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[Te] Can Te be wrong?

freeeekyyy

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Te is basically like a computer. It can be wrong, but if it is wrong, it's because it's been fed bad data.
 

INTPness

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Can Te be wrong?

Nope. It's spot-on every single time. I ran a computer program and found ZERO Te "wrongs" in a 10 billion trial simulation. If you ever find yourself in an argument with a Te user, just admit you are wrong and politely do what they said.

In all seriousness, any function can be wrong. Te and Ti included. I've been "sure" of myself before and have later come to find out that I was wrong.

Where I've noticed Te users being wrong (this is just my experience) is when they haven't taken the time to think things through. They sometimes will dive into something and, as a Ti user, I'll be thinking to myself, "Wait! There are other options here. Better options!"

But, that's where Te and Ti differ. I have sometimes been *right* in these situations and been able to show the Te user that there in fact was a better option. But, sometimes, Ti makes the mistake of being too deliberate (analyzing too much). Case in point: I told a Te user that there were better options recently. He disagreed. Determined to show him that there were indeed better ways, I spent a good amount of time researching and coming up with a *better* way. When I went to show him my *better* way, he was already done with the task and had moved on to something else. In other words, by diving right in, Te tends to be more productive.

Ti might have a higher rate of accuracy, but it sometimes takes so much time to find that accuracy, that the Te user ends up working cirlces around the Ti user. I see tremendous value in both functions. I wouldn't want to give up my Ti, but sometimes when I see the Te user on Phase 3 of a project, while I'm still analyzing Phase 1, I get jealous.

To make a huge generalization: If you want to pump out 10,000 high quality widgets and have them in stores by next Monday morning, Te is well suited for the job. It can multi-task, it can juggle different responsibilities, and wear different hats, yet still focus on high quality.

If you want just 1 very unique, original, near-perfect project/idea/item, then Ti is well suited. It focuses on 1 thing with great concentration and focuses on mistake-free precision. Very methodical.
 

2XtremeENFP

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sorry if this is an immature question, but what makes Ti so much slower to use than Te?
 

CzeCze

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I've just learned about cognitive functions and this is the definition of the "Te" function:

Ordering; organizing for efficiency; systematzing; aplying logic; structuring; checking for consequences; monitoring for standards or specifications being met; setting boundaries, guidelines, and parameters, deciding if something isworking or not.

So if Te is systematic and automatically adjusts with it's own checks and balances, can it be wrong? What would cause the Te function to make mistakes?

Any mode or way of thinking can be wrong. You can have a great methodology but get the wrong results. Anything interpretive and left to the brain of a person can be 'wrong' once in a while.
 

INTPness

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sorry if this is an immature question, but what makes Ti so much slower to use than Te?

No, it's a good question. Ti is very reflective. Because it wants to be so precise, so accurate, it wants to mull things over, weigh the pro's and the con's, almost turn things into a philosophical debate (that's at the extreme, of course). It doesn't just want to know what the best method of doing something is; it wants to know "why" it's the best method. What are all the possibilities and then let's break down each possibility to see which one is best. When people say to me, "Why are you doing it that way? Haven't you thought about X, Y, and Z?" The answer is almost always, "Yes. I've thought a lot about X, Y, and Z. Like when I went home from work yesterday, and researched X, Y, and Z for 2 hours online and then read 50 pages of a book on X, and then laid in bed for 2 more hours pondering it some more. So, yes, I have definitely thought about it in a lot of detail."

I have read that Te thinks things through as it speaks. As an extroverted function, when the Te user is communicating with people, the communication is helping them to figure things out. I know an ESTJ, for example, who will say stuff like, "OK, let's go over here and take this apart, then we will go over there and fix that other thing. Once we do that, then we'll be able to fix the other thing. Oh wait, that won't work. Maybe we should do this first...." He is figuring it out by talking through it.

Ti isn't like that. I do my best thinking when other people aren't around. Having to explain myself can sometimes be a distraction. I need a clear mind, without much noise, without much talking. If there's a lot of noise and talking, Ti doesn't work as well for me. I remember one job I had, I couldn't wait to go home because it was so noisy. I would think, "Now I can finally go home and do some real thinking!

If you're ENFP, it might help to think about the differences between Ne and Fi. Ne, being an extroverted function, just speaks its mind freely. It doesn't have much of a filter. It just blurts some things out there. Fi, on the other hand, is more of an internal, "keep it to myself" function. It needs time to sort things out. You have to be patient with it. Like if you experienced something painful or hurtful, you might want some time alone to sort through Fi. That's how Ti is. It *can be* fast - like witty remarks and stuff like that. But, if it's something complex that has a lot of variables, it doesn't want to go fast. It wants to go at it's own speed so that it has time to learn, to weigh the pro's and con's, and to "really get it right". It's more concerned with accuracy, even if it takes several months. Ti hates to move forward if it knows that it might be wrong. It only feels comfortable moving forward if it *knows* that it's right - and sometimes that takes a long time.
 

2XtremeENFP

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Wow, INTPness, I totally get it, i've really been trying to figure out Te vs Ti (at times, I think I could use Ti more than Te) and that has got to be one of the best explanations I have heard. Thanks so much. Especially comparing it to my Ne & Fi functions. Wooo!
 
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