October 31 2023, 60 min read
Introduction
In this article I would like to explain my own attitude towards socionics and share my own observations. Even though I find socionics very fascinating, I would also like to take a critical look at some aspects of the theory. Personally, I think it is important for people to at least consider that other people can see reality from a fundamentally different perspective, and that one’s view of the world may not necessarily be valid or comprehensible to everyone else. I think many people often believe that every other person should potentially be able to see the world the same way they do. The idea that people can have different perceptual abilities due to their individual biology has not yet become widely established in society. At the same time, however, I am aware of the biggest problem with typologies: the lack of objective ways to determine a particular type. A major problem with socionics is that most of the theory is based on limited observations of isolated individuals, and many type descriptions including this article are based on anecdotal evidence. Like most typologies, socionics is not a scientific theory but a pseudoscience because it lacks empirical evidence, validity, reliability and falsifiability. Socionics has not been tested or verified by independent researchers and its claims are often vague, contradictory or not falsifiable. This aspect is what makes the theory so interesting to me though, because I am very fond of conjecture and speculation. Even if socionics never establishes itself as a science, I think it is important to at least bring the point of different perspectives into society’s consciousness and make people aware of it.
Personally, I am not that interested in the subjective descriptions of the types. I would rather understand what a type can really do, what strengths the respective sociotypes bring with them, and how to bolster those strengths in a constructive way. At the same time, there is always a risk of stereotyping people and justifying or rationalizing their behavior based on their functions and aspects. Socionics can also negatively influence or constrain people’s self-perceptions and expectations or be used as a potential means to control or oppress a large group of people. Likewise, there is some danger of fundamentally altering the perceptions of people who come in contact with the theory.
In building my website I have tried to keep the theoretical aspects as true to the original as possible. However, over time I have noticed that I have already integrated my own aspects into the theory (such as the description of the different functions), and I find it more constructive to have my own place for my hypotheses. My attitude towards socionics has changed over time and I am no longer really convinced of many of the concepts in personality typology. But I would like to mention here that the 16 types do exist in my eyes, just not in the way they are described. So I have inwardly distanced myself more and more from the archetypes, in the categorization of the types according to certain archetypes. In Eastern European socionics, all sociotypes are assigned to certain historical persons in order to give the types some image to illustrate them. Although some sociotypes have multiple archetypes, certain individuals have become established as examples:
Alpha
ILE – Don Quijote, SEI – Alexandre Dumas, ESE – Victor Hugo, LII – Maximilien Robespierre
Beta
EIE – Hamlet , LSI – Maxim Gorki , SLE – Georgy Zhukov, IEI – Sergei Jessenin
Gamma
LIE – Jack London, ESI – Theodore Dreiser, SEE – Caesar, ILI – Honoré de Balzac
Delta
IEE – Aldous Huxley, SLI – Jean Gabin , LSE – Max Otto von Stierlitz, EII – Fjodor Dostojewski
I find it interesting that many of the archetypes were either creative as novelists, or fictional characters themselves. Aušra Augustinavičiūtė, the inventor of socionics, was probably very interested in classical literature. I myself spent some time studying the biographies of many of the archetypes and would assign just about all the examples to a single sociotype: IEI, which is called “the lyricist” in socionics. This goes for Dumas, Hugo, Gorky, London, Dreiser, Balzac, Huxley and Dostoevsky. The concept of archetypes now seems to me to be rather outdated as a part of the theory, and I would question the point of imaginary characters such as Don Quijote, Hamlet or Stierlitz as constructive examples of real people. Some of the names for the sociotypes don’t seem ideal to me either. For example, some IEIs can certainly be called lyricists, but not every representative of this sociotype will be a poet or writer. I also don’t think it’s constructive to give sociotypes occupations as names, such as politician for SEE or entrepreneur for LIE. I think occupations often have little to do with how a person thinks.
Socionics divides the 16 sociotypes into four quadras, each of which combines four types into one group. Reading through the descriptions of each quadra, one quickly gets the impression that they each represent political views. Thus, the alpha quadra is often associated with anarchism, beta with collectivism such as socialism or communism, gamma with capitalism/individualism, and delta with humanism. This does not seem to be the case in reality. I think alpha and delta have little to no influence on sociopolitical events because they do not value volitional sensing (extroverted sensing), so they rarely have firm beliefs that they want to impose on others, while beta quadra sociotypes are often driven by ideological views and strong beliefs that can vary greatly from person to person. Thus, they may be strong advocates of collectivism or of individualism. In other words, they may hold opposing views despite being of the same type, but what they ultimately have in common are their strong beliefs.
Another aspect of socionics that I perceive as dubious is the intertype relationships since they require one to consider a very high number of variables. Socionics assumes eight dual personality pairs, but when you observe people, sooner or later you notice the absurdity of such a simple categorization. For example, people can have the same sociotype but still be very different. I think Victor Gulenko was equally aware of this peculiarity given that he created the DCNH system, but even with the four subtypes you end up with only 64 types, yet there are currently eight billion people living on the planet. It seems clear to me that there is probably a large number of subtypes, which I believe is at least in the triple digits. So is the idea of intertype relationships wrong? That’s a hard one to answer. I think they exist at an abstract, hypothetical level. Another problem with the theory is that it leaves out external aspects. Certainly, subjective value systems, shared views and ideas about life, psychological stability, emotional maturity, and physical attractiveness and attraction are all crucial to the success of a long-term relationship. This high amount of variability would make it almost impossible to determine the right sociotype and ideal relationship via a personality test, especially considering the very subjective factor of people whose test results are often highly dependent on their mood and their own subjective views of themselves. Interestingly, though, I must admit that I have met a few dual couples in my life, and many of them have a very stable relationship with each other even after decades of being in a relationship together, so there seems to be at least some truth in the concept.
In addition, the structure of most personality tests often aims at identifying the four dichotomies proposed by Carl Jung, but I wonder whether the respective four dichotomies are mutually exclusive at all. For example, in my observation, if a person has an ethical sociotype, it does not mean that person makes all their decisions based purely on their emotions. Instead, their emotional nature can show itself in a strong drive to want to influence or change their environment, or in the need to help loved ones while trying to consider as many facts as possible. Unfortunately, objective criteria are rarely found in socionics and other typologies. Statistically significant studies are likely to be difficult to produce. Only visual identification seems to have a hint of potential in this area. This method could probably be implemented quickly with artificial intelligence, but people would have to be properly typed, and there is often little agreement about the different types. Besides, people can often have the same base function but use it completely differently. Overall, I find it more constructive to group people by their interests or beliefs rather than just grouping them by type.
