Harnessing your inferior

[substitute]

I had a great conversation earlier with my INFJ friend Kate (giving false name here to avoid cumbersome linguistic issues later) about how we could, when stressed, use our inferior functions to get ourselves back on track, rather than letting them control us and make idiots of ourselves.

It started because we realised that our dominants and inferiors are sorta the same but not - she has Ni/Se while I have Ne/Si. We thought about how this manifests in our behaviour, and realised that when she gets stressed, she pigs out or gets drunk or gets an urge to do something stupid just to prove she can be spontaneous. Meanwhile I tend to run around panicking, looking for some authority to tell me what to do, to counsel me and tell me the proper procedure so I can feel safe in following it. Then later, when we've calmed down, she feels stupid and guilty for her irresponsible and self-destructive behaviour, and I feel strangled by the routines, schedules and rules that I imposed on myself (or allowed others to impose on me).

Then we talked about how we could use these for positive results rather than the negative ones, if we decided to grasp onto the inferior function and the urges it creates in us, and use it, rather than let it use us.

I've recently realised that if I get stressed, it's usually because my Ne is so dominant that it's led me too far and too fast even for me to keep up with, my Ti has thrown its hands in the air and said "No way mate, not even I can analyse what you've got yourself into now - you lost me about where the cheese knife got connected to the cholostomy bag!"

And that's when Si starts rearing its ugly head (not saying Si is ugly, just when I use it!). But what I can do instead of looking for an authority and rules, to try to put a choke chain on my Ne, is to just sit down and think about and 'plug myself in' to what's eternal, what's good and worth keeping, worth doing, having etc, what works, what's real and stood the test of time, and then use this to direct my Ne, rather than subdue it. Not only that, but it gives me a route into Feeling, and helps me to realise what I value.

Similarly, Kate realised that a lot of her stress comes from overactive Ni, making her paranoid, distrustful, suspicious and her Fe throws its hands up and says "I can't tell people my problem and ask for help, cos Ni won't let me, it has its foot on my throat and keeps telling me I can't give people ammunition against me and that they don't really care anyway!"

She realised that, rather than letting Se control her and send her off to the liquor store and weed dealer, she could use it to plug herself into reality and look around her, use her senses to look for actual evidence, to see if there really is any reason for this paranoia, any proof or evidence beyond her own intuition, of these awful conspiracies and stuff that she fears. And using Se to critically examine her surroundings has also given her a new route into Thinking.

So I just thought I'd share that, and see if any other ENTP's or INFJ's can relate or add to any of that, and also if other types can think of how this process might work for them.

 

[indigo2020]

I had a great conversation earlier with my INFJ friend Kate (giving false name here to avoid cumbersome linguistic issues later) about how we could, when stressed, use our inferior functions to get ourselves back on track, rather than letting them control us and make idiots of ourselves.

It started because we realised that our dominants and inferiors are sorta the same but not - she has Ni/Se while I have Ne/Si. We thought about how this manifests in our behaviour, and realised that when she gets stressed, she pigs out or gets drunk or gets an urge to do something stupid just to prove she can be spontaneous. Meanwhile I tend to run around panicking, looking for some authority to tell me what to do, to counsel me and tell me the proper procedure so I can feel safe in following it. Then later, when we've calmed down, she feels stupid and guilty for her irresponsible and self-destructive behaviour, and I feel strangled by the routines, schedules and rules that I imposed on myself (or allowed others to impose on me).

Then we talked about how we could use these for positive results rather than the negative ones, if we decided to grasp onto the inferior function and the urges it creates in us, and use it, rather than let it use us.

I've recently realised that if I get stressed, it's usually because my Ne is so dominant that it's led me too far and too fast even for me to keep up with, my Ti has thrown its hands in the air and said "No way mate, not even I can analyse what you've got yourself into now - you lost me about where the cheese knife got connected to the cholostomy bag!"

