Thanks for responding!
Feeling and Thinking are often considered to be two sides of the same coin- you have both cognitive functions but there is one you subconsciously prefer over the other.
Yes, but if the thinking functions are defined as being *the* reasoning faculties, then individuals who have a preference for feeling are at a natural disadvantage when doing logical reasoning because this is not their subconsciously preferred function. Of course, one could argue that preference does not indicate capability, but if this is the case then I don't see how anyone could ever determine their type (for if we don't measure preference on ability level or outward behavior, then what is it that we are using as a determinant?)
It has not been my experience that NF's (or SF's for that matter) are any less capable of using reasoning. Nor do I think it has been yours.
A misconception is that NF's don't value logic- they do- especially intelligent ones.
This leads me to believe that either 1) feeling and thinking functions do not operate discreetly from one another, and it is therefore impossible to determine where one ends and the other begins, undermining the basis for the dichotomy, or 2) the reasoning faculty is not linked to the thinking functions, and is something more basic to cognition that is present to an equal degree in all individuals, therefore making the T/F distinction irrelevant to the issue of how capable one is of reasoning logically.
Or it is true that thinking dominant types are more naturally capable at reasoning, and that if a feeling type wanted to develop this side of their cognition, they would have to ultimately work harder at it because they are at a natural disadvantage.
All of this applies the other way with thinking dominant types and the feeling function as well.
I think what I'm having a problem with is the definition of the terms, and the ones all over the internet seem to only compound the problem. I think I'm going to get another MBTI book since the terms seem to have different meanings from the original Jung ones.