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How do I transition from MBTI to CT?

Author: Juan E. Sandoval Cite
First Published: February 4, 2020, Latest Revision: November 4, 2023

Transitioning from Myers-Briggs to Cognitive Typology (CT) isn't something I recommend anybody do unless they believe doing so is a positive and true step to take on their intellectual journey. The aim of CT isn't to collect believers, but to guide people to see with their own eyes the phenomenon we are pointing at, and hopefully to have the phenomenon itself persuade you of its reality. The best resource that currently exists for fast-tracking this process is the 2022 Lecture Series.

If you follow along with this lecture series, especially starting with the TeSi video and onward, you will be able to see the phenomenon being described. In this 15+ hour series, we meticulously walk through 158 database samples, tallying over 1,100 rows of data together, and present a "proof of concept" for why we believe type exists as a physical reality.

If you're still not able to see the phenomenon with your own eyes, you're wholly free to abandon CT, but we believe that after watching this series of videos, something may change in your perception and understanding. Give it a try, and let yourself arrive at whatever conclusion is natural from it. If you come to see the phenomenon through this series, then the rest of this article applies.

What does it mean?

After you're able to see the phenomenon being described, you might still wonder:

"Okay, but wat does it mean? I can see that there are repeatable patterns on body mannerism, and they map onto psychology in a statistical way, and there seems to be something intrinsic about it; something that also applies to my mannerisms too. But how do I square that away with my different MBTI type, which also fits me very well?"

There are two general ways I've seen people react to this news. One is to take a cold-turkey approach, where they abandon the MBTI type altogether; coming to realize they were affiliating with a caricature or psychometric heuristic, rather than with an innate part of their physiology. For these individuals, having the most objective grounding for their type is most important to them, even if they have to forego some pretty descriptions.

The other approach I've seen members take is to retain the heuristic value of the MBTI alongside the discovery of their CT type, using MBTI as a supplemental tool that can offer additional value in how we describe ourselves, while not necessarily suggesting it's a biological reality. They might see themselves as an INFJ in the MBTI while acknowledging they're NeFi (or more precisely: PFcs) in CT.

This second method is also reasonable. There's no contradiction between a heuristic view of MBTI and a biological view of CT. In our CT community we don't pressure anyone to abandon other systems, since we think many psychometrics have descriptive value in their own place. The only thing the CT community does advocate strongly is avoiding system-mixing. Things said about the INFJ by the MBTI cannot be arbitrarily superimposed atop of what CT means by NiFe (the RFmg vultology). The various Jungian systems do have degrees of overlap with each other, but also large areas that do not overlap. To learn more about why we keep the systems separate, visit this link.

Losing Old Stereotypes

If you do wish to make a full transition to CT, one thing you may notice is a lack of MBTI stereotypes. If you join our Discord server, you may be struck by the lack of N-bias, as our member-base doesn't have a heavy N leaning. You'll also find a lack of "INFJs" or "INTJ" praise; few members are NiFe or NiTe types, and they are not elevated to any standing. While other systems do try hard to get rid of harmful stereotypes, and we don't think they promote them intentionally, it's just hard to fully get rid of them when you come from a type system where the very definitions of the types have within them baked in some degree of commentary on intelligence and insight. So a key step in this transition is a lot of unearning of harmful ideas.

As the 2022 Lecture Series aptly shows, intelligence and insight is everywhere, and relying on a visual categorization system prunes away these bad ideas over time, as experience forces you to confront visual examples of all the types, doing all the great things we're all capable of.

Redefining Terms

Another thing you'll notice in a transition to CT from MBTI is the absence of some old definitions for I, E, T, F, N, S. The Se function is not the five-senses, F is not emotionality, N is not gut feelings; the list goes on. This series of articles is dedicated to addressing many of these ideas and how CT treats them, insofar as they're relevant to the model:

Changing Type Names

You may have noticed we don't use titles like "ENTP" and "ESFJ" for the types. This is because CT does not use the four-letter code. We consider the dual existence of the four letter code with the functions to be theoretically problematic and at odds with itself. For a brief visual explanation of why this is, this video is of some help:

Please Note! Parts of this video are outdated. Labels such as FiSe-Ni and NeFi-Fi are now thought of as FiSe l-l- and NeFi ll-- respectively, according to development levels. See this article for more information. Still, the general jist is mostly the same.

Being a function-based model, CT does not type individuals in terms of where they fall in the E/I, N/S, T/F attitudes, but from what function pairings they utilize. In this sense CT is more closely aligned to JCF (Jungian Cognitive Functions) models, and if you are coming from JCF this may be entirely in line with your present thoughts on the matter. Many JCF advocates have all but abandoned the 4-letter nomenclature, as their concept of types has moved far away from dichotomies to functions. But they nonetheless still cling to the 4-letter code as a stand-in shorthand for their concept of a type. This has a lot of secondary problems, however, as it continues to reinforce the idea that the 4-letter code is directly associated to a certain function set.

