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by Aušra Augustinavičiūtė | Source (Mirror) | Symbols for IMEs
Machine Translation Revised by Augusta Project with fully translated segments by Sophia from Classic Socionics
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Archetype: Maxim Gorky
As we are aware, Socionics explains that the mental properties of different types of people are caused by the fact that, for each type of IM, the initial half-phases*, i.e. the half-phases that play the role of accumulators of potential psychic energy, are different from the half-phases of energy expenditure. In Model A, these half-phases are 
in the Mental Ring and 
in the Vital Ring.
*Translator’s note: Half-phases are known by the wider community as “functions”, and represent one of the 8 manners in which a type processes a particular information element.
Some of the most widely-known members of this personality type are Maxim Gorky, Martin Luther, Marshal Ivan Konev, and Emperor Caligula.
Among famous movie actors are the public favorites Alain Delon, Vasily Lanovoy, and Georgy Taratorkin.
This type of person is best described in the novel The Life of Klim Samgin, represented by the personality of the main character. It is hard to imagine any other work where the inner world of the LSI – how they feel and how they act in social conditions unfavorable for self-realization – would be described so vividly and in such detail. Because of these unfavorable conditions, Klim Samgin is perceived by many as a dark, incomprehensible person. But in reality, he is a normal representative of this type, with the problems, feelings, passivity, suspiciousness, mistrustfulness that are characteristic of logical introthymes as well as the egocentrism peculiar to static types.
When Gorky described the life of Klim Samgin, he was looking for the dark side of the human soul through his own vague experiences. It is a ruthless, self-critical introspection. The pain that can be heard throughout the story is the pain of Samgin’s own lowly and insignificant shortcomings, and as the author thought, passions. In the autobiographical book My Universities, Gorky describes the other side of the coin of LSIs. LSIs usually recognize their own souls in these books, as well as their aspirations, doubts, experiences, pangs of conscience, dissatisfaction with themselves, and fear of complacency. It is much harder for everyone else to make sense of it.
The Mental Ring and Its Activity
The LSI is static, so the external world reflected by the Mental Ring is the world of objects, not processes. They are a schizothyme (rational type), so their accepting half-phases contain rational elements, and producing half-phases contain irrational ones. The basis of their static world is internal () and external (
) relationships between objects. The objects themselves, their form (
) and structure (
) are only a projection created based on these relationships. These relations condition the object and are both its cause and origin point. All objects are seen as a system of relationships. For example, a state is, first and foremost, a system of relations and only after that, a certain territory, nation, etc.
On the other hand, for each cyclothyme [irrational type] – the object itself is the cause and origin point of the system, and the system itself is a consequence of the objective properties of the objects: quality objects create quality relationships.
According to the mindset of the schizothymic* blocking to which the LSI belongs, how well the object’s internal qualities and potential energy are realized is based on how much the person is loved: . And a person’s appearance, their endowment with material wealth is a consequence of their place within the system of official social, or as one may call it, “power” relationships. This is one of the reasons why this type of personality is so strongly oriented toward hierarchical order and imposes this order everywhere.
*Translator’s note: Schizothymic blocking means that a schizothymic (rational) element is in the accepting phase, and an irrational one is in the producing phase.
For the LSI, the former aspect of the Mental Ring, that is, feelings of love or hatred, are an objective fact that they have no right to change. How things are within an external, official system of relationships, however, is another matter. This is the sphere of conscious volitional activity, where the LSI acts openly – openly studying these official relationships and openly adjusting to them. Hence the inclination towards politics. And it is not without reason that most political commentators, including Valentin Zorin, belong to this type of IM.
The psychic energy of the Mental Ring is intended for perceiving information about the external world and about oneself as an integral part of it – for adapting to the world (Super-Ego) and managing it (Ego). This is a vision of the world from the outside, where the objectivity of incoming information is determined by the breadth of the individual’s outlook.
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In the following sections, we will familiarize ourselves with how the individual half-phases and blocks of the Mental Ring are realized.
These are typical statements from the LSI’s worldview:
– You find yourself once the world starts crumbling beneath your feet.
– I mature each time the world crumbles beneath my feet. The only problem is that I quickly forget that experience.
– You are not fully developed as a person until you know what physical hardship is like.
– You need to get smacked around, otherwise you do not fully develop as a person (the LSI is talking about themselves there).
– After I get smacked around, the picture of the world becomes clearer.
– The army makes you a real man (the LSI only applies this statement to others).
– It would be great to find a way of being a part of society while staying free from it. – When my life in the boarding school is over, I will sleep, sing, read, happy that I finally got away from that hell, and I will think about nothing.
“I will think about nothing” means to live as if there is no tomorrow because the question of “tomorrow” for the LSI is a source of anxiety. They call their boarding schools hell, despite the fact that they chose it themselves and would not trade it for the world. And it is called hell, as far as I understand it, simply because it is a crowded space — there are two or more people in each room — as well as the lack of freedom: people are not always free to leave their rooms and venture about in the city.
I warn you that these statements are those of a young, undualized LSI, who has never in their life been able to hide behind the shoulders and emotions of an EIE. However, utterances such as “the world is crumbling beneath my feet” and “you need to face physical hardship” are inherent to all LSIs.
What does this mean, and how can it be translated into a language more understandable to other types?
What “physical hardship” means is more or less clear from the text after it. It is the physical hardening necessary for this type and even for the entire dyad, which gives both knowledge of one’s physical capabilities as well as one’s physical endurance. This belongs to the Id block of the LSI.
It is more difficult to understand “the earth crumbling beneath one’s feet”. It does not start to “crumble” by itself. First, this “earth” needs to be shaken to the point of the situation becoming life-threatening, either physically or socially, which is when the “earth” starts to “crumble”. The efforts of the undualized LSI are directed at achieving precisely that. Why? The LSI simply feels that there is something they are not seeing or hearing. That something is happening near them, but they need to force their way there in order to see it and become included in it, after which their dull life will become full. But no one says how to do it, which is why the LSI tries to force their way into all sorts of situations. They will take part in any risky or dangerous adventures in order to feel that they did all they could.
Among other things, the LSI has an unconscious urge to annoy people with their behavior, similar to how others might want to make chain dogs bark. Why? In my opinion, this is due to an unconscious hope to receive emotional feedback from an EIE of a more or less equal strength. This feedback gives the LSI’s Vital Ring the exact focused background it needs.
In general, the whole adventurism of the LSI is aimed at an unconscious search for what we can call the “dynamic world” of the EIE – into which one can only try to enter with the EIE’s spiritual and verbal help. Socionics has much to offer in this respect. First of all, it gives us a chance to understand, then delve into the unfamiliar world of one’s dual, and then the worlds of other types of IM.
It is surprising to see the LSI moving around so restlessly. We know they are a sensoric type, which means they are a concrete kind of person. So what would they flounce about for? The reason is that the person’s world is what they perceive through their base blocks rather than their program ones. Because of this only intuitive types see the world as concrete, which is why they are not flouncing about either. Instead the intuitive type just gets lost in some aspect of this concrete world, as there are simply too many concrete objects, people, emotions or movements around them. But for a sensoric type the world is a kind of vast expanse that their Ego must make concrete. But how could one make something concrete without knowing what this “something” is? So the sensoric type is flouncing about, trying to acquire this knowledge.
Super-Ego Block. ➜
According to the basic* block of the Mental Ring, the bases of the objective world are the forces of attraction and repulsion. That is, feelings of sympathy and antipathy or people’s desires. The LSI accepts everything that brings sympathy, and rejects everything that builds antipathy – these feelings simply irritate and corrode the psyche. As for the internal content and structure of the object, such as a person’s physical and mental abilities, this manifests insofar as the LSI is able to beautifully show their love, because they were taught how to. And because of this, the LSI’s pure love for their own and hatred for the enemy is noticed and taken into account by their loved ones.
