So
@Dyna-X, I have not forgotten I said earlier today that I would comment further on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. This longish post is in reply to you from that post. Everyone else, please do feel free to skip this if you're not interested.
I apologize for writing something that was confusing earlier, I was in a great hurry to get to an appointment and wasn't clear about what I meant.
I didn't mean that different languages have different types, I was using the metaphor of speaking two different languages to illustrate that two different MBTI types need to learn each others' communication styles in order to be able to relate well to each other.
I find the Myers Briggs to be extremely helpful as an initial way of understanding how a person relates and responds to their environment and other people. It's not perfect, of course, nor terribly comprehensive, but it's really useful in a very practical way if understood and used properly. I have often described the four function scales to clients to help them begin to understand themselves a bit better. For example, I might describe the difference between an extrovert and an introvert this way: An extrovert might get up in the morning to get ready for work, check the weather, look outside, and then get dressed for the day appropriately. An introvert might get up in the morning to get ready for work (assuming they're going out), see how they're feeling and what mood they're in, get dressed for the day, and then might arrive at the doorstep to find they are not dressed properly for the weather.
Difference? The extrovert checks the surrounding environment and adjusts him- or herself to what's going on around them out there. The introvert checks inward, figures out what they want, and then tries to adjust the outer environment to what's going on inside them as much as possible. As another example, and extrovert might decide what to wear by how it looks and where they're going, whether the outfit feels really good or not. An introvert is more likely to wear clothing that feels ok whether or not it looks great or is perfect for where they're going.
This doesn't mean either the extrovert or introvert is right or wrong, it's just a different way of being in the world. Same for the other scales (Sensation/Intuition), (Thinking/Feeling), and (Judger/Perceiver; this has to do with sense of order and time). Make sense?
I use the Myers Briggs in my personal world by now by instinct, I don't even think about it any more, it's just part of how I connect with new people I meet. I also have used it extensively in my work over the years, but honestly I can't say much about that without revealing too much personal information about the kind of work I do.
Suffice it to say that by now when meeting a new client (or friend) I often (but not always) can tell someone's MBTI type just by talking with them for a while. In my work domain, which is a specialized and unusual kind of consulting, I often use a combination of different systems to help me gain a quick and initial understanding how each person ticks, some of which overlap and some of which are kind of far out and non-standard. I am not referring to any standard tests you may have heard of like DISC or anything else like that, I have nothing to do with anything like that. I don't even like any of those standardized tests, they are useless in my work.
I often don't share exactly what the multiple systems are that help me form my perceptions and ways of understanding people until and/or unless I have gained enough trust with them and it seems it would be helpful to them. I do of course share my understandings and perceptions and check with my clients to rule in or rule out what is true for them or not.
The point is, imho any system, whether it be Myers Briggs, Astrology, Core Energetics or Human Design (both of which are really insightful and important, but have mostly garbage written about them out there, very hard to find the good stuff) or any other way of trying to understand how we unique and individual human beings tick-- all are just ways of attempting to make some sense of someone else's sensibility and patterns. None of them are right or wrong, all of them just describe ways of being.
And sometimes it's good to just ignore them all and just be as fully present with the other person in the moment as possible.
Does this make sense to you or am I being confusing here?
One thing I have used my whole life since my uncle taught it to me when I was about 8 is the I Ching, which I find VERY helpful when trying to sort out what's going on and how to think about next steps and strategy. Each hexagram, or "answer" when you toss the coins or yarrow sticks describes a moment of change, from X to Y, and in that moment of change this is what you need to consider about the energy and forces at play. This has been a steady guide and incredibly helpful to me over the years. I only use the old Princeton University the Bollengen Wilhelm/Baynes edition, the yellow hardcover book with the gray paper cover (I think it's also in paperback) as it's likely the closest translation to the original Chinese.
And btw, the one popular "system" I have never been able to connect with or "get" is the Eannagram. I know a lot of people really like it, but it has never made sense to me and I have never related to any one type. Maybe it just hasn't been explained to me well enough, or I'm missing something, but honestly that one I just don't get... and don't care that I don't get it.
Ok then, that's way way more than enough for a post for tonight. I'm going offline soon, so goodnight!
