Theoretically it's supposed to be more an ENFJ thing, and I'm inclined to think the INFJs who get that way lean in that direction (towards being on the cusp of E) because Ni makes it difficult to cling so confidently to a first impression.
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I can’t help but think when people complain about INFJs being this way- they’re actually dealing with something closer to an especially introverted ENFJ.
I disagree. I see far more evidence of this in Infjs than Es. Perhaps because the Es greater facility with Fe moves them to be more understanding, accepting and (paradoxically?) less judgemental.
I reckon this observation holds for all ExFJs - they tend to be warmer / more accepting than IxFJs.
I’m really not sure what influence ‘inferior Se’ has exactly, I don’t have much of a handle on that.
[MENTION=5731]Kalach[/MENTION] has mentioned that it can manifest as an exaggerated fear for physical security. I also think that INFJs can share with INTJs a pretty complicated relationship with their own (and others') sexuality. In the former it can look like frigidity but can mask something more... extreme.
While Te aux lends a dogmatic aspect to the impersonal realm, Fe aux can lend a dogmatic aspect to the personal one - i.e. a proscriptive morality informed by the same converging certainty of the Ni "vision".
Whereas, I think Fe-Dom morality tends to be more
prescriptive than proscriptive (because it suffers fewer negative vibes from the promptings of inferior Se).
Maybe...
/making it up as she goes along
But I suspect 'inferior Fi' and 'inferior Ti' are similar regardless of S or N.
I think they express quite differently. I suspect (and my experience bears this out) Ns tend to be more susceptible to neurotic manifestations than Ss, simply because they are less grounded in reality to start with.
Actually, I think INTPs (and any type) are just as susceptible to their own version of tunnel vision- I wouldn’t say it’s an opposite problem so much as the same problem with an opposite kind of tunnel vision. That “sea of relativity with no life raft of certainty to cling to†is a sort of tunnel vision unto itself.
That is not how it feels. The experience is one of ever-expanding vision, with little objective criteria to chose amongst those vistas. Socrates expressed it best when he said the only thing he could be certain of was his own uncertainty. (He called that "wisdom", ymmv.) And Descartes, who could only be certain of his own existence because he was so preoccupied by being uncertain about everything else. In a sense, you are right that we cling to uncertainty as rigidly as Js cling to certainty. Those are our respective comfort zones.
It may be infuriating to deal with a Je’er who is having a hard time working your Ji input into their cognitive purview, especially if that Je’er is clinging to their own cognitive purview at the mercy of their own unconscious impulses …..but hot damn if it isn’t just as infuriating for us Js to deal with a Pe’er whose unconscious Pi makes them impulsively cling to every capricious whim, completely resistant to incorporate our Pi input into their cognitive purview. When a Pe’er is clinging to their own cognitive purview at the direction of their own unconscious impulses- as opposed to being aware of the influence inferior Pi has- they NEED to grab hold of those capricious whims (the less conscious Pi impulses are, the stronger that pull)…..and in Ti’ers, it takes the form of grabbing on to every single tiny immediate argument that comes to mind with no regard for the extent to which they’re only pulling up arguments that suit their immediate purpose (there’s no consistency- it’s all about arguing whatever gets them what they want in that moment).
This is confusing because Ti-doms do not have inferior / unconscious Pi, they have inferior Je. Perhaps you are thinking of Pe-doms..
In exaggerated cases- just like it’s obvious to other people when Je’ers are clinging to some ‘objective truth’ (which is anything but) because of some irrational core in themselves which they won’t acknowledge- it’s just as ‘obvious’ to others when Pe’ers are shape-shifting some ‘objective truth’ (which is anything but) because of some irrational core in themselves which they won’t acknowledge. The difference is that Je clings whole hog to a ‘truth’ (which is blatantly influenced by an irrational subjective core) which was already in place in their cognitive purview, and Pe clings whole hog to a brand new ‘truth’ (which is blatantly influenced by an irrational subjective core) regardless of how much it contradicts the ‘truth’ (which was blatantly influenced by an irrational subjective core) they were arguing 10 minutes ago. It all comes across as biased pigheadedness, but from different directions.
Hmmm. I have to wonder if you aren't just falling prey to the kind of cognitive error you accused your type of earlier?
It is surely contradictory to accuse us both of "clinging" "pigheadedly" to our views and also of whimsicality... Though I agree, it can look like this to others, in fact, on things that matter to us, we are steadfast - it's just that not very much matters to us. Or not to the same extent that it does to those who require more certainty / who fear ambiguity. In fact, some of the most steadfast people I know are Pe-dom/aux. And it has the advantage of not having an irrational quality to it - because they have Pe-d their way through most every eventuality, until finding the one that resonates with Ji - which makes them far more open to discussion - they have no fear that their belief will be shaken or threatened in any way. Close-minded people close their minds because they are fearful of the influence of others and uncertain of the strength of their convictions.
The thing you find frustrating - the way we drift from one semi-solid state to another ("shape-shifting" -nice) trying them on for size - this is the only way for us to approximate certainty about anything. (And we never quite feel comfortable there). If we were a metal, we'd be mercury - liquid at room temperature, quickly responding to changes in atmospheric pressure, but not incapable of holding a crystalline form. You guys would be lead - all but impenetrable, and fucking hard to melt.
Playing Devil's Advocate is a way of achieving a richer and more complex view of a subject area. Ti tends to need something to oppose in order to understand anything fully. If you think about any of the great insights into the true nature of physical reality it has been accomplished by this kind of tension or opposition. It can seem destructive, or like a bloody-minded attempt to frustrate by onlookers, but it's actually the source of much creativity and the quickest route to truth - you only need one valid, anomalous observation to falsify a hypothesis, so working through all the harmonious observations is wasted effort. And Ti loves economy almost as much as truth.
Agreement does not stimulate our intellect, or satisfy a (non-existent) desire for harmony. We don't trust harmony. Harmony is a breeding ground for sloppy, soft-focussed thinking. The mistake is that we can come to trust discord (wrongly) believing that it doesn't have a hidden, negative agenda (which, of course, it often does).