Function Contrasts

Pursuing Goals: Ni vs Ne

Arvid Walton 2 Comments

Guest post by whatisfreethen, INTP

Ni may be able to follow a single idea to completion, it wouldn’t be fair to say that Ne’s can’t. It’s just that Ne ideas tend to be either more short term or fantastical than Ni. Also if an Ne can’t immediately execute an idea, it tends to get overcrowded by a flood of new ideas and never gets reconsidered. Or it tends to build up and become even more implausible than it was.

INTJ friend: So, what have you thought about writing that book together?

Me: How about one of us leans an animating software, and one learns sound effects, get some voice actors, and instead we make an animated movie?

Him: Maybe I’ll just write it myself. Continue reading →

Se-users: Do you talk with your Hands?

Arvid Walton 29 Comments

ComradeJocasta asked: Is it possible that upper-Se users might be more likely to gesture a lot when they speak?

I haven’t actually found much research on this topic. However, I’ve given it a bit of thought, and I’d like to hear everyone else’s thoughts as well.

My ESFP sibling definitely is NOT a hand talker. However, he does have a strong need for touch and physical contact with people he’s comfortable around. Same goes for my ISFP roommate.

Out of anyone in my family or friend group, I’m actually the one who talks most via my hands. However, I don’t necessarily attribute this to my Se function so much as to the fact that I’m relatively fluent in Sign Language. Before I learned Sign Language, I didn’t gesture at all when I spoke, but now talking and gesturing practically go hand in hand for me (wow, that was a terrible pun).

It’s the same with any language. As soon as you’re fluent in more than one language, and especially if you know more than two, it’s hard to force yourself not to blend the elements of each. At the same time, you also keep many elements very separate as well (for instance, I swear a lot more in German than I do in English).

Upper Se-users. Now is your time to talk! I’m interested to hear whether you talk with your hands.

INTJs: How to develop your Se function

Arvid Walton 24 Comments

Bryony asked: I am an INTJ with an unhealthy Se function. Out of curiosity, is it possible to change this?

Yes it is.

I had a very unhealthy Se function at one point in my life –so unhealthy in fact, that I wasn’t using it at all (I’ll let your imagination fill in the connotations of that happenstance). Here are some tips for developing an unhealthy Se function. Continue reading →

xNTP vs xNTJ Writing

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Morally Relative Midnight asked: As someone who engages in creative writing frequently, how would you differentiate between INTJ and INTP writing styles? How would an INTJ’s tertiary Fi and an INTP’s tertiary Fe manifest themselves in a creative writing assignment or just any writing project in general?

Now that’s what I call a question.

Best examples of INTJ writing I can think of off the top of my head are Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Flannery O’Connor and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Some good examples of INTP writing include Edgar Allan Poe, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. Continue reading →

Do I relate to INFPs?

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Elise Ann asked: How do you relate to INFPs? you must find us exhausting

I do find you exhausting. You burst out with seemingly random topic changes while I’m still philosophically analysing something you said two hours ago. Also, your emotions…dear me, they are everywhere…

But yes, there are a few ways that I relate to INFPs (not drastic ways, just subtle ones).

The main way that I relate to INFPs in the persistent Fi desire to do the right thing. Of course, we go about it vastly differently, but the goal is the same.

Secondly, there is the often frequent drive for creativity –which, as a writer, artist and Ni user, I relate to regardless of whether the creativity stems from an Ni or Ne function. Both types of intuition can be vastly creative, just in different ways. Many make the mistake of assuming that only Ne is creative, and that Ni is merely a goal setting function –this is based on a limited understanding of MBTI.

Ni presents more of a focused and vision oriented creativity while Ne presents an unexpected and possibility based creativity.

INTJs in Christopher Nolan films

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The INTJ Presence in Christopher Nolan Films |#MBTI

The first time I watched Inception, I came away on fire with excitement about the concepts that had just been left ambiguously unresolved at the end of the movie. Meanwhile, the ENFP with whom I’d watched it was left scratching her head trying to comprehend what she just seen.

We watched it again. She understood a little more, but it wasn’t until we’d seen it at least three times (and I’d explained it to her in depth) before she finally understood it.

Christopher Nolan’s more recent films, namely Inception and Interstellar, both feature ISTP protagonists. However, despite featuring only one blatantly INTJ character each (Saito and Dr. Brandt), they still bear the express markings of INTJ writing. Nolan’s earlier work however, did not hold to this trend, but showed a remarkably large frequency of INTJ protagonists. Continue reading →

Depression in ENFPs – Fi vs Fe

Arvid Walton 11 Comments

Depression in ENFPs - Fi vs Fe

Question: “I suffer from depression (ENFP) and was wondering about how that translates to functions. I understand if you don’t know much about depression and can’t answer the question, but I just wondered.”

Answer: No matter your MBTI type, depression is always a highly emotional experience, so that ought to clear up the myth that T-types can’t be depressed.