*Translator’s note: “Basic” blocks refer to weak blocks and “Program” blocks refer to strong ones.
Notice, however, that this is not a question of how or how much the LSI loves or hates, but of how they have been taught. Because the first half-phase of the Super-Ego is incapable of changing how it manifests on its own. The ILE and IEE are incapable of changing their style of dress, and the LSI and LII are equally incapable of switching to a new way of feeling and sympathizing. It is always someone else who rearranges people’s attitudes regarding this half-phase.
The Super-Ego block is the block of doubts, worries, insecurities, and pangs of conscience. The worse the conditions are for the realization of one’s intellectual energy, the less that they feel that their abilities are needed by those around them, and the less they also feel that their abilities are recognized and encouraged. Everyone’s golden and unfulfilled dream is for their 2nd half-phase (the PoLR function) to become a social ideal, a norm to which everyone strives to live by, a social line whose boundaries nobody ever dares to cross. This is most vividly manifested when a person becomes a dictator, whether in their family, state, or business. The ILE then preaches ethics, as they have 2/1* . An example of this would be Albert Schweitzer‘s activities in Africa. The LSI, on the other hand, turns into a cornucopia of the only correct information about the essence and structure of things, as we could see in the sad example of Joseph Stalin‘s activity. To some extent, this can also be seen in the works of Gorky himself.
*Translator’s note: 2/1 means “Half-phase 2” of the “1st Ring” (Mental), which is the PoLR.
For the LSI, the main source of worries and pangs of conscience is the LSI’s uncertainty about the social acceptability – “quality” – of their ethical feelings, their uncertainty about whether they love or hate properly – that is, whether the LSI is good and the way they should be. As well as whether they live up to their mental and physical abilities and talents – whether they are too brazen in their manifestation. Therefore, any remark about this, even compliments, frustrates the LSI and makes them look all over themselves to figure out where exactly they were too arrogant, or when they lost control of themselves. If the LSI is dualized, such situations never occur, or at the very most, infrequently and only in the absence of their dual.
The main functions of the LSI’s Super-Ego block:
1) For oneself, collecting information about people’s personal feelings, their mutual likes and dislikes, trust and distrust, love and hate for the sake of awakening one’s own thinking;
2) For others – acquainting loved ones with the sources of personal feelings that they may need.
The LSI feels quite helpless in love, as our friend Arnold’s () poems tell us very convincingly:
Tell me how to love Thee?
О! If I didn’t know so much,
I’d be on the same road.
Now a hundred paths lead me.
Tell me, how can I love Thee?
On the first half-phase, the individual feels somewhat stuck in the collective in the way that they were initially accepted. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the LSI to change their previously established personal relationships. This is the norm, which the LSI ardently adheres to.
In general, personal feelings are what the LSI constantly and in everything sees, which they inform their loved ones about. They are happy with their good relationships with people and happy with the fact that they do not quarrel with anyone.
In their thoughts, the LSI constantly reflects on various permutations of personal relationships. But only in their thoughts. Only in their thoughts is the LSI also the most gentle, sweet, and sensitive human being, where they are beloved by all. These thoughts really materialize only in cooperation with the dual: then the LSI truly becomes this way.
What the majority of what the LSI’s reference group considers bad, the LSI cannot consider good. Sometimes, because of this “weakness” and worries about this inflexibility, the LSI tries to communicate with people who are distinguished by their nobility and open-mindedness.
The first half-phase does not tolerate the incomprehensible, things that can not be classified as good or evil. They get lost, confused, and unable to make sense of things in morally gray or undefined areas.
This half-phase is characterized by a nervous reaction, which manifests itself as a more or less noticeable irritability about incomprehensible personal feelings. Anything incomprehensible, too complicated, or ambiguous to the LSI in the domain of feelings is frustrating and swept aside.
Negative reactions to the incomprehensible and unacceptable are reactive, and not fully thought through. This is a desire to brush off what intrudes upon and interferes with their lives. The social purpose of these reactions is to program the Id of the dual about what is good and what is bad. Which feelings are socially acceptable and which are not. The mental energy of this half-phase is enough only for these reactions and for attention to the new and socially acceptable, which is the source of the individual’s potential energy on the Mental Ring.
The LSI jealously guards the world of normative ethical feelings that are acceptable to them from any encroachment. Other forms of ethics are taboo. The feelings of both closeness and distance towards people are the foundation of not society, but the objective world in general. They feel responsible for them. In defense of these ethics, the LSI can even show inappropriate and uncontrollable aggression. They perceive disregard towards their own feelings much more mildly, and even as a deserved, unavoidable fact of life, than towards the disregard of the feelings of others.
Only their dual can relieve this aggression, since the EIE swears by the rule that it is shameful to confront the feelings of outsiders, and that these outsiders are equally entitled to their feelings, and that they are equally deserving of being treated seriously and understanding of their motives, and that the ability to listen is one of the main signs of a well-raised person.
For the LSI, a person’s social value, as discussed above, is determined by the quality or culture surrounding their personal sense of ethics. The individual perceives their feelings as an objective social reality that has been shaped by their family, friends, school, and clubs. Similar to the proverb* “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”.
*Translator’s note: The literal proverb is с кем поведешься, от того и наберешься, which roughly translates to “with whom you make friends, from whom you will gain”
The LSI wants others around them to be sure that their kindness is constant and reliable. But they do not know and are uncertain of exactly how others evaluate their kindness. Unlike their kindred, the LII, the LSI tries to attract people’s attention to their ethical qualities and feelings. On the other hand, when it comes to others’ positive feelings towards the LSI, the LSI is inclined to hide them.
The LSI is an indispensable and ruthless fighter when their feelings are set by a program. They regard anything and anyone insufficiently devoted and loving of what is deemed good by social and cultural values as a harbinger of evil and an agent of chaos, as a person who undermines the foundation of objective reality. Likewise, they regard people who are insufficiently hostile to normative conceptions of what is bad as equally evil. And yet the Super-Ego is a block of conscience, so mistakes made in the name of righteous ideas are still long and painfully experienced and never forgotten, lying in the back of their minds.
In the second half-phase, that is, extraverted intuition, the “igniter” to one’s mental activity is either flipped “on” or “off”. A favorable psychological climate is necessary, which is always the case if they are aware that their mental production is needed by others. This half-phase, too, is incapable of creating any active change in the world or themselves and is exceptionally timid about it lest they be suspected of trying to change it. They are only capable of revealing themselves or hiding themselves.
The stress that revealing oneself here can cause is experienced as retribution for “sinfulness” “megalomania”, being too conceited, etc.
How much self-disclosure is “allowed” is determined by how much is possible with the individual’s mental energy, based on the activity of their social situation. Each insufficiently careful self-disclosure creates an excess of energy that gets burned into the person. This is what is called “frustration” or an “interrupted activity”.
If it is said that the LSI demonstrates their cultural background or their talents, they will surely blush, because this is a taboo and a field of activity reserved for their dual, whose guidance the LSI must obey.
In the words of an elderly LSI geologist: “We very much value our own experience, and we do feel that we know better than others. Often I find that I have seen or read much more than others. There is a kind of constant comparison of my knowledge with the knowledge of others. Sometimes I want to say, ‘I’ve talked to the experts as well, what are you trying to prove to me?”
Sometimes I think: ‘They may think that I am a simple man, they may think that I am a fool. I want to show them my diploma when I go to the village council with a case.”
There are exceptionally many people of this type among the clergy of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. How can this be explained?
