Author: Aushra Augusta
The IEE’s active ring* of IM feeds on the signals from the external 
and internal 
qualities of surrounding objects and subjects. The active ring produces the IEE’s logical 
and ethical 
relations with these objects and subjects. The passive ring feeds on the signals that inform the IEE about their present state** 
, and a sense of danger or safety in the future 
. The passive ring produces the IEE’s work and motion activity 
, and their ability to influence others with their emotions 
.
* Active ring = mental, passive = vital. Hereinafter the asterisks (*) indicate the translator’s notes.
** Augusta used the word “самочувствие”, which means “a general mental indicator of the physical and spiritual state of the individual at any given moment; consists of specific sensations and general feelings.” When you encounter an expression such as “the person’s state”, this is how it should be understood.
Index
I. Superego
II. Ego
III. Superid
IV. Id
V. General characteristic of the type. Examples
VI. Outward traits
I. Superego 
Socially conforming, informational block. A means of reproducing the objective picture of the external world. The block of social expectations – during the realization of the Superego the individual tries to fulfill the expectations of others.
The block for objectively reflecting, photographing reality. A means to learn about the world objectively, the “reader”-block. The block of high self-criticism – the individual’s conscience. The block of social responsibility and duty.
The object of orientation, or the accepting element of the block
The IEE adapts to the societal norms through their Superego block, which is formed from extraverted sensation and introverted logic . This means that the IEE uses the object and its kinetic properties for orientation in the external world. The IEE’s conscious attention is focused on all objects that come their way. Moreover, what the IEE focuses on is that side and those qualites of the object that are related to its objective usefulness and value, aesthetic as well as pragmatic. These qualities depend on the external, forceful “logical” influence that the object exerts over other objects – its volume, organization, power (kinetic energy). The IEE does not pay attention to the objects’ potentialities or anything that follows from the object’s nature as a living being.
The IEE’s Superego equates living beings with inanimate objects and evaluates them both on the same aesthetic-pragmatic basis. This is because this block is only familiar with logical () but not ethical () relations.
The Superego is a wide-ranging block which takes into account all encountered objects and people. As a logical block, it does not and can not have any spiritual warmth towards these encounters – instead it only has logic and rationalism. Therefore, with a wide range of people the IEE behaves reasonably, logically and coldly, does not get sentimental, is not inclined to make concessions and yields only to force.
The consciousness adapts to society through the Superego block. This block is the informational “rails,” and the consciousness always stays on these rails. The Superego collects information through both signal systems; if necessary, the individual becomes consciously aware of all the information, and it gets transferred to the second signal system*. The most important part is that this information, as well as all information obtained by the active ring, is stored in the long term memory.
* By becoming consciously aware of the information the individual becomes able to verbalize it.
The accepting element of the Superego is “attached” to the external world as to the rails for the sake of absorbing all information and always having the needed conclusion on the producing element. In other words, all of it is for the sake of the individual being able to trust their producing element. In this case the accepting element is only the means, while the producing element is the goal.
IEEs have a pronounced drive to collect information about everything objective, which often manifests in the IEE possessing encyclopedic knowledge. They gravitate to popular science literature much more than to fiction. But IEEs do not and can not have a very profound understanding of the object – someone who has broad knowledge cannot have as much in-depth knowledge.
If the IEE is a scientist, they are a polymath and surprise others with all-around knowledge, extracting it from their memory whenever needed. It is not done to surprise, although it may often seem so, but rather to enlighten others and share the wealth of knowledge accumulated on the Superego. The Superego has a vital need to inform others, up to informing the whole of society.
IEEs tend to reject their own scientific conclusions. The information gathered by the Superego is absolutely objective, but the individual’s own opinion is not characterized by such objectivity from their own point of view. This is why IEEs refrain from making statements* – not out of fear of expressing their opinion, but because of the danger of becoming or appearing non-objective. As an informational part of the person’s intelligence, the Superego has no right to be subjective. It only takes in the information, stores it and passes it on to others.
* Probably meaning statements regarding IEEs’ own opinions about science.
The IEE frequently talks about all objects and happily exchanges information, both providing it themself and greedily absorbing new one. It is well known that during conversations old people tend to only talk and share stories without listening to anything; not having enough listeners is not the only explanation here – this is also because they lost their ability to adapt and their Superego does not need new information.
The Superego provides everyone willing to listen with truthful, honest information even if it is against the individual’s own interests. It does not get tired of explaining the same thing, but does not go beyond just talking about it*. Information from the Superego is not something people argue about, it is something they only talk about, usually adding very little themselves. They talk about it in hope that someone else will help them figure everything out. When people recount information from the Superego, very often it is not done for the sake of discovering a new truth, but rather for the sake of finding connections and new information.
* Lit. “all of it is / remains at the level of talking / discussing”.
The IEE may seem absentminded, inattentive, like they are floating above the world of objects, but the only reason for this is that the IEE’s attention gets drawn to every single new object in order to weave this new object into a “web” together with all others. The IEE takes into account, assesses and commits to memory every new object and every new property of an object. As soon as the IEE has time to reflect, it all resurfaces in their mind. All time free from current tasks is automatically devoted to comprehension and evaluation of this information. Collecting information on the Superego is not tiring, it is like the information gets absorbed by itself.
What information does the IEE’s Superego receive about other people, about the objective? It is the information about the person’s beauty, strength, health, place on the social ladder, education, occupation, wage, wealth, financial position, etc. When it comes to the sexual, the information is about the person’s potential capabilities. This block does not care how many partners or spouses the person had – what matters is whether they were broken up with for being impotent (if it is a man) or frigid (if it is a woman). In other words, the IEE’s Superego receives information about properties that are related to the person as an acting force, that characterize their “kinetic energy”. The IEE’s Superego ignores those properties that make it possible to evaluate the person as a being that is not indifferent to other beings and to their attitude towards them*.
* Earlier in this section it was said that the IEE’s Superego equates living beings with inanimate objects due to only being familiar with logical but not ethical relations. It therefore does not take into account anything that is related to the person’s humanity or spiritual life.
Enemies of society
In the eyes of the IEE, anyone who threatens the world of valuable objects becomes an enemy of society, an aggressor. This includes those who threaten scientific theories; more broadly, the enemies of society are those who threaten anything that is perceived by the accepting element of the IEE’s Superego and is, to the IEE, an object of orientation in the external world: art, established scientific theories and hypotheses, and other objects. A threat causes aggression. For the IEE aggression manifests in words, in caustic humor and sarcasm, rather than in actions. The IEE kills with words, jokes, contemptuous smiles, but is exceptionally cautious in their actions. They only act as they are supposed to, as is generally accepted (the Id* block).
* It is possible that this is an oversight and what is actually meant here is Superid. Augusta typically equates actions with Te, as is seen in her IME descriptions and IEI characteristic (Superego), and for the IEE Te is in the Superid.
The adventures of Tom Sawyer* perfectly illustrate the fact that in their mischief IEEs do not tend to overstep the boundaries of what is permitted to them. Despite his insufferable character, Tom did not break any serious rules with his actions. Everything he did was allowed, but he did it in such a way that it shocked others to the extent he needed.
* Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, was typed IEE by Augusta.
Self-improvement
There is a constant struggle for self-improvement on the Superego. For IEEs it is inevitable to be constantly unsatisfied with themselves and the way they present themselves to others – otherwise they would stop being able to navigate* the ever-changing external world. The individual loses their tendency for self-criticism together with their interest in adaptation, i.e. interest in the objective world and its happenings. As long as the Superego is restless, as long the individual is drawn to self-improvement and has some self-doubt, they do not lose their vigor and do not become an elder.
* Lit. “lose orientation in”.
Self-improvement for the IEE is the improvement of their own objective qualities and the objective qualities of other objects, starting with the aesthetics (elegance, beautiful and valuable things), and ending with the acquisition of all kinds of diplomas, degrees, certificates, insignia, etc.
Collecting information about all other objects is also self-improvement. It is an opportunity to compare oneself with others, to evaluate oneself among others, to compete with others.
Which new objective qualities is the IEE able and wanting to acquire? Nowadays it is often a scientific degree or a career in performing. It is also ownership of objects – a car, a dacha*, fashionable clothes, – everything that increases the value of one person-as-an-object among others. Although the IEE will present all this to society with a certain nonchalance, as if it is something they care about the least. This is because this exact evaluation is actually the one the IEE is most interested in. It is also because they need the evaluation to be objective, and objectiveness is something they can only count on when they demonstrate nonchalance, that nothing can get to them – otherwise others will hide the truth from the IEE out of pity, and thus their mistakes will remain. Objectiveness allows the IEE to take note of the deviations from the norm, and the sooner the better.
