Cognitive Elements #2 - Perception vs Judgement

 Perception vs Judgement

Essence

• Perception is defined by a continuation of cognition. A person with an inclination to perception seeks to continue the process of information processing, be it by collecting it or thinking about it. 
• Judgement is defined by a seeking of conclusion of cognition. A person with an inclination to judgement seeks to conclude the process of information processing, reaching an idea that can be considered settled. Thus, it is more intimately involved in the generation of one's views on things, as some kind of conclusion is required for one to become invested in an idea enough to claim it as one's position.

Extra clarification: The Judgement axis 'reaches conclusions' in that it seeks to class things by some metric of acceptance and rejection. For Thinking this would be true vs. false, and for Feeling this would be good vs. bad.

Vices and Virtues

• Perception
• The Vice of Perception is that it may simply continue its thinking and cognition indefinitely, and thus does not generate much worthwhile, be it in speech or action.
• The Virtue of Perception is that its continuing process promotes constant update and adjustment of one's opinions and attitudes.
• Judgement
• The Vice of Judgement is that it can be too quick, or steadfast, in its conclusions. Once the judgement is made, it can be hard for it to update its opinions.
• This inflexibility can be subtle. On a surface level, it may still appear flexible.
• The Virtue of Judgement is that conclusions must be drawn, so that action can be taken. The process of cognition does have an exterior purpose!

From here, the two break down into two manifestations each.

• Perception is divided into Sensing (also called 'sensation') and Intuition.
• Judgement is divided into Thinking and Feeling.

Misconceptions

• Perception and Judgement are generally neglected as topics. Only the more advanced thinkers even bother to discuss them.
• However, there is one misconception around these notions. The J and the P at the end of MBTI type codes (e.g. ENFP, ISTJ etc.) actually stand for 'Perceiving' and 'Judging' respectively. These do not refer to whether someone prefers Perceiving or Judging. What it does refer to will be explained later, in Type Codes.

Notes

• Partly due to the conclusive nature of Judgement, it tends to receive more emotional investment. Much more interpersonal, or even philosophical conflict (though the two are often identical) occurs along the lines of differing styles of Judgement (different judging functions).