# What Did You Learn by Mistyping?



## Figure (Jun 22, 2011)

We're prone to think that mistyping is a bad thing here, but I don't think there are many better ways of learning about the other types intimately. We experience more than one type on any given day, and many of the types themselves share very similar attitudes or behaviors for very different motivations. Generally speaking, it can be difficult to separate the "what" from the "why" because the "why," while deeply ingrained within, can easily be masked by the verbiage of our enneagram authors and resources. Our raw tendencies are obvious when we rip that mask off, but until we find a way to do that, it's very easy to apply the buzz words of other types to our attitude and behaviors quite legitimately. 

I think we need a common place to discuss what we have learned through our mistypes. What caused you to mistype? Are you considering being mistyped now, and why? Did you misapply the language of a type and find out later that you were really motivated in a different way, or did you mistype for a different reason? Were you able to draw any significant distinctions after you realized you were mistyped? 

Those are just a few icebreaker questions, feel free to share anything you think may help others identify, parse through, or recognize a mistype


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

When I personally talk about mistyping as "bad," I generally mean two sorts: (a) the person who changes their type on a whim and acts as if suddenly they're right, just like the last ten times they've done it; (b) the person who doesn't bother considering other types as a possibility, and/or doesn't bother actually learning about the Enneagram. Both of these show such a shallow understanding of the system (and themselves) that it's laughable, and can be quite prevalent in the communities (the "B" category moreso). Genuinely mistyping despite putting effort into learning, or admitting that you might be wrong about your type, or saying that you are still learning -- these are expected and understandable circumstances. 

When I first learned about the Enneagram, I was confused between two main types: 6 and 9. What it really came down to was confusing phobic 6 traits for 9 avoidance. Eventually I learned that I was reactive, even if I didn't put that reactivity on display; I'm _definitely_ not a positive-outlooker, though I can sometimes mask as one (I'm highly idealistic). When I decided on type 6, I had a very hard time with the wings, because back then there was less information. I had to conglomerate a ton of sources to finally reconcile how 6w7 + sp/sx + introversion would work in a person, how 6w5 _did not_ mean the "introverted 6" and how 6w7 _did not_ mean the "bubbly 6."

I don't actually remember why I never considered type 5 for myself, back then. It just never crossed my mind for some reason, though it probably should have.

And then there's my tritype, but that's relatively minor in comparison. I thought I was 694 'cause I hate conflict and always look for something and (insert other stereotypes), but I always felt too "outwardly angry" to be 9-fixed. The blow-ups I have made me change my "obvious" 9w1 fix to a 9w8 fix, because _obviously_ 9w8s show their anger more. As it turns out, a 1w9 fix explains a hell of a lot more, along with my phobic tendencies and other non-type neuroses.

I mostly just got lucky on choosing sp/sx and a 4w5-fix for myself. Some people tried to argue for sp/so (I strongly considered this as a possibility) and a 2w1-fix, but those options never panned out.


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## The Scorched Earth (May 17, 2010)

I learned that in the end, none of it really matters.


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## Sixty Nein (Feb 13, 2011)

That typing based off of behavioral ques is dumb, and that most of the theories about even behavioral issues are poorly tested.


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## Life.Is.A.Game (Nov 5, 2010)

I've mistyped myself several times, mostly likely I have been through all 16 types. The reason being that I don't like to read too much about the theories, so I would just find someone on the site who seems similar to me and I would think I'd be that type. I would then go to the specific type threads and hang around in there while thinking "sure, this sounds like me"... but it didn't "stick", there would be a sense of "hmmm but is this really me?" 

I was taking different tests, over and over again with different results each time. ISTP was the most common result and it seemed the most accurate but I wasn't ready to accept it. I wasn't ready to "be myself" just yet. 

So the days that I felt more outgoing or more caring, I would think "wait, I could be an extrovert" or "a feeler" so of course the results were just that.

When I feel like I'm being myself, I feel like I'm ISTP. So I don't think I'm mistyped now but I have learned a lot, because after each mistype I went and read about cognitive functions and all that, and I learned how other people function. I learned about others in the process of learning about myself is what I mean, so that's pretty cool. Doesn't mean I like people anymore, but now I know that I really can't change them and I can just stay away from the annoying ones.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Life.Is.A.Game said:


> I've mistyped myself several times, mostly likely I have been through all 16 types. The reason being that I don't like to read too much about the theories, so I would just find someone on the site who seems similar to me and I would think I'd be that type. I would then go to the specific type threads and hang around in there while thinking "sure, this sounds like me"... but it didn't "stick", there would be a sense of "hmmm but is this really me?"
> 
> I was taking different tests, over and over again with different results each time. ISTP was the most common result and it seemed the most accurate but I wasn't ready to accept it. I wasn't ready to "be myself" just yet.
> 
> ...


Just putting it out there since this thread is kind of about this after all, but did you consider ESFJ maybe? Basing this more on how your cognition seems to work rather than how similar you are to supposed ISTPs or how similar you are to type descriptions. Your thinking is very Fe, in my opinion, and a bit too much for a Ti dom.

I have no opinion on enneagram, haven't seen enough.