Function-wise, depression tends to lock people into their introverted functions (this applies more to clinical depression than acute depression). As an ENFP, you’re likely going to lock yourself into your Fi and Si functions. Depending on the intensity of your depression, as well a your ability to control it (here, the word control is subjective), you may also end up suppressing your extroverted functions entirely. Continue reading →

Introverts Need People Too

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Introverts need people too

Contrary to popular belief, introverts need people just as much as extraverts do –just in different ways. Introverts don’t necessarily get their energy from being around people the way that extraverts do, but we still need people for emotional/psychological reasons.

Why Everyone needs people:

#1 We need to know we’re not alone

At some point in life, everyone wants to know they’re not alone –even if they don’t want to admit it. When you’re isolated for too long, you can’t help feeling that isolation –either that or you just start to feel empty inside. Continue reading →

INTJ Humor vs xNTP Humor

Arvid Walton 32 Comments

*I spelled Humour the American way in the title because the majority of my readers are American.*

INTJ Humor vs ENTP Humor

Have you ever noticed how people who like Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy are more likely to enjoy Doctor Who, Sherlock, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett? This is intuitive humour at its finest.

(Psst! If you liked any of the former fandoms, you should read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell!)

Intuitive MBTI types tend to enjoy wordplay related sarcasm, deadpan and hyperbole, especially NT types. The differences between Extraverted Intuitive (Ne) and Introverted Intuitive (Ni) humour are subtle, but I’m going to attempt to dispel those differences. Continue reading →

Which is more Selfish: Extroverted or Introverted Feeling?

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Which is more Selfish: Extroverted or Introverted Feeling?

It’s not uncommon that people of different MBTI types consider the others selfish. Extraverted Feelers (Fe-users) often see Introverted Feelers (Fi-users) as selfish, and vice versa.

Fe-users look at Fi-users and seeing them more in tune with themselves than others, perceive this as selfishness. Fi-users look at the Fe tendency to go with the crowd and perceive them as fakes. Continue reading →

Memory Palaces for Dummies

Arvid Walton 18 Comments

“I would like to know more about the Mind Palace. You mentioned you’ve been using it since you were 13 and I would like to benefit from using it, too. Basically, could you give me any tips how to think like Sherlock does and master his ability of solving things so efficiently?”

“I’m also an INTJ, if that’s of any importance. (Just because you also stated that another Se-user could use the Mind Palace-technique as flawlessly as Holmes does, and I think it’s also necessary to have a dominant Ni and auxiliary Te in order to be as much of a genius as Sherlock is. So, basically one should also be an INTJ.)”

ta…hard to explain briefly, but I shall endeavor.

Firstly, I’m going to discard the comment about NiTe being necessary for genius, because anyone of any type can be a genius. Albert Einstein is in the queue, and he’s definitely not an NiTe user. Most of the Doctors in Doctor Who aren’t NiTe users.

Then of course, there’s the question of what genius is. Can one be a genius seamstress? Or must genius only apply to certain applications of the brain (namely academics)? I’d even say there are plenty of geniuses who’ve never been to school in their lives.

I’m just being picky because I hate being called a genius constantly by everyone who knows me.

However, you’re right to a certain extent about the NiSe thing when it comes to using the memory palace (I’ll explain later). Continue reading →

Anxiety Cycles by Type

Arvid Walton 4 Comments

“How does Anxiety manifest differently in each type?” 

ISxJ

Trigger: uncertainty, issues of reality, overdoing things etc.

Once the trigger is pulled, the ISxJ will become obsessive about details, lose their task orientated center and grow impulsive. They will fall into the grip of their inferior Ne function and rather than thinking about possibilities, they will catastrophize.

To re-balance him/herself, the ISxJ needs to let go of the details that they’ve been obsessively swallowing up. They need someone to take them seriously and often need the help of close friends to work through their issue. If they come out on top, they will have a broader perspective, clearer values and stronger flexibility than before. Continue reading →

Understanding Sympathetic INTJs – Fi vs Fe

Arvid Walton 40 Comments

Understanding Sympathetic INTJs - Fi vs Fe |The Book Addict's Guide to MBTI

Foreword: this post applies equally to ISTJs, in regards to the Fi function)

All the INTJ stereotypes say that we’re cold and don’t care about other people. Yet, many of us defy this stereotype.

When I care about someone, I filter my words to avoid offense and understand people on a deeper level than they often understand themselves (which is another reason to filter my thoughts, because otherwise people freak out at how much I know about them).

Naturally, I started to wonder if my ability to understand people so well stemmed from an Fe function, but eventually I determined that I’m an INTJ with an extremely well developed Fi, and here’s why.

While I understand people on an extreme level, I don’t feel their emotions the way an Fe user would. My Ni lets me know intuitively what’s going on behind the lines and then I’m able to logically put together what someone is feeling by using Te. I can understand, but I cannot empathize unless Continue reading →