And that's when Si starts rearing its ugly head (not saying Si is ugly, just when I use it!). But what I can do instead of looking for an authority and rules, to try to put a choke chain on my Ne, is to just sit down and think about and 'plug myself in' to what's eternal, what's good and worth keeping, worth doing, having etc, what works, what's real and stood the test of time, and then use this to direct my Ne, rather than subdue it. Not only that, but it gives me a route into Feeling, and helps me to realise what I value.

Similarly, Kate realised that a lot of her stress comes from overactive Ni, making her paranoid, distrustful, suspicious and her Fe throws its hands up and says "I can't tell people my problem and ask for help, cos Ni won't let me, it has its foot on my throat and keeps telling me I can't give people ammunition against me and that they don't really care anyway!"

She realised that, rather than letting Se control her and send her off to the liquor store and weed dealer, she could use it to plug herself into reality and look around her, use her senses to look for actual evidence, to see if there really is any reason for this paranoia, any proof or evidence beyond her own intuition, of these awful conspiracies and stuff that she fears. And using Se to critically examine her surroundings has also given her a new route into Thinking.

So I just thought I'd share that, and see if any other ENTP's or INFJ's can relate or add to any of that, and also if other types can think of how this process might work for them.

OMG, it's like you got inside my head. All of it. Except I don't use drugs or drink anymore but I act out in other ways (self-destrctive behavior) and my head tells me the same exact thing! (paragraph 6)

 

[Blackwater]

And that's when Si starts rearing its ugly head (not saying Si is ugly, just when I use it!). But what I can do instead of looking for an authority and rules, to try to put a choke chain on my Ne, is to just sit down and think about and 'plug myself in' to what's eternal, what's good and worth keeping, worth doing, having etc, what works, what's real and stood the test of time, and then use this to direct my Ne, rather than subdue it. Not only that, but it gives me a route into Feeling, and helps me to realise what I value.

Do you ever meditate?

 

[substitute]

Do you ever meditate?

Yes, often.

Sometimes when I'm very stressed out and panicked, I forget to though. But it's rare that I get that bad. These days it doesn't take long before I realise what's going on, and make a mental date for as soon as possible, to meditate and reconcile my Ne/Si.

 

[RDF]

So I just thought I'd share that, and see if any other ENTP's or INFJ's can relate or add to any of that, and also if other types can think of how this process might work for them.

I agree with what's been said above. As an INFP, my inferior is Te, which turns me into a hyper-critical, fault-finding, control freak when I get stressed out. That's a bad way to go in the workplace in leadership roles; I've seen other INFPs who have also had this problem in leadership positions.

Simply to be aware of the problem helps a lot. I can kind of anticipate the point at which I'm going to get stressed; and I can simply put someone else in charge for a bit and walk away. When I get my composure back, I can try to use my inferior Thinking more positively, or use it as a way to tune in my tertiary Si a bit and look at the situation in terms of details, realism, and attention to essentials.

Same in relationships. When I get too worked up and bull-headed, I can use that as a signal that maybe it's time to take a break and look at the situation from a new angle, or maybe even let the other person win that particular point at least temporarily (figuring that a win on their side is going to be more rational and fair-minded than a win on mine). [Edit:] And that situation of yielding (when I would much rather seize control and impose my point of view) often gives me a period of de-stressing and clarity where I can sit back and inventory why the relationship is important to me, and also why it may be important to let the other person have the win on that occasion.

FL

 

[Totenkindly]

Fe can be hard to deal with. What happens is that personal and public commitments start to strangle me, and then the emotional commitments get mixed in as well -- and since emotional factors are not nearly as precise and clear-cut, then I cannot make nuanced evaluations of what is going on. It gets very muddy, very confusing, and I start feeling resentful and manipulated and enslaved and my clarity begins to dissipate...

At that point, I either try to isolate myself (to win back a sense of freedom) or disengage from as many commitments as possible... and if someone won't let me and puts pressure on me about my obligations, it is very very easy for me to lose my temper and go on a mini-rampage saying exactly what I think.