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## Paradigm (Feb 16, 2010)

I forgot to mention the more recent types I've considered. Long after deciding on 6, some people suggested I look into types 5, 7, or 1. (Well, okay, not so much 5 -- that assessment comes from the inexperienced.) I value these suggestions if they're thought out. I learn easiest when I can relate or compare something to myself, so I've learned more about those types than I otherwise would've. And I'm extremely interested in hearing about how others perceive me, as I'm often unaware of my image*. To me, these suggestions are just another opportunity to learn. 
* Fun aside, apparently I exude tons of 4 to certain people, when I thought my 4 qualities were well hidden! Go figure. This really caused me to explore just how "4" I am.

I've had struggles understanding why people get defensive over their typing ("witch-hunting" not included), as if their type is their identity. But I try to be respectful about it and don't question (aka ignore) individual typings much.


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## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

Mistyping is not bad. It's a learning opportunity. Here's what's "bad":-

1) Vanity-typing is foolish.

2) Hurried typings aimed more at grounding your identity in a label or fixing your anxieties and insecurities by relying on an external system (and no, this isn't a dig at 6s) to do the self-discovery for you is moronic. These are the people who get panic attacks and shit over typing themselves. It's like calm the fuck down. Take it slow, dammit. Typing is a journey to health not a journey to a hastily picked number.

3) Typing at a glorified type and refusing to see the possibility that you may be typed as a less 'popular' type because you are an idiot who doesn't get theory worth a damn, instead relying on tired ass stereotypes to type yourself. This is very fuckin juvenile. @_Promethea_ recently used the term status-fucking somewhere. I am going to call this status-typing.

4) Another variant of what I call anxiety typing (again, not a dig at 6s XD) is people who change their typing like clock-work on a nearly daily or weekly basis. It's like you fuckin retard? Can't you settle down enough to sit with a type for at least a few weeks? This overlaps with vanity-typing, sometimes. 

5) Seeing the Enneagram as the be- all, end-all typing is 'bad'. The Enneagram is just one tool among many, and it has its own set of flaws. Take what you can; leave the rest. Approach it critically, and don't ride on its coat tails to feel better about yourself. Explore meditation, ACT, mindfulness techniques, learn about psychology broadly speaking, look into Zen or Sufism or Vajrayana Buddhism or what have you. Expand your horizons. Enneagram is psycho-spiritual, so you already aren't doing something incredibly 'scientific' and shit here anyway. So, if you're gonna delve into the esoteric anyway, why not actually go beyond the E? Why get tied down to it and bogged down by it? 

____
*
Some of the most self-aware people I know on the forum and IRL have mistyped, at least, once. *I have never attached myself to the Enneagram, and I have a very wide range of interests, spiritually and in general. I like to learn things inside out because I enjoy the process immensely, and if I am going to take the time to do something, I am going to do it well. Having a long ass near eidetic memory helps.  You bet I have contemplated my motivations, fears and cognitive distortions at length, mistyping or not. This process has taken years, as it should. I am not playing dumb games here like some people I've come across here. So, you bet, I know my Enneagram. However, I don't know all there is to know about it. I learn every day. You know what's infinitely harder? Self-understanding. 

There's no ONE path to self-understanding. In a way I agree with @_The Scorched Earth_, in the end you realize that none of it matters. Mistyping etc etc.. what matters is how honest you were with yourself, how willing you were to learn what the Enneagram is and how it works, to critically analyze and apply it to improve your self-understanding instead of taking 10 steps back by playing stupid fuckin Online games. 

I know that I am an Id type, and I will take my time in arriving at the core. In the meantime, I am enjoying learning from the growth strategies of the three id types as well as the other 6 types in some way or another. 

I will some address some of your questions later. Good thread. I expect nothing less. 





ephemereality said:


> Just putting it out there since this thread is kind of about this after all, but did you consider ESFJ maybe? Basing this more on how your cognition seems to work rather than how similar you are to supposed ISTPs or how similar you are to type descriptions. Your thinking is very Fe, in my opinion, and a bit too much for a Ti dom.
> 
> I have no opinion on enneagram, haven't seen enough.



Lolwut? This is not the mistype revelation thread. She already said she doesn't think she's mistyped. You're just offering yet another silly oversimplified typing, and an unsolicited one at that. roud: 

I mean if she enjoys the exchange, good for her. But, surely, this is not what the thread is aimed at. So, that's a baseless excuse. :kitteh: Now, if you were actually a quality typer, you may have received some concessions here..this just happens to be just another lulzy typing. Yanno?


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## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

Two things
1) INTJs are good at picking out those who aren't one of them.
2) Do not get too caught up in the process because ultimately it's just a test stereotype that doesn't completely tell you who you are as a person.


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

- Learned the difference between head energy vs gut energy in enneagram, through observation irl. 
- It also helped me understand socionics, as I was placed in the wrong quadra initially by the person who typed me (he later realized that I was not a Te type, and this whole journey helped me understand quadra, Te vs Ti, Fe vs Fi.)
- None of it will really help your "mental health" like actual psychology. I was no better off typing as one thing, than another. At the end of the day its only something relevant to others who like to sit around and pick at each others types, in the real world very few people understand what an xxxx is, and many who do don't gaf.
- There are lots of petty people online who understand and use it purely through their own biases. Disliking your mom for example, doesn't make everyone you hate her socionics type.