* In USSR and post-Soviet countries – an out-of-town summer house with a small plot of land.
What the block produces
Someone who perceives (accepts) information about the object is inevitably also interested in the relations between objects. They are all the more interested in their own logical place among those objects, i.e. their real relations with them. However, someone who accepts all information about objects does not receive enough information about relations, even though relations are just as much a part of objective reality as objects themselves. Extravertizing blocks produce this reality (relations), i.e. they create relations themselves.
The producing element of the IEE’s Superego provides an answer as to what the relations between various objects, including the perceiving subject, presumably are or should be. These conclusions automatically follow from the information that ends up on this block. The IEE themself is only active in gathering the information; the conclusion, how correct it is, and how objective it is, is determined by the quantity and quality of the information on the Superego. In the mind of the IEE relations between objects are a derivative of these objects’ qualities.
Extrathymes do not feel like they have the right to violate the autonomy and integrity of the object. Objects are observed; relations are the only thing extrathymes feel allowed to manipulate, and in their hands relations become a tool to influence the external world with. What the extrathyme knows about relations is never 100% true to reality. There is always some inaccuracy in their understanding of relations between objects, be these relations logical or ethical , spatial or temporal . No subject can know every single object, which means that they also cannot know every single way in which any object is conditioned by all others. Their knowledge about these relations is always subjective to some extent. And this is why the IEE’s concrete relations with the external world may not have enough of what people call “logicality”. Or others may feel like the IEE is lacking in logic. This inclines the IEE to be exceptionally cautious.
The extrathyme is not attuned to relations*. To them, everything that happens is a result of certain qualities of interacting objects becoming actualized. To the introthyme any fact is a result of relations between objects.
* Lit. “does not feel relations well”.
The more information is accumulated on the Superego, the smaller the gap between the objects’ real logical relations and the IEE’s idea of these relations. The more information, the more adequate to reality the IEE’s relations become, the more logic there is in them, and the smaller the danger of getting hit in the place of least resistance*. It provides the IEE with a sense of knowing their place among other people. And if their sense of their place matches the way others feel, the IEE’s logic does not get questioned, and they come off as a well-socialized subject.
* The vulnerable function, Ti for the IEE.
To evaluate how well the Superego’s conclusions match reality, and, most importantly, how well they match society’s perception of this reality, i.e. that which objectively exists in society, the IEE gauges others’ reaction. A negative reaction to the Superego’s adaptive production is stressful to the individual, it is a hit in their place of least resistance. Often even positive reactions are perplexing and frustrating. The Superego’s production must fully fit into the surrounding reality, and that which is noticed by others is not a perfect enough fit. The presence of hits in the place of least resistance means that the IEE is imprecise; that they do not take into account some social values, some objects or their properties, and that their idea of objective logical relations noticeably differs from social reality. The Superego’s production should not attract others’ attention any more than a gentleman’s new suit. And this is only true if the relations are adequate to the objects they include. The IEE only enters the kinds of logical relations that others expect from them.
When another person gives a particularly positive evaluation of the Superego’s production, the individual perceives it negatively. In such cases the IEE feels intrusive, like someone who wants to attract attention or curry favor. They feel like others’ compliments are fake and actually indicative of animosity; they are unpleasantly shocking and alarming.
Relations that attract no attention, that evoke neither criticism for their stupidity nor praise for their reasonabless, are the best indicator that no mistakes were made. When the Superego’s production is unnoticeable, it is a sign of this production’s high quality.
Accurate evaluation of oneself as an object, and establishment of relations that match the objective state of affair (i.e. relations that are correct, sensible, logical), both play an especially important role on the IEE’s Superego.
The more information about the surrounding objects and subjects the IEE has, the more confident they are in the fact that the their self-evaluation is correct and that other people will perceive them correctly.
The absence or presence of hits to the place of least resistance is the method by which the individual controls themself, and by which society regulates their behavior. When the place of least resistance does not get hit, it is a sign of the subject’s own quality. It allows them to see the objective value of their own self, which, to the IEE, is the value of their kinetic force and will among other forces. If the IEE is able to give others enough needed information about this, and does not commit mistakes that would attract attention, then their self and their will have objective social value, are recognized and socially significant. But if the IEE is unable to do this, they lack this social value.
It may be noted that this “ability” or “inability” are largely a result of the mobility of the individual’s lifestyle. The more mobile the extrathyme’s lifestyle, the better their Superego is with information, and the more protected the individual is.
The individual is forced to fight for a lack of ambiguity in everything related to the producing element of their Superego. Because this element is the place of least resistance which must, as much as possible, be protected from any mistakes, shortcomings and excessive rigidity.
In each case only one of the two possible conclusion is true. One of them must be more provable. Otherwise the producing element of the Superego is in danger of splitting in two. The IEE knows that the same thing can be both good and bad, their Ego recognizes relativity in ethics. But logic, for the IEE, is not and can not be relative: the same thing cannot be both correct and incorrect, logical and illogical, except in those rare cases when someone else takes full responsibility for it.
Production of the Superego is normative. It means that the same premises can lead to one and only one conclusion, one that is also the same in each case.
The Ego block is the one that is not normative. Under different conditions different conclusions get drawn from the same facts. This is because the Ego, as we will see further, can shuffle the facts, selecting the ones it needs. It can take some facts or objects into account while disregarding others. The Ego has a permanent goal. It does not care about complete objectivity, it cares about achieving its goal in any way that the individual considers honest and fair enough.
The Superego takes everything into account. For the Superego all known facts are equal. If any fact is not taken into account, the only possible reason is that the individual does not know it. There can be no other reason. Otherwise, if the individual allows themself to shuffle the information stored on the Superego block, they will be tormented by conscience.
Note. In a way, it could be said that the whole person is in their Superego. The Superego is the only block that can neither lie nor joke. The IEE can treat objects pretty loosely – for example, they can, without thinking, call something beautiful “ugly”. But if the IEE thinks someone is reasonable or something is logical, it is so serious to them that others’ doubts about it can shock them.
Can the IEE change their relations with the surrounding objects at will? They can, under the condition that they know the rules which, if adhered to, will let them acquire new qualities that are valued by society; acquiring such qualities leads to new relations all by itself. Nowadays such an objective quality can be e.g. a scientific degree, a car, or a private house. In other words, it is that part of the objective which provides the subject with new positive qualities in the eyes of other subjects.
The practical helplessness of the Superego
The Superego’s weakness is in the versatility of its knowledge. The information accumulated on it forms something akin to concentric circles. In their practical activity the individual only uses this information in cases of extreme necessity, or under the influence of others. This is the only reason for which the Superego is not ahead of other blocks in its activity. This block is a storehouse of all kinds of knowledge, and on their own the individual cannot establish which knowledge should be preferred. In this chaos of knowledge the same thing may simultaneously be (or rather alternates between seeming) positive and negative, proven and unproven. What it seems like at any given moment depends on what others prefer. The only solution, then, is for the IEE to classify the sources of information into trustworthy (“this was said by a professor”) and untrustworthy (“this is a layman’s hypothesis”). Through discarding low-quality sources the information is, at least partially, cleared of garbage. The focus is on sources because on their Superego people cannot be critical of the information itself. After all, this information is a reflection of the objective world and objectively existing knowledge and opinions, with all their equally objective contradictions.
Because of its helplessness in solving practical problems, the Superego cooperates with the dual’s Id, which is very straightforward in its activity.
Note. Every Id is distinguished by a certain “good sense”. This is because it usually looks for the optimal way out of the current predicament instead of speculating about all kinds of things that could be done under various conditions and in various situations. The Id looks for the one road it is able to take right now. Therefore everything the Id chooses is realistic. It is always something that can actually be done, and through which the individual can demonstrate their talents and skills.
Because of the overly “versatile” and “equalized” nature of the Superego’s erudition it is often lost in indecision. The information about objects accumulated on the IEE’s Superego “has a 360-degree angle”, it is informational awareness without a direction. The individual themself cannot even choose a direction for gathering information. The dual’s Id is what provides a direction. The Id always puts the person with an identical Superego* into a situation that requires concrete action in a preset direction. It is impossible to ignore the “restraints” of the ignorant** Id. The Id can be argued with, but the individual is unable to remain indifferent to it and to not begin correcting the activity of the dual’s Id. This process of correction “opens” its own activity to the Superego, and a direction emerges. The Id’s activity is so restlessly rigid that the dual’s Superego gets involved by itself to provide additional security, i.e. for purposeful realization.
