Optimism, Cynicism, and Cognitive Functions

Trifoilum

Trifoilum

find wisdom, build hope.
MBTI
INFJ
Enneagram
6w5
Are they related? How are you faring with being pessimist and cynic? And how about optimism?

I suspect they are because after some personal looking, I realized that it's so very easy for me to be a cynic. To point out everything that's wrong, to see everything's ugly side. Ni's looking at something at a glance and without any mercy Ti starts ripping them off into heaps of negativity and what could go wrong. I call it being a doomsayer.

Now in comparison, my INTJ friend can also be a doomsayer (..literally, I think), but I noticed that she's always being that whenever she's stressed. Whenever she's disappointed with the world. (I considered it Te >> flipping into Ti) Whereas for me, seeing things in a negative light is as easy as second breathing. I don't need to be stressed or disappointed to do that.

In opposition, being an optimist can be hard for me. This one, I have to be in a good mood to recognize all the good sides. It's easy to be blindfully optimist, but not reasonably optimistic. I'm beginning to suspect Fe were having a part in this instead of Ti, or maybe Fi instead.

What's your opinion on this?
 
Absolutely.

NF's are called idealists after all, NT's are called rationalists.
 
Doooooomed! We're all doomed!

*sings the doom song from InvaderZIM*
 
Yeah, I believe it's true too, since I tend to be much higher on my T-functions when I'm being cynical
 
I'd consider myself to be more optimistic than pessimistic. My Ti and Te are not very developed, though. Interestingly, I think I chose to not really develop my thinking functions because it always eemed to me that logical thinking was a gateway to allowing negative thought. It's not that I want to be blind to rationality, it's that I want to look past it and find a way to make things better. Therefore, the mind of an idealist vs. a rationalist.
 
Well, I don't think necessarily that the use of T-functions makes a person cynical. From my experience, I become cynical first, and then my Ti tops out because I reject, in some part, my Fe.
 
I score rather high on my thinking functions and I consider myself a moderate optimist.

I've learned on my own skin that no perspective is more useless than pessimism. After all, if you have to choose a lens, don't choose the one that magnifies all the obstacles and focuses on all the reasons why you can't overcome them. Choose a viewpoint that will empower you, not cripple you.
 
My optimism outshines my pessimism. When I sink into a cynical slump, it's usually highly emotional, and disappears after I get a chance to organize my thoughts. It takes a lot to get me down about "stuff/life/the world" and keep me down.
 
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