Inter-system correlations

The question of whether type X in system A correlates with type Y in system B is as old as typology. Nonetheless, this topic holds an especially renewed interest in pop psychology in the last few years, with very many people posting their own original content of spreadsheets suggesting which combinations of common typologies they deem possible, or unlikely, or impossible (or sometimes "possible only in fiction".)

Virtually every single inquiring mind who engages with this question approaches the topic incorrectly. The answer to the question of whether a type 4 in the enneagram can be a seemingly dissimilar type such as the SLE is yes, by definition since these systems are independent of one another.

A more clearheaded, useful question is: How common is it for a type 4 to be an SLE? Or, addressing the question of seemingly dissimilar combinations' existence in practice, as opposed to in principle: Have you ever seen an SLE 4? If you have, how confident were you about both types? And, if you have can you show me about them so that I can judge the types for myself?

If nobody has any examples of the combination, that speaks for itself about its frequency. And if people do have candidate examples to share, even candidates that they are not very sure of, then the discussion and debate can proceed in earnest. As with anything else in typology, the proof is in the examples and the case work.

Instead of asking questions based on examples, discussions in the pop typology community usually proceed to argue about definitions and descriptions, with such comments as "A 4 cannot be an extroverted type since it is in the withdrawn triad", or "The type 4 is described as being in touch with their emotions according to description X by author Y, and the SLE is described as the opposite by author Z, so they must be incompatible." Of course, such arguments depend on descriptions and author interpretations, and abstractions of categories into language. The interpretations of different authors are not in absolute concordance, just as the typings of different practitioners are not absolute concordance. More importantly, descriptions in text are maybe interesting to examine and interesting for beginners to get a foothold in a system, but they are not as effective a way of conveying understanding of types as examples in the flesh that can be seen, heard, and tasted. Which, is the kind of content that this blog was created to disseminate and will still disseminate after this theoretical interlude regarding issues in practice.