The eight cognitive functions
At this point I would like to explain my own observations of the functions defined by Carl Jung, Aušra Augustinavičiūtė, Victor Gulenko and socionics. In particular, I would like to discuss the intuitive functions, as they are of particular interest to me. Although I doubt that Carl Jung’s eight cognitive functions exist in concrete, measurable ways as described by him and others, I do think that some constructive benefit can be gained from knowing that they exist. Before describing each function from my perspective, I would like to note that each type has a variable number of functional strengths, and they may differ from person to person depending on which focus one chooses.
alpha quadra focus on Ti, Ne, Fe, and Si;
beta sociotypes focus on Ni, Se, Ti, Fe;
gamma sociotypes focus on Ni, Se, Fi, Te;
and delta sociotypes focus on Ne, Fi, Te, Si.
However, each personality type in socionics has another strength, but they do not value it, so it is not always consistently applicable in the person’s life, although they give it a great deal of attention. That strength is as follows:
For LII and EII: Ni
For EIE and LIE: Ne
For LSE and ESE: Se
For ESI and LSI: Si
For SEI and IEI: Fi
For SEE and IEE: Fe
For ILI and SLI: Ti
For ILE and SLE: Te
I think sociotypes can have different focuses within these five strong functions depending on the person. I would like to concentrate on temporal intuition in this article and explain its different aspects to give an idea of how high the variability of the functions can be. It is the function that I have been most concerned with and that stimulates the most interest in me. The following descriptions are only my own observations, for which I claim no objectivity. I think there will always be an element of subjectivity in psychology. I would also note that I understand certain functions better than other ones. It is ultimately impossible for one person to observe hundreds of examples of each type in detail, especially when that person is an introvert (as I am).
Intuitive functions (Ni and Ne)
1. Temporal intuition (Ni)
First of all, I would like to mention that I view Viktor Gulenko’s division of individual functions into plus and minus as a very constructive discovery. In this article I would like to deal mainly with Ni+, IEI’s variety of intuition, which is described as looking optimistically into the future. IEIs are positivists, so they cannot focus on negative aspects for a long time; they always need an optimistic view and potential positive changes in the future. The absence of such perspectives can plunge this sociotype into despair. The intuition of the critic ILI (Ni-), works in the opposite direction. ILI is a negativist, so this sociotype is always looking at the things that will not work, that should be avoided or that are doomed to fail. ILIs tend to focus on avoiding mistakes or pointless undertakings, and they assess their environment impersonally, whereas for an IEI the concept of hope is crucial.
Socionics describes temporal intuition as the ability to predict the course of events in the future based on temporal information from the past and present. Even though temporal intuition can go very far into the past and future to understand certain dynamics, I think it has another aspect besides this characteristic that is observed in these sociotypes very often. In my eyes, introverted intuition comprises detail-oriented, meticulous, and perfectionistic thinking within an area of interest, as well as a diverse range of visual, literary, aural, and performance creativity. It is, in many cases, idealized visual thinking and the ability to picture information in detail and strategically plan accordingly.
When temporal intuition is dedicated to a project, it will deal with all contingencies, go to the root of things, analyze every angle, even if this entails repetitive research. Penetrating deeply into complex structures is typical of Ni, and these structures can vary a great deal from person to person depending on their interests. This function goes into such great detail because it can dive deep into the interior of structures and grasp their essence. Individuals with Ni perceive life through repetitive patterns that can help them predict certain events. For the intuitive functions, there needs to be a creative element for the person to act in a motivated way. It is worth noting here that the excessive focus on details in this type of intuition only relates to a person’s fields of interest, so he or she can be completely careless, inattentive and unfocused in other areas. In a sense, this function is paradoxical. In areas that are of interest to the individual, he or she will become an expert; but at the same time, in other areas, he or she will hold opinions that are inaccurate or may not correspond to reality. If a sociotype with Ni as a base function does not develop their interests with concrete goals in mind, he or she will lead a passive life.
The tendency of temporal intuition to meticulously gather information makes it a very ideological function. If a sociotype with Ni has gathered detailed information about a subject and formed an attitude, it will be difficult to change that person’s mind. It leads to a strong conviction of one’s idealized path in life. Here we can observe a key difference from the extroverted intuition (Ne), a function that changes its attitude relatively easily and rarely has strong beliefs. I think just about all complex and demanding structures are created using temporal intuition. Over time, however, detailed Ni thinking leads to over bureaucratization, as every contingency must be covered.
Introverted intuition learns best through repetition, by perfecting various processes and procedures. In the best cases, such people find their calling at a young age through their family environment or a mentor. It is important for them to identify a creative inclination or strength early on and have the opportunity to work toward it actively and meticulously. Because temporal intuition (Ni) is paired with volitional sensing (Se), many of these sociotypes value ambitious goals or complex, intense endeavors, and they very often pay attention to the credentials, qualifications, and achievements of people in their field of interest. Based on these aspects, they decide whether or not to rely on a person’s information. In my observation, people with temporal intuition have a pronounced tendency to evaluate and catalog things or make lists for comparison. They care about preserving and conserving existing information. Some of them also make good detectives who never miss any details. For Ni, it is important to get to the starting point of a problem or concept, to get to the root cause, and to gain a holistic understanding and find the truth. It tends to see reality in fragments, or a kind of domino, snowball, or butterfly effect, with a very keen awareness that any small changes or problems in the initial conditions of a system will have a long-term impact on the evolution and prospects of the system. The function therefore also loves to speculate and forecast. Other tendencies of this function, especially in the base function of IEI, are a potential inclination toward extrasensory perceptions or otherworldly concepts such as visions, prophecies, mysticism, divination, karma, horoscopes, spirituality, esotericism, and reflection on destiny, the belief that one’s existence has special meaning, or conversely, an active inclination toward philosophy, a reflection on one’s role in the cosmos, the soul, or the motives of other people. Temporal intuition can give a person a subjective gut feeling about who certain people really are deep down inside. This function leads to frequent reflection on the intentions of other people. I think it has been responsible for the creation of various religions throughout history.
