Fi Demystified

[SolitaryWalker]

"Mystical explanations are considered deep; but the truth is, they are not even shallow" Friedrich Nietzsche

"Fyodor Pavlovich learned of his wife's death when he was drunk; it was said that he ran out into the street with his hands raised to heaven in joy, shouting : 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant..' :* others say he wept convulsively like a child, so much so that, despite all the revulsion he aroused, he was pitiful to behold. Very probably, both accounts are true--that is, he rejoiced in his liberation and shed tears for his liberator at one and the same time. In most cases, people, even evil-doers, are much simpler and more naive than we generally suppose. And the same is true for you and me." Fyodor Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov.

Introverted Feeling is one of the most enigmatic human type known to our civilization. On one hand it could be described as emotionally flamboyant with intense profundity of passion, yet on the other as stern and radically egocentric.

“So long as the ego feels subordinate to the unconscious subject, and feeling is aware of something higher and mightier than the ego, the type is normal. Although the unconscious thinking is archaic, its reductive tendencies help to compensate the occasional fits of trying to exalt the ego into the subject. If this should nevertheless happen as a result of complete suppression of the counterbalancing subliminal processes, the unconscious thinking goes over into open opposition and gets projected. The egocentrized subject now comes to feel the power and importance of the devalued object. She begins consciously to feel “what other people think.” Naturally, other people are thinking all sorts of mean things, scheming evil, contriving plots, secret intrigues, etc. In order to forestall them, she herself is obliged to start counter-intuitive intrigues, to suspect others and sound them out, and weave counterplots. Beset by rumours, she must make frantic efforts to get her own back and be top dog. Endless clandestine rivalries spring up, and in these embittered struggles she will shrink from no baseness or meanness, and will even prostitute her virtues in order to play the trump card. ” Psychological Types P.391




It is clear that the Introverted Feeling type prefers the world of wishful thinking and fantasy over reality. Mystery to fact. No doubt that in their world of wistful reveries they are the emotional flamboyant and magnanimous character, much worthy of our approbation. However, could we still say the same about them after we had them demystified?

The truth earnestly does hurt. Introverted Feeling type is one of lofty ideals and titanic passions which manifest in a form of almost childlike enthusiasm. When I was 8 or 9, I used to get carried away by cartoons of King Arthur and his knights of round table and how they were willing to die for an idea and would challenge other knights to a duel dare they oppose king arthur and ideals of Camelot. Some would be willing to fight for a woman! Such romanticizing hardly had any limitation. I am very sober-minded person, yet at times I even get carried away into the realm of mysterious idealism. There I too would feel like I may sacrifice my life for an idea. Recently, I recall hearing a very sober-minded INTP professor(has over 30 years of experience in symbolic logic and mathematics, obviously with superb impersonal reasoning capabilities which allow him to look at all things without an illusion) of philosophy who is well into his 50s tell an anecdote where his son asked him 'how much do you love me daddy'--'more than life in itself' he responded, and 'I meant that literally'.

This romantic sentiment resounded in Eminem's lyrics whose personality and temperament seem to be diametrically opposed to romanticism as he appears to be a very rugged and tough-minded individual.

YouTube - Eminem - When I'm Gone

As I have already confessed, I too have had moments of the like, yet they do not last long. As soon as I snap out of my reveries and revert back to my track of rational thought, I demystify those fancies. Or simply accept them for what they are and realize how foolish I have been.

What could there be said about the person who does not go through the above described process? He is simply like a child who has never grown up.

Lets look at some examples.

1)Jean Jacque Rousseau (ISFP), as a child has broken a very expensive piece of property at his family estate. When he was caught, he blamed the cleaning lady. Instead of admitting his wickedness, he convinced himself that the reason he blamed the cleaning lady was because he loved her. Out of sheer affection, (because he thought of her all the time) her name came up first in his mind when he needed someone to cover his ass with. Later in his life, an eminem Scottish philosopher David Hume has invited him to live with him in England. Hume was exceptionally patient and kind with this man, whilst realizing that Roussaeu was deeply troubled. Somehow, Roussaue has imagined that Hume associated with the French government who is out to get him and he is going to betray him. He would accuse Hume of such ignominious behavior only to retract it all and apologize within days. Next, he imagines that Hume's friends and many other British intellectuals are making fun of him, he goes on to pull more stunts of the like shocking all bystanders. In the end his persecution mania induces him to leave their company, where again he convinces himself that they were wicked. They have made him feel this way, and he did nothing but try to love them!

