Are INFJs useful to society?

[Orion]

It has always been an issue of personal development, as to whether an INFJ can effectively communicate and place on the overall or immediate environment, there ideas, plans of action and values.

In other words, for an INFJ to make a difference or to have any impact on the world around them... they have to be pretty badass.

I guess you could say that about any individual but for INFJ's, the issue is a much larger one if you live in a world that operates in a way that is completely non-conducive to the way you operate.

The intrinsic nature of Ni>Fe>Ti>Se cognitive preference is an overwhelming sense of how things should be and an even bigger desire to see those changes put through. Considering that we hold such little a stake in the collective values and methods of operation in human existence, it is without much surprise that we are quite pissed off.

What would the world be like, if INFJs (or NF types for that matter), represented a significantly higher proportion of the population? The immediate effect of this would be that their perspective would hold a higher stake in culture, society, politics, economics, law, ethics, rights etc.

Would the world as we know it, be a different place? How so?

 

[~jet]

I almost wonder if the fact there are so few INFJs is part of why the world is falling apart

 

[Siamese cat]

I always thought that the number of truly exceptional individuals should be very small. I'm not saying that all INFJs are exceptional nor I'm saying that among other types there are no exceptional people, but for every light to shine brightly you need a lot of darkness. And exceptional people of INFJ type should be even more scarce, because to be exceptional with those traits and to be powerful enough to make an impact on the world you live in in that manner would be a great burden that not many can carry.

I always understood why Gandalf never wanted to take the ring in The lord of the rings. He knew that that much power would be dangerous in the hands of a person with his traits, that what he would make with that power could be either extremely good or extremely bad. I think the same for INFJs, we are to aware of the consequences of our deeds to take any position of power lightly, or to even take it at all.

 

[detectivepope]

I think it would be awful. I like my uniqueness and awkward approach it keeps me from being complacent whilst giving me appreciation for the all types.
On a large scale a lot of INFJ's handle their problems with interaction. There are more than people think, I have a male INFJ friend and he is similar to me but his motivations/dealing with personality pros and cons are completely different. Even though say a board like this is a place for the INFJ's whom struggle with interaction, it is not a representation of a majority as the world has been changed or been influenced by a lot of INFJ's.

A world of people who's natural state is 'internally conflicting' would be scary also.

 

[~jet]

I always thought that the number of truly exceptional individuals should be very small. I'm not saying that all INFJs are exceptional nor I'm saying that among other types there are no exceptional people, but for every light to shine brightly you need a lot of darkness. And exceptional people of INFJ type should be even more scarce, because to be exceptional with those traits and to be powerful enough to make an impact on the world you live in in that manner would be a great burden that not many can carry.

I always understood why Gandalf never wanted to take the ring in The lord of the rings. He knew that that much power would be dangerous in the hands of a person with his traits, that what he would make with that power could be either extremely good or extremely bad. I think the same for INFJs, we are to aware of the consequences of our deeds to take any position of power lightly, or to even take it at all.

I can kinda see where you are coming from, and it is completely fair to say all types have their part to play and INFJs aren't super special (or unprone to flaws of their own) but I don't think I can go along with the 'darkness' bit. From an environmentalist's perspective (along with 97% of all climate scientists, (and marginally the 2% who simply fall in the 'not sure' bracket)), we're running as fast as we can toward a cliff, and even those of us who don't want on this marathon look behind us and see the vast inescapable momentum of lemmingness pushing us forward. The ~only~ real solution to what is already the 6th most deadly extinction level event (and the fastest paced one in the fossil record with no end in sight to prevent it from becoming the 1st most deadly as this next century concludes) is a sudden case of mass responsibility... shift heavily away from meat consumption (as it is far more energy/biomass intensive than vegetable mass, not because I dislike meat or anything), willingly endure several consecutive generations of single-child families (no one gets left out of the opportunity to breed but everyone contributes to the solution, etc), get off fossil fuels, etc... We can't afford a vast sea of darkness to shine in when that vast sea of darkness is carrying us towards biospheric collapse.

