In the beginning was the Word

...and the Word was "Huh?"

[quest-ion-er]

Moving the blog

I'll leave this standing but will continue (and hopefully be more active) here

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

Revised FAQ additions - draft, please comment!

I haven’t swapped out my linked FAQ yet but I think I’ll update it. I’m posting my draft here in the interest of transparency and to give people a chance to comment. Much of this is the same, but I’ve added a few items and clarified a few things. Thanks!

Read this first for MBTI stuff (crash course)

Read this for enneagram stuff (crash course), The Enneagram Institute

Guidelines:

Read the rest of this FAQ including relevant links first. If you ask something answered in the FAQ your ask will most likely be deleted.

To steal a rule from mbti-notes, searchable, repetitive, or irrelevant anon asks may be deleted. Searchable means it’s in the FAQ or that there’s a clear keyword or tag you could use to search. Repetitive means I get asked it very frequently or it’s in the FAQ (and probably overlaps with searchable). Irrelevant means it’s not related to personality theory (if it’s something I want to answer I’ll still answer though). I also delete ask meme things that come in after the stated deadline (eg: d&d class typing).

Asks off anon that fail to meet the above guidelines will get a courtesy ‘please read the FAQ’ private answer.

Occasionally I will instead be snarky about these things instead of deleting. The price you pay for free advice and research is that I get to have fun with it.

Please try to keep things to a reasonable length. There is no hard limit at this time but if you find yourself feeling as though you need to apologize for the ask length, please instead spend a few minutes editing down your question before you ask it.

Ask the question you want the answer to. Don’t ask “is it possible that I’m mistyped” if you mean to ask “what’s my type” and please attempt to use some common sense. You’ve presumably interacted with people before; that should give you some reference for what is normal human behavior.

If you definitely want a response, the ask box is always best. I don’t always assume a reblog or reply requires a response.

For typing help: I expect you to have read this FAQ and I expect you to be able to describe yourself or the person you are trying to type using multiple detailed examples of their specific and unique behavior.

I don’t do instinctual variant typing, and here’s why.

FAQ

Will mental illness or cognitive disorders possibly affect my typing? Yes. I cannot personally tell you what’s your personality and what’s due to mental illness/conditions that affect cognition so if you aren’t sure that is something for you to figure out. And as always, I am not a mental health professional. Please seek treatment or therapy and don’t try to solve legitimate illnesses with MBTI. For more on this: PSA.

What are the differences between Fi and Fe/can Fi look like Fe? Look here

Is there a surefire way to tell if someone is a specific type or uses a specific function? Not really. Most behaviors can be learned with enough effort, and the functions manifest more as patterns of behaviors, not a single signature behavior.

How do I tell if X MBTI type I have a crush on likes me/what do you think about this relationship/how do I help X type?

MBTI can’t answer these questions. Communicate with your crush or partner or the person you want to help instead of asking a person on the internet who doesn’t know any of you.

Which MBTI test is best? All tests suck. Study the functions.

Is this MBTI type likely with this Enneagram? Check this post out for some data!

How do I tell Ni vs. Si? Look here. Also here

How do I tell Ne vs. Se?

Look here

How do I figure out my tritype?

Type each fix separately rather than trying to holistically type based on a full tritype description. Ultimately similar cores will look quite similar even if the tritypes are different (ie, a 135 and a 126 will probably look more similar than a 135 and a 351).

I’m awesome and will actually search your blog before asking - what’s your tagging system?

It’s not perfect, but:

by function (eg: #introverted sensing; note that I spell extroverted with an ‘o’ even though it’s wrong)

mbti in general (#mbti)

enneagram (#enneagram)

I don’t tag by type unless it’s more holistically about that type, but by type (eg: #istj)

Previous asks, going back to around May 2017 (#answered asks)

Finally, the search function - even on mobile - isn’t bad if you have a clear key word.