2)Soren Kierkegaard(INFP) has courted Regine Olsen, a beautiful intelligent lady from Copenghagen. Has furthered his relationship to the point where she has agreed to marry him. Then randomly he breaks the engagement, making only a very superficial attempt to explain his plan, and leaves town. She was devastated, yet Kierkegaard would have liked to believe (as his diaries show) that he is completely innocent and he was hurt more than she was. Such thinking of his has reached an apogee in the 'Diary of a Seducer' in Either/Or. To his last days he ended up mourning her and wishing they'd be back together, dreaming of how it all may happen, staring at her picture for hours without respite. Wallowing in his wistful memories and kicking himself at the very image of Regine having anything to do with her husband or any other man besides himself. Apparently S.K lost all grounding in reality. He had no desire to demystify his fancies. He had no will to analyze the situation and see why he is suffering and what he could of done to prevent this, and what he can do in the future to avoid such problems. He simply sought to have an emotional reaction because this made him feel more alive. And obviously the emotional reaction centered around heart-warming sympathies. Obviously he could not have helped himself but screw up. Obviously he was hurt more than Regine, and obviously he is doing the right thing.

3) St.Augustine (INFP)

“So I muddied in the stream of friendship with the filth of lewdness and clouded its clear waters with hell’s black river of lust. And yet, despite such putrid depravity, I was in vain enough to harbor an ambition to succeed in the world. I also fell in love, which was a trap of my own making. My God, God of mercy, how good you were to me, for you mixed much bitterness in that cup of pleasure. My love was returned, and I became chained in the shackles of its consummation. Even in the midst of my joys I was embroiled in tribulation, lashed by the cruel rods of jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger and bitter argument ”

This appears to be the more benign version of the above two. Augustine lived a licentious life as a child. As an adult he liked to ruminate about this one time when he has stolen an apple as a teenage. I am sure that the above quoted passage was about the incident similar to this.

What exactly is the reason for such ostensibly ignominious behavior.

We know that all attitudes of Introversion have a high propensity to fall slave to the ego. We also know that Introversion is diametrically opposed to Extroversion and therefore has a negative attitude towards the external world. The Introverted Feeling type has a negative attitude towards the external world of people. His abstract nature of feeling is easily subservient to the ego or his selfish desires. It is easily used to convince himself to believe in whatever he wishes to true. This is what his fantasies are about. About his character being impeccable and all things being as favorable to himself as possible. Because the attitude towards the external world is negative and the hypersensitivity of this type, he easily feels victimized in situations where no attempt to victimize was made by others. Roussaeu's behavior in England is the case in point. Secondly, when it is not easy to dramatize interpersonal contemporary situations, the Introverted Feeler goes on to dramatize petty scenarios such as the one where Augustine stole the apple as a teenager. The point here is to achieve a state of mind where the Introverted Feeler can see himself as magnanimous and feel as passionate for his own cause as possible. In order to achieve this he unconsciously leads himself to believe that the external world is out to get him because this adds fuel to his fire. It is also very convenient for him because his attitude towards the external world is negative. Thus, becoming intensely melancholy, and staying melancholy is a way that he relies upon to achieve his goal of feeling as passionately as possible. His vanity leads him to make himself as appealing and interesting to others as possible. This is another advantage of staying melancholy, as this way he too easily wins the sympathies of others.

The Introverted Feeler is reminiscent of the magnanimous, brilliant, saintly, hypersensitive individual subjected to a very cruel world that invariably crushes his tender heart, as much as he is reminiscient of a massochist who derives great pleasure from tormenting himself. The world does not hurt him, he hurts himself.

IFPs, you have every right to torment yourself with this insanity, but leave the rest of us the hell out of it.