I'm cynical because the above is measurably true and because no one wants to listen, much less participate. I fit the INFJ idealist to the point of being able to imagine and even calculate the potential/possibility for a solution, and thus am frustrated by the mass lack of energy among the rest of humanity to reach for that ideal. I'm not sure having more INFJs will help since people tend to get annoying by being critiqued, but at the same time... maybe having more idealism out there would trend toward a popular movement toward idealism? Shrug

 

[Griffin]

This is a topic that has been on my mind for a while, and I'm anxious to hear others thoughts on it as well.

I've always tried to keep the frame of mind that with proper motivation, everyone has something they can offer the world as they are, in that they can see a perspective others may not. I feel that INFJs, for the sheer fact that they form a genre of people that otherwise wouldn't exist, are worth having a larger voice to give every perspective an opportunity to solve society's problems.

As for INFJs constituting a larger percentage of the population and the effects thereof, I feel like on a local/workplace level, there would be fewer disputes over more trivial matters. On a larger scale, I think that NF's idealism would make for a more easily inspired populace. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on the kind of meetings/rallies/protests people start attending more often, I suppose.

 

[VH]

I have a theory about natural selection... It seems like nature creates what a species needs. For example, the higher a population, the greater the percentage of homosexuals in any species. It's as if nature somehow knows how to curb overpopulation.

I think the same holds true for MBTI perspectives. Civilization needs people of every type. Human beings are designed to operate in groups of about 50 to 500, so evolutionarily speaking, I think the tribe/clan needed at several NFs to act as sages and as an ethical-spiritual compass to counterbalance the perspectives of the other types that are necessary for production of food, shelter, etc. However, there didn't need to be very many INFJs... and this is the really interesting part... INFJs are custom designed to influence the types that gravitate toward leadership (ENFJ, ENTJ, etc.) making the INFJ's tribal role the spiritual advisor to the leaders, while the INTJ role is the intellectual advisor to the leaders, explaining why the Ni dominant types are naturally occuring in the smallest numbers.

INFPs and ENFPs would perform the same roles of ethical compass, but for the more common types (SJs and SPs) directly, which is why they are more common. 1 INFJ advises a dozen leaders. 1 INFP or ENFP advises a dozen commoners. Therefore there needs to be about a 10 to 1 ratio INFJ to INFP/ENFP. Modern percentage populations would agree.

Therefore, the role of the INFJ to society is to contemplate and advise those who can lead and inspire. However, we now live in a different era with different tools and a much greater population, and there are a great deal of options available to INFJs to help them perform this role. It can be confusing to the INFJ, who's instincts tell her to simply share her contemplations with those who seek them. The tribe no longer supports the sage in exchange for her advice, so now the INFJ must seek a way to both engage her instincts as well as make a paycheck. A confusing proposition to say the least. To make matters worse, we now live in a day and age that provides FAR more for INFJs to contemplate, both with respect to the news, mass communication, and entertainment.

I can see why this is in question. However as a leader, I'm VERY glad to have the advice and support of my INFJs.

 

[Siamese cat]

I can kinda see where you are coming from, and it is completely fair to say all types have their part to play and INFJs aren't super special (or unprone to flaws of their own) but I don't think I can go along with the 'darkness' bit. From an environmentalist's perspective (along with 97% of all climate scientists, (and marginally the 2% who simply fall in the 'not sure' bracket)), we're running as fast as we can toward a cliff, and even those of us who don't want on this marathon look behind us and see the vast inescapable momentum of lemmingness pushing us forward. The ~only~ real solution to what is already the 6th most deadly extinction level event (and the fastest paced one in the fossil record with no end in sight to prevent it from becoming the 1st most deadly as this next century concludes) is a sudden case of mass responsibility... shift heavily away from meat consumption (as it is far more energy/biomass intensive than vegetable mass, not because I dislike meat or anything), willingly endure several consecutive generations of single-child families (no one gets left out of the opportunity to breed but everyone contributes to the solution, etc), get off fossil fuels, etc... We can't afford a vast sea of darkness to shine in when that vast sea of darkness is carrying us towards biospheric collapse.

I'm cynical because the above is measurably true and because no one wants to listen, much less participate. I fit the INFJ idealist to the point of being able to imagine and even calculate the potential/possibility for a solution, and thus am frustrated by the mass lack of energy among the rest of humanity to reach for that ideal. I'm not sure having more INFJs will help since people tend to get annoying by being critiqued, but at the same time... maybe having more idealism out there would trend toward a popular movement toward idealism? Shrug

I don't think an idealism should be popular at all. For every problem, you need one good idea for the solution and many people to make it a reality. Having too many people with different ideas is a situation where they'll butt heads about whose idea is the best for implementation and in the end nothing or very little will be done. So what we really need is a limited number of truly exceptional people with strength and charisma to motivate people to work on implementing their idea. Having to many people like this could be even worse than what we have now, imo.