The basic idea of the Catholic Church is brotherly love. The LSI, for whom the purity of feelings is so important, as well as wanting to escape suffering from ambiguity and uncertainty in such feelings, finds this idea very promising and attractive. It brings prospects of a simple, spiritually unclouded life. It promises to open up sunny horizons of pure interpersonal relationships and feelings. And as for the young LSI, they have absolutely no doubt that Catholics, and especially the clergy themselves, live in full brotherhood and friendship, which the LSI usually lacks in their familiar environment.
The search for the most perfect system of hierarchical relationships leads to the same result. A system where “everyone knows their place” is ideal. And besides, with the proper drive, one can ascend a clearly delineated hierarchical ladder, which, among other things, seems very stable to them, since, for example, the positions of brothers, cardinals, and even the Pope already existed in this establishment for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Celibacy, which discourages other types of personality, attracts the young LSI through the proposed opportunity to demonstrate physical self-sacrifice for the salvation of the souls of their flock. And they would be willing to do anything for the sake of their flock.
In addition, the LSI is a declaring type, which means they do not address others with questioning intonations, but with declarations of ideas, warnings, and instructions. They are, for example, an excellent expert on the question of how one should deal with their money and possessions for the salvation of their soul. Although they themselves “don’t need money”, who else is able to make use of these riches in the most righteous and reasonable manner? Besides, the fame of their church is directly proportional to the amount of money in its pockets.
Ego Block. ➜
This is the program* block of the Mental Ring. On the accepting half-phase, it is introverted, so in the external, objective world the LSI observes not so much the objects themselves, but rather their physical arrangement, their logical relations towards one another, and the system born out of these relationships. The objects of the LSI’s study are these relations, not the objects themselves. And in a similar manner, the LSI remembers not the objects themselves, but the distances between them. It is as if reality ends where space ends and the object begins. To other types of IM, the LSI’s photographs would not seem like pictures of actual objects, but the negative space between them.
*Translator’s note: “Basic” blocks refer to weak blocks and “Program” blocks refer to strong ones.
The Ego block does not know of doubts, worries, or pangs of conscience. One may succeed or fail, but it is never their fault for these failures: only errors are possible, from which one learns. And therefore, the person does not receive pangs of conscience here. They neither blame others nor shift responsibility in this domain towards others.
The intellectual goal of the LSI is to improve different systems and serve them, to keep them in exemplary order. The goal of these systems is to better manipulate objects.
When talking about internal* relationships, we talked about the LSI’s uncertainty about what is good and what is bad, and that it is quite easy to sway them in this area. This is not the case with external relationships. In this domain, nothing but the LSI’s own opinion is recognized. This does not mean that it cannot be changed, but only when the person they’re communicating with gives solid evidence of their superior correctness, of the advantage of their system of external relations over others. The main advantage of one system over another is its consistency because it gives a sense of the immutability of the world. The LSI seeks a world that does not change. The world is bad because it can.
*Translator’s note: Ethical IMEs fall under the “internal” dichotomy and logical ones fall under the “external” ones. Augustinavičiūtė is contrasting and here.
This is how an LSI scientist and economist explains why businesses or some other organization cannot be given more autonomy: “The independence of capable leaders makes them indispensable. This is a victory for the leader, but not for the system”. It was an LSI who gave birth to the idea that there are no irreplaceable people. Except for them, when they are vigilant to ensure that no such indispensable people ever appear.
Below are the words of Arnold again, who perfectly illustrates the perception of the object as an outwardly logical or illogical system. Apparently, every LSI thinks about this problem – the contradiction between ethical and logical feelings, often enough:
The doll… Look at it: all sorts of styles are mixed into it.
It’s big-headed, yet has funny hands.
Where are the proportions? – It doesn’t seem to have any.
Metaphysically, the doll is ugly.
But you don’t see her as eclectic,
From a dialectical point of view.
There’s not an ounce of excess in her slender figure.
There’s grace in her boyish pose.
Slender, sweet and big-eyed,
The prettiest doll I have ever seen.
Everything belongs to a material system. That’s why some LSIs, when buying a suit, carefully inspect all of its seams. Because the main point of any system, including a suit, is that it will not fall apart. Meticulous attention to how the suit “fits” that is, whether or not the person and the object merge into a well-ordered system. For the sake of this, the LSI may try on several copies of the same color, cut, and size.
The LSI is unable to consciously influence people’s inner feelings, which is why they strictly demand that at least external distances are maintained. For instance, the LSI demands that people visit their relative who had fallen ill.
One’s personality is the result of their place in the system of external relations. Therefore, a person’s behavior changes with their place in the system. If the position is different, then the person performing it must also become different in order to conform to their position. If an LSI teacher is appointed as school principal, they will change beyond recognition, and become a different person. If appointed as a minister, they will change yet again. And when they return to their old position, they will remain the same as before. All of this is according to the stereotype of what a teacher, director, or minister should be. The stereotypes themselves are undoubtedly determined by their intelligence, upbringing, social stratum, and cultural background. As well as the type of neurosis they suffer, which determines, among other things, who is to blame for everything: the LSI or other people.
They behave one way at home and another in public. They do not tolerate informality when in the public eye, particularly with their subordinates, even their own children. The basis of their intellect is realized in these external relationships. This is the only thing they fully manage, and these relationships help them occupy a certain place in society. It is here that their strength is measured against the strength of others, and here that they contrast their intellect with the intellect of others. It does not matter whether we call it a rivalry or a friendly competition. They cannot fail to take advantage of what their position in both society and their family provides, because this is the main way the LSI realizes their intellect. In these external positions, the LSI programs both their family and society. A high school graduate may go to an institute and, after one year of study, return to their farm for vacation. Now the LSI is a prestigious student who feels the need to raise their own credibility and that of their future profession. It turns out that now the LSI can stop saying hello to everyone who does not speak to him first, even to the elderly. In general, they act this way toward everyone who does not have a higher education like them. Because of this tendency, the LSI constantly finds themselves in an ambiguous position with those who say hello to everyone he meets: I am sure that they respect them very much. When they meet a gang of delinquents, the LSI also “know their place”, and are well aware that they are a real force to be reckoned with. And these gangsters live not according to the system of education, but according to the system of brute physical force.
In certain historical situations, this gives rise to a proliferation of different “isms”*. A person, from the point of view of the LSI, cannot be by themselves, as they necessarily are part of one system. And if, for example, they are not with me, they are probably with ___, and therefore a fan of “___-ism”!
*Translator’s Note: These -isms, translated from the Russian word modifier “измов”, represent some sort of affiliation towards a group or concept, with a rough equivalent of terms like Capitalism, Buddhism, Libertarianism, or Republicanism in English.
The dualized LSI is unrecognizably different from the undualized. They are incomparably better at understanding the functioning of other people, have access to conventional sources of emotion, and are pleasant and tactful in communication. Unfortunately, there are few of these, and this characterization was written on the examples of the undualized version.
Because of their ability to improve systems of external relations, the LSI is sometimes able to play the role of the revolutionary. What, for example, is the revolutionary nature of Martin Luther? Sometimes a few modest adjustments are enough to destroy an old system. When Luther went to Rome, he was struck by the inconsistency of the Vatican’s relations with the faithful. According to his type of thinking, everyone should occupy a hierarchical place according to class, religion, and ministry. All this was entangled with the system of indulgences. They allowed believers to purchase the right to act as they pleased. This is a disruption of the religious system and anarchy in which people do not know where their true place should be. Luther’s reform began with a modest effort to bring some order and logic to the system of relations between church and believers. Also, when one acts in the name of one’s Ego’s ideas, one is always bold and persistent.
Every system the LSI has ever observed lies dormant in their soul. Any of them are capable of coming to life at any moment.
What does the Theory of Intertype Relationships give the LSI? “There used to be situations,” writes Arnold, “in which I could not explain people’s relationships. There was no reason for the tension between people. And here everything is laid out, like chemistry. And when I began to analyze my team with it, everything became easier and easier, and this relieved the tension.”