As I am sitting thinking about it now, I suddenly realize that Fe is not just a set of obligations imposed upon me for everyone else's benefit, it also is a set of structures that is supposed to protect ME as well as everyone else. I might have a responsibility to others, but they also have a responsibility to me -- and I can use a clearer sense of Fe to help me get past any unwarranted guilt I might be feeling and justify where I draw lines.

For example, I have a primary relationship with my family, and I can tell anyone to "shove off" (in a nice way) if their demands in that lesser relationship impact my primary family relationship. Every relationship is prioritized.

And I can also factor "myself" in there -- if something is important for me to remain healthy and keep functioning (so I can fulfill my other obligations), then I can justify doing it without having to feel guilt about it... no matter what someone else tries to tell me.

Fe also gives me some established protocols I can use when I interact -- a common language that frees me up from having to emotionally figure out everyone I come into contact with. Even silly things like passing someone in the hall at work and saying, "Hello" and asking about the weekend or the weather, then feeling able to excuse myself -- now that I have shown my positive feelings towards that person by doing the prescribed behavior -- all of those things are good for INTPs, since getting involved directly in the emotions is often confusing for them. This way, they don't even have to "feel"; Fe provides an "intellectualized emotion system" in a way, and they can just go through the prescribed movements and comments and thus maintain the bare bones of social relationship that will benefit them later.

 

[Kyrielle]

Similarly, Kate realised that a lot of her stress comes from overactive Ni, making her paranoid, distrustful, suspicious and her Fe throws its hands up and says "I can't tell people my problem and ask for help, cos Ni won't let me, it has its foot on my throat and keeps telling me I can't give people ammunition against me and that they don't really care anyway!"

She realised that, rather than letting Se control her and send her off to the liquor store and weed dealer, she could use it to plug herself into reality and look around her, use her senses to look for actual evidence, to see if there really is any reason for this paranoia, any proof or evidence beyond her own intuition, of these awful conspiracies and stuff that she fears. And using Se to critically examine her surroundings has also given her a new route into Thinking.

So I just thought I'd share that, and see if any other ENTP's or INFJ's can relate or add to any of that, and also if other types can think of how this process might work for them.

Yes, I do do what Kate does when she's upset. It's very hard to calm Ni down in order to think calmly and rationally or even tell someone how I feel without overreacting and getting hysterical. What I've found is that I tend to just tell someone how I feel anyway, because the feeling usually bothers me enough to make me feel like I'll go crazy if someone doesn't know my position at the moment.

I feel like people, especially those I care about, should know where I stand emotionally at the time, even if it's just telling them that I'm upset and I don't know how I'm really feeling through all the emotional mud. I do it because I'm really saying, "Help me! I'm drowning in confusion and unhappy assumptions! Where is the truth! I can't find it!"

And yes, I do look at past and present evidence to guage if I have any reason to feel so hysterical. 90% of the time, my paranoia, fear, or disappointment is unwarranted.

 

[RDF]

At that point, I either try to isolate myself (to win back a sense of freedom) or disengage from as many commitments as possible... and if someone won't let me and puts pressure on me about my obligations, it is very very easy for me to lose my temper and go on a mini-rampage saying exactly what I think.

So the dreaded INTP need for autonomy is an outgrowth of stressed-out inferior Fe?

That would make sense. It would explain why you INTPs hate to be told or even asked to do something, but don't mind being manipulated into the same obligation. IOW, INTPs accept the concept that they have obligations to society, but they want the obligations communicated in a way that isn't going to stress them out and activate their inferior Fe.

Hence the utility, for example, of using humor with INTPs to get them laughing and de-stress them a bit when they're getting burnt out from too much human interaction or forced extraversion.

Is that how the INTP's "need for autonomy" works?

FL

 

[cafe]

She realised that, rather than letting Se control her and send her off to the liquor store and weed dealer, she could use it to plug herself into reality and look around her, use her senses to look for actual evidence, to see if there really is any reason for this paranoia, any proof or evidence beyond her own intuition, of these awful conspiracies and stuff that she fears. And using Se to critically examine her surroundings has also given her a new route into Thinking.

You mean like going through the spouse's wallet/purse and cell phone records? I must have better developed inferior functions than I thought.