* Duals’ Superego and Id blocks are identical. For example, Se-Ti is the IEE’s Superego while also being the Id of the IEE’s dual, the SLI.
** Probably referencing the fact that, unlike the Superego, the Id is vital, i.e. not conscious.
When the question “How much is two times two?” gets answered with “How much do you need?”, it is not a frivolous joke at all. That is the whole essence of the Superego. The direction set by the dual’s Id determines which facts the Superego must take into account.
The Superego itself does not know in which direction to use its knowledge and skills, until this direction is prompted by the Id of the cooperating dual, or by the “team”. Until the expected external advice is received, the Superego has no interests of its own. It is truly objective. Interests emerge under others’ influence and pressure. Even the fact that the individual expects a specific, needed prompt, rather than any prompt, is conditioned only by the previously received prompts (a seed of direction). If no one orients them, the individual tries to realize the Superego in such a way that it would not fall out of social context, i.e. they do not take into account their own abilities and capabilities, but only what is common for society or the individual’s reference group. Sometimes such a group is their own family, and the individual acts the way their father or mother would act in a given situation.
We said before that the IEE has a desire to change their own position on the social ladder. In essence this is just a desire to avoid getting hit in the place of least resistance. The higher the IEE is on the ladder, the more protected they are from such hits. The logic of a PhD is doubted less than the logic of someone who only has a master’s degree. But to understand how to reach this high position, and whether they should, the IEE needs to be prompted by someone else. On their own they are unable to make a decision to e.g. write a doctorate. The IEE is not certain that their own assessment of their qualities (abilities and willpower) is objective. They need others to affirm this exact thing; someone needs to relieve the IEE of responsibility for this logical decision.
But there is another way in which the IEE can change their relations with the environment. In addition to changing their own objective qualities, they can also move away from objects whose qualities are unpleasant. In other words, the relations get changed by moving closer or farther away from other objects. This is the only way to influence the introverts the IEE cooperates with, and, for example, get the desired emotions out of them. The IEE’s dual, the SLI, only shows their emotions if continuing to hide them will lead to a loss of the desired relations.
The origins of the creative search
The individual’s creative intelligence is in their Ego block. But the problem this creative intelligence deals with is borne on the Superego. The IEE becomes a creative person under the condition that their Superego encounters an irritatingly inconsistent fact, gets put in an ambiguous position.
The fact that the IEE does not tolerate two logical truths in the same problem, that they need “norms”, can make them an amazing fighter for the new in science.
This can be illustrated with the concrete example of the historical feat of Thomas Henry Huxley, who won the fight against the Bible and for Charles Darwin, and paved the way for a new teaching.
Huxley was a polymath scientist who was very well versed in all scientific theories of his time, as well as the biblical version*. Aparrently, compared to all the scientific discoveries, the biblical version ended up being too primitive for him. And when Darwin’s consistent and much more logical version** appeared, and it did not contradict the known information from other scientific sources, it severely outweighed the Bible.
* Genesis creation narrative.
** Theory of evolution.
With the IEE’s Superego it is impossible to live with two logical truths: either-or. In this case Huxley had to choose between the Church’s teachings and Darwin, who, by the standards of the time, closed the last issue in natural science.
The Superego demands a very logical and very consistent conclusion rather than a creative one. Any creativity or “relativity” is perceived as a blatant lie. The Superego cannot make concessions. It needs to know for sure which relation, which “truth” is false based on the universally accepted point of view*: what the Bible offers, or what Darwin offers.
* Hre Augusta probably means that Huxley needed to know which of the two versions was not logically consistent with all other universally accepted scientific truths.
But choosing the truth for themself is not enough for the IEE. They cannot live in an ambiguous society where they will be constantly confused and bothered by contradictory statements, so they zealously defend their truth. This is just a trait of the IEE type rather than some kind of exceptional honesty. For example, someone like Darwin* is also honest, but their honesty manifests in a different way. Darwin managed to discover a new pattern, but was unable to make others understand it unless they themselves wanted to understand. This is because, in Darwin’s view, everyone has a right to believe whatever they want. To each according to their mind: an intelligent person should be helped to move into the real world, and if someone needs fairytales – let them stay in a fairytale. One should not annoy and impose themself on others. This is different for Huxley. Huxley could not exist in a world where the connection between two objects is explained simultaneously in two different ways. After all, two objects cannot be connected by one logical relation for one person, and by another logical relation for another person. This is an unacceptable ambiguity and illogicality that must be fought. But the Superego is not a fighter, it just feels nervous. So the problem gets transferred to the creative Ego block, which tries to solve it in ways available to it.
* Augusta typed Charles Darwin ILE.
The Superego does not solve anything, nor makes concessions; it only collects information and makes sure that two identical premises always lead to the same conclusion. It can be rightfully claimed that the IEE’s logic is “logical” to the point of paradox.
IEEs are persistent fighters for the objectivity in science. Like everything else in the world, this fact is neither good nor bad. It just is. IEEs may have a negative impact too, when, not understanding something new that emerges in science, they treat this new thing as subjective and fight against it. And one must admit that they do so skillfully. But once this new thing becomes stronger and enough evidence of its objectivity is gathered – in other words, once IEEs understand that it is objective, – then they start fighting against all the truths that were previously spread, but now are “unscientific”. It happens after the new manages to stand firm before IEEs without breaking. With their words IEEs burn down the old to make way for the new. We only know Huxley as a fighter for the new, but there surely must have been a time when this same Huxley could, and definitely did, sincerely say: if every priest* (which Darwin was by training) was allowed to spread their scribbles, we would run out of paper!
* This also seems to reference the fact that, as a priest, Darwin would not have had the credentials for IEEs to take his scientific work seriously at first (see The practical helplessness of the Superego).
II. Ego 
The Ego block is socially demonstrative and autonomous, i.e. fully independent and creative. It is the individual’s creative self-realization, a means of consciously influencing the external world.
The Ego block demands the level of recognition which is adequate to its own self-evaluation. It is the block of in-depth study of one of the external world’s aspects, and complete identification with the chosen objects or relations within this aspect. The block of the most intellectual feelings and sensations.
When the Ego block consists of , it reflects those physical and mental abilities which allow the person to consciously influence someone’s spiritual state. The individual with such an Ego block deeply and intently studies the aforementioned abilities of other people.
The object of deep conscious study
The aspect that falls on the Ego block is studied in depth rather than in breadth*: the individual goes deeper and deeper into some part of the aspect of the external world. For the IEE the object of close and in-depth study is potential spiritual power and talents of individual people, their spiritual constituion conditioned by their culture, education and innate tendencies. There is a constant search for methods of influencing others’ aforementioned qualities.
* Unlike the Superego block, which, as stated earlier in this description, “is a wide-ranging block” which “takes everything into account”.
Specific sides of society’s spiritual culture, or even the entire culture as a whole, also become the IEE’s object of study; it is the side of people’s and society’s potential powers that, to IEEs, is the basis of ethical relations and feelings.
The first element of the IEE’s Ego block* receives information about that which can be called the soul of man and mankind, those talents and abilities that facilitate the understanding of beauty and art (literature, music, poetry and other ways to influence people’s spiritual world). The first element receives information about everything that helps with knowing and understanding other people, entering their spiritual world. In another person IEEs see those qualities through which that person can influence others. During this observation the other person’s qualities are identified with the IEE’s own corresponding qualities.
* Ne.
The mundane, everyday goal of this block is to study those the IEE needs or is close to in order to find a key to their spiritual constitution and good everyday relationships. The IEE can use these qualities for others’ own benefit, i.e. for the sake of their self-improvement, for uncovering their potential spiritual abilities and thus increasing their belief in themselves and their capabilities – in other words, for developing one of the components of their self. After all, the IEE is very well versed in the world of people’s spiritual values and is able to help them activate their self-realization and improve the way they feel among others. However, thanks to these same capabilities, when needed the IEE can also paralyze the corresponding sides of the manifestation of the other person’s intelligence, leave that person “speechless”.
The social purpose and task of the IEE’s Ego is to collect information about the spiritual life of society and different peoples, which is then expressed with exceptional skill in the best works of world’s art: Molière, Mark Twain, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Mikhail Bulgakov, William Faulkner, Gabriel García Márquez.
