Got Magic? The Idealist Introvert Does!

COUNSELOR infjs are people like ... Chaucer, Goethe, Carl Jung, Mohandas Gandhi and Eleanor Roosevelt

HEALER infps are people like ... Homer, Virgin Mary, Shakespeare, Hans Christian Andersen and Princess Diana

The MBTI Personality Temperament theory and other temperament theories such as Keirsey, my favorite, divide introverts into four broad basic categories called Guardian, Artisan, Rational and Idealist. Introverts are people who are energized while alone and zapped of energy while being with others. Introversion is a legitimate personality type.

Idealist introverts are abstract in thought and speech. They are aspirational, positive and oriented toward the future. They long to unite people in peace and love. There are two different types, the Counselor (infj) and the Healer (infp).

Idealist introverts make up just 2% of the population.

Both types focus intensely on human potential - that of a few people around them -- and are among the most "introverted" of all types, having exceptionally rich inner lives and little or no desire to be in positions of leadership. It is interesting to note, for example, that an idealist type has never been president of the United States.

Both types of introverted idealists are rare, making up only 1% of the population in each case. [No type makes up more than 13% of the population.] The other group that is this small is the Rational introverts (Masterminds and Architects) who also make up just 1% of the population each.

Temperament theory statistics may reveal a nonphysical Darwinian evolution of the "more fit" in these statistics: Guardians and Artisans make up 38% of the population each while Rationals and Idealists make up 12% each.

We creatures on the Darwinian edge-- Rationals and Idealists -- have both an advantage and a disadvantage. In a certain sense we are adapted to the ways of the future, which is evolving, but on the other hand, the future is not yet here. And therein lies the rub.

Suffice it to say, though we may be better adapted to the realities of the future, we are maladapted to the world defined by "s" types, the present world. I mean to say "maladapted" descriptively, not critically.

Now let's look at the word "idealist" for a minute. This word has several different meanings and connotations, many, it seems, concocted by They Who are Not Idealists and "They" are most certainly in the majority.

This is what dictionary.com says:

•One whose conduct is influenced by ideals that often conflict with practical considerations.

•One who is unrealistic and impractical; a visionary.

•An artist or writer whose work is imbued with idealism.

•One who idealizes; one who forms picturesque fancies; one given to romantic expectations.

•someone guided more by ideals than by practical considerations

Hmmm "unrealistic", "impractical", "picturesque fancies", "romantic expectations" … this doesn't sound very flattering. Further down the list, a synonym suggested for idealist is "dreamer".

Four of these definitions are, in fact, a real put down. Am I imagining a slight sneer on the lips of the lexicographer? Probably written by a Rational (someone who would be interested in compiling a dictionary), we are defined negatively by what we are not - we are not practical and we are not realistic.

To put this in perspective, why don't we write a dictionary and define realists as people who are "nonidealistic", "lacking in imagination", "bereft of meaning and romance in life", "stuck in the here and now" ??

Well, no, we're not practical. So you won't catch us writing any dictionaries. What we are is magical.

Let's look further now, among ourselves - or perhaps some of you are reading this because your child or loved one has been "diagnosed" as an infj or infp. Let's try to understand the real magic of the idealist introvert personality type. Take another look at the list at the top of the page. Think of the contributions of Homer, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Goethe and Gandhi. Can you think of five people across time who had a more profound understanding of human nature?

Idealism is related to the Platonic ideals of ancient Greece-- as described by the philosopher Plato -- which are somewhat like archetypes in a way. One mathematician in a chat group recently said, "Plato thought what we see in the physical world is a dim reflection of the true ideal thing. For example circular objects are crude approximations to the ideal perfect circle."

Clearly this man is not an idealist personality type. As any intuitive idealist will tell you, there is nothing "dim" about manifest reality reflecting Platonic ideals. Our ideals, our beliefs and their beyond-sensory forms are vivid and infused with life.

Idealists warm to -- nay, set fire to, torch! -- their ideals because they respond to them as potentials waiting to be filled. In our minds, we can draw a straight line from the thing we see in our Mind's Eye to the reality it can become in the future. We specialize in doing this with people. Time and space are not issues.

Kenneth Silber, in an article entitled "Searching for Bobby Fischer's Platonic Form", published online at TechCentralStation explains, "This has potential religious implications; in a recent TCS essay, Edward Feser identified Platonism, or belief in a realm of abstract entities, as a key assumption underlying Western religion."

An interest in the higher realms is, indeed, a characteristic of the idealists and a critical key to understanding their approach to "reality". The InfjInfp YahooGroup buzzes with talk about negative matter, extra dimensions, exotic energy sources, possible uses for becs, quantum computers, loopholes in relativity, space elevators, great unsolved math problems, consciousness, REIKI, Tarot cards and so much more!

Recently a new member Stela wrote, "I have never tried Reiki, but it is interesting to read about it. I am interested in healing and debate with myself about what type of healing I would like to do. Currently I am thinking about training as a nutritionist and using nutrition and herbs for healing. I also think that using prayer to diagnose and heal is interesting. Actually many kinds of alternative healing intrigue me. Has anyone ever thought of becoming a naturopath or naturopathic doctor?"