This is understandable. Some of the incomprehensible and therefore frustrating relationships that previously seemed purely subjective, internal, and ethical, turned out to be objective, external, and logically explainable. What had previously been a source of frustration became a source of creativity for a new system of reasonable relations for large and small groups. Taking into account the organizational abilities of this personality type and the fact that they do not tolerate the illogical, it is very likely that they will be serious about applying the Theory of Intertype Relationships to their life. The LSI understands the logic of external relations better than anyone else and understands how to improve these relations equally as well – transfer them from the domain of interactions between elements to the sphere of systemic influences.
The goal of the LSI’s Ego Block is the reproduction of logical systems, and the means of accomplishing this is by through specific objects: things, finances, or people. The Ego Block, first and foremost, is an agitator, informing those around them about how they should or could earn and use their material goods. But since only those who manage material goods are the ones with real power, the LSI quickly acquires them for themselves. They only refuse a profitable deal if doing so promises more profit in the future. The LSI prefers to be the one to decide how money gets divided up, as this division is what brings real power. At the very least, the LSI would prefer to take on the role of the main financial advisor. People of this type are the best money handlers, bankers, and financers. It is not so much greed for money as it is a reluctance to put the most interesting thing in someone else’s hand: the spending for material goods. Is there anyone else who can handle it as well as they can? And so successfully invest their fortune in various cultural and historical values? After all, it is not for the sake of personal enrichment, but for the preservation of values!
The LSI is exceptionally creative at making new forms of objects. Both when they are an artist (Salvador Dalí) and when they are a craftsman, designer, or trendsetter.
All objects must meet certain logical parameters, be functional, and inspire others to copy them. A new object is their personal creative idea, which they try to spread around the world. They constantly demonstrate something new that they wish to get widely implemented or spread, because someone imitating them is a recognition of their creation having social value. They can create the most amazing beauty, but until they are imitated, the LSI will be restless and unsatisfied. They do not doubt, for example, that the color of their Volga* looks beautiful. But they are childishly happy when their neighbor buys a Volga of the same color. They also use their clothes to shape their environment and instill a taste for good and “logical” items into others by example. Both men and women of this type dress modestly and logically. The LSI gravitates towards strict, simple clothing, wearing uniforms that are fully buttoned up. On the other hand, the LSI tries to dress their partner with emphasized elegance and even opulence, to make them noticeable, which the LSI uses to cover their own introverted nature or as a “signboard”**.
* Translator’s note: Volga was a popular Russian car brand.
** Translator’s note: “Signboard” likely refers to a way of emphasizing status.
If the LSI begins to dress extravagantly in their appearance, such as wearing a hat or a uniform in an inappropriate place, it is already a militant protest against explicit or imaginary oppression, a “struggle for freedom”.
People with this type of personality can be the most adventurous, creative gardeners. Even on a small plot, they are able to grow everything they want. Each fruit tree usually bears several varieties of apples or pears.
Teachers with this type of personality are distinguished by strictness, coldness, and exactingness. The student is a student and must “know their place”. The systematic nature of the LSI’s thinking does not allow for deviation from what has been established. If the teacher says that some object is 1) heavy, 2) green, and 3) wooden, then God forbid a student says it in the wrong order! There is a hierarchy of these attributes. After all, there are no signs that are parallel! Any other order just isn’t right. Those who confuse this don’t know anything, are dumb and lazy. Students are called oak trees*, donkeys, etc. This is a projection of the object according to its logic. Only an oak tree or a donkey could have such logic. A colleague of mine used to call his students “tsvyakas.”** This word means something like a nail. We couldn’t understand why they thought of that word. And it turned out to be because a nail has a head that must be hit with a hammer. So he figuratively smacked his students in the head.
*Translator’s note: дубами, lit. oak trees, which is an insult that is a contextual reference to the fact that a tree is thick, like one’s skull, or “thick-skulled”.
**Translator’s note: This seems to be a Lithuanian word based on the Polish word “ćwiek”.
It’s very important to know who’s position allows them to walk through the door first, and who gets to say hello first. A logical hierarchy in one’s job is necessary. Otherwise, the system of external relations, which is the basis of the objective world, is violated. A tendency toward absolutism, a firm hand, a dictatorship. They are not necessarily the main dictator, but what is important is that the system of distant relations is simple and clear, constant, and that everyone knows their place. The hierarchical system also applies to their personal belongings – like their clothes and collections. Everything must always be in the proper order and proper place. They strictly divide which clothes are to be worn casually and on the weekend.
The LSI likes to give gifts or provide other people with basic necessities, but the LSI finds it unnecessary to receive gifts himself. They view gifts as spiritual support for another person as well as a means by which they try to win love. The purpose of gifts are to support the person in their deeds and endeavors, to try to pull them up and, at the same time, to establish that the LSI is needed by them. To mobilize them, to invigorate them, to raise them to a higher level of functioning. Or to guide them towards a new path. They do not like anniversary gifts, as they become habitual, obligatory, and cease to be a means of influencing others, nor as an expression of any feelings.
It is impossible to take care of the LSI’s dual in any other way: not only do you need to inform the LSI about the needs of their dual, but you also need to ensure that these needs are fulfilled and the dual is provided with the material objects. After all, gifting the item is not the only way – you can also help someone get it, or advise them on how and where to get it and how to distinguish a high-quality item from a low-quality one. The LSI offers objects in all kinds of situations in life: “I will find it”, “I will get it”, “I will gift it to you”, etc.
The LSI always knows who has a surplus of things and what kinds of things are in surplus, and knows how to politely wrestle them out. At the same time offering them to those who need them more. And the LSI does this from a very young age. They are much more open and noticeable about it at this age. For example, seven-year-old Tanya told her aunt that she “Would really, really like to have a jacket with a hood that you can wear” and so on. A discussion begins about the pros and cons of whether such a hoodie would droop or not. Suddenly, the girl starts laughing and says, “Auntie, auntie, do you hear how clever I am? Because no one knits as beautifully as you do.” Undoubtedly, their dual after such an incident would be doing what was requested of them. (The openness of this girl may also be due to the fact that her mother is also an LSI, and her older brother is an EIE.) But for me, the most interesting thing, in this case, is that a seven-year-old LSI already had an excellent grasp of both what things they needed and how to get them.
For the LSI, as well as every sensory type, the realization of the creative function should bring some material benefit. If not to them, then at least to their loved ones. For the LSI, this more or less leads to a natural increase in the material objects in their possession. That is why they are a desperate collector of all sorts of valuable things. They have a special knack for antiques.
Antique objects also give them a sense of proportionality of various material things. That’s why LSI constantly admires their collections, and studies or even restores them. They are inspired by the age, durability, strength, and aesthetics of old things. Even old tiles or bricks have value. It is very important to know that nothing is lost and bears the imprint of eternity. It’s extremely satisfying for the LSI to find ways to adapt those old things in their homes and restore them. For one person it’s a collection of old clocks, for another it’s motorcycles. One of my acquaintances built a house by cladding it with bricks from old buildings. It didn’t cost any less, and it took a lot more work, but this old-smelling house was an object of his pride. It is something that will inspire and support his vital energy in the future.
The LSI does not invent new systems, and their creative abilities are limited to reproducing and applying something invented by someone else. They reproduce what they have seen, read, or heard somewhere. Moreover, only the system itself is reproduced, and it doesn’t matter how others actually used it. The LSI’s creativity in reproducing systems lies in the fact that once they see a system, they understand how to apply it to various different objects. It all starts with the LSI agitating the people around them that their new system is better than the ones that already exist. The power of this persuasion is directly proportional to the strength of the LSI’s will or the energetic strength of the third half-phase. The LSI only includes themselves in this system of relationships only after it gains a following.