Ni is usually a troubled, anxious or internally tense state of mind, even if the person may appear calm on the outside. I suspect that this function is somewhat related to certain mental disorders such as bipolar, borderline, and schizophrenia, especially if the person has a high degree of neuroticism. In some cases, introverted intuition can act separately from the physical state, reflecting, for example, on the whole of reality or on one’s sexual identity. In a highly fixated form, it is likely to lead to autistic tendencies and patterns of behavior. People having these types sometimes develop obsessions or a fascination with conspiracy theories, or a belief that secret machinations or intrigues are going on behind the scenes, invisible to the naked eye. Because temporal intuition is dedicated to a particular path in life, these people can find it very difficult to mentally let go of anything. Ni frequently perceives situations as a collection of different layers that must be gradually dissected and resolved in order to arrive at the truth. I also think that intelligence tests are constructed based on some aspect of this function, because they often involve figurative questions with temporal sequences (Such as ‘Which picture logically follows the next?’). What society defines as giftedness is probably a distinct, specific form of temporal intuition.
Ni+, the base function of IEI, the dreamer and visionary
At this point I would like to make a point that I consider to be very important: I have been involved with the arts and sciences for most of my life – from music, film, painting, photography, architecture and poetry to the natural sciences, literature, language and the humanities. I have also been interested in physics, chemistry and mathematics. I would not call myself an expert in any of these fields, and I ultimately investigate all these things out of pure, aimless curiosity. But it seems quite obvious to me that all outstanding scientific discoveries and innovations, and all extraordinary artistic gifts, are the result of the introverted intuition of the IEI personality type. I see Ni+ as the most abstract of the cognitive functions, actively interested in new concepts and potentialities of all kinds. I think IEI is the first sociotype to try new innovations or technologies. This pursuit of novelty and the urge to experiment can apply to many different areas, and I would like to give a few examples from science and art to support my hypothesis:
- In my eyes, the most obvious theory to be put forth by temporal intuition is probably the theory of evolution, which describes processes of development and change in living beings during the course of Earth’s history. It states that species have evolved through natural selection and genetic change over time. The theory of evolution postulates that all living things on Earth have descended from a common ancestor and that over time these ancestors branched into different species to create the diversity of life we observe today.
- The theory of relativity in physics deals with the structure of space and time. For example, it describes the relativity of simultaneity. This idea claims that events which appear simultaneously to one observer may be differently timed from the perspective of another observer due to relative speed. Another example is the idea of time dilation, which claims that time passes more slowly for a moving observer than for an observer at rest.
- In archaeology, it is important to understand the temporal context of finds and cultural developments. It attempts to place finds in chronological order and makes it possible to track changes in material culture and lifestyles over time. This helps track historical developments and cultural change. Understanding temporal context is critical to interpreting finds and sites. It allows archaeologists to analyze events and developments in terms of their historical significance. Archaeologists compare finds from different time periods to identify patterns and differences in human history.
- Currently, climate research is a very relevant field of temporal intuition. Its main goal is to reconstruct the past, monitor present changes, and use this information to predict future developments and forecasts of global warming. Climate researchers use models to simulate complex interactions in the climate system and forecast future changes in the climate. Temporal intuition gives a person an awareness that many things are directly connected – for example, that our entire current civilization is dependent on machines and fossil fuels. These machines, which produce material goods, transport people, harvest food, heat homes, make reading this article possible, are powered by internal combustion engines and oil, coal and gas, and they have increased human prosperity and life expectancy. Even the way people begin and develop romantic relationships has been fundamentally changed by these dynamics. This comes at a cost, however, as fossil fuels are changing the composition of the atmosphere and increasing the greenhouse effect. The technologies that people currently take for granted in everyday life were created in a very short period of time relative to human history. So if weather extremes or disrupted supply chains prevent people from operating these types of machines or reliably distributing fossil fuels one day, people’s lives and international political structures will fundamentally change.
I would also like to briefly mention people who I consider to embody temporal intuition very well:
- Ada Lovelace, who saw herself as a “poetic scientist,” had a visionary imagination. She speculated on the capabilities of computer programs, discussing the possibility that they might one day compose music and generate graphic representations. Her visions went far beyond what was technically possible in her time.
- Nikola Tesla was able to visualize an invention with extreme precision in his mind before proceeding with the construction phase. He had frequent flashbacks to events that occurred earlier in his life. In addition to his research, he produced poems and writings with poetic elements. Tesla was known for his elegant looks and well-groomed appearance, but there are also people who are so completely absorbed in their imagination that they place little value on reality and their appearance.
- One such example is mathematician Grigori Perelman. In 2002 he provided a proof of the Poincaré conjecture, one of the most significant unsolved mathematical problems. For this achievement, he was supposed to receive the Fields Medal – the highest award a mathematician can receive – as well as a large sum of money. However, he chose to decline the award and live a life of seclusion and isolation. I think it is difficult for many people with a strong abstract imagination to get along in society or even to have an interest in reality. Such people prefer to live as hermits. Terms to describe this phenomenon (such as neets, shut-ins or hikikomori) have become popular around the world.
Artistic themes are often represented in temporal intuition through the use of metaphors, allegories and symbolism. The highly visual component of this function gives such people a strong imagination, and so they can lose themselves in imaginary roles or scenarios that do not correspond to reality, for example. This also makes them well suited to careers as actors or entertainers. People with temporal intuition develop their talents through constant practice. I would also like to mention a few examples of notable people in the arts who have made a major impact in their respective fields:
- In the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick visually depicts the entire arc of human life and explores concepts such as human evolution and artificial intelligence. The film starts with the beginnings of humankind and ends with a futuristic vision in space. A mysterious monolith influences human evolution several times in the film, and the protagonist of the film transcends to a higher level of consciousness by the end. Another important film is The Mirror by Andrei Tarkovsky, a deeply personal work that combines memories, dreams and reflections from different phases in the director’s life. Through a series of visually stunning sequences, it depicts the emotional journey of the protagonist and the collective experience of an entire generation. I think Ni+ is associated with an idealized perception of memories that are replayed over and over in one’s mind, with a sentimental view of the past.
