What is Te like? | INFJ Forum

What is Te like?

Infjente

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Sep 13, 2017
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The iron fist, the bullshit caller, the playmaker, the ruler, the merciless actualizer?

I only know this function by reputation as "the DO IT function" and from when I've observed/watched people use it - but I don't understand it at all. So I was hoping that those of you who have Te in your primary stack would like to share how you experience and use Te? :m130:


I got inspired by the MBTI philosophy chart that @Deleted member 16771 posted in the Typing philosophy thread, and made an example of how I use my functions philosophy wise (with emphasize on Se):

wheel&MBTI.jpg


Ni "metaphysics" - this is where I "live". In order to decide where I should build - and ensure a solid building structure of my "home" (aka my understanding of reality?), I need to look "outside" for a purposeful position, building expertise and building materials.

Fe "authenticity" - helps me decide where (what area on the chart) I should live, and provides purpose and direction to the building process.

Ti "mathematics" - helps me decide which way is the right way to build for a solid foundation, and what I need in order to do it correctly.

Se "verification" - is where I find the basic building material for my "home". I imagine it to be a huuuge market/store. I can go there to look for specific things I need, - or if I'm clueless of what I need, I can ask the staff to help me out. Or I can just walk around without direction and stumble upon something that inspire whole new designs for my home.

You have full creative freedom of course, but examples would be great since I'm dumb and need to learn by feeling stuff :relaxed:

Oh, and everyone who don't have Te - it would be great if you shared your interpretations of Te as well!

:m045:
 
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The way I see it, Te is thinking in reciprocal relation inside and outside the self.

It is a way of ordering what's outside on the inside and imposing order from the inside to the outside, although some Te-users have a tendency to do the latter. It is the "as it should be" function, and can be especially tyrannical if coupled with Si. IC had a nice chart somewhere that depicted some behaviourisms that come up with use of Ti vs Te, although the line is a bit more blurry than that imo.
Te-users have an intrinsic understanding of the reasons that other people have (but choose their own based on Fi). They are good with Ti, which is why it's all confusing to us to see which is which (well, that and we naturally tend to overlook/disrespect Te), but Fe is more foreign to them, so they also aren't easily swayed by another's perspective unless they consider it superior and worthy to adopt. If you're not a high Te-user, then you're likely to fail using Te, either in becoming overtly and overly critical and project and impose your views on others, whether it's accurate or not.

Basically, what we do with Feeling is what Te does with Thinking ;)
 
My understanding of Te is the drive to make the external world as efficient as possible on the basis of what's true, including people and things.

"We'd like to learn a little bit about you for our files. We'd like to help you learn to help yourself."
 
:tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy: of course!

How/when do you recognize that you're using it? Hmm, ehm, how would you explain the "physiology" of Te in an example?
Since you're getting older, l think it's time for "the talk." You see, in this world there are birds and bees, in other words, Te-users and everybody else.

For example, when a Te-user loves their environment very much, they will organize it towards a particular end. If something or someone isn't working at their best possible capacity, a Te-user will keep fixing things until results change for the better.

Because.. we care about you.
 
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What is Te Like? My Experience
OK, so I need to preface this by saying that my understanding of Te is largely informed by my own experience as an INTJ (Ni Te Fi Se), so be aware that it may be a depiction based largely on what may in fact more accurately be regarded as Ni-Te, and of course I use Ti a lot, too, so take everything I say with that context in mind.

However, I want to emphasise a few things, specifically tailored for an audience of mostly INFJs:
i) Te as the social thinking function
ii) When do INFJs use Te?
iii) Examples of Te in action
iv) How can I describe what Te feels like?


Te as the social thinking function
While Te is often accurately described as ‘objective’ logic or ‘strategic’ thinking, what I think many non-Te users fail to grasp with these descriptions is that it is a very prosocial function. Te is focused on what works for everyone, and while this may manifest as an obsession with objective truth which might rub some people up the wrong way if it is pursued too vigorously, fundamentally Te just wants to explain things and design things in ways that work for everyone. It’s like the Fe of functionality.