 

[substitute]

Well, I was thinking more along the lines that our stress comes from when our dominant functions become too dominant, causing us to ignore the other things there are to life and and overwhelm the other functions and their needs, which is what causes our inferiors (the opposite of the dominants) to kick in and try to pull us back to some semblance of moderation. But because we're so useless at using our inferiors, this often gets us in an even worse pickle than before.

Like, for INTP's, it could be that too much Ti activity has led y'all into overanalysing everything to death so you've lost all sense of meaning, value and feeling, you've gotten cynical and jaded and cold, so maybe Fe sends you out screaming your objections to people and demanding that they support you, to try to inject a bit of warmth into your life, but only achieving further alienation.

So how could you actually use Fe to balance you out, rather than trying to counteract or limit the damage that ill-use of it causes to you and others?

 

[substitute]

You mean like going through the spouse's wallet/purse and cell phone records? I must have better developed inferior functions than I thought.

LOL No, I didn't mean that!! What Kate said as her examples of looking for evidence, was just thinking about your interaction with these people in the last however long, and just look at the facts of what was said and done, who's where and when, and seeing if you can still make of it what you've suspected, without the intangible, intuitive elements to make more of things than they really are.

I'm not sure how this'd work in a romantic context, cos I know romantic love tends to just screw everything around and nobody seems to behave in quite the same way towards this relationship as they do in others because of the immense and almost unique intimacy they entail. But me and Kate weren't talking about those - we were talking about her social anxieties and her fears about making friends and stuff cos she thinks everyone hates her and is talking about her behind her back, or that nobody really likes her and she doesn't fit in and stuff.

 

[Totenkindly]

While thinking about FL's comments to me, these ideas flashed through my mind and I had to write them down. Perhaps they can help shed some clarity on the nature of the opposites, or springboard further conversation.

The main point here is that the opposing functions are antithetical of each other -- each one "threatens" the influence and power of the other.

---

Ti: Fe threatens the autonomy and conceptual logic of Ti, which looks at everything in a detached fashion and evaluates it based on inner principles. The rules laid down by Fe seem arbitrary when evaluated by Ti, as they are fabricated by society and change as time passes, whereas the principles that Ti uses to process information are timeless in nature and consistent because they're derived from the natural world and not from social preferences. When thrown into situations demanding Fe, those who run off Ti have no idea what to do because the rules seem so arbitrary and disconnected from the inherent nature of the people and things they are dealing with.

Fe: Ti threatens the socially constructed relationships on which Fe runs, as Ti is completely unconcerned with them except perhaps in a predictive sense. Ti is only interested in what can be impersonally derived and purposefully ignores anything that seems arbitrary. It shows no real respect for custom that is meant to show the commitment of one person in a culture to another, as well as the type of commitment being reaffirmed. Ti tells Fe that all of its "truth" is merely a phantasm.

--

Fi: Te compartmentalizes things based on their external qualities and threatens the ability of Fi to deal with the inner motivations and unique nature of individual people. People and objects alike are organized and assembled and manipulated without real regard for "personal" aspects or personal relevance.

Te: Fi threatens the coherent organization of things and presents things from being neatly categorized. (After all, if EVERYTHING is unique and individual, then nothing can be stuctured -- no categories really exist, because everything and everyone is in their own unique category!) Fi thus ruins efficiency and makes dealing with the objects/people in question much more difficult.

--

Se: Ni threatens the data feed of Se, which assumes that everything that is real is that which can be sensed, and there is no other reality except that which is BEING sensed. (Everything else is just a fabrication or a dream.) If one's experience of the data feed is merely one interpretation, then who knows WHAT is real any longer? And how can one depend on the data coming in -- perhaps one's interpretation is wrong? Ni threatens to nip Se behavior in the bud, causing doubt in the hard data itself.

