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Specific Examples of Cognitive Functions

29K views 57 replies 31 participants last post by  zgirl 
#1 ·
So, you have read all sorts of detailed descriptions of each Jungian Cognitive Function (such as this) and you might still be having trouble understanding which ones you use the most.

The purpose of this thread is to post examples of personal experiences with cognitive functions, in combination or by themselves. Try not to make generalizations like in the "You know you're a ___ when" threads. Be specific.

If a post supports the function(s) suggested, it should be Thanked. If it does not, it's a great opportunity to help the person identify the function they have described.


____________________

Incorrect example:
Te: I am sensitive to the feelings of others and try to be courteous. For example, when I'm out with friends and I see that one of them is always looking at her mirror worryingly, I tell her she looks great.
[Correct in a reply, saying this is Fe]

Poor example:
Te: I'm arrogant. I don't care about other peoples' feelings. I order everyone around and expect them to listen because I'm probably right.
[Don't thank]

Good example:
Te: I usually have a good idea of what I need to get done for the day and budget my time. For example, if I have an assignment that will take about 3 hours, I give myself at least 6 and don't make other plans during that time.
[Thank]
 
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#51 ·
A while back I was listening to another one of my husband's favourite songs and for some reason the violin in the background really stood out to me. I had a sudden realisation that all of his favourite songs have violin sounds in them. He was quite surprised when I mentioned it as he hadn't given it much thought, but it turned out to be true. Would this be Ni?

I'm not sure if my example is even related to cognitive functions, but I'm interested to see what other people think.
 
#52 ·
@Pillow

This would be an "Aha!" moment brought to you by an inferior Se observation clicking with dominant Ni in INXJs, in my estimation from experiences.
 
#54 ·
An example of Ti? I spend 20 minutes writing and rewriting a sentence that's a part of a patient education manual (intended audience: 5th-6th grade) in order to say things in a way that they will be clear for the reader. And then I obsess for a further 20 minutes after I've submitted it because I don't know that I've gotten it right.
 
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#55 ·
Ni example:
-I search for meaningful messages everywhere (example: while I am watching a movie I am always asking myself *What's the message they want to transmit?* That's why, in general, I prefer movies that have an open ending);
-I pick up vibes that most people don't notice and from those little details i built the big picture of the scene (Example: When I am talking to someone I pay attention - sometimes in a not conscious way - to their tone of voice, their expressions, the way they speak and from that I came conclude how they are feeling - also I use my Fe and Se, during this process);
-I have good insights of what is going on around me;
-When someone is teaching me something I just discard all unnecessary details - I focus myself on the big picture.
 
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#56 ·
An example of Ne I posted in the ENFP forum, trying to put it into words as best I could:

About a week ago, I went on a hike through a national park with some friends. One of my friends has been to this park many times before and was telling me about it. He said, "The vegetation here has been pretty much the same since the Jurassic Period."

What this sparked in my brain:

Look all around me, catalog all the types of plants I see. Ferns, cypresses, mosses. All of them are gymnosperms, plants that reproduce primarily by wind pollination, that don't produce flowers or fruits. Flowering plants first appeared in the Cretaceous Period, immediately following the Jurassic Period.

Imagine a duckbill dinosaur walking through this park. Did duckbill dinosaurs live in the part of Pangaea that is now North America? Not sure, file away for later. Think of the height of most herbivorous dinosaurs. Same height as the cypress canopy? In this area, they probably were, if cypress was a major source of food for them. Dinosaurs this size: probably didn't bother eating those low-down ferns. What ate the ferns, then? Smaller dinosaurs? Giant insects? There were some very large insects in the Jurassic Period. Picture giant millipedes crawling through the ferns.

Giant millipedes. Were any of these giant millipedes decomposers? Flies gather around a carcass. Carcasses were much bigger, on average, back then. Imagine the duckbill dinosaur again, dead, lying among the ferns. So were the insects that fed on them accordingly larger? But in the current era vultures may also feed on carcasses. So was there some flying scavenger that did the same thing in the Jurassic period?

"What do you think was the equivalent of a vulture, before there were vultures?" I said.
This is why I come off as random and scatter-brained.
 
#57 ·
Maybe this is the place I can get some clarification. I can see that you are thinking of a lot of possibilities here, but couldn't it be turned around to say that you are gathering information to solve a problem? So is yours an example of expanding possibilities or convergent thinking? Or maybe both depending on how you look at it? (This is a sincere question and not an indirect way of telling you that you are wrong.)
 
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