Additional resources:

Extremely comprehensive MBTI information broken down by function and far better organized than my blog: mbti-notes. If you’re looking for how functions interact based on stack position, go here.

Still more MBTI Resources: mbti-resources (by eilamona)

Enneagram tritype descriptions (and aesthetics!) via collaboration between istj-hedonist and naughty-nanny: tritype aesthetics. The enneagram institute, linked at the top, also has everything from detailed descriptions to core comparisons.

[ihatembti-deactivated20190203]

i found different blog posts that have accurate (at least for me) function breakdowns of each type that completely avoid stereotypes. these are NOT mine. all credit goes to whoever wrote these.

here they are:

The Stabilizers:

ESFJ

ISFJ

ESTJ

ISTJ

The Catalysts:

ENFJ

INFJ

ENFP

INFP

The Theorists:

ENTJ

INTJ

ENTP

INTP

The Improvisors:

ESFP

ISFP

ESTP

ISTP

[mbti-am-a-mess-deactivated20190]

Cool Enneagram pattern I’ve noticed

So as most are probably aware, the disintegration and integration points of each type are as follows:

Type 6 Disintegrates—> 3 Integrates—> 9

Type 7 Disintegrates—> 1 Integrates—> 5

Type 8 Disintegrates—> 5 Integrates—> 2

Type 9 Disintegrates—> 6 Integrates—> 3

Type 1 Disintegrates–> 4 Integrates—> 7

Type 2 Disintegrates—> 8 Integrates—> 4

Type 3 Disintegrates—> 9 Integrates—> 6

Type 4 Disintegrates—> 2 Integrates—> 1

Type 5 Disintegrates—> 7 Integrates—> 8

Now, my starting point and use of boldface may seem odd, but look back and view the above list in groups of three. 

Group 1 = types 6, 7, 8 Group 2 = types 9, 1, 2 Group 3 = types 3, 4, 5

Now Look at the disintegration points for each group. Notice anything?

Group 1 has disintegration points of 3, 1, and 5 Group 2 has disintegration points of 6, 4, and 8 Group 3 has disintegration points of 9, 2, and 7

And these happen to be the exact groupings of the harmonic triads known as Competency (1, 3, 5), Reactivity (4, 6, 8), and Positivity (2, 7, 9). (this provides a basic explanation if you’re looking for it) These just so happen to be grouped together in the disintegration points of neighboring types, although the grouping doesn’t exactly line up with the basic one of head, heart, and gut types.

This is just an interesting pattern I noticed. I doubt it holds much meaning or significance, but I thought I’d share anyway because I enjoy patterns and thought others might too. I haven’t found any others on my own yet, but if anyone else has I would love to hear about them!

[inactive-ne-thing-mbti-archive]

THE ENNEAGRAM

Within the Enneagram, there are 4 Triads:

Function Centers: 

1,8,9 Gut Center These are motivated by anger and driven by conflict. What happens when all goes wrong?

2,3,4 Heart Center These are motivated by relation to others and driven by what their emotional needs are. What happens when love is needed?

5,6,7 Head Center These are motivated by fear and driven by pain. What happens when a decision must be made?

Harmony Triads:

3,6,9 Pragmatists These types focus on tangible objectives, practical results.

2,5,8 Relator These types focus on people, both themselves and those around them.

1,4,7 Idealists These types focus on dreams, how they want things to ideally be.

Life Forces

3,7,8 Acters These types act, lead, and initiate.

4,5,9 Receivers These types receive, follow, and wait.

1,2,6 Balancers These types adapt, both waiting and acting when necessary.

Expressiveness

1,3,5 Suppression These types try to suppress the fear of their function centers, ignoring the issues.

2,7,9 Avoidance These types try to avoid the fear of their function centers, moving away from and not facing the issues.

4,6,8 Reaction These types try to act against the fear of their function centers, fighting against the issues.

All together then, we see each enneagram as a unique combination of four factors from each of the four different triads.