The scope of the individual’s personality and intelligence is determined by how cultured they are, and by the interests for the sake of which they act, i.e. the problems of the Superego*. All of this is shaped by the inherent qualities of the individual’s intelligence, by the level of integrity of their personality that they managed to keep through childhood and adolescence, by their education, and by the people they had to communicate with before their personality was fully formed. Among IEEs there are great writers, humanist philosophers, such as Denis Diderot or Bertrand Russell. There are great IEE scientists, such as Huxley. And there are also common hacks who, thanks to their penetrating understanding of psychology, successfully defend half-empty thesis projects, make random people fall in love with them, or excitedly try to acquire any scarce goods. But all of them are parts of a whole called “society”, and all are necessary components of this whole. The way they are is how society needs them. Individual philosophers who take it upon themselves to judge what is “good” may dislike them, but they are rightful, full-fledged components of this society.
* Earlier in this description Augusta stated that “the individual’s creative intelligence is in their Ego block” but “the problem this creative intelligence deals with is borne on the Superego.”
As mentioned above, the Ego block is characterized by a narrowness of its interests when it comes to collecting information, which is how it acquires depth of knowledge and an ability to spotlight what it selects with its attention like with a laser beam. The IEE is genuinely interested in very few people, few cultural manifestations and even few works of art. However, these interests are deep.
IEEs are not well read in fiction. Usually they have a hard time reading it, because everything they read or see in movies they identify with their own person. One could say that they look for, and find, themselves in any work of fiction. This is why a novel or a movie without “good guys” whom IEEs could identify with is simply unbearable for them. All art and everything where human spirituality is manifested they measure with their own Ego; they objectively evaluate what has less of this “spirituality” than they themselves have, and what has more.
Thanks to the effect of the accepting element the external is internalized; that which was alien becomes one’s own. But the process of accepting information signals simultaneously develops one’s own qualities and abilities, i.e. the mechanism of perception itself. The more is perceived, and the more complex it is, the finer the mechanism of perception becomes, its ability to differentiate what it perceives increases. One who studies other people’s spiritual culture enriches themself, firstly through the refinement of their mechanism of perception, and secondly through others’ experience. The more differentiated the perception, the deeper and more refined the observer’s self.
That which is reflected is directly proportional to that which reflects it. The more developed that which reflects, the finer the reflection of that which is reflected. And vice versa – the finer the reflected, the finer the reflecting. One uses their own self as a measure when measuring another person, there is no other way to do it. What one sees is another person is determined only by one’s own ability to reflect. It is impossible to measure another person’s perception of the World* if it is more differentiated than one’s own. In this case one sees the other person as an abyss which can be worshipped, but not understood.
* Author’s capitalization.
The first element of the Ego is absolutely certain in its perception of the world and itself. It is the part of the individual’s self which they contrapose to the corresponding aspect of the external world with perfect ease and confidence. Thanks to this part the individual feels like a whole that contraposes itself to the external wholeness. This element provides a feeling of being comparable in strength and insight, it gives one a right to “challenge” the whole Cosmos. Because in reality only the whole mechanism of IM makes one fully commensurable with the world and allows them to physically contradistinguish themself.
In the mechanism of IM the skill of the reproductive* element of the Ego is brought to perfection. This element reflects and sees absolutely everything that is possible to see at this particular level of the individual’s abilities, education, experience, and differentiation of perception. What it does not see is impossible to see under its given conditions, which means it is also impossible for the individual to do.
* In Socion Augusta stated that accepting elements “reflect, photograph, and reproduce reality”, which is probably why the first element of the Ego is called “reproductive” here.
Could it be said that the spiritual life of the IEE is richer than that of other types of IM? I do not think so. One’s spiritual makeup is a part of the whole, developing as long as this whole develops. Rather, IEEs perceive this specific, spiritual side of their personality and connections with the world in the most differentiated way, and it is something they can give the most detailed account of.
What the block produces
The IEE’s Ego block produces ethical relations or feelings. It is creative ethics and creative feeling, because how much of it is produced depends on how much is needed.
What is creative ethics? It means that concepts like honor, conscience, kindness are creative rather than normative. The IEE’s ethics is not determined by social norms (although they do pay attention to them), but rather by society’s overall culture, interests and needs. This is why the only condition on which the IEE does not violate social norms is if they themself completely agree with the existing norms, or if they are afraid of violating them. They may be afraid of punishment, but not of pangs of conscience.
The Ego block solves all problems in accordance with its own logic. To the IEE the ethical is that which can be done, achieved, or influenced.
Ethical relations and feelings are relations of mutual influence. What is correct is such an arrangement of the objects’ abilities, such relations between them, in which one individual influences the other optimally. For the IEE’s Ego block creative process is the search for a favorable arrangement of subjects and objects. The product of this block is always creative because it does not reflect objectivelly existing relations, but is instead a creation of completely new relations which can help solve some problems, show people some aspects of the objective reality that they do not get otherwise. We must not forget that no matter how creative the Ego is, it remains a servant of the Superego. The essence of its creativity is in the fact that relations are not built based on other learned human relations, but by taking into account the spiritual structure and interests of the subject the IEE needs for some reason and therefore takes an interest in.
Ethical relations and feelings are the subject’s influence on another subject, conditioned by the spiritual makeup and culture of both people participating in the relation. For the IEE, creativity is the construction, development, creation of new feelings and relations, in life or in art. To accept the other person as they are, figure them out, get them used to the IEE, make them one of “the IEE’s people” through manipulating relations; to do this no matter what it takes if it is something the IEE needs or wants.
In order to acquire the needed relation the IEE has to shuffle the facts, i.e. only use the information that can be effective out of all the information collected by the reproductive element. After all, information itself is not the only thing getting manipulated – reality is manipulated as well, as only the needed combinations of facts and objects are selected from it. The producing element is the goal, one that is predetermined, which the accepting element serves. If the relation is preset and must be acquired at all costs, the question arises: who can guarantee that this relation is ethical enough, that it does not pursue narrowly selfish goals?
It should not be forgotten that the second element of the Ego was called speculative by Jung. For the IEE, kindness and ell ethical categories (categories of human relations) are creative. What is good or kind is that which is needed*!
* Or “that which is necessary”.
And what is needed? Perhaps it really is speculative? No, it is not, and the reason is that “what is needed” is not determined on this socially demonstrative block, but rather on the socially base* and fully objective Superego block.
* Here the word “base” means “that which serves as a base”.
One could suspect the Ego of subjectivity or egocentrism if it was free. But it is not free, it is conditioned by the problems introduced on the Superego. The Ego serves the Superego. By combining ethical relations with people and their own influence on people the IEE tries to solve the problems they could not solve on the Superego. For most, these problems are personal issues or issues related to work or family. For some, they are instead large-scale social issues. For example, the work of such people as Denis Diderot, Huxley or academician Minkevicius is meant to remove the obstacles from the path of science. They tried or try to influence people in such a way that would help the truths they defend reach these people. They excel at presenting any objective truth in a form that people would find most acceptable and understandable, in order to awaken their sleeping minds. They do not look for correct words, which are most often boring and do not get through to someone who is disinterested; instead they use the words that are attractive and persuasive, for the sake of spreading true logicality and scientificity in society. After all, they cannot live in an illogical world if it depends on them to add at least a little bit of logic to it.
The IEE’s Ego produces indirect change in people. (Only some introverts can strive to change people directly). It is a creation of new relations. But all creativity has its aim. Here the aim is consciously influencing people to ignite in them a certain striving for self-improvement, or at least for the needed activity. The goal is to change some objective logical relations (which are the Superego’s domain) through changing subjective ethical relations (which the Ego manipulates).
For example, Huxley felt the need to pave the road for a truth that was proven, but not yet widespread. He wanted to lead this truth to a total victory and sweep away the old that has now become rubbish. In other words, he wanted to change people’s attitude* to a specific objective fact, which is the need of the IEE’s Superego. To do this, the Ego differentiates its attitude to those who accept and those who do not accept the scientific fact that the IEE took under their protection. The parallel Id block () backs this attitude with a rather caustic sense of humor, although the Ego does not allow this humor to overstep the bounds of decorum, mocking the absurdity of unscientific thinking. The Ego’s goal is not just to demonstrate its own attitude to the matter at hand – it is to organize the public opinion by imposing new subjective-ethical attitudes on it.
* In Russian language the word for “attitude” and “relation” is the same (отношение) and is used by Augusta to mean both, depending on context.
In their books IEE writers also impose their own attitudes to people professing some objective value. Think of Molière’s characters or Mark Twain’s atheism. This is a reorganization of logical relations with reality through changing ethical relations.