The Introverted Feeler has an intense focus on the things he values, this may delude one into thinking that he has a firm inner identity. That is not at all true. He lives in the realm of wishful thinking and fantasy. In the world of contradictory fancies and values. What we have here is but a conglomeration of values which have no logical bearing upon one another. One may say the emperor has no clothes. The person only feels like they have substance, but they really don't. That isn't quite right, it is not that the emperor has no clothes, but the clothes have no emperor. Just free floating feelings. These feelings blow the type hither and thither, he simply has never grown up. For some reason he feels that it is all a dream, that he can wake up when it begins to be upsetting, he feels like his whole life is just like one of many of his daily fantasies that he could snap out of any moment, should it even turn sour. Yet the reality is, he cannot.


"Fyodor Pavlovich learned of his wife's death when he was drunk; it was said that he ran out into the street with his hands raised to heaven in joy, shouting : 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant..' :* others say he wept convulsively like a child, so much so that, despite all the revulsion he aroused, he was pitiful to behold. Very probably, both accounts are true--that is, he rejoiced in his liberation and shed tears for his liberator at one and the same time. In most cases, people, even evil-doers, are much simpler and more naive than we generally suppose. And the same is true for you and me." Fyodor Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov.

One may wonder what this statement has to do with the Introverted Feeling type. Emotionalization of the situation makes it seem very complicated, but in essence it is very simple, the individual simply needs to feel alive so he seeks whatever possible means (hopefully favorable to himself) to dramatize the situation.

[Randomnity]

Perhaps you should deal directly with the IFPs in your life who are troubling you, rather than ranting about them on a forum. As you say, reality over fantasy.

[Jen]

^^There's that fag talk again.

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Originally Posted by Jen

^^There's that fag talk again.

Lol, you must have watched idiocracy.

[Jen]

haha I worship that movie. sign of the times for sure.

[Jennifer]

Maybe I should retitle this "The 'Kick an IFP' Thread".

Where's all the "Abuse the ITP in your life" threads?
Come on, BW, let's be an EOE.

[WobblyStilettos]

-wonders if you will run out of words beggining with 'de' or personality traits you have issues with first-

[MacGuffin]

Originally Posted by BlueWing

{rant}

So... what'd she do to you?

[Haphazard]

Blue, if you're hurt, we really don't want to hear you broadcast like this. It's... undignified.

[Little Linguist]

Just curious: What prompted you to write this essay? You normally write flawless work; yet your work contains several typographical errors, which leads me to believe that you wrote this out of frustration, anger, or passion.

In spite of this fact, I would like to ask you some questions:

a) Why is maintaining a childlike quality bad? Okay, childish behavior such as Rousseau demonstrated is surely unhealthy. Taken too far, Fi is just as dangerous as any other characteristic driven to extremes.

However, I believe that maintaining a childlike wonder and amazement concerning the world around us and our internal imagination is wonderful!!! I wouldn't give it up for the world! You are surely intelligent and quite capable, but what is all that when you cannot simply pick up a twenty-seven-year-old stuffed animal rabbit that you have had since you were one-year-old and feel the warmth it exudes? In spite of your great intelligence, you would never be able to experience that feeling without some F to balance out the other characteristics! How sad.

b) Why do you believe that Fi would necessarily lead people to negative behavior like the behavior described? You say you de-mystify people's behavior. Just accept people for who they are. Luckily, we have stoic, intelligent people like you who fill a role in society that surely I would never be able to play. Thank you. But if everyone were like you, good gracious! That would be nearly as awful as if everyone were like ME!!! Oh good LORD!!!

Again, I am not trying to pull straws, make you feel badly, or start an argument. However, I think it would behoove you to look at these characteristics from another angle. What happened to you that you are no longer able to get caught up in mystery from time-to-time like you did as a young boy?

Surely your intellect and your logical capacity does wonders for you and has brought you far. In my opinion, however, a logical, rational mind without a sense of wonder to balance it is just as unhealthy as an imaginary, emotional mind without logic and rationality to curtail it.

I hope you understand what I mean and do not take it personally. Normally, I really admire your work. I do thank you for sharing.