AIn some cases you pointed out that any given interpretation of a behavior might not be correct in every case: Agreed, there are exceptions to every rule. But we're talking about averages and long-term trends within long-term contexts. ..
You missed the point. There may be correlations between certain behaviors and states of mind, yet there is no direct link.
Meantime, your mantra that "Thinking is criticism by definition" is overly precious. I disagree that Fi and Ti are particularly inspired functions. They fumble the ball as much as any other function..
I don't see the relevance.
Similarly, I disagree that INFPs need some kind of higher purpose to complete them. Frankly, the exact opposite is much closer to the truth. INFPs are the debutantes of causes and crusades. We're known for flitting from one to the next, never quite finding a home. In my opinion, an affinity for causes and crusades is merely one more maladaptive trait of the INFP personality. INFPs would do better to fortify their Fi with well-functioning Ne, adapt to the real world, and quit fruitlessly seeking ecstasy or apotheosis in causes and crusades...
An INFP with a higher purpose will be content from within. He will not need to rely on crusades for this. Doing the latter is much more akin to what Extroverts do than INFPs--or derive gratificaiton based only on what they have achieved externally and not internally. An INFP who has found inner purpose---or an Internally founded goal will not need to rely on external agenda.
To say that an INFP does not need a higher purpose, or inner purpose is to deny the importance of satisfying the agenda of introverted judgment which is integral to the nature of an IP. To say that an INFP does not need an inner purpose is tantamount to saying that an INFP should cease acting like an INFP and instead try to act like some extroverted type. I do not see how the primacy of the inner purpose precludes the INFP from being adaptable. The inner purpose will always come first for you, no matter what you do about it---because your mind unconscious gravitates towards inner agenda. This is what introverted judgment is.
After the INFP has established the inner agenda, he will be ready to move onto the next function, Ne and so forth all the way down to Te. Keep in mind, in order to develop our lower functions we need to develop the higher ones first. So developing the Introverted Judgment, or finding a higher purpose actually conduces to the INFP becoming more adapatable. As we see that the INFP has become more comfortable with Fi, he will readily move on to develop Ne.
A neurotic INFP will be unadaptable --not using Ne properly, but this notion is wholly neutral to whether or not the INFP has found a higher purpose.
I agree with you here. I did indeed register facetiousness and hyperbole--INFPs are masters at hyperbole.
In the past year you've taken to wrapping banalities in grandiloquent language. It's still somewhat maladaptive: You're using Ne (grandiloquent language) as a smokescreen to divert attention from the fact that you're still not sufficiently attuned to the world around you (banalities = isolated Ti not being properly fed and informed by healthy use of Ne)....
The purpose of using 'grandiloquent terminology' is to better maintain faithfulness to the inner agenda. It has nothing to do with a smokescreen of any kind. The notion of the smokescreen stands in sharp contrast with your earlier claim that a Ti without an Ne will be intensely internally focused. An implication of this would be a lack of image consciousness. One who lacks image consciousness will not be able to put on the proper appearance to conceal this fact.
Though in regards to that,one could say that perhaps such technical terminology, however faithful it may be to an inner agenda (precision in thought), does not do well to get the message across. And that is common when the Ne of an INP malfunctions.
But that's a mere quibble. I totally agree with your main point here: You're progressing and developing new modes of expression. I've noticed it myself across the last year. You're opening yourself to new input and trying out new ways of interacting with the world; you're on your way. It's just a matter of time till you get that Ti/Ne interaction fine-tuned and you're supercharging your Ti with good fuel from your Ne.
But that's also your answer to your question in the OP as to what to do about INFJs with immature/neurotic Fe: Don't get hung up on the fact that they don't have a perfectly healthy Ni/Fe feedback loop yet. Like you, eventually they'll get there. Give them some room to progress at their own pace, and watch them across a year or so. Like you, they're probably growing and progressing. It's just a matter of time.
That was the whole point of my opening salvo in this thread--that your objections to INFJs could be equally applied to you, and you should deal with INFJs the same way we deal with you--with a measure of tolerance and patience. If you didn't want me to psychologize you publicly, you should have taken that initial post of mine seriously and requested a PM at that point. Your Ne didn't properly inform your Ti where I was going with my posts, even though I stated my intent clear as day in that initial post. Bad Ne!
Banalities. You're just regurgitating what the experts say. Put some meat on those bones. Convince me that you've been using your Ne to genuinely observe INFJs rather than merely nitpick at a minor function of theirs you don't like. Give me some examples from your real-life observation of INFJs. Give me some genuine insight. Show me that you really know your subject.
)....
This is your Te bias doing you in. You're projecting your way of doing typology onto me. Te is much more authority oriented. Thus, you see yourself studying what the experts say and try to memorize it, expecting their authority to do the trick for you.
For Ti, the word of the expert has little value--only what has been critically analyzed first-hand does.
Moreover, we see another bias of your Te way of doing typology here--
Give me some examples from your real-life observation of INFJs. Give me some genuine insight. Show me that you really know your subject.
)....
You suggest that in order for an insight to be genuine it must match with real-life observation. That is a radical Te approach--most akin to empiricst methodology.
Ti philosophers and scientists have shown us that it is possible to derive genuine and profound insight without much reliance on the External world.
And this is indeed what I have done. Almost all of the insights I have shared with you are sound--namely they are logically consistent and established on acceptable premises.
Of course I could go on and show you how this is so, but that is too much abstract reasoning to get into--as its as close to pure essence of Ti as it gets--which I do not doubt, is almost wholly foreign to you as its only the backside of your inferior Te. So, in short thats way over your head and no doubt the reason why you were unable to understand my previous insights.
Your ignorance thereof does not make them any more or less substantial. As that tells one more about you rather than the comment you've posted on. Thats one reason I enjoy reading your posts, as from them I often learn more about you and INFP psychology than about the matters you comment on. As you know I find that type fascinating myself.
That was the whole point of my opening salvo in this thread--that your objections to INFJs could be equally applied to you, and you should deal with INFJs the same way we deal with you--with a measure of tolerance and patience. If you didn't want me to psychologize you publicly, you should have taken that initial post of mine seriously and requested a PM at that point. Your Ne didn't properly inform your Ti where I was going with my posts, even though I stated my intent clear as day in that initial post. Bad Ne!
This is the etiquette you've been talking about--the Extroverted Judgment of much of your fascination. It was not appropriate for you to get into the topic of psychologizing me because it was not relevant to the topic posed in this thread.