One: Gut, Idealist, Balancer, Suppressive. This type is motivated by a need to face conflict in the world, focuses on how things ought to be, either acts or reacts based on situations, and tries to suppress their loss of control.

Two: Heart, Relator, Balancer, Avoidant. This type is motivated by a need to find worthiness in the world, focuses on people, either acts or reacts based on situations, and tries to avoid feeling guilt or shame.

Three: Heart, Pragmatist, Active, Suppressive. This type is motivated by a need to find worthiness in the world, focuses on obtaining something tangible, takes control, and suppresses their emotions, trying to bury any guilt or shame.

Four: Heart, Idealist, Receiver, Reactor. This type is motivated by a need to find worthiness in the world, focuses on how things ought to be, allows things to come to them rather than forcing it, and acts against any feelings of guilt or shame.

Five: Head, Relator, Receiver, Suppressor. This type is motivated by a need to prevent the worst possible scenario, focuses on people, allows things to come to them rather than forcing it, and tries to suppress their fear and anxiety.

Six: Head, Pragmatist, Balancer, Reactor. This type is motivated by a need to prevent the worst possible scenario, focuses on obtaining something tangible, either acts or reacts based on situations, and acts against their fear and anxiety.

Seven: Head, Idealist, Acter, Avoidant. This type is motivated by a need to prevent the worst possible scenario, focuses on how things ought to be, takes control, and tries to avoid their fear and anxiety.

Eight: Gut, Relator, Acter, Reactor. This type is motivated by a need to face conflict in the world, focuses on people, takes control, and acts against loss of control.

Nine: Gut, Pragmatist, Receiver, Avoidant. This type is motivated by a need to face conflict in the world, focuses on obtaining something tangible, allows things to come to them rather than forcing it, and tries to avoid loss of control.

[funkymbtifiction]

Enneagram Links

Interesting stuff here.

Synergy of Fixes

To help understand the chemistry of different fixes working together, we can combine them in pairs. Certain elements of those types become amplified. When trying to discover your fixes, it’s best to think about them in terms of a Venn diagram. When two elements are combined, which aspects of each are amplified or dulled?

Instinct Stackings

​Now that the three instinctual drives have been introduced, it is time to look at how all three of them interact within us. We have and require all three drives, but we become over/less identified with specific ones. The “stacking” is referring to which instincts we focus on vs. ignore. All three are in the stacking in levels.

Instinctual Subtypes

​When instinct interacts with type, a “subtype” is created. It’s important to study the type descriptions and the instinct descriptions FIRST before coming here. The following are very very brief abstract iterations on subtype and are by no means meant to be a complete description of the full complexity of type and instinct mixing.

- ENFP Mod

[typologyindex]

enneagram as InspiroBot

1w9

1w2

2w1

2w3

3w2

3w4

4w3

4w5

5w4

5w6

cp 6w5

p 6w5

cp 6w7

p 6w7

7w6

7w8

8w7

8w9

9w8

9w1

[funkymbtifiction]

Dom/Tert

Let’s just save some time, shall we?

Si: learning step by step followed by application, strong awareness of details, comparison to experience to identify new objects.

Ni: futuristic visualizations, wakes up with the answer, confident pieces will slip into place, trusts intuitive hunches / patterns.

Ti: forms inner logical framework, wants all the pieces to fit and make sense, logically consistent, understands how things work, hacks the system.

Fi: awareness of self, awareness of attraction/repulsion, strong moral center, emotional objectivity, personalizes experiences (relates them to self through “identification”), resistance to others being “forced” to conform.

Se: awareness of potential within the environment, hands-on learning, confident in engaging the senses, accurately judges situations and knows how to make the right things happen, skilled in being opportunistic.

Ne: instant acceptance of and running with ideas, able to see multiple perspectives at once, quickly connects unrelated things, focuses on the big picture, detachment from sensory objects in favor of broad implications.

