it’s clearly explained in “Psychological Types”.

Don’t take it too lightly … Typology is so much deeper and important than a bunch of stupid memes, jokes, and aesthetics posts.

… But don’t take it too seriously either. Because typology is not really a science, there’s still a lot of discordance on what the functions are exactly and how their dynamics work. It’s certainly an interesting intuition and the official MBTI “academy” should be more open-minded and start discussing its imperfections, modify the incorrect interpretations of Jung’s work, and do more actually scientific research to elevate the intuition to theory.

Don’t try to change your type. You can’t. It’s a waste of time, believe me, and it’s not even worth it. Initially, I wanted to be an SJ so badly that I started losing sight of who I really was. I tried to act as “normally” and “traditionally” as possible, because I felt awkward and repulsive and didn’t want to lose all my friends and my boyfriend. I was so jealous of the sensors’ talent and precision with details that I even played Sherlock Holmes, trying to make deductions about people through tiny little details. In the end, I just gave up and I’ll tell you, accepting myself for who I really am is the best decision I’ve ever made. From that point, I’ve only kept growing and feeling better.

Don’t assume that you belong to a rare type because you feel misunderstood. (Especially if you’re a teenager). There are literally a million reasons to feel misunderstood, everyone feels like that sooner or later, it’s probably the most universal feeling in the world. Eugenio Montale, an Italian poet, even gave it a name: il male di vivere, which means the pain of living.

Don’t be too obsessed with your own type. Whether you already know it for sure, or you’ve stil got doubts, don’t waste too much time on it. “Psychological Types” undoubtedly contains the best, clearest descriptions of the types, but again, don’t waste too much time on it. Human beings are obsessed with themselves and their own image, we’re all “me”, “I”, “my”, “myself”, “mine”, “my opinion”, “my thought”, “my wish”, “my things”, “my life”, “my personality” … Yes, It’s perfectly normal, but try not to waste too much energy on it, ok? The universe is so much bigger than that, there are a lot more things to do, say, experience, study, feel, know, and think. Most people who are obsessed with their own psychological type know nothing about all 15 others!

Do

Use it as a tool for self discovery and self improvement. But never forget that you’re so much more than those four letters; and you won’t necessarily fit all the criteria of a particular type.

Be critical about it. MBTI is incredibly imperfect. Jung’s original typology is more accurate, but even that is not perfect. If something doesn’t make sense to you, be aware of it: sometimes we unconsciously assimilate false notions about ourselves, and in the MBTI community it happens all the time. As Jung himself wrote: there’s nothing of which the observer is not more informed than his own unconscious.

Be honest with yourself about typology. Why are you interested in it? Why do you want to know your type? What are you going to do with this knowledge? Why are you interested in other people’s type? What do you think of your type? What do you think of other types? Do you secretly/unconsciously think that some types are better?

Be doubtful. Have you actually found your true type? Are you sure? Really? It takes years to most people, you know? It took me years. Jung himself was unsure of his own type for a long time. Also, tests are incredibly flawed and utterly useless. Again, read that book, and take all the time you need to think about it, try to understand the functions on your own.

Accept your type, once you find it. As I said, trying to change it is useless, and pointless.

Be humble about it. Don’t brag about the special qualities and/or rarity of your type; it’s stupid, childish, and frankly you’re just making yourself ridiculous.

Read Jung’s works. If you truly want to know more about typology, first of all you have to get back to the source, and then also read other books and articles, especially those in contrast with the MBTI and Socionics methods. Again, we must be critic and open-minded.

Keep your type to yourself. Nobody can force you to share it. If you want to keep it private, you have every right to do so. And be respectful of others’ choice, too.

If you can’t resist the urge to joke about it, do it from a heap of knowledge. If you’re so interested in memes and jokes, at least immerse yourself in the object of your irony, first. Otherwise, it will feel like when straight people joke about gay people knowing nothing about LGBT culture: it’s funny only to other straight people; those who actually know or experience that reality will find them boring, mediocre, and maybe disrespectful. Just ask yourself: is it really worth it to spread more ignorance, superficiality, and falseness, in exchange for a handful of likes and reblogs?

Introduction: This is just for fun. For those who do not understand socionics but would like to, I hope this idea helps to learn about the quadras, in a much more entertaining way. The Socionics Quadras are defined by values, as within each quadra are types that share the same valued functions (see below for elaborative details) Four seems to be such an appropriate number for any type of personality system. Just because I am drawing parallels between them, it doesn’t mean the characters in HP belong to that quadra. For example, Harry Potter is an ESI in socionics, but I have labelled the Gryffindor house as the Beta Quadra (Harry was meant to be in Slytherin really though, only he desperately didn’t want to). So please don’t assume your quadra based on your pottermore test result or something. The purpose of this post is simply to enhance your understanding and for interest in the topic. Of course, the sortings are a simplification, therefore I have assigned a secondary quadra to each house.

Before I begin, here is a functions explanation: 

Delta Quadra = Ne/Si and Fi/Te (equivalents: INFP, ENFP, ISTJ, ESTJ) Gamma Quadra = Ni/Se and Fi/Te (ISFP, ESFP, INTJ, ENTJ) Alpha Quadra = Ne/Si and Fe/Ti (ENTP, INTP. ISFJ, ESFJ) Beta Quadra = Ni/Se and Fe/Ti (ISTP, ESTP, INFJ, ENFJ)

                                             Alpha - Hufflepuff!

