Type Seven

Sevens are cynical-realists. The seven’s perspective of cynical realism is a way of seeing the world where survival, control and self-interest are the only reliable constants, and imported ideals are useless unless they serve those ends. Life rewards those who adapt quickly, act decisively, and don’t waste time nursing sentiment. Everyone looks out for themselves first, even it they pretend not to. Morality is situational. The person on the ground, who understands the environment, is the one who decides how things work, not power from the outside. Survival depends on shedding illusions quickly and adjusting to the reality in front of you. Those who cling to “how things should be” instead of “how things are” will fail and often become someone else’s problem. Trust and sentiment have to be kept on a tight leash, while indulgence is worth taking when available.

Sevens are partially deadened. The seven is predisposed to numbing and keeping that numbness in place once it is formed. They have an ingrained belief that feelings slow you down and cloud judgment. They have a disdain for sentimentality. They lean in towards blunt realism, preferring fact and action over emotion. That makes them quick to push emotion aside rather than dwell in it, which accelerates emotional callousing. Letting strong feelings run unchecked feels like handing someone else the reins so they wall those feelings off the best they can. They also place appetite over attachment, seeking stimulation instead of sustained emotional bonds. Cynicism is a defensive maneuver to preempt hurt, but deadness is only partial because certain triggers bypass their defenses, destabilizing their emotional equilibrium.

Sevens are unrestrained. The Seven’s lack of restraint is mood-driven and situational, driven by urges the seven doesn’t bother to suppress when they align with what the seven wants and shows up more prominently within hedonistic contexts. They move fast without the dance of prolonged courtship. They rarely stop to think about fallout. They engage in provocative speech, even if something sharp comes to mind, even if it shocks or embarrasses. They use verbal unrestraint both for amusement and to push people off balance. They are incapable of calculated moves but in certain situations they will act first and assess later, making them occasionally short-sighted. Their lack of restraint isn’t constant but can be disciplined when their survival or control is at stake.

Sevens are defiant. Defiance is the spine of the seven’s personality. This is the quality that keeps the seven standing against any force, person or rule that tries to dictate how the seven should live in their environment. It is ultimately a defense of their sovereignty. Bluntness is part of the seven’s defiance, signaling that they don’t owe anyone justification for their choices. Defiance includes a resistance to emotional leverage, protecting their autonomy from being undermined by attachment or moral persuasion, a reflex against containment, especially from authority figures and momentarily intersects with ambition; momentarily grabbing for power to bust through social restraints and expressing a worldview that “I take what I want” and “if you don’t like it, too damn bad.” To this end, sevens are bold, impulsive and insensitive.

Sevens are subversive. The core distortion of the seven is that “God” is against them, and vice-versa, that they are against “God.” God can be understood here as anything that seeks to inhibit one’s nature. Thus doing whatever one wants (“freedom”) becomes the basis for the seven’s self-esteem. This includes deliberate dismantling of over-intellectualized and morally conformist ideals, replacing them with their creed of stripped-down realism, physical engagement and lived risk as the true measure of worth. Subversion is contained and tactical, neither ideological nor grand, ensuring that nobody in the seven’s presence can claim authority over them through “civilized” standards. Strict ideas about propriety, fidelity or respectability are treated as irrelevant. Humor and innuendo soften the edges of the seven’s subversion, making it harder for others to call them out without looking uptight. Social hierarchies mean nothing.

Sevens are rebellious. One who stands against God can be nothing but. They march to their own beat and have an opinion on everything assuming that what feels right to their body must be right. They intend to shape their environment in a way that suits their desires. They live the life they want to live regardless of whether it is right or wrong. They are more naturally in rebellion from/against the establishment and have an easy time persuading others to act and think in a way different. Rebellion against everything ranges from artistic conventions to social expectations. The seven becomes a rebuke to the stereotype of the effete intellectual. Ultimately, the will to break from any convention that conflicts with the seven’s personal code defines the seven’s rebelliousness. The act of crossing a line is often as satisfying as the outcome. 

Sevens are code-bound. While the seven rejects outside rules and “civilized” morality, they do live by an internal, self-authored set of principles that govern how they operate in the world. Nobody dictates to them in their own domain; sovereignty above all. If there is a problem, it is addressed openly, not through politicking or pretense but directness as non-negotiable. The cultivation of a “code” is the seven’s anchor, the thing that gives structure to their rebellion, their danger-seeking and even their pleasure. It is strategic self-consistency as opposed to moral absolutism. The code is their rulebook, how they carry themselves under pressure. Fierce adherence replaces society’s rules and serves as the measure of the individual, but on the flipside, their code is flexible if bending it serves their advantage.

