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[Te] Being trolled by inferior function (Te). Could anybody help?

Standuble

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Hello, greetings, welcome. I did not know whether this is the correct place to post this or the most effective place to post it.

Basically I am being trolled to shit by my inferior function. I am not just talking about greater misanthropy or being ever more hyper-critical of other's failings but a full domination of my life (its there waving its bits about in every endeavour and thought.) It is an issue plugged into many different areas of myself so I don't know whether I can articulate the entirety of its nature but alas I shall try.

I only recently came around to the idea that Fi and Te were two sides of the same coin. However in recent years the coin is being tossed more and more and it is making me dizzy: I consciously perceive the intervention of Te ideas in my daily life but for the most part they are outside and removed from my Fi value system. This means I face unnecessary conflict on a) how to divert my energy b) how to rectify situations c) what I should aim for in life etc. I find myself wanting both but there is no way to have both and I am left adrift, indecisive and often frustrated (the blasted thing forgets to suggest tangible ways of making progressive steps to the particular goal so there is an even bigger need to facepalm.)

I have only just returned from a vacation and when on vacation (and being exposed to business news, stocks/shares etc) it was on full overdrive mode. I wanted to invest in xyz country or do business there (this is despite possessing a persistent sense that the world has a bleak future without the potential for much growth), wanted to buy stocks and shares and on the rare occasion where it reached critical mass establish my own corporation so I could move the entire world (figuratively.) The issue is that this voice is strong however I lack the skills, knowledge and tools if you will to actualise it: I have an inexplicable illiteracy if not outright retardation regarding understanding interest rates, markets, shares and the associated pieces which haven't been remedied despite studying the topics. Yet despite my disability the Te urges me on: it does not urge me to fix something but it wants me to get involved (despite being primitive and crude) and knowing that I risk a sense of inner death if I proceed.

To add a cherry to the top there is always a sense of uneasiness if not outright weariness and nausea when it comes to these topics. It's been occurring more and more in the last couple of years and it is enticing because if properly utilised it could offer solutions to many issues that have plagued me for a long time (I feel it has tempered my understanding of the world to a degree and made me more tolerant of systems I care little about.) However I would not know the first way to go about cultivating it.

Could anybody help? Could others relate and suggest ways to nurture or nullify it so these troubles could be at least mitigated? Or at least suggest likely ways it could progress so I can make future projections for my mindset? Heh, any feedback could be useful in helping me to rein this loose end in.

Thanks.
 

Tiltyred

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Your Te wants you in the stock market?
 

21%

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What you describe might be Ne seeing possibilities rather than Te? Engaging Te should help focus your attention and make realistic plans to achieve your goals.

I'll give a think about this and share more later :)
 

pinkgraffiti

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What you describe might be Ne seeing possibilities rather than Te? Engaging Te should help focus your attention and make realistic plans to achieve your goals.

I'll give a think about this and share more later :)

lol are you sure you're an INFJ? good call (on functions you theoretically dont even possess) :)

also, [MENTION=5723]Tiltyred[/MENTION] is confusing me, I've always thought of you as an INFJ. this thread is nuts today! lol

i agree with %21 btw.
 
0

011235813

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I have nothing constructive to say, but the OP is hilarious. I actually laughed out loud.

Good luck, being trolled by Te sounds terrible, but oh my god, the mental images, hahahaha.

EDIT: I guess I've fantasized about opening up my own business(es) a few times but I usually find that pretty easy to forget. If I really really wanted to do it though, I have several business-minded friends who could at least point me in the right direction. I suggest you acquire some before you do anything harebrained.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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You may be interested to know that Jung does not actually come out in favor of "developing your inferior function". The inferior function, in Jung's view, has a way of canceling out dominant function and producing indecision.

Jung seems to be advising, instead, to work at what you're good at. If you can't use your dominant function to solve an issue to your satisfaction, your auxiliary function is probably the most likely to help you out, because you have can have some conscious control over it without negating your dominant function.

I was fascinated when I read this, because this is contrary to what the common understanding of what inferior and tertiary functions should play in our lives.

Jung's advice seems to make me happier.

Inferior Te in INFP's... could that come out in a mom telling her kid to clean his room when her own personal space is a mess? Or lamenting how a son might always "wait at the last minute" to pack before leaving on a trip, despite the fact that he is ready when the supposed departure date arrives and is still waiting for the mom to finish things?

These questions are purely academic, of course, and in no way reflect any real-life examples I might be acquainted with.
 

