Roger Kern16 said:If this is just spam, then honestly, bring it on. I’m looking forward to more... 😬
I’m an INFP (scoring high on all four functions). Though, I’ve gotta say, Joseph Bailey41, you have me a bit puzzled when you claim the answer to this whole debate is hidden within the "N" function. Most people I know seem to be intuitive types too—I can barely find one close friend who leans toward "S" for some reason—yet almost none of them actually relate to the thought processes described on the previous pages. Maybe it’s just a percentage thing or something...
Edit: Actually, you mentioned that T is linear thinking while N is associative. If we follow that logic, associative thinking should be most prominent in those with an NF combination. Looking at the people around me, that actually seems to track quite well.
So, the functions follow this order: Fi, Ne, Si, Te / Fe, Ni, Se, Ti.
My cognitive styles look like this: Ti, Ne, Si, Fe / Te, Ni, Se, Fi.
Think of it this way: the functions higher up on your list are the ones you’re most conscious of—they're your go-to tools for navigating life. By the time you hit that fourth function, things start getting a little more complicated; most people don't truly wrap their heads around how it works until they're well into their thirties, and even then, it can feel like a total mystery. As for those functions ranked between five and eight? Opinions vary wildly on them; some people don't even consider them part of their core makeup.
So, it looks like we both share the same secondary function—extraverted intuition (Ne). Ever feel like your brain is constantly scanning the horizon for "what if" scenarios? That’s Extraverted Intuition (Ne) in action. It’s that restless, high-speed mental engine that doesn't just look at what *is*, but obsessively tracks all the possibilities of what *could be*. If you have this trait, you probably don't see objects; you see patterns. You don't just see a coffee cup; you see the history of ceramic manufacturing, the physics of heat retention, and the potential for a spilled mess all at once. It’s a way of processing the world by jumping from one idea to the next, creating a web of connections that others might miss entirely. But let’s be honest—it can be exhausting. When your mind is always playing "connect the dots," it’s incredibly easy to get lost in the weeds of theory and lose sight of reality. You might find yourself starting ten different projects because the initial spark was brilliant, only to stall out when the actual, boring work of execution kicks in. It’s a constant tug-of-war between pure inspiration and the practical need to actually finish something. The trick isn't to shut that creative engine off—that would be a waste of a perfectly good mind. Instead, it’s about learning how to ground those flashes of insight. It’s about finding a way to take that chaotic energy and funnel it into something tangible. If we can learn to marry that wild intuition with a bit of discipline, we stop being people who just dream and start being people who build.
I honestly see her as a perfect example of that non-linear way of thinking you described. It’s like this beautiful, creative chaos—connecting dots that don't seem to belong together. It sounds like she could never truly be bored because there's always some kind of movie playing in her head. The challenge, though, is finding a way to actually structure those thoughts and communicate them clearly. To make sense of it all, she has to run all that mental imagery through her primary function. In my case, that's my Ti. I take those internal experiences, break them down, turn them into theories, and then try to translate them into something people can actually understand. Essentially, I use linear logic to make sense of the non-linear. 😵
It feels like you’re filtering everything through Fi (Introverted Feeling), which is a function I honestly struggle to wrap my head around. I rarely get much insight from it, and when I do, it feels incredibly unreliable. That just isn't my lane. (Unless, of course, I'm caught in one of those sudden bursts of zealous idealism—thankfully, those don't last long enough for me to do any real damage to myself or the world.) 😬)
When it comes to sensing types, I get why you might find them a bit dull and avoid hanging out with them—it’s hard to find common ground when you feel like there’s nothing to talk about. It gets a lot easier once you start integrating your Si. Try picking up a sensory-focused hobby like cooking, knitting, gardening, martial arts, or even pole dancing. Once you do that, you can move on to integrating your inferior function, Te. You actually have it right now, but you probably only tap into it during high-stress moments, usually just to snap at someone with a perfectly timed, biting insult when they push your buttons. Your type tends to be really prone to those... well, let's call them "intense" value judgments. 🤣
So, here’s the thing... INFP people often struggle with these weird complexes regarding their own Cognitive Styles. On one hand, there's this sense of pride in being unique or a bit eccentric, but on the other, there’s this desperate urge to master that linear, "left-brain" way of thinking. It leads them to dive into fields like computer science, law, or other rigid professions they aren't even that passionate about, just because they feel they need to "fix" themselves. I definitely fell into that trap. That exact mindset is what drove my long-standing obsession with psychology, emotional theory, and all those topics that don't actually come naturally to me. I ended up collecting a massive mountain of data on the subject, and now I can basically obsess over those facts until the end of time—mostly because, deep down, I’ve realized I actually just love data. 😁