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## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

Promethea said:


> - Learned the difference between head energy vs gut energy in enneagram, through observation irl.
> - It also helped me understand socionics, as I was placed in the wrong quadra initially by the person who typed me (he later realized that I was not a Te type, and this whole journey helped me understand quadra, Te vs Ti, Fe vs Fi.)
> - None of it will really help your "mental health" like actual psychology. I was no better off typing as one thing, than another. At the end of the day its only something relevant to others who like to sit around and pick at each others types, in the real world very few people understand what an xxxx is, and many who do don't gaf.
> - There are lots of petty people online who understand and use it purely through their own biases. Disliking your mom for example, doesn't make everyone you hate her socionics type.



lulz @ mommy example. disliking esfj granny doesn't make everyone you dislike an esfj or fe user, either. :kitteh:


very imp to keep in mind bias on both ends.

also, excellent point about enneagram's limitation in actually fixing any psychological issues, certainly not by itself. hell naw. 
again, very true re: most people IRL not giving a fuck.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Cosmic Orgasm said:


> Lolwut? This is not the mistype revelation thread. She already said she doesn't think she's mistyped. You're just offering yet another silly oversimplified typing, and an unsolicited one at that. roud:
> 
> I mean if she enjoys the exchange, good for her. But, surely, this is not what the thread is aimed at. So, that's a baseless excuse. :kitteh: Now, if you were actually a quality typer, you may have received some concessions here..this just happens to be just another lulzy typing. Yanno?


She actually suggested uncertainty about it but thought she wasn't. Kind of different. And I wasn't really interested in developing my reasoning as to why I offered it as a suggestion which was done on a friendly basis by the way. If she had asked why I thought so I would have elaborated more on it, otherwise not bother.

But go ahead, act as a thread police though to be absolutely correct, her post doesn't belong her either since she mentioned nothing about the enneagram and only about her MBTI. Just because you don't understand or doesn't see, doesn't mean I don't have my reasons for it.


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## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

ephemereality said:


> She actually suggested uncertainty about it but thought she wasn't. Kind of different. And I wasn't really interested in developing my reasoning as to why I offered it as a suggestion which was done on a friendly basis by the way. If she had asked why I thought so I would have elaborated more on it, otherwise not bother.
> 
> But go ahead, act as a thread police though to be absolutely correct, her post doesn't belong her either since she mentioned nothing about the enneagram and only about her MBTI. Just because you don't understand or doesn't see, doesn't mean I don't have my reasons for it.


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## Eudaimonia (Sep 24, 2013)

This may sound strange but I miss the mistyped label of ISFP. Why I wonder? In a way it makes me think that none of this matters in reality. It is more mental masturbation. Not that I'm knocking mental masturbation. The point is, this is for kicks and not really going to make that much of a difference in the world.


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## Donovan (Nov 3, 2009)

not so much through mistyping (my own type-related problems are too exaggerated to miss), but more through wanting to hash things out with people of varying types. 

_that's_ made it easier to see that we're all really far more similar than we are different. it's like the thought or belief that our experience is reality--instead of _a reality_--and that this other person in front of us is not attempting to accomplish the very same thing we are ourselves: to feel good, or whole, or "ok". 

to realize that i'll never understand another person without first acknowledging that i can't possibly understand them while so close to the circular rhythm _my own_ reality. that we'll forever be a separate entity, never truly knowing, always mutually--but accidentally--harming. 

that we'll always keep something so understandable--so human--kept to so hidden, because of our own fears and shames. and it's this--akin to a hoarding of intimacy--that keeps us all in the dark to one another, which only strengthens the framework of our current view, that keeps our problems where they are, that keeps self-acceptance at bay. 


... so basically, i haven't learned anything that can't be found in a religious text, or "wise old cultural tale" (the general gist that is).


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## lifefullofwords (Oct 25, 2013)

I generally have not found typing myself to be terribly difficult. It doesn't hurt that I always test as a 4w3 and an INFJ. For a brief period, long before I started posting on PerC, I thought my head fix was 6w5. But that's because the descriptions of 6s were focused on how anxious they are and I'm also very anxious. It took a bit of research before I realized that it's important not to confuse one's psychological issues with one's Enneagram type. Anyway, at this point I'm confident in my type and have been for quite a while. 

I'd never question someone else's type directly but it's clear to me that many, many people on PerC have mistyped themselves, either due to lack of self-knowledge or lack of familiarity with Enneagram and/or Myers Briggs. Certain types are viewed as having more social cachet than others and people tend to gravitate towards those types. It's unfortunate and is partly the result of rampant stereotyping but also stems from the fact that most people don't know themselves very well.


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## d e c a d e n t (Apr 21, 2013)

Cosmic Orgasm said:


> again, very true re: most people IRL not giving a fuck.


why does it matter whether people irl gives a fuck or not


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## Dyslexicon (Mar 9, 2013)

I'm not entirely sure, but the word "identification" comes to mind.