Te: impartial judgments based on productivity and factual concerns, easily creates systems other people of different backgrounds can use to achieve the same / tangible results, outward organizational skills (charts, maps, diagrams, improvement models), weighs importance / success on outcome.

Fe: impartial judging systems based on impact to society, skills of team building, thinks in terms of inclusion, believes everyone is equal and has value, skilled at bringing people together for a common cause, weighs importance / success on external values and whether others accept their methods.

Placement: 

Dom: This is their super power. They can do this in their sleep.

Aux: Able to do it, but cannot keep it up forever.

Tert: Knows they should be better at it, consciously works at it, but clumsy and often makes mistakes related to it in terms of over-simplification.

Inferior: Their active blind spot, the cause of most of their misjudgments, mistakes, and repeated bad behaviors, often a source of frustration, anger and/or humiliation when others draw attention to their lack of skill in this area.

- ENFP Mod

[funkymbtifiction]

Could you please precise the difference between dom Ne and aux Ne? Most descriptions make them look too similar, only touching the 'Ne is more IMPORTANT' to a Ne dom' point.

Ne-dom: nothing blocks Ne from working to its full potential and considering all possibilities with an open-minded eagerness to embrace new ideas, with the result that they are too flippant or promiscuous with their ideas.

Ne-aux: neutered by a dominant function that either demands internal consistency and logic (Ti) or adherence to personal values (Fi). Will not consider EVERY possibility, only the ones their dominant function approves of, with the result that they can be too narrow-minded.

Bottom line: too open minded (Ne-dom), too narrow-minded (Ne-aux). Also, one of them has good Si, the other one has God-awful Si.

- ENFP Mod

[quest-ion-er]

MBTI: Cognitive functions (my current understanding)

If any of this should be inaccurate, or of there are any inconsistencies, or questions, or if anyone has feedback…let me know. I’m open to changing my mind and learning more, what follows will just be what I think right now.

This will be the main post - I will then reblog this post with each of the cognitive functions, so that they all can be kept in the same place, which seems the easiest thing to do on mobile.

My current understanding of cognitive functions

MBTI is about​ cognition, and cognition is absorbing (P) and processing (J) information. This can be done in multiple ways varying between two generalised extremes for each:

Absorbing information can either be done through direct use of the senses (S) or through considering context and interactions, drawing information from what these imply (N.)

Processing information is done either through the application of logical principles and facts (T) or the application of moral principles and convictions (F)

These can be further divided into introverted (I) meaning subjective/inward focussed or extroverted (E) meaning objective/outward focussed.

Thus we have the functions: Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.

Now, what is each of these functions?

[quest-ion-er]

Need to correct myself on one point here - introversion vs extroversion. In most of my descriptions I focussed on objectivity vs subjectivity but really, the more I think on it, the more I think it's just about where the process happens.

Introversion uses an internal process extroversion an external process.

Which is to say:

Si vs Se: Si examines sensory information internally - what information they've already gathered in total, looking for a trend. Se examines information externally - what data is available in the moment, aiming for the most accurate assessment.

Ni vs Ne: Ni examines content and context internally - what does x mean in terms of all of this? Where is this going? Ne examines content and context externally - how does x interact with all of this? What's the result?

Ti vs Te: Ti makes judgements using internal processes - if these are the facts, what's the logical conclusion? Te makes judgements using external processes - if this is the question, what answers are available, what fits?

Fi vs Fe: Fi judges based on internal processes - how does this affect me? What's my read on this? Fe judges based on external processes - how does this affect others? What's their response to this?

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

Fi vs. Fe part 2

If I may expand upon the Fi/Fe post I have in the FAQ, here’s a bit on unhealthy feeling and on conflicts between the two approaches.

In the example in that post, healthy Fi says either “you don’t know what’s going on with people and they may have a good reason for crying” or “there’s no valid reason to make fun of people for crying, it’s not your business and it’s not affecting you”, and healthy Fe says “making fun of people for crying is not how you behave”.