The vulnerability of the block
One never worries about the information provided by the accepting element of the Ego. This information is objective and the individual shares it automatically, often even annoying others and not understanding the cause of their annoyance. It is completely different when other people react negatively to the reasoning related to the producing element, even if they merely dismiss it. In the individual’s eyes it becomes an unpleasant reproach for interfering with their advice despite not being wanted or needed. The result is something like a click on the nose – not very painful, but a good lesson that is remembered well. People try to avoid ending up in this kind of situation again. I think people’s jokes mostly relate to this element, which may be to realize it in communication at least in some way.
III. Superid 
Physical base, or psychosomatic, block. A means of reproducing an objective picture of the state of one’s organism. An egocentric block, a part of the individual’s self*, psychophysical state of one’s organism as it is felt by the individual. The block of the organism’s psychosomatic realization. The block of “unconscious” worries, fears and phobias, dangers of physical self-identification with others. Through the realization of this block the individual may torture themself and others, even though they only demand love and the kind of attention they need.
* “Self” in the Jungian sense.
The IEE’s Superid makes them fully dependent on the space and the way they themself feel in it. It is a dependence on physical sensations that are perceived by the body and the field* – warmth, cold, pain, physical luxury. At the same time, there is a complete inability to consciously figure all this out, i.e. become cognizant of that which is perceived. An ability to figure it out in some way, or at least avoid incomprehensible (to others) mistakes related to their body, only emerges when the IEE is directly influenced by other people and imitates them. They need a dual partner who helps them figure out the qualities of the space, and who constantly teaches the IEE what there is (for example). This is the process of becoming cognizant of the reality pertaining to this block. Otherwise the IEE’s lifestyle is disordered and easily becomes rampant – an ascetic lifestyle is hardly accessible to them, a type of IM that likes a merry company.
* In section 2 of Socion Augusta stated that “living organisms … interact through fields. From the point of view of an observer, an organism’s field is a sum of relations between one body and other bodies. The individual’s psyche perceives this interaction as various feelings.”
The IEE needs a serious partner, which their duals the SLIs () always are. The SLIs’ sense of perception of the space and their own state is optimally developed; they understand what “pleasant” means perfectly well, but they also see the excesses it can lead to, because they keenly perceive all shades of one’s state and know how to change it.
The IEE has absolutely no physical sensitivity towards others, they are unable to take care of another person’s physical wellbeing. They are attentive to the person in general, to the way this person feels spiritually but not physically, since they themself understand the latter poorly.
The IEE never knows which objective cause led to the sensations and ailments they hardly understand, whether this cause is hunger, cold or something else. Since it is the next block, the emotional* Id, that looks for ways out of situations, when IEEs feel unwell they simply whine in hopes that someone will understand them and suggest what it is they need. In the doctor’s office the IEE does not talk about the way they physically feel, but rather about their emotions, about a bad mood they cannot get rid of because something in their body is wrong. IEEs remember their mood (at least when it is bad), but they have no memory for sensations.
* The IEE’s Id contains Fe, which is probably why Augusta called it emotional.
Even when it comes to momentary sensations, the IEE only becomes consciously aware of them and acknowledges them after someone points out the affected area. When asked “Where does it hurt?” they can easily answer “Nowhere”, unless they decided in advance that they need a sick leave, and thought out exactly which area they need to point to and which pain to describe. But even an attack of appendicitis or e.g. a sharp pain in the liver area is only truly real to the IEE until after it passes. If the doctor develops a hypothesis about the nature of their illness and asks specific questions, such as “Do you feel this here or that there?”, in response the IEE may exclaim with surprise: “Oh yes, doctor! But how did you guess?”. This is why, in order for the IEE to give at least a rough indication of their sensations (which are the signals of the body about what is going on inside), they need a doctor who will ask leading questions without waiting for the information from the patient. There is no danger that these questions will lead the IEE patient to incorrect answers about the way they feel, and that the IEE will confirm something they do not really feel at all.
Unfortunately, when a doctor acts this way towards patients of other types of IM (for example, types with some hypochondriacal tendencies), this may lead to this doctor getting completely misinformed. This is why each person will find some doctors likable and some unlikable (the same applies to the way doctors feel about patients). Some doctors understand everything, and some – nothing. And this is exactly the kind of understanding a patient is looking for in a doctor. It is the reason no one can treat and diagnose everyone. (Unless the doctor is a sensitive*, although even in this case the effect of type has its own shades and significance).
* In Theory of Intertype Relations Augusta states that sensitives are people who have a “hypersensitivity to the biofield”. In her ILE characteristic she writes: “It is erroneous to think that doctors evaluate the individual’s illness based on objective indicators. Rather, they do it based on the individual’s subjective ability to describe the way they feel and point out their symptoms. Only sensitives diagnose without this.”
What the block produces
It remains to identify at least some regularities in the work activity of the IEEs.
We already said that IEEs have a propensity for acting. But it is not only because they have access to the spiritual structure of other people, and they easily influence others from the stage and establish relations (Ego block – ). And it is not only because they are cheerful and their emotions are easily controlled (Id block – ). Another reason is that the actor’s actions and behavior on stage (controlled by the IEE’s Superid – ) are dictated by the author and the director.
Activity of the IEE requires strict regulation by rules, laws, instructions, or customs. Otherwise they cannot work productively and will not be making progress. Those who have in their Superid are not great at figuring out how to do something or how to act. They follow all rules, instructions and laws very autonomously and honestly, but they cannot add anything of their own into this process. For this reason they zealously fulfill that which is prescribed and can be trusted when initiative is not needed, when the task and the way it should be carried out are strictly regulated. These people act in accordance with how it is generally accepted to act. Rules, laws and instructions IEEs follow in their activity resemble riverbanks along which the river flows. The channel in which the river flows is not something it established or paved itself.
Deciding how to act in unregulated situations is the business of other people – first of all, the IEE’s complementary types the SLIs. They are experts in thinking up various moves in situations others can no longer figure out. The SLIs act without endangering or overworking themselves, following the principle “work smart, not hard”.
Happiness and success in the IEE’s life is directly conditioned by their activity, and their activity is conditioned by sensation*. Only this gives rise to the IEE’s emotionality, joviality and cheerfulness. In a working environment they know no tiredness or bad mood. In other words, the IEE is emotionally dependent on how effectively they manage to realize their kinetic energy in work. They are afraid of activity that is fake, non-serious or not respectable enough, where they need to figure out what to do and how on their own. In such cases the IEE gets lost and becomes an unrivaled red-tapist**.
* Sensation in the socionic sense.
* Red tape – “time-consuming regulations or bureaucratic procedures”, “excessive bureaucracy or adherence to official rules and formalities”.
Proper work plays such a big role in the IEE’s life that they see everyone who does not work in accordance with the rules as their personal enemies, as people who increase the chaos in the world.
If the IEE has loved ones or relatives who know how to work, advise and counsel, if they have someone to lean on in their business affairs, and if no one prevents them from acting in accordance with the rules, they know no doubts in their work. As long as they have no problems with realizing their energy in concrete purposeful activity, they are calm and cheerful, their humor and jokes are refined. However, the IEE changes if they lack sensory-aesthetic stimuli. In such cases society perceives them as passive and sometimes even wicked, and nature – as sick, lacking physical realization.
Like every block, the Superid can produce only when it is provided with the needed information and stimuli. In this case it is first and foremost the first signaling system, i.e. sensations. If the IEE feels good physically, and they are sufficiently provided with direct sensations (i.e. the first signal system stimuli), the level of their vital activity is high.
When the IEE is provided with sensory stimuli, they become physically active, busy, energetic. Therefore, the more sensory pleasures the IEE has in their life, the more travel, love and other physical variety there is, the more active they are and the higher their working capacity. It could be said that the IEE only materializes as an active member of society able to work due to the sensory stimuli provided to them by the space.
In my opinion, the mechanism for the emergence of energy that demands realization on the Superid works as follows: homogenuous elements and homogenous blocks work in parallel. The space, and the organism as a part of this space, are only filled with sensations because one body comes into contact with other bodies . This contact is the source of the IEE’s kinetic energy. It leads to a part of the IEE’s potential energy on the Ego turning into kinetic energy on the Superego, and if there are enough emotional stimuli on the Id, this energy seeks an outlet on the Superid.
IV. Id 
A block for the organism’s self-realization among other organisms. Psychosomatic demonstrative block. A means of exploring the external world and demonstrating the organism’s capabilities. During the realization of this block the individual strives to be an example for others. There is a need to be noticed and noted for “good,” exemplary behavior. The block of aspirations, desires, and strivings.