Factoring in Developments

For example as a JCF proponent you may know that sometimes an NiFe with developed Ti can mistype as an INTP or INTJ. And such a person will consider themselves to "prioritize thinking over feeling" and by any general definition of logic or ethics, they would consider themselves as belonging to the logic-based dimension. It would thus follow that to consider this individual INFJ would be a miscategorization or at least misuse of the standard MBTI nomenclature, essentially rendering the letter code irrelevant and misguided.

CT suffers not from this problem as it does not connect the function hierarchies to the dichotomies in a 1:1 ratio. If indeed the NiFe can sometimes manifest as an INF and at other times as an INT temperament, then that should be acknowledged. Functions create temperament, not the other way around.

If instead you were an NeFi who became heavily invested in their Fi, you'd be an NeFi-Fi subtype (NeFi ll--) and your temperament would change to INF. You would, for all intents and purposes, consider yourself "an introvert" and will identify with all the standard behavioral indicators of introversion. This is also why temperament (or the dichotomies) appear to be fluid and why a large percentage of individuals (some estimates rank at 50%) change their MBTI type designation at different points in their life. They are not incorrect in doing so - but it needn't mean that they are changing their underlying functions. Considering temperament as a separate thing than type is the only solution to this dilemma, for as long as we are still tying the two together, we breed misunderstanding when a change in temperament forces people to misinterpret it as a shift in their underlying functions.

Discovering Your Type

A key part of transitioning to CT is also getting to know what your type really is, as it's often the frame of reference we use to understand many other people. You can do this directly by consulting vultologists trained to have 90%+ consensus with each other, or by getting insights via the community. Soft-typings can be offered for free in our Discord community. Bear in mind however, that you're likely not going to be an INxx type, and that's okay!

Understanding Your Type Results

Once your results come in, you'll likely find them a bit confusing especially if you have a non-standard development. Experience has shown us that people will tend to affiliate most with whatever function they have developed most recently, rather than their native-state. For example, an NeFi ll-- will be more ego-fixated on their Fi, and see that as their truest self, because it's that kind of believe that has propelled their development in that direction. It may then take work to understand why you may be cognitively extroverted to begin with, but more Fi-focused and introverted in your current life direction.

"But if I'm an introverted NeFi, why doesn't that make me an FiNe?"

This is a common idea that may arise from the former, but once more it's again incorrect to think of things via dichotomies (i.e. "introverted"). In CT what it means to be an Fi-lead and an Ne-lead are two very different things with effects that go far beyond simple introversion and extroversion as standalone personality traits. For example, the qualities of an Fi-lead are:

  • Judgment-Lead
  • Compass (Ji) Lead
  • F-Lead
  • Fi's developmental storyline
  • Fi's unique polar relationship to Te

In order to be an Fi-lead, one has to also display a J-lead psychology, a Ji-lead psychology, a characteristic Fi affect, and follow the developmental narrative/storyline of the Fi-lead psyche. These things are not acquired by an NeFi becoming externally introverted in the conventional sense of the word. Psychological as well as vultological evidence will point to a different personal experience than that of the FiNe. A certain feeling will exist in the NeFi-Fi as though they were trapped inside themselves. Unlike the FiNe who exists in a native Fi state, the NeFi-Fi will experience a low-key (but perhaps long-term) mental stress in modulating their Fi function. Their introversion may be due to melancholy, loss of hope or social anxieties rather than an intrinsic comfort in inaction, reflection and  reactivity.

The NeFi-Fi indeed obtains an INF temperament, but does not become J-lead and instead their storyline continues to be governed by the dynamic flow of a P-lead; where they find themselves in a more Fi-heavy place at this present stage of their life. This may change with future years, as they ebb and flow out of modalities. The same thing can be said about all the other types, making an understanding of nuanced function-dynamics essential in the CT system. There's a lot to this system, and it's still being uncovered, but I hope this is a useful short guide for all the basics.

How long does it take to learn the model?

This model is based on data, which means being adept at it is a matter of experience. There are a lot of faces and body expressions out there in the world, and the more of them you're familiar with, the better you'll be able to spot patterns. The phenomenon doesn't jump out at you until you've canvassed around 100+ vultologies, but complete competence improves as you hit 200, 400 and so on. You can practice in our Discord community server, or you can also fast-track your learning by joining one of our online courses.

Any real expertise takes years of experience, but it's an exciting few years, as you learn to see all sorts of patterns in people that were previously looked over. We're excited to have you on board, and to share with you in this dynamic, growing exploration process, as we chart new territory!

  • 2020-02-04 07:36:42
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