Healthy Fe can also say “If someone is crying, you should comfort them by doing XYZ” (hugging, offering a tissue, whatever). This is where you get clashes with Fi and Fe. Fe users can often have an idea of how you’re supposed to act that doesn’t align with the Fi user’s personal preference (eg, wanting to be left alone).

If both people involved are mature, healthy individuals, then the Fi user says “I appreciate what you’re doing but this is not what I want,” and the Fe user respects that and we have no problem, but sometimes the Fi users don’t acknowledge the intention and lash out, and/or the Fe user doesn’t listen (ie, there’s a potential for fault on both sides).

The opposite scenario is also possible: a healthy Fi user might not do what an Fe user expects and again, a mature response is for the Fe user to later say “I was hurt when you didn’t do XYZ” and the Fi user to say “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that was the response you wanted”, but again, the Fe user may be hurt and lash out or the Fi user may get defensive.

From this, we can see that unhealthy Fi and Fe can both result in a ‘my way or the highway’ attitude. In my experience, Fe tends to be more on the proactive side (telling people to do something a certain way or take a certain action) and Fi tends to be more reactive (telling people their method was the wrong way to approach a particular situation) but the result is similar.

[estj-destroyer-of-misinformation]

How can you still confuse Fe as the group consensual function? Fe doesn't care about this. That's pretty much soc

Y’all- chill on the instinctual variants for fucks sake. Fe is the group consensual function and I will break down exactly why.

Fe is an extroverted function, meaning it works based off of objective absolutes in the outside world. As a feeling function, however, its focus is on morality, ethics, and the emotional perspective. All together, that means that Fe takes universal truths about the outside world of ethics and emotion and applies them to its decision making. It’s the Feeling version of how Te works; see a fact (this approach earns more points or takes less time), makes the simplest assumption (that this approach is the right approach to use in the majority of cases), and then applies that simple rule that they just made (this approach is good, ergo if I use it I will reach my goal a greater percentage of the time). Te and Fe create simple rules based on outside data.

How this works in an emotional playing field where points and earnings and time aren’t clearly displayed is by listening to multiple perspectives to get feedback. This person tells me this is good, this person looks sad, this person lost excitement after we took this course of action. The Fe user then formulated their simple rule based on that. Normally this rule is something along the lines of “this is the nicest course of action” or “this is the most socially responsible course of action that appeals to the most people.”

This is why Fe is stereotyped as harmonious, because it takes the value of the broadest group present and makes decisions according to that value in order to appeal to the biggest group of people possible. If you have two people who don’t like one thing and eight people who do like that thing, and you’re picking between the two things to do, the Fe user will pick the one with numbers backing it, even if they’re part of the two. (Some exceptions apply, but as a rule this is true 95% of the time.)

Fe is necessarily consensual. Other people or at least some broad social rule need to agree to its actions for those actions to have moral validity in the Fe users mind. Not having group consensus means not having that outside objective emotion.

Of course there are exceptions, such as when a broad social rule is broken for the well being of a smaller group by agreement of the smaller group or vice versa, but that’s still taking an outside emotional value and using it as the basis for decision making and that’s still group consensus, just it’s one group against another group.

Soc, on the other hand, is not a decision making process, it’s an instinct, and instincts are goals. Soc wants acclaim and belonging. It doesn’t determine how it gets to that point. So a Te using 3 might get there by earning people’s respect through skill, an Se using 8 might get there by protecting people inside a circle they want in on, and an Fe user might make their Fe decisions based on the values of that particular group. The two have lots of crossover, but the group consensus is down to Fe.