 

[Free Mind]

Having more NF types wouldn't hurt I think. It may help in initiating a change for the betterment of man kind.

 

[~jet]

I don't think an idealism should be popular at all. For every problem, you need one good idea for the solution and many people to make it a reality. Having too many people with different ideas is a situation where they'll butt heads about whose idea is the best for implementation and in the end nothing or very little will be done. So what we really need is a limited number of truly exceptional people with strength and charisma to motivate people to work on implementing their idea. Having to many people like this could be even worse than what we have now, imo.

But that's exactly the problem; not to hijack the thread too far away from the original question, but there is no survivable solution (less consumption, smarter consumption, less consumers, finding new haunts off planet, etc) without everyone being on board (unless, I suppose, those who survive did so by abandoning the vast majority to a fate of famine and war.) Granted, that ought to come from a small set of ideas that are ubiquitously approved. The issue here is not enough people seek or even recognize the ideal, and the vastness of our consumptive power, we're kinda in a pickle.

 

[PeaceSeeker]

Having too many people with different ideas is a situation where they'll butt heads about whose idea is the best for implementation and in the end nothing or very little will be done. So what we really need is a limited number of truly exceptional people with strength and charisma to motivate people to work on implementing their idea. Having to many people like this could be even worse than what we have now, imo.

I think it's better to have more people working on a problem than fewer, provided that everybody checks their EGO at the door.

 

[the]

I dont see why INFJs cant make just as much a difference as anyone else.

 

[VH]

Having more NF types wouldn't hurt I think. It may help in initiating a change for the betterment of man kind.

The problem is that there are too many of us. It has allowed us to form unspoken coalitions with each other against the people we're supposed to be helping.

I dont see why INFJs cant make just as much a difference as anyone else.

They can make more of a difference than most. See Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Hayao Miyazaki, Morihei Ueshiba.

 

[Free Mind]

The problem is that there are too many of us. It has allowed us to form unspoken coalitions with each other against the people we're supposed to be helping.

Could you divulge a little more on that point and maybe give a few examples?

 

[~jet]

Could you divulge a little more on that point and maybe give a few examples?

If we're gonna discuss solutions to human extinction, it should probably be its own thread =3

My entire point was that it's going to take idealism to achieve a solution; thus ideal ought to be more powerful than it is in modern 'satiate-me' society.

 

[detectivepope]

I dont see why INFJs cant make just as much a difference as anyone else.

They do, its only the ones who don't whom assume the notion.

 

[TinyBubbles]

If you consider the INFJ temperament as that of a driven idealist, then yes of course they are useful to society. The Ni+Fe driven passion to reform things, when sufficiently backed by the practical elements of Ti and Se, has the potential to create a more humane society. In a world where apathy is rife, an INFJ is a very rare individual. Additionally, their stamina would naturally lead to others assisting them in their cause.

Speaking in general though, I kind of think NF's are the glue of the most basic society, the family. Without an NF to keep everyone together and feeling loved and happy, people would drift apart.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

I don't think INFJs are so useful as constitutive of society.

I don't mean that the only contribution INFJs make to society, is by being a member - rather, INFJs probably disproportionately influence the direction/identity of society. That is to say, INFJs probably significantly influence a society's notion of what it is to be a society per se. The more practical types are probably disproportionately more useful.



I use the word 'probably' liberally, because such contributions are very difficult to gauge - and arguing that abstract contributions are made, while consistent with the operation of the INFJ type, would require a very taxing historical study, which would be shady at best.

 

[the]

They can make more of a difference than most. See Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Hayao Miyazaki, Morihei Ueshiba.

Thats true I guess. INFJs are better than everyone else. /sarcasm

 

[Wyote]

INFJs are catalysts so their "usefulness" is not generally directly observable. It is more natural and practical to have a world of Doers, with a handful of catalysts to tip things in one direction or another when needed. A world full of INFJs would make little/slow progress.