Is Your Learning Mental Process Healthy?
The technical name for a learning mental process is your ‘perceiving’ cognitive function. For a complete list of type functions, please refer to these quick reference guides. To find a list of healthy and unhealthy expressions of the ‘judging’ cognitive functions please reference the podcast “Developed vs. Undeveloped Decisions.“
“Perspectives” (Introverted Intuition)
Driver (dominant) process for INTJs and INFJs
Co-Pilot (auxiliary) process for ENTJs and ENFJs
Healthy:
1. Dives deep into the subconscious to see patterns within the human mind.
2. Is not married to own perspectives, so can usually find different perspectives, including specific ones of others.
3. Sees into the future.
Unhealthy:
1. Becomes ‘trapped’ in inner world and stream of consciousness dialog.
2. Paranoid. “Switches perspectives” to see ill intent and to justify erroneous conclusions.
3. May become fearful of the future, assuming worst case scenarios.
“Exploration” (Extraverted Intuition)
Driver (dominant) process for ENTPs and ENFPs
Co-Pilot (auxiliary) process for INTPs and INFPs
Healthy:
1. Sees patterns in life between disparate things and new emergents.
2. Learns quickly by trying new combinations and ‘experimenting.
3. Is extremely optimistic, seeing new possibilities everywhere.
Unhealthy:
1. May use ‘pattern recognition’ to justify erroneous conclusions.
2. Impulsive. Messes with others without compassion.
3. If in an uncomfortable situation pushes for a change of any kind (even destructive) to escape.
Introverted Sensing, aka “Memory”
Driver (dominant) process for ISTJs and ISFJs
Co-Pilot (auxiliary) process for ESTJs and ESFJs
Healthy:
1. Works like a multi-sensory autobiographer, recording and reliving personal experiences and their significance/impact.
2. Preserves precedent and order, and will create it if not present.
3. Desires/understands stability and tradition.
Unhealthy:
1. Can feel trapped by past experiences or decisions.
2. Seeks psychological comfort, retreating to ‘comfort zones’ avoiding all growth.
3. Becomes resistant to new experiences and hostile to novelty.
Extraverted Sensing, aka “Sensation”
Driver (dominant) process for ESTPs and ESFPs
Co-Pilot (auxiliary) process for ISTPs and ISFPs
Healthy:
1. Understands athletics and kinesthetics, learns through movement and activity.
2. Is fully present and in the moment.
3. Loves being in action and pushes the body and environment to their limits; naturally understands ‘body language’.
Unhealthy:
1. Becomes physically self-indulgent. Wants to feed cravings – food, sex, alcohol, drugs, exercise, etc…
2. Won’t consider future consequences or how actions impact others.
3. Can become reckless.
Here Are The Above Descriptions In Shareable Images
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I can’t quite own the meaning of “Sees patterns in life between disparate things and new emergents.” I know what disparate and emergent mean, just not sure of what is found between the two.
The most ironic thing with Extraverted Sensing is that the need to feel alive can literally kill us. We do stupid shit and then it hurts our bodies and our situations. This reduces our ability to experience things which causes us to do even more stupid shit to satisfy the sensation we are lacking. And the cycle continues. It’s such a self-defeating, self-destructive function. Wish I could start again knowing this. I would seriously have taken care of my body before it got this bad.
Thanks, Charis :)!
This format is very helpful as I learn the site’s language. Is there a page with the identical format (Healthy/Unhealthy lists) for the Judging functions?
You explain the Judging information on several pages, but this particular format is really easy to grasp.
Thanks.
Thanks for your question Lance! We did a similar graph for one of the podcasts. Here is a link to that podcast: https://www.personalityhacker.com/podcast-episode-0068-developed-vs-undeveloped-decisions/
Yes! Employing one’s copilot would be easier than acknowledging and overcoming negative tendencies for sure. Thanks Charis!
I’m glad I could be of assistance Debra!
So the best way to stay on the healthy side with one’s decision making process would be to develop your co-pilot? Or is it simpler than that? I imagine just knowing what unhealthy aspects of your decision making can look like can help shift you out of that mindset…
Oops, when I said decision making, I meant to say learning process!! And since it depends on what process you are leading with, decision making or learning then the copilot may well be your learning process already so developing he copilot is not as straight forward a path… Sorry to ramble here, my learning process is extraverted intuition so I am off on tangents imagining the possible approaches to this.
Yes and no Debra. It is always going to help to recognize your weaknesses and endeavor to overcome them. But it would actually be harder to just will yourself to overcome your tendencies than to simply exercise your co-pilot. You lead with an extraverted process but your co-pilot is introverted. If you refuse to exercise your introverted process you will always struggle to become balanced. We all need to play in the world that is opposite the driver. In other words, if the driver is extraverted you need to go inside yourself on occasion to be a more rounded out human being – and vice versa.
The co-pilot will also be the opposite of the driver in that if the driver is a learning process, the co-pilot will be decision making. If the driver is a decision making process, the co-pilot will be the learning process. Both work best when used in tandem and the individual will suffer if they rely upon one to the neglect of the other. Either they make decisions too rashly, without considering the implications, or they freeze and avoid making decisions all-together.
Does that answer your question?