Leading Function - Laws (L1)
One
of the most dominant themes to come out when interviewing Ken was his pursuit
of logical clarity, even over the meanings of particular words used during the
interview process, finding ‘value’ to be “kind of a difficult word”. Similarly,
on multiple occasions, Ken would be dissatisfied with an answer he had given,
saying that he felt it was “too vague” and needed a better way of being
described. In this way, we can see that Ken feels it is important that
information, both when acquired by him and when presented to others, should be
clearly defined and explained, reducing any ambiguity in the scope of their interpretation,
while allowing himself and the interlocutor to understand the matter with
definitional precision. To do this, he attempts to break down and lay out the
information presented to him in a way that is “consistent”, formulating
it into “some kind of structure” with reasons to support their
placement. Furthermore, it seems that Ken has “confidence and assurance” in
a role where he could spend the day presenting his structured understanding to
other people in a way that provides them some benefit. This all suggests that
rigorous sense-making is a process in which Ken is confident, readily takes
ownership of with others and feels to be a necessity, regularly and
continuously trying to bring clarity to his understanding of the phenomena
around him. This would best fit the Leading function.
Creative Function - Force
(F2)
In
differentiating the meanings of different words and concepts, Ken looks for “some
kind of concrete action or appearance” and feels that the sensory world
brings him a “sense of gnosis”, i.e. personal knowledge. Working as a
bartender’s assistant, Ken occasionally takes on the role of bouncer and,
assuming that he has the authority to do so from more senior colleagues, Ken
will be able to make “quick decisions” and act with volition, preventing
drunk people from driving and being prepared to turf out the disorderly, if
need be. In these ways, Ken shows a capability and an orientation towards
concrete information and the use of Force, although in each case, it is
subordinated to his understanding of Laws. He will not act forcefully in his
role unless he has the backing from the co-workers he is “supposed to be
representing when applying this force”, while his turning to concrete
appearance is a means by which he can better differentiate between concepts in
his head. Ken feels most confident when he is able to enter what he calls a “physical
flow”, where what he has to do is “narrow[ed]” by an understanding
that he is “doing the right thing”, allowing him to push through
obstacles with a “forward tilt”. One desire of Ken’s is to narrow his
path of action amidst a series of potentially deadly consequences, such as someday
taking up motorcycling and doing backflips, where false moves are not an
option. In practise for Ken, achieving this flow can mean pushing the limits of
how much he is able to carry in his role as a bartender, taking the maximum
number of glasses and risking letting them fall. From this, it is clear that
Ken sees himself at his best when conducting purposeful action and places
himself in situations where he is able to act more decisively. At the same
time, his success in these areas is subordinate to his pursuit of complete
clarity in any situation, and frequently becomes the medium through which his
logical clarity is realised. This makes the application of Force capable and
valued, but cautious and subordinate to Laws, and as such, is a prime candidate
for the Creative function.
Role Function - Relations (R3)
Ken
frequently struggled with terms when they were of a personal, ethical nature,
such as “friends” and “values”, seeing these as needing careful
definition. At least in terms of defining what a ‘friend’ is, Ken relied on a
slightly stilted paradigm, where he is yet to find anyone who qualifies. Such a
person would need to have a “vested interest” in his bodily and
psychological health, who would “take a bullet” for him, while provoking
a mutual need for action in him. Due to this high bar, Ken privately reserves
the word ‘acquaintance’ for everyone else. Similarly, for values, which Ken
defines as “something occurring psychologically”, he struggles to find a
clear example of relying on them, much preferring to do that which he
identifies more impersonally as a “moral standard”. What we see from
this is that Ken’s use of Relations is rather weak and frequently curtailed by
his stronger, more dominant pursuit of Laws. At the same time, he seems to
recognise this area of focus with some degree of seriousness, rather than
treating it as a complete blind spot. As such, it makes a good candidate for
the Role function.
Vulnerable Function - Ideas
(I4)
Ken
participates in a limited number of hobbies, and any new ones he may consider
taking on, such as motorbiking, have a clear sensory quality to them. Although
spending a lot of time trying to be reflective and carefully reaching an
understanding of phenomena around him, there was no sign of Ken seeking out new
ways of thinking or unusual interests to explore. Furthermore, when asked questions
that push for speculation, Ken came up short, saying for instance that in 10
years’ time he would like to be “hopefully not dead. I might end up
somewhere, I might end up somewhere totally different.” What we see here is
a weakness in Ideas. At the same time, from other answers we can see a
deliberateness from Ken in reducing the scope of possibility, rather than
increasing it, with Ken seeking clarity through the nullification of any
ambiguity in his understanding of words, trying to root out any vagueness.
Similarly, his way of achieving the desired ‘flow’ is to put himself in
situations where there is no viable course of action other than the ‘right’
action. From these points of data, we can reasonably infer that Ken is not only
very weak in Ideas, but actively works against it in his psyche, making it a
good candidate for the Vulnerable function.