Te makes sure that things work for people by designing logical constructs that make sense in the outside or objective world, with reference to a specific audience of end-users. For example, if you’ve ever read a piece of writing that made a very complicated idea very easy to follow, because its argument was arranged in proper sequential order, or it was well-formatted with chapter and section headings, that’s Te. The idea of rational argument in general is very Te. Te has the quality of being able to make something very complicated seem very simple, because it is the social thinking function.


When do INFJs use Te?
I wanted to focus on Te as the social thinking function because I think this is a particularly revealing lens through which INFJs can recognise their own use of it. For INFJs, I think you aren’t likely to be aware of your Te use because it operates through Fe. You subordinate your Te to Fe concerns.

This is to say that, anytime you designed something functional in order to make others feel comfortable, or otherwise affect how they felt, you were using Te (Fe-Te). I’ll give you an example: when @Puzzlenuzzle (INFJ Tidyelf) tidies up, she thinks about how the resulting space will make people feel (Fe), and arranges things in order to make their lives easier (Te); she will give people the space and freedom to move, and might build things that they can use in order to achieve this Fe aim. This is Te subordinated to Fe.

A Te user like me or @Pin just operates this way by default – we will just automatically do things to make them work for others for its own sake, for the joy of designing the system, even though we’ll be aware of the Fe effects (Te-Fe).


Examples of Te in action
When I first started teaching secondary school and college/sixth-form history in the UK (11-18 year olds was my age range), I began in a department that was very unorganised and run by a charismatic but disorganised ExFP head of department. The curriculum was ad-hoc, ‘planned’ week to week or even day to day just to keep things afloat, and the department was plagued by a lack of high-quality resources and organisation.

Somehow, I gradually ‘took over’ the whole organisation and planning of the department because I couldn’t tolerate how disorganised everything was and I obviously just had an inner confidence that I knew best.

I reorganised ‘Staff Common’ to make sense (this was the common drive on which all of our teaching resources were stored – PowerPoints, &c.) with a logical file structure. I re-planned the entire curriculum from foundational teaching aims and government policy. I created a new departmental PowerPoint template (these were the main way we delivered lesson plans) which was both attractive and functional, and ordered all the lessons by numbered sequences. I organised all the staff timetables and instituted new, common policies for behaviour and homework, &c. All of this I organised in a single, centralised ‘Departmental Handbook’ so that anyone could know everything about how the department ‘worked’ from this single document (including a successor as head of department, for example).

Despite being the most junior teacher in the department, the leadership role gradually evolved to me by common consent and the other teachers preferred that I was in control. Predictably, when the head of department went off on sick leave with stress (and because his incompetence had been discovered), I became acting head of department and the place just worked like it never had before. Even a year after leaving that job for a PhD, I know that the staff are still using my systems and resources because I laid a solid foundation of functional machinery. I think this story captures the prosocial nature of Te in use.

I think this is just pure Te probably coupled with Si, but I left teaching because my intellectual needs were not being met. I needed to pursue my Ni theories and this was just not possible in teaching. Yeah I got to do a lot of Te, but I lived in Ni so I was denying myself on a daily basis – living in Te is just not as satisfying long-term for an INTJ in the same way as it might be for an ENTJ, for example.


How can I describe what Te feels like?
Being an INTJ is very similar to being an INFJ, simply with Te-Fi instead of Fe-Ti, so I’d like you to imagine what your Ni feels like.

My experience is the same, except I have a stronger desire to put these Ni visions or theories into a structured order and to bring clarity and precision to the concepts I create.