You cannot “buy” the LSI with money or gifts – this is how the LSI “buys” others instead. The LSI feels no gratitude for gifts, being certain that other people only give away things because they no longer need them, or because they “feel like it”. Rather, the LSI can be “won over” by someone who “gifts” them time, for example by giving good advice about time management.
In everyday life, the LSI strictly and meticulously corrects any deviations from the established system of relationships. Even in the minute little details. For example, bread must be cut in equal, even slices and in no way contact either end of the loaf. Even at a picnic, an LSI can start a scandal because someone cut a sausage crookedly. This is wrong!
The LSI is usually successful in their business ventures, because they anticipate the needs of those around them like no other. They know how much people value certain items, and they know how much these things are really worth. I knew a young engineer who had a side hustle on international stamp exchanges. The LSI never lets an item go to waste. If they have a vegetable garden, they either sell the surplus or give it away.
No one has the right to touch the LSI’s belongings. Or, at the very least, the LSI should be aware of it and arrange it themselves in advance. They often mark their things in a way that other people cannot see: with a piece of thread, a single hair, a small nail that can easily roll away, etc. They themselves are a different matter entirely. In a broad sense, not just the LSI’s personal belongings, but everything they can see is “theirs” (such as the belongings of their friends and acquaintances, and even public property). The LSI cares for them, worries about them and ponders about the most rational ways of using them. In their thoughts the LSI freely manipulates all objects they can see, which is why they have no shortage of advice about who should use which objects and how.
The LSI may say, “Money means nothing to me.” This is true to a certain extent, because they can’t be bribed by money. At the same time, however, few people are able to manipulate their working capital so successfully and increase their fortune so quickly if they take up the challenge. They don’t provide the little details about what made them money and what didn’t, and they only make it clear that their money matters are, in general, going well. They usually don’t seek expensive luxuries and lead a rather ascetic life. For the LSI, money is only a means of either influencing the environment or acquiring “cultural values”. But do they personally need it? It’s not like they are buying sensory comfort for themselves. That is why the LSI is sure that they personally can say, “money isn’t everything”.
When the LSI goes out for walks, they like to point out various objects. They show their companion all sorts of objects without pause and with great enthusiasm:
“Look, what a nice house! And what a lovely roof!”, “Look at that fence! Isn’t it nice? Although it could’ve been made better,” “Hey look, there’s a dog” etc. What does this give their dual? It’s not just that the LSI is noticing things that the EIE doesn’t pay attention to. It also raises the EIE’s vital energy, giving them a sense of tangible “objectivity,” a sense that the EIE is a material and concrete part of this world. And nobody, except the LSI’s dual, could understand why and how these simple words give rise to a burst of energy, self-confidence, and self-affirmation. And besides, this elevates both of them. After all, the LSI also needs information about objects to inspire other people. But in this case, it also inspires the LSI themselves.
Their sexual life ranges from emphasized asceticism to “total liberation”. They don’t see their desires as sinful. In fact, this is simply the use of one’s physical body as an object. If necessary, they use this “object” to spread this asceticism around. If necessary, they can also do the opposite.
In the behind-the-scenes discussions at the 1985 Zhytomyr Conference on Bionics, we talked about why many LIIs like a beard whose shape is only maintained by trimming it. The mustache aficionados are IEE, SEI, and EIE. But the IEE’s mustache is usually droopy, like Mark Twain’s (who is IEE), while the SEI has a bristly mustache, and the EIE has only a speck.
In response, a young scientist said: “Perhaps you can figure out my type by the beard I grow or shave.”
We had never considered that as an option before. It was only after we had established over personal conversation that he was an LSI, that it became clear that this suggestion was merely an ordinary manifestation of the LSI’s creativity with objects – the invention of a new form.
The first thing that the LSI does when they enter a new group is to impose relationships according to – they try to get acquainted with everyone at once, gauge the existing hierarchy, and choose a place for themselves. This is by their choice, and not a choice imposed on them, because they are programmed to dictate their external relationships. Here, for example, the LSI entered the institute and wrote, “I spend all my free time making new relationships, which is so difficult.” This is the realization of getting into relationships with people and – as a matter of fact – a division of territories.
The fabled “Yes, but…” I once observed a scene of a family. The SEI mother was going to the river to rinse her laundry, and she was carrying two buckets of water. Their twelve-year-old son, an EIE, was in a hurry to go fishing and asked his mother to grab his flippers and swim trunks at the same time: “Put them on top of the buckets.” The mother refused, but the son insisted. The argument went on forever, and neither side wanted to give in. This is commonplace for that family, and the son turned out to be so stubborn.
I met another person, an LSI, the EIE’s dual. I ask her how she would behave in this situation, because the words of one’s dual are magical and peaceful yet informative. “All right, I’d tell him…” my neighbor replied, “Yes, I’ll grab your flippers, but take one bucket of laundry.”
The EIE doesn’t understand objects, and they need to be told what to do with them. The boy probably didn’t want to carry the flippers, not because it was hard to, but because it was ugly. But if his mother told him to carry the bucket, that’d be another matter. The bucket wasn’t his, it was hers. This is the logic of this type’s psyche and intertype relationships.
Vital Ring and Vital Activity
The psychic energy of the Vital Ring is intended for the perception of information about the functioning of one’s own organism, to both adapt and manage it. The external realities of the information reflected by the information elements in this ring are perceived only as much as it directly affects the own functioning of one’s own body, whether by hindering it or helping to control it. It is as if seeing the world through the prism of one’s body, to see from “within”. It is precisely this “vision from within” that the various Oriental spiritual schools teach. In any case, they require that this vision be taken into account.
The two blocks of the ring are the physical, vital Self of a person, which is self-contained in two senses: first, that it knows little about the world around it and secondly, that the functioning of one block is conditioned by the results of the other.
We know the following about the functioning of the Vital Ring:
1) To perceive information about the state of one’s own body by listening to the undifferentiated signals received from it.
Verbally boasting or complaining about one’s condition. These often have little to do with the actual state of affairs. For most people, it is the usual ridiculous boasting or endless whining. Only an identical or dual can make sense of them. The identical understands the signals as they are are better, while the dual better understands what should be done with them.
2) Spontaneous activity alone or in tandem with the activity of their fellow people, or in accordance with their program. See Vital Ring and Model A diagrams.
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The LSI’s Vital Ring is a dynamic, extraverted ring. Its accepting half-phases are and 
. Therefore, the foundation of one’s inner physical world, as well as the storehouse of vital energy is through the supply of emotionally stimulating signals and irritants. As well as stimuli inclined to dictate the external use of their energy according to extraverted logic.
Vital Ring
The control of the LSI’s personal well-being according to 
is extremely spontaneous, and is also distinguished by demonstrativeness and stubbornness. This can be avoided if they are externally programmed not to do so. The LSI is incapable of taking into account neither the development of emotions of others, nor their actions, nor those external processes, which are brought to their attention by their organizational activity. The LSI only sees their own “noble goals” and the fact that those around the LSI are obstructing them in attaining such goals, which the LSI feels is a “plot” against them.
The vital energy of LSI’s body is produced when excited by emotions.
The LSI is so in need of an emotional background that they may even complain to their colleagues about someone: “Why is he not telling me anything about his life?”*. On the other hand, the LSI will never complain that the other person is not doing anything.
* Translator’s note: «Почему он мне ничего не рассказывает?» Lit. “Why doesn’t he tell me anything?”, which based on context, seems to refer to a lack of information about their inner emotional life (
).
Super-Id Block. ➜
The block is organized from extraverted ethics and introverted intuition. This means that sufficient emotional excitement ensures the rhythm of life will restore itself. Without excitement, the LSI does not even see a future in even the next day. Living without a tomorrow leads to fear, which can go as far as suicidal ideation.