Tiltyred

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lol are you sure you're an INFJ? good call (on functions you theoretically dont even possess) :)

also, [MENTION=5723]Tiltyred[/MENTION] is confusing me, I've always thought of you as an INFJ. this thread is nuts today! lol

i agree with %21 btw.

Hey, Pink ... I always thought of myself as one, too, but it turns out I'm not. Ain't that a kick in the head?
 

Tiltyred

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lol are you sure you're an INFJ? good call (on functions you theoretically dont even possess) :)

also, [MENTION=5723]Tiltyred[/MENTION] is confusing me, I've always thought of you as an INFJ. this thread is nuts today! lol

i agree with %21 btw.

Hey, Pink ... I always thought of myself as one, too, but it turns out I'm not. Ain't that a kick in the head?
 

pinkgraffiti

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Inferior Te in INFP's... could that come out in a mom telling her kid to clean his room when her own personal space is a mess? Or lamenting how a son might always "wait at the last minute" to pack before leaving on a trip, despite the fact that he is ready when the supposed departure date arrives and is still waiting for the mom to finish things?

lol that sounds a lot like me, and Te is only my 3rd order.
i also agree with the jung thing, i read a really nice thing once explaining how you have to develop your 1st and 2nd because no-one can be good at everything and you have to feel good with your ego and develop what you're good at blah blah blah but i forgot what that was. and i guess you got it from the source so...also, you know what...maybe the 4th function is not good to put a lot of effort into but also not to neglect completely....i think it turns out best if you see it as part of the dominant function..like the other side of the coin....since i accepted that my Si is the balance to my Ne, i can accept better than i can experience anxiety, that i cant travel forever and need to feel safe and at home some of the time, etc shit like that.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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maybe the 4th function is not good to put a lot of effort into but also not to neglect completely....i think it turns out best if you see it as part of the dominant function.

Possibly. I find that I have been able to overcome my shyness somewhat by just treating people's actions and reactions as different than other forms of data. It's better to treat them as ephemeral fuzzy vibrations, rather than discrete "objects" that exist as part of some pattern that can be predicted. People are not always going to verbalize what they are feeling. They can say one thing, and feel the exact opposite inside, so my understanding of a person's emotional is going to lack a certain precision. The reactions of others are not necessarily "truths'" to internalize, but merely individual reactions, and are in some cases only worth paying attention to the extent that the other person's opinion has an impact upon my life. (I don't really think about it so robotically... my explanation makes it sound more Vulcan than it actually is.)

Essentially, as you can see above, what I've done is taken Fe stuff, but applied Ti to it that rather than dismissing all of it as boring stuff for "sheep" that I don't need to concern myself with. That only has the effect of having me concern myself with it a lot.

And yes, Jung pretty much said exactly that about the first and second function. Otherwise you turn into joyless lump. You have to be good at being you, you don't want to try and cancel you out.
 

Coriolis

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You may be interested to know that Jung does not actually come out in favor of "developing your inferior function". The inferior function, in Jung's view, has a way of canceling out dominant function and producing indecision.

Jung seems to be advising, instead, to work at what you're good at. If you can't use your dominant function to solve an issue to your satisfaction, your auxiliary function is probably the most likely to help you out, because you have can have some conscious control over it without negating your dominant function.
Developing all functions seems likely to produce a jack of all trades, master of none. I prefer to be master of a few things that I am good at, and work with others to cover the rest.
 

21%

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lol are you sure you're an INFJ? good call (on functions you theoretically dont even possess) :)
I've seen my INFP struggle with Te so much that it's become quite a familiar issue :D


You may be interested to know that Jung does not actually come out in favor of "developing your inferior function". The inferior function, in Jung's view, has a way of canceling out dominant function and producing indecision.

Jung seems to be advising, instead, to work at what you're good at. If you can't use your dominant function to solve an issue to your satisfaction, your auxiliary function is probably the most likely to help you out, because you have can have some conscious control over it without negating your dominant function.
Interesting. I've heard so much about 'developing' your inferior, but I think it's more like 'accepting' your inferior function. We naturally want to reject or dismiss our inferior, and I feel that that is in a way some sort of a mind-block.

For example, I am stressed out by situations that call for Se -- like situations where I have to take in new information from the external world and react instantly. It's just not natural for me. What I find that helps is to 'let it go' a little and stop holding on to the notion that everything has to be understandable in a predictable pattern that makes perfect sense. It's almost like let go and do, don't think. I don't think this is exactly 'developing' my Se, but just learning to trust it a little bit more and listen to what it says from time to time. In the long run I think it will help make my dominant more balanced, as I can trust what external data is telling me.

