(1): Expecting every scientist to be NT:
“I have always found that people of mediocre knowledge of the world expected the most from systematic [typologies]. Men who know the world are the best [typologists] and expect the least from general rules.” – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799), quoted in Paul J. Stern: C.G. Jung – The Haunted Prophet, 1976
“Scientific thought, based on the cooperation of experiment and theory, is a combination of thinking and sensation.” – Wolfgang Pauli: Writings on Physics and Philosophy, 1994
“Many scientists are probably sensates; they tend to be fascinated with facts and with discovering and observing how things work.” – Mary Ann Mattoon: Jungian Psychology in Perspective, 1985
(2): Expecting every thoughtful person to be an N type:
“[I try to discover the creative geniuses amongst the sensation types] because in general intelligent people hold that creative imagination, whether in art, literature, mathematics, music or science, is more apt to be found in people who perceive the world by intuition than in people who perceive the world by sensation. I think studies of the immortals [i.e. the great geniuses] may not bear out that general belief. I submit that the superior function is sensation, not intuition, in Michelangelo in art, particularly in his Moses which so fascinated Freud; Bach in music, and Freud in the mechanics of the human mind.” – Horace Gray: Freud and Jung; Their Contrasting Psychological Types, 1949
“Like stupidity … [intelligence] is not a function, but a modality; the word tells us no more than how a function is working, not what is functioning.” – Jung: Psychological Types §949
“[Some people have an] underlying assumption … that S and N is not a true dichotomy in its own right, but that N types are really S types with an extra layer. This assumption is clearly incorrect, in so far as the Intuitive dominant types tend to have definite problems mastering their Sensation.” – Ric Velasquez, How to Fail at Typing Musicians, 2013
(3): Expecting every creative artist to be an N type:
“Jung attaches great importance to the creative activity of fantasy, which he even puts in a category of its own, because in his opinion it cannot be subordinated to any of the four basic functions, but partakes of them all. He rejects the usual notion that artistic inspiration is limited to the intuitive type. … Fantasy is indeed the source of all creative inspiration, but it is a gift that can come to any of the four types.” – Jolande Jacobi: The Psychology of C.G. Jung, 1942
“[If there exists] an aptitude for expression in any way proportional to the intensity of [the Si types’] sensations, the irrationality of this type would be extraordinarily striking. This is the case, for instance, when an individual [of the Si type] is a creative artist.” – C.G. Jung: Psychological Types, 1921
(4): Thinking that physical characteristics are relevant to Jungian typology:
“Unlike Freud who [had] the assumption of the sovereignty of the physical constitution, trying to turn everything back in theory into instinctual processes conditioned by the body, I start with the assumption of the sovereignty of the psyche.” – C.G. Jung: Psychological Types, 1921
“Jung’s typology omits any reference to bodily characteristics and is confined to the classification of normal psychic data. This should be noted.” – E.A. Bennet: What Jung Really Said, 1967
“[Jung’s] contribution was a purely psychological classification into the now familiar categories.” – Joan Evans, Taste and Temperament, 1939
(5): Confusing introspection (N) with introversion (I), or believing than introverts are more introspective than extroverts:
“[Within Jung’s typology] introversion is often confused with introspection.” – E.A. Bennet: What Jung Really Said, 1967
“An extravert’s [introspection] is especially genuine and and especially pure and deep. Extraverts are often so proud of this that they boast loudly about what great introverts they are. They try to make it a feather in their cap – which is [again] quite extraverted.” – Marie-Louise von Franz: Lectures on Jung’s Typology, 1971
“[In typology, there is an] error of confusing extraversion (E) with observation (S) and introversion (I) with introspection (N).” – David Keirsey, Please Understand Me II, 1998
(6): Confusing preference with ability:
“… in [Freud’s] mental make-up sensation was a far more active element than intuition. This statement is of course perfectly compatible with the thesis that intuition, though the less active of the two functions in him and though deprecated by him, may have been of a quality superior to most men. But it cannot be repeated too often that the types … aim to discriminate between people, not in merit, but broadly in their usual ways of mental operations..” – Horace Gray: Freud and Jung; Their Contrasting Psychological Types, 1949
