Don't make a simple mistake when looking at extraverted and introverted functions.

Many times people jump to the conclusion that an extraverted function must be named aloud, and an introverted function must be silent.  They suppose that when an introverted function is shared with the outer world, it must be an extraverted process, and when an extraverted function is kept to oneself then it is an introverted function.

That seems logical and obvious, doesn't it?

Sorry to burst the bubble.

It's hard to explain how that isn't true, but it isn't.  I'll try to explain by way of example.

If I ponder to myself what is the best gift to give my husband for Christmas, I am keeping it to myself but I am very definitely engaged in the process of extraverted Feeling.  If I tell my friends about a vision I have for a teleclass I am designing, it is still very much the process of introverted iNtuiting. 

In a similar fashion, if I share my values with others, it is still the process of introverted Feeling, and if I brainstorm possibilities but keep them to myself, it is still the process of extraverted iNtuiting.

Capiche?

Where I look to is the source of the process.  Extraverted Feeling is about connecting with my husband in the external world, so it's still an extraverted function.  When I speak with introverted iNtuiting, it's about something unique I am experiencing in my own head.  (Now I may use some extraverted Feeling to ensure I convey my vision appropriately, but the vision itself has sprouted from an introverted iNtuiting perception -- quite possibly manifesting from some kind of primordial archetype.)

And so on with all the functions.

So please do not make the amateur's error of thinking all introverted processes must be kept within and all extraverted processes must be displayed without.

Such a belief will not serve you.

* * *