Ni-Te feels like you have this at first vague notion of an idea which is uncoalesced. This idea or ‘vision’ is dominating and the state of ‘wondering’ about it and around it is the mode you operate in constantly. You can visualise the almost ‘spatial’ relationship between different but related ideas on a visual field, and the process of concretising the vision is to bring these ideas into firmer focus or stronger relationship with each other and with the ways in which they each form part of the core idea. The vision gradually seems to form a net or web of concepts as it materialises from the Ni space. However, the difference with Ni-Ti is that for Ni-Te it isn’t enough that the vision makes internal sense – you constantly check and compare the idea against what is objectively ‘true’, and subject your own idea to the constant pressure of imagined attacks and critiques (either envisioned from others, or simply by the weight of reality bearing upon it). It needs to be real.

I think Ni-Te seeks structure, clarity and precision much more than Ni-Ti, which seems to prefer a more rounded sense of completeness. If I could put it like this, I think you might be able to perceive the difference:

Ni-Ti: Analogue Holistic Theories
Ni-Te: Digital Holistic Theories
 
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I think Ni-Te seeks structure, clarity and precision much more than Ni-Ti, which seems to prefer a more rounded sense of completeness. If I could put it like this, I think you might be able to perceive the difference:

Ni-Ti: Analogue Holistic Theories
Ni-Te: Digital Holistic Theories
Interesting concept, the differentiation into digital and analogue. It resonates very much. But if Ni-Tx deals with Holistic Theories, what is Ni-Fx, I wonder?
 
The way I see it, Te is thinking in reciprocal relation inside and outside the self.

It is a way of ordering what's outside on the inside and imposing order from the inside to the outside, although some Te-users have a tendency to do the latter.

Got it.

It is the "as it should be" function, and can be especially tyrannical if coupled with Si.

"As it should be" this is what I find so hard to understand!! :confounded: How do they know?? It's like they just know how things should be done without thinking (and without the ability to explain why in a thorough, pedagogical way - they just care about that you're doing it). When I was studying at the University (Te everywhere!!!), I often felt completely lost because I couldn't figure out what they wanted me to do! When I begged the teachers to feed it to me with a teaspoon, it was like they couldn't fathom what more there was to explain than the instructions we were already given. I can't do something without understanding what the purpose of it is, and it's like why is considered common knowledge for Te people, and shouldn't have to be explained. (Sorry Te people, but you have scared me)

Te-Si I've seen it, and been on the receiving end of it (ENFP) :fearful:

IC had a nice chart somewhere that depicted some behaviourisms that come up with use of Ti vs Te, although the line is a bit more blurry than that imo.

Who is IC? Yep, blurry blurry line :neutral:

They are good with Ti, which is why it's all confusing to us to see which is which (well, that and we naturally tend to overlook/disrespect Te), but Fe is more foreign to them, so they also aren't easily swayed by another's perspective unless they consider it superior and worthy to adopt. If you're not a high Te-user, then you're likely to fail using Te, either in becoming overtly and overly critical and project and impose your views on others, whether it's accurate or not.

Ah, it's so tricky! Sometimes I've mistaken ISTJ's and INTJ's for being Ti-users because of their dislike for incorrect stuff, and INTP's and ENTP's for Te-users when they're rigid in their judgements. I guess it's the same with i/e Feeling - they can look/act exactly the same, but motivated differently. I don't get Te's motivation and how it's supported/made by the other functions in a way that makes sense to me :sweat: I mean, I get what they want, but not why they want what they want :tearsofjoy:

I think it's easier to recognize low Te because of these "side effects", but it doesn't help with understanding Te-logic :tearsofjoy::sweatsmile:

Basically, what we do with Feeling is what Te does with Thinking ;)

Yeah, that's the only thing that feels familiar with Te, and what I've been using as a base when trying to understand it so far. Not working too well ...
 
It's like they just know how things should be done without thinking (and without the ability to explain why in a thorough, pedagogical way - they just care about that you're doing it).

I didn't read your post @Deleted member 16771 before I replied to Ginny.

Like I said once: you are unlikely to exist! I refuse to change my mind on Te-people being pedagogically challenged, just because you are special.
 