An additional point I’d like to make is that the two almost always go together! Most social blind FJs are unhealthy and a mess and confused! Because it makes sense to make decisions on common values in order to gain belonging! So there’s some crossover between the two, like a Te soc user telling two people fighting to cut it out because it’s annoying everyone else (a seemingly Fe decision) but a soc-blind Fe user would almost be more likely to take the same action cause they care about consensus but not their reputation. You see this kind of strong correlation feeding into the same behavior with a lot of type crossovers, but you don’t see anyone going at descriptions of 8s hiding their weakness and saying “oh that’s just sp”

TLDR/In Conclusion- Fe is based on consensus because where the hell else are they gonna get objective social values on which to make decisions, and that’s correlated with soc very strongly but not caused by it.

[quest-ion-er]

MBTI: Cognitive functions (my current understanding)

If any of this should be inaccurate, or of there are any inconsistencies, or questions, or if anyone has feedback…let me know. I’m open to changing my mind and learning more, what follows will just be what I think right now.

This will be the main post - I will then reblog this post with each of the cognitive functions, so that they all can be kept in the same place, which seems the easiest thing to do on mobile.

My current understanding of cognitive functions

MBTI is about​ cognition, and cognition is absorbing (P) and processing (J) information. This can be done in multiple ways varying between two generalised extremes for each:

Absorbing information can either be done through direct use of the senses (S) or through considering context and interactions, drawing information from what these imply (N.)

Processing information is done either through the application of logical principles and facts (T) or the application of moral principles and convictions (F)

These can be further divided into introverted (I) meaning subjective/inward focussed or extroverted (E) meaning objective/outward focussed.

Thus we have the functions: Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.

Now, what is each of these functions?

[quest-ion-er]

Fe

Fe is an extroverted feeling function, and a judging function. This means Fe objectively seeks to apply moral guidelines and convictions in the making of decisions. Which means that for Fe bases its ideas of right and wrong on what others say and do, how they behave and how they may be influenced, making use of the paired function Ti to analyse the minutae and come up with various moral stances taking into account whatever variables may present themselves. Attempting to process something, Fe will take into account the feelings of others, both from what they say and from what Fe can read of them, as well as considering how everyone may be affected, and making a decision based on all available information. The same action may be judged as right or wrong depending on various circumstances, and Fe is always prepared to take more information into account and adjust its view. Fe deals with conflicting values by analysing the details and finding points to differentiate one situation from the other, or finding compromises. High Fe is generally quite adept at reading the feelings of others through much practice, whereas lower Fe may simply think it can read others' feelings well, when in fact it's simply projecting its expectations. High Fe is also often more adept at dealing with emotions than lower Fe, as high Fe - lower Fe is unsure of how to respond or what to expect, both when experiencing a feeling or dealing with someone emotional. Fe in general and low Fe in particular is also generally less sure of its own identity, having spent more time reacting to the emotional states and needs of others than examining their own.

[quest-ion-er]

MBTI: Cognitive functions (my current understanding)

If any of this should be inaccurate, or of there are any inconsistencies, or questions, or if anyone has feedback…let me know. I’m open to changing my mind and learning more, what follows will just be what I think right now.

This will be the main post - I will then reblog this post with each of the cognitive functions, so that they all can be kept in the same place, which seems the easiest thing to do on mobile.

My current understanding of cognitive functions

MBTI is about​ cognition, and cognition is absorbing (P) and processing (J) information. This can be done in multiple ways varying between two generalised extremes for each:

Absorbing information can either be done through direct use of the senses (S) or through considering context and interactions, drawing information from what these imply (N.)

Processing information is done either through the application of logical principles and facts (T) or the application of moral principles and convictions (F)

These can be further divided into introverted (I) meaning subjective/inward focussed or extroverted (E) meaning objective/outward focussed.

Thus we have the functions: Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.

Now, what is each of these functions?