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## Flatlander (Feb 25, 2012)

I don't think I've mistyped my core (I'd be interested in hearing an argument for that if you got one) but I've certainly mistyped everything else. I settled prematurely on thinking myself a 5w6, a 9 fixer, a 3 or a 4 fixer (I couldn't be a 2, right?), a 59x, a 58x, before I finally settled on 528 as my tritype which appears to be the most accurate.



Figure said:


> What caused you to mistype?


Descriptions.

Descriptions, in my professional opinion, can _suck it_. If you apply them too seriously you end up losing out on what is most significant about the Enneagram, at least in the short run, if you aren't an active thinker trying to progress beyond the surface. 

Descriptions of the 5w6 vs 5w4 types put the former as a scientist and the latter as an artist. Descriptions of the 59x (I think at first I was really looking at 593 with the 5w6 9w1 3w4ish flavor) tritype put it at conciliatory, peaceful, tending to be good at diplomatically getting their way, blah blah blah. I thought to myself yeah, peaceful scientist describes me, sure. But I wasn't most interested in my type, I was most interested in learning about the Enneagram, so I shoved aside the question of my type in any significant manner at first and read about the types, trying to discern what they were about.

That was the best thing I could've done, because I am already fairly introspective and had achieved a level of self-understanding that transcended what descriptions could possibly mean to me. As I went through the materials available on the internet and then progressed to books, I started to understand what the Enneagram was made of in different respects - what cores are about, deeper and deeper levels of understanding of core, how core works with points of dis/integration, how core works with wings, how tritype has a structure and what the range of structure might be and how to fit that to the individual psyche..

And of course, I started to rethink my type. At first I was just considering some others' suggestions because I wasn't really thinking too hard about my own E-type, but then I started to use myself as a cognitive subject just like I use others and considering my type was a way of understanding the classificational methods, and it eventually transformed into another way of understanding myself. I dug into my own history and looked at myself like one would read a textbook, handling and classifying different things that came to the surface. I think by now I am correctly typed at 5w4 2w3 8w9 and I could give a lot of rational justification but it just is what it is.

I got more understanding of myself and how I work out of this process, and that sort of thing is important - acknowledging the sides of yourself that you find through Enneagram can be a long, painful process but useful in further personal growth, which I have decidedly experienced in a lot of ways. As usual, I also find it quite rewarding to have some further perspectives to understand how myself and others work. Maybe this kind of thing is especially special to someone like me, as I have an oversized emphasis on pinning down how humans and life work even if I have no drive to interact with some individual. Makes me feel, at times mistakenly, in control. 



> Are you considering being mistyped now, and why?


No, but again I'd be curious to hear others' points of view, especially if there's significant reasoning. Always am.



> Did you misapply the language of a type and find out later that you were really motivated in a different way, or did you mistype for a different reason? Were you able to draw any significant distinctions after you realized you were mistyped?


I usually drew the significant distinctions at the same time as or before I discovered the elements of my type. The one exception would be the wing, whose deeper dynamics I didn't really get until after I had figured out I had a 4 wing, then as I went along and thought about others and wing the whole thing opened up to me.

I've already offered a lot of my views at a few subsections of the enneagram forum but of all the messages to take away from me here, let it be that disconnecting from your personal concerns and history to view these things in an impersonal way while studying type is _not_ a bad way to go about typing yourself. It can bring the clarity you need to accept what you see for what it is and expand your thinking on how you exist and work. Then you can descend back into yourself to experience what you have learned and redefine your understanding of how _you_ experience your type, and grasp another element of what your experience means.


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## Figure (Jun 22, 2011)

I'll share a few thoughts to keep things moving. I have mistyped several times for various reasons, some understandable, some absurd, and all highly rationalized in some way.



It is particularly easy to mistype in enneagram if the enneagram is your first foray into inner work and you haven't yet acquainted yourself with your own emotional and behavioral tempo. At least for me, typing wasn't just discovering my type, it required realizing how little I knew about myself that was in fact obvious to others, and only _*then*_ being able to see the patterns repeat over and over. You have to have basic knowledge of yourself, which can be surprisingly undeveloped for some.
To truly understand a type, you have to triangulate between many resources and real-world observation. It's easy to read a single sentence somewhere and fixate on it too much, either mistyping or misidentifying the essential structures behind the type.
The verbiage of the enneagram is not to be taken literally; it is a suggestive, pointing jargon of sorts, not a set of plain attributes.* Much of the verbiage can be fit into the basin of multiple types, but they are coming from different reasons. *
Each type truly does very in behavior within people of the same type - core type is just the infrastructure, and it can intermingle with other cognitive, historical, etc factors in the way it presents itself.
Each type has its own priority and approach to typing, and that difference needs to be respected within the context of that person's frame. @_Cosmic Orgasm_, for example, and I completely disagree on whether or not it's important to urgent to find your type. But we're also motivated/wired differently to begin with so it's no surprise that our approaches are different.

