purplesunset
New member
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2009
- Messages
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- Enneagram
- 4w5
I'm not exactly saying anything new here. There are people on this website who are way more knowledgeable about this topic than I am. I am only speaking from the perspective of someone who was dissatisfied with the lack of clarity, and confusion when it comes to the little i and little e of the functions of an MBTI type.
I personally loved reading through the last pages of THIS Thread. Although it might seem like a mess, it has actually helped me a great deal in understanding the source of the confusion.
According to what I gathered from that thread one huge source of confusion in MBTI and cognitive functions is those two little letters i and e, when it comes to the characteristic functions of a type.
What exactly does that i or e inside (Fi, Ne, Ni, Te etc.) mean in the specific context of listing the functions of a type?
Case in point: INFP's four characteristic functions are Fi, Ne, Si, Te
Where the heck did the i and e come from?
Did they base it on the first four things that they pulled out of a hat?
Worse yet, did they just pull it out of their asses (in other words, does this smell like complete bull****?
)
I have come to understand that the little i and the little e have very specific definitions in the specific context of listing the four functions of a type.
So why do INFP's have Fi Ne Si Te? It probably went something like this:
Dominant function:
Do they judge the most, or do they simply perceive/take in information. They judge the most. What do they judge with: thinking or feeling ? Feeling. Are they an introvert or an extrovert? An introvert, so let's add an i at the end to indicate that an introvert is using it. Thus, it becomes Fi.
in this specific context,, the i in Fi simply means that an introvert is using it. If I think of it this way, it helps to eliminate confusion for me.
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Auxillary function: Well, since INFP's judge dominantly (using feeling), they must have information on which to perform said judgements. In order to be well balanced, it is better if they take in this information from the outside. Which of the two perceiving functions do they use to take in information: intuition, or sensing? Intuition.
So in this specific context, the e in Ne simply means that the information that they perform internal judgments on should come from outside in a balanced individual. And it comes from the outside via intuition.
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Tertiary function:
What is the opposite of Ne? Si. The i is there for no other reason than that it is the opposite of the e in Ne.
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Inferior:
What is the opposite of Fi? Te. The e is there for no other reason than that it is the opposite of the i in Fi.
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Let's do the same thing for an ESTJ. How come they are Te Si Ne Fi?:
Dominant function: Do they judge the most, or do they perceive the most? They judge. What do they use to judge? Thinking. Are they introverted, or extroverted? Extroverted, so let's add an e at the end of T to indicate that an extrovert is using it.
Again, in this context, the e in in Te is there to indicate that an extrovert is doing the judging via thinking.
Auxilliary function: Well, since ESTJ's judge the most, they must have some way of getting information. Do they do this intuitively, or via sensing? Sensing! Since they judge externally, in order to be well balanced, they should get information internally, hence the S becomes Si.
Tertiary: What's the opposite of Si? Ne
Inferior: What's the opposite of Te? Fi
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Conclusion:
The i and e in the dominant function is meant to be descriptive.
The i and e in the auxilliary function is meant to be prescriptive.
Hold the press!! Hold the press!! breaking news on Obvious Avenue!!!
I know this isn't new, but to me , this is key and clears things up tremendously when it comes to understanding how and why they assigned those little letters i and e.
The auxilliary function in particular is meant to indicate what an ideally balanced individual should use along with his dominant function.
So in the case of INFPs, they dominantly judge with feeling, so they should balance that off with a perceiving function, and since they're introverts, it is best if they perceive externally.
In the case of ESTJ's, they judge with thinking, so they should balance that off with a perceiving function, and since they're extroverts, it's best if they perceive internally.
((((((( It also shows that INFP's can actually be even more judgemental than say INFJ's because INFP's use a judging function dominantly while INFJ's use a perceiving function dominantly. This goes against what the popular stereotypical definitions of P and J are, but I'm de-railing my own thread by bringing this up.)))))))))
