So, in true introvert fashion, I have recently gotten very into the BBC version of Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Since I'm still relatively new to Typology (maybe a month or two into it at most) I wanted to test out my research by creating a theory to explain one of the more ambiguous relationships in the series--that between Sherlock and Mycroft--based off their respective functional stacks. This quickly turned into a short essay that I'm posting here.
I would like to know how accurate you think my ideas are, and if you have any new ones, or if you have any suggestions for improvement, I would be more than happy to hear them.
Sherlock and Mycroft’s relationship, when viewed from a typological standpoint, seems to have been destined for disaster from the start. Had they not both taken so much pride in their own intelligence, things might have been different. But with a genius for a mother, it was only to be expected.
Mycroft, being the oldest, had the advantage from the start. As an INTJ, his thinking process was mostly unconscious, leading to “magical” “Aha!” moments that seemed to take no time at all. These flashes of insight made Mycroft seem much more intelligent than Sherlock, whose INTP thinking style was slower and more deliberate, requiring vast amounts of data to be consciously collected. Mycroft, assuming Sherlock processed things the same way as him, took the opportunity to belittle Sherlock’s intelligence to fuel his ego and raise his status (“Don’t try to be smart, Sherlock; I’m the smart one”). Unfortunately, Sherlock, feeling like a failure, retreated into himself in response.
Still, Sherlock’s inferior function, extraverted-feeling, made him reluctant to leave the situation as-is, even if he wasn’t quite sure why. But Mycroft, having the most independent personality type, didn’t want his little brother following him around all the time like a lost puppy. In fact, it’s likely that the only time he wanted to be around his overly-inquisitive sibling around was when he was useful, possibly as a “punching bag” for Mycroft’s own inferior function. Sherlock, on receiving this cold behavior, felt isolated, unworthy, and incompetent. To make matters worse, Mycroft’s worldview was largely anti-emotions, and, since having an older brother for a role model was an obvious choice, Sherlock also adopted this view. But the more he tried to distance himself from his emotions, the more they asserted themselves. This created a cycle in which Sherlock began to feel incapable of doing something as “simple” as remaining objective at all times, and hated the part of him that held the emotions he considered stupid, inefficient, even sinful.
Of course, Mycroft’s ideas on emotions and caring for others do make some sense given his personality type. INTJs are often misunderstood, and that, paired with his genius-level IQ, more than likely made him the subject of bullying at school. He decided, on finding there was nothing he could do independently to change the situation without sacrificing his grades (which he had probably begun to associate with his mother’s love and appreciation), to stop caring about others all together. And since he didn’t have extraverted-feeling in his functional stack, he couldn’t understand why Sherlock so craved to like and be liked, when he “knew” that all relationships could cause was pain. Caring about others’ opinions was contrary to the survival tactic he’d chosen to employ, and so he warned his little brother against it in hopes that he, who was also highly intelligent, wouldn’t face the same fate. But when Sherlock was found to be unable to take his advice, his concern and frustration culminated in a ridiculing response.
Through all of this, both brothers’ introversion proved to be a liability, since neither was proficient in self-expression of any kind. Of course, expressing emotions is very difficult for INTs, especially those who hate the very idea of them, so any thoughts and feelings about their turbulent relationship remained stubbornly bottled up.
Beyond this, one of the things that really tore Sherlock and Mycroft apart was Mycroft’s tendency to need control. Because J-types deal with the world in an organized, scheduled manner, Mycroft had a hard time accepting Sherlock’s random, often slovenly, P-type habits. Assuming Sherlock secretly did need routine in order to function, he tried to institute organization and control into his brother’s life. However, Sherlock, whose freedom began and ended with his spontaneity, felt smothered, and rebelled against what he considered to be a “tyranny”. But all this accomplished was Mycroft, who was genuinely concerned for his brother’s well-being, to attempt to tighten the leash further, leading to an unhealthy push-pull relationship between the two.
But that wasn’t the end of their misunderstandings. Extraverted-intuition, the function Sherlock used to relate his judgments, was the function Mycroft was most trained to fight against. The same goes for extraverted-thinking, Mycroft’s preferred method of communication. As a result, both brothers felt an unconscious need to fight each other, not realizing that what they were really fighting was their own skewed perceptions of what was being said.
Also, Sherlock’s dominant function, introverted-thinking, was Mycroft’s “Critical Parent” function, and Mycroft’s dominant introverted-intuition was Sherlock’s. As such, the ways they looked at the world, when expressed, led the other person to feel as if they were being criticized, when the reality was each was saying things the only way they knew how. Still, when they each responded defensively, each brother decided they weren’t being respected, and the meager amount of communication they had took a nosedive.
Next, Sherlock’s inferior function, extraverted-feeling, was Mycroft’s “Trickster” function. The same goes for Mycroft’s inferior function, extraverted-sensing. As a result, the one thing each craved most in the world, albeit unconsciously, was the thing the other person looked at mainly when trying to decide whether or not to do something wrong. If each brother intuitively “knew” the other’s inferior function (read: weakness), they may have been inclined to use their knowledge of it to hurt the other. For example, Mycroft telling Sherlock that “Caring is not an advantage” (extraverted-feeling) and Sherlock’s constant jibes about Mycroft’s diet (extraverted-sensing).
Finally, as they grew older and developed their tertiary functions to aid the dominant and auxiliary, another dilemma appeared: each brother’s tertiary function was the other’s “Demon” function. For Mycroft the tertiary was introverted-feeling, while for Sherlock it was introverted-sensing. Had they had a better relationship, this may have been helpful, as each one may have developed some tact in dealing with the other, but as it was they seem to have used it as a “death blow” of sorts.