What is Te Like? My Experience
OK, so I need to preface this by saying that my understanding of Te is largely informed by my own experience as an INTJ (Ni Te Fi Se), so be aware that it may be a depiction based largely on what may in fact more accurately be regarded as Ni-Te, and of course I use Ti a lot, too, so take everything I say with that context in mind.

However, I want to emphasise a few things, specifically tailored for an audience of mostly INFJs:
i) Te as the social thinking function
ii) When do INFJs use Te?
iii) Examples of Te in action
iv) How can I describe what Te feels like?


Te as the social thinking function
While Te is often accurately described as ‘objective’ logic or ‘strategic’ thinking, what I think many non-Te users fail to grasp with these descriptions is that it is a very prosocial function. Te is focused on what works for everyone, and while this may manifest as an obsession with objective truth which might rub some people up the wrong way if it is pursued too vigorously, fundamentally Te just wants to explain things and design things in ways that work for everyone. It’s like the Fe of functionality.

Te makes sure that things work for people by designing logical constructs that make sense in the outside or objective world, with reference to a specific audience of end-users. For example, if you’ve ever read a piece of writing that made a very complicated idea very easy to follow, because its argument was arranged in proper sequential order, or it was well-formatted with chapter and section headings, that’s Te. The idea of rational argument in general is very Te. Te has the quality of being able to make something very complicated seem very simple, because it is the social thinking function.


When do INFJs use Te?
I wanted to focus on Te as the social thinking function because I think this is a particularly revealing lens through which INFJs can recognise their own use of it. For INFJs, I think you aren’t likely to be aware of your Te use because it operates through Fe. You subordinate your Te to Fe concerns.

This is to say that, anytime you designed something functional in order to make others feel comfortable, or otherwise affect how they felt, you were using Te (Fe-Te). I’ll give you an example: when @Puzzlenuzzle (INFJ Tidyelf) tidies up, she thinks about how the resulting space will make people feel (Fe), and arranges things in order to make their lives easier (Te); she will give people the space and freedom to move, and might build things that they can use in order to achieve this Fe aim. This is Te subordinated to Fe.

A Te user like me or @Pin just operates this way by default – we will just automatically do things to make them work for others for its own sake, for the joy of designing the system, even though we’ll be aware of the Fe effects (Te-Fe).


Examples of Te in action
When I first started teaching secondary school and college/sixth-form history in the UK (11-18 year olds was my age range), I began in a department that was very unorganised and run by a charismatic but disorganised ExFP head of department. The curriculum was ad-hoc, ‘planned’ week to week or even day to day just to keep things afloat, and the department was plagued by a lack of high-quality resources and organisation.

Somehow, I gradually ‘took over’ the whole organisation and planning of the department because I couldn’t tolerate how disorganised everything was and I obviously just had an inner confidence that I knew best.

I reorganised ‘Staff Common’ to make sense (this was the common drive on which all of our teaching resources were stored – PowerPoints, &c.) with a logical file structure. I re-planned the entire curriculum from foundational teaching aims and government policy. I created a new departmental PowerPoint template (these were the main way we delivered lesson plans) which was both attractive and functional, and ordered all the lessons by numbered sequences. I organised all the staff timetables and instituted new, common policies for behaviour and homework, &c. All of this I organised in a single, centralised ‘Departmental Handbook’ so that anyone could know everything about how the department ‘worked’ from this single document (including a successor as head of department, for example).

Despite being the most junior teacher in the department, the leadership role gradually evolved to me by common consent and the other teachers preferred that I was in control. Predictably, when the head of department went off on sick leave with stress (and because his incompetence had been discovered), I became acting head of department and the place just worked like it never had before. Even a year after leaving that job for a PhD, I know that the staff are still using my systems and resources because I laid a solid foundation of functional machinery. I think this story captures the prosocial nature of Te in use.

