Ti vs. Te: Dumbing Down The Thinking Functions

Most people assume (possibly unintentionally) that intelligence is an innate trait of the thinking functions, introverted thinking (Ti) and extraverted thinking (Te). (If you’ve never heard of these before, check out our page on the cognitive functions.) As a result, many intelligent or analytical people mistype as thinkers. Part of the struggle revolves around how these types are described. Even if someone logically recognizes that intelligence is not limited by personality type, they may still struggle to picture what a dumb thinker might look like. So, I’m going to strip intelligence out of the thinking functions, discussing them in a way that gets much closer to the core of these two cognitive functions. My intent is not to offend anyone. Don’t worry – I wrote a parallel article on the feelers, which you can check out here: Fi vs. Fe: De-Empathizing The Feeling Functions.

First, Why The Association Between Intelligence and Thinkers?

The label “thinker” is not doing us any favors. Hearing that label makes most people assume that, simplistically speaking, being a “thinker” means doing more “thinking”. Of course, that’s not true. Both the feeling functions and the thinking functions are considered rational functions, according to Carl Jung. However, there is a slightly more nuanced reason that potentially explains why intelligence has come to be associated with thinkers. I know I said plainly that intelligence is not dependent on personality type, and it’s not. But, I’d like to explain why I think there’s an association here.

It’s A Matter of Focus

Feelers have a natural focus on feelings and seeing things through the lens of values or emotional value/resonance. This is why many feelers are attracted to people-focused career fields or liberal arts fields. I’m by no means saying that that’s always the case, but there seems to be a trend there. Thinkers, on the other hand, have a natural bent towards systems-oriented thinking or impersonal thinking (i.e. thinking stripped of emotional value). As a result, many thinkers are attracted towards career fields that emphasize these things, such as STEM fields. (Once again, not exclusively true – just a trend.) Of course, there are also a lot of career fields that live in a middle zone – with a mix of both elements.

So, with that all being said…

Certain Fields Highlight Intelligence Better Than Others

You can have two people of equal intelligence, both in opposite career fields, both using their intelligence to it’s greatest capacity. However, the career field of the first person might naturally showcase their intelligence more than the career field of the second person. This doesn’t mean that career field of the first person requires more intelligence, nor does it mean that the person who looks more intelligent actually is. Their intelligence is just being highlighted better or put in the spotlight for the public to see. They just look more intelligent regardless of whether or not they are.

I think sometimes certain fields really highlight intelligence better than others. An incredibly intelligent feeler may have chosen to go into a field that doesn’t display their intelligence for the world to see quite as much as another field might have, but the field they chose ultimately gives them the meaning and fulfillment that they’re looking for. A thinker, on the other hand, often finds more comfort in the impersonal fields (such as mathematician, physicist, engineer, etc.) , which sometimes (as a byproduct) does well to highlight their intelligence in the eyes of others. (People tend to see a lot of that as pretty impressive.)

But Don’t Forget: Anyone Can Do Anything

In case I haven’t made this clear, I don’t believe for second that feelers can’t excel in STEM fields, just like I don’t believe that thinkers can’t excel in more artistic or people-oriented fields. Passion is a key ingredient to success. If you’re passionate about something, you can summon the drive to learn, study, improve, and eventually excel. I know feelers in STEM fields, who are obviously very intelligent people. While intelligence is not directly link to personality type, I do think that a feeler in a STEM field will often have a more developed thinking function, because their job requires impersonal thinking. Similarly, a thinker in a people-oriented field will likely have a better developed feeling function. (Of course, this healthy development often reinforces people’s ill-conceived ideas about thinkers and feelers, since the feeler will often look more like a thinker when in their “thinking” mode.)

So, Let’s Talk About Ti vs. Te

Now that I’ve got the preliminary information out of the way, I’d like to discuss Ti vs. Te, or more specifically, the core of these two functions. It’ll probably easiest to start with Te, and then work inwards.

