Another typical aspect of all inferior functions, which is also connected with its unadaptedness and primitiveness, is its touchiness and tyranny. Most people, when the question of their inferior function is in any way touched upon, become terribly childish and touchy; they can't stand the slightest criticism but always feel attacked, for they are uncertain of themselves and, with that, naturally they tyrannize everybody around them; everybody has to walk carefully. If you want to say something about another person's inferior function, it is like walking on eggs, for people just cannot stand any criticism there, and a rite d'entree is required, waiting for the right moment for a peaceful atmosphere, and then carefully, with a long introductory speech, one might get over to some slight criticism about the inferior function. But if you shoot any criticism at people, they will get absolutely bewildered and emotional, and the situation is ruined.
I learned this for the first time when I was studying. A fellow student showed me a paper she had written. She was a Feeling type, and the paper was very good, but in a minor passage, where she switched from one theme to another, it seemed to me that there was a hiatus in the connection of thought. What she said was quite right, but in between the two passages, for a thinking type, the logical transition was lacking, though for me it was very easy to see. So I said to her that I thought it was an excellent paper but that on one page she might make a better transition, as there was a jump from one theme to another, and if one didn't think well oneself, one did not get the connection at once.
She got absolutely emotional and said "Oh, well, then its all ruined, I shall just burn it," and she took it out of my hand, saying, "I know its junk, I shall burn it up!" I pulled it out of her hand and said, "For God's sake, don't burn it up!" "Oh, well," she said, "I knew you thought it would be junk," and she went on and on. When the storm was over I was able to get in a word and said, "You need not even retype it; you only need to write in one little sentence to make the transition -- just one sentence between these two paragraphs." The storm started again, and I gave up! ...
...For her, writing the paper had been such an achievement, bringing out some thoughts, and it had been just at the limit of what she could do, and then she couldn't even stand that little bit -- it wasn't criticism -- but even the idea that it could be improved a bit. That's an extreme case of what always happens with the inferior function with most people. They tyrannize their surroundings by being touchy, for all touchiness is a form of secret tyranny. Sensitive people are just tyrannical people -- everyone else has to adapt to them instead of their trying to adapt to the others. But people who are well adapated still generally have a kind of childish, touchy spot where one cannot talk to them reasonably and one has to adopt "bush manners," as if one were dealing with tigers and elephants.
The example concerning the paper written by a feeling type illustrates another general feature, namely a tremendous charge of emotion, which is generally connected with the manifestation of the inferior function. As soon as you get into this realm, people become easily emotional. Not only does this have the disadvantage which the above example illustrated, but there is also a very positive aspect, namely that in the realm of the inferior function there is a great concentration of life, so that as soon as the main function gets worn out -- begins to rattle and lose oil like an old car -- if people succeed in turning to their inferior function, they will rediscover a new potential of life...
...but the disadvantage is that outside of this there is this unadapated aspect.
Many people discover relatively soon in life that the realm of the inferior function is where they are emotional, touchy, and unadapated, and they therefore acquire the habit of covering up this part of their personality with a surrogate, pseudo-reaction. For instance, let's say a Thinking type can't express his feelings normally and in the appropriate manner at the right time. It can happen that he cries when he hears that friend's husband has died, but when he meets the widow, not a word of sympathy will come out. Such a person, not only looks very cold but does not feel anything! He had all the feeling before, when at home, but now, in the appropriate situation, he cannot pull it out at the right moment. That's why, for example, thinking types are very often looked on by other people has having no feelings, which is absolutely not true, just have a hard time expressing them at the appropriate moment. They have the feeling somehow and somewhere when it pleases the feeling, but not just when they ought to produce it.
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Originally Posted by Sneaky Bastard
Well... everybody on here seems to forget - or doesn't know what it means - that Arclight is an Enneagram type 5. While everybody thinks it's SUCH a common Etype for an INFJ I don't believe it. Many INFJs just mistype as 5s (as did I while I'm actually a 6w7). Arclight obviously didn't mistype Etype-wise. And I personally don't see a reason to doubt that he's an INFJ either. Enneagram 5 INFJ - it all fits.
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