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Is there any function combo as potentially destructive as Ti-Ni loops?

2K views 14 replies 14 participants last post by  Erbse 
#1 · (Edited)
From my biased perspective as an ISTP, and first hand experience, this pair of functions can be very crippling for an individual. INFJs also experience the same thing with Ni-Ti.

I rarely if ever hear about Si-Ti loops, or Fi-Ni, etc. Is there a reason for that? do they just not manifest in such a negative way?

Another note, is that extroverts are completely immune to this. There may be a flip side, where the Ne-Fe combo acts up for an ENTP for example, but I've never heard about it negatively. I've never really seen it referred to much at all in this context.
 
#2 ·
Fi-Si can be very destructive, particularly if a mood disorder is involved, but it seems to me that it is much easier to break out of than Ni-Ti loops. I haven't gotten to observe Ti-Ni loops as much, but it makes sense to me that it would be as persistent.
 
#3 ·
I have a friend who was in Ti-Si for a long time.

I also have been in a weird aux/inf loop (Ne/Fe), and that was pretty bad since I am an introvert.

Ti/Si on my friend turned her into a cripplingly accuracy-oriented realist, who utilizes her imagination, but only to create examples of what already is or could be (proven by science). She is extremely perfectionistic, and although she rebels in secret, generally does what she is told in a passive aggressive manner (she isn't good with Fe either). She is more geared to appreciate Te and fitting into other people's pre-made systems than most INTPs. She also reported that she relived the same agonizing moments of her life over and over again, and would think about the same topics over and over, though sometimes from different angles, even if she had already come to a conclusion.

Ne/Fe is awful for an INTP because we look like a weird ESFJ/ENTP combo. I got super chatty and couldn't stop, and I'd ramble off about ridiculous things, but I was also easily offended and sensitive to other people so I was consistently afraid to bring up stuff that would offend others. My inability to use Fe meant that I had trouble with not bringing up touchy topics. When I got home from school, I was exhausted from the constant socialization and mask I had on, so I spent most of the rest of my day in my room thinking, or playing with story ideas (which are like conceptual puzzles for me). I didn't get anything done after school, including homework. I had a lot of friends, but struggled to actually connect with anyone. It became really difficult to focus for a while and my brain got fuzzy, probably because I wasn't mentally organizing like I used to. I started to have memory trouble toward the end. Now I can't socialize much at all without starting to get really stressed out and I grind my teeth in my sleep lol. It's pretty ridiculous.
 
#15 ·
Somewhat.

It is not insofar as they indeed describe an objective state of mind/psyche the individual experiences.

It's a concept, none that will accurately describe reality or the psyche, though and even less one that makes a whole lot sense when in fact looking at it; while the psyche operates in tandems it'll most likely not be anything like functions pairing up ;)

What's commonly shared among function theory is that the dominant function shares the same attitude as the tertiary - to dump it down I'd say it's a lot more likely that it's a simple disturbance on the I/E axis of the individual - within MBTI this of course enables sandboxing and shuffling to one's liking.
 
#5 ·
I'm not sure if I buy into the theory that dom-tert loops are *super scary*, but my Ni-Ti loop tends to be pretty productive. Two different ways of analysis working full time? Total dream.

I've seen more about Ni-Ti loops, but that's probably the only loop I've cared to pay attention to. As for extraverts, my best friend is ENFJ, and her Fe-Se loop can definitely get her into trouble :)
 
#7 ·
I'm an ENTP. I don't think I'm immune to it for reasons I'll share. I can't really relate to the concept of "loops" as much, but I think if an Ne/Fe loop existed, it could lend itself to all sorts of charlatanism. That seems pretty destructive. To the best of my knowledge, it's never happened to me.

I've done an aux/inf loop like @lookslikeiwin referenced where basically I just sat around thinking of instances in my life and analyzing them ad nauseum. Except because I am Si-inf, they're all these really cringe-inducing memories of how much of a total failure I am, all neatly aligned in my mind to create an outline of why nothing will ever go right for me again and I should just kill myself now. Even on the days where that wasn't the case, my only desire was to self-isolate and ruminate.

I dunno if that's a "true" loop (maybe just a bad state of mind), but my life went on hold for about 6 months. I was also depressed during this time and was basically financially trapped in a foreign country with nothing to do, so that may have been part of how it happened. Still, I was a prisoner of my mind and it was indeed pretty crippling.
 
#8 ·
A Fi-Si loop can be extremely depressing. INFPs are the type most likely to commit suicide, so I'd say that's pretty destructive.
 
#9 ·
Sometimes (Really, really rarely) I have that experience where someone is being an ass and I can't get away from them, and I suddenly connect the present unpleasantness to other annoying habits they have and they are just being so unfair to everyone around them and it builds up over a couple of minutes until I just snap and start giving a verbal smackdown (well, it's usually verbal) that tends to leave them wide eyed and me wishing that I could remember what I just said. I think that might be a Ne-Fe loop.
 
#10 ·
Fi-Si loops suck, because reflection (while healthy) is a really productive exercise; but while in the loop this reflection can paralyze you. It's also difficult to notice from the outside, because it's being done in secret.

I remember the last time I know that I got into this loop, it was earlier this month. I was scolding myself for procrastinating... then thought about my past experiences of procrastinating... then thought about past job failures... then projected this to my future career...
 
#11 ·
I actually think Si is the worst function to get into a loop with. Ni/Ti seems really common because the functions compliment each other so the users tend to drift toward them most often. But Si is pure evil when being used in an unhealthy manner, especially on NPs, where our introverted judging functions get better use, but therefore end up just making assumptions based off of an unhealthy Si experience.
 
#12 ·
Te-Se loops are pretty destructive. My ENTJ dad has probably been in a loop for majority of his life. He's lost his drive and direction, and just criticizes everything and anything in addition to being very very controlling of anything in his vicinity. Really unpleasant person to be around with.
 
#13 ·
I think my Fi-Ni loops are horrible. It's like everybody turns into a horrible monster and it all grows and I turn into the biggest and worst and eat and destroy all the others. They are nightmare scenarios where only the worst possible things happen. In the book, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the heros visit an island, shrouded in mist where all your worst nightmares become real. That is what my Fi-Ni loops are like. And they have made me suicidal when I was younger. Wish I knew then what I know now.
 
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