The advantage of Fi

[Little Linguist]

It means they know what they want, and will probably have less competition in getting what they want because of the fact that most people aren't seeking it.

^^^^ This. Combine this with Te, and you can actually know what you want, have less competition, and actually get shit done. Which means, while other people are wondering if it's such a great idea doing something new, or going against the norm, or doing something that does not fit the system, or doing something that requires work, and blah blah blah, the Fi dom/aux with developed Te says:

1. I want this.
2. I can do this in that way.
3. Let's do this shit.

And they are on step 3 while everyone else is still trying to figure out 1.

 

[VagrantFarce]

Dillon: Do you have any faith, sister?
Ripley: Not much.
Dillon: Well, we've got a lot of faith here. Enough even for you.
Ripley: I thought women weren't allowed.
Dillon: Well, we've never had any before. But we tolerate anybody. Even the intolerable.

 

[speculative]

the Fi dom/aux with developed Te says:

1. I want this.
2. I can do this in that way.
3. Let's do this shit.

And they are on step 3 while everyone else is still trying to figure out 1.

I like this analysis. I don't think this is necessarily the main/only angle, but the one that feels "most true" to me. When I am at my most effective, this resembles how I operate...

 

[wolfy]

... the Fi dom/aux with developed Te says:

1. I want this.
2. I can do this in that way.
3. Let's do this shit.

And they are on step 3 while everyone else is still trying to figure out 1.

Yeah, I agree with this. Even if you don't buy into the cognitive function thing it's easy to see how people who identify with Fi dom types could use the skills associated with Te.

 

[The Outsider]

I would imagine that Fi-doms are much much tougher and more resilient than people commonly suppose. It comes with instinctively being able to regulate emotional energy flows. Other types may not be such slaves to their emotions/values, but life eventually throws up emotional challenges to even the most stolid TJ-types, and when that happens those types often just fall to pieces.

I agree with this.

 

[PeaceBaby]

1. I want this.
2. I can do this in that way.
3. Let's do this shit.

And they are on step 3 while everyone else is still trying to figure out 1.

Yes, this. This is my thought process, and how I get myself started on doing what's in front of me. Slightly modified below:

1. I want this / this needs to get done.
2. How are the best ways to accomplish this goal or task? Then choose a solution: I can do this in that way.
3. Then - let's do this thing! You start at the beginning and get 'er done!

 

[compulsiverambler]

I think it gives you extra strength in identifying other people's feelings and motivations, even their personalities. Fe makes you WANT to do that, and better at acting on that information (I've always been fairly weak at that part, at least while in the moment), while Fi forces it on you because being acutely aware of your own feelings, you can't help but home in on vicariously experienced things in the same way.

I do very well at 'spot the liar' and 'identify the emotional expression' tests, and even one 'describe this real person's personality from a photo' experiment shown on TV, lol.

 

[speculative]

Can Fi in oneself resonate with Fi in another, or would that be Fe?

 

[simulatedworld]

Can Fi in oneself resonate with Fi in another, or would that be Fe?

Yes, absolutely. One person's Fi may agree completely with the ethics of another person's Fi, or they may disagree. Using the same function doesn't guarantee agreement or disagreement on any particular topic--it just means you approach most topics with a similar mindset.

It would only be Fe if the source of the moral belief is some external community standard instead of a private internal one. Two people's private internal ethical values may agree (both Fi), or they may not. It just depends on the situation.

In other cases, your Fi might agree with someone else's Fe because your internal value system lines up with their group-oriented one on that particular issue--picking out functions is not a question of agreeing on specific topics; it's just a question of where the source of validation for that value system comes from.

 

[Southern Kross]

I'm trying to think of the actual use of having a Fi around that doesn't sound bullshit-y. I have to acknowledge, Fi is not the most practical of functions.

So I considered the definitions of it. Here's one:

Valuing; considering importance and worth; reviewing for incongruity; evaluating something based on the truths on which it is based; clarifying values to achieve accord; deciding if something is of significance and worth standing up for.

I think that Fi is the very essence of humanity. Its the thing that seperates humans from the animals - and we all, of course, have at least a little of it in us. When you look at the other functions, even animals possess most, if not all, of them at a basic level. Even a monkey can reason. But look at what anthopologists call the 'great leap forward' (ie. the time in which humans distinguished themselves from the apes). Among the characteristics that they consider evidence of human behaviour are the appearance of jewellery, cave paintings, games, music and burial of the dead. These are essentially about culture: organized society, defining values and what matters, using symbols and creating meaning, deciding what represents them etc. How Fi is that?

Maybe Fi-dominant users are just there to remind people of their humanity; to be the torchbearers for art, culture, morality, and the fundamentals of social interaction. I doubt that there's much we Fi users can get out of that in the practical sense, but if what I say has some truth, its a special thing to be in itself. And hey, if you're a Fi dominant, you could probably appreciate that

 

[simulatedworld]

I'm trying to think of the actual use of having a Fi around that doesn't sound bullshit-y. I have to acknowledge, Fi is not the most practical of functions.

So I considered the definitions of it. Here's one:



I think that Fi is the very essence of humanity. Its the thing that seperates humans from the animals - and we all, of course, have at least a little of it in us. When you look at the other functions, even animals possess most, if not all, of them at a basic level. Even a monkey can reason. But look at what anthopologists call the 'great leap forward' (ie. the time in which humans distinguished themselves from the apes). Among the characteristics that they consider evidence of human behaviour are the appearance of jewellery, cave paintings, games, music and burial of the dead. These are essentially about culture: organized society, defining values and what matters, using symbols and creating meaning, deciding what represents them etc. How Fi is that?