Ni: Se threatens the multiplicity of interpretations open to Ni, which assumes that there are an infinite number of ways (rather than one RIGHT way) to view a situation, and assumes that every perspective is subjective, determined not by reality itself but by the VIEWER/SPEAKER. Se says there is only ONE reality -- and it's the hard, external data that is coming in. Perspectives do not exist, nor can frameworks be created. Reality is in the moment, and it is whatever the data stream is telling you, and consistent subjectives frameworks are to be discarded. (Which is why an SP can seem inconsistent in their theories of life, from one moment to the next).

--

Si: Ne threatens the solidity of Si's worldview, which has been constructed and is being used as a template of what the world is actually like. Ne looks at the Si world and says, "Not necessarily, and here's how we could change it." Si seeks to solidify and ANCHOR the world so that it does not NEED to change, whereas Ne is all about implementing change and making things better -- the past doesn't matter, the old ways do not matter, what matters is reaching the "next level."

Ne: Si is like the Medusa's head, freezing possibilities ("turning them to stone") in the mind of anyone looking it in the face. Ne is no longer free to dream and imagine and see connections to things that have no yet been established, because Si has already determined that it's happy with reality the way it is and seeks to keep the status quo as-is. There is no need for Ne in that sort of environment.

--

So these are why each primary function also includes an inferior function -- the function that seeks to undermine and destroy its own influence. And it is why we usually fight against or run from our inferior, when we are still undergoing maturation!

A mature person learns how to harness the power of the inferior function and uses it to complement the primary function rather than undermining it. (I haven't explained those "complimentary" powers here, haven't thought through them yet. Someone else can try their hand at it, if they are so inclined.)

 

[substitute]

A mature person learns how to harness the power of the inferior function and uses it to complement the primary function rather than undermining it. (I haven't explained those "complimentary" powers here, haven't thought through them yet. Someone else can try their hand at it, if they are so inclined.)

That was awesome Jen, extremely enlightening and well put. I was sorta starting the whole explanation of using inferiors as complementary powers, to reconcile them with our dominants, in the OP, but I only had ENTP and INFJ worked out at the time lol

At heart I'm a medieval scholastic, so to me there's no such thing as 'irreconcilable'. To me, any two things that appear conflicting can be shown to, in fact, not conflict, if you look at them hard enough. And sometimes the answer is so astoundingly simple.

For example, just last week, we were arguing here about whether the Franciscan model of 'oneness' with nature, of integrating ourselves into the environment and being a part of it, was at odds with the Genesis idea of having 'dominion' over the environment. But after much debating, it suddenly became obvious that having dominion over things means you're in charge of them, and being in charge of things means you have to look after them and make them run right, co-exist with them simbiotically, like a good king and his subjects. It doesn't mean exploiting them for your own ends, 'til they're destroyed and depleted. So simple, we were kicking ourselves

So by the same token, I'm sure if we put our minds to it, we can find ways to demonstrate that Ne/Si or Ti/Fe or Ni/Se aren't as opposite as our inner fears and insecurities lead us to believe.

Dammit, if only I had more time to spend on this...!

I shall be mulling it over, though... it's hard to mull things over without someone to mull it with, when you're an extravert, but when the people you want to do the mulling with are online and you can't talk to them in real time... gach!

 

[Totenkindly]

...after much debating, it suddenly became obvious that having dominion over things means you're in charge of them, and being in charge of things means you have to look after them and make them run right, co-exist with them simbiotically, like a good king and his subjects. It doesn't mean exploiting them for your own ends, 'til they're destroyed and depleted...

So here is one for you, since you are a Christian: What does it now mean if you equate God and/or Jesus = King? Can you extend the metaphor out and clarify God's role in the world, based on Christian doctrine? (Sorry, this will be a very brief diversion! Or you could do it in a new thread in Religion.)

I shall be mulling it over, though... it's hard to mull things over without someone to mull it with, when you're an extravert, but when the people you want to do the mulling with are online and you can't talk to them in real time... gach!

Hmmm, you know, isn't this really just a matter of your integrating your extraversion with introversion in a symbiotic relationship rather than a contradictory one...? <muffled laugh>

 

[RDF]

A mature person learns how to harness the power of the inferior function and uses it to complement the primary function rather than undermining it. (I haven't explained those "complimentary" powers here, haven't thought through them yet. Someone else can try their hand at it, if they are so inclined.)

