And so we come to look at the last of Carl Jung’s functions.
Multiple Definitions
In the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy I gave the Tethyan people generous use of intuition. But what Jung was showing us has a different connotation. The Tethyans used intuition as a means of communication. As a personality attribute it may be an ability used to explore possibilities.
This is my favorite function especially since it is my primary function. Intuitive type people are defined as being irrational in the sense that they defy logic. They are the prophets and seers who seek possibilities. To them reality is secondary and novelty is sought. The fact that it is my dominant function adds understanding about my choice of the title of this blog—cuspofreality.
Another Form of Diversity
Jung’s pairing of functions is interesting. It is not difficult to grasp the Thinking and Feeling types but the irrational types of sensation and intuition prove more difficult.
We saw in the sensation type that they may be very different people. Intuitive types pose a different problem. Searching possibilities can open floodgates and being a seer can pose problems for the people around them. In all instances this type of person may come up with interesting ideas and possibilities but there may also be flight from one idea to another. For many of the intuitive types it is necessary to recognize the downside of this function. They must find ways to get things done and cannot spend their entire lives in flights of fancy or searches of the horizon.
Salvation at Hand
For me salvation comes with my auxiliary function which is thinking. Just up there across the line from the unconscious in consciousness is the function which believes in facts and clearly demonstrated processes. So my intuition has an ally which keeps the flights in check and dictates the need to create a focus with an outcome.
I think you can glimpse here the intricate interplay among the functions and attitudes and the need for us to understand who we are and how we have to adapt to who we are. Again we come to the matter of reality and accepting our position on the cusp. All need not be lost. Insight is valuable and once we have the insight, we can look for allies within ourselves and the people around us. And the same can be said for our characters in fiction. Our characters can pit themselves against other people or form alliances. Which is why I wrote the book Creating Characters and Plots.
Then We Add the Attitudes
And when we add in the attitudes there is another story. Jung points out that when extraversion is added for this type, the person may prove to be unstable. They may be artists, politicians or entrepreneurs but may be undisciplined as they chase through an unstable world. Again they must form alliances and use insight to observe their strengths and foibles. Understanding personality types has considerable value.
When introversion is added, the attention may be on background processes distinct from the outside attention of the extravert. The inner attention may be on primordial archetypes and the loss may be in the chase from image to image. It is so easy to get lost in the swirl of the inner world of mythology.
Having given this description, it is palpable why I am drawn to speculative fiction and why my Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy is focused so strongly on the adventures sown by mythology which itself falls on the cusp of reality.
Do you now understand your personality type?
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Whatever Happened to Community Mental Health by Roger B. Burt