“Steve Jobs’ Ni may be tertiary, but it’s better than yours.” – CelebrityTypes Admin Team, 2013
(7): Thinking that specific behavior determines type:
“[Behaviorism is an] unsound philosophical prejudice.” – C.G. Jung, Personal letter to Henry A. Murray, 1948
“The specific value of Jung’s [type] concepts is that they do not operate on the surface. … When, for example, Jung describes a man as an extraverted feeling type … he is describing the nature of the libido movement in the individual and the psychological function to which this movement is attached.” – Ira Progroff, Jung’s Psychology and Its Social Meaning, 1953
“One might consider an individual to be an extravert, because he displays in reactions and superficial character those qualities and tendencies which we associate with the extravert type. … [But sometimes] careful observation … will reveal … an unconsciously constructed disguise.” – Beatrice Hinkle, The Re-Creating of the Individual, 1923
“Since I am not a behaviourist, I take leave to suppose that you are still very far from the real man when you observe only his behaviour. I regard behaviour as a mere husk that conceals the living substance within.” – C.G. Jung: Civilization in Transition §967
“… while Se types will on average have a greater affinity for extreme sports, one cannot say that because a given person has an affinity for extreme sports, that then makes him an Se type. An affinity for extreme sports is a piece of mental contents. The process that led the person to take an interest in extreme sports is a mental process. When we set out to determine someone’s psychological type, we are trying to determine their mental processes [functions]. If we were simply relying on a static checklist of mental contents, then we would be employing a behavioristic approach. And Jungian typology is not behaviorism.” – CelebrityTypes Admin Team, Typings in King: ‘Jung’s Four and Some Philosphers,’ 2013
(7.1) Thinking that Traits Determine Type:
“Jung proposed one of the first models of adult personality development … Instead of traits, he described various functions or structures in the psyche that governed the flow of behavior and experience.” – Costa & McCrae, Personality in Adulthood, 2003
(8): Believing oneself an expert on typology after two weeks of study:
“Temperament … is a very difficult subject which most psychologists are glad to leave alone.” – William MacDougal, Introduction to Social Psychology, 1921
“[Typing someone] requires a fine diagnostic sense.” – Beatrice Hinkle, The Re-Creating of the Individual, 1923
“[There are some who] desire to possess profound knowledge without profound effort in thinking.” – Cosma Shalizi, Review of Paul Krugman’s ‘Pop Internationalism,’ 1998
“[Typing someone] is interesting but difficult.” – C.G. Jung, quoted in Bair: Jung: A Biography (Little & Brown 2004) p. 207
Bonus point: (9): Believing that great military commanders are usually N dominant:
“There are men who, by their … make-up, create for themselves a complete picture built upon a single detail. Whatever … other good qualities they may have, nature has not marked them for the command of armies.” – Napoleon Bonaparte, The Military Maxims, 1827
“One outstanding member of the [ISJ] type is a two-star general. His well-balanced [Si] gives him … the shock-absorbing mental robustness, which is the first requirement for a general … the painstaking attention to administration and supply, … and the strict realism of sensing.” – Isabel Myers, Gifts Differing, 1980
Advanced Lesson: (10): Not Factoring in Personality Disorders
“[Jungian typology] is but one segment of our new [psychological] knowledge, it is but one section of science in general; and this new … body of knowledge must … receive some sort of integration before the function of each particular branch is disclosed.” – James Oppenheim, American Types, 1930
“We try to be careful to use the system as it was intended: It says something about the arrangement of the four functions and their orientations. All sorts of other factors that pertain to the personality are, in effect, irrelevant to the system. For example, whenever people see a Hollywood star with narcissistic traits, they immediately think that person is some type with Fi because “narcissists are frequently at odds with social norms and so are Fi users.” So in reality, most people have a sort of psychological myopia where they want to fit everything into typology because they are not acquainted with anything but typology.” – CelebrityTypes Admin Team, 2013