Do you think it's possible to convince yourself to become another type?

[computerhxr]

In other words; can you trick yourself into believing you have a preference for another type?

For example. I-E preference and which one drains, or recharges you. Can you put yourself into a mindset that allows you to feel recharged by the opposite of your natural preference?

I want to experiment on myself to see if I can make the switch. I have some ideas on how I would achieve this. Temporarily, as I fully expect my natural preference to take over when I lose focus.

What do you think? Is it possible?

 

[Black Rose]

Try to think to yourself which type this is:
if you do you might know what the other types are.

[BIMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/MaleGoldenRetriever.jpg[/BIMG]

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

I think you'd have to chemically alter your brain physiology. Possible, but not necessarily worth the risk.

I-E (Ne-Ti vs Ti-Ne) shift seems more plausible than Ti-Te/Fi-Fe shift.

 

[computerhxr]

I think you'd have to chemically alter your brain physiology. Possible, but not necessarily worth the risk.

I-E (Ne-Ti vs Ti-Ne) shift seems more plausible than Ti-Te/Fi-Fe shift.

I was thinking more along the lines of electro-shock therapy...

 

[StevenM]

Well that could be dangerous. Especially if your doing it on your own. I suggest drugs, if you really have to.

 

[computerhxr]

What drugs specifically, and which preference would it change?

So far it sounds like there isn't much faith in the possibility of changing type preference.

Here's the beginning strategy that I'm going to practice.

1. I will go out and comment and random things with as many people as possible.
2. I will not talk about anything in depth
3. I will program myself by releasing feel-good endorphin (forcing a smile, eating a treat, etc...)
4. I will reflect positively on the situations at night, through affirmations and the like
5. Prior to this, I will do some breathing exercises, and meditate to clear my mind

I have some other ideas but I wanted to start with something small and manageable.

What do you think? My goal is to approach ambiversion and possibly selectively choose to be introverted or extroverted based on the situation.

 

[Reluctantly]

Convince? Your proclivities will still be there, while your ego wills you to go against them. So yes you can convince yourself to become something else, but it wouldn't be very natural; you'd have a well-developed persona or personality mask and I wouldn't consider that as a type change, but maybe something that covers up your type and obfuscates it.

 

[Sir Eus Lee]

If you did/when you were done with said self inflicted therapy COUGHCOUGHmentaltortureCOUGHCOUGH you're going to look exactly like your avatar.

Aside from that, I would say take a slower, natural approach. Like was said before, putting Ne in front would be easier than a switch to Te. Te and Fi come out when youre stressed, and so just using Te or Fi might make you stressed regardless as a result. I suggest a natural but quickened functional development, say Ne in front, and then use the new adjustment to explore the Ti Fe center functions, and then maybe try to go for Fi Te, things like that.

Or just go for gold, smile, associate with people, be extroverted, and you will be drained, but you might get better over time.

 

[computerhxr]

So then would you know the difference between wearing this mask, and truly feeling that you're another type?

I have been able to act as an extrovert but always felt as if I was wearing a mask. My goal is to feel a gain in energy instead of a drain through extraversion.

To me, it seems like being an introvert means that I will practice introversion more often, and therefore it will become more and more dominant. It's like a trap, that sucks you in and a switch would involve a lot of work.

The same as negative though cycles. It builds more negativity and eventually becomes the dominant way of thinking. However, with a lot of work you can break this cycle. I think that I can do this and flip the I-E scale. That's the idea anyways.

 

[Sir Eus Lee]

I flipped it. I worked for a long time, and now in some social encounters, my Ne skips ahead. I developed the heck out of it, but consequently active Ti took a hit. Don't do it. It pulls out Fe like Satan. Fe smothers everywhere, like finally opening a cool aid bottle and flinging it everywhere, it gets over everything and makes you want to cry in a hole.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

I was thinking more along the lines of electro-shock therapy...

