A Possible Role of the Unavailable Functions
May 3, 2017 20:06:48 GMT -5 by Auburn
Alerith, Amsterdam, and 1 more like this
Post by Auburn on May 3, 2017 20:06:48 GMT -5
In light of the marriage/couples thread and the correlations noted about types and their opposites, wanted to present a tentative hypothesis about the attitude one might have toward the four unavailable functions in a person (assuming they are indeed unavailable, which seems to be the case to me so far.) This is just an exercise in interpersonal theorizing. I'm not at all attached to these ideas, and I would need to do a lot to verify/deny its accuracy via testimonies, but i suspect there might be something here to unearth.
Available Functions: These functions are the 4 we utilize in our hierarchy. Some of these may be sub/unconscious, but if they are they nonetheless operate subliminally within us and directly shape our experience of the world. There is a potential to ego-associate to any of these functions, as well as to bring all four of them into consciousness with development and age.
Unavailable Functions: These functions are the 4 we do not utilize in our hierarchy. As such they exist "outside of the self" and we only experience them through interfacing with others who do. And yet we do have some predictable relationship to these processes; types are not without some subliminal relationship to their opposites, which is what i'm curious about. A diagram to start?
This is the hierarchy of a TiNe... which really ends at Fe.
I'm not suggesting here that TiNe has Te as a 5th function... and so on
But this diagram is just for analogy... to show something I wish to describe.
Ego
The two ego processes here are Ti Ne. What does this mean? It means that, all life circumstances being normal, a type will self-identify with the top two functions first and this will feel very much like "them". These come most natively to us and are where the default core of our personality will typically reside. The ego is our essential self-concept and is distinct from the lower two functions, at least when we first start out in life. Later in life the ego can come to identify with lower functions, but I'll get to that in a bit.
Anima
So the lower two functions are initially processes divorced from the ego. That's to say, they are the original antithesis of the ego, and represent the unconscious; the necessary repression that allows the ego to thrive in the light. But this is still "us" fundamentally. I have found that people have the most fascinating relationship to their lower processes. Always very creative.
There is a type of fetishism toward the lower (especially polar) functions. Whether it's in the Ni-lead's addictive tendencies, or in the Si-lead's more lively and goofy side, or in the Te-lead's secret love of the sensitive and ethical.... the polar function is a channel into some Life Force that is missing within us. Some element that has been cast away into the shadows. Some element that is unknown or unexplored within us. It is the muse, but it also is us.
I also find that, generally, types experience great fulfillment when channeling their polar. For example for me, I find I have a kind of fetishism toward intense emotional experiences. Perhaps because I seldom feel myself truly letting go of emotional inhibitions, I will seek out media that contains poignant content. In a way to awaken what feels like a more void interior.
In the Jungian sense, to master the polar is to integrate the anima/animus into your psyche. Literally. Because if you're a high T type, then you're integrating the feminine principle (F) into you by converging with it. And if you're a high F type, you're integrating the masculine into your personality by harmonizing perspectives with it. In this sense, one could genuinely say the process of integrating the polar has some spiritual significance to the personality.
At this point we have left the 4 functions, and we'll be describing "that which is not the self".
Super Ego
Roughly phrased, the super-ego is the external pressure placed upon a person by society and culture. It's a Freudian term but I want to repurpose it here with a slight variation in meaning.
Of the four functions we don't possess, those with the same attitude as our ego functions, but different orientation, will be generally in accordance with our ego function's principles. For the TiNe these are Te+Ni. The Ti+Ne ego is technically in accord with the Te+Ni modus operandi, but is not anything like it.
Hence the superego functions are "ego" functions of sorts because there is an innate congruence between it and our priorities, but it exists outside of the self (super-ceding). So there is this paradox where Ti+Ne likes but cannot truly enact or "be" Te+Ni. It may feel squandered by it sometimes, or endangered by it, despite the parallels present. One could say the super ego functions are everything that you are not, but that you can technically be in alignment with. The relationship to these functions can be very diverse.
For example, a TiNe and TeNi might be great friends. But in other ways the TiNe may feel the TeNi is a tyrant and suppressor. And yet the TiNe may not be able to object to the logical reasoning of the TeNi in many cases, foreign as it may be to itself. The same would be true of, say, the SeTi and its superego SiTe... or the FiSe and FeSi.
Super Anima
Lastly, the two functions furthest from the ego are those which are absolutely unknowable. Unlike the anima/animus, the super anima/animus is literally not integratable because the elements don't exist within oneself. So they represent a very real elusiveness and forever opposite personality to the person. A person who is the super anima to another person (and also of the opposite sex) could be considered a physical representation of their antithesis. This might make them enticing because of the endless mystery, but also potentially a constant fountain of frustration because of the large gap that exists in life flow and priorities.