Overall, I'm really glad I mistyped, despite running myself through the paper shredder for being so "stupid" as to do it as many times as I did. I had found individual cogs and wheels through each of my mistypes and mislabeled each as a "motor" on its own, despite each being a critical discovery to how my actual infrastructure is built. When it all came together, I found that the insights I had from my mistypes were very much related to my core type, but were simply mislabeled. I didn't discard my "mistyped insights" - they were sound, and still incredibly helpful, just coming from a different place than I had thought. I actually had a hell of a time mistyped as a 7, because I inadvertently figured out how to become more spontaneous and loose, which was what I really needed anyway XD

I don't want people here to be afraid of mistyping or ashamed of it if they're overturning real stones they hadn't thought to look under before and finding truth, and simply mislabeling it. It just takes some people longer. I don't think it's a crime to lack self-awareness before typing correctly - that's the goddamn point of doing so, in part. There are people typed correctly who haven't the slightest clue about their core motivations, and they are no different than those who are mistyped.


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## Hiemal (Jan 5, 2014)

Primarily that extreme self-awareness is required to be anywhere close to your actual type. 

Secondarily that chameleonism isn't always exclusive to 3 and 9. 

I've mistyped as almost every type excepting type 2 and type 1, though some have attempted to type me as a deeply unhealthy and disintegrated 2 before, but many disagreed over that.


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## Hespera (Jun 3, 2011)

I originally mistyped as a 4w5 and also tried on 7w6 and 1w9 for size. Turned out that these are basically just my wing and fixes and represented parts of myself that needed some exploration. 

4 came from a shallow beginner's understanding of Enneagram, as well as a lot of teenage angst (I also do exhibit some of the . It's fairly obvious that I'm not a 7 or a 1 either, but examining these other aspects was enlightening. I identify with the distraction and frustration aspects of 7, as well as the deep criticism and idealistic anger of 1, while remaining fundamentally a 6 with all its motivations and defenses. I'm pretty settled now on my type (in fact my wavering probably speaks volumes anyway), but I firmly believe that as a tool Enneagram is useless without an open mind.


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## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

Nonsense said:


> Still, whether people are online or offline doesn't factor in how much I value their opinions, so if I _did _want to wear a type label as a badge of honor, it'd be good enough that only people online care. (Of course, if we're going to talk about how much other people care, I don't think there are that many people online in general that cares either.)


..... i don't get your point. it's not that important anyway. i've lost interest.


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## HellCat (Jan 17, 2013)

I learned I am a very 8 like 7.. though my anger is lightning quick..if you talked to my family they would all tell you I am an eight.. because it is SO memorable when I do flip out.. everyone is scared of me. They literally talk about the times I have left people quaking in fear as though it were yesterday..when it was five years ago.. they think I should be a mafia boss. But really it takes a LOT for me to get angry and I rationalize away most of the terrible things people do.. so not an 8..otherwise I would be blaming people more and really comfortable flipping out more often.


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## All is One (Feb 1, 2014)

Well, I have lots of thoughts in my mind, since I found PerC a few days ago. 

"Can that type which this 72-question-test told you certainly be the correct one for you?" "Could you, even after occupying your mind with your suspected type for some time now, have mistyped yourself?"

To get deeper into the matter one seems to cannot avoid exposing oneself to this "Enneagram-Thing". 

Unfortunately it seems to be rather complicated, especially if you're not a native speaker (like me).

Either I just have to look for some sources in my first language, or I have to take my time and try to translate the existing english sources with the friendly assistance of dict.cc .

What confused me a bit just now is this Enneagram-Test I did before. The Results:

_The Distribution of Your Scores:

Type One: 29
Type Two: 28
Type Three: 20
Type Four: 11
Type Five: 19
Type Six: 26
Type Seven: 34
Type Eight: 22
Type Nine: 37

Your main type is 9. 
Considering the wings you should be a 9w1. _

I don't get it atall at this point tbh oO. Is this even possible? ENTJ with 9w1? :shocked:

Regards
Ludwig


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## Flatlander (Feb 25, 2012)

All is One said:


> Well, I have lots of thoughts in my mind, since I found PerC a few days ago.
> 
> "Can that type which this 72-question-test told you certainly be the correct one for you?" "Could you, even after occupying your mind with your suspected type for some time now, have mistyped yourself?"
> 
> ...


Any type combo of Enneagram core + MBTI is technically possible. I've seen at least one around here I have thought could be an ENTJ 9. 

If you're interested in some more introspective evaluation, I'd go to the Enneagram forum's type-me subsection and fill out one of the questionnaires. Might prove handy for you to evaluate yourself more in-depth, and if you post it in an individual thread others can take a look and tell you what they think.


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## bearotter (Aug 10, 2012)

@_All is One_ -- I happen to have known someone who isn't on forums/hasn't really invested in typology {hence not much chance to dig in/discuss} who might be a Te-dom 9. Though I'd think to put intuition as in any way clearly preferred to sensing is probably a stretch, maybe sensing predominance even (or balanced)...this actually doesn't matter for my point, it just so happens this individual is this way, and I could see a slightly different individual being more Ni-aux-ish while retaining the 9-ness. This combination wouldn't actually surprise me from my barebones guess of how it could look generally.

The issue is ENTJ is labeled the "executive" and maybe you don't get this vibe from reading/thinking about 9. But on a purer cognitive analysis it doesn't really surprise me. I could see how the 9-ness could play with introverted feeling as a repressed personality. 

In any case, the label of "executive" etc is from the four-letter-code dichotomies tests point of view, and I've posted many places about what specifically I find wrong with converting naively from them to a dominant cognitive type via a formula.


