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How Do the Cognitive Functions Feel?

Luminous

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Oct 25, 2017
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10,235
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Iᑎᖴᑭ
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952
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sx/sp
What's it like to be dominant in your dominant function? How does it feel? Or does it elicit feelings? Feel free to also elaborate on the other functions.
 

Pionart

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Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
4,039
MBTI Type
NiFe
(Ni dominant)

It feels like being detached and always searching for something. Some kind of answer, or some kind of activity that will further things along.

For auxiliary Fe, it's like an awareness of people even when no one is around, and trying to mould my behaviour based on a kind of appropriateness.

Ti is like being frequently thrown into "A or B?" type dilemmas and having to choose between them, and also paying attention to the "math" behind things.

Se is an awareness of the environment, and hunger for food or other experiences.


(I notice a pattern in my answers of awareness -> action)
 

Pionart

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Joined
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Messages
4,039
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NiFe
I just hopped over to INFP-mode to see the cognitive functions from the other side.

Fi dominant: the starting place is one's internal state. There is a feeling that one wishes to improve how one feels, and is looking for something that will create or restore a positive feeling. Like Ti, there is a sense of choosing "yes or no" to something, but the focus is more on a specific choice and whether it resonates, or in what way it resonates (I think it's less linear than Ti and is more colourful). Different options can each be acceptable.

Ne: Ne is like exploring a sea of possibilities. This can be things that are in the environment and directly relevant, or it can occur more in the realm of thought. This experience can kind of overlap with one's external view of the environment, like sight. Rather than choosing from possibilities, with Ne there is a kind of gravitation towards this or that. It overlaps with Se by looking for opportunities for action, but is more uncertain regarding where it's going to go.

Si: this is like keeping track of something you're supposed to remember. Like Ni it involves keeping focus, but it goes by the mindset that you already basically have what it is you need, rather than needing to figure it out. It's about not losing sight of it.

Te: this is about keeping to a plan. Rather than a social navigation, actions are seen as steps in a process. Processes can involve people, or involve conduct, so there is overlap. (And it overlaps because it's like "How do I go about this?")
 

The Cat

Just a Cat who hangs out at the Crossroads
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23,552
What's it like to be dominant in your dominant function? How does it feel? Or does it elicit feelings? Feel free to also elaborate on the other functions.

spock-confused.png

I do not understand the question...
 

RadicalDoubt

Alongside Questionable Clarity
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Messages
1,848
MBTI Type
TiSi
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9w1
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sp/so
My friend just asked me this the other day and I struggled to explain this to him. I guess for me, Ti "feels" like a constant stream of thoughts and a mental "loudness/twisting of things." Semi-constantly "beating the dead horse" in order to categorize and understand, since there's an emptiness or powerlessness if you can't. And if you don't (with at least subjects of focus or interest), there's a weird anticipation as though you should. Kind of like a disorganized desk that seems order-less but you know where everything is somehow in terms of how thoughts and memories are stored and how categories are constructed. Everything, even the tangible, slowly becomes a statistic and averaged over and over again into a "formula" or concept rather than something real you can connect to or orient with in the physical (which maybe be more Ti-Ne than Ti on it's own, but I figured it was worth mentioning)?

Lmk if you wanted something different from this/this doesn't answer your question, I'd be very curious on your perspective as Fi dom btw.
 

Luminous

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spock-confused.png

I do not understand the question...

There are no wrong answers. Is it positive, neutral, negative when you're using any particular functions? It wouldn't be surprising if Se was more unconscious that way... more of a focus on the moment and surroundings rather than your internal state...



It's easier for me to answer for my non doms...
Ne: Can feel exhilarating when I get to use it for creating or playing. Can be horrible and overwhelming if it helps me see the many ways everything is or could go wrong.
Si: Nostalgic pain. Bittersweet. Can make me feel a bit foolish... doing things like not realizing they put one way signs in the aisles at the grocery until I had walked over at least 4 or 5 signs.
Te: Having to use this a lot, especially in a tight schedule can be extremely stressful and anxiety-provoking. Can be overwhelming. Which can make me feel inept and ashamed.

Fi: Sometimes inherent gut reaction - something is good or bad and usually for xyz reason I already know. Sometimes I don't know, then I have to turn it over and around in my mind. It's bothersome not to know or understand, so ruminating can happen. If I'm somewhere or with someone that's a clear and ever-yes, I can let go and just be.
 

lunalum

Super Senior Member
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Messages
2,706
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ZNTP
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7w6
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sp/so
So I'm going to try working my way backward on this one...

