Socionists Discover New Function

Socionists Sulimenko and Gornobakhov from the Novopetrovskiy Institute of Applied Socionics Studies have discovered a new element of information metabolism missing from the original Model A. The function is denoted as a black (extraverted) or white (introverted) pentagon and is claimed to resolve difficulties of type identification and inconsistencies in the expression of Intertype Relations which have hitherto beguiled the socionics community.

"The immediate effect of our discovery," states Sulimenko, "is that the pantheon of information metabolism types is extended from 16 to 25. This will, no doubt, cause our colleagues quite a bit of inconvenience at first. But we hope that the overwhelming logic of this new addition to socionics theory will soon convince the skeptics."

Not only are there now 25 sociotypes, but 25 intertype relations as well. As Gornobakhov explains, "Not all so-called 'dual relations' under classical socionics theory manifest all the qualities of such. As it turns out, 36% of these relationships are not actually 'duality,' but belong to one of two newly discovered relations which mimic duality in certain dimensions, but exhibit incongruencies of energy exchange which the previous socionics model was powerless to describe."

Some socionists have brushed off the discovery, explaining that a fifth function would mean 32 types (2 to the 5th power), not 25. Alesya Filiminova writes, "Evidently [Sulimenko and Gornobakhov] are talking about a complete restructuring of the socionics model, which has always been steeped in a dichotomous approach. Do they intend now to throw out all the dichotomies which have served as reliable landmarks for type identification? Or are we now to use 'pentachotomies' instead? We are rapidly approaching a level of complexity which the average socionics 'user' can scarcely aspire to apply, much less comprehend."

Others welcome the discovery. "I'd always known there was something missing from the standard socionics model," says Real-World Socionics founder Janus Ostrakovsky. "Other socionists would type me as an ILE, ILI, or even LII or LSE, but I could never fully identify with any of these types. Furthermore, my system of informational interactions with those around me was often in total contradiction to what was predicted by the theory. The notion of a fifth function could solve quandaries like this which are experienced by myself and many of my associates."

The researchers have promised to publish a detailed description of the function as soon as possible. 

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4 Clues that Socionics Theory Is at Least Partly False

Major Theoretical Fallacy #1: According to Model A, information is conveyed from person to person via matching functions. In other words, an ESI conveys information about introverted ethics to an SLI via the 1st function of first and the 6th function of the second. It is this information that determines the nature of the relationship between them.

No, that's just not how things work. If the SLI and the ESI are sitting together, and neither of them talks, one or both might begin to feel tense. How do you explain that socionically? If one starts talking about something of little interest to the other and goes on and on without stopping, the other will become annoyed. Which information element is being affected? If the two types are in a relationship and the ESI has a prestigious and successful career while the SLI is struggling in their much more low-paying job, this will lead to tension and a feeling that the ESI could "do better." Which function is being affected? If the SLI is more physically attractive than the ESI, the ESI will struggle more with feelings of jealousy. Which function is "acting up?"

My point is, the objective and measurable reasons of relationship tension that have been, and are being discovered, have nothing at all to do with so-called information metabolism. 

Major Red Flag #2: Socionics has been around for 40 years, and the issues being debated among professionals in the field have not changed significantly in at least 15-25 years. What's the cause of this? Are socionists not smart enough to make a big breakthrough? Is lack of funding the problem? 

I invite you to try to make a case that the cause of the stagnation of the field is anything other than the fact that the entire field is based upon a set of unprovable axioms. 

My conviction is that real progress is only possible if researchers ignore the unprovable axioms themselves, but then it's simply psychology research, not socionics research. Socionics can only exist if it has its axioms. And having those axioms makes scientific research and thus real breakthroughs impossible. 

Obvious Red Flag #3: It is virtually impossible to get even a small group of socionists to come to a unanimous agreement on someone's type. Existing tests give conflicting results. Each test was created by a socionist who thought long and hard within the context of their own understanding of socionics, which differs from that of other socionists. 

At the very least, this tells us that socionic type is often far from obvious. How obvious does type need for socionics to be useful? What is the threshold of "nonobviousness" beyond which the application of socionics loses all practicality?

Hidden Red Flag #4: Among socionics enthusiasts, a certain percentage — perhaps 30-40% — are more or less widely recognized as belonging to a particular type. These are the people you think of when reading a type description. The rest are in a gray zone where they are either 1) never fully certain of their own type due to a plethora of opinions on the matter, or 2) unable to convince everyone else that their type is indeed X. What does it say about socionics if only 30-40% of people easily identify with a certain type and are recognized as such by their associates in the community? 

I'll answer that rhetorical question for you. It means one of two things. 1) (optimistic scenario) Socionics theory itself is correct or nearly correct, but type descriptions, tests, and socionists themselves are "not good enough." 2) (pessimistic scenario) Socionics theory itself is incorrect in some significant way, and the type identification problem is the natural result of fundamental errors in the theory.

I'm a pessimist. Even if we accept scenario #1 above, what does it say about socionics if the combined efforts of hundreds of high-IQ individuals is not enough to overcome the stated problem — at least locally, within a single socionics school, — assuming the theory itself is correct? 

In other words, any way you look at it, there is something wrong with the theory (see point #1).