All these problems stemmed from their pride and competitive nature, which may have been a result of their believing that the only way to “gain” their mother’s love was to be as smart as possible (obviously this was not true). Still, as their development branched out in different directions, they began to embody the phrase “ships passing in the night”.
I would like to know how accurate you think my ideas are, and if you have any new ones, or if you have any suggestions for improvement, I would be more than happy to hear them.
Sherlock and Mycroft’s relationship, when viewed from a typological standpoint, seems to have been destined for disaster from the start. Had they not both taken so much pride in their own intelligence, things might have been different. But with a genius for a mother, it was only to be expected.
Mycroft, being the oldest, had the advantage from the start. As an INTJ, his thinking process was mostly unconscious, leading to “magical” “Aha!” moments that seemed to take no time at all. These flashes of insight made Mycroft seem much more intelligent than Sherlock, whose INTP thinking style was slower and more deliberate, requiring vast amounts of data to be consciously collected. Mycroft, assuming Sherlock processed things the same way as him, took the opportunity to belittle Sherlock’s intelligence to fuel his ego and raise his status (“Don’t try to be smart, Sherlock; I’m the smart one”). Unfortunately, Sherlock, feeling like a failure, retreated into himself in response.
Still, Sherlock’s inferior function, extraverted-feeling, made him reluctant to leave the situation as-is, even if he wasn’t quite sure why. But Mycroft, having the most independent personality type, didn’t want his little brother following him around all the time like a lost puppy. In fact, it’s likely that the only time he wanted to be around his overly-inquisitive sibling around was when he was useful, possibly as a “punching bag” for Mycroft’s own inferior function. Sherlock, on receiving this cold behavior, felt isolated, unworthy, and incompetent. To make matters worse, Mycroft’s worldview was largely anti-emotions, and, since having an older brother for a role model was an obvious choice, Sherlock also adopted this view. But the more he tried to distance himself from his emotions, the more they asserted themselves. This created a cycle in which Sherlock began to feel incapable of doing something as “simple” as remaining objective at all times, and hated the part of him that held the emotions he considered stupid, inefficient, even sinful.
Of course, Mycroft’s ideas on emotions and caring for others do make some sense given his personality type. INTJs are often misunderstood, and that, paired with his genius-level IQ, more than likely made him the subject of bullying at school. He decided, on finding there was nothing he could do independently to change the situation without sacrificing his grades (which he had probably begun to associate with his mother’s love and appreciation), to stop caring about others all together. And since he didn’t have extraverted-feeling in his functional stack, he couldn’t understand why Sherlock so craved to like and be liked, when he “knew” that all relationships could cause was pain. Caring about others’ opinions was contrary to the survival tactic he’d chosen to employ, and so he warned his little brother against it in hopes that he, who was also highly intelligent, wouldn’t face the same fate. But when Sherlock was found to be unable to take his advice, his concern and frustration culminated in a ridiculing response.
Through all of this, both brothers’ introversion proved to be a liability, since neither was proficient in self-expression of any kind. Of course, expressing emotions is very difficult for INTs, especially those who hate the very idea of them, so any thoughts and feelings about their turbulent relationship remained stubbornly bottled up.
Beyond this, one of the things that really tore Sherlock and Mycroft apart was Mycroft’s tendency to need control. Because J-types deal with the world in an organized, scheduled manner, Mycroft had a hard time accepting Sherlock’s random, often slovenly, P-type habits. Assuming Sherlock secretly did need routine in order to function, he tried to institute organization and control into his brother’s life. However, Sherlock, whose freedom began and ended with his spontaneity, felt smothered, and rebelled against what he considered to be a “tyranny”. But all this accomplished was Mycroft, who was genuinely concerned for his brother’s well-being, to attempt to tighten the leash further, leading to an unhealthy push-pull relationship between the two.
But that wasn’t the end of their misunderstandings. Extraverted-intuition, the function Sherlock used to relate his judgments, was the function Mycroft was most trained to fight against. The same goes for extraverted-thinking, Mycroft’s preferred method of communication. As a result, both brothers felt an unconscious need to fight each other, not realizing that what they were really fighting was their own skewed perceptions of what was being said.
Also, Sherlock’s dominant function, introverted-thinking, was Mycroft’s “Critical Parent” function, and Mycroft’s dominant introverted-intuition was Sherlock’s. As such, the ways they looked at the world, when expressed, led the other person to feel as if they were being criticized, when the reality was each was saying things the only way they knew how. Still, when they each responded defensively, each brother decided they weren’t being respected, and the meager amount of communication they had took a nosedive.
Next, Sherlock’s inferior function, extraverted-feeling, was Mycroft’s “Trickster” function. The same goes for Mycroft’s inferior function, extraverted-sensing. As a result, the one thing each craved most in the world, albeit unconsciously, was the thing the other person looked at mainly when trying to decide whether or not to do something wrong. If each brother intuitively “knew” the other’s inferior function (read: weakness), they may have been inclined to use their knowledge of it to hurt the other. For example, Mycroft telling Sherlock that “Caring is not an advantage” (extraverted-feeling) and Sherlock’s constant jibes about Mycroft’s diet (extraverted-sensing).
Finally, as they grew older and developed their tertiary functions to aid the dominant and auxiliary, another dilemma appeared: each brother’s tertiary function was the other’s “Demon” function. For Mycroft the tertiary was introverted-feeling, while for Sherlock it was introverted-sensing. Had they had a better relationship, this may have been helpful, as each one may have developed some tact in dealing with the other, but as it was they seem to have used it as a “death blow” of sorts.
All these problems stemmed from their pride and competitive nature, which may have been a result of their believing that the only way to “gain” their mother’s love was to be as smart as possible (obviously this was not true). Still, as their development branched out in different directions, they began to embody the phrase “ships passing in the night”.