I think this is just pure Te probably coupled with Si, but I left teaching because my intellectual needs were not being met. I needed to pursue my Ni theories and this was just not possible in teaching. Yeah I got to do a lot of Te, but I lived in Ni so I was denying myself on a daily basis – living in Te is just not as satisfying long-term for an INTJ in the same way as it might be for an ENTJ, for example.


How can I describe what Te feels like?
Being an INTJ is very similar to being an INFJ, simply with Te-Fi instead of Fe-Ti, so I’d like you to imagine what your Ni feels like.

My experience is the same, except I have a stronger desire to put these Ni visions or theories into a structured order and to bring clarity and precision to the concepts I create.

Ni-Te feels like you have this at first vague notion of an idea which is uncoalesced. This idea or ‘vision’ is dominating and the state of ‘wondering’ about it and around it is the mode you operate in constantly. You can visualise the almost ‘spatial’ relationship between different but related ideas on a visual field, and the process of concretising the vision is to bring these ideas into firmer focus or stronger relationship with each other and with the ways in which they each form part of the core idea. The vision gradually seems to form a net or web of concepts as it materialises from the Ni space. However, the difference with Ni-Ti is that for Ni-Te it isn’t enough that the vision makes internal sense – you constantly check and compare the idea against what is objectively ‘true’, and subject your own idea to the constant pressure of imagined attacks and critiques (either envisioned from others, or simply by the weight of reality bearing upon it). It needs to be real.

I think Ni-Te seeks structure, clarity and precision much more than Ni-Ti, which seems to prefer a more rounded sense of completeness. If I could put it like this, I think you might be able to perceive the difference:

Ni-Ti: Analogue Holistic Theories
Ni-Te: Digital Holistic Theories


This post blows me away. Well done!

I get it now. It's like I had a vague pencil drawn sketch before, and after reading this, the drawing is coming to life. I don't even have a single question. Might as well close the thread.
 
@Deleted member 16771

Your story about re-arranging an academic department is the story of my life. I consciously feel as if nothing will successfully occur unless I actively make it so. I hate leaving things to chance. Probably because Te is my dominant function.

I arranged a study group in university. A guy came an hour late. I asked him if everything was all right. I was curious about whether or not he had a family emergency or something tragic. He replied, "No, everything's fine." I then asked him what he wanted to be. He said "A physician." I told him that if he were a physician who came an hour late his patient would have probably died. Then I asked him, "Do you want to be a loser physician who kills all of their patients?" He said, "No." I then reminded him that if he doesn't get his act together, he'll probably have to resort to performing non-amusing oral services under a freeway overpass.

Throughout the course of that semester I whipped this guy (and the rest of my group) into a shape. I made a routine for my group to follow, they'd have to meet me on a daily basis at a specific time (accounting for everyone's schedules). They followed my routine like gospel.

With the force of pure will, I turned a group of failing students into academic all-stars.
 
@Deleted member 16771

Your story about re-arranging an academic department is the story of my life. I consciously feel as if nothing will successfully occur unless I actively make it so. I hate leaving things to chance. Probably because Te is my dominant function.

I arranged a study group in university. A guy came an hour late. I asked him if everything was all right. I was curious about whether or not he had a family emergency or something tragic. He replied, "No, everything's fine." I then asked him what he wanted to be. He said "A physician." I told him that if he were a physician who came an hour late his patient would have probably died. Then I asked him, "Do you want to be a loser physician who kills all of their patients?" He said, "No." I then reminded him that if he doesn't get his act together, he'll probably have to resort to performing non-amusing oral services under a freeway overpass.

Throughout the course of that semester I whipped this guy (and the rest of my group) into a shape. I made a routine for my group to follow, they'd have to meet me on a daily basis at a specific time (accounting for everyone's schedules). They followed my routine like gospel.

With the force of will, I turned a group of failing students into a group of successful ones.
Your story sounds like I would have had an amazing time there :tearsofjoy: