Dominant Introverted Thinking (Ti)

Read a lot. Read a variety of topics. Read smart. Be it fiction, non-fiction, news,
magazines, or blogs - anything that allows you to analyze and build your library of
knowledge. Id say, dont waste time on things like tabloids or facebook newsfeeds of
what your acquaintances are doing. Check out my #brain food section and brain food
resources for where I get my brain food.

Read things that dont align with your point of view and analyze them. A good
exercise is to read blogs or articles that give rational explanations of a point of view
opposite to yours. If youre an atheist, try reading a fundamental Christians argument
and understand the basis of their thought process. You dont have to agree with a value to
understand where its coming from. In fact, the more the opposing view pisses you off
and makes you want to passionately defy its logic with yours, the better.

Find loopholes/inconsistencies in research paper. This was given as assignments in one

of my 3rd year human biology courses. The professor would give us a masters degree
candidates research paper draft and make us find loopholes in them. It was a great
exercise for your brain.

Make a habit of googling things right away. If there are things you arent sure of that
come up in your train of thoughts or during a conversation, google them right away, so
that youll know the facts and wont have to base your subsequent analysis on an
assumption (or as soon as you can, if youre in social situations and it could be
considered rude).

Practice your spatial reasoning skills. These puzzles test your problem solving skills
and visual-spatial intelligence. I loved doing these when I was little. Heres one, and
heres another one.

Auxiliary Extraverted Intuition (Ne)

Stimulate divergent thinking i.e. a thought process or method used to generate creative
ideas by exploring many possible solutions - which is the way Ne works. Try these
classic creativity challenges.

Brainstorm or mind map. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible in a short
period of time. Use one idea to stimulate another idea and be creative. Dont limit
yourself with any structure.

Freewrite. Choose a topic and write non-stop for a short period of time. The idea is to
write down whatever comes to mind about the topic, without stopping to proofread or
revise.

Imagine possibilities of real life situations. Ive described this here: Work your Ne: an
INTPs secret to being quick-witted. Id imagine possible conversations with people I
know, stock up possible come backs, and think of how I could manipulate the situations
to go toward each possibility. Basically, try to cover everything that could happen to you
in your imagination.

Think of different sides of someone you know. Its hard to know every sides of
someone. Maybe you know them as a friend, but not as a coworker, and you dont know
how they act with their grandfather. Its a fun exercise to imagine what theyd be like in
other situations.

Experience new things. Visit new places. You can only generate so many ideas in your
own head alone - find inspirations externally. Ne cannot come up with ideas if you dont
feed it with new experiences and information to create more connections and patterns
with. Art galleries and museums are great places to let your Ne explore. I always get tons
of ideas after visiting these places alone (yes, go alone, so youre not distracted by
conversations and youre allowed to use your own imagination).

Tertiary Introverted Sensing (Si)

Memory exercises. These brain training apps have many great games that exercise your
memory recall.

Dream recall right when you wake up. When youre gaining consciousness and are still
lying on bed, quickly try to recall as much details of your dream as possible. If you dont
do it right then, youll forget within a few seconds. I find this a fun memory exercise and
you always get interesting stories.

Yoga, meditation, and relaxation techniques that help you become attuned with your
internal body awareness. Quoting Personality Junkie an often overlooked role of Si is
its perception of internal bodily sensationsthe body as felt and experienced from
within. Perhaps more than any other function, it provides access to the raw and basic
sense of being that exists apart from thought or outward stimuli. I find it easy to focus
during meditation since I was young (I grew up in a Buddhist family), and yoga has
really helped me personally to be aware of what my body can do, and how its linked to
my mind.

Inferior Extraverted Feelings (Fe)

Think of your favorite music, art, and literature that really touched you. Try to
understand why you feel a certain way while listening/looking/reading them. Which
component is more memorable to you? Which word, color, or sound evoke strong
feelings, and why?

Draw, paint, write, act, sing, dance, play and create music, or whatever it is that allow
you to express yourself intuitively without adhering strictly to rationality and logic.
Allow yourself to explore these realm and create by instinct rather than objective
analysis.

Analyze the reasons you can relate to certain people and not others. How do the
people you can relate to make you feel, and how are they different from people you
cant? What makes you want to spend time with certain people and not others? What do
you like in people and what irritates you? Quantify these feelings into words.

Observe yourself in relation to a group. Because of inferior Fe, INTPs tend to

chameleonize themselves and mirror others unconsciously. It is important to be aware of
what youre doing. Observe how youre influenced by the tone of a group youre in, and
observe how you feel differently from them.

Recognize your own needs and stand up for them. Ive written my advice on this here:
Developing inferior Fe, How happy can an INTP really get? and its ok to feel meh.

Ni - Crystal Ball:

Introverted Intuition is a function devoted to prediction and generalized analysis. It

is imprecise, seemingly-groundless, and often doesnt give you all the information youd

like, but it gives you enough to work with. Ni-users will often be able to extrapolate the
vague hints given to them in order to work out what the future will hold.

A crystal ball supposedly works the same way; giving one a hazy vision of future
events which a canny mystic can twist to their advantage.

INFJs and INTJs - the Ni-dominants - are often referred to as Seers and Strategists
(respectively) for that very reason. They often baffle others with their insight, and I told
you so is among their favourite phrases.

