Of course we feel, lol. I'm not sue I'd say it's "not as intensely" (how can anyone say that about anyone else, anyway?), but I can say that it confuses us a lot more. If someone asks me how I feel, I don't always know. If I'm upset (to the point where it's now uncontrollable, and other people can tell) and someone asks me why, I might have no idea. They probably just take it as a "well, it was a personal question, so he probly just doesn't want to tell me," but truthfully I probably don't exactly know myself.
They don't affect my decisions because logic is like a step beyond feelings. When you're in a dark room, as a youngun, you might be afraid because you can't see anything. That's partially true... you're more vulnerable to attack in the dark, so the fear makes sense. When you grow up, though, you learn to reason that even though you can't see, there's probably nothing about to suddenly attack you in your locked-room, so you ignore the fact that you can't see, and the initial feelings it brought up, and choose to ignore it.
Another simple reason they're kept from interfering is because, esp with INTPs, feelings are quite simply a weak point. I think I said it on this forum (though I can't remember if it was here or not for sure), but assaulting an inferior function is the best way to attack someone. If someone tries to make an emotional-argument (like, say, a documentary on animal cruelty in slaughterhouses), it feels like you're being attacked from behind. I want to say "damnit, man! Where's your honor? If you have a point [read: reason], come and argue with me face to face."
"Don't take it personally" means, well... exactly what shai said. If you're wrong, then you're wrong. What's the problem? Everyone's wrong sometimes. I do understand where feelers are coming from, since they put "themselves" into the things they believe, but I don't even think most sensible Thinkers care very much if people are "right" or not, so long as they're learning. Or... at least, I bet the xxTPs are like that; the xxTJs might have a different idea, though. I'd say that it's most helpful for feelers to understand "don't take it personally" as "I don't think any less of you if you're wrong. Why are you getting so defensive?"
In general, I don't think there
is an emotional side to the things being debated... especially with your Perceiving Thinkers. You're arguing about things that are "out there." I think they look one way, while you think they look another. We're not arguing about how things are as much as we are about how much more likely it is that they're the way I see them. Aside from the INTP-title, I'm probably about the worst stereotype of someone to argue with; I'm one of the (rare, especially among INTPs) very serious Christians, who basically only take metaphysical ideas from the bible (unless it proves itself wrong, somehow), and I started down that path while quite young. Nevertheless, I recently read an argument that absolutely swept the feet out from under a core point in my theology, despite several years of theology classes and lots of self-reading. Do I feel any "less" or personally offended after having been wrong for 6-ish years? No! I just have to go "well... crap. I sure messed that up," and switch perspectives. I actually made a little promise with myself that if I held very, very similar worldviews for more than a few years, I'd start to worry that I'd stopped growing and put some time into figuring out what had gone wrong in that time. So when you argue about something, it's not about yourself at all. It's an opportunity to grow as a person.
One thing I only half-agree with shai on, though, is that it's childish to be offended if you're told that you're wrong. At least, I think that's very true, but there's a parallel for Thinkers that he demonstrated, but didn't mention. Thinkers are emotionally childish in that they try to ignore their feelings as much as possible (protecting the weaker functions), and have like an unspoken rule that they all think that everyone should be the same in that way. "I don't need to acknowledge/use my emotions, so you shouldn't either" translates --> "people who can't control their emotions as much as I can [in argument] are childish." I really
don't think they have any place in argument, and that they hurt things way more than help them, but INTPs at least, as a general rule, act like they don't have any good use at all (except maybe in romantic relationships, a bit--but God knows how they're actually supposed to be used in that context
). It's really dumb of us.... but *shrug*... what can I say?