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## 6007 (Feb 12, 2010)

I used to think I was a 7w8. I didn't know much about enneagram, a friend told me about it in passing. I didn't read any legit resources, and I didn't investigate it with any passion for a year or so later. Once I did start reading about it, I had to admit to myself that I was a 5, that it was the only thing that fit, that it was laughable to imagine myself as a 7. 

I also used to mistype as an INFJ. I knew nothing of cog. functions, I was going off test scores and reading the description. I was like... _i__t's close, but I'm not that nice..._ _Meh, whatever._ Eventually I became actively interested in MBTI and saw its value and after I did it became fairly obvious I was an ISTP.

I think it's good to just continue the process of learning, and in learning you refine what you know. It's fine to make mistakes along the way, especially if they lead to greater clarity and understanding. In my opinion, self knowledge leads to greater awareness and effective living. 

For me, I feel something strange happened when I really connected with the type 5, I felt understood and as if there was a language that could express everything I'd secretly thought and wanted to articulate. It was so relieving, cathartic; I think any number of mistypes would have been worth it to come to the truth. So. I think mistyping on the road to truth can be part of the process. Some people get it immediately, and others have to sift through their many experiences, emotions, all the information that makes up their perspective, to find the underlying truth. Based on my own experiences, which are hardly the universal truth, there's something wonderful that happens when you connect with your real type. It shows you your weaknesses, which can hurt, but the hurt is healing.


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## d e c a d e n t (Apr 21, 2013)

Cosmic Orgasm said:


> ..... i don't get your point. it's not that important anyway. i've lost interest.


Well, I'm sorry if I'm being confusing.


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## kaleidoscope (Jan 19, 2012)

I never mistyped, but I did wonder a lot about my tritype before settling on 471. This reflection helped by allowing me to look into sides of myself I never really focused on before. One common problem in my questionnaires was (others saying) there was so much 4 they couldn't see anything else, and that just about sums it up. My fixes were difficult to see because Sx 4w3 took up so much space in my answers, and my self-perception :laughing: Focusing on tritype made me see other sides to my personality, and realize their weight and how they affect my daily life. 

I don't think someone is ever really just one type, you can't limit the human mind and psyche like that. Even if I don't completely adhere to tritype theory because flawed theory is flawed, we all at least have a few behavioral traits, tendencies, or even ways of thinking that can be seen in other types. Those are JUST as interesting to explore as your core type.


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## All is One (Feb 1, 2014)

Flatlander said:


> If you're interested in some more introspective evaluation, I'd go to the Enneagram forum's type-me subsection and fill out one of the questionnaires. Might prove handy for you to evaluate yourself more in-depth, and if you post it in an individual thread others can take a look and tell you what they think.


Jup, after some more investigation I automatically ended up beeing in that section yesterday . 

I'll just have to take my time to do so, maybe later today. 



bearotter said:


> @All is One -- I happen to have known someone who isn't on forums/hasn't really invested in typology {hence not much chance to dig in/discuss} who might be a Te-dom 9. Though I'd think to put intuition as in any way clearly preferred to sensing is probably a stretch, maybe sensing predominance even (or balanced)...this actually doesn't matter for my point, it just so happens this individual is this way, and I could see a slightly different individual being more Ni-aux-ish while retaining the 9-ness. This combination wouldn't actually surprise me from my barebones guess of how it could look generally.
> 
> The issue is ENTJ is labeled the "executive" and maybe you don't get this vibe from reading/thinking about 9. But on a purer cognitive analysis it doesn't really surprise me. I could see how the 9-ness could play with introverted feeling as a repressed personality.
> 
> In any case, the label of "executive" etc is from the four-letter-code dichotomies tests point of view, and I've posted many places about what specifically I find wrong with converting naively from them to a dominant cognitive type via a formula.


You guessed totally right. That "executive"-label disturbs me a bit . As I get to know the enneagram-types I gotta say, that I have many aspects from many types within me (as probably everyone?).

Except type 1, type 5, type 6 which I can't find within me, at all.

Still, it stays exciting ^^

EDIT 1 :

Still wondered about the possibility of 1 beeing my wing and read another article. If I really, really ask me honestly I gotta say: I have more similarities here than I admitted first.

So jup, for now I'm ENTJ 9w1 it seems 

EDIT 2:

This is so on-topic here, I'm mistyping me *right now* xD

After reading this: http://personalitycafe.com/articles/47315-freudian-theory-enneagram.html I somehow don't think that my wing could be 1 anymore. More likely it is 8.

_Type 9 with a 1 Wing (Ego-Superego): The 9w1 has elements of the superego Type 1 in their personality. They embrace the ego ideal of being calm and collected and tend to back off in a conflict. They are more likely to solve a situation by withdrawing instead of fighting, like a 9w8 would. This makes the 9w1 generally more apt to solve interpersonal problems between other people than a 9w8._

This is not me. I never back off in a conflict. Solving situations by withdrawal? Nope. Not happening ^^.

_Type 9 with an 8 Wing (Ego-Id): The 9w8 has a slight id edge that makes them assertive and powerful like a Type 8. However, their aggressive tendencies are looked at in the light of maintaining harmony: they are only going to act like an 8 when it's to maintain the inner peace. Type 9w8s in difficult situations can often mistype as Type 8s because of this._

That sounds more like it. Hm.