Here's a possible example of using the inferior function to complement the dominant function. My wife and I are both INFPs, and thus we're both Dominant Fi and Inferior Te.

Early in our relationship, we got into some really intractable arguments. My Fi was telling me that my opinion was an imperative and there was no backing down, and her Fi was telling her the same thing about her opinion. As our Fi became overwhelmed, we each became increasingly defensive and brought in our Te to fend off what we perceived as attacks. And of course that only made things worse.

Getting stressed out and using Te didn't help. I would try to put Te in service to my basic Fi position. That is, I still considered my Fi opinion to be an imperative, and I simply used Te to come up with new devices to get my way: Negotiating, manipulating, bullying, etc. In a worst-case scenario, using Te in that role would lead me to give up on the relationship altogether by discounting the F value in the relationship and deciding that if I couldn't control the relationship then it wasn't worth keeping.

But in the end, it helped that we were both Fi and we were simultaneously doing the same thing to each other. I could see that she was every bit as stuck in her opinion as I was in mine, and that we were just trying to manipulate or bully each other with Te. We were making absolutely no progress using competing Te to bring about change in support of competing Fi moral imperatives.

Breakthroughs, of course, came when we quit using Te in support of limited Fi-based goals and used it instead to get an overview of the relationship as a whole. We could use Te to get past the impasse of trying to push temporary moral imperatives on each other and instead open up everything for negotiation and analyze how we could incorporate the conflict into the relationship rather than merely get our way.

IOW, in a worst-case scenario, Fi gave us competing priorities (moral imperatives) and Te further put us at odds by only giving us clumsy and ill-conceived tools to try to achieve our Fi goals at the expense of the other person. In a best-case scenario, on the other hand, Fi was used to emphasize the value of the relationship as a whole, and Te was used to discount temporary moral imperatives and instead find ways to incorporate conflicts (sometimes without even bothering to resolve them) into the relationship and keep the relationship as a whole functioning unimpeded and healthy.

At least, that's how it seems to me in retrospect.

FL

 

[substitute]

So here is one for you, since you are a Christian: What does it now mean if you equate God and/or Jesus = King? Can you extend the metaphor out and clarify God's role in the world, based on Christian doctrine? (Sorry, this will be a very brief diversion! Or you could do it in a new thread in Religion.)

Off-hand, I'd say I'd have trouble getting what I make of this across to you, as we've already established that we're from very different Christian traditions, polar opposite almost, and I know I always avoid taking part in ecumenical work (except behind the scenes) exactly because of this minefield of easily misinterpreted specialist terms and usages that we don't even realise are specialist to us! And besides that, even just the question's based on a bunch of assumptions I don't share... so... yeh, maybe I'll do something in the religion forum someday, but I wouldn't bank on me getting time or having the inclination!

Though for starters, my spider sense tells me that it's in the imminence, the 'Christ within you' concept, where this lies... that maybe it's not God/World/Us in separate categories, in a chain like that, or a triangle, but all are one; in communing with Christ we become one with him, in being one with him we're also one with everything else he's in, his creation (pantheism? oy! gotta thrash that out a bit), and it's our job to look after the world, guided by the Spirit within us, allowing it to work rather than fighting against it. (edit - in fact, God's looking after the world through us, or at least those of us who let him rather than thinking we know better and subduing the world to our will rather than submitting ourselves to his) Or something. Don't quote me, this was off the cuff within seconds of reading the question!!!

Hmmm, you know, isn't this really just a matter of your integrating your extraversion with introversion in a symbiotic relationship rather than a contradictory one...? <muffled laugh>

*clips Jennifer round the ear*

Just cos I figured out what I gotta do, doesn't mean I know how to do it or have completed the process yet!

 

[substitute]

Breakthroughs, of course, came when we quit using Te in support of limited Fi-based goals and used it instead to get an overview of the relationship as a whole. We could use Te to get past the impasse of trying to push temporary moral imperatives on each other and instead open up everything for negotiation and analyze how we could incorporate the conflict into the relationship rather than merely get our way. ...