Si is complicated. Si feels like an ends to a means. A necessary but annoying counterbalance. It's good when it's just feeding me a sea of past impressions. But then it says pesky things like that I never truly learn from my mistakes or that my current day closely resembles every day before it and then I want to throw it across the room.

Fe is still pretty awkward for me but can be quite fun. It's like I got all these odd fuzzy feelings and not so fuzzy feelings in me and how do I share them with the world? Do I give gifts to everyone? Share a poignant meme? Or it can be about the overall vibe in the room, and how do I keep those bad vibes in check?

Ti is usually chill and focused, but can get overbearing at times. Ti is always there with the questions. Is this consistent? But does that work considering X? Reference this, but don't reference that. Ti will sometimes get frustrating when it compels me towards complete accuracy, the absolutely for sure leakproof solution or framework. The most correct correctness. Am I sure I'm understanding this correctly though? Or wait there's a part of the post I wrote 23 hours ago where I can change a couple of words to make it more clear... better get to it before the opportunity is gone forever. Yeah, I'd love to always be right but it just gets to be too much sometimes so I tend towards tuning it down.

Ne, on the most regular basis, feels like constant expectation. A sort of searching compulsion. Sometimes none of it is that particularly interesting and then a topic grabs me, and then my computer complains to me that it is using up all of its RAM because I opened up 50 tabs in the last hour. Once I sense the potential in something, I can't help but dive in. Functionally speaking, Ne comes and goes in exciting energy spikes. There's a persistent boredom I'm always trying to push away. But sometimes it can go too far and I've just got scattered between so many things that I'm not really mentally engaging in them enough and then I get more bored. That addictive thrill of combination, creation, and ideation is best achieved with a harmony of the functions. The real way to get unstuck is to rely on them all, something I'm continually learning to accept.
 

Saturnal Snowqueen

Solastalgia 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
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FELV
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9w1
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so/sp
Fi

Fi feels like a constant mental evaluation. What's my true calling in life? What do I truly believe, and what makes me, me? It's the blood pumping when one of my values is threatened or when I feel misunderstood. It's moments where I do nothing but sit around and introspect cause my mind is a whirlwind. It isn't the most pleasant dom function actually, it's not easily satisfied.

Ne

Ne is a never ending curiosity waiting to be satisfied. It's the voice in my head telling me to loot that chest when I'm in the middle of a boss fight. It's getting frustrated while making decisions, as all possibilities are appealing. It's generally the function that makes me happiest cause of its open minded attitude, but it also can get really weird. Like my Ne gets excited about the future, but then I start thinking about weird possibilities. Will all movies and books become sequels? Will we become brains uploaded to a computer and be forced into immortality? Or will we go in the recycling bin to die and be able to be restored if we wanted? What even...

Si

They say Si is a comfort function for INFPs, and it is sometimes. I feel ecstatic when I see a show I haven't seen in years pop up on Netflix, or when I see a cheesy post I made online when I was 13. At the same time, it also makes me feel numb. Since the lockdown began, I've found myself falling into routine more and more. It's like my brain isn't stimulated enough, so I have trouble coming up with things to do and it's like "Eh, might as well rewatch ____". Is this the Fi-Si loop? From a socionics standpoint it's more comforting, probably because that's what socionics Si is about. It's appreciating aesthetics, nature, the finer things in life. But Si overall feels limiting, a tug telling you to stick in the past when there's no real benefits.

Te

Not many feelings to this one. I guess there is a spark of inspiration, as I become more commanding when I'm really passionate about something. I think it's showing when I try to type people too, so I feel somewhat smart. But mostly it's feeling awkward from lack of assertiveness and organization and being called out for it.
 

RadicalDoubt

Alongside Questionable Clarity
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1,848
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TiSi
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9w1
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sp/so
My friend just asked me this the other day and I struggled to explain this to him. I guess for me, Ti "feels" like a constant stream of thoughts and a mental "loudness/twisting of things." Semi-constantly "beating the dead horse" in order to categorize and understand, since there's an emptiness or powerlessness if you can't. And if you don't (with at least subjects of focus or interest), there's a weird anticipation as though you should. Kind of like a disorganized desk that seems order-less but you know where everything is somehow in terms of how thoughts and memories are stored and how categories are constructed. Everything, even the tangible, slowly becomes a statistic and averaged over and over again into a "formula" or concept rather than something real you can connect to or orient with in the physical (which maybe be more Ti-Ne than Ti on it's own, but I figured it was worth mentioning)?