I think it's what you said about your Fe. In my experience, INTPs are more influenced by Fe than they realize :D I agree it's about not dismissing it and to use it to enhance your dominant function.

As for INFPs -- I think the best way to Te it is to try to make what you want to do as concrete as possible. Set objectives, make lists, break it down into smaller tasks, set a time frame for each task, etc. Once you start doing it it's not as hard as it seems in the beginning. My INFP boyfriend does need a little help in kick-starting it though, because he is usually stuck in Ne possibilities, so it helps when I can come in with questions like "What's the most important thing right now?" "Is it achievable?" "No? Then what will make it achievable?" and stuff like that.
 

SoraMayhem

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As for INFPs -- I think the best way to Te it is to try to make what you want to do as concrete as possible. Set objectives, make lists, break it down into smaller tasks, set a time frame for each task, etc. Once you start doing it it's not as hard as it seems in the beginning.

ha. hahaha. hahahahahahahahha do what now :|
 

Zarathustra

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Hello, greetings, welcome. I did not know whether this is the correct place to post this or the most effective place to post it.

Basically I am being trolled to shit by my inferior function. I am not just talking about greater misanthropy or being ever more hyper-critical of other's failings but a full domination of my life (its there waving its bits about in every endeavour and thought.) It is an issue plugged into many different areas of myself so I don't know whether I can articulate the entirety of its nature but alas I shall try.

I only recently came around to the idea that Fi and Te were two sides of the same coin. However in recent years the coin is being tossed more and more and it is making me dizzy: I consciously perceive the intervention of Te ideas in my daily life but for the most part they are outside nd removed from my Fi value system. This means I face unnecessary conflict on a) how to divert my energy b) how to rectify situations c) what I should aim for in life etc. I find myslf wanting both but there is no way to have both and I am left adrift, indecisive and often frustrated (the blasted thing forgets to suggest tangible ways of making progressive steps to the particular goal so there is an even bigger need to facepalm.)

I have only just returned from a vacation and when on vacation (and being exposed to business news, stocks/shares etc) it was on full overdrive mode. I wanted to invest in xyz country or do business there (this is despite possessing a persistent sense that the world has a bleak future without the potential for much growth), wanted to buy stocks and shares and on the rare occasion where it reached critical mass establish my own corporation so I could move the entire world (figuratively.) The issue is that this voice is strong however I lack the skills, knowledge and tools if you will to actualise it: I have an inexplicable illiteracy if not outright retardation regarding understanding interest rates, markets, shares and the associated pieces which haven't been remedied despite studying the topics. Yet despite my disability the Te urges me on: it does not urge me to fix something but it wants me to get involved (despite being primitive and crude) and knowing that I risk a sense of inner death if I proceed.

To add a cherry to the top there is always a sense of uneasiness if not outright weariness and nausea when it comes to these topics. It's been occurring more and more in the last couple of years and it is enticing because if properly utilised it could offer solutions to many issues that have plagued me for a long time (I feel it has tempered my understanding of the world to a degree and made me more tolerant of systems I care little about.) However I would not know the first way to go about cultivating it.

Could anybody help? Could others relate and suggest ways to nurture or nullify it so these troubles could be at least mitigated? Or at least suggest likely ways it could progress so I can make future projections for my mindset? Heh, any feedback could be useful in helping me to rein this loose end in.

Thanks.

Interesting post.

Ftr, I've been noticing your posts lately, and I find you to be highly intelligent, and yours posts to be intriguing.

We could get into a very long discussion about this, but I'm busy with some other stuff, and I'm posting from my phone.

So how bout: you show me how to be an awesome ESFP, and, in return, I'll show you how to be an awesome ESTJ.



You may be interested to know that Jung does not actually come out in favor of "developing your inferior function". The inferior function, in Jung's view, has a way of canceling out dominant function and producing indecision.

Jung seems to be advising, instead, to work at what you're good at. If you can't use your dominant function to solve an issue to your satisfaction, your auxiliary function is probably the most likely to help you out, because you have can have some conscious control over it without negating your dominant function.

I was fascinated when I read this, because this is contrary to what the common understanding of what inferior and tertiary functions should play in our lives.

Jung's advice seems to make me happier.

Quote? Link? Ti making shit up?
 
G

Ginkgo

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From a more subjective POV, my inferior Te almost always comes about as a borderline conspiratorial sort of reasoning. For instance, it's easy for me to assume that their are causes and effects "out there" that involve peoples' interactions. These interactions may take the form of communication as implicit as casual gestures to explicit and deliberate conspiracies taking place. I use the term "conspiracy" lightly here - it's natural for people to cooperate with each other, and in even the simplest of relationships, there exists a common goal to be achieved by each party.

