Time for some clarification/definitions. (sometimes I wrongly believe that such things are self-evident)
Lying = telling someone something
you know to be untrue,
with the intent to deceive.
If I tell you I’m wearing black panties while I type this, but they’re actually white, that’s a lie.
If I forget what colour they are but believe that they’re black (even though they might actually be white) then it’s not a lie.
Simples. (Stop thinking about my panties now)
Lying isn’t good, bad or indifferent – it’s simply untrue. I don’t know how hard that is for some people to get their heads around, but consider the actions of the Dutch ppl who kept Ann Frank and her family alive by lying to the SS. Most people would consider that to be the only moral choice. There is nothing intrinsically bad about lying.
It follows that there is also nothing intrinsically good about telling the truth. The fact that most of us don’t want to be deceived, makes us call lying “immoralâ€.
Allow me to now use this very thread as illustration of the oppositional nature of Ti/Fe.
Not being completely retarded, I had some inkling that the question might spark some controversy amongst certain F-types who might choose to interpret it as an attack. I'm using theory of mind to guess what reaction my actions are likely to produce. I hoped that I might also get an interesting debate going (but I didn't actually think it all that likely).
If I were to listen to Fe, I wouldn’t create the thread, and I would thus avoid any potential unpleasantness.
However, that would be in complete opposition to my instinct and my values, namely:
- It’s a legitimate and interesting question to explore on a forum ostensibly about MBTI
- I want to understand how other people perceive/experience these functions and I can only do that by asking them questions
- It’s irrational for someone to over-identify with a concept such as function theory to the extent that they’d feel personally affronted by such a question
- It’s wrong to give in to irrational, whiny people, when they can choose to stay out of the thread or to engage reasonably
- It’s actually insulting to Fe users to assume that they can’t decide for themselves to do either of the above two things
These are Ti (and to a certain extent, Fi) judgments, I would say
None of that is conscious, but that’s what’s going on when I make the decision. Note how superior my Ti/Fi reasoning process is to the “gut feel/uncertainty†of my Fe-like one (not ALL Fe ones, just MINE, K?).
Of course it is, and so of course I should listen to it. I don’t really have a choice. To choose otherwise would mean being untrue to myself.
That's how Fe suppresses Ti internally - if one allows it to. The reaction of some of the posters is how Fe suppresses Ti externally (Fe is our internal representation of external judgments).
(Someone, fidelia? used the word "suppress", protean used the word "tempers" - the effect is the same - a dampening down)
It would be interesting (to me) to see the thought process of a Fe-dom user when making a similar decision.