Functional Analysis of The Analyst (INTj)
The following is a functional analysis of The Analyst that i've put together with descriptions and personal experience. It's a work in progress, any critique will be appreciated.
1. Base (Intellectual) Function: Introverted Thinking (Ti)
“High-bandwidth understanding”
Introverted Thinking leads you to relate whatever you are doing to some larger principles that you have identified. Hence, Ti is like having some kind of book in your head, which describes the inner workings of things. When interacting with reality, you are constantly writing and re-writing your book. To deal with anything, you have to be able to understand in terms of the observations in your book. Whenever you are dealing with any new system, you start writing a new chapter on it in order to attain complete understanding of it. A system could be anything from seeking to understand “the dating game” to “office politics”.
This approach may seem very cumbersome from an extraverted standpoint. You don't really need to understand how a bicycle works in order to ride one. You don't have to actually understand a subject in school if you simply cram and memorize. You don't have to understand computers to check your email. Yet Ti leads you to desire complete understanding of whatever you are doing, instead of looking up the correct procedure, or asking your friends for help, or kicking it when it's not working. With Ti, you don't simply try to understand a system well enough to manipulate it. You try to become such an expert on how it works that you could write a book about it if you had to, even if your expertise is unusable or useless to everybody (sometimes even to yourself). This functional analysis in itself is a great example of this.
Hence, Ti is a kind of high-bandwidth understanding, because it leads you to try to understand the entire causal, aesthetic, or logical mechanism of any system of interest. This kind of understanding takes much more time and effort to develop, but it is more flexible once attained, because it allows you to deal with aspects of reality that cannot be described through social norms or sets of discrete procedures.
2. Creative Function: Extroverted Intuition (Ne)
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Einstein
Extroverted Intuition helps produce the understandings of the Ti function where all your personal theories are tested out in the real world in a playful naïve way. For example, you walk into an electrical store and ask to check out they’re latest model video camera and the first thing you do is play with it in order to build a new updated understanding required by the Ti function. In this sense, you see how it is necessary to learn through active hands on self discovery. In essence, the style of learning follows the principles of Constructivism which focuses on actively constructing knowledge as opposed to a traditional education that expects passive absorption of knowledge. One flaw with this function is the arrogance produced that say you won’t read the instructions before setting up a piece of equipment magically thinking you know it already due to previous Ti knowledge and experimental Ne. In most cases this results in a quicker understanding of something that has to be learnt but should be balance with good old instructional learning.
Let’s take ‘the dating game’ as another example of, in this case, figuring out a social ‘system’. The dominant Ti function dictates that the understanding of women and interaction of different female types must be studied in order to be understood. It would arguably be unhealthy to study something theoretically indefinitely without gathering evidence. This is where the Ne function comes in. This is perhaps the reason why an INTj usually socialises when there’s a purpose in it even if that purpose is mere observation to gather visual evidence that helps further their theoretical understanding. There couldn’t be anything more torturous then the constant nagging from extroverted friends to go out with them which for the INTj becomes a compromise they’ll make to further their research i.e. making the best of a situation even when they blatantly can’t tolerate it hence their surface conformism. If they want observation, they’ll go to a bar or club. If they want interaction, they’ll try speed-dating. It’s not in their nature to enjoy themselves like the subcultures expect.
Hence, Ne as a creative function serves as a kind of prompt to the Ti that ‘the world is my oyster’ for research and learning. If not for the Ne, the INTj would probably never go out and thus fail to notice the trends and behaviours they so desperately need for their constant ever-growing understanding of the world around them.
3. Role Function: Introverted Feeling (Fi)
“A modest ethical man”
Introverted Feeling is one half of the superego which acts as the first element of conscience behind the driving ego functions above. Inner feelings don't get out much but lend its influence on behalf of causes which are good, worthy and humane. We may catch a glimpse of it in the unspoken attitude of good will, or the gracious smile or nod.
Hence, Fi as a role function defines the man behind the cold rational mask. Even behind a mind with relentless analysis and knowledge seeking, there is a modest person quietly waiting to express himself.
4. Place of Least Resistance (Shyness): Extroverted Sensing (Se)
“A shy spot for hedonism”
Extroverted Sensing as the PoLR is the other half of the superego conscience that is afraid to come out or be provoked. As the producing function for the role function Fi, rest assured that when the special time comes, those inner feelings will be expressed through the senses. For example, a kiss or touch for a loved one will usually be a direct translation of their inner feelings to an outward physical expression that they feel liberated but exhausted for showing.
When you are oriented in the Se way, you live completely in the moment. You respond now to what is happening now. What happens later, you'll deal with later. What's happened in the past is irrelevant.
Like a habit, the analyst’s life is dominated by understanding theory and gathering evidence. He doesn’t know well how to balance work and play and can easily lead himself to starvation.
Life for the analyst is ascetic where he has refrained from sensual pleasures usually by fear and out of their hidden agenda to be healthy. This may explain the analyst’s closely guarded fear of intimacy which is why they are more love driven looking for that very special lady who may take a lifetime to find unless they’ll willing to throw caution to the wind and accept the challenge of the dating game. The benefits of course could be that some day they may have such a high understanding of the dating process that they end up writing a best selling book on the subject or create a better system of dating based on their (limited) Se experiences.
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and 
, ones that I can really relate to. I think the part about Ti being used to soak up as much information about something as possible such that you could write a book about it is really true. I can really relate to this. My brain used to be like a sponge and still is to a certain extent in that I try to learn as much about something as I possibly can. I think your Ne example is good too.
Originally Posted by StevINP
HA is to be wealthy? That just doesn't seem like me. Does it mean anything else? I'll have to ponder that for awhile... 
You know I still think he was NiTe, but I'm not going to argue that here.
TeNi
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