Maybe Fi-dominant users are just there to remind people of their humanity; to be the torchbearers for art, culture, morality, and the fundamentals of social interaction. I doubt that there's much we Fi users can get out of that in the practical sense, but if what I say has some truth, its a special thing to be in itself. And hey, if you're a Fi dominant, you could probably appreciate that

Uhhh, somehow I doubt that non-human animals are exercising any form of intuition (especially not Ni.)

I would imagine they operate almost entirely on primitive Se...that is the most "animalistic" of the functions, if we had to choose one.

Also instincts will lead some community-oriented animals to exercising some sort of quasi-Fe, but that's about as far as animal parallels in cognitive functions go.

 

[Lily Bart]

My teenage daughter (ENFP) always seems so calm on the surface and I was very surprised when I found some of her writing -- so intensely emotional (and frankly, quite good). Anyway, my husband and I have noticed that when she really messes up and we give her a talking to -- to which she inevitably argues intensely that she's right and knows what she's doing -- she'll go away and think about it and somehow she manages to completely realign the internal paradigm from which she's been operating, so that you'd almost think the misbehavior had never been an issue because she could never have done something like that because it just isn't a part of her personality. I think Fi allows her to absorb completely and in great detail the values of people that she loves and make them so much a part of her personal set of values that you'd never know things had been otherwise. Of course, the flip side of this has always been a knee-jerk rebellious streak that I think is highly defensive -- if she didn't have it, she really wouldn't have much personality of her own because she absorbs so much from others. I just wish the knee-jerk defensiveness could be channeled into something more useful -- but I suppose that comes with time and maturity.

 

[Amargith]

*smiles*

She'll get there. She's stilll defining her Fi and that can cause anxiety when other people challenge what she perceives as right. She feels strongly about certain values, but is also acutely aware of the fact that she doesn't know everythign in life. However, Fi is her anchor, so when you challenge that it will make her defend it at all costs. Afterwards, if you've made an impact in your reasoning, when she's alone, she most likely goes over it and challenges her Fi herself, enriching her own standards with your input. However, that input cannot be inserted instantly. It needs to be carefully examined and digested to fit in with her current Fi. Basically, when you say something that rings true, but seems to be in direct opposition with what she strongly believes, it creates confusion. Afterwards, ime, you go through it with a fine tooth comb to see where the exact 'knot' occurs. Once you untangle it, chances are that your beliefs as a Fi-user are still correct, but they'll get nuanced by the new pov. This process takes time though...a loooot of time.

Once you get older, you've been through this a couple of times, getting better at the process and also encountering less contradictions, as your Fi-puzzle is already nuanced, refined and is further along in its completion process, leaving fewer gaps, questionmarks and insecurities.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Fi is probably the function that I comprehend the least out of the 8, but this is how I see it. I think a lot of Te-doms look at Fi-doms and kind of see them as "losers", because they don't realize that have a totally different perspective. Te is the most practical function in day to day life, but Fi is actually the most important function when it comes to being satisfied with your life as a whole. Te will pay your bills, but it won't make you content with who you are and what you've done. As a metaphor it's like all of humanity is running a race, and the Te-doms are out in front while the Fi-doms are either standing still or running in a different direction. Most will think the Fi-dom is getting left behind, while the Fi-dom sees that the finish line is really somewhere else (or maybe it doesn't exist). Te will lead a person to accomplish goals while Fi will tell a person which goals really matter most.

I also think Fi is on some level tapped into universal human values in the same way that Ti is tapped into universal principles. A Ti user will seem to think independently from a group, but instead will conform to principles that are more universal than cultural reasoning. Likewise the Fi user seems independent, but they are really tapped into universal values that transcend culture. Often these values are difficult or impossible to directly express with words.

This is why Fi as a function is very important in the arts. Really good art is both creative, but also has a message of substance behind it. I believe the creativity comes from 4 perceiving functions, while the substance tends to come from Fi. So a person can be looking at a painting or listening to music or watching a film, and then something just hits them powerfully deep down and maybe they are even brought to tears. That power is the artist's Fi communicating with the observer's Fi. The message cannot be communicated directly, and so a story must be used, or a picture, or piece of music or something similar. But there is something in the art that resonates that is beyond words. That something is Fi. It's universal values that are beyond words.

 

[speculative]

So a person can be looking at a painting or listening to music or watching a film, and then something just hits them powerfully deep down and maybe they are even brought to tears. That power is the artist's Fi communicating with the observer's Fi. The message cannot be communicated directly, and so a story must be used, or a picture, or piece of music or something similar. But there is something in the art that resonates that is beyond words. That something is Fi. It's universal values that are beyond words.

This sounds familiar. Sometimes, I cry at the sheer beauty of the emotion conveyed in films or music sometimes, although they aren't necessarily sad/happy films or songs.

@simulatedworld: Thanks for the analysis. Most technical things I read don't really illuminate Fi much for me, but what you posted helped me gain into both Fi and also Fe.

 

[simulatedworld]

I believe the creativity comes from 4 perceiving functions, while the substance tends to come from Fi.

Where does substance for creativity come from for non-Fi users?

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Where does substance for creativity come from for non-Fi users?

Everyone uses all eight functions. What varies is how much each person prefers a given function.