When is Ti most useful? Is it necessary?

[Late2theParty]

As a dominant Ti user I have a strong desire to use Ti... a lot.

But I constantly find myself in situations where others view a Ti approach as unnecessary. Most often people just want a Te approach. Just get something done that works. This would be in opposition to Ti which is generally more interested finding the most optimal / elegant way of doing something.

Lately... in a lot of situations I'm starting to feel they might be right. This got me thinking....

1) When is Ti actually most useful / necessary?

I feel like Te users don't "need" a Ti approach, but Ti users "need" Te to actualize their ideas.

2) Are there specific situations where a Ti approach is absolutely necessary? A normal Te approach just will not do?

I'm pretty sure I can think of a few... but I was wondering what others thought.

 

[Sinny91]

When planning a murder for example, you'd not what to share the process with the whole world.

 

[Inquisitor]

Find me an ENTJ that is better at designing a complicated piece of software than an INTP. For that matter, what ENTJ is going to be better at innovating concepts/abstract designs in any technological field? They make great leaders/capitalists/military commanders/attorneys/plus a whole host of other professional occupations, but without external systems to manipulate, they're out of their element. Ti can manipulate and rearrange concepts and draw patterns between them like nothing else. Engineering is one field that I hear is dominated by sensors, but if you look at who discovered many of the major innovative engineering concepts/designs in history ---> INTPs.

 

[Analyzer]

As a dominant Ti user I have a strong desire to use Ti... a lot.

But I constantly find myself in situations where others view a Ti approach as unnecessary. Most often people just want a Te approach. Just get something done that works. This would be in opposition to Ti which is generally more interested finding the most optimal / elegant way of doing something.

Lately... in a lot of situations I'm starting to feel they might be right. This got me thinking....

1) When is Ti actually most useful / necessary?

I feel like Te users don't "need" a Ti approach, but Ti users "need" Te to actualize their ideas.

2) Are there specific situations where a Ti approach is absolutely necessary? A normal Te approach just will not do?

I'm pretty sure I can think of a few... but I was wondering what others thought.

I share your sentiment.

I think in general Ti is used hidden or internally and what is seen or observed is Ne from INTP's. Se for ISTP's. This complicates matters as society usually wants a Te approach or at least the ability to use Fe. ISTP's have easier time since Se is more practical oriented.

 

[Analyzer]

Find me an ENTJ that is better at designing a complicated piece of software than an INTP. For that matter, what ENTJ is going to be better at innovating concepts/abstract designs in any technological field? They make great leaders/capitalists/military commanders/attorneys/plus a whole host of other professional occupations, but without external systems to manipulate, they're out of their element. Ti can manipulate and rearrange concepts and draw patterns between them like nothing else. Engineering is one field that I hear is dominated by sensors, but if you look at who discovered many of the major innovative engineering concepts/designs in history ---> INTPs.

You mean INTJ's? Isn't technology/software external?

 

[Late2theParty]

When planning a murder for example, you'd not what to share the process with the whole world.

Not sure I follow how this applies to Ti vs Te methods exactly?

Find me an ENTJ that is better at designing a complicated piece of software than an INTP. For that matter, what ENTJ is going to be better at innovating concepts/abstract designs in any technological field? They make great leaders/capitalists/military commanders/attorneys/plus a whole host of other professional occupations, but without external systems to manipulate, they're out of their element. Ti can manipulate and rearrange concepts and draw patterns between them like nothing else. Engineering is one field that I hear is dominated by sensors, but if you look at who discovered many of the major innovative engineering concepts/designs in history ---> INTPs.

I generally agree with this. But can you think of a specific example?

Here's one I found on Elon Musk's "first principles"

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-first-principles-2015-1

Essentially, his company needed to make a better rocket. Most people use the modular parts available on the market just to get it done. But when he ran the numbers and had the research team that was able to pull it off, they found if they straight up bought the raw materials and fashioned their own custom parts it turned out to way cheaper and more effective for their designs.

 

[Inquisitor]

You mean INTJ's? Isn't technology/software external?

I'm not a software engineer so I can't say for sure, but my impression is INTJs would not be as skilled at this kind of occupation. Technology is external, but the concepts behind the tech are not, and this is what INTPs excel at developing. Innovation in a word.

 

[manishboy]

I'm no mbti expert, but from what I understand, Ti is not about being abstract or optimizing, nor is Te about being concrete or expedient. Ti is subjective thinking, meaning it uses reasoning from a specific point of view. While Te is objective, meaning that it is shared. So abstract math that is shared knowledge can be agreeable to Te users. Ti users don't respond well to rules and standard practices. Instead, we want to explore and discover for ourselves. Have you ever had something explained to you in detail and then been baffled as to what was said, but then built up your own impression, through trial and error, and then intuitively understood the subject, often at a deeper level than the original explanation? That's Ti.

Ti shines when the terrain is unknown and exploration is priority. By definition, the unknown cannot be shared knowledge because it doesn't exist. We need someone to parachute in and built up a new model of the situation. That's what the INTP was built to do.

Example: I'm not proficient with networks (I'm a coder), but there was one time when I know the network was the problem. The ISXJ's on the network side of things were not interested in my complaints because it "was simply not possible that the network was the issue." So I poked and prodded and learned enough to discover that they were right, it wasn't their network, but a single user causing sporadic spikes in usage and effectively disabling communications for that period. It's not Einstein-like, but it made me happy to poke around and discover something new (for me).

 

[TBerg]

Te takes a Lego set and builds it by the instructions. Ti brings a tub of his own Legos and builds something that doesn't exist even in written form.

 

[Alias]

Te takes a Lego set and builds it by the instructions. Ti brings a tub of his own Legos and builds something that doesn't exist even in written form.

Good point. As a kid, I'd only use the instructions at the beginning to look at it, then take it apart and make it my cooler, INTP version.

 

[Yellow]

I'd wager that the extroverted functions will always appear more useful in group settings, as they produce more tangible results. The introverted functions happen internally, and so the fruits of your labor don't translate as well. Their use only becomes apparent when you have a finished product (or thought) to present.

 

[Jungle]

You can also ask how the combo of Ti-Ne is most useful, which puts a different spin on it. Ti-Ne is particularly good at processes of cross-pollination, distillation and synthesis.

From my experience these are more useful skills in the workforce than Ti by itself. Let's say there is some kind of project bouncing around within the organisation that has the reputation of being a poisoned chalace for anyone who works on it. Heaps of different people have worked on it already but they always end up passing the buck to someone else.

The INTP has the ability to effortlessly review the mess created so far, salvage all the best bits, add some new ideas or innovations, and then package it all up together in a unified whole. This is something that SJ types will appreciate far more than someone who they think is rocking the boat or colouring outside the lines. We can have much more scope for innovation if we frame our work as solving an existing problem rather than innovating for the sake of innovating.

If you get tired of working within the problem solving paradigm then I think you need to make a beeline for the creative arts (including journalism and non-fiction writing). These fields can provide a refuge for unbridled Ti. There are so many films, novels, paintings, etc, that surely must have required a healthy dose of Ti used in their creation.