When using their time, the LSI is spontaneous and completely helpless when it comes to planning, but as long as they can, they try to hide it, “keep their chin up” and solve their problems by sacrificing sleep. When the LSI feels a lack of time, the rhythm of their sleep is disrupted, or they stop sleeping altogether. In a certain type of responsible work, they can switch to such a regime: when everybody is asleep, they are vigilant. They don’t understand how this affects others, and even if he did, they would not be able to change anything without emotional commands from the EIE.
The Super-Id’s state represents the state of the individual’s body. But no one can handle these states by themselves. Therefore, the more people around them take care of its functioning, the greater, all other things being equal, the vitality, energy, and physical strength of the individual, the better their state of health.
When there are not enough sources of excitement and the body needs to work, the harmony of one’s body becomes disturbed.
If the LSI isn’t chatting among their company, only the EIE knows that they are suffering in silence. Because of the fact that others do not show interest in them, they feel that their presence is unimportant and unnecessary. Whereas others would speak out of boredom, the LSI remains silent in their suffering. Both of these mean the same thing.
The tendency towards tragedy and emotional grandiosity is inherent to the Beta and Delta quadras, and the tendency to turn the most serious of situations into light-hearted comedy is characteristic of the Alpha and Delta quadras.
*Translator’s note: Augustinavičiūtė intentionally included “Delta” twice here.
We must not forget that the Super-Id is the block of anti-conscience*. Therefore, the LSI only blames others for their emotional discomfort, anxiety, and failures in their emotional life, as well as when it comes to their hectic use of time. From the LSI’s point of view, it is not Othello who is to blame, who killed Desdemona in a fit of jealousy, but Iago who caused the rage. There is reason to assert that Iago is the LSI’s social requestee, and Othello’s uncompromising attitude simply made Iago laugh. The handkerchief scene, from the point of view of the ILE-SEI dyad, is perceived as a joke that no one would pay attention to, because in this dyad, love is not judged by the distribution of objects.
*Translator’s note: Anti-conscience is an idea that other people around you are guilty, even if it’s your fault. See the Super-Id page.
The second half-phase is the “igniter,” so the LSI needs support, assistance, and reassurance that everything is going smoothly. If someone were to do just fine without the LSI and manage everything in this information on their own, that would reduce the LSI’s vital energy and dampen their mood.
When the LSI is taking a college exam, their success is more determined by the situation on their second phase than by their knowledge. The LSI needs to be sure that they have as much time as they need to answer the questions. If they are told: “Say only what’s essential – and quickly” – they would get confused and lost. In a situation like this they do not understand what they are expected to do. If the couldn’t pass their exam in due time, the blame, of course, is not on the LSI themselves, but on the other people who did not “order” them to start studying in time.
If the LSI teacher is holding an exam, and they notice that the examinee is somewhat confused, they get involved and start answering the question themselves. In such a situation the LSI must be interrupted, or they will not stop and will answer the question in full, after which they will be certain that the student knew the subject poorly. When the LSI is interrupted, they do not get offended, taking it as par for the course.
The LSI may complain from their Super-Id about some unfortunate time that they lived through because of other people. Rough childhoods, war, and bad education are all time wasted because of other people. But not only are they guilty of creating these things, but they are also to blame for constantly failing to suggest the best use of their time.
The LSI’s capacity for work, in which they, like all static types, are extremely interested in, depends on the real emotional background that they are absorbed in. That is why the LSI is fond of music and is often inclined to sing themselves. In Western nations, it is the LSI that most often makes a name for themselves as pop stars.
With the proper emotional background, the LSI feels less tired and is much more able to work. I saw an LSI, who is now a famous professor, who studied the works of Karl Marx with light 1950s music playing on the radio.
Another LSI said that before important performances, they listened to certain types of music in order to get into the necessary emotional state to perform well.
The LSI expects that their partner constantly corrects the use of their time and that they support the LSI in using it rationally. They want specific instructions from their partner: “This is a good way to spend your time, it is noble and will elevate you. And that is a stupid way to spend your time. It is useless, wrong, or even immoral.”
If no one uses the LSI’s time well, they try to spend their nights doing what they didn’t have time for during the day. And if, in addition, the LSI has too much power in their hands, then their subordinates cease to understand when to work and when to rest.
If you could say that some types of IM burn through their work, the LSI slowly melts it away. This is because their workflow is not explosive, and they work calmly, confidently, and systematically.
The LSI is greatly complimented when people wonder how much they are managing. This is not even a just compliment, but a form of moral support, since they really do juggle a lot of things under their belt.
Id Block. ➜
This block is composed of extraverted logic and introverted sensation. It means that one’s deeds and physical activity are what ensure good health. For the LSI, this represents how they themselves perceive the information, whether they can brag about their well-being to others, and whether they can surprise people with their sensory endurance so that they gain confidence that others can rely upon them in difficult situations.
On the Id Block, the individual listens not to their mind or will, but to the mind and will of society, which they fulfill to the best of their ability. On the third half-phase, they try not to oppose themselves against those around them, and on the fourth, they try to earn praise and get a response out of others with their truly amazing endurance. But if they are pushed beyond their physical capabilities, which depend on emotional reinforcement, they become lost and rebellious, doing nothing and obeying no one until they restore mental and physical balance.
The Id Block is subject to the will of society, so the LSI does not think about which actions are intelligent or not, but listens to those around them. And when the opportunity arises, they eagerly help others. They also spend their energy sparingly and are willing to teach this to others. They are careful not to impose their knowledge on anyone, God forbid, about what should be done and when.
– this is where the LSI themselves submit to the will and program of others, and – this is where they try to shine with an exceptionally surprising result – remaining in good health under incredibly adverse conditions.
The Id block is almost always capable of executing the programming it received. The LSI is able to create a situation in their space that suits them and their loved ones. They achieve this without regard to their strength and well-being. Others should understand that the LSI is able to stand up for them, beautify their life, and make their lives feel sensually pleasant and even luxurious.
They do not impose their work upon anyone and are vigilant about not disturbing others with it. If there is a suspicion that this has happened, they feel extremely uncomfortable. They themselves are programmed by everyone who them what to do. That is why the LSI often confesses that they does not like to be in charge, and that they’d rather be a high performer, who is praised for the quality of their work. The trouble with the LSIs are that when they become bosses, they remain the same and, moreover, they are still too good of performers. Since they are incapable of giving orders, they can wear down their subordinates by working meaningless hours when there is no work to do, and by working overtime as soon as there is any. If someone does something wrong, it is uncomfortable to tell them that, and the LSI tends to redo it or correct it themselves. There is a fear of having to make decisions by themselves when others are responsible for executing them. And they are too eager to pretend that their work is going full speed, when reality there is nothing happening. They can’t stand it when someone does something for the LSI rather than their own pleasure.
They work at their own pace, without pausing or taking a break, until they achieve their desired result. They lose themselves in this work, and won’t stop on their own volition. They neglect their food and rest. But if this work does not bring an emotional boost and there is nothing to restore their vital energy, then they will start their next session of work begrudgingly, uninspired, and careless in their actions.
The LSI blindly believes in anonymous accounts:
“Because how can someone make up something that they haven’t seen with their own eyes?”
Sometimes the LSI gets sick too. To be fair, this is rare because it is extremely embarrassing for them. How can the LSI reduce the shame of getting sick leave? It turns out that you can, by announcing that it was upon orders of a doctor. Or for money. “So what is it?” they can respond to criticism, “Is it shameful to get money now? It is a shame to be sick.” Nevertheless, even with sick leave, the LSI feels obligated to show up at work anyways or pop around in public places.
This at least partially reduces the shamefulness. To others, however, it seems that the LSI is simply demonstrating their disrespect for the law.