Lmk if you wanted something different from this/this doesn't answer your question, I'd be very curious on your perspective as Fi dom btw.

I forgot my other functions, sorry for the double post I guess?

Ne:
Most recently negative, but typically positive and safe. Sort of acts as a "net function" that catches me when my Ti slips. If I'm freaking out about my "lack" of technical knowledge, I always have Ne to fall back on because it gets the general picture and I can twist it around and look at it from 7 different angles in order to work on my feet. Ne is non-static, constantly looking at everything and seeing a thousand different ways it/I can progress. Twisting, scattered, I was about to use the desk metaphor twice because that's really what it is in aux; An organized chaos. When trapped it's a longing, seeing the possibilities and knowing they're out of my reach. See the 7-billion possibilities and continuously rolling one.

Si:
Depending on the context, either completely exhausting or comical and pretentious. The droning mind blur of doing something over and over again and the zoning out that comes with the repetition. Predictive, there it goes, exactly like I thought it would go because the system and the experience told me so. Like walking through mud or blinding mist or accidentally sticking your head in front of a foghorn it's so incredibly dulling, especially when any form of resentment or sentiment or nostalgia is involved. Clinging and sticky to what "works" and comfort. But also it's really fun to use comedically. Look at this overblown long essay I wrote with every single goddamn detail. Useless trivia about the things I like, playfully joking the specifics since it pisses people off. That reflexive "It happened at 1:36 pm" rather than like.. Around 1:30 or 1:35 sort of thing.

Fe
Insecure. The knowing the watching, the adaptation. Uncontrolled, bursting out the seams in the form of erratic expression. Awwwkkwwarrddd. The eyes in the back of my head watching, expecting, looking for what to do, the "right thing." What's the vibe, what's a vibe, am I breaking the vibe, are they breaking the vibe? Like the overtly smiley, yet harsh school teacher who wants you to do it right, follow the cues, a form fit behavior that's unnatural but doesn't please or displease anyone, a manipulative force aiming to please and knowing how to get my way. Guilt and shame inducing, but also where I go when I fall into any not so great coping mechanism.
 

evilrubberduckie

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Jul 16, 2015
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836
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ENTP
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7w8
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sx/so
As an ENTP its natural to feel your Ne to be bubbling on the surface at a constant basis. Everything reminds you of something, and thinking in that sort of pattern feels as natural as breathing.

When I was younger, I definitely put more emphases on my second function Ti then Fe, which is my third. Because I didn't really know myself, I thought that my Ti function was more important. Rationalizing inwardly and connecting the dots of my ideas seemed more important then the perception of the ideas I had gave to others. My Fe was only developed as a tool to rope others into my Ne-ti quirky ideas.

As I grow older, I find myself in a pickle. My inability to maintain relationships and my fleeting but friendly method is quite lonely. So I've been putting a lot of Emphasis on my third function, Fe To better understand the people around me, and to genuinely care for them, rather than just skimming the surface of their personalities, and then using my Crazy spot on Ne to read them like a book.

It's hard tho, because I'm usually proven correct on why a friends behavior is like so, and there aren't any real surprises. Making new friends is such an upkeep, I would much rather skip the "hi, how are you" stage and just get comfortable ASAP. But most MBTI types like to keep themselves guarded. It takes a lot of energy from me to sail the lazy river, when all I wanna do it ride the waves. But if I love you, and if your important to me, any body of water is worth being on as long as it's always with that said person I've developed a comfort in.
 

lunalum

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(Ni dominant)

It feels like being detached and always searching for something. Some kind of answer, or some kind of activity that will further things along.

For auxiliary Fe, it's like an awareness of people even when no one is around, and trying to mould my behaviour based on a kind of appropriateness.

Ti is like being frequently thrown into "A or B?" type dilemmas and having to choose between them, and also paying attention to the "math" behind things.

Se is an awareness of the environment, and hunger for food or other experiences.


(I notice a pattern in my answers of awareness -> action)


I just had to bring up how I found we both described our respective intuitive experience as a constant searching. Even with the million years of studying cognitive functions, it is still hard for me to describe Ni accurately without reference, and my attempts to emulate it can end up almost comically off. But it helps to see it as simply the other side of a general intuitive searching process, where Ni is more looking for an answer and Ne is more looking for some springy enough jump-off point or for that "gravitation" you mentioned to take hold. And there is a spectrum of general intuition between them.

