Type 5
key traits
Defence mechanism: Isolation, deal with anxiety by isolating feelings from thoughts
Thinking: cognitive orientation, replace living with reading, mental classification/organization, connect with others through sharing knowledge
Emotional Detachment: unconscious interference with the generation of feelings
Fear of Engulfment: hold onto boundaries, fear of being "used up" by others, guarding their instinctual resources
Autonomy: self-sufficiency rationalizes their distancing from others
Hypersensitivity: they detach from emotional pain because they are sensitive to it; guarding against loneliness, fear, emptiness
Alien: unable to identify with others or humanity, off-beat ideas that seem normal, pseudo-autism
Shadow/Lost Self: blind spot to their emotions and ability to love
Core fears: Intrusion, emptiness, ignorance, surplus, depletion, being fully embodied, annihilation, not existing, obligation
Wants Mental Discovery
character
Like 4, 5 is another type that people often mistype as. Normally, it’s 9’s with 5 in the trifix or 6w5’s that will relate to 5, or anyone that relates to being “intelligent.” It’s important to note that not all 5’s are automatically smart and any other type can be extremely intelligent or not.
Being part of the fear triad or the head centre, the type 5 structure is based on using cognition to observe reality from a safe vantage point of invisibility. Existing too much, being too involved, allowing oneself to be wet and raw is not an option for 5’s. 5’s see things about them including people from a cognitive lens, as if looking at everything through x-ray glasses. They cut right to the bones of people while forgetting to pay attention to the flesh and heart. This x-ray vision/flesh-blindness includes themselves.
5’s usually have a “thing(s),” that they care about, a thing that they explore to the most extreme depths of knowledge, a thing that they spend most of their waking hours researching, theorizing, practising, etc. They are identified with these interests and can have trouble communicating with others about anything else. Most types say they hate small talk, but 5’s don’t know what it is. Other types can have intense interests as well, but 5’s have a certain awkwardness about relating to the outside world.
5’s want to shut off everything else and send extra voltage into their minds at the expense of their bodies. They often feel like “ghosts” in the way they are so out of touch with their flesh body. They have an impressive ability to understand things around them, but to others, their ideas can sometimes seem “upside down” or off point. They will definitely trust themselves over others or society, and unlike 6’s, they do not feel the pressure of outside influences. They have a certain quirkiness and are clever in the areas that interest them.
Emotional involvement or indulging in inner states (like 4’s) is switched off so they can be in their cognitive space. These emotions and latent fear and anxiety from the head centre cause very secret insecurities and emotions that most others wouldn’t notice. This even further causes them to pull away from others and detach from themselves to not be engulfed by the wetness of reality. The world desires to much from them, and this causes them to be somewhat minimalist in their desires. They withhold themselves in every way, even cognitively. They communicate in secrets, like wearing a specific item that only someone with a particular knowledge would notice.
Because 5’s bypass their emotional centre in their communications with people, they lose confidence in their ability to relate and connect. This causes them to hide further, and in a cycle, the less time they spend with others, the harder it is to relate to others. They rely even more on the head centre to understand others, learning and observing from a detached place. If they don’t know enough, it’s not safe to come out of hiding (literally or figuratively).
5's will over-intellectualize everything using a pseudo-autism. Things that should be understood by accessing emotions in real time are instead processed in the head. This brings a focus on competency and the need to gather more knowledge. 5's are on a trail to discover something that they might not even know doesn't exist.
The 5 condition is often mistaken for "introversion" or "logic." On the subject of introversion, 5 is not the only withdrawn type, but it's a specific style of withdrawing. 9's for example can be highly withdrawn and introspective, and actually have more of a birds-eye-view than the 5's laser focus thinking (ex. type 9 Einstein). Some 5's can be socially more extraverted in the sense of what their daily activities are. There are 5's who are actors, athletes, etc. On the subject of logic, every type has the ability to be rational and reasonable without being affected by emotional outbursts. Part of "reason" is the consideration of the human being, and 5's being so hyper in their heads can actually lose a sense of logic as they dig deeper and deeper into strange ideas.
Lines of movement
5 moves to 8
Positive: get in touch with body and out of their heads, trust their instinct, become spontaneous and assertive, use anger to motivate them rather than shying away from it
Negative: continue to ignore other people's feelings and desires, but do it blatantly and punitively
5 moves to 7
Positive: lose inhibitions, become more fun and free, experience life more
Negative: become disorganized and distractible, take on too many things at once
comparisons with other types
5 vs 1: Both competency types, 1's care more about standards for all, 5's are removed from other's needs and don't follow rules, both rational but with 1’s it’s more about morality and self-control, 5’s find it hard to extravert
5 vs 2:They both are blind to their own emotions at times, 2 is emotionally wet and 5 is dry, 2's love people, 5's avoid them
5 vs 3: Both competency types, 3's better at self-promotion and being extraverted, 5's aren't good at knowing what others want from them
5 vs 4: 4's indulge inner feelings and states searching for an identity, 5's indulge inner thoughts searching for understanding
5 vs 6: 5's are comfortable being completely separate from others, they have differing views, 6's wrestle with counter-phobia and fear when they withdraw or go up against others, 5's love knowledge for the sake of it, 6's are searching for truths, 5's aren't great with people and 6's usually have a natural friendliness, 5's can be intellectually elitist, 6's generally avoid elitism, 5's are not reactive, 6's are especially sensitive to power structures and injustices
5 vs 7: 5's don't want to world to suck their energy, 7's have boundless energy to taste life
5 vs 8: 5's will periodically feel overwhelmed by hidden feelings, 8's are better at squashing them, 5's are out of touch with their bodies and impulses, 8's indulge them
5 vs 9: Both have the capacity for introspection and great intellect, 5's are out of touch with their bodies, 9's are over-identified with their body, yet also numb to it, 5's are attracted to sometimes "unseemly" or grotesque topics, 9's can be with 4 or 5 in trifix or with SX, but they still prefer a sense of emotional calm, 5's will explore what makes them uncomfortable, 5's do not lash out latent anger, but experience anxiety, 9's have trouble moving out into the world or "caring" about anything, 5's have trouble allowing the world to take their energy, 5's have a boundary up with people, 9's unconsciously merge with others, 5's are not naturally accommodating, 9's are.