An SeTi male will feel the FiNe female as most enigmatic, and vice versa.
The NiFe male will find the TeSi woman most enigmatic, and vice versa.
The NeFi male will find the TiSe female most enigmatic, and vice versa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How do you guys relate to this pattern?
If you plug in your own type into the equation, do the roles feel the same way?
Available Functions: These functions are the 4 we utilize in our hierarchy. Some of these may be sub/unconscious, but if they are they nonetheless operate subliminally within us and directly shape our experience of the world. There is a potential to ego-associate to any of these functions, as well as to bring all four of them into consciousness with development and age.
Unavailable Functions: These functions are the 4 we do not utilize in our hierarchy. As such they exist "outside of the self" and we only experience them through interfacing with others who do. And yet we do have some predictable relationship to these processes; types are not without some subliminal relationship to their opposites, which is what i'm curious about. A diagram to start?
This is the hierarchy of a TiNe... which really ends at Fe.
I'm not suggesting here that TiNe has Te as a 5th function... and so on
But this diagram is just for analogy... to show something I wish to describe.
Ego
The two ego processes here are Ti Ne. What does this mean? It means that, all life circumstances being normal, a type will self-identify with the top two functions first and this will feel very much like "them". These come most natively to us and are where the default core of our personality will typically reside. The ego is our essential self-concept and is distinct from the lower two functions, at least when we first start out in life. Later in life the ego can come to identify with lower functions, but I'll get to that in a bit.
Anima
So the lower two functions are initially processes divorced from the ego. That's to say, they are the original antithesis of the ego, and represent the unconscious; the necessary repression that allows the ego to thrive in the light. But this is still "us" fundamentally. I have found that people have the most fascinating relationship to their lower processes. Always very creative.
There is a type of fetishism toward the lower (especially polar) functions. Whether it's in the Ni-lead's addictive tendencies, or in the Si-lead's more lively and goofy side, or in the Te-lead's secret love of the sensitive and ethical.... the polar function is a channel into some Life Force that is missing within us. Some element that has been cast away into the shadows. Some element that is unknown or unexplored within us. It is the muse, but it also is us.
I also find that, generally, types experience great fulfillment when channeling their polar. For example for me, I find I have a kind of fetishism toward intense emotional experiences. Perhaps because I seldom feel myself truly letting go of emotional inhibitions, I will seek out media that contains poignant content. In a way to awaken what feels like a more void interior.
In the Jungian sense, to master the polar is to integrate the anima/animus into your psyche. Literally. Because if you're a high T type, then you're integrating the feminine principle (F) into you by converging with it. And if you're a high F type, you're integrating the masculine into your personality by harmonizing perspectives with it. In this sense, one could genuinely say the process of integrating the polar has some spiritual significance to the personality.
At this point we have left the 4 functions, and we'll be describing "that which is not the self".
Super Ego
Roughly phrased, the super-ego is the external pressure placed upon a person by society and culture. It's a Freudian term but I want to repurpose it here with a slight variation in meaning.
Of the four functions we don't possess, those with the same attitude as our ego functions, but different orientation, will be generally in accordance with our ego function's principles. For the TiNe these are Te+Ni. The Ti+Ne ego is technically in accord with the Te+Ni modus operandi, but is not anything like it.
Hence the superego functions are "ego" functions of sorts because there is an innate congruence between it and our priorities, but it exists outside of the self (super-ceding). So there is this paradox where Ti+Ne likes but cannot truly enact or "be" Te+Ni. It may feel squandered by it sometimes, or endangered by it, despite the parallels present. One could say the super ego functions are everything that you are not, but that you can technically be in alignment with. The relationship to these functions can be very diverse.
For example, a TiNe and TeNi might be great friends. But in other ways the TiNe may feel the TeNi is a tyrant and suppressor. And yet the TiNe may not be able to object to the logical reasoning of the TeNi in many cases, foreign as it may be to itself. The same would be true of, say, the SeTi and its superego SiTe... or the FiSe and FeSi.
Super Anima
Lastly, the two functions furthest from the ego are those which are absolutely unknowable. Unlike the anima/animus, the super anima/animus is literally not integratable because the elements don't exist within oneself. So they represent a very real elusiveness and forever opposite personality to the person. A person who is the super anima to another person (and also of the opposite sex) could be considered a physical representation of their antithesis. This might make them enticing because of the endless mystery, but also potentially a constant fountain of frustration because of the large gap that exists in life flow and priorities.
An SeTi male will feel the FiNe female as most enigmatic, and vice versa.
The NiFe male will find the TeSi woman most enigmatic, and vice versa.
The NeFi male will find the TiSe female most enigmatic, and vice versa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How do you guys relate to this pattern?
If you plug in your own type into the equation, do the roles feel the same way?