Suggestive Function -
Emotions (E5)
It
is notable that, throughout the interview, Ken spoke in a deadpan, almost
monotonous voice, with content that, despite being clear to read and understand
when written down, did not easily direct attention and guide interest when
being spoken. It suggests that Ken lacks an innate ability to present or
express himself in a way that is tailored for impact and grabs attention. At
the same time, we see a desire in Ken to be part of a circle of people where
there is some emotive interaction, enjoying activities like Dungeons and
Dragons which carry a “communal element” and where people collaborate on
stories that “play around with certain emotions”. It is clear though
that Ken does not see himself as the driver of such community and does not like
having to “herd or corral”, instead preferring to facilitate so that
this can be achieved by others. At the same time, rather than putting himself
in the centre of any community, Ken remains sort of a lone figure, “disappear[ing]
for months on end and just com[ing] back”. The evidence of this suggests
that Ken appreciates environments rich with emotional expression and enjoys
communal belonging but is very weak at expressing Emotions himself. He has
difficulty acting to maintain that belonging in the group for an extended
period of time, preferring others to galvanise the collective towards an
activity. The best function to describe such use of Emotions would be the
Suggestive function.
Mobilising Function - Time (T6)
As
well as the pursuit of logical clarity, a second key motivator for Ken seems to
be the pursuit of greater reflection and the divination of the images and “ruminations”
that flash from his subconscious, with Ken spending a lot of time paying
attention to what is going on in his head and trying to “scribble” down
what comes to him, with seemingly quite elaborate pictures being created. He
likes to keep these drawings pinned on his wall. Some visions may seem more
complex and even feel quite real, like Ken imagining he was having a
conversation with Carl Jung about Sam Harris, only to realise that was
impossible because the former died a few years before the latter was born.
However, it does not seem that reflection is a point of confidence and success
for Ken, but rather, a place where he is still learning to find his feet. It
can sometimes feel like a “TV being flipped rapidly between stations… not
always being clear where the daydreams are going” and his inability with
Ideas makes him unable to navigate this “fractal” lack of “linear[ity]”.
At other times, he may feel trapped in a “loop” of the past, thinking
over and over what he may have done wrong without finding something new from
this reflection. Additionally, reconsidering nostalgic counterfactuals of past
events can be a source of great satisfaction. Ken’s reasoning for traversing
this seemingly perilous, internal landscape of quagmires and disorientation,
but also some reward, is the pursuit of something that “resonates with [him[
internally… being able to put it out there and communicate it and making
something meaningful for someone else.” Without that sense of meaning, Ken
feels that communicating to others will be little more than “making sounds” and
“a voice crying in the wilderness”. We can see from this that Ken
regularly takes risks with Time as a point of personal development, in a way
that ultimately can serve satisfaction to his desire for greater expression of
Emotions. This idea of a bold and valued, but weak, risky and ultimately
developing function, that operates in service of his Suggestive function, would
best fit the Mobilising function.
Ignoring Function - Pragmatism
(P7)
Ken
is largely focused on creating conceptual clarity and deriving meaning from his
insights to better communicate the clarity of his understanding. As such, there
is little in the way of motivation for something more practical or working on
improving his skills in areas that would bring about some financial or useful
merit. However, he does show some awareness of practical needs. For instance,
he jokingly remarks that a good reason he shouldn’t start a church anytime soon
is that he would need to first work out what the doctrine is. At the same time,
although giving no sign of being motivated by efficiency of process, he does
derive enjoyment from finding ‘flow’ in his actions when forcing himself to act
in reckless physical circumstances, which does suggest a capable understanding
of Pragmatism and how things work in setting up situations for this to happen.
This understanding of Pragmatism, combined with it being used minimally in the
service of more motivating functions, best suits the Ignoring function.
Demonstrative Function -
Senses (S8)
Although
mostly inexpressive, Ken’s demeanour also radiates the calm collectedness of
someone with a stable energy level and confidence in their immediate physical
surroundings. Although he likes to create situations of high-stakes intensity,
Ken is quite comfortable in physical jobs that are “repetitive and
logistical, allowing [him] to achieve something technically, with flow of
physical energy”. Ken’s physical interests can be just as easy-going as
intense, from a desire to go motorbiking to hiking, and he has a relaxed
approach to those which are less dangerous, where he tends to “wing it” in
terms of preparation, being happy to find a different activity should the
weather be bad. In a way, the achievement of flow for Ken is the perfect
synergy of both Force-oriented action, and a harmony and oneness with the
physical moment, with Ken
“get[ting] to be an animal for a while,
all the human concerns drop[ping] away”. With his
deep, mental wanderings, Ken will also throw in physical language, noting the “conceptually
aesthetic” nature of those insights he wants to “scribble” down.
Furthermore, when Ken is most likely to grow irritated, it will be over
experiences of physical or emotional “discomfort”, such as people
getting in his space, yelling or disrupting his sleep. He describes a period of
hypersensitivity in his sleep where “there are pins and needles in [his]
skin, where the act of breathing seems offensive.” In such situations, Ken
can choose to “suffer”, but may otherwise “fidget” with the air
conditioner and change his blankets. What we see from all this is someone who
has a very strong orientation towards Senses, where an awareness of the
physical stimuli in his immediate surroundings holds a particular sway, but
where there is nonetheless an absence of it being spoken of as a motivator for
action, but instead more of a hygiene factor that he is sensitive to and has to
sort out. Furthermore, in creating flow, Senses plays a key role in tandem with
Force, balancing harmony with intensity. Such a powerful, ever-present, nuanced
but ultimately unmotivating nature for Senses can best be described by the
Demonstrative function.
If you would like a diagnostic interview, please email worldsocionics@hotmail.com.
If you would like a diagnostic interview, please email worldsocionics@hotmail.com.
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