The Core of Te

Te (like Ti) is a judging function based on thinking. Since Te is extraverted, it is oriented to objective data, which why Te is associated with facts. TJs, as high Te users, often focus first on empirical data, prioritizing what is verifiable and capable of being tested. Their logic is application-focused. These types are quick to adjust to the facts of a situation, because their logic is naturally oriented to the external world. In a similar way, they adjust to external systems, relying on collective standards and rules to create efficiency, smooth operations, and fair judgments. That’s why these types are typically described as being structured and organized. Their logic is concretely manifesting in the external world, for people to see. However, because they orient themselves to external logical systems, sometimes their individuality get hidden or suppressed in the process, since they are aligning their identity to an objective metric/standard for success.

The Core of Ti

Ti (like Te) is a judging function based on thinking, but it’s subjective. Jung defines introverted thinking as being focused on subjective ideas, and theories for their own sake. Many people described Ti users as seeking knowledge for it’s own sake, and that’s actually not a Ti trait. (It’s more of an Si/Ne trait – I see it a lot in INTPs.) Ti is concerned with forming new views, questioning, theorizing, and seeking insights. This is why high Ti users are often described as focusing on understanding logic and reasoning, honing in on inconsistencies, and etc. They need to understand the building blocks and interworking of a system/conclusion/application/solution, to open up new insights in their understanding or mental framework. Bear in mind, these types don’t necessarily want to understand everything in the world, but whatever they do fixate on, they’ll want to understand it at a level in which they can deconstruct it and put it back together again. Only by understanding how all the pieces connect together will they feel like they truly understand something enough to effectively apply it.

How Ti and Te Lack Intelligence

When it comes to intelligence, I believe Te actually get the most insulted amongst the thinkers, which I think is ironic given how idealized the INTJ type is. So, with that in mind, I suppose I’ll start with Ti, the one that everyone likes to make synonymous with independent thinking. However, first I want to generally make this statement: Any thinker can be bad at academics, and lack critical thinking skills (which are necessary for forming well-thought-out arguments).

Ti Lacking Intelligence

As I mentioned in my above quip, people like to put any kind of critical, independent thinking squarely in Ti’s wheelhouse. If you can effectively use logic, you must have Ti. Well, that’s not how that works. Ti, with it’s propensity for subjective ideas, may at times snub facts in favor of some theory that they have cooked up. The intelligent TP will balance their ideas with real world information, ensuring they’re not completely out of sync with factual information. However, the dumb TP may entirely dismiss known data of any kind in favor of what they have decided makes the most sense to them. They may cherry pick information to the degree that they only absorb what supports their theories, ignoring/rejecting all contradicting information. Their mind (and it’s predetermined mental framework) will be the sole judge of what is true with little to no effort to double-check themselves or expand their knowledge base. As a result, they may continually draw ridiculous or wild conclusions that can be easily disproved. (For the record, one wild conclusion doesn’t make someone dumb. This will be a repeated pattern of ignorant conclusions.)

Te Lacking Intelligence

Te lacking intelligence will do the opposite of Ti. I’ve actually seen people described Te the way I’m about to describe it, and it hurts me inside because their parallel Ti example is usually described in a much more favorable light. Basically, since Te anchors to external information, focusing on what can be proven, dumb Te will fail to apply critical thinking to their sources. They’ll just accept sources at face-value, not double-checking or verifying the information. This will lead to shallow, or poorly-thought-out conclusions. If they happen to anchor to an accurate source, they may be able to skate by on this ignorance, but if the opposite happens, their ignorance will likely be revealed quickly. Unlike dumb Ti, which will likely have some overly complex, circular logic that can’t be supported in the real world, Te will have outsourced their logic to the source they’re relying on, which may mean they’ll either parrot back someone else’s words or have no personal reasoning at all to support their conclusion. Like I said though, this is not an example of intelligent Te. Te can be extremely critical and picky of the sources they choose to rely on, double-verifying that the source is drawing accurate conclusions. Even going to the extent of testing the information to prove how true it is, and judging it against self verified and proven information. Any kind of in-depth analysis like this naturally leads to having clear, logical arguments to support one’s conclusions.

In Conclusion…

My intent with this series was not to hurl insults at the personality types, but to present an alternative perspective on them. Many people seem to believe that thinkers cannot be dumb, and that’s simply not true. In addition, it’s important to realize that critical thinking skills are, in fact, skills that must be developed. A thinker who hasn’t developed these will not be a critical thinker, regardless of their cognitive function preferences. Likewise, feelers are equally capable of developing critical thinking skills.

I hope you found this article to be interesting. Let me know what you think in the comments!