The first thing that can be said about the Id block is the following. On the one hand, in the manifestation of the Id a lot is habitual, imitative, or even acquired through imprinting. But, on the other hand, it is the Id that “breaks the dams” when the mechanism of IM cannot function as a single whole because of the two rings receiving stimulating signals unevenly, i.e. when the active ring* is better provided with the orienting signals than the passive ring. As if the phases** of the active and passive rings of IM do not serve the same process of energy metabolism; as if it were possible to realize the links of the process of EM controlled by one ring, and leave the links controlled by the other ring unrealized. As if they are not the components of the same process of EM.
** Active ring = mental, passive = vital.
* The term “phases” was explained in Augusta’s work Socion.
Under these conditions of tension and discomfort, it is the Id that tries to break away from the old when the old becomes unbearable. The conditions become unbearable for the Id specifically, even though in reality it is a result of otherwise unsolvable contradictions that the entire mechanism of IM, and the passive ring in particular, got caught in. If there is nowhere to break through, i.e. nowhere to realize the producing element, it negatively affects the physical and the somatic system, the meridians* behind the individual elements.
* To learn more about Augusta’s views on the meridians, see the last section in Socion.
When the mechanism of IM is trapped in hopelessness, the Id seeks an impulsive, narrowly-straightforward way out. It can sweep everything out of its path. If there are no available paths, the individual’s health “cannot withstand” it. This is also a breakthrough – the weakest link has burst, and the whole organism and system of IM get a break. It is impossible to truly recover from most diseases, because after their recovery the person returns to the same informational environment from which they escaped. This is why diseases become chronic.
All of the above mostly applies to the non-dualized Id. When there is a cooperating dual, the Id does not look for an exit to create a breakthrough, but rather chooses a direction. This direction is dictated by one’s own and the dual’s individuality, and more specifically by the needs of the individual’s psychological balance.
Just as the Ego is a tool in the hands of the socially balanced Superego, the Id is a tool in the hands of the physically balanced Superid. It is the Id that demonstrates an inclination to “right the ship” and “breakthrough”. If this breakthrough is independent, lacking suffient reference points, or having poor reference points, other people may percieve it as demonstrative or asocial behavior.
Note. When we talk about receiving information, the mechanism of IM being loaded with information or stimulating signals, this mostly refers to the accepting elements since this is how they get realized. Producing elements only get realized when they are used in interactions with the world. This means transferring information to others, as well as using it in social activity and for the organism’s own needs. Without such realization, or when the realization is uneven, individual systems fail. Insufficient psychosomatic and physical realization leads to diseases. Insufficient social realization leads to behavior that is asocial or not social enough.
If the individual (depending on their type) decides to break away from their old lifestyle, social circle, job, etc., it is always the Id. The forms of life activity that “survive” are the ones that correspond to the aspects of this block’s elements.
Note. According to our hypothesis, the order in which the organism’s systems fall ill is as follows: firstly the ones controlled by the Superid, then the ones controlled by the Id, and last of all – the Superego.
Under changing life conditions each individual is constantly faced with the issues of the Id’s realization, i.e. choosing the direction in which the Id should be realized in order to lessen the psychosomatic imbalance and the ensuing erosion of the organism.
The dualized Id finds this direction with ease. In this case we see two organisms calmly adapting to the changing objective reality, and to the change of their own needs in this reality. Rather than “breaking through”, people think and choose what is optimal for their psychophysical self in cooperation with the dual’s social self. They both think for each other.
In their daily life people use the Id’s impulsiveness in all uncertain, unforeseen situations to which it is impossible to apply norms. For example, the Id gets activated in order to leave a nice evening at a friends’ house where the pleasant atmosphere “sucks you in”. This is why, when the same situation “sucks them in”, different motivations emerge in the consciousnesses of different types of IM: one realizes they have a lot left to do at home, another feels awkward, the third feels the need to manifest their activity in some way.
The accepting element
The Id of the IEE perceives information about that aspect of the fields surrounding objects which is called “time”. This is what the individual perceives as a certain sequence of external or internal processes, and for the individual themself it is waiting*. How effectively the individual perceives time, and how thought-out and conscious their waiting is, is determined by the block containing the element.
* Or “expectation”.
The IEE lives in the present and has a rather vague idea of time. To them time is a clock, a calendar, and most likely an abstraction invented for the sake of understanding or explaining a sequence of external events. At most it is a thread on which historical facts are strung. The IEE’s emotional life has no history, all of it happens now. Everything else, what was and what will be, is irrelevant. This is why the IEE wants to experience and feel everything now, without a glance at the past or the future.
The calendar and the clock are just means by which people bring some agreement and order into their life. The way the IEE perceives time is “instinctual”, it is a source of unconscious anxiety and tranquility. When the IEE expects* something pleasant, something that soothes their psychophysical self, they are calm. When there is nothing to expect, they become anxious and start rushing about. They do it instead of thinking about ways to get out of the situation, because without additional information provided by the dual it is hard to understand what exactly this situation is.
* Or “is waiting for”.
The IEE feels neither powerful nor powerless before the future. They are powerful or powerless among people in the present, the future appears on its own. The IEE finds it possible to do something for the sake of providing for their future materially, but not for the sake of soothing their emotional life. Every day they rediscover their emotions, and every day they may have doubts about whether these emotions are real and whether anyone or they themself need them. This gives rise to the longing for the one who can provide a framework and continuity to the IEE’s emotional life – their dual. When they are dualized, this daily inspection of their emotions and their value fills the IEE with a pleasant feeling of calm. This feeling only withstands the test of time if the Superid is dualized successfully. They simply copy their partner, and if the partner is suitable, this is always just what they needed.
The first element of the IEE’s Id perceives information that regulates the IEE’s own rhythm of emotional life. This personalized waiting may not match the external social understanding of time and its rhythm. How other individuals experience it and feel about it is a complete mystery to the IEE, it is a question the IEE never even considers. The IEE cannot listen to other people’s input here. They can only accept others’ suggestions about when and how the producing element of the block (i.e. emotions) can be manifested.
On the one hand, without the dual’s guidance an organism’s adaptation to the external environment is very “independent”. On the other, it may be ineffective or even asocial. No matter what an individual is doing and which part of their consciousness or organism they are realizing, they are always put in an unfavorable, losing position, if they do not take into account how other people realize themselves, as well.
Everything goes well when the IEE receives the needed external stimulating emotional signals that direct their own inner life in a strictly defined way; when they always know what can be expected, and hold onto this expectation* as one would hold onto a handrail. This expected rhythm of emotional experiences, or inner tension, is extremely important, because it ensures that the transformation of potential energy into kinetic energy on the social ring (➜➜) is incessant. Without this, the uninterrupted activity of the organism is impossible, i.e. the last part of EM (transormation of into ) cannot take place. The fact that too much or too little potential energy turns into kinetic energy has a direct bearing on how the individual is functioning. If they are over-excited, surplus energy gets realized in poorly controlled and often inappropriate emotional outbursts; if they are under-excited, they are sluggish and inactive, unmoving.
* Or “onto this waiting”.
What we call an individual’s inner life, emotional experiences and feelings, for the individual themself is a chain of internal events, thanks to which potential energy turns into kinetic energy to be realized in the organism’s external dynamics – movement, work. Partially it is realized in external manifestations of emotions. Stress and frustration are unaccessful forms of realization of this energy, a “product defect”.
We already established that the way the IEE’s Id perceives the flow of time is rather primitive. It is merely a sense that everything is going as it should and they can control their life; or, on the contrary, it is a sense of some kind of threat, of losing the ability to control the world. It is as if the IEE is cut off from the real world, and they can only return to it through manifesting their own emotions. The IEE’s emotions become a means of reconnecting with the concrete world of people. This can manifest as an examination and evaluation of their old contacts, but it can also manifest as the IEE breaking away from the old or rebelling against the old, it can be a starting point of them completely changing the way they relate to people. In other words, at some point the IEE may feel that their old emotional connections with people are not satisfactory and do not provide a sense of security, and they start changing the direction of their emotions. This does not always mean changing the object of emotions – emotions towards the same object may also change.
The dualized IEE is most often a cheerful and sweet person with a refined sense of humor, just a little arrogant. But without a dual they may become tedious, schizoid and mean.