If the LSI didn’t make it into the army, it is because they were “bought out”. That’s what they tell everyone, at least. The bigger the “ransom”, the better their health. I had to hear the teachings that an EIE mother gave to her LSI son: “Never give people information that an evil person could use against someone. There are times when you talk about a person and think you are speaking well. But in the eyes of God, you’re hurting them anyway, consciously or not. Talk about yourself in such a way that an evil person cannot use your words to harm someone.” This vague and somewhat mystical teaching is the only thing that apparently reaches the LSI and programs what they can and cannot say.
Their dual also tries to not show their true physical condition. But that’s a different matter. In that sense, they are still aware that their condition is bad, and only do not know whether it is bad enough according to objective measures to, for example, start treating themselves for the flu or pneumonia. And in this case, they simply have no idea about their own well-being, nor do they give a damn. The LSI demonstrates their sensitive concern for the health of the partner in a variety of different ways. For instance, they might frame it as a concern for their appearance, saying “Go lie down for a while, you don’t look too well.” Or – “You look like you’ve been aging fast, you need to work less.” The EIE views this behavior as tactful, quality education from the partner. In reality, the LSI is just completely ignorant of both their own well-being and the well-being of others and can therefore even become cruel.
Sometimes a child from this dyad does not eat when they’re at a party. For an EIE – because they are simply afraid to do something inelegant and unsightly, and are afraid to shock someone with their gluttony. And the LSI – because they simply have a physical need to demonstrate their special stamina, the strength of their mind, and how great they feel in conditions in which others have no patience.
The LSI’s movements, both when working and walking, are distinguished by a particular softness, stealthiness, and cautiousness. It is all the same effort not to impose their motor activity on others and not to disturb them. (We know that their dual is irritated by abrupt and inappropriate movements.) These are cat-like movements that would not scare away even a mouse. When walking, they sometimes playfully “wiggle” their legs.
The LSI does not make empty, meaningless movements. But only “empty” ones. They like to “toy around” with objects, where they feel them for a while, and then as if unconsciously, move them from one hand to the other or one place to the other. It is an unconscious sensory study of the proportions and constituent parts of objects: studying a body by their body.
The more vital energy the LSI has, the more they are willing and able to endure sensory discomfort. It tends to be a means for them to expend their accumulated energy. But if, for example, those around them groan over the LSI’s pale appearance from not eating much, the LSI will eat even less. If they complain about the fact that a person of this type looks young for their age, then this person will become even younger. If they are surprised that they live on peppers or cheap sweets or vice versa – that they can’t put candy in their mouths – they will demonstrate that even more zealously. They take every opportunity to reiterate that they are not tired at work, that they are not hungry without lunch, and that they do not get hurt from a blow. An LSI teenager may say, “I don’t get tired from work. Not only can I work, but I can do it without sleep and still feel good.” And this behavior is all just to get the attention of those around them, which is what makes them really strong.
Additions and notes to all sections
Not everything we have learned about the LSI can be easily systematized and assigned to individual blocks and half-phases. Below are some of our unorganized notes.
Here is a letter from Arnold, which can be a perfect illustration of how the LSI perceives themselves: “I don’t like to load up my memory with information that is necessary but not interesting to me. (…) Inert. Starting any business, something especially necessary but not interesting is agony! But once I start, it’s hard to stop – I can forget about everything in the world. (…) When I’m involved with something, and I’m juggling many hobbies at once (literature, technical writing, arts and crafts), I let them all live side by side, and although I don’t do them all at once, I don’t consider any of them abandoned. (…) I can be a fanatic about anything I do. I am compliant in life. I try to get rid of my egoism. I really like interesting people. (…) I am greedy for knowledge. In this respect, I suffer from the lack of my own creative abilities. I blame myself for “not working on myself”, but most of the time I feel lazy. One year I studied music but gave it up because of laziness. Once I was interested in seeing, from a purely logical point of view, what was so special about Pushkin’s poems (for which he’s so praised), and for I attended a literary club for 5 years. I got the answer to my question. I myself have been writing poetry since fourth grade.”.
People of this personality type have an interesting property – the ability to divide their attention. I don’t know what block this property belongs to. For example, there is an ability to listen to what the teacher is talking about while simultaneously talking to a student sitting next to their desk. And the LSI is able to repeat what the teacher was saying, even though they were not paying attention, but only hearing their words from the fringes of their ears. What block does this property belong to? And what other types of IM are distinguished by this property?
Stealing is a way to creatively manipulate an object. The LSI, who, for some reason, has no other way of being creative and who was once pushed to it by someone else (they themselves are not capable of performing unknown actions, let alone actions that are not recognized by his reference group), is able to become a skilled thief. For some reason, when this type steals, they feel a certain “awakening of feelings”, or a “joy of risk”, or “exceptionally pleasant, sharp sensations,” “a joy of aggravation of all sensations.” Therefore, the LSI can steal solely for pleasure, for “sport”.
An LSI, who knows how to steal and has tasted the joy of this danger, might steal from time to time just to see people get emotionally stirred up, getting a kick out of it in the process. (Or to laugh at the uncertainty – of whether the person they stole from thinks they were robbed or whether they lost their things themselves.)
And sometimes they look at this game of theirs as an “act of Robinhood”*. For example, if someone has something which they are not able to enjoy. A connoisseur of good things – the LSI – or more often, their friend needs it badly, and the person they’re stealing from inherited this for no reason. Is this the right thing to do? Surely a redistribution is needed. Or, for example, how can one not take what one needs from a collective farm, if there is “no order” there?
*Translator’s note: This is an adaptation of экспроприацию экспроприаторов (reference to Karl Marx’s expropriation of expropriators)
It is difficult to determine where mere boredom and underdevelopment of one’s personality ends, and where mental illness begins. I know an intelligent, pleasant-looking woman (a teacher) who kept her whole staff in suspense for 20 years by gossiping about who was stealing. What kind of person is this scoundrel? What was it? Were they pampered or is it an illness? Psychiatrists did not investigate the case; she left of her own accord to keep the other coworkers in suspense.
And that begs the question, what about their conscience? Shouldn’t this torment them? But a person’s conscience is on their Super-Ego block. The LSI is tormented when they betray the feelings of a loving person or if they have prevented someone from manifesting their spiritual richness. Their relationship with objects and their manipulation of objects is not a matter of conscience. It is a matter of their intellect, of what kind of creative activity that this type of thinking is prepared for. And if they are ashamed, it is not because they stole, but because they didn’t steal well – it is a shame to work badly.
And at the same time… “I’m distrustful myself” an LSI once told me, “and I cannot stand the mistrust or suspicion of others.” If someone has lost something, and even if I am not remotely guilty at all, I am very uncomfortable. But note the words “and if I’m not even remotely guilty”. That’s not the way someone who has never stolen someone else’s stuff says it.
Sometimes you may notice that the LSI behaves strangely when caught in a life-threatening situation, such as being surrounded by gang members. This is when they do not defend themselves or quietly endure beatings.
Using energy on any other half-phase is associated with some physical discomfort, whereas using it on the fourth phase is the most normal, most appropriate for each personality type. It can apparently be used as long as there’s energy, just like a glass of water can be emptied as long as there’s still water, without affecting the glass itself. For , for example, it is extraverted logical energy for physical labor and movement. They really don’t feel tired until they collapse. And after they collapse they still don’t feel tired, just unable to move. The LSI has this with introverted sensation, and they are confident that they feel good all the time, regardless of any actual physical discomfort.
In situations where others strike back or run away, the LSI demonstrates submissiveness, passivity, and demobilization. What can be gained from this? It turns out that in contact with their dual, the EIE – they have everything to gain, because the EIE is only aggressive against the unruly, only when they’re facing resistance. When faced with compliance, the EIE is completely helpless. They simply don’t turn on or off. They test their strength on those and show their irritation only to those who don’t give in.