Another thing is the Ti descriptions. I saw that your tert. Ti experience is kind of a binary reasoning type thing, whereas the Ti-dom from RadicalDoubt has this constant nuanced reasoning experience going on. And then mine is kind of similar to this one but not as intense and pervasive. The functions can take on a pretty different look depending on the role they are in.
 

Pionart

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NiFe
Functionally speaking, Ne comes and goes in exciting energy spikes. .

I observed this with my own Ne. I wasn't sure if it was as a result of it being the 5th function for me, or if Ne actually did go through a kind of phase-like energy of on-vs-off.

--

Another thing with Ni is that the searching is linked to a personal timeline. It's easy for me to reference where I've been at over the past few years, though I would have a hard time remembering specific things that happened. I just have the general themes.

I think for Ne, it is more about the progression of the events around you, rather than your personal progression, correct?
 

narcissistic

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Jul 7, 2016
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ESTJ
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6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
What's it like to be dominant in your dominant function? How does it feel? Or does it elicit feelings? Feel free to also elaborate on the other functions.
Feels like not much.
 

Skimt

Member
Joined
May 24, 2020
Messages
136
INTJ

When I start on a new project from scratch I get "in the zone" which is a mixture of relaxation and enjoyment. My hobby and job (systems engineer) is one and the same so I can keep myself busy from morning til night. The games I like the most give me the same pleasure, like building games, where I can take my time to figure out where everything should go every step of the way, to make everything easy to read and understand, execute optimally with the least amount of hiccups, so that I can look back on it with a bit of pride and be able to explain to others the hows and whys. It's soothing, to not just work towards something that should flow, but to look at something that flows.
 

OceanLight

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Jun 8, 2020
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2
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ISFP
Enneagram
4w5
IntrovertedFeeling dominant -

- Always a focus on your own feelings, how you feel as opposed to how someone else feels
- Paradosically, also more sensitive to other people's feelings
- Constantly reflecting, analysing, contemplating
- Very self-conscious and feeling a need to withdraw a lot of the time
- Living in owns own world, a sense of derived feeling or imagined feeling
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2019
Messages
775
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INTJ
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-
I feel different with people who likes to reason or asking question that begins with why. I would identify them what Jung call the rational type, the type who has rational function at their primary function, like that I lived with My mum (ESFJ), Dad (ENTJ), Sister (ISTP). I don't habitually do so. I raise the question that i believe emerge from my feeling Why do they like to ask why and I don't?
 
Joined
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-
I also feel different with people who often express themselves in If-then statement in their speech.
 

Dreamer

Potential is My Addiction
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Jul 26, 2015
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4,539
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ENFP
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794
The best way to describe my reality, or how I see reality, is through analogy, which in itself, is a good analogy of my perspective haha. So, I like to describe what I “feel” of my world view, is akin to searching for blackholes in the universe. It’s impossible to see the blackhole directly, so instead, you search for its signatures, it’s effects on surrounding objects, on the light surrounding it, being bent and pulled in by its forces. What I thought to be reality growing up, is in fact, those residual effects of reality itself. In other words, I’m perceiving reality through a lens of relational values. Everything carries meaning to me, not in of itself, but in how it relates and interacts with entities around it. This is applied to language for me as well, and explains why words can take on completely new meanings in one context to the next. That can sometimes create confusion if people I’m conversing with don’t also see this relational value and they perceive said verbiage to mean something else.

All in all, I tend to be a very wordy individual in large part because I see meaning intrinsically tied specific to its context. If the context isn’t provided, I worry the other person may not understand what I am trying to convey.

Side note, I hardly see this as anything unique to me and feel everyone understands the world in this way, but to the degree I detach assumed meanings to things, is where I might differ from others.
 

Maou

Mythos
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sx/sp
I can only really feel functions in pairs, not by themselves. I feel like my Ti-Ne-Si all work together like cogs in a clock to present the most accurate time.

When I think about something new for example, I see a myriad of similar things I've encountered in the past, and quickly point out and analyze the new aspects of said thing first. Then once I know what it is, I can see a myriad of uses for the new piece of information. This is more of a top down approach to save time, but I can also think about things from the bottom up approach. I usually do this with more complex information.
 
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