There are eight functions in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator system. They are Introverted/Extraverted Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, and Intuiting. The abbreviations for these functions are Ti/Te, Fi/Fe, Si/Se, and Ni/Ne.
My understanding from reading about MBTi and watching Youtube videos on the subject (shoutout to the Objective Personality Youtube channel) was that the introverted version of a function was only focused on self, while the extraverted version of a function was only focused on other people or surroundings.
After observing and talking to people about type, it seems like the difference between the introverted version of a function and the extraverted version is a bit more nuanced than that. Let’s take Fe and Fi as an example. A person with Fe as a savior is similar to someone with Fi as a savior in that both people’s lives revolve around what they value and how they feel about things. The difference between the two is that the Fe savior, in addition to understanding how they feel about something, goes out and seeks to understand how other people feel about things and share how they feel. In a sense, Fe has a drive to contextualize their feelings. An Fi savior, on the other hand, does not have as strong of a drive to share and compare. This is not to say that they won’t when the situation arises — it’s just that they don’t go out of their way to contextualize their feelings as much as the Fe saviors do. To Fe saviors, feelings are sort of like sense data that use to navigate the world — hence their propensity for sharing and comparing. To Fi saviors, their feelings are something of a unique experience that only they can truly understand and appreciate.
The relationship between Te and Ti is similar in some ways, but not the same as the relationship between Fe and Fi. This goes for every other introverted / extraverted function pairing as well. In theory, it is easy to make some general remarks about how the two differ, but in practice, it is useful to know the distinct hallmarks that tell each introverted / extraverted function pair apart.
Learning and Teaching
I was thinking about how to teach your kids the things you want them to learn. There are certain things I want my kids to learn, if I have kids, but from what I’ve heard from parents it seems rather difficult to impart the lessons without pushback.
The things that kids pick up from their parents, it seems, without failure are their habits and their ways of dealing with situations. In a sense, it seems like everything parents teach kids are encoded in their actions. This isn’t to say words aren’t helpful (speaking is an action, after all), but you’d probably teach your kid more if you never spoke to them than if you only spoke to them.
What I’m trying to say is if you want to teach your future kids something, learn it yourself and incorporate it into your life before you have kids. Also, lessons are best given in context — that is, when they are needed and sought after — than preemptively, or out of context. If someone has a problem but doesn’t want advice, don’t give advice.
Wow, how many times has that been written about?
Thinking in Bets
Question: Why play poker when you can bet in real life with your time, money, and energy?
Counter: Since poker is a simplified version of the real life decision-making process, it may be easier to learn how to make good decisions there and then apply them to real life.
Counter: Poker takes a lot of time to get good at, and you can learn decision making skills and more by doing something else instead. Poker is a great analogy for decision making skills, but that may be mostly tangential to the actual experience of the game.
