Joined
·
169 Posts
Hey everyone,
My goal with this thread is to try to form a consensus around what functions really are psychologically. I have no doubt that Jung had his own very clear idea of this, but since we can't ask him for his input and the field has moved forward quite a ways in his absence, I think trying to suss this out for ourselves could help end a lot of disagreements and misunderstandings.
I'll start with my own contention: We all, as human beings, have to make use of sensing (to perceive and think about the external world), intuition (to generate and test ideas), thinking (to categorize and validate our perceptions), and feeling (to tie things together and harmonize our thoughts). From early on we prioritize one kind of perception and one kind of judgement. However, we also need a mix of externally- and internally-driven thoughts in order to have a fruitful thought process. Thus one of our leading functions takes-on a preference for introversion and the other for extroversion.
The subconscious response to these leading functions is to counter-balance with the tertiary and inferior functions. For example, dominant Te structuring implicitly relies on a set of Fi personal values to give the structures purpose (though the Te-dom mind might be reluctant to admit it).
In this model, the functions are not separate sections of the brain that operate independently of each other. They're more like colored lenses that overlay our entire thought process. A Te-dom and an Fe-dom will respond similarly to the same situation, but their way of looking at it will be different: the Te-dom will be giving structure and the Fe-dom will be fostering harmony.
This is why, in my mind, there is no need to call-up a set of 4 other "hidden" functions, since Fi is not different in nature from Fe (it just has a different focus) and since situations that are typically associated with Fi can be managed by using combinations of other functions (Ni and Fe for example).
TL;DR There is no agreed, fundamental difference in nature between introverted and extroverted functions. There's no proof that all 8 functions correspond to discrete brain patterns. So why insist that all people make use of all 8? And what is the benefit of discussing "hidden" functions?
[To the reader: Please feel free to introduce your own understanding of the nature of the functions, or to argue the points I've made here]
My goal with this thread is to try to form a consensus around what functions really are psychologically. I have no doubt that Jung had his own very clear idea of this, but since we can't ask him for his input and the field has moved forward quite a ways in his absence, I think trying to suss this out for ourselves could help end a lot of disagreements and misunderstandings.
I'll start with my own contention: We all, as human beings, have to make use of sensing (to perceive and think about the external world), intuition (to generate and test ideas), thinking (to categorize and validate our perceptions), and feeling (to tie things together and harmonize our thoughts). From early on we prioritize one kind of perception and one kind of judgement. However, we also need a mix of externally- and internally-driven thoughts in order to have a fruitful thought process. Thus one of our leading functions takes-on a preference for introversion and the other for extroversion.
The subconscious response to these leading functions is to counter-balance with the tertiary and inferior functions. For example, dominant Te structuring implicitly relies on a set of Fi personal values to give the structures purpose (though the Te-dom mind might be reluctant to admit it).
In this model, the functions are not separate sections of the brain that operate independently of each other. They're more like colored lenses that overlay our entire thought process. A Te-dom and an Fe-dom will respond similarly to the same situation, but their way of looking at it will be different: the Te-dom will be giving structure and the Fe-dom will be fostering harmony.
This is why, in my mind, there is no need to call-up a set of 4 other "hidden" functions, since Fi is not different in nature from Fe (it just has a different focus) and since situations that are typically associated with Fi can be managed by using combinations of other functions (Ni and Fe for example).
TL;DR There is no agreed, fundamental difference in nature between introverted and extroverted functions. There's no proof that all 8 functions correspond to discrete brain patterns. So why insist that all people make use of all 8? And what is the benefit of discussing "hidden" functions?
[To the reader: Please feel free to introduce your own understanding of the nature of the functions, or to argue the points I've made here]