When it is in the Id block, the field phase can neither foresee what time brings, nor influence what may happen. It cannot defend one’s own interests against the future, nor can it influence someone’s behavior or emotions in time. It only observes what is happening and tries to receive as many signals as possible in order to optimally line up one’s emotions in the flow of time. The IEE’s emotions will manifest when the inner time comes, although, as we said, this inner time may be regulated from outside. Rather than delaying the manifestation of emotions, such regulation helps them get realized earlier, at a stage where they are still controllable. In this way it saves oneself and others from unnecessary rebellion and discomfort. The more active the IEE is, the faster their time is, i.e. the faster the inner tension (which turns potential energy into kinetic energy and labor) builds.
What the block produces
The production of the IEE’s Id. i.e. inner incandescence or inner excitation, is first and foremost a physical need to activate one’s organism for its realization in labor activity. External manifestation of emotions is an excess of this incandescence. This is why the IEE cannot give a “real”, “concrete” reason behind a certain mood. Questions such as “Why did you laugh there?” or “Why did you laugh like that?” put them in an exceptionally difficult position. In their own eyes their moods are physical states that are taken for granted and do not have identifiable causes. But the IEE’s benefactors* “destroy” them with precisely those kinds of questions.
* IEE’s benefactor – ESE.
The Id block has a sense of direction. For the extravert it comes from within and is not conditioned by time in which everything accumulates. And, as was already said, the extent to which it can be corrected is very limited. The path this block takes, i.e. emotions that are born on the IEE’s Id, the individual themself sees as the only possible option, regardless of what caused these emotions. The IEE does not know and cannot imagine any other ones, it happens the way it happens. However, if the IEE is shown something more fitting that does not contradict their inner voice, they will not refuse and may change the style and direction of their emotions.
People often use their Id as a last resort and a weapon. This is because in extreme situations it shows exceptional craftiness. The weapon of the IEE’s Id is the ability to ridicule, confidence in their right to point out the opponent’s funny sides and laugh at them. They often manage to turn their opponent into a laughing stock thanks to the accuracy and causticity of their jokes.
Joke, laughter and sarcasm are the spears thanks to which the IEE leaves the battlefield victorious. Remember how Huxley fought the Bible followers, or the sense of humor our academician Minkevicius uses to mock those who do not understand the totality of various objective regularities.
IEEs may not be particularly subtle in their emotions, as they are confident they can get away with anything. And they do get away with everything because the Ego, which backs up the Id’s antics, provides them with a certain subtlety, or rather an ability to not miss. This is why a keen understanding of human relations (Ego) and the crudeness of means by which they make another person a laughing stock (Id) always come together in the IEE’s humor. Certain contradictions between those outer ethical blocks are inevitable. In an extreme situation the IEE will always manage to slight another person in such a way that they will be left speechless. In general, a certain tendency to disarm other people through subtle mockery is the IEE’s weakness. There probably are no situations they will not find a way out of thanks to their emotional restlessness.
V. General characteristic of the type. Examples
One’s personality traits are the sum of manifestations of all four blocks of IM. It is possible to identify the traits each block brings, but there are also some general things that come from the same blocks due to the fact that they exist next to other specific blocks.
The IEE’s Superego manifests, first and foremost, in a certain attitude towards their body as an object. The body must lead the kind of life that does not attract the attention of outsiders by being either puritanical or promiscuous. How much the IEE talks about this in a social setting also depends on what is generally accepted and expected. If the IEE has no real adventures, but having them is the norm, they resort to vague hints (since the Superego cannot lie). Also related to this is the feeling of having a right to either demonstrate or hide their body, and to dress a certain way. The IEE always feels the need to dress elegantly, because otherwise people will talk about it. At the same time this elegance must appear accidental, careless – otherwise the IEE can, again, become a target of the outsiders’ close and unpleasant attention.
The Superego is the block that determines the IEE’s penchant for the objectively beautiful and their striving to develop their aesthetic taste. They like to talk about art and explore the world of beauty. For them, perception of the object is also an aesthetic evaluation of it, a desire to live in the world of beauty. Often this manifests in a strange tendency to give a negative evaluation to things the IEE is discovering for the first time (works of art, household good and purchases). All of this is a fear of giving an unobjective evaluation and a search for the objective one. An error in evaluating an object is an error in the logic of relations between objects.
The IEE has a tendency to acquire various objects, including luxury goods. Moreover, all of this is done at the level of the social group they consider themself a part of, so as to avoid standing out. The Superego cannot stand out. But, since everything is changing rapidly, the specific means of adaptation that used to ensure the IEE does not stand out may stop working. Sometimes, in spite of all the efforts, they still cannot avoid getting hit in the place of least resistance. However, these hits do not help the IEE to accurately reorient themself. The hit says that something is wrong, but does not answer the question of “how?” or “how much?”. The adaptation is only painless when the IEE tells everything they heard about the objects to their dual, whose own Id occasionally starts giving precise, categorical evaluations of objects that leave no room for any doubt. Under such cooperation the IEE feels secure: their Superego receives a direction.
The Ego block () is responsibile for the IEE’s ability to provide themself with the needed relationships. This block is behind their certainty in the fact that they are valuable and attractive in the cultural and spiritual sense, and that their spiritual self must evoke admiration and attract others. The Ego also makes the IEE understand people well – the aforementioned spiritual self is valuable precisely because it is great at understanding people and can facilitate their spiritual development.
The IEE most often appears calm and composed, although in childhood they are especially fidgety and restless (Tom Sawyer). Thanks to their Id they are never gloomy. They carry themselves in such a way that would make their entire presence evoke trust, help getting any information the IEE needs, incline other people to communicate intimately and “pour their heart out”*. But, since the Ego is the one to make the selection, the IEE will not draw a person closer to themself if this person is not interesting to them.
* Lit. “confess” (referring to the religious practice).
What is the IEE’s attitude to people with an alien culture? Culture is determined by a person’s spiritual qualities. And as long as the IEE looks, they see another person’s spiritual qualities in fullness, and are able to manipulate these qualities. For this reason their relations with people from another culture are determined by the IEE’s needs. When those people are needed, the IEE loooks directly at their spiritual makeup as if with an X-ray, and establishes the relationship no matter what it takes. And if the people are not needed, the IEE skillfully maintains their distance, appearing inaccessible and preoccupied with their own world. However, someone’s business qualities are another thing entirely. This is the domain of the IEE’s Superego, and here the IEE is distrustful, demanding “objective evidence”, diplomas, certificates etc.
Manifestation of any potential energy can only be observed so long as the observer does not exert volitional pressure on its source – such pressure transforms the observed potential energy into kinetic energy. For this reason in their relationships with others IEEs are cautious, showing tact, calmness, composure and a certain slowness. Otherwise they would lose a reliable information source, as they would begin receiving information about the individual’s kinetic energy rather than their potential energy. The exchange of signals with sources of potential energy would stop in this case. This is why, even if the IEE is as fidgety as Tom Sawyer, there is still an element of observation in their relationships with people. They are good listeners.
IEEs easily build a career in politics or administration thanks to their knowledge and understanding of everyone who is important to them, their keeping all the unneeded people at a distance, and their ability to not ruin relations with anyone. However, this career is not in leadership, since a leader needs an ability to oppose their will to the will of others.
Typical pose of the IEE is that of Dean Reed in the picture* with a guitar on his shoulder. This picture perfectly characterises the IEE’s attitude towards reality. Seemingly vacant, pensive, slightly displeased facial expression, and a shoulder that is leaned back. The guitar is just an external attribute, and it is as if he himself does not notice it. It is not the reason behind his shoulder leaning back. This tendency, a dismissive movement of the shoulder, is something the IEE always exhibits, it can be seen on any photo. Along with the displeased facial expression, it is their way of shielding themselves from other people’s initiative, and it is also their way of attracting attention when needed. It could be said that the leaned back shoulder and the displeased expression are, simultaneously, a signal of rebellion, and a signal that the is IEE contemplating something of their own and should not be disturbed. Interestingly, the IEE is the only type that will never appear ridiculous or out of place when you imagine them with a guitar on their shoulder, even if they are a great state official or scientist. It will not infringe on their aristocratic independence, mostly because the IEE is not self-conscious around people. The IEE knows that they are valuable to others, and this value mostly comes from their spiritual qualities rather than their external attributes (which they also do not know how to evaluate). However, due to the fact that the subject’s influence on another subject is conditioned by personal charm (among other things), all ethical types make a greater effort to be beautiful and elegant than do logical types. For example, everything else being equal, the IEE dresses much better than the SLE. The latter is less elegant, even though they can handle physical things with more confidence.
* Most likely this one.
