i understand what EW means about Fi essence-searching... tallulah i think it's exactly about a vibe, though not a transient emotional state. it's more the "aura" of a person, to use a word i generally avoid, lol.
Z Buck McFate said:
I disagree with Fi being more interested in ‘inner essence’ than Fe.
i agree. EW i do resonate with you wrote in respect to Fi, though i also hesitate to imply that Fi is searching for something any more important than what Fe looks for... i think to FPs maybe because Fi often feels like our Truth, that might be right for us, but i'm not sure it can readily be applied to everyone... for instance Fi bypasses things important to Fe, like consistent behavior patterns, whereas Fe knows behavior tells us something about a person... i think NFJs figure that out via Ni... follow the pattern presented by Fe to figure out what it tells us about the person. certainly the NFJs i know are good at figuring people out, too, but they do it in a bit of a different way than i do. it's fascinating how a lot of times we come to very, very similar conclusions about people, though.
it makes me think of the analogy of functions being likened to giant circular conveyor belts... you can flip the switch and it'll go clockwise or counter, but in general you're coming from the same place and going to the same place (which is how to deal with people).
z buck i think i understand what you mean about an ENP looking for internal essence immediately... i guess he figures that the longer someone takes to externalize their "self", the more one compartmentalizes and polishes. i would hesitate to say that the first thing that comes out of my mouth is representative of myself either, though. in my experience with ENFPs it takes us a while to properly articulate too. maybe he is more skilled, or an ENTP, lol
i'm trying to figure out where Fi goes to, i'm not really sure. probably mostly to values. when i first meet someone, i get an overall "feeling", and it's usually part of the truth, but not the whole thing by any means. with my best friend, when i first met her, she felt a little intimidating, charismatic, polished, walled-off. knowing her now, i can affirm that all of those primary intuitions are correct, but she has much more depth and complexity than that as well, and i would not call that her "essence". (FeNi is curious, it can throw up a curtain that prevents NeFi from seeing deeply inwardly. INTJs are much easier to see through, i suppose because their Fi is more superficial.)
and then there's also more things i'm looking for, including what a person is really interested in. things that make me really happy are a light in people's eyes, whatever they get excited about, whatever they're passionate about... i think i'm searching for some kind of internal "spark" that makes that person who they are and who they want to be. NeFi also picks up on little emotional quirks, so we can get on the same page with someone in a bit of a different way than Fe. Fe seems to me like a beautiful dance between partners... one invites, the other acknowledges and invites back, then so on... Fi i dunno, it's like i shift into the other person's emotional state to help me see what they see and try to relate, which i suppose makes the person feel safe/understood and free to share more. or like i'm self-absorbed, one of two.
z buck, tallulah, other non-Fis, is it similar when you guys are assessing a person?