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Mirror
鏡像 · Зеркальные
Look together, and something is found.
鏡像 ／ one of the sixteen relations
You are looking at the same thing from different angles. So the talk gets through at once, yet the conclusion slips every time. Every conversation holds a discovery, and looking together, less is overlooked.
MIRROR
01 When you first meet
The same object of interest
You work in the same domain. So the talk goes straight to the point. Sharing premises takes no time, and you grasp at once the weight of what the other is saying. As someone to talk shop with, they feel precious.
But though the subject is the same, the emphasis differs. One puts the whole first, the other puts the steps first. Looking at the same object, you are holding different faces of it.
A partner who teaches you that fast understanding and agreement are different things.
02 After a while
The argument never ends
Every conversation diverges in the details. And both have a point, so it is never settled. It is not that one is right: the two are looking at different faces.
The manner does not mesh either. You can understand the other's case, yet in that order you cannot accept it. Even with the same conclusion, the route there differs, so it never feels agreed.
Still, the relation does not break. Because neither belittles the other. If anything, trust grows in someone who argues back properly.
03 If it is to last
Looking together, the world widens
What one misses, the other always picks up. Faces you could not see alone increase with every conversation. The same thing becomes visible at twice the resolution.
It takes time to reconcile, accordingly. The tiredness of these two comes not from discord but from the amount of verification. A combination that shows its strength exactly where quality is needed more than speed.
Not trying to match conclusions, but proceeding with both arguments laid side by side, suits these two better.
Telling it from other relations
There are several relations where "the talk fits but the opinions clash". Where they clash differs.
- The difference from extinguishment
- Extinguishment also shares an interest in the same domain, but it does not become an argument. No friction arises and you quietly drift apart. Mirror clashes clearly, and stays for it.
- The difference from identity
- Identity agrees all the way to the conclusion. Mirror agrees on the premises and slips at the conclusion. So it is more stimulating than identity, and more tiring.
- The difference from kindred
- Kindred looks at the same thing and handles it differently. Mirror handles it in the same family of ways and looks at different faces. The way arguments engage differs.
Where this relation is useful
Strong on verification and quality, not suited to speed.
- Suited to review and deliberation
- The other person can point out your blind spots precisely, in the words of the trade. As someone to have criticise you, among the best of the sixteen.
- Keep decisions separate
- Try to decide together and the argument never ends. Place the decision with one, or split the duties, and it suddenly moves.
- Do not aim at agreement
- Trying to match conclusions is draining. Proceeding with both arguments laid side by side suits it better.
PROne thing for this relation
A relation where looking together finds something, so things to look at together.
- One book for twoTwo who find different chapters of the same book interesting.
- A two-player board gameIf the argument never ends, take it to the board.
- An annual museum passMore places to find things.
Works that draw this relation
Chosen from works where the relationship between the two is itself the centre of the story.
- Bakuman2015 · film · Japan
On the same ground, with strengths that do not overlap. They keep clashing yet the trust does not decrease, and what the two make together is of higher quality.
This is not a typing of the characters. They are listed as examples where the shape of this relation is drawn clearly.
Songs this relation runs through
Chosen from songs whose subject is exactly what happens between the two.
- The ChainFleetwood Mac · 1977
A song of people who do not mesh moving on while still meshed. The friction is the driving force itself.
- IdentitySakanaction · 2010
Looking at the same thing, holding different faces of it. Only the question continues, with no answer arriving.
No lyrics are quoted. The songs are listed for the shape of relation they deal with.
Mirror in Model A: what talks to what
Example: INTJ and ENTP. Every pair in this relation connects the same positions in the same way; only the elements inside change.
Lines connect the same element in the other person's structure. 1–2 (strong) 3 (role) 4 (vulnerable) 5–6 (wanted) 7–8 (capable, indifferent)
The 8 pairs in this relation
Mirror is symmetric: it looks the same from either side.