Guest Post by E. J., INTJ

Inception

Dominant Ne: Eames thinks of himself as a creative person, and he provides many of the ideas that allow Cobb’s team eventually uses in their mission. His flexibility is important as the plan goes forward. Although he does not usually allow himself to become angry with others, Eames finds less creative people difficult to understand. As a result, he tends to introduce ideas in his preferred way–leaving the details to the imagination–despite the confusion this sometimes causes in other people.

Auxiliary Fi: Eames is not overly concerned with other people’s opinions. He knows that Arthur gets annoyed with him at times, but he is not upset: in fact, he often finds Arthur’s frustration humorous. His lifestyle is very unconventional. Even when he is not working at his (illegal) profession, he tends to pass the time doing things that many people would consider unethical or, at least, unwise. Eames understands his own emotions well, and his understanding of his own feelings helps him know how to appeal to Fisher’s, despite their differing personalities.

Tertiary Te: Although Eames is better at coming up with new ideas than carrying them out, he does care about basing his ideas on empirical evidence. Eames’s analysis of his own previous, failed attempt at inception helps put Cobb’s plans on solid footing. Eames can be very blunt on some occasions–in particular, if he is angry. After finding out that Cobb had not been completely honest about the mission, Eames directly confronts him, grilling Cobb about his behavior.

Inferior Si: As Arthur points out, specificity can be a weakness for Eames. He has a tendency to introduce new ideas without fully considering the details necessary to carry them out. Eames prefers to think in terms of future possibilities, but he is willing to learn from his mistakes. His earlier attempt at inception did not dissuade him from believing that inception was possible. He did, however, carefully consider what happened, how it went wrong, and how to prevent a similar occurrence. Eames uses his experience to help Cobb from making the same errors.