Te - Chess Piece/Rook:

Extroverted Thinking is a function devoted to rational empiricism and organisation.

It is a no-nonsense and practical function which spends its time orchestrating situations
and turning theories into facts, and facts into action. Te is forever dissatisfied with
something if it has no practical application.

The Rook symbol is, aptly, largely symbolic, representing the Te traits of
turning rules into action plans, and dispensing with possibility in favour of
probability. It has little time for pointless, directionless thought puzzles; it seeks to
complete the task as effectively as possible. That is, to try and win the game often by
any means necessary.

ENTJs and ESTJs - the Te-dominants - are renowned in MBTI theory as being
authoritative, organised, impetuous, and rational traits afforded to them by Te.

Fi - Weighing Scales:

Introverted Feeling is a function wholly concerned with ones internal value systems
(rather than the values of the society the Fi-user lives in). Fi cares little for public
opinion, and instead bases all moral and emotion decision upon a value system it has
already constructed. It has steadier conviction than its extroverted counterpart (Fe),
which bases its judgements upon the values of others, but can come across as being
stubborn.

The Scales represent the Fi tendency to evaluate new value data based on a preexisting standard. Scales are used to determine the weight of things in comparison to a
set of weights one already owns. As such, i thought it apt.

ISFPs and INFP - the Fi-dominants - are renowned for being quietly-determined
individuals, with a strong emotional or artistic side. This is precisely what Fi grants.

Se - Telescope:

Extroverted Sensing does exactly what it says on the tin; it is responsible for
awareness of the external environment. It focuses heavily upon sights, sounds, smells,
and other sensations. It can seem very temporary to outsiders, but Se will often notice seemingly without effort - the minute details which others may miss.

The Telescope is a tool designed purely for searching and observing an environment;
a magnifying glass performs a similar role. It serves no function other than to relay
sensory information back to its user - exactly what Se does.

ESTPs and ESFP - the Se-dominants - are often regarded as excitable and easilydistracted, but often surprise those around them with profound observations about the
world which everyone else seems to miss.

Si - Book:

Introverted Sensing (a.k.a. subjective memory) is a function devoted to

remembering - most notably, remembering details according to the interpretation of
the individual. An example of what Si might remember is Roast beef is eaten on
Sundays - not so much a fact, but a subjective impression of the world. Si is also
associated with traditionalism and routine, making sure everything is as it was before. Siusers are probably the most common types which is good, because its they who keep
the world running.

Books are written accounts made (usually) by a single writer, and as such their
contents are written from a certain point of view. Nevertheless, that point of view is
preserved within and passed down to others - exactly as Si does.

ISFJs and ISTJs - the Si-dominants - are famed for their ability to remember the way of
things, and know the way things should be. Theyre also known for keeping grudges,
but also being loyal friends.

Fe - Compass:

Extroverted Feeling is all about seeing what the objective good is, and
understanding how others feel about given ideas. It is the function most closely
associated with empathy, and - when done right - allows one to adjust ones behaviour in
order to fit in and not cause upset. It can also help one understand anothers pain but it
can result in gaining a herd mentality, or may encourage one to take unwelcome
actions for everyones own good.

A compass is a tool used to navigate by observing and following objective, external

cues; it literally points you in the direction you should be going. This in in contrast to
Fi, which doesnt care to look at outside cues when deciding which path to take.

ESFJs and ENFJs - the Fe-dominants - are well-known for their caring and responsible
nature, but can seem stifling if they decide they know whats best for you.

Ti - Atomic Model:

Introverted Thinking is all about theories, puzzles, logic, and mental challenges.
Quite unlike its extroverted counterpart, Ti is quite content to frolic in the intellectual
realm, spending hours hypothesising and playing with ideas. It is a function closely
associated with philosophy and mathematics, where ideas are bound only by reason, and
not by observable (and boring) reality.

The Atomic Model is something developed to aid understanding of a scientific

concept - ergo, it is an idea in its purest form. It resembles an atom only as much as it
needs to; so that it can fire the imagination, and be the foundation for even more
theorising.

INTPs and ISTPs - the Ti-dominants - constantly disassemble and reassemble reality
inside their own heads, in order to figure out how it works. This can be anything from
mentally de-constructing a car, to mentally de-constructing the laws of physics.

Ne - Fireworks:

Extroverted Intuition is the function broadly associated with ideas, creativity, lateral
thinking, and spontaneousness. It is generally regarded as the imagination function,
and can generate ideas seemingly from nothing. Quite unlike its introverted cousin which focuses on probability - Ne focuses on possibility, and makes jumps in logic large
enough make an Ni-users head spin. While this is useful, Ne-users can find that they
struggle to do anything practical with their disparate collection of thoughts.

Fireworks are loud, exciting, colourful, and amazing but the number of actual
applications for them is limited. They can easily inspire some people, and frighten
others, but fireworks alone can do little more than entertain.

ENFPs and ENTPs - the Ne-dominants - are regarded as the mad inventors of MBTI,
letting their Ne run wild before reigning the ideas in with their auxiliary functions,
thereafter putting them to purpose in ways that others can only marvel at.

I dont expect you to necessarily agree with all that, but ive presented my reasoning. Hopefully
you can better see the symbols from my point of view.