[Jungian Cognitive Functions] In feelers: Ti competition vs Te combativeness?

[sculpting]

For me, an ENFP, I avoid competition except against myself. As soon I see a game arising I drop all interest and let the other person win. I want to post this in two places to get the thinker and feeler perspective.

If I may quote myself:

I think Ti plays competitive games but Te wages horrific battles. To really hurt someone I would have to revert to using 100% Te. I would destroy them, their friends, myself, and the universe as we know it. To do this I would first have to sever all Fi binds to them, so I did not feel their reflected pain.

This is why enfps make the best terrorists. It is why I endlessly forgive and try to love others no matter what. My internal dragon is not a beautiful thing so I quell it as soon as it peeks out. We enfps do this very naturally as Fi can see the horrific consequences of letting Te run free. As an enfp we are programmed to understand how to destroy others emotionally but at the cost of our own destruction.

It seems to me that Ti users may be best described as competitive while Te users are better described as combative?

I know EXTPs and ISTPs are very, very competitive.

Marmalade resonated with my quote above-does it sound familiar to other enfps?

Also do INFJs sometimes feel a sense of Ti competition at times?

thanks!

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

Every instance of competition I have observed is a game of perception. Whatever skills a person possesses is fixed in a given moment regardless of whether they encounter someone who possesses more or less. The internal ego desire to be proven "right" or to demonstrate a superior skill is a play of perception. Personal ego desires a certain outcome regardless of what is occurring in reality. If I encounter someone with lesser skill, this does not mean my intrinsic skill is any more than it ever was. This only creates the illusion of superiority. I could also encounter someone with greater skill and its accompanying label of my own skill as inferior.

No matter what the skill level of an individual there are those who possess greater and those who possess lesser skill in some form of measurement and at some given moment in time. The social game of competition is a game mostly of chance - whomever you happened to encounter today. While it is true that there are ways of measuring skill against a sample size that is statistically large enough to show a meaningful estimate of that skill, still the ego experience in a personal exchange is not relevant in measuring anything.

One must indulge personal ego to compete, and ego by its nature is at the opposite end of the spectrum from objective measurement. This is true by any accepted definitions of those two terms.

Regarding the comparison of Ti and Te, if Te is manifested outwardly more, then the style of competition might seem more combative.

 

[neptunesnet]

I think for the INFP we tap into our Fi to feel the intense hurt and suffering that would allow Te to take over and kill, kill, kill!!!

I think we avoid the Te takeover as much as we possible can (it's truly the last resort) because once we dive into the fiery pits of Tedom it's difficult to climb back out. Not to mention how exhausting it is to use the function in the first place and how volatile it is for us. We would rather not engage than bust out our inferior. However when we do, Watch Out!

@the Original Question: I've seen this in ENFPs. I'd even call you guys the more aggressive of the NFPs...? I think the thread title is a good way of describing the Te and Ti in Feelers (and Thinkers too actually) is usually expressed.

I have never understood the casual competitiveness of my TP friends. They need to be challenged or verbally quipped about eighty times a day to feel satisfied. I don't get it. Occasionally we partake in witty banter that can to an outsider be taken competitively, but nothing too ego damaging, and it's taken seriously. They compete about the stupidest stuff sometimes (*seeth* & alliteration). On the other hand, we Te users aren't any better. We start verbal fights about things they find dumb and unnecessary, and we like to drive a point home until we know we've won! Very soon, the song and dance of misguided Te and Ti turns into a whopping cycle of pettiness. And no. Of course, I'm not speaking from experience .

Admittedly, Te combativeness can look a lot like Ti competitiveness (and vice versa), and in either case both are still quite annoying. The best plan of action I've seen for FJs and FPs is that they learn to use their Te and Ti effectively and channel it in a constructive way. Thus, when a nerve is hit or their dom/aux (Fe and Fi) reacts strongly to something, they don't become insane and use their inferior/tertiary to their detriment instead of their advantage.

Hope that was useful.