- The album Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd reflects on life and death and how people in general do not appreciate what they have and get caught up in materialistic ideals. The centerpiece of the album, the song „Time“, is about the way time can determine the course of a person’s life. The song revolves around the fleeting nature of one’s existence and how people wait for the right moment in time before they begin their real lives. It is a strong warning for those who continue to focus on mundane things. David Bowie’s album Blackstar, released two days before his death, contains many metaphysical and symbolic elements that point to the passing of time and the finite nature of life. Many of his lyrics and artistic choices on the album have been interpreted in retrospect as allusions to his own mortality. In the song „Epitaph“ by King Crimson from the album In the Court of the Crimson King, the band addresses a bleak version of humanity and society marked by conflict, violence and impending doom. Despite the gloomy mood, the song also expresses a longing and hope for a better state and a new beginning.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story „White Nights“ (or „Four Nights of a Dreamer“), an introspective and psychologically complex tale, is about a young man struggling with the problems of society and himself. The story explores existential themes of isolation, loneliness, the meaning of life and the inability to find a place in modern society. „The Trial“ by Franz Kafka is infused with a diffuse sense of time. The passage of time in the novel becomes a metaphorical representation of bureaucracy, the loss of individual control, and the struggle of an individual against the opaque powers of society. In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the protagonist Dorian makes a kind of pact in which he wishes a portrait to age in his place, bearing all the marks of his sins, while he himself remains untouched. This allows him to live a life of pleasure, lust, and decadence without experiencing any outward consequences. However, as the story progresses, Dorian gradually loses all moral inhibitions and becomes a reckless and immoral man. His portrait, on the other hand, becomes uglier and uglier, showing the effects of his destructive behavior. The story explores the ideas of duality, identity, and the inner conflict between outward appearances and the true self. Other writers invent their own fantasy worlds and imaginary scenarios, often found in sci-fi or fantasy literature.
- Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams deals with the unconscious and posits that dreams can provide insights into repressed desires, fears and conflicts, and that they arise through a process of encoding, through which repressed or threatening thoughts and desires remain hidden from consciousness. Carl Jung’s Red Book, which contains numerous poems, illustrations, and artistic renderings, is a kind of personal diary in which Jung records his dreams, visions, and self-reflections. Socionics, a theory developed by Aušra Augustinavičiūtė, attempts to describe the course of relationships over time.
I think such pronounced manifestations of Ni+ are rare (in terms of the arts and sciences), however, and Ni+ can basically show up in any field that requires organization or planning, as well as temporal understanding – from history, design, journalism, economics, engineering or fashion to geopolitical analysis, learning visual characters (writing systems with complex characters such as Japanese kanji, Egyptian hieroglyphics, braille, stenography and many more), contemplating various ethical and social constructs, and even competitive sports. Contrary to the established opinion that outstanding athletes have volitional sensing as a base function, I think that temporal intuition plays the biggest role in athletic success, since highly successful athletes usually start training in childhood and perfect their skills through repetitive processes and long-term planning. These are people who spend their entire lives meticulously working toward success and endure many social hardships to fulfill a childhood dream, regardless of what sport they pursue. The book The Art of War by Sun Tzu was originally written for military purposes, but the concepts it contains are also used in other areas such as sports. It focuses on topics such as tactics, strategy, diplomacy, and the importance of adapting to different situations. The author emphasizes the importance of planning, flexibility and understanding your enemy (or opponent) in order to succeed in conflict. I believe typologies focus too much on type descriptions or individual character traits whereas the focus should be more on finding overarching commonalities – for example, the fact that people with temporal intuition have strategic, detail-oriented thinking regardless of whether they are interested in machinery or the emotional dynamics of their environment or they have positive or negative character traits. People who value temporal intuition often use binary thinking, reflecting on many possibilities and opposing perspectives. They are born inventors or teachers who can impart a variety of theoretical knowledge to others. A common characteristic of people of this type is making collections and lists. They also tend to find exotic things interesting.
Temporal intuition settles on a direction to follow at some point during the person’s life, which means they are more likely to become experts or achieve goals. But it also means they can become committed to a particular path that seems confusing or wrong for society or that no longer fits their circumstances. For people with Ni, it is almost impossible to switch to an alternative once they have committed to a path because they have suppressed Ne, which I will describe below. Likewise, I think the vast majority of people who upload videos of themselves on Internet platforms or who appear on television, as well as most public figures, have the IEI sociotype. Memes, a widespread Internet phenomenon, are a creation of temporal intuition, in my view. I think IEI is also the personality type that is particularly common in big cities and metropolitan areas. It is the personality type that tends to be most interested in the concept of typologies such as socionics. The IEI sociotype has probably had the greatest impact on the dynamics of the Western world over the last one hundred years, since people’s lives have increasingly shifted from physical, concrete work to the strategic operation of computers and machines and entertaining other people.
I hope all this information gives a good overview of how this function works and how different people can be despite having the same personality type in socionics. At the same time, all these people are similar in that they try to achieve their creative potential in the world. I want to make people aware that there is a very high amount of variability among people of the same type. Since each function has a large number of potential strengths to exhibit, it only seems logical to me that a weak function can also lead to a multitude of potential weaknesses that don’t necessarily have to be shared by people of the same type. In the case of weak temporal intuition, this seems to be associated with an inability to simply let things take their course when no intervention is necessary, or an inability to make complex, long-term plans to avoid potential dangers. It leads to a state of mind in which a person lives mainly in the present, and has a distaste for considering a future that may or may not happen.
In my opinion, a vivid example of temporal intuition is the game of chess, in which each piece corresponds to a specific rank in society and players practice the game by memorizing detailed openings and strategies that employ foresight and tactical skills to achieve a win. Ni strategically coordinates the events in its area of interest. Such aspects play a lesser role in the extroverted intuition (Ne), which I will turn to now.
2. Intuition of flexibility (Ne)
Since I consider myself to be a person with a focus on extroverted intuition, I have personally found that the definition of the intuition of possibilities for Ne in socionics is probably not quite right. The concept of socionics builds on the quadra progression, the hypothesis that alpha develops or invents new ideas, and the other quadras implement them. Aušra Augustinavičiūtė saw herself as an ILE, a personality type socionics refers to as “the seeker.” However, the structure of socionics makes this self-assessment questionable, as it is an introspective theory that deals with the temporal course (Ni) of interpersonal dynamics (Fi and Fe). Carl Jung considered himself to be an introverted logician, although his Red Book contains many abstract, esoteric drawings of his dreams. In addition, his insights were derived in part from observations in couples therapy, that is, from the analysis of interpersonal dynamics, which play a much smaller role for logicians. The definition of the extroverted intuition in socionics seems to me more like another definition of temporal intuition. Perhaps it would be better to call extroverted intuition the „intuition of flexibility“. I suspect Aušra Augustinavičiūtė was herself an IEI, like Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, and I think it is likely that extroverted intuition is not well described in the various typologies, since psychology tends to be a field in which this function plays a minor role. In her definition for the extroverted intuition, Aušra Augustinavičiūtė writes:
This person likes to explain his understanding of things to others. Under favorable conditions, this person becomes a scientist or writer. He or she can find optimal ways to increase the potential energy of objects.