From an objective POV, I often resist these assumptions by biting back once my reasoning is even remotely confirmed, or once a certain principle has been violated and I can no longer encourage the dynamics of a relationship for the sake of my own well-being.

That said, I've discovered ways that I can somewhat integrate my Te to produce inverse consequences that practically deny my prior assumptions that relate to inferior Te. Usually this involves my recognition that objective limitations constrain the would-be ramifications a "conspiracy" would have on me. I also start to recognize how I can work within rule-sets without feeling like I'm exploiting anything.

A distinction that comes to mind is the difference between aggressiveness and assertiveness - inferior Te (and even inferior Fi) tends to manifest in aggressive behavior, while a more integrated permutation comes out as assertive and truly rational.
 

Amargith

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:wtf: dont we have a Te vs Ti thread already somewhere? And leave Fi out of it, while youre at it. Hows about we get back on topic, mmm?
 

PeaceBaby

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I have only just returned from a vacation and when on vacation (and being exposed to business news, stocks/shares etc) it was on full overdrive mode. I wanted to invest in xyz country or do business there (this is despite possessing a persistent sense that the world has a bleak future without the potential for much growth), wanted to buy stocks and shares and on the rare occasion where it reached critical mass establish my own corporation so I could move the entire world (figuratively.) The issue is that this voice is strong however I lack the skills, knowledge and tools if you will to actualise it: I have an inexplicable illiteracy if not outright retardation regarding understanding interest rates, markets, shares and the associated pieces which haven't been remedied despite studying the topics. Yet despite my disability the Te urges me on: it does not urge me to fix something but it wants me to get involved (despite being primitive and crude) and knowing that I risk a sense of inner death if I proceed.

I relate to what you are sharing. But I agree with [MENTION=6971]21%[/MENTION] - this seems Ne, not Te. Oh the possibilities, the shiny pretty POSSIBILITIES! Every day I have opened a new business in my mind, reworked the entire transit system and overlain the existing highways with monorail, made up new flavours of ice cream, created a line of t-shirts, started a new charity dedicated to XYZ, saved a species of butterfly facing extinction etc.

To say to an INFP though that in order to accomplish all of this you need Te ... it's true and not true. I am a pretty Te-enabled individual, and oh what a task-master she is. Using Te comes at a high price and must be yielded wisely, and I have come out of balance more than one time in my life by (my feeling I needed to) work out of Te and push myself against my more natural strengths oh so hard.

SO, I don't see your ideas as Te ones. What constitutes Te ideas to me are things like, "I should be more organized and I could accomplish this, I shouldn't do this because it is illogical, doing things this way is inefficient, I need to be speak on this ..." you get the idea.

I will soon be publishing my new book, "How to be an INFP and get shit done" so I will send you a copy. ;)



To add a cherry to the top there is always a sense of uneasiness if not outright weariness and nausea when it comes to these topics. It's been occurring more and more in the last couple of years and it is enticing because if properly utilised it could offer solutions to many issues that have plagued me for a long time (I feel it has tempered my understanding of the world to a degree and made me more tolerant of systems I care little about.) However I would not know the first way to go about cultivating it.

Te is the feet on the ground-work. Ne-fueled Te amasses data. Reams of data. Research and you can accomplish anything, but you need to see how it aligns with your Fi values too. For example, maybe you will want to get involved in investments of ethical stocks - you could become quite the expert on such a thing. I guess I see Te as the ass-kick of my life too - it's like, man I gotta get shit done, so bam.

As for the entirety of your post, I do get this and have more thoughts on this: "This means I face unnecessary conflict on a) how to divert my energy b) how to rectify situations c) what I should aim for in life etc. I find myself wanting both but there is no way to have both and I am left adrift, indecisive and often frustrated (the blasted thing forgets to suggest tangible ways of making progressive steps to the particular goal so there is an even bigger need to facepalm.)"

But

I gotta get some work done this morning, so I will come back and try to put something far more tangible and cogent into place.

P.S. can some mods get rid of the massive derail above? Thanks.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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As an apology for helping to derail this thread, let me try to get it back on track.

So far, I have figured out what three of the inferior functions look like.

  • Te: Throwing "You're being a spazz/slob" at people.
  • Fe: Throwing "You're being a jerk/unfair" at people.
  • Se: Throwing "you're out of touch with reality" at people.

The others are a mystery.
 
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