Sevens are greedy. Materialistic greed manifests as a hunger for more of whatever keeps them satisfied, in control and sovereign. It is about accumulating advantages—pleasure, power, resources—that ensure they stay on top of their environment. They don’t want just enough to get by but they want a surplus. This ensures that they are never in a position where others can dictate terms to them. Opportunism extends to people’s loyalties, bodies and usefulness. If a resource can be claimed and it won’t cost them too much, the seven will take it. Greed also appears in hedonistic pursuits, as a lust for life. Sex, drink and stimulation isn’t just for comfort but a reflection of wanting all that is available to them. Greed is partly defensive as well; the more they have the less vulnerable they are to shortage, betrayal or dependence.

Sevens are jaded. They have seen too much repetition, too many disappointments, and too many human failings that their outlook becomes jaded and world-weary. There is still some feeling left under the surface but novelty fades quickly, and most things aren’t as good as they first seem. Through overexposure to the same patterns they have developed a contempt for illusions. They still seek pleasure but without the sense of mystery or life-changing joy. Now they are just trying to break monotony. By expecting disappointment, they shield themselves from the sting of it. When people or situations start to show familiar flaws, they mentally check out or treat them with detached amusement. Unlike someone fully deadened, their jadedness doesn’t make them incapable of feeling but just makes those feelings harder to reach and quicker to fade.

Sevens are sociopathic. The unhealthy seven’s low-grade sociopathy is a functional adaptation to an isolated, competitive environment which they have created through their greed. It is a controlled, situational disregard for others’ rights and feeling. Their only real moral compass is their situational code which makes them comfortable crossing most lines that people treat as firm. They are indifferent to others’ suffering if it is collateral to their goals. They have a readiness to gamble with other people’s reputations or emotional stability and make instrumental use of them. They are violently impulsive towards any restriction and have no regard for consequences. Rather than run the ‘gauntlet,’ they aim to destroy it and bring about a sense of disorder that will ensure their freedom.

Healthier sevens are stewards. Instead of guarding their domain purely to keep others from imposing on them, sevens manage it as something to cultivate and share responsibly. Their instinct to push people would still be there, but it would be used to inspire growth instead of breaking down facades and fences. Physical pleasure and enjoyment are still part of their life, but they are more connected to shared experience. They get more depth out of their pleasures and approach hedonism with a more refined state of mind, seeking to experience rather than just digestively consume.

7w6s are mercurial. Their quick fluctuations in mental state can cause pain and hurt to the same people the 7w6 reveres. They have every intention of being a certain way or keeping a certain promise, but are unable to sustain those intentions as their gluttonous appetites crowd out their intentions with new thought and actions. It’s a volatile mix of adaptability, theatricality and emotional impulsiveness which can make them strangely charismatic. Their shifts aren’t always calculated. Sometimes they are genuine surges of feeling, sometimes deliberate performance. They can swing from joking to grinning to shouting threats all within a heartbeat. They don’t respond to situations in a consistent, linear way. They will ham up their misery or explode in anger if it gets them satisfaction. Sudden changes in tone hide moments of insecurity or desperation.

7w6s are youthful. They typically don’t do or say anything that would detract from thrills. They aren’t as concerned with foresight since there is more risk in letting the chips fall where they may. They prefer to live in a way that doesn’t look past the next bend in the road. They also don’t look behind them to see what damage they may have caused as that would also minimize the risk of what tomorrow may hold. They deny themselves the ability to say ‘no’ and begin to buy whatever suits their eye only to let it collect dust after they bring it home. They may max out their credit cards without any real idea of how they will pay for it. They may look for ‘easy scores’ and shortcuts, so that they don’t have to get tied down into a niche. They may have infantile reactions or talk excessively. They often overestimate their physical body’s ability to handle greater quantities of consumption and start to go overboard. They routinely act out. They blurt out all their most private feelings. They express their thoughts forcefully. They use directness to shock others. They vent their urges out at their audience without constraint.

7w6s are versatile. They like to be where the action is and channel their minds towards excitement with a rapid and continuous style of thinking. They tend to be sponges when it comes to picking up and synthesizing information and very often they have a jack of all trades quality that gives them enough resources to land on their feet. In the darkest moments of people’s lives sevens can often be the breath of fresh air or humor that makes the time pass by less painfully. Their quick fluctuations in mental state can cause pain and hurt to the same people the 7w6 reveres. They have every intention of being a certain way or keeping a certain promise, but are unable to sustain those intentions as their gluttonous appetites crowd out their intentions with new thought and actions. They believe in their “bag of gold.” The “bag of gold” is the promise that their fortunes will fall out of the sky one day and let them backtrack to make up for time lost. They unconsciously project this promise onto all of their interactions, from friends, to work, to life in general.