From my perspective, the intuition of flexibility tends to have very little interest in concrete goals or degrees. This type of intuition is like a child’s curiosity, a kind of aimless thinking that mainly follows one’s own mood and entertainment and can lead to great absentmindedness and forgetfulness. Ne is a state of mind that requires a constant stream of varied information and, unlike Ni, does not want to be preoccupied with details or repetition, and it quickly switches between different interests that can have no relation to each other. Aušra Augustinavičiūtė’s comment about energy also seems to me to have been written from the perspective of a person who has a focus on volitional sensing.
I would like to draw attention to an important point at this juncture: The two functions of a dichotomy, such as Ne and Ni for intuition, are in opposition to each other. Extroverted intuition is focused on making quick and flexible decisions in the present (while interacting with objects) without necessarily having a full understanding of a situation, while introverted intuition develops a detailed focus and has a view of the past and the future. In this sense, people with extroverted intuition may consciously refrain from meticulously dealing with an issue in order to have the ability to maneuver flexibly in the moment, or just take things as they come. For people with extroverted intuition, the main focus is on finding something that is simply interesting to them without necessarily having specific goals. They can quickly grasp key points in a wealth of information while people with temporal intuition often read things thoroughly and in detail to gain a complete understanding. The strength of the intuition of flexibility is the ability to develop a general understanding of an issue from a small amount of information and to combine completely different issues. This person perceives much in life as vague. Two parties, beliefs or ideologies that are in complete opposition to one another can be simultaneously justified by a person who uses extroverted intuition.
In this sense, the intuition of flexibility does not stand for strong ideological convictions but for a general openness to most perspectives without ever committing itself. As a result, this function cannot create complex, concrete structures in society. It is difficult for users of Ne to focus on immediate, concrete reality. Their thoughts involuntarily wander to incoherent information that can have nothing to do with the current task. On the other hand, this function finds it much easier to abandon a chosen path and switch to an alternative. If something doesn’t work, Ne doesn’t care; it just switches to something else, since it doesn’t have to follow a concrete plan. People with extroverted intuition are not fanatics or fundamentalists. They don’t have a set plan for what their life will be like in the future. Strategic preparation is of no interest to users of extroverted intuition. The past and the future play a much smaller role. They have little interest in past successes or reveling in memories, as is the case for temporal intuition. Ne does not work with memories; it flexibly evaluates what is.
Because the extroverted intuition (Ne) is paired with experiential sensing (Si), people with this function have a focus on living a pleasant and comfortable life, without much interest in competing over influence and status or needing a large amount of resources. This function has little interest in concepts such as prestige, credentials or one’s social standing. Ne is not interested in status symbols or titles that indicate a specific position in society. It is unlikely that many famous scientists, artists or people with high positions in public life count among these sociotypes. They are less suitable as trainers for detailed instructions since repetitive processes, such as the repeated rehearsal of identical information, bore these people greatly. Ne is not a detail-oriented function, not does it have a perfectionist mindset. It is a non-material state of mind that engages with many ideas and fields of interest without pursuing concrete, pragmatic benefits. It is about quick comprehension without going into detail. It is enough for this function to have a rough overview of a situation or task and improvise or flexibly maneuver the rest. For users of this type of intuition, it is ideal to be able to explore many different topics freely and unpragmatically without # having to go into great depth. They need a high degree of freedom and variety and should not be forced to deal with the same thing permanently.
Next, I would like to discuss the sensory functions, volitional sensing (Se) and experiential sensing (Si). It is important to consider here that temporal intuition is always paired with volitional sensing, and these sociotypes belong to the central quadras beta and gamma. Sociotypes with the intuition of flexibility, on the other hand, are paired with experiential sensing and belong to the alpha and delta quadras, which are called peripheral in socionics. That is to say that they have less of an influence on social systems. In this regard, extroverted intuition is not interested in changing how society is organized but maneuvers within existing systems created by the eight central sociotypes. A person using the intuition of flexibility has difficulty working and interacting in highly competitive environments where they need to constantly monitor processes. Types with weak, unvalued extroverted intuition find it difficult to abandon ideological beliefs. Such people show a lack of flexibility and cannot easily change course once they have committed themselves to a belief. They place a lot of importance on how words are said and have a formal perception of the world in which statements must be defined very precisely.
Sensory functions (Se and Si)
3. Volitional sensing (Se)
Se is the constant, concrete perception of objective, material reality. This function has a distinct awareness of the immediate external world and a constant focus on objective information in the environment. It leads to decisive action in the present and is associated with the ability to assert one’s will and exert force on objects and people with the goal of moving them in space. Se is pronounced physical control over one’s own body. A characteristic sign of people with this function is a stable and direct presence in the world, with concrete and purposeful interaction with objects, resources and people. These sociotypes do not tend to question their own attitudes but express them with conviction and directness. In the volitional sensing state, there are no conflicting opinions or vague interpretations. People with volitional sensing as their base function almost always have the impression that immediate action must be taken to accomplish something.
Volitional sensing has a good eye for the tangible characteristics of people and physical features that can be objectively assessed, such as body size and body language and the effect and presence that these features of an individual have on the environment. It assesses attractiveness from an external perspective, so it can perceive and judge the definition and development of various muscle groups or the anatomy of a body in detail. It reflects strongly on the status that different people have in society, so titles, credentials and a prestigious post can play a central role when it judges a person. It pays close attention to concepts such as respect and evaluates the potential leadership skills or practical experience of different individuals based on external information. A person with volitional sensing greatly enjoys solving complex, ambitious problems and challenging himself or herself.
Extroverted sensing is usually in a constant state of readiness and is only occasionally concerned with comfort or relaxation because it has a keen eye for physical danger in the environment. For example, Se perceives threatening body language or whether others are in a focused state of readiness. Such people find it difficult to live a comfortable, predictable life without excitement and new experiences. Sooner or later, their desire to overcome a difficult challenge will be too great. A desire for competition is essential for volitional sensing, and competitive elements are always present with this function. This can include many elements that don’t necessarily have to be athletic or social; competitive video games can also be interesting for this function. I believe Se is strongly related to ambition. Beating the competition, winning a tactical game, conquering a sexual partner, leaving a legacy, perseverance, these aspects are essential parts of living a fulfilling life for people with volitional sensing. Sociotypes who value extroverted sensing get a strong psychological boost when they overcome obstacles of any kind. They show particular interest in things that are difficult or impossible to obtain. This includes the romantic realm.