[quest-ion-er]

Fi

Fi is an introverted feeling function, and a judging function. This means that Fi subjectively makes decisions based on moral principles and convictions. Which means that Fi forms ideas of right and wrong - partly with the assistance of Te which objectively evaluates information and actions, and partly through attempts to maintain consistency in moral views - and will always try to act according to those ideas of right and wrong. Processing a situation, Fi will seek to remain true to its convictions. Fi does not like to compromise, a thing is as it is and to try to view it otherwise is to lie to yourself. Fi also tends to rank everything by value. A certain moral guideline or goal is more important than another and if two convictions conflict, the more important wins out. In high Fi, these hierarchies can often be well defined and have a certain consistency, whereas low Fi may seem arbitrary and vague about values. High Fi is also associated with a strong understanding of identity - a high Fi user has spent a lot of time examining themselves and learning their own values. Low Fi may be unsure of who they are or how they came to be as they are, and may seem somewhat mercurial. Fi users in general have less interest in people the less they identify with those people - for lower Fi, the association with a person needs to be stronger - and may come across as self-absorbed or selfish, though this is not always the case. In healthy Fi, there's often a "Live and let live" attitude. Lower Fi may try to "correct" others, or may have an attitude similar in effect but not in spirit to the above - "Not my circus, not my monkeys" where rather than assuming each person knows what's best for themselves, they instead take the view that as they don't care about this person, this person is on their own.

[quest-ion-er]

MBTI: Cognitive functions (my current understanding)

If any of this should be inaccurate, or of there are any inconsistencies, or questions, or if anyone has feedback…let me know. I’m open to changing my mind and learning more, what follows will just be what I think right now.

This will be the main post - I will then reblog this post with each of the cognitive functions, so that they all can be kept in the same place, which seems the easiest thing to do on mobile.

My current understanding of cognitive functions

MBTI is about​ cognition, and cognition is absorbing (P) and processing (J) information. This can be done in multiple ways varying between two generalised extremes for each:

Absorbing information can either be done through direct use of the senses (S) or through considering context and interactions, drawing information from what these imply (N.)

Processing information is done either through the application of logical principles and facts (T) or the application of moral principles and convictions (F)

These can be further divided into introverted (I) meaning subjective/inward focussed or extroverted (E) meaning objective/outward focussed.

Thus we have the functions: Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.

Now, what is each of these functions?

[quest-ion-er]

Te

Te is an extroverted judging function, and a thinking function. This means Te objectively processes information through use of logical principles and facts. Which means that Te will attempt to determine the validity of information by examining sources and make decisions based on effectiveness. Attempting to understand something, Te will research every aspect of that thing, extracting the relevant information and compiling it into a theory of how the subject works - Te has a preference for inductive reasoning. They'll determine validity of their sources first by the effectiveness of the information (according to Te you can't argue with results) and secondly by the amount of sources that agree. Any inconsistencies can be overcome if a source provides results. In a debate, a Te user will always prefer to examine an opponent's sources - if the sources are deemed valid by the above standards, Te will generally concede that the opposition must have a point, at least to a degree, and will attempt to determine "ranks" of validity. However, Te will be very unlikely to actually admit to being wrong without their own sources being discredited. A high Te user will be more capable of comparing the validity of sources and as such will be more capable of forming effective theories. A low Te user may be more prone to accepting poor sources and as such may accept falsehoods as facts, and defend them fiercely, as low Te will often justify its sources unless utterly discredited. Alternatively, low Te may simply refuse to recognise the validity of any opposing information.

Te is associated with Fi, as a subjective moral view better aligns with objective facts, and does not require an examination of the individual reasoning of any group or person.

[quest-ion-er]

MBTI: Cognitive functions (my current understanding)

If any of this should be inaccurate, or of there are any inconsistencies, or questions, or if anyone has feedback…let me know. I’m open to changing my mind and learning more, what follows will just be what I think right now.

This will be the main post - I will then reblog this post with each of the cognitive functions, so that they all can be kept in the same place, which seems the easiest thing to do on mobile.

