Developmental Trajectory for Compound Functions?

[siannodel]

As I'm looking at myself through the lens of being an FiSe type rather than an INFJ, I'm thinking about how some of my past experiences fit into the CT model. About nine years ago, I started to go through a phase in which I thought I was developing my Ti. I'm wondering if other Fi dominant types can relate, and whether my experience sheds light on the developmental process for compound functions. What happened was very like the stages of function integration that Auburn describes on this page:

(1) I was raised in a Christian community, and, although doubts came up occasionally I avoided engaging in deep critical thinking about my beliefs.

(2) I found myself asking more questions, and the questions felt more pressing. I started watching debates and reading about different religious perspectives. I admired people who seemed to have good minds and intellectual honesty, and I tried to do what they did.

(3) As I got deeper into this project over the next few years, I came to see reason as the highest value. Sometimes I wondered whether I might actually be a dominant thinking type, but mostly I still saw my weaknesses in this area. It didn't matter that I wasn't as good at reasoning as some people--it was the most important thing, and I had to make sure that everything I did conformed to it.

(4) Starting maybe three years ago, this project of building my beliefs on reason alone waned in importance. I became interested again in things that can't be strictly proved, like the meaning in beauty, art, and spirituality. Like a rubber band, I relaxed back into a more natural state for me, one that navigates more by a felt sense of what is important, although I kept my critical thinking skills and can draw on them when I need them.

I think perhaps the thing I was developing may have been the compound function IT. I am pretty sure it wasn't Te, since I was contemplating the world from a distance rather than manipulating contingencies like Te would. Also Te doesn't show up much in my vultology, or in my general skill set! When I mentioned this to Ash Rose, she pointed out that the development of my Ni may also have been involved.

I would be interested to know if any others have experienced a developmental trajectory like this, with what seems to be a compound function. Let me know your thoughts.

[unknown]

I can relate to your story.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by unknown.

[ButHa]

I had a long post typed up for this. But, to cut to the chase without sounding like a wannabe Chad, I relate to confusing the intentional  development of a compound function (in my case ES) to an actual JCF (in my case-thinking it was Se).

 

OPs post was fantastic. “Fist-bump”

[siannodel]

I don't think functions limits our scope of explorations or intellectual abilities. Any type might want to and try to develop reason based bieliefs and skills. Connecting this to the cognitive type functions I think can be detrimental sometimes.

Although if we analize our experiences in details we may find functional patterns.

 

Hi Peter You're right, and I don't mean to limit the Fi type's analytical abilities. But the way I phrased things may have suggested that. To clarify, I've always been pretty analytical, and still see myself that way. When I was in my teens, I spent a lot of time synthesizing my Christian beliefs, trying to come up with a model that told me what was meaningful and how to live in the most meaningful way. That was definitely a project that required reasoning. But in my late teens and early twenties, something new emerged--a way of thinking that challenged all the things I found meaningful. I began to question how I knew the things I thought I knew. Sure, I wanted to use this more rigorous way of thinking in order to find a source of meaning that was more secure, so it was (mostly) subordinated to the purposes of Fi. But I don't think it was the same as Fi. It challenged me and my values (to the extent that I identify with my dominant function) and often seemed to work against me rather than for me. (In the end, it was a positive thing.)

I have always been a careful thinker, but during this time in my life I was caught up in a way of thinking that was less about meaning and more about the cold facts.

Going back to what you said about functional patterns...I'm interested in the idea that compound functions could develop like the other functions, and have a similar trajectory for becoming integrated. Of course, I could be wrong about the idea that I was developing IT.

Thanks for sharing your experience with Te. I can relate to being so focused on a specific logical error that I miss other considerations. In my late teens, it was like my mind would sometimes become a laser--all my energy focused in on someone's mistake (sometimes it was really petty, like a grammatical error ). This sort of thing toned down for me over the years, but I still become aware at times that I'm focusing too narrowly, and that there might be something more important that I'm missing.

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