Volitional sensing categorizes and evaluates people in a hierarchy. It is very aware of the control and influence it has over its environment and is upset when this evaluation does not meet its expectations. An aspect of violence, confrontation, dominance or submission, and a perception of strength and weakness is always present in this function, whether through direct action or just reflection. This constant focus on one’s own presence in reality results in the tendency of people with extroverted sensing to be exposed to high psychological pressure, leading them to be far more prone to abuse psychoactive substances. Such people have a greater tendency to actively alter their body and appearance through surgery, drugs or chemicals. This function is more prone to focus on luxury, influence, extravagance and opulence. It can easily become addicted to external physical sensations and is prone to anything that generates some form of external excitement, such as gambling, extreme sports and risky behavior in general. It is quick to accept challenges and compare its abilities to the abilities of other people, especially when challenged. Extroverted sensing makes active attempts to influence reality according to its own wishes and desires to be recognized for characteristics such as its influence, beauty, intelligence, appearance, etc. It is interested in objects that can show off its own status or certificates that can suggest intelligence or expertise. This function gains resources easily but uses them just as quickly.
A person who values volitional sensing can ignore or suppress health signals from their body to make more bodily resources available to achieve a goal. This entails the risk of a potentially serious injury. Such a perception can lead a person to ignore, suppress or consciously accept illness, pain or injury, resulting in long-term consequences to their health. Physically, the volitional sensing system strives for intense physical contact. It often shows a particular interest in martial arts and other contact sports. However, it is also more prone to impulsive instincts, urges and perversions. Similarly, sudden outbursts of anger are a distinctive sign of this function, which, in conjunction with temporal intuition, can lead to violent fantasies. People with extroverted sensing have a very high capacity for monotonous work that must be performed with intense concentration. Se likes concrete advice based on practical life experiences, and it judges a person by what he or she puts into the world.
Loud, direct communication is typical of extroverted sensing types. This is often accompanied by clear orders and commands. Discipline and an awareness of the authority of people in the environment are also common. Such sociotypes are often found in the police, judiciary, customs, military and other fields where there is a clear hierarchy and a person on duty who has a defined status that is respected. Volitional sensing is designed to tell a person what to do, and it learns and communicates with precise, concrete words.
It is clear to me that all complex structures in a society are created through temporal intuition and volitional sensing. They lead to a strong sense of conviction about a specific ideology that is formed by temporal intuition (regardless of which ideology) and to concrete action in the world taken by volitional sensing. However, this is also associated with the inability to simply change one’s perspective after committing to a belief. These types spend a significant amount of time forging their view on the world, and do not switch to something different lightly. For people that value extroverted sensing, shared ambitions and goals in life are very important for long-term relationships. Experiences that they have gone through together forge strong bonds between such individuals. People who have a weak focus on volitional sensing pay little attention to their immediate environment. They do not tend to engage in serious, focused competition and are usually not in a focused physical state. They also tend not to reflect on the position they hold in society and are not highly attuned to dangerous situations.
4. Experiential sensing (Si)
In contrast to extroverted sensing and its pronounced focus on external reality, Si focuses on the internal, subjective processes of the body and the sensation of comfort. It is the perception of the world through one’s own body. This function primarily perceives comfort and convenience in the environment and is associated with the ability to perceive and interpret one’s own state of health and the health of others, as well as the internal processes of the body. It identifies one’s own physical problems and seeks to improve and relieve them. People with a strong focus on experiential sensing like to look after of their physical well-being and the comfort of their loved ones.
Si pays attention to the physical discomfort experienced by other people and itself. While extroverted sensing perceives objective sensations in the world, introverted sensing focuses on the subjective internal interpretations of the senses. Volitional sensing describes its sensations in an objective way and strives for more intense sensations, such as eating very spicy foods or consuming large amounts of substances. Si is about a person’s subjective experience of the quality of sensory information. It focuses on physically pleasant interactions with people and objects and often communicates its own sensations to those around it, such as its perception of temperatures in a room, or that sounds should not be unpleasant or loud, or how comfortable seating or reclining furniture is. Experiential sensing finds it difficult to tolerate unpleasant sensory experiences, such as prolonged contact with bad smells. It pays close attention to cleanliness and hygiene – for example, that food should not be left lying around for a long time, or that one should dress sensibly and according to the situation, or that everyday household chores are done promptly to avoid unpleasant sensations. Si strives for a neat and unobtrusive physical appearance, and it avoids a disheveled appearance. However, elitist attitudes about things like food, clothes, and scents is more commonly found in people who value volitional sensing. One can observe this easily at a fashion show, for example, where artistic garments are presented that are meant to make a strong visual impression but are often uncomfortable and impractical to wear in real life, or when visiting fancy restaurants where formal behavior is expected.
Si is very aware of its own physical health reserves. This function is adept at avoiding physical injury and not overworking itself. Experiential sensing cannot stress its own body beyond a certain point because of a significant focus on avoiding discomfort and unease. It therefore avoids engaging in physical confrontations. This function is significantly less confrontational than extroverted sensing. Whereas volitional sensing is focused on achieving specific goals by any means necessary, experiential sensing is concerned with a pleasant physical state and a comfortable home where it feels at ease. It wants to be in a relaxed state of mind most of the time and avoid extremes of any kind. Poorly developed experiential sensing leads to an inability to relax physically or judge the internal processes of one’s body. Such people are inwardly restless and always involved in activities. They may find it difficult to take care of everyday errands or keep their home clean, or they may take far too long to go to the doctor when they are ill. I believe poorly developed experiential sensing can also lead to germophobia and hypochondria in some cases.
Experiential sensing has a much smaller impact on global human events because it does not strive to overcome complex, ambitious challenges that involve enduring considerable hardship. Such people prefer a comfortable and unassuming existence out of the limelight, where they take care of the practical problems of everyday life. They adapt to their environment rather than actively influencing it.