EDIT 3:

Nailed it!

_9w8 sx/sp

This 9 stack receives life without hesitation. They exert very little control over their emotional lives and prefer to give themselves total freedom to experience real responses and feelings. They can have an electricity about them that is both simple and regal, being able to unconsciously convey who they are without saying much. 

They don't try to walk or move in an artificial way. They often have a great sense of humour and will push themselves to enjoy the same things as their significant others. Playfulness is especially high with this stack. But they are more rigid about who they give their energy to and are drawn to people who have similar experiences as them. This type can relate to common experience at a nonverbal level, giving them room to create a sense of harmony with others even with those who speak different languages. 

They also have a savvy business sense. And in spite of their liberal attitudes, they can have an old-fashioned approach to raising family and will give more than themselves to those they care about, often finding it very difficult to break away...Can feel oppressed, as they don't often get to do what they want for long periods of time. Sense of being reincarnated in life all the time, redefining themselves out of necessity. 

This type views their realness as having a large potential to reach people who are going through the same problems. Just knowing that gives them more room to be a little 'crazy.' Because they know that they truly aren't alone in their 'craziness.' Fear of pretending in relatonships, just going through the motions. Loses a sense of identity by giving so much of their openness and love to family or lover. It causes them to be overly sensitive to rejection, so constantly looking to do the perfect thing, which can inevitably lead to a break down. The loss of a relationship can devastate them. They may break down into a zombie-like state for years upon end and ultimately do the inevitable unless they can find something to keep them sane. _

Oh my god, that is so much me, it's scary oO


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## Figure (Jun 22, 2011)

All is One said:


> Jup, after some more investigation I automatically ended up beeing in that section yesterday .
> 
> I'll just have to take my time to do so, maybe later today.
> 
> ...


Haha I had to laugh at this - not because it's not valid, but because it looks so similar to my approach when I started to type myself, a couple years ago. Ironically, I also had recognized 9-ness in my type, and kept flipping between 8 and 1 as a wing, knowing that I'm *hardly *what anyone would ever label as "avoiding conflict," yet not exactly uncontrollably loud or belligerent either. The 9 variant/wing descriptions are a great idea in theory, just be careful not to rely on them too much because it is easy to simply read a description, fixate on a specific part of it, and think you're that type. I had to learn that while the verbiage of 1 is not what I would have ever really related with offhand, the actual _mechanism_ is clearly what I go to from offset. The two don't always match. 

If you really find yourself in the Gut types (I think there's an instinctive feel to it when you find yourself in it), be sure to remember that all three - 8, 9, and 1 - tend to suffer from an unwitting lack of self-awareness, and that learning about your type as a fixation (Naranjo, Ichazo, etc) can also involve digging into personal areas you may not currently know are even there,_ while simultaneousl_y learning about how your type functions as a whole. I'm sure this is broadly true for all the types, but for Guts, the sleep to self plays a specific disruptive role while typing. I think some have an extra blinder on.


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## All is One (Feb 1, 2014)

Jeah, I think the most difficult thing about typing yourself is first off beeing aware of your overall characteristics (I'm a little bit of 1, 3, 6, ...) and then not to let these getting you confused when finally defining your base type.

I also considered 1 as my possible type, but after reading several different definations and descriptions I know that it is not.

My moral principle (if it's even existant) is somehow bizarre and I'm not really good in determining between right and wrong, as I don't split things up classical in "right" and "wrong". Somewhere inside of me I always seek balance (which should be a elementary 9-ish mechanism)and also make my decisions regarding compensation. (some call it "rational" ^^).

Of course I have principals, but on the other side I have no problem with betraying these for my own or another ones sake. Regretting a decision made is not an option for me. I'm surely not flawless, but I'm not hypocritical at all.

I know where you're coming from when you say that it is easy to simply read a description, fixate on a specific part of it and think you're that type. I've also experienced that. You read it and then you go: "wait, I can't also be this type, I've also been the three types I red before oO" ^^

Now I'm pretty sure that I'm ENTJ | 9w8 | sx/sp.

Of course this is 100% subjective and of course I'm not spared from the risk of unwitting lack of self-awareness here. But as I know myself a bit (didn't start with analysing myself only a few days ago, I'm doing this for quite a while now already. Always listened closly and tried to comprehend by my own means) I believe I'm on the right track :crazy:

I'm bound to say that reading, thinking and writing about something in my 2nd language without even having comprehended in my 1st language before appears to be pretty exhausting xD


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## jdmn (Feb 5, 2010)

I learned that most traits that enneagram type descriptions tell(being generous, selfish, insecure, low self-image, being intellectual, amicable, long etc) are superficial. They only work if you see them as manifestations of your core passion, fixation and fears. And, as humans, we have many things that may constitute the three things that I mentioned before; we need to discern what moves our enneagram type more. Some days, for example, I feel more threeish, because I'm dealing with something in which my vanity and self-image are in game. But, at the long run, I know that it's anxiety and fear what guides my behaviour and decisions, even though they aren't present in every single thing I think or do.


