Isaac Newton |
The ILI is disposed towards inner reflections on the flow of events. Detaching from trivial concerns, ILIs turn their attention to the more important and far-reaching matters of life. Penetrating the misty vestiges of the past and future through depth of imagination, ILIs tend to synthesise for themselves a profoundly realist, neutral world view that can be perceived as 'bleak' or 'gloomy' by others. Such a world view is frequently in the form of a singular eventuality that current events will head towards given certain variables. For them, the present is only important in so much as it is the midway point between what has happened and what will happen, and that sometimes actions can be undertaken to change or alter that interaction, usually in the form of preventing stupidity that might lead to disaster later on. Often what is completely obvious to the ILI makes very little sense to anyone else and they may be frustrated that other people are too dense to see the issues so clear to them. Frequently, ILIs may feel that they have a responsibility to inform people of these dangers, especially if they may affect the world at large. As such, ILIs regularly come across as critics and augurs for the consequences of foolishness, although their risk aversion may also mean that they do not deign to get involved, in case they are also pulled in to drown.
2. Pragmatism
Marie Curie |
Stanley Kubrick |
The ILI is best situated when detached from the present day and pondering over themes of times been and yet to come. However, a certain amount of begrudging self-maintenance is kept with the ILI, who usually attends to chores and concerns around the house at a slow, steady pace, freeing up the mind to go elsewhere. ILIs are usually unconcerned with how they look, but will nevertheless know to maintain basic hygiene and standard practices. However, ILIs will have little care for anything luxurious or pleasant. The room they may occupy is a simple holding cell for them to sleep in, its comfort being as important to them as their distant memories of the room years later. They may also possess a good eye for detail when needed, being able to spot errors and and read the fine print, keeping an eye on the specifics of practical tasks without much difficulty. Many may take up work requiring repetitive or detailed activity and perform well, although they will use such physical tasks to go elsewhere mentally.
4. Emotions
Eugénie de Montijo |
John Adams |
The ILI tends to possess a sardonic sense of humour and when the situation calls for it, may make harsh or biting comments at those they think deserve it. However, this is usually the limit of an ILI's aggression. Although often appreciative of power and the will to confront or change reality, they themselves are unable to adequately make these changes themselves, having difficulty overcoming the inertia of excessive thinking before any action might be taken. Rather than jump in and think on their feet, ILIs tend to be highly risk averse, finding it easier to succeed through careful preparation and reviewing as much relevant information as possible in the time they have, making sure that whatever they do will ensure good outcomes for the future. This can lead to a certain hesitance to make a decision, although once a decision is finally made, it is stuck to. They tend to appreciate those with a relentless energy to get what they want when they want, finding this empowering and shaking them out of their analytical paralysis.
6. Relations
Emily Brontë |
Alan Moore |
ILIs tend to have little patience for brainstorming with others and running through different options. Instead their goal is to deliberately limit the range of possibilities as much as they can, putting together the most probable estimation for how future events are going to turn out from the trends and information available. When faced with alternatives, the ILI will likely respond with stubbornness, seeing their conclusion as the most likely outcome and the only one worth focusing on. This can be interpreted by others as arrogance, although the ILI is unlikely to have a position at all until they have given the matter considerable thought and surveyed all the relevant variables in forming their opinion. Often the ILI will turn out to have been right all along, by which point people would have likely forgotten there was an issue in the first place.
8. Laws
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
Some famous people we think are ILIs:
- John Adams
- Scott Adams
- Clement Attlee
- Arthur Balfour
- Emily Brontë
- Gordon Brown
- Claudius
- Calvin Coolidge
- Dominic Cummings
- Marie Curie
- Domitian
- Eugénie de Montijo
- George I of Great Britain
- Edward Gibbon
- Gildas
- Aubrey de Grey
- Friedrich Hayek
- Edward Heath
- Heraclitus
- John of England
- Stephen King
- Henry Kissinger
- Charles Krauthammer
- Stanley Kubrick
- Louis XV of France
- Louis XVIII of France
- Niccolò Machiavelli
- Alan Moore
- Isaac Newton
- Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- Philip II of Spain
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Karl Popper
- Salman Rushdie
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Anna Seghers
- David Starkey
- Kristen Stewart
- Lawrence Summers
- Tiberius
- Getúlio Vargas
- Gore Vidal
- Virgil
- William III of England
Some fictional characters we think are ILIs:
- The Beast (Beauty and the Beast)
- Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)
- Daria Morgendorffer (Daria)
- Piccolo Jr. (Dragon Ball)
- Eugene Porter (The Walking Dead)
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ReplyDeleteA great description, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis is me to a tee. I wonder if this is the "Aspergers" Type?
ReplyDeleteThat`s the first thing I thought when I discovered socionics.
DeleteI don't think ILIs are the Aspergers type. I'd say, often they know what is 'expected' of them, they just don't see any value in complying with expectations, which is fair enough. The few I know IRL aren't awkward at all. At least not with me.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, two of the fictional characters were my childhood crushes - Heathcliff, and Beast.
I really loved Beauty and the Beast as a child, but never really felt I identified with Belle (as most girls did). So it's interesting to examine that retrospectively, I could primarily identify with the Beast. I figure that the relationship in Beauty and the Beast mirrors that of an INTp (INTJ) and an INFj (INFP).
ReplyDeleteI identified with Belle the most of all the Disney princesses until Elsa came along, and ILI is the type that fits me closest… although I’m also like esi, and most socionics tests say I’m Lii.
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DeleteI havent`read the book, but from the Disney depiction The Beast is portrayed as an SLE. Just because he believes there is a negative outcome to his situation doesnt mean ILI right away. He imprison her dad and then her, he smashed things, everyone was afraid of his physical violence, a lot of Se.
ReplyDeleteJust because someone is physically massive (having been transformed from a normal-sized man into a beast) and has a short, even violent temper, it doesn't make that person an SLE. They need to be able to confidently use Se to their advantage? Does the Beast do this? Not so much. He IS much stronger due to being a beast, but he isn't decisive and confident in the moment. He prefers to withdraw and brood over things, rather than take action.
DeleteA clear SLE in the story is Gaston.
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