IEEs easily become actors, and good actors at that. But since they are exceptionally drawn to the acting career, it is hard for them to make it, purely because among actors this type is the most common*. One can make sure of this by watching cheap movies from weak directors where all the main roles are often played by people of the same type. Under such conditions even the most genius director would not be able to produce a spark of real human contact, especially because intuitive types would not be able to act out a kiss that is convincingly passionate.
* Or “one of the most common”.
A typical trait of the IEE in their home life is the ability to whine, complain, effectively demonstrate their helplessness, and get other people’s sympathy without fear of appearing ridiculous or pathetic. Someone who feels able to increase another person’s value with their attention is always certain that this person needs them. This leads to exceptional inventiveness and even speculativeness in relationships with people. The IEE is so sure they are spiritually irresistible that they are not afraid of appearing “weak”. They are completely certain that if they need a person, this person also needs and admires them. In their youth, and even after that, IEE men and women are both certain that almost everyone is in love with them.
The emotional climate of the dyad
Each dual dyad has an emotional climate that is unique to it. The emotional climate of this dyad is well conveyed in a fun movie Monster*, where the main roles are played by (IEE, male lead) and (SLI, female lead). To outsiders it seems that throughout the film there is a continuous fight between partners, and this fight is funny and entertaining, but stupid. Real love and spiritual closeness are out of the question here. And if the characters stay together anyway, this is only because the creator made it so, or because an entertaining movie is supposed to end in marriage. Or this may be done to show that the love of “the common folk” is still love and still has some consistency of feelings despite being crude.
* Given the context, the title might imply that someone is being insulted with this word for being ugly or unpleasant. I tried to find this movie, but so far was unsuccessful.
People who relate to the emotional climate of this dyad perceive this movie differently. It turns out that throughout the film these two people are consistently in love. Everything that happens, all the twists and turns of their relationship are partially testing and proving their feelings and attention to each other, partially them adjusting to each other, and partially jokes to entertain themselves and the audience. It can be called a “test for the dual’s personality”, an exam. For example, it turns out that when she slammed the door in his face after ripping the flowers from his hands, the most important thing is that she accepted his flowers, and the fact that she threw the man himself out the door is small potatoes. Of course, only the dual can pass such an exam without losing their sense of humor and hope for a great future. And because of this being fully secure (i.e. protected from mutual offence) is also only possible with a dual.
We all admire Tom Sawyer’s fun adventures. Tom, like the author of the book, is (IEE), Aunt Polly is (SLI). But has anyone thought about how one would endure all of this in real life if they themself belong to a different dyad?
Here are a couple more examples that demonstrate what an IEE and their logic are with exceptional precision.
A fifteen-year-old IEE, Algis, is catching bugs for his collection; the younger children join in. “You cannot,” Algis declares. “Why not?” his mother is perplexed. “What will happen if everyone starts doing whatever they want? There are so few bugs already,” the boy replies. “Yes, but you still catch them,” the mother is still puzzled. “I am different,” Algis counters calmly, “I am a member of a zoology club.”
In the IEE’s mind an object has some concrete properties, and these properties determine the logic of its relations with other objects. A boy (object) who is a member of a club (property) has a right to bugs (relation with another object), but a boy without this property cannot enter the same relation with the bugs. Each object should have its own logical place.
An IEE movie director always prefers a bad actor with a degree to a good actor without special education (especially when there is no business competition, as it was in the USSR). This is because the IEE feels that they have no right to their own evaluation of an object, and only accepts a formal social evaluation. What if other people believe* the gifted person has talent when this gift is not officially authorized, and ask “where is your logic?”.
* It is possible that there is a typo and this is supposed to be “what if other people do not believe…”. This would make more sense with the theme of the Superego being socially conforming: if the IEE hires an actor without a degree, but other people do not believe this actor has talent, the IEE would not feel like they have a right to defend their choice (i.e. their evaluation of an object), which is why they avoid such situations by only seeking actors with a degree.
An IEE scientist does not tend to participate in scientific discussions in which truth is born.
Intuitive extraverts know how to find a way out of situations that seem hopeless to others. Very often they live their lives solving problems they do not need to be solving, just for the sport of it. For the IEE this is about solving emotional situations. Thanks to their understanding of people’s spiritual structure they know how to do something nice for another person, and they cannot resist doing it: they try to make everyone happy with their attention. This is why they are exceptionally popular with the opposite sex. Their feelings are rather unstable because of their interest in the “sport of it”. Something that facilitates this is the IEE’s belief in the fact that they are valuable for other people, that they are elegant, intelligent, well-read, have good taste etc.
The nourishment of the IEE’s psychosomatic Superid block is sensations, including love-making. Without them the IEE is half social activity and half modern business person, because it is hard to imagine an active life that would provide the needed sensations in some other ways.
Sensations play such a large role in the IEE’s life that they can be accompanied by a fear of becoming dependent on the other person. Especially so because for the IEE physical identification means giving up control over the situation: they turn from a “giver” to a “taker” and become dependent on the “giver”.
The nature of their Superid conditions the fact that during love-making the IEE is drawn to caresses that involve the entire body surface. They “love” with the skin of their whole body. IEEs have a need to feel their entire body, because this is a process of self-materialization that rouses their physical activity, gives them inner certainty in their own materiality, and through this facilitates decisive activity in social life.
The second element of the IEE’s Superid demands that their partner treats their body creatively. Like in any physical activity, here the IEE follows their partner down a path they had paved. This is why IEE women as well as men prefer partners with practice.
VI. Outward traits
It is my opinion that posture, facial expressions and even the way of dressing are all means by which the mechanism of IM shields itself from the unneeded information and tries to make its way to the needed. The people who manage to shield themselves are those under psychologically favorable conditions, i.e. those who do not get caught in a stream of signals carrying harmful information and not providing the information one needs, the kind that balances their psyche. This is why certain facial features are more pronounced in people who are unable to protect themselves from the desintegrating information. Their type of IM is way more noticeable in their every movement, facial expression, action. These are the so-called accentuated personalities. The type of IM is most clearly visible under especially unfavorable conditions that lead to accentuations turning into psychopathy.
The IEE’s face is unemotional, more cold. Their lips are narrow and often pressed into a slight dismissive smile. This is what gives them a touch of “aristocratism” and keeps other people at the needed distance.
A friendly smile without the hidden irony or demonstrative causticity is usually reserved for the IEE’s closest people. The horizontal wrinkles on their forehead and around their mouth makes their face seem more elongated than it really is. (The face of sensoric extrathymes always seems rounder than it really is, despite the same “cyclothymic” cranium).
They have a tendency to squint, especially with their right eye, which leads to the famous vertical “Mark Twain-like” wrinkles on their temples. Creases on their chin end in two pouches.
The left side of their face is narrower, longer and more expressive. The leading left eye looks at the object and the right auxiliary eye observes the dynamics.
IEEs do not possess particularly great taste, but they try to be stunningly elegant while appearing somewhat careless. They have good posture. To some extent their movements are careless, but at the same time smooth, light and slightly sweeping.
Posture, facial expressions, gestures
The IEE’s facial expressions are slight but expressive. Their eyes are most often squinted, especially the right eye and its right corner. If you start at the fairly widely open left end of the left eye, and finish at the completely narrow right end of the right eye, you get a kind of triangle. Pretty early on in the IEE’s life lines appear around their mouth and nose, also forming a triangle that gets more and more pronounced with age. In their eyes you can usually notice something akin to displeasure, pretentiousness, or a sense of self-importance. It comes off as a protest, and is a warning that the IEE is the one to dictate emotional contacts and nothing else will be tolerated. However, among other things it helps to give additional importance to the IEE and their problems. Sometimes their face is very calm and noble. It is especially calm and noble precisely because of this first signal system warning sign.
A way of influencing people
All ethical types know how to do this. They either pamper () or get pampered (). To a degree all ethical types adapt to the demands of their social environment. The IEE’s facial expression, especially in their youth, looks somewhat like that of a “darling”*. It is a kind of basic understanding that only darlings get pampered. If the IEE’s face expresses displeasure, others pay more attention to them, which also means they help and pamper them more. In general, logical types have a tendency to pretend to be strong and capable of helping others at any moment, even when it is more than they can handle. On the contrary, ethical types have a tendency to pretend to be much weaker than they actually are. For them, “being strong” always carries certain dangers. Objectively, this is absolutely correct: what is dangerous to an ethical type’s consciousness or their dignity (for example), is not dangerous to a logical type.
* Lit. “one who gets pampered”. This invokes associations with a pampered child, although the word can be used for adults,
Classic Socionics 