“Students belonging to this house are known to be hard-working, friendly, loyal, honest and rather impartial. It may be that due to their values, Hufflepuffs are not as competitive as the other houses, or are more modest about their accomplishments. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses; valuing hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its membersments” - Wikia Reinin characterizes this Quadra as “Judicious, Merry, and Democratic”. Alpha types enjoy to discuss highly theoretical concepts as a source of intellectual stimulation and fun rather than for their practical merits. They tend to value logically consistent beliefs and ideas, and behaviour that is consistent with personal values. They typically prefer to perform these ideas in group activity. The participation of group is enjoyable when their is a free exchange of positive emotional expression whilst being in an atmosphere that is pleasing to the senses. Alphas tend to find a discussion unfavourable if the subject regards personal relationships while in a group, especially if this leads to confrontation. They are inclined to be tolerating of minor past misdeeds by others, giving priority to reconciliation and a convivial atmosphere. Investments that require long term commitment and up keep tend to be avoided, instead preferring investments that offer a reliable outcome with minimum involvement (Alpha NTs in particular). An ideal Alpha group situation is the exchange of light-hearted jokes while discussing imaginative ideas, movies, or sometimes sports, all while enjoying pleasant food and drink. Narrating personal experiences usually takes the form of telling a joke; funny personal experiences are preferred over “serious” ones.(Second Quadra: Delta)

                                              Beta - Gryffindor 

“The Gryffindor house emphasises the traits of courage as well as “daring, nerve, and chivalry,” and thus its members are generally regarded as brave, though sometimes to the point of recklessness. They can also be short-tempered. Notably, Gryffindor house contributed many members to Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix, although this may have been because the main members made it a point not to associate with other houses. According to Phinaes Nigellus Black, members of other houses, particularly Slytherin, sometimes feel that Gryffindors engage in “pointless heroics.” Another Slytherin, Severus Snape, considered many Gryffindors to be self-righteous and arrogant, with no regard for rules.” - Wikia According to the Reinin dichotomies, the Beta quadra characterizes as “Decisive”, “Merry” and “Aristocratic”. Beta Quadra types are energized in competitive situations where analytical tactics are emphasized. In group activity, a common emotional atmosphere where the whole group participates is generally more favourable. They have more confidence in analyzing the realistic characteristics of situations / people / objects rather than the alternative and could-be scenarios. Beta types tend to give more value to feelings when they are demonstrated with clear emotional expression, and tend to increase the level of their own emotional expression in order to get a reaction from other people, due to the values to extroverted feeling. Beta NFs tend to show a deep concern about social issues and where the world is heading, believing apathy is the significant cause of societal problems (Fe-Ni). Beta types are not inclined to enjoy discussions of personal experiences when the discussion is on a person’s inner feelings. (Second Quadra: Gamma)

                                             Delta - Ravenclaw 

“Ravenclaw House prizes learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect in its members.[3] Thus, many Ravenclaws tend to be academically motivated and talented students. Ravenclaws also pride themselves in being original in their ideas, and methods. It’s not unusual to find Ravenclaw students practicing especially different types of magic that other houses might shun.” 

 Reinin characterizes the Delta Quadra as Judicious, Serious, and Aristocratic. Delta’s value peaceful activities where they have the opportunity to do something useful whilst balancing out their inner world at the same time. To achieve their goals they would rather rely on their own industriousness than group efforts, strong leadership, and speculation. They make a point of of talking about the rationale behind their actions, and emphasize the extent of productivity, the different methods of which things could be done - including areas of personal relationships. In an insightful, non dramatic manner Deltas love to share their own sentiments regarding their personal experiences. However, Delta types (specifically Delta STs) rarely display their deep passions and visions, preferring to talk in more neutral terms. They typically favour wry humour and understatement, rejecting dramaticism and emotional effects. They only take groups seriously when they perform a common productive or restful activity. Delta NFs do not fare well in high pressure situations, but wear out quickly and prefer a peaceful and welcoming environment. (Second Quadra: Alpha)

                                          Slytherin - Gamma

“Slytherins tend to be ambitious, shrewd, cunning, strong leaders, and achievement-oriented. They also have highly developed senses of self-preservation.[7] This means that Slytherins tend to hesitate before acting, so as to weigh all possible outcomes before deciding exactly what should be done.” - Harry Potter Wikia

The Reinin traits that distinguish Gamma from other quadras are “decisive,” “serious,” and “democratic.”.Gamma types take a longer-term view regarding efficiency and profitability, giving lower priority to the short term. Likewise, they tend to aim at the broader benefits of decisions, rather than only at those affecting themselves, giving them an inclination for self-sacrifice. They like to talk about where present trends are leading in terms of potentially profitable events and undertakings. Ideas and concepts must be be firmly connected to factual information. A hard line approach regarding ethical principles is taken with punishment, or revenge even. They like to discuss personal relationships in a realistic manner, perhaps taking an sceptical attitude to the ideology that bad people could ever become good. This quadra does not tend to form or maintain groups based on fun and emotional interaction - especially Gamma NTs (Gamma SFs can conform to the nature of group discussion due to their talents in Fe and Si blocks, although those functions are not valued). Therefore Gamma types reject the idea that it is best to avoid confrontations so as not to spoil the mood of those present, preferring a directness in settling or a least discussing disagreements. It is Gamma SFs in particular (due to Se-ego) that do not see much point in deeply analysing ideas that they see as having little practical application or connection to reality. In group discussion laughter and very obvious displays of emotion are subdued, instead, there is a lot of smiling, amusement with ironic and witty remarks or, when serious subjects or not very happy personal experiences are discussed, a serious demeanour. Even such small groups tend to split into smaller ones; perhaps 3 is the ideal “group” size for Gammas. (Second Quadra: Beta)