7w6s are exuberant. They stay on the move in search of greener pastures so as to stay on the run from deeper pain. They impatiently seek to realize their dreams rather than sit around dreaming about it. At all costs, they don’t want to be immobilized. Their exuberance is a defense against a deeper depression. They typically keep their days crammed with activities. Their exuberance has a physical quality of vigor and vitality. Their infectious enthusiasm pulls others into their orbit. They can also be intellectually restless and endlessly curious. They have a big appetite for experience and a wide variety of experience. They like to have a large variety to pick from and would rather try all the choices than just get confined to one. The 7w6’s bluttony is like a “roving eye” as if to bely their insatiable desire to consume everything in sight with no restriction on how the seven will take it. This can also manifest as increased spending. They want to stimulate a continuous high as if they were riding a rollercoaster through life. They want to fill themselves with more of life and a wide variety of experiences.

7w8s are determined. They have a self-reliant identity tied to their pride and sense of worth. Needing help equates to losing stature in their own eyes so they develop an extreme competence in their environment to avoid that vulnerability. Likewise, they expect people around them to pull their own weight. Pampered behavior offends their code of self-sufficiency. They don’t romanticize pain and hardship but they see it as part of living. They take a pragmatic view of suffering. Ruggedness here is being able to absorb emotional hits without individual collapse.

They exhibit a relentless, combative refusal to be stopped by obstacles, setbacks or the expectations of others. They have a reputation for pushing back hard against anybody who tries to sideline them. Success has to be fought for, not waited on. They steer their own creative destiny. They see life more in zero sum terms and focus the most on the big picture believing that all the smaller elements will naturally fall into place. They trivialize and mess with people more and often have a solid instinct for utilizing others in new and sometimes ingenuous ways. They use faster strikes to throw competitors’ advantages off balance and keep things more in flux.

7w8s are exploitative. They only get involved with groups or situations simply for the opportunity to exploit something for their own benefit. A “hit and run” approach manifests in all areas of their life. 7w8s have been known to relocate to different parts of the country, opening scam businesses and using their general knowledge to attract investors. Once they hit their mark, they will just pack up and hit the road, or find a new alias. If they have access to a large sum of money, the temptation may be too difficult for them to resist skipping town with it, regardless of who the money belongs to.

7w8s are conning. They develop a strong pride in being able to take what they want by duping others and can no longer resist temptations. Perhaps what is less known about sevens is that the duping of others can occur in the realm of ideas. They can take a certain pride in getting somebody like a peacemaker to go along with a completely ridiculous idea. They are machiavellian ‘tacticians’ with a focus on the easy score. They refuse to live conventional lives or work conventional jobs. They can easily turn to crime with the rationalization that resorting to illegal activity is the quickest way to live according to their rightful lifestyle. Or another 7 might rationalize that they had no say in creating the laws, therefore they have no obligation to obey it. They often act like they are authorities on almost any topic, sometimes seeming vague, deceptive or untruthful in their silver-tongued ability. They don’t ask questions because that would be an admission of ignorance and they find advice demeaning. They act like an “expert” on subjects they only have a vague knowledge on.

distinctions

Seven hedonism is unrestrained. Two hedonism is well-mannered.

Sevens rebel against the times. Threes present themselves as a paragon for the times.

Sevens and Fours can be confused for each other due to the stormy emotional life and moodiness both types can inhabit. However, the seven’s stormy cycling through moods lacks that nuance of fragileness that characterizes the four’s merry-go-around of feelings. Another source of confusion is that both types can instigate “revolt.” However, the seven’s subversion of the environment is based their position against “God”, doing what they want, not suppressing their impulses in the name of society and crude expressions of emotion. The subversive effects of the Four’s more introverted character type comes about purely through a revolution of the imagination, through the four’s striving to become a somebody within the world that their fantasy persona inhabits.

Fives can’t sustain an on the go pattern like a Seven can and are more precise in what they say than Sevens.

Sixes are adversarial. Sevens are subversive.

Eights and Sevens are both unrestrained, but the seven’s lack of restraint is mood-driven and situation whereas the eight’s lack of restraint is existential. The former is a temporary emotional state that comes and goes. The latter is akin to a default setting.

The subversion of the Seven reflects an active position of hedonism, chasing pleasure, stimulation and gratification. The subversion of the Nine is stripped of indulgence and driven by duty, code, even a hidden pride, but not desire. If the seven drinks to get wasted, it is for pleasure and escape. If a nine does it, it’s functional, to numb, to seal off, or to pass time.

Sevens are comfortable with chaos. Ones are comfortable with order.