In general, with their relaxed state when meeting delinquents, the LSI tries to influence them by imposing their inner relaxation onto such delinquents. (Like an animal that reveals its most vulnerable side to another animal.) And besides, we have already said before that the LSI “knows their place”. And if they are not the leader here, then they are a prisoner, and they should stay quiet, humble, and, as decency dictates, frightened. The most important thing here is respect, which, apparently, is what the gang and its leader lack. The LSI simply takes their “proper” place in this system. And whether they can be called a masochist for that, I don’t know.
The LSI-EIE dyad believes that it is extremely rude to criticize or banter about how someone manifests their internal content. “It is,” as one said, “the same as staring at a disabled person. Because people are extremely cautious when it comes to showing their internal content. And it leaves them defenseless, yet diligent to bring forth the best that is inside of them.” If there is something to be seen. And if there isn’t, it is a flaw that is simply inhumane to make fun of. The existing ban on testing is the result of the LSI’s intolerance of viewing a person’s inner qualities through a magnifying glass.
On the other hand, if they were offended or intruded upon, then they would try to make things even. But often they simply leave and usually only get even in a fit of rage.
Although it sounds ridiculous, I had to deal with representatives of this personality type, who in their childhood or teenage years, as a result of a lack of guidance from a dual in their emotional life, admired every dictator. Even if these dictators were of the enemy, if their admiration was purely emotional. And this wasn’t before the war*, but in present times. And yes, this includes Hitler.
*Translator’s Note: This is in reference to World War II.
When you have a good relationship with a teacher, a low grade is perceived as a sign of a special disposition towards you, as a certain conspiracy, a hidden way of showing psychological closeness. I myself had a student whom I loved both for her intelligence and her affection. One day, for the encouragement of the whole class, I gave her an “A” for a couple of good answers from her seat. It was a common method of encouragement, a way to cut down on boring “examinations” for me to grade and increase the number of good grades. Her reaction was so unexpected that I immediately felt like a traitor. She hid her eyes and stopped looking in my direction. At the next lesson, I had to call her to the blackboard, to ask a single question, which she either did not want to answer, or couldn’t figure out, and gave her a “D”. She returned to her seat like a happy winner. Our relationship was completely restored and became fun again.
The LSI explains their failures because they showed the wrong manners. The schoolgirl, who received a grade on the exam that was clearly worse than she deserved, was worried not so much about the grade itself, but rather about the fact that the teacher once noticed that her attitude wasn’t so friendly.
Author’s Afterword. The author of this work is not an LSI, but an ILE, so some mistakes or serious omissions are possible in the interpretation of the image of the LSI type.
A New Interpretation of Model A.
Today, I believe that behind each symbol of Model A is one of the two associated meridians. For example, introverted sensation has two meridians: the Pericardium and the Triple Burner. One of them – the Triple Burner – belongs to the type model of the LSI, the other – the Pericardium – into the type model of their dual, the EIE.
| LSI | EIE |
|---|---|
| Large Intestine (Yang) | Lungs (Yin) |
| Liver (Yin) | Gallbladder (Yang) |
| Small Intestine (Yang) | Heart (Yin) |
| Spleen / Pancreas (Yin) | Stomach (Yang) |
| Triple Burner (Yang) | Pericardium (Yin) |
| Kidneys (Yin) | Bladder (Yang) |
Meridians that are not included in this Model of IM can be called “shadow meridians”.
The division of the back middle and front middle into Yin and Yang is determined not only by type, but also by gender.
That division into Yin and Yang, which is shown below, suits not only LSIs and EIEs but also all representatives of the same left ring of social progress*. That is, the diagrams of EIE, SEE, LSE, and ILE.
*Translator’s note: While Viktor Gulenko refers to Process types as “Right” types and Result Types as “Left”, Augustinavičiūtė did the reverse.
| Women | Men |
|---|---|
| Anterior Middle – In the zone of the first chakra (Yang) | Anteror Median – From above to the first chakra (Yang) |
| Posterior Median – From below to the beginning of the neck (Yin) | Posterior Median – In the area of the head and neck (Yin) |
As you can see, for a man and a woman, different parts of the same meridian enter the type model. The male model includes the upper part of the rear middle, and the female model includes the lower part. But they contain the same sign. That is, both are Yin. Therefore, if we take identical sections of the meridians, it turns out that they are with the opposite sign: one is Yin (-), the other is Yang (+), that is, they are attracted to each other. No wonder someone noticed that representatives of their own ring of social progress are sexually more attractive.
It’s easy to see, especially if you return to Fig. 2. that information is perceived along the Yin meridians, where a person listens to the environment through these, and is obedient, while they command themselves through the Yang. For example, for the LSI:
Yin – , ,
Yang – , ,
This means that their actions, emotions, and manifestations of will are determined by the requirements and requests of those around them, and primarily, duals. As for who should occupy what place, how and whom to love, what should be pleasant and what should not. — the LSI dictates themselves. It is more difficult when it comes to introverted and extraverted intuition, because there you have to take into account gender.
So, from all that has been said, one can draw approximately the following conclusion:
1) Along paired meridians, duals complement each other, regardless of gender. The male LSI complements all EIEs along these.
2) Along the middle meridians, the same LSI usually complements only female EIEs.
However, there are exceptional cases when he does not complement the dual women in this. These are certain deviations, sometimes called “socialization”. There are female and male “socialization”. An ordinary man has a female “socialization”, a woman has a male one. This is the majority. But in rare exceptions, men have masculine, and women have feminine “socialization”. A man with the usual female “socialization” for the majority does not complement a woman with the same “socialization”. Now we know that the whole point is that they have the same order of “yin-yang” middle meridians.
It is possible that the phenomenon that is called “socialization” here has some other name, but I do not know it.
What Socionics is probably most interested in in the problem of “Yin and Yang” extraverted intuition is that people whose backs are Yin have a Yang head. And whoever has a Yang back, has a Yin head.
Women in the Left Ring of social progress have a Yang Head (with the exception of women with so-called female “socialization”) and so do all men of the Right Ring (with the exception of men with male “socialization.”)
* Translator’s note: A reminder that the Left Ring of Social Progress refers to Process types, and the Right Ring as result types, unlike more common notation systems today.
Men in the Left Ring of social progress have a Yin head (except for men with so-called male “socialization”) and also for women of the Right Ring (except for those with female “socialization.”)
I wonder what this peculiar opposition of the Head to the Back does in real life? Recall that the Yin receives information and responds to it, while the Yang dictates, and demands for execution.
Extraverted Intuition is the sum of a person’s physical and mental abilities. Apparently, the realization of physical abilities belongs to the back part of the back middle meridian, and the realization of psychic abilities belongs to the head part. If so, then those who have a Yin head are more inclined to work with their brains at the request of society. Those who have a Yang head are more inclined to dictate about what kind of problems you need to ponder about.
Those who have a Yin back try to develop their physical abilities in order to cope with all tasks that require physical precision and skill. Those who have a Yang one demand the same, first of all, from others.
For this reason, among the ILE, for example, women are more “parliamentary” than men. And Peter I, Winston Churchill, or Mahatma Gandhi belonging to this type were in the minority, that is, they simply had Yang heads as an exception.
This can be shown by the example of our most popular male actors of the SEI type. A societally common version of the Yin-headed, benevolent SEI is Yevgeny Leonov, Bulat Okudzhava, and the rare Yang-headed ones are Leonid Bronevoy. Dumas, the father, was also a Yang-headed one, that is, he had a male “socialization”.
Something similar can be said about the Yin-Yang nature of the front middle meridian. Only there we are talking about the initiative or waiting behind in the field of future problems, including in the field of procreation.
Augusta Project 