In the article below, Gerroir, an Ni type, contributes with his personal understanding of the system. We at CelebrityTypes do not necessarily agree with Gerroir on every point, but we found his article an insightful read.
By Jesse Gerroir
Understanding the opposition of functions is one of the keys to understanding Jungian typology and how the functions function (so to speak).
If one looks at the cognitive functions of any type it becomes apparent that you always see certain functions paired: Te and Fi always go together, just like Si and Ne, Ti and Fe, and Se and Ni. These functions will always oppose each others’ places in the function, so that the stronger one side is expressed in consciousness, the more its reverse will be repressed from consciousness. For example, if a person is an Ne dominant, then his inferior function will always be Si. This is because Ne and Si exist in a relationship where they are polar opposites and where they balance each other in a way.
In Jungian typology, the reason we study typology is to transcendent our own types – to become individuated. The general goal of individuation is to become more competent with the bottom two functions which reside at the very bottom of consciousness and even in the unconscious. Here they exist primarily as urges or unrefined, almost infantile, states of “everything or nothing.” But our aim is to try and make them mature: To try to incorporate them into the general consciousness. But first, I’ll give you some definitions.
Ni and Ne
Where Ne goes from the one to the many – the one object to the many things the object could be and the many alterations in which it could exist – Ni goes from the many to the one. Many impressions about the object all surround the object like a cloud. All converging on the one greater idea of what the object is and means. When examining an object Ni does not of itself seek to change the object like Ne does. Instead of trying to imagine what the object could be, Ni seeks instead to change the perspective of the viewer.
Now the opposite function of Ni is Se. Se is direct physical sensation raw and unfiltered. The object itself is all that exists, and Se tends to take its cures from the object’s immediate physical form. Se prefers to explore and understand the physicality of that immediate form and how it will perform with regards to its immediate implications. It wants to experience the object as fully as possible.
So Se and Ni are polar opposites. The tension between Se and Ni is a source of both trouble and release in the Ni dominant types (INTJ and INFJ). Because the Se is there, it reminds INTJs and INFJs of this world – that they actually have bodies and are physical beings with physical urges, wants, and needs, and that sometimes you can’t just sit around in a daydream – you need to actually get stuff done – to take action.
Because their Se is repressed, that is also why Ni dominants tend to binge a bit, binge on sensation itself, be it drinking, sex, food, cigarettes, or other things. At such times, they’re suddenly released from the spell of Ni; they get out of their heads and in almost out of character moments just experience pure sensation for a time. This is a welling-up of the unconscious craving and urge of Se that brings the INJ back into his body and back in tune with physical existence.
Inferior Se
Also to some degree inferior Se will act as kind of a catalyst for much of an INJ’s ambition. Where Ni is naturally removed from the world, Se wants to be a presence. If pure Ni could have its way, it actually wouldn’t want to be an active participant in the world (as participation would pollute the perception). The tricky thing is that in INTJs the secondary function is Te which is very good at defining and categorizing outward objects and reality, and thus actually tends to mitigate the rather passive nature of pure Ni.
INFJs, on the other hand, have Fe as their secondary function. To them, the world is seen as being primarily filled with people. People who are complex and have feelings and identities, all of which are variable, and who need the empathic understanding of the INFJ. Fe tends to pick up on the feelings of others and is interested in creating harmony between differing viewpoints. Thus one problem of NFJs is that they tend to have a hard time remembering where others end and where they themselves begin or vice versa (in other words, NFJs types tend to lose their authentic selves in a stream of external situations, as each situation is perceived as “requiring” their empathic participation). They’re so tuned in to the other person’s needs and general character that they will forget that they are themselves a separate person with their own wants, needs, emotions, and identity.
INTJ vs. INTP
So as we have noted above, the introverted nature of an INTJ is balanced by their Te. For this reason, INTJs are not prone to the same kind of absent-minded shut-in where they obsessively work through a problem as the INTPs are. INTPs seem to actually derive a sort of pleasure from committing themselves to a state of total absentmindedness where they can mull over their own thoughts without having to consider the needs of the real world or the emotions of others (Fe). To the INTP, the state of shutting themselves off from the world is an end in itself.
In contrast, at the end of an introverted reverie, INTJs will spring from the meditative state and into action in the real world. They will do so with such zeal and purpose and power that they’ll seem a purely directed will in the world, and in a way that is what they are. Where the NTPs will say ‘know thyself,’ the NTJs will instead say ‘will thyself.’ With the INTJ this is because their ego is fused with their thoughts, whereas in the INTP, their thoughts are largely detached from their ego. This is both due to Ni and Se, but here I’ll just focus on the inferior Se. With regards to Se, it is because Se is urging the entire personality back into the real world, saying: “Now you’ve mused for long enough. Now it’s time to take action, to direct that will in the world, to be a presence, to dominate.” So that is one difference between INTJs and INTPs.
Se in INTJs
So Se seeks to be a bit of an alpha. You see it in ESPs in the way that they are often quite the presence in a room – big, tall, and loud. They strive to be seen, and heard, to be themselves a real and concrete object.
But in INTJs, Se is unconscious. That is why, if you ask an INTJ why he likes achievement so much, he will often be unable to answer. INTJs derive satisfaction from achievement itself, and achievement is very much an end in and of itself. Achievement leaves INTJs feeling validated, because their grand plans and visions becoming manifest in the world is unconsciously seen as a manifestation of their selves in the world. The self. Made solid. Turned into an object, into a presence. It is through the reality of an achievement that the INTJ is allowed to feel as if he has realized himself.
So though you, as an INTJ, may be tempted to fight Se, don’t do it. It serves an important function in the overall makeup of the psyche, drawing you back out into the real world. The INTJ who foolishly fights his Se will eventually become consumed by it – by his repressed ambition and urge towards domination. He will utterly hate the impositions of the outer world, that is, the world of physical things, of people and objects, and everything that they impose on his disposition to shut himself into a pure reverie of passivity. Seeking to destroy the inferior function instead of making peace with it becomes a way of life, where one has little to offer the world besides keeping one’s inferior dispositions in check. More often than not, one will end up as a failed human being.
Conversely, when integrated into the whole personality of an INTJ in a healthy manner, Se is there to shout: “Hey, stop it! None of that Ni stuff matters. The world is real. Objects are real. Let loose, and learn to enjoy it!”