Free Will - Internal External - MBTI Relation | INFJ Forum

Free Will - Internal External - MBTI Relation

CogentPursuit

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Nov 9, 2013
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I recognize my implementation of free will as being internally focused. While a person might view the world as defining their choices, I define myself so that my choices will result in what they are naturally going to be. I choose how I act by choosing who I am.

What does that even mean?

I deny that anyone can continually exercise free will through pure force of will. You can only reject who you are for so long. You can only deny what you want so many times before you give in. You can only force others and the environment to do things for so long before they push back.

Ultimately my choices are a natural result of who I am and I am a natural result of my environment. I think any psychologist would agree.
So where is there room for free will?

My greatest tools in excising free will are perception and self awareness. By altering my perceptions and recognizing myself and who I really am and how I am affected by the environment I can change who I am and ultimately my choices will reflect that. There is no need to fight both environment and myself.

An extreme example of this is an Alcoholic who cannot stop drinking. No amount of 'will' can allow them to succeed. Through AA Meetings they alter themselves, their perceptions, and their entire view of the world, the people they love, and their lives. They learn to see themselves better and the greatest success in recovery does not come simply from saying no to the next drink but in entirely altering who you are so that you truly want to deny that next drink.


I find this to be true for me but is it true for everyone else? It strongly resembles an Outwardly perceiving and inwardly Judging appraoch in relation to MBTI. NeTi for me.
Do INFJ externalize their free will or are they like me? What other ways are there to utilize your own free will?

I am open to questions about this and reasonable discussion about its complications. Just keep in mind that expressing how you utilize your own free will is personal and is not up for others to debate in this thread... unless you state your openness to such things. We can however discuss/debate the relevance of MBTI in relation to this concept. So this discussion will take on two forms.
 
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