Ethical Functions (Fe and Fi)
5. Ethics of emotions (Fe)
This is the ability to develop external emotions and moods and evaluate them in other people. It is the interpretation of other people’s emotions from their facial expressions, the way they communicate and their body language. It also involves controlling and mastering one’s own intonation to accentuate one’s attitude and emotions or focus them to regulate a conversation. The ethic of emotions has no difficulty putting itself in another person’s emotional shoes and feeling empathy for their emotions. Thus, this function is emotionally attuned to others. Fe generates vivid facial expressions, such as joy, euphoria, enthusiasm, excitement, fear, anger or despair, and it is adept at eliciting and perceiving these emotions in others.
The natural scientist Charles Darwin, an IEI in my estimation, explored how humans and animal species express these external emotions in his work The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Darwin argued that many of these expressions are evolutionary. The book contains numerous observations and descriptions of behaviors and facial expressions in various species and offers insights into the biological roots of human emotions and social interaction. For Darwin, emotions had an evolutionary history that could be observed across cultures and species – an unpopular view at the time. Sociotypes with a strong focus on the ethics of emotions perceive these characteristics in detail.
Extroverted ethics often has strong immediate reactions to things that happen around it and is strongly influenced by emotions in its immediate environment. Thus, the moods of others can have a great impact on the affected individual’s own mood. Many people with strong extroverted ethics can empathize with others to such an extent that they feel the emotions of others as if they were their own. In communication, they align their own emotional state with the emotions of the interlocutor. Like the other extroverted elements, extroverted ethics is directed outward toward objects. Thus, it is strongly influenced by direct information and can show a variety of different facial expressions in a short time. It can be objective, interpret emotional signals very well and deduce how well other people understand and get along with each other.
American psychologist John Gottman (IEI), for example, has developed various criteria and methods to describe relationship dynamics. He emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence and that couples who understand their own emotions and those of their partner are more likely to have a successful relationship. He defined several problematic behaviors that can indicate relationship problems, such as a lack of eye contact, angry facial expressions or a lack of physical contact. Other problematic items Gottman defined include sarcasm and contempt, rolling one’s eyes when one’s partner tells them something, criticism and accusations, and frequent arguments. Gottman’s research emphasizes the importance of paying attention to such characteristics to gain a deeper understanding of relationships.
Since having the ethics of emotions (Fe) as a base function is linked to suppressed relational ethics (Fi), such people often find it difficult to define their inner desires and needs. Fe often defines itself through others and has an awareness of what other people expect. It feels sporadic outbursts of emotion. For example, this function sings and shouts loudly during musical events or erupts in enthusiastic cheering at sporting events. When they communicate, these sociotypes frequently use the word “we” to include everyone in the group, and they have a greater emphasis on “us.” People with a stronger focus on this function can sacrifice themselves for strangers or a group. I think the vast majority of people who address the public have a focus on the ethics of emotions. They judge people’s emotions and attitudes based on the dynamics of the environment. In communication, they often mirror their interlocutor and adjust to + that person’s emotional state. Thus, they present themselves differently depending on who they are communicating with. If an interlocutor feels joy or sadness, Fe mirrors these emotions back to build empathy and better understand the other person’s emotional state, regardless of whether it actually feels these emotions itself. Fe is emotionally invested in other people’s lives, and it knows how to entertain people. Thus, such sociotypes can be identified by changing their behavior between private life and public life. Extroverted ethics also worries more often about how it is seen and perceived by others.
The ethics of emotions (Fe) is very aware of the influence that actions have on the emotional state of other people. Relational ethics (Fi), on the other hand, is always focused on one’s own emotional state and is therefore much less expressive. Sociotypes with the ethics of emotions as their base function typically have a pronounced interest in other people. When communicating, they give little thought to the relationship they have with someone. They easily identify with strangers, regardless of what they have in common. At the same time, they are more influenced by criticism and negative comments from strangers. Depending on what happens around them, their emotional states can change fundamentally in a very short period of time.
When they communicate, these are the most talkative sociotypes. The ethics of emotions influences the emotional and social space through an expressive combination of words and gestures. It has a very strong perception of how its words affect other people’s emotions. People with this as their base function love to spend time socializing, establishing connections and sharing their emotions, building community and identifying with strangers. They know how to lift other people’s spirits by complimenting them and making them feel valued. Their strength is being able to introduce people to a group. Individuals with a high focus on the ethics of emotions generally find it difficult to spend time alone or go through life without socializing. They do not have a neutral, impersonal view of life, and it is difficult for them to judge situations in an unemotional way. In an agitated state, this function may resort to emotional mockery such as imitation. The ethics of emotions also recognizes that it is occasionally necessary to provoke people in order to activate them emotionally. Thus, this function may create drama to agitate people or bring them together in crisis. A weak focus on the ethics of emotions leads to a lack of facial expressions, an inability to read the emotional cues of strangers or the mood of a group, or an inability to express one’s own emotions. Likewise, it can lead to a lack of interest in social interaction within a group, an inability to get people excited about things, or a lack of mastery of one’s own intonation.
6. Relational ethics (Fi)
Introverted ethics is the ability to see goodwill and ill will in other people when these feelings are not conveyed outwardly. It assesses the subjective connections that exist between people and is therefore much less expressive than the ethics of emotions. Whereas Fe immediately evaluates visible signals, Fi evaluates the dynamics in a relationship (how much time one person makes for the other, for example) and therefore assesses the status of the relationship they have with the other person. Fi is always aware of the status of its relationship with other people and cannot be fooled by feigned friendliness. It has a perception of closeness and unspoken boundaries in relationships and is therefore always aware of who it can and cannot trust. This function strives for a deep connection with a select few individuals. The ethics of emotions makes emotions observable (a big smile, a loud laugh, a strong hug, etc.), but for relational ethics, deep internal feelings are more relevant and do not need to be shown through external emotions. The ethics of emotions (Fe) needs a direct display of emotions, so it can easily hug and celebrate with strangers, while Fi has a much greater focus on unspoken bonds and therefore does not need external displays of emotions. In fact, it may even reject such displays. Both ethical functions are acutely aware of the impact of emotional deprivation and neglect, however.