I seriously hope that wink implied a joke...

I've seen the results of ECT firsthand, and they aren't pretty (hippocampal neurogenesis be damned).

Part of me wants to direct you to Lyra just to see what that route results in for an actual INTP though.

 

[Sabreena]

Can you put yourself into a mindset that allows you to feel recharged by the opposite of your natural preference?

I think it is possible, to a certain extent, to convince yourself that you prefer one style over another. Take my dad for example. He's a strong introvert, but has always been chronically insecure about his social position. After 50 years, he has learned socially acceptable ways to act, how to use his brain to make witty jokes that people appreciate. But he's not good at sensing emotions; he can't understand why his daughter might cry when he travels 600 miles to see her in a mental hospital and the first thing he says is "Well, if your mother hadn't messed up your mind so much, you probably would've gotten higher SAT scores." Like wtf man.

His new wife is a definite E (or possibly the same as him, an I masquerading as an E.) She pushes him to go to parties, spends more time socializing than he ever did when married to my mom. She is the extra thing that evens out the places that he fails, smooths out the gaffes and navigates the subtler aspects of the rich-wives-who-sit-at-home-all-day drama.

Still he's abusive and smokes 50000 times a day. So, I wouldn't say going against your type is a thing that particularly works for a lot of people.

It's like trying to change your sexuality. Sure, it's fluid, and subjective, and labels are a socially imposed thing. But telling yourself that you don't feel something, trying to excise that part of your brain? More trouble than it's worth.

I'm sorry for turning this into an Si--heavy rant about my family.

 

[computerhxr]

I seriously hope that wink implied a joke...

I think it is possible, to a certain extent, to convince yourself that you prefer one style over another.

...

His new wife is a definite E (or possibly the same as him, an I masquerading as an E.) She pushes him to go to parties, spends more time socializing than he ever did when married to my mom. She is the extra thing that evens out the places that he fails, smooths out the gaffes and navigates the subtler aspects of the rich-wives-who-sit-at-home-all-day drama.

Well, if you have to force yourself or someone to get out, then that's not an extrovert. It should be something that revitalizes you.

My brother is a very strong extrovert and he always has plans for what he's going to do... Like going on trips, parties, and hanging out. He is genuainely excited by the prospect of going out. He gets depressed when he doesn't get out very often.

I'm the polar opposite. I force myself to go out. If I'm not social for long periods of time, then I feel fine actually. If I don't spend time to myself on the otherhand, I start to feel a bit crazy. It's like I NEED this time to myself, and my brother NEEDS time with other people.

It's like trying to change your sexuality. Sure, it's fluid, and subjective, and labels are a socially imposed thing. But telling yourself that you don't feel something, trying to excise that part of your brain? More trouble than it's worth.

That's a good point. I feel like I could change my sexuality actually, but I wouldn't want to. It would be a change of mindset. I could even convince myself to find women repulsive.

What about comparing it to something like OCD. I used to have it pretty bad, but I was able to free myself from it. At some point I realized having mild OCD is actually a good thing for me, so now I try to maintain a certain level of it.

Or, what about comparing it to being overweight. When you lose the weight, you can still identify as being overweight. You identity is not inline with reality. This is also something that you can change by altering your mindset.

The more that I think about it, the more I have faith that it's possible.

 

[StevenM]

What drugs specifically, and which preference would it change?

Said that because of personal experience. Neuroleptics changed my behaviour a lot while I was on them. I went from a person who preferred being alone, to someone who couldn't stand it. I felt better being out and about everyday with people, and scared as shit being in a quiet unmoving room.

You could say that has nothing to do with cognitive functions, and more of a mental illness. Nonetheless, my personality did change dramatically.

Also, was on a heavy dose of clonazepam for awhile as well, which might have been a factor.

Off the pills, I'm met with someone quite familiar. Back to not having much enthusiasm for the outside social world, and stuck quietly thinking and solving stuff.