On the Biological Nature of Se

Se is a function that seeks a behavioral pattern offering the greatest chances of spreading its genes, and then attempts to reproduce it as precisely as possible in order to gain an advantage in competition with other individuals doing the same.

Since the primary goal of Se is biological, when social constraints (law and morality) are weak, Se most often finds that the simplest and surest way to spread its genes (and to obtain the means to do so) is by no means through long-term schemes involving constructive work and social responsibility, but through short-term schemes involving robbery, deception, and violence.

When social constraints are strong, however, an individual with strong Se will first try to undermine them (especially in the case of a psychopath, in whom Se is strong and all the rational functions capable of restraining it are weak). If this also fails, he or she will begin, albeit reluctantly, to follow the rules - but only for as long as he or she understands and feels that society is capable of effectively punishing transgressors - by depriving them of the opportunity to leave offspring.

Se will not engage in anything that reduces its chances of genetic reproduction even slightly compared with the primary behavioral pattern, even if the majority follows that primary pattern and competition is extreme (Se believes in its ability to defeat anyone). Se does not think ahead or seek promising alternatives that might theoretically “take off” tomorrow; no, it seeks the very best one today, and if another becomes the best tomorrow, it will immediately rush there and try to become the best there as well, pushing aside the intuitive types who created it.

In the course of competition, Se perfects the most successful behavioral pattern, once invented by intuitive types, discarding unnecessary intuitive embellishments, noticing and retaining successful details, and choosing the more advantageous alternative in each case - ultimately, only a sensing type who is attentive to concrete details and precise in movement can reproduce this in full. In this way, Se tightens behavioral norms, stabilizes them, and narrows the range of acceptable variations. This is precisely what causes strong stabilizing selection in the given sphere of activity - when all those who cannot precisely reproduce the single most advantageous pattern are filtered out.

Thus, a society guided by Se sooner or later reaches the point where the surest option is literally to declare the body’s healthy natural physical condition the norm (hence Se’s love of sport and athleticism), and to shift to males fighting over females on the principle of alpha dominance through force - at the individual level, and to the genocide of outsiders - at the collective level.

From the perspective of Se, it is advantageous not only to leave as many offspring of one’s own as possible, but also for those offspring, in turn, to actively spread their genes (that is, their parents’ genes).

This can generate hatred of homosexuals among those with strong Se (especially when it is coupled with collectivist declatimity), a hatred that appears irrational at first glance but is, in fact, entirely explicable in evolutionary terms. After all, from the perspective of Se, there is always a nonzero probability that they will “infect” the individual’s own children with their predilections, and that those children will not reproduce.

This also generates hatred of the weak and of those who defend the weak - after all, from the perspective of Se, the presence of such people among an individual’s relatives and offspring reduces the chances of future survival and reproduction of the genotype they carry (that is, the genotype of the individual with Se).

Se is not always an extremely egocentric function that directs its possessor toward maximum personal reproductive success (although this is most often the case). Under certain conditions, it is also capable of altruism - but this is always altruism toward one’s own blood relatives and offspring, and is sometimes quite specific in nature. Namely, an individual with strong valued Se is often prepared to artificially create conditions for his or her children in which useful life experience is acquired and “adulthood” is attained more quickly, even if this means a higher level of stress and a greater probability of psychological trauma. (Strong but unvalued Se, by contrast, resorts much more often to conventional care of offspring, taking children under its wing and, where possible, securing “comfortable positions” for them.)

It should be understood that the evolutionarily dictated logic underlying behavior may be entirely outside the awareness of the person with strong Se (and usually is).¹ The reflexive drive to maximize the spread of one’s own genes by suppressing the same drives in others can take various forms at the psychological level: heightened sexual need, self-assurance, a readiness to elbow one’s way forward to advance one’s interests, and hatred of the weak and of weakness. Moreover, to reiterate, when living in a cultural environment and compelled to follow its rules, those with strong Se may suppress these reflexive drives within themselves by using their reasoning, rational functions - but they will do so only for as long as the real threat of punishment exceeds the potential gain from antisocial behavior in terms of the opportunity to spread their genotype.

In summary (main theses):

1. Underlying all typical manifestations of strong Se is the selfish gene’s drive to maximize its own reproduction.
2. The dominance of Se in society is associated with an intensification of stabilizing selection - that is, it is accompanied by a simplification of the social structure and, in essence, gradually returns the population to a state of “wildness” - in which there is only one ecological niche, determined by the biological nature of the species, and all individuals struggle for survival within it.