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--------------------------------------------------------
It seems to me that this four functions system is some twisted combination of common sense (dominant), logic (auxilliary, inferior), and pulling-out-of-hat/ass-ery (tertiary).
I personally loved reading through the last pages of THIS Thread. Although it might seem like a mess, it has actually helped me a great deal in understanding the source of the confusion.
According to what I gathered from that thread one huge source of confusion in MBTI and cognitive functions is those two little letters i and e, when it comes to the characteristic functions of a type.
What exactly does that i or e inside (Fi, Ne, Ni, Te etc.) mean in the specific context of listing the functions of a type?
Case in point: INFP's four characteristic functions are Fi, Ne, Si, Te
Where the heck did the i and e come from?
Did they base it on the first four things that they pulled out of a hat?
Worse yet, did they just pull it out of their asses (in other words, does this smell like complete bull****?
) I have come to understand that the little i and the little e have very specific definitions in the specific context of listing the four functions of a type.
So why do INFP's have Fi Ne Si Te? It probably went something like this:
Dominant function:
Do they judge the most, or do they simply perceive/take in information. They judge the most. What do they judge with: thinking or feeling ? Feeling. Are they an introvert or an extrovert? An introvert, so let's add an i at the end to indicate that an introvert is using it. Thus, it becomes Fi.
in this specific context,, the i in Fi simply means that an introvert is using it. If I think of it this way, it helps to eliminate confusion for me.
-----------------------------------------
Auxillary function: Well, since INFP's judge dominantly (using feeling), they must have information on which to perform said judgements. In order to be well balanced, it is better if they take in this information from the outside. Which of the two perceiving functions do they use to take in information: intuition, or sensing? Intuition.
So in this specific context, the e in Ne simply means that the information that they perform internal judgments on should come from outside in a balanced individual. And it comes from the outside via intuition.
------------------------------------------------
Tertiary function:
What is the opposite of Ne? Si. The i is there for no other reason than that it is the opposite of the e in Ne.
-----------------------------------------------------
Inferior:
What is the opposite of Fi? Te. The e is there for no other reason than that it is the opposite of the i in Fi.
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
Let's do the same thing for an ESTJ. How come they are Te Si Ne Fi?:
Dominant function: Do they judge the most, or do they perceive the most? They judge. What do they use to judge? Thinking. Are they introverted, or extroverted? Extroverted, so let's add an e at the end of T to indicate that an extrovert is using it.
Again, in this context, the e in in Te is there to indicate that an extrovert is doing the judging via thinking.
Auxilliary function: Well, since ESTJ's judge the most, they must have some way of getting information. Do they do this intuitively, or via sensing? Sensing! Since they judge externally, in order to be well balanced, they should get information internally, hence the S becomes Si.
Tertiary: What's the opposite of Si? Ne
Inferior: What's the opposite of Te? Fi
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion:
The i and e in the dominant function is meant to be descriptive.
The i and e in the auxilliary function is meant to be prescriptive.
Hold the press!! Hold the press!! breaking news on Obvious Avenue!!!
I know this isn't new, but to me , this is key and clears things up tremendously when it comes to understanding how and why they assigned those little letters i and e.
The auxilliary function in particular is meant to indicate what an ideally balanced individual should use along with his dominant function.
So in the case of INFPs, they dominantly judge with feeling, so they should balance that off with a perceiving function, and since they're introverts, it is best if they perceive externally.
In the case of ESTJ's, they judge with thinking, so they should balance that off with a perceiving function, and since they're extroverts, it's best if they perceive internally.
((((((( It also shows that INFP's can actually be even more judgemental than say INFJ's because INFP's use a judging function dominantly while INFJ's use a perceiving function dominantly. This goes against what the popular stereotypical definitions of P and J are, but I'm de-railing my own thread by bringing this up.)))))))))
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
It seems to me that this four functions system is some twisted combination of common sense (dominant), logic (auxilliary, inferior), and pulling-out-of-hat/ass-ery (tertiary).
