Chiastic structure of function order

[Artsu Tharaz]

I had wondered before about the structure of function order. It seems to make intuitive sense, but why?

And just now I came across this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiastic_structure

The structure of the function order is clearly chiastic.

The first four functions have the structure of A B B' A',

And the full 8 functions go A B C D D' C' B' A', or A B B' A' C D D' C' (double chiastic) (there may be something in the middle, too).

Interesting!

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

What this means is that people are characteristically chiastic in nature.

In anything - not literally anything, there are a great deal of exceptions - a person does, you are likely to see a chiastic structure manifest. That's why function order is how it is.

It also suggests that my previous approach to typing-by-forum-post was flawed, because it would only apply to a post of 4 or 8 paragraphs - if the post had 3 paragraphs, this wouldn't mean that the function order was only shown to the tertiary - although it could be interpreted in such a way, the better way to interpret it would be as a start - middle - end which is a structure with 3 components (perhaps with a more substantial middle component).

It also hints at the limitations of the MBTI...

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

So here's what I can gather from MBTI:

There is a commonly used function order which is chiastic, in the form of:

A B B' A' A'' B'' B''' A'''

And further more, when you identify this chiastic process in some set of works produced by a person, when you line up the corresponding components, you will find that very often the same theme is used. Not always, but often.

Then, when you do the same process for multiple people, you will find that different people have similar themes in the same position, and likewise other people will have the same themes in a different order.

This allows you to say a person is or isn't a particular type.

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

It also suggests that my previous approach to typing-by-forum-post was flawed, because it would only apply to a post of 4 or 8 paragraphs - if the post had 3 paragraphs, this wouldn't mean that the function order was only shown to the tertiary - although it could be interpreted in such a way, the better way to interpret it would be as a start - middle - end which is a structure with 3 components (perhaps with a more substantial middle component).

I don't think this paragraph is accurate.

Regardless, treat any shakier claims as me speculating out loud.