It’s not alphabet soup, but it does get mixed up and complicated
[DISCLAIMER: I am by no means a MBTI or psychology expert; all opinions and thoughts in this post are nothing more than what was just stated; I do not consider myself an expert, I simply have researched to the extent that I feel is necessary to go before sharing information with others; due to the length (short) of this and the following post, I’m unable to explain everything in detail, so think of this as the SparkNotes of MBTI]
As I stated in my previous post, introvert and extrovert have different meanings than is usually assumed. They do not determine one’s social capabilities.
Introverts gain more energy by being alone, and extroverts gain energy by being with people. It would logically follow that the latter would be more inclined to be a social butterfly, but this isn’t always the case.
The I/E also indicates whether a function is introverted or extroverted. To put it simply- If a function is introverted, it is focused more on the internal world of a person’s mind. If it is extroverted, it naturally focuses on the outside world. one is not better than another.
Intuition (N)
Intuition is a method of perceiving. It feeds off ideas/theories/concepts to process what one sees of the outside world.
Ni, or introverted intuition, is best explained with- It all makes sense to me but no one else.
Ni users typically are the people who seem lost in a conversation, but a couple minutes later they suddenly have solved all the problems on hand. It’s kind of crazy, honestly. Their system of organisation isn’t really a system at all- It’s basically a bunch of spiderweb connections that are hard to explain if you don’t have the exact replica.
Ni usually has trouble recalling memories that connect with the present but is great at coming up with spur of the moment decisions that are surprisingly well thought through. This is partially due to Se, but Ni has a part to do with it.
Ne, or extroverted intuition, is like Ni in that it makes connections. However, these are easier to explain and they connect the external world. Someone who’s an Ne user can quickly go from knife to gravestone with a simple- Knife, blood, death, funeral, gravestone connection.
Ne is focused on connecting all the things in the external world, whether or not they can be connected. An Ne user will go to great lengths to put the pieces together, and they can generally explain the connections pretty quickly.
A lot of times, Ne will connect concepts back to things they learned as children, whereas Ni will connect things as it is practical for the future.
Sensing (S)
This more or less indicates whether a person is living in the present or the past. People living in the past tend to recall memories for every current event, and people in the present live for the moment or the future.
Si, introverted sensing, is focused on the past and past memories. Everything they perceive from the world is run through a memory filter.
Se, extroverted sensing, is focused on the moment. Everything is connected to other things in the moment, it’s a lot like Ne, but while Intuition is more of a mental thing, Sensing affects the actions more directly.
Feeling (F)
Feeling does not mean one is an emotional dramatic mess (though let’s face it- a lot of us are, myself not exempt.) It simply describes how one relates to emotions or acts upon them. It also explains whether one is more externally or internally driven.
Fi, introverted feeling, is very much based on one’s own morals and understandings of the world. As a general rule, a healthy Fi user is also able to identify their own emotions and (supposedly) know how to handle them.
Fe, extroverted feeling, is more based off the external world and how others feel or perceive the world. They look to the outside for rules and morals, whereas Fi looks to their own morals/beliefs. Fe users generally have a creepily uncanny way of identifying others’ emotions, while failing to identify their own.
Thinking (T)
Myth: Thinkers are more intelligent than Feelers.
There’s a rumor that facts rank higher than emotions. While this may be true in certain things, it’s false in others. Or even- the opposite is true. We need both thinkers and feelers in this world, and both are equally important. Just in different ways.
Ti, introverted thinking, focuses on organising the internal world. Everything connects neatly in the mind, and while the organisation system makes sense to no one else, the user is able to easily pull files from anywhere in their mental database.
Te, extroverted thinking, focuses on organising the external world. . .but this is where it gets tricky. They’re organising the external world internally. It’s hard to explain. There are a lot more cold, hard facts than Ti, which has more concepts and theories, though.
*collapses*
There.
It’s been. . . a lot of weeks, and I have no good excuse for why this took me so long. We also shan’t count how many times I opened this draft and looked at it blankly. Yes, I know the Intuition section is longer than the others. Let’s just say my brain fizzled and died around there.
If you want more information, https://www.psychologyjunkie.com/ is a pretty good source. There were more good sites and a couple blogs, but for some reason my mental database is pulling a blank, so sorry about that.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll try to elaborate things in the comments.
Donec Iterum!
Key Word 