DeLong, Richard
Owner and creator of www.Socionics.us ("Socionics in the West") and The Ex-Socionist (blog). He has discontinued his study of socionics at the present time. Rick self-typed as IEE.
About himself and his introduction to socionics
"Born in 1977 in United States. During an internship in Kiev in 2000, I was introduced to socionist Alexander Kushnir, who later has taught socionics to me individually. At our first meeting, I heatedly argued with him, and our second meeting he told me in great detail about my type and the type of my then girlfriend, which he identified correctly from her photos, and of our relationship. I was shocked and surprised by all that he told me, and continued to feel surprised for many more months. I returned to United States to continue studying and to digest information that I have already acquired, including the writings of Aushra and several other authors whose works I have read on the Internet. Thus it turned out that I learned socionics in isolation, having at first undergone a strict training, due to which I had very clear idea of socionics that I eventually softened. As a result of a more rational approach to my inner feelings and experiences, I left the sect in which I spent my youth, and found an opportunity to move to Kiev. Visiting the Kiev socionics club, for the first time I have encountered discrepancies in typing and felt disappointed by what I've seen. Nevertheless, I started attending courses (mainly from Viktor Gulenko) and lectures, and made several unsuccessful attempts to spend more than half a day at socionics conferences. Then I distanced from socionics, because I wasn't sure what else there was to do with it. On one hand, the fact that I have developed my own independent view of socionics was gnawing at me, and on the other hand, I was averse to most of the socionics meetings. In 2003, I took on a student from U.S. to teach him and put together some basic materials in English. It was later that I undertook creation of Socionics.us website, after finishing another 2-3 web projects, and when I finally understood that I want to realize my knowledge in this sphere, that it was needed by others. In socionics, I am most interested in self-knowledge and the development of inner sensitivity to information, states and people, the ability to adequately understand the world and other people and build a richer interaction with them, as well as the understanding of social processes by means socionics categories - such a self-centered interest in socionics :). For the most part I am engaged in attending to my websites, teaching English language, translation, and various kinds of entrepreneurial activities."
On his current opinions on socionics
"Socionics is a typology of personality and relationships that was developed in the late Soviet Union by Lithuanian researcher Aushra Augustinavichiute and her friends. I began learning socionics in 2000 in Kiev and in 2006 created the popular English-language resource Socionics.us (>100 visitors a day for most of its lifetime), along with some other socionics-related projects. In November 2012 I moved the entire Socionics.us website to a folder of my personal website RickDeLong.com — both to save money on hosting services and because my views on socionics had changed substantially.
At the link below you can browse the complete Socionics.us website in its last edited state (pre-Nov. 2012). On the top of each page you will see a link to an article explaining what I think is wrong with socionics, which will be updated as my views solidify and I respond to readers' comments. I do not plan to develop Socionics.us any further; however, I will continue posting on psychological topics at The Socionist blog and may incorporate or transform ideas from socionics in future writings."