My current understanding of cognitive functions

MBTI is about​ cognition, and cognition is absorbing (P) and processing (J) information. This can be done in multiple ways varying between two generalised extremes for each:

Absorbing information can either be done through direct use of the senses (S) or through considering context and interactions, drawing information from what these imply (N.)

Processing information is done either through the application of logical principles and facts (T) or the application of moral principles and convictions (F)

These can be further divided into introverted (I) meaning subjective/inward focussed or extroverted (E) meaning objective/outward focussed.

Thus we have the functions: Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.

Now, what is each of these functions?

[quest-ion-er]

Ti

Ti is an introverted judging function, and a thinking function. This means it subjectively processes information through use of logical principles and facts. Which means that Ti will attempt to "make sense" of things through analysis and extrapolation and make decisions based on what makes the most sense. Trying to understand something, Ti will first refer to the information it already accepts as true (the logical framework,) attempting to determine the necessary information by examining and extrapolating from information already available to preserve consistency - thus Ti has a preference for deductive logic. If this fails, Ti will take information gathered through perceiving functions, compare to the logical framework check for inconsistencies or flaws in logic and then either discard the information or add it to the framework. In a debate, Ti will prefer to examine an opponent's logic to find flaws in reasoning. Alternatively, Ti may wish to examine the opponent's sources - if those sources are facts from which the opponent drew their opinion, a Ti user will wish to see if they draw the same conclusion, and if the sources are others who offered a conclusion, a Ti user will wish to determine the validity of such sources by examining their logic for fallacies and breaks in consistency.

A high Ti user will likely be adept at spotting flawed logic and can therefore generally easily disregard flawed information, and build a reliable logical framework. High Ti will be capable of breaking down a thing to its most basic principles and using these to simplify and understand it. A low Ti user may be less adept at this and, as such, more prone to accepting poor reasoning as accurate and flawed theories as facts. Low Ti is prone to making a theory more and more complex in order to explain away inconsistencies and fallacies.

Ti is associated with an objective moral view (Fe) as this avoids inconsistencies.

[quest-ion-er]

MBTI: Cognitive functions (my current understanding)

If any of this should be inaccurate, or of there are any inconsistencies, or questions, or if anyone has feedback…let me know. I’m open to changing my mind and learning more, what follows will just be what I think right now.

This will be the main post - I will then reblog this post with each of the cognitive functions, so that they all can be kept in the same place, which seems the easiest thing to do on mobile.

My current understanding of cognitive functions

MBTI is about​ cognition, and cognition is absorbing (P) and processing (J) information. This can be done in multiple ways varying between two generalised extremes for each:

Absorbing information can either be done through direct use of the senses (S) or through considering context and interactions, drawing information from what these imply (N.)

Processing information is done either through the application of logical principles and facts (T) or the application of moral principles and convictions (F)

These can be further divided into introverted (I) meaning subjective/inward focussed or extroverted (E) meaning objective/outward focussed.

Thus we have the functions: Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.

Now, what is each of these functions?

[quest-ion-er]

Ne

Ne is a perceiving function, is extroverted and is intuitive. This means Ne absorbs information objectively through observation of context and content. Which means that Ne considers reality to be a mass of interconnected bits of information, each influencing the other, and Ne seeks to discern this influence through identifying connections and relying on past experiences (Si) to provide insight - either into the information under observation or into something similar, or something connected. Ne then creates various possibilities and will slowly whittle these down. As an objective perceiving function, Ne is not comfortable treating its ideas as certainties until proven and as such will generally consider every possibility equally until evidence elevates one over others - and even then may generate more possibilities and end up giving them equal consideration. High Ne will often eliminate the truly ridiculous shortly after considering it. Low Ne, may get caught up imagining more and more possibilities or, alternatively, shut itself off to even likely possibilities as baseless nonsense. Ne enjoys novelty, a result of its manner of branching out into ever expanding possibilities - each new experience opens up a world of new options to the Ne user. Ne is most comfortable when able to imagine and explore, and create a world inside its head.