Here's an issue that seems to get glossed over a bit....Suppose someone is strong in a number of functions. Say, for example, that a person is good at and . This leaves the question, which one is "primary" and which ones are merely "skills"?

Typically, there are two function-based approaches to answering this. One is to ask questions such as which is the strongest, which does a person really follow, which does a person use most consistently, etc. The problem with this approach is that if several functions are strong and used at different times, it may not be easy to answer these kinds of questions.

Another approach is to focus one's attention on the dual-related functions. For example, does a person "like" or ? However, similar problems exist on this side as well. Maybe a person appreciates all of those as expressed in various people one knows.

...all of which takes us back to what seems the essential question...To what extent is the consciousness, the ego, so to speak, bound to certain functions, and what does this really mean?

The whole concept of intertype relationships, of course, assumes that there is one "true" self....one ultimate way that one is. If there isn't, then that concept is of little concern except in terms of what modes within one's repertoire of capabilities are most appropros when conversing with different people.

So, the question is, how does one really know what is "primary"?