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## bearotter (Aug 10, 2012)

@_jdmn_ -- good insight overall. Something I'm going to add which I find can be helpful is that these triads are highly interconnected, and thus should be understood _relative_ to one another. Some cases are particularly subtle -- Type 7 is attributed traits which sometimes sound like they can resemble an image-ish leaning, _and_ it is also perhaps the least obviously phobic type of the fear-based types. 
Where the designations of anxiety, instinct, etc come in is in the relative mixture of these 3 dimensions. It's not to me a question of dividing into 3 discrete parts, which too often will fail as an adequate way of getting how these triads are different. Rather, we have to assume that each part exists relative to the others, and thus operates relative to the others, even if this relation is in the abstract.

A Type 3 may exhibit more outward signs of something which it wouldn't be ridiculous to call anxiety than a 7 (actually this might simply be slightly because they're not even built to avoid anxiety as the final direct aim). For one thing, 3 has a line to 6, and we can't expect every 3 to show up as a confident, successful persona. But one can hammer it down to be 3, not 7, if one really understands what being part of the image triad is in relation to all the other triads than trying to assume something neater/simpler than exists. 

I think to say a type is "driven by anxiety" or "driven by image" can also be a bit vague. Enneagram types are operating from a sense of deficit, so what they are _driven by_ is unclear, and if one like me believes elements of all 9 types show up in an individual, isolating what it means for a specific triad and type to be "core" becomes a bit more than merely asking "what underlies" --- rather, I believe a person of Triad X may not have the same relation to Triad Y in the absolute as another person of said triad (for X not the same as Y), but may be classified to have it in a relative sense.


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## Sina (Oct 27, 2010)

bearotter said:


> @_jdmn_ -- good insight overall. Something I'm going to add which I find can be helpful is that these triads are highly interconnected, and thus should be understood _relative_ to one another. Some cases are particularly subtle -- *Type 7 is attributed traits which sometimes sound like they can resemble an image-ish leaning, and it is also perhaps the least obviously phobic type of the fear-based types. *
> Where the designations of anxiety, instinct, etc come in is in the relative mixture of these 3 dimensions. It's not to me a question of dividing into 3 discrete parts, which too often will fail as an adequate way of getting how these triads are different. Rather, we have to assume that each part exists relative to the others, and thus operates relative to the others, even if this relation is in the abstract.


Thank you.

Will comment soon. Bookmarking.


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## Figure (Jun 22, 2011)

Comments on 3 vs. 7:

I have an interesting story to that point. The other day, I was introducing the enneagram to someone I know for certain to be a 3w2. I mentioned, briefly, the buzzwords of type 3 to see how she would react to them - image-oriented, achieving, efficient, competitive, etc. And aside from asking whether 9 was higher up or better to be than 1, which I found hilarious, her first comment was that those descriptions actually sounded like a _7w8 _we know. In a very common way, she was very much right - the 7w8 we know _is very _image-conscious, vain, and competitive. He's very successful, always talking on the phone, schmoozing. Based on superficial type descriptions, he *is* a 3. I wasn't expecting the 3 to say what she did, and had to sort of recalculate, because based on what I had given her to go off of, she was in a sense very right. 

Criticism, however, seems to be managed differently by the two. The 3 dodges criticism before it happens by fudging the way the situation looks in anticipation of a problem, so the outer image of the situation looks as if it is in fact being tended to or could be said to being tended to when, technically, it isn't. It's more classic, literal deception - _believably fudges the truth_. The 7 juggles, realizes there_ is_ a problem, then manages to charm their way through it with some sort of promise of something "to come," or by downplaying the significance of the issue because it's "being taken care of." It's not so much a sense of appealing to another as it is that the 7 thinks they're awesome, and the situation needs to be fixed so they can stay that way - likely someone else's fault if it isn't. The 3 knows that the image they create is a reflection on their ability to win big, the 7 knows their image is part of how grandiosely wonderful they think they are. 

Image functions differently for the two. I'm not sure that the 7 sees it as a tool to fudge a situation in favor of a competitive goal they may have - they appear to think they can do that just by being themselves.


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## bearotter (Aug 10, 2012)

@_Figure_ nice story/thoughts; contained in there is definitely an idea I had in mind when writing, which is that for the image type, their image isn't merely about deception, strategy, etc. It is a reality they are living out, and it goes beyond wanting to be told they're awesome by exposing angles of them in a deliberate fashion (in fact that's not even the point to a lot of image types), which nearly any type can catch themselves liking to hear in some shape. It's a very real thing they build their psychology around in a way that I think even for the more others-centered image types really can involve an exploration of how they see themselves, the meaning of their image, etc.


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## All is One (Feb 1, 2014)

Hello again everyone,

I did the Questionnaire some days ago. That took me quite a while, I tried to answer the questions precisely. Somehow noone answered yet, maybe I *did* write too much ... 


Regards,
Ludwig


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## Flatlander (Feb 25, 2012)

All is One said:


> Hello again everyone,
> 
> I did the Questionnaire some days ago. That took me quite a while, I tried to answer the questions precisely. Somehow noone answered yet, maybe I *did* write too much ...
> 
> ...


Bookmarked, will take a look when I'm on the computer.


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