#always wanted to understand p vs np stuff

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All this talk of cook and Karp reductions… making me hungry

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How do you spot someones inferior, auxiliary and tertiary functions in real life?

They’re rigid the further down the stack you find them.

A healthy higher function is flexible.

When dealing with kids, you’re dealing with immature dominant functions that are going to fit the stereotypes much more than dealing with an adult; the more they mature, the more mature their dominant functions become… but it takes a long time for the bottom two functions to reach that state of optimal health.

For the most part, it plays out like this:

Mature high Si knows the value of seeking additional perspectives and the careful accumulation of data and information before reaching a judgment. This is the flexible SJ open to new experiences and traditions, vs the NP who flat out refuses to allow anyone to change their sacred tradition, because it will ‘ruin’ the holiday, because THIS IS ALWAYS HOW WE DO IT. Or who refuses to open themselves up to a new idea because THAT’S NOT HOW I WAS TAUGHT.

High Si: reasonable.

Low Si: immature, fussy, and unreasonable.

Carry it over to the rest of the functions.

It’s the difference between a Ni-dom/aux fairly certain of their futuristic prediction but also open to changing it with additional information and/or leaving a margin of error and low Ni, which becomes rigid, dogmatic, stubborn and persistent in insisting that THIS IS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN, AND IT HAS TO PLAY OUT EXACTLY LIKE I WANT IT TO, PERIOD.

It’s the difference between a high Se who navigates opportunities and is easily able to choose the right ones to make a dramatic difference in the environment or cause a positive chain reaction of events, vs the low Se that just flings itself on opportunities without the ability to sense what will work and what won’t, so they are only self-sabotaging in their flailing about.

It’s the difference between a high Ne who instinctively reads patterns and often correctly interprets what’s actually going on / the motives behind something, or knows which ideas are rubbish or have no lasting value, and the low Ne that becomes frantic at the thought of “narrowing down their options,” or clings to an interpretation of something that is clearly far-fetched and unrealistic (because they feel they know the truth).

It’s the difference between a high Ti who effortlessly makes their logic consistent and discards and adapts new logic and changes their thinking when proven wrong, and a low Ti that becomes defensive, insistent only their way makes sense, angry that you can’t understand what they mean, and places a ton of emphasis on ‘being rational’ (while… never being rational themselves).

It’s the difference between a high Te who can simplify an existing system so that anyone can do their job and hands off responsibilities to other people, and who changes their mind when presented with the facts, and a low Te who doesn’t know how to organize their time or what to do first, so they dictate and order people around and become defensive if their plan doesn’t work, and stubbornly cling to ‘the facts’ whether or not they are actual facts.

It’s the difference between a high Fe who knows how to calm people down and motivate them to work together easily, who thinks about including everyone in the group and making sure they feel they are vital to the movement, and a low Fe who continually alienates people when they try to be inclusive, who fails to truly care about those involved (thus giving a sense of ‘fake’ ness), and who becomes stubborn under pressure about other people not going along with things because THEY SHOULD.

It’s the difference between a high Fi who values their own autonomy so much that they extend the same belief in the freedom for self expression to everyone else regardless of whether they agree or disagree with their opinion (the mantra of “nobody should have control over anybody else”), and the low Fi who develops this same belief and tramples other people’s rights attempting to make it happen.

So, in a nutshell – look at what’s effortless for them and energizes them, look at what’s harder for them and wears them out, and frankly, look at what they suck at, because chances are that’s their lowest function.

My Si is terrible. I suck at details. My mom called me from the store the other day to ask, “What kind of laundry detergent did you want?” And I had no idea, because I just dump that stuff in the washer. I never read the front. I never noticed the brand. Clueless, I said, “Uh… it has blue on it. I think. I dunno, just buy me whatever you use.”

I have never known an N not to berate someone else for neglecting details, so also pay attention to that. People tend to assume other people have their same blind spots and difficulties and come down hard on them for it, when it’s really just about them. My ENFJ at work is always yelling at me when I forget a client’s name. But he never remembers either. :P

- ENFP Mod