Introduction

This theory of personality has been developed due to a perceived difference of opinion as to the basic elements of personality and their subsequent interpretation.

The framework proposed is designed to capture the base drivers of personality which in turn allows additional filters (tests) to determine the usefulness/relevance to different environmental settings e.g. occupational testing, military leadership and so forth.

The theory disagrees in part with Jung and believes his aggregation of traits was not at the most basic of elements, this is turn has led to further errors as subsequent researchers have extrapolated from these.

As this theory is at its early phases it will not be possible to provide as much corroborating evidence as would be liked, but given its logical construct and fitting within observable parameters it should withstand examination and strengthen as evidence from the biological sciences is accumulated.

The Theory

That the human psych can be broken down into a binary basis.

The two elements being

- Biological sensory feeling (Amplitude)
- Elementary sensory thinking (Hierarchy)

The interplay with the environment can be shown as

- Internalisation
- Externalisation


Biological sensory feeling

This is pure sensory interaction with the environment, at its most basic level in lower order biological structures it is simple cause and effect. In higher order structures it also includes increasing memory and an interplay with thinking, in even more complex structures there appears a type of “meta feeling” which is an overarching call to action driven by aspects such as “depression”.

The biological sensory feeling here cares not for whether it is used for good or evil, only that it exists and to the degree. The memory alluded to above does not think, it is accumulated experience and effectively a capacitor of latent feeling.

In terms of understanding amplitude, it is necessary to break it down into 2 observable components being a) A natural resonance level (heritable) and b) An oscillation around the resonance level (situational and environmental factors). How these two factors are combined determines the amplitude of feeling.

The difference between this approach and Jungs Feeling is that his thinking element in feeling is stripped out. That’s Jung’s feeling mixed the older brain biological feeling with the thinking function that directs feeling in higher order biological systems.


Elementary Sensory thinking

At its most basic level it is a simple mechanism to pre-empt feeling, guide to and away from positive/negative feeling. As biological systems become more complex then thinking invariably does as well, opportunity costs, probability, competitor assessment, contingency and so forth come into play.

Thinking could be thought of as an extension of feeling; however thinking is at a conscious level and interacts with feeling which operates various basic routines in the subconscious. Thinking can also have a divergence in opinion to Feeling.

As we move from sensing to thinking the operational conscious assessments exponentially increase. To engage in progressively higher levels of conscious thinking and thus intuitive thinking it becomes increasingly necessary to; Aggregate information e.g. Analogies, utilise subconscious subroutines used in the senses e.g. Visualisation and to transfer conscious thinking routines into subconscious routines e.g. knowing what a dictionary word means in the context of a sentence.

In effect at the higher levels of thinking elements of thinking become subconscious which is the “knowing” understood as basic intuition. Groupings of knowing at a subconscious level become the higher intuitive levels. The subconscious would seem to be far more capable at speed and thus processing groupings of knowing than the conscious.


Internalisation/Externalisation

Internalisation is the looping of thinking and feeling – effectively orientating inwards through control over inputs/stimulus.
Externalisation is the immersion of thinking and feeling – effectively orientating outwards.

This interplay is effectively the relative output of Thinking and Feeling. Because the conscious thinking and the subconscious feeling can have potentially differing perspectives it depends on their relative strengths.

If we consider the concept of high feeling then we would expect thinking to be raised as well to moderate and control the feeling and then for greater levels of internalisation to assess and manage, otherwise we would expect that feeling to be dissipated through externalisation without the need to raise thinking (If heritable thinking has a natural resonance that is lowish then externalisation will be the preferred primary exit).


Initial summary

Feeling – Has amplitude, There are different resonance levels, it is subconscious and separate to the thinking control system
Thinking – Has a Hierarchy, from Sensing through Thinking to Intuitive thinking. It provides controlling advice to feeling.
Internalisation/Externalisation – Depends on relative strengths and weaknesses of Thinking and Feeling. Higher thinking towards internalisation, higher feeling towards greater variability between Internalisation and Externalisation manifestation.


Differences to Jung and others

Thinking is separate to Feeling. Feeling does not think, it does however have memory.
Sensing Thinking and Intuition are a hierarchy in the control and direction of feeling.
Feeling is the older brain (subconscious); Thinking is the recent brain adaptations (conscious). Internalisation and Externalisation are not that different to introversion and extroversion (although any externalisation from the self is essentially externalisation, which then indicates different levels of externalisation) however it is the thinking feeling mix that determines the propensity to internalise or externalise.

The current groupings of NT, ST and SF NF in certain psychometric groupings would be restacked as ST, NT is one and the same along a continuum with no allowance for actual feeling and the F element would be broken down into its thinking and actual feeling elements.

The actual dynamo to personality appears to most definitely the feeling (in the context of this theory) as alluded to in the outset I believe there to be a higher meta level of feeling which propels the higher (all?) life forms forward. I believe this to be a type of melancholic depressive tendency which the thinking and feeling functions cannot placate or satiate through externalisation or internalisation. This call to action ensures the “subject” continually seeks out ways to find happiness and in so doing so endlessly searches for something it cannot find e.g. Evolutionary advancement.

Various additional aspects to the theory will be built out here -> www.personality2.com