Another member Linda wrote, typically, and I don't "correct" email quotes because I think email is all about relaxed and casual, "I am into poetry (both reading and writing), music, reading, laughing whenever I can (Strangers w Candy, Mad TV, SCTV etc), and learning new things. I prefer the mystical poets like Rumi, Gibran, Hafiz along w some contemporary poets, McKuen, Bob Dylan. My musical tastes diverse and eclectic -no specific genre. My list of favorites is about 2 paragraphs long! I like to discuss current issues and mystical, philosophical issues too. I'm a Discovery Planet Specials junkie and realize that what we experience here is merely a blip in time." She signs her email, "In Light".

Certainly the group leans to discussing the "unseen". But here the age-old misunderstanding surfaces - there are those who think we prefer an "ideal" world because it is "unseen" and that we shrink with distaste from the "messy, familiar world" of blood, sweat, tears, mucus and semen. They think we would prefer to worship our beloved at a distance and without the "inconvenience" of a physical body as in Platonic love. Ha!

One of the most fascinating and influential infps in my opinion is Hans Christian Andersen. His fairy tales, far from watered down Disney are the real thing, for those who have eyes to see and this may be only those with the subtle qualities on the inf's. "Fairy tales are not real, or even realistic," says Amanda Craig in The Uses of Enchantment at her BLOG, "[but they are not] as many people still believe, an escape from reality. They are another way of getting you to think about real difficulties. If you have ever doubted this, read "The Ugly Duckling" to your introverted kid.

Indeed. Craig reveals by her statement that she's no "inf" but Andrea Jurik is.

Jurik, a Slovakian currently living in Germany, learned to read just so she could feast for her self -- to her heart's content -- on Andersen's "Rose Elf", which her mother felt was too dark to read to her. Somehow Jurik knew this "fairy tale" would map her territory accurately. Idealist introvert personality types are uniquely concerned with problems of good and evil and "Rose Elf" is, indeed, very dark.

Another client, Rosemarie, says, "I was utterly fascinated by "The Red Shoes" from the moment I first saw the movie (based reliably on Andersen's fairy tale of the same name). "I was four years old when the movie came out. I can't imagine how I found it a few years later but I begged to watch it many times. I was actually embarrassed to reveal to my parents how much I wanted to see the movie again. It must have been my first experience of obsession.

"Today at 60 the story is still unfolding for me as it explains me to myself again and again through the years. It is a timeless story of the truth of my existence. I'm an infp and we are very intense people, easily obsessed. We have our dark passions and so forth. This is also one of our greatest strengths."

John, a 24 year old graduate student, chats up the Platonic ideals this way in his BLOG called "Discursive Parallax" (I'm not sure you're ready for this -- I don't believe John is a Communications major): "Plato screwed the pooch when he came up with his essentialist philosophy.... [He] gave us ... the Platonic illusion.

"Personally, I'm convinced that the most debilitating of all Platonic illusions," John contnues, "can be described with three words - Perfect Girl Syndrome."

In simple English, Plato describes a world of "essentials", by which is really meant "essences" as in "I get the essence of what John is trying to say."

I think John is trying to say is that his real pool of possible dates may differ significantly from Helen of Troy. The kind of essentials we feel Plato was referring to are self evident to the idealist but let me try to put it into words for those of us who are groping for a concept of ourselves as idealists and how really different we are.

To the temperament type idealist, Plato's ideals are not "perfect" so much as they are blueprints and prototypes. They are interested in potential, their own and someone else's.

Idealists value personal growth, authenticity and integrity. They yearn to develop themselves fully as individuals and facilitate growth in others. In this regard they refer to a not visible "pattern" of what they think a human being can and should be. They believe human beings can evolve into something "better than", "more than" but there is no end to this possiblity of evolution.

In this sense, people will never be "perfect" because their potential, if realized, will promote further evolution. I believe that Carl Jung discusses this phenomenon in relation to God Him/Herself in his book "Answer to Job".

Let's take a more concrete example. Let's take the example of a house. I want a house. I go looking. I don't find anything I like. Well, not in my price range. I'm realistic about this. So I think, maybe I'll build one myself. I go down to Home Depot or get on the internet and look for some house plans. Hmmm. Nothing there. Go looking for an architect. Find one with templates. That won't do. Wait. Listen to my intuition. Follow its clues. Mostly dead ends. Relax. Wait. Believe I can find what I want. It's out there somewhere. Someone tells me about an architect who specializes in small, unique, affordable housing. She's an independently wealthy visionary who adores doing these kinds of houses because they are her forté, something she believes in, and she gets international awards for them. This woman comes up with a plan that suits me to a "T", including the price. She gets so excited about it, she gives me a bridge loan to cover some of the costs until I can get the financing I want. This is a true story by the way. It happened to one of my idealist introvert clients and it could not happen to a realist, who would have stopped or compromised when s/he couldn't find an existing home that met the specs.

Idealists seek higher and higher ground, more abstract sources for the things they want to manifest in their lives and if necessary, are not above changing the blueprint or seeking a "higher authority", even, as Jung implies, creating a better blueprint for a god. Thus, following the new pattern, as the real must manifest from the ideal, Jahweh yields to a merciful Christ.

Perfection and escape are not the goal. Imagination and evolution are the goal.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it so succinctly, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are only small matters compared to what lies within us."

Nelson Mandela describes it this way. "A leader … is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing all along they are being directed from behind." Or from jail. Or in a chance encounter at the grocery store that changes the way they think forever after. This is why your name also does not get out of the house.

This is the magic of the idealist. Is it any surprise there has never been an idealist president? Such work is better left to the Guardians and Artisans. Our names never get out of the house.

The influence of the idealists is more profound than ever a Guardian or Artisan could possibly imagine or hope for, for to change the blueprint is to change the future.