And this is genius, exactly what I was looking for!

 

[cafe]

LOL No, I didn't mean that!! What Kate said as her examples of looking for evidence, was just thinking about your interaction with these people in the last however long, and just look at the facts of what was said and done, who's where and when, and seeing if you can still make of it what you've suspected, without the intangible, intuitive elements to make more of things than they really are.

I'm not sure how this'd work in a romantic context, cos I know romantic love tends to just screw everything around and nobody seems to behave in quite the same way towards this relationship as they do in others because of the immense and almost unique intimacy they entail. But me and Kate weren't talking about those - we were talking about her social anxieties and her fears about making friends and stuff cos she thinks everyone hates her and is talking about her behind her back, or that nobody really likes her and she doesn't fit in and stuff.

Ah, yeah, that's hard. I've decided I can't really trust my perceptions on that a whole lot and figure that I'm a reasonably decent person and a better than average friend, despite my not always making the best impression. If friendships are meant to be and people are worth being friends with, it will work out. If they can't get past my weirdness, then it's just too bad for them. I'm always going to have some background noise of doubt because that is just my nature. I think I combat it more with Fe and Ti than with Se.

 

[RDF]

And this is genius, exactly what I was looking for!

Yay! Thanks!

Like I say, it's a lot easier for me to see this particular interaction between my wife and me because my wife and I are the same personality type. It's like looking in a mirror at times.

The interactions in my first marriage (to an ISTJ) are a lot more opaque even in retrospect. It's tough to pull apart the interactions of completely different dominant and inferior functions. That's the problem with most interpersonal relationships. There are two different sets of shortcomings playing off each other simultaneously.

FL

[Edit:] By the way, I think this was a great idea for a thread. I've been interested in the workings of Inferior functions for a long time and am curious how others experience their Inferior. I thought the description in the OP was great and got a lot of good information on the Inferior Se/i from it. And I was intrigued by Jennifer's description of Inferior Fe.

 

[SolitaryWalker]

I think the case is that not that the secondary function is not capable of dealing with what the first presents, yet rather the secondary is under control of the first.

The Fe, by its own right could find support on the outside for the problems of the Ni, but does not because it follows the orders of the superior function.

As for the ENTP. If you were to tell your Ne story to an INTP, they would be able to make sense of it, or at least show you whats wrong with your imaginary problems. The secondary Ti does not do this because it is ensalved by the Ne.

Much like if an ENFJ visited the INFJ, the INFJ would have no problem getting those feelings to the outside, or at least have them validated whilst the secondary Fe would not be able to pull this off because it has been denied a voice of its own.


I want to hear how an inferior Ti behaves as well as an inferior Ne.

Jennifer's account of inferior Fe was excellent. You vascillate between completely shutting off your personal obligations, to putting forth an unhealthy amount of energy into meeting the F standards of others. If you chose the former, you probably wont be able to carry through with this, so you will go to root B. There you will be inadequate with how you deal with people because you're stuck in your head too far. And hence you go back to trying to isolate yourself...and off we go back again to trying to deal with people..

The most congenial resolution to this would be finding some thorough-going F that would be patient with you for the time being..who somehow would give you confidence in your ability to handle people...that way you could move out to the bigger scene and if you are successful there..you will slowly begin to put more weight on the Ne and slowly regain your balance...

Or another way...the one that I took would be to cultivate your Ne from within the inside...by forcing your mind to deal with the alogical...reading a lot of literature and observing arts should do the trick nearly every time..you'd automatically become more comfortable when dealing with people after that...

The first way isnt very reliable because you probably wont be understood at the time since you're stuck into thinking so much and you need F to make yourself available on the emotional level...most will not be able to help you there...with an exception of certain INFPs...but that will be an extremely tedious and painful endeavor and you will run an exceedingly high risk of making an emotional attachment which may force you to reject the relationship altogether later on...

So the most healthy way is the second and better fitting to an INTP as we value autonomy and persevering through our internal ventures only on our own...