[MBTI General] NFs and truth

[Chiharu]

I have sometimes noticed this tendency of INFJ, to reject a logical argument if it doesn't suit them.

INFP's seem more prone to hide from a truth they dislike, even to view that fact or argument as threatening.

I'm an ENFP, and for me at least, I'm pretty quick to recognize the truth in another argument, but I'll argue my side to the very end, or at least until you're so annoyed that I've got you convinced I thought the other way the whole time. I don't do this to be sneaky, I just hate feeling/looking idiotic. Plus, I'll play devil's advocate if I'm bored or don't care all that much about the subject matter, and I even do this unconsciously, if that makes sense, so sometimes I don't even know what I was arguing. (I'm childish and don't like to lose, which probably explains half the trouble)

I've never been good at understanding ENFJ's, so I'm not going to comment on them.

However, I don't think this avoidance of truth is characteristic of NF's by any means. NT's just stop listening to arguments they don't want to hear, SP's just ignore pretty much everything they don't like, and SJ's will just repeat some orthodox mantra or a simple argument until the threatening argument disappears (or the non-SJ walks away to go bash their head against a wall). Humans in general aren't great with unpleasant truths. It's recognizing our own biases and tendencies that's important.

 

[Lauren]

I don't think I'm that detached from my senses. Everyone lives on the same planet, with the same basic bodily functions to "interface" with it.. If you don't, you should call up your doctor and check that out. It doesn't sound good. And there's an element of Ne that's very much tied to the present, external circumstances. It's called extroverted intuition for a reason. Fi and Ti both have access to it. Fi isn't any less in touch with truth or more presumptuous. It places different kinds of importance and value on information, but it doesn't mean it's out of touch with information itself.

Extraverted iNtuiting involves noticing hidden meanings and interpreting them, often entertaining a wealth of possible interpretations from just one idea or interpreting what someone’s behavior really means. It also involves seeing things “as if,” with various possible representations of reality. Using this process, we can juggle many different ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and meanings in our mind at once with the possibility that they are all true. This is like weaving themes and threads together. We don’t know the weave until a thought thread appears or is drawn out in the interaction of thoughts, often brought in from other contexts. Thus a strategy or concept often emerges from the here-and-now interactions, not appearing as a whole beforehand.

This is exactly how I feel as well. Ne is a function that poets naturally love and use. I'm comfortable with contradiction and will come to feel there is a certain truth to something once I've looked at all sides of a situation. It's often the thing that's brought in from other contexts that reveals suddenly the truth of a situation. I so agree about Ne being in the real world: absolutely. I know I live there.