Fi is relationship management; it reflects on what relationships exist and should be prioritized, what level of closeness exists, who can be trusted and who cannot. It is a deep sense of personal conviction and results in authenticity that can generate not only moral consistency and determination but constant analysis of personal feelings and attitudes. For this function, one’s own beliefs and individualism are far more important than the emotions and expectations of other people. This function is oriented toward itself rather than toward a group. It thinks far less about disappointing other people through its own actions. Since relational ethics judges everything from the perspective of rational individualism and has a pronounced focus on its own feelings, it can very accurately judge how its words and actions will make other people feel inside. In contrast, the ethics of emotions is much more concerned about other people’s outward emotional responses, so it can be influenced much more by other people. In social communication, relational ethics is considerate and attentive, striving not to hurt other people and to respect their personal feelings. For the same reason, this function expects the same respect from others. It has a keen awareness of rude behavior and pays close attention to behavioral norms. Fi is also extremely disappointed when others betray its trust or abandon clearly defined moral convictions. People who focus on the ethics of emotions, on the other hand, can spend time with other people even if they dislike them, as long as the relationship does not become close.
Relational ethics feels sympathy, pity and compassion for sick and weak people. Internally, this function judges the moral aspects of other people and analyzes what is happening based on its own subjective value system. It is good at judging how attentive people are to each other, or whether they hate and despise each other, because it has a good eye for the inner feelings people have for each other. This function is good at keeping secrets, an ability that is much more difficult for people with the ethics of emotions. Another characteristic of people who have a focus on Fi is that they do not speak on behalf of others. The ethics of emotions tends to result in a larger number of superficial acquaintances, while relational ethics focuses on a small number of select friends. It is far less demonstrative, and I believe this is why it is virtually absent among public figures. Sociotypes that have a weak focus on relational ethics often treat strangers as if they were acquaintances, with little concern for what level of familiarity exists. Another weakness may be a fluctuating attitude toward others, in which there may be enthusiasm about interacting with strangers and indifference toward family, friends and partners, or a general inability to maintain stable and conflict-free relationships. It may also lead to an inaccurate perception of how one’s words affect the inner world of other people, or it can show little regard for the inner feelings of other people. It can also lead to an inability to properly assess the status of relationships.
Logical functions
7. Logic of processes (Te)
I think this function is mainly concerned with two main aspects: dealing with work and one’s own finances or resources. Te is about the ability to act economically, a constant drive for continuous work (often in technological fields and management) and an effective use of available resources such as money.
Extroverted logic is an evaluative, technical, industrious state of mind that directly assesses events and other people’s actions from a pragmatic point of view and openly expresses these assessments. It has a high capacity for uninterrupted work. This function evaluates and judges the diligence (the objective processes) of other people and whether they are avoiding work or doing it well. It is difficult for people with this logic to remain inactive for an extended period of time. They need to be constantly engaged in productive and pragmatic pursuits to rationally organize their environment. At work, they are constantly busy and attend to every problem, no matter how small. People with strong Te do not tend to get into debt because they are very aware of their available resources and finances and can judge the usefulness of objects. This logic gives a lot of thought to the usefulness of purchases, and it does not like owing other people money at all. It is a consumption-oriented, concrete, impatient state of mind, which I believe deals with effective trade in goods and services and is highly aware of liabilities.
Extroverted logic is very much aware of the sequence of different processes. In other words, the necessary steps, mechanisms, guidelines, deadlines and laws that must be followed to achieve a pragmatic goal. It is very often concerned with optimizing processes to increase work performance. Its thinking moves step by step, process by process. It puts great emphasis on concepts such as personal responsibility. Extroverted logic is very focused on objective, external objects. In this regard, it learns many processes by memorizing information, without reflecting much on why certain structures exist, or whether they are even necessary. Sociotypes with this logic do not speculate about different theories, nor do they make many hypotheses. Instead, they look for concrete knowledge to help them perform a given activity. Weak practical logic leads people to spend money and resources thoughtlessly. It also leads them to make purchases on a whim without first assessing the benefits. In my opinion, one can often observe this characteristic in famous people who spend large amounts of money on irrational purchases. In addition, people without strong Te may find it difficult to make and keep specific appointments. It can also lead to an inability to evaluate one’s own productivity or judge oneself from an impersonal perspective.
8. Structural logic (Ti)
Last but not least, introverted logic is the ability to build contradiction-free, theoretical systems. Ti is an impersonal, analytical state of mind, strongly characterized by inner clarity and accuracy. This type of logic gives a person a sense of coherence, order, and correctness at various levels of structure. It looks at complex structures and reduces them to their most necessary elements. It also eliminates unnecessary or irrelevant processes and actions. Ti minimizes processes and interactions with objects and people as much as possible. This characteristic makes it a very silent function in social communication. I think structural logic is necessary for building scientific theories. Science is a system of knowledge about the essential properties, causal relationships and regularities of nature, technology, society and thought, which is fixed in the form of concepts, categories, measurements, laws, theories and hypotheses. Ti analyzes what is happening based on its own subjective understanding. When confronted with a subject, it inevitably ponders the meaningfulness of each aspect. A fundamental question for people with structural logic is “why?” Structural logic makes assumptions and hypotheses based on observations and can describe them in a few words. It is a function that is difficult to observe in a person. It is characterized more by a lack of interaction and communication. Weak structural logic causes a person to go through life in an unstructured manner, constantly taking actions that are unnecessary. Such people have a weak understanding of the relationships that exist between structures and may have difficulty distinguishing important things from unimportant things.
Conclusion
I hope these descriptions give readers a better understanding of what aspects make up sociotypes in my eyes. I do not see sociotypes as an empirically definable system but rather as a spectrum of strengths and behaviors that can develop in different directions. Here too, one must note that a sociotype’s subtype can greatly influence this tendency. This is because dominant and creative subtypes can have accentuated extroverted functions while normalizing and harmonizing subtypes can have accentuated introverted functions, regardless of what sociotype they have. I think researchers will have to look at personality types for a while before a truly reliable structure can be created. Personally, I’m not even really sold on the notion of personalities, since I see types as tending to lead to different ways of thinking rather than to fixed character traits. I still find it interesting that in my observation, for example, children often have the same type or a similar type as one of their parents, so there does seem to be a genetic component. But I think it will take some time before sociotypes can be identified objectively. I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten to describe some aspects of each function, or I haven’t been able to reliably observe them yet. A few aspects I have mentioned here have also been mentioned by Victor Gulenko, but since there are few Western resources on the theory, it is probably not a problem to repeat those aspects in a slightly different form. Many points will ultimately be interpreted differently by different people anyway. I hope there will be better definitions in the future.
Thomas Kanemeier
This article was written from July 2023 to October 2023.