- Today we're gonna talk about why people
who are INFJs may be misunderstood.
This is not to imply that only INFJs are misunderstood,
or that it's something special to be misunderstood,
it's just part of the human condition,
but I'm saying why specifically an INFJ
might be misunderstood.
And I think this is going to be maybe a brief video
because it's a short answer.
It's introverted intuition, man.
Put that on a t-shirt.
Maybe that should be my first bit of merch, huh?
Introverted intuition, it's the dominant function,
the dominant cognitive function of INFJs,
also INTJs, so you all INTJs out there,
you might get something out of this.
It's our primary way of processing reality,
and it's weird.
It's the weirdest cognitive function.
It's the one, you know, Carl Jung,
the guy who came up with all this stuff?
He didn't even really know that he understood it very well,
so that's how weird it is.
When you are someone who has introverted intuition
as the dominant function,
your perception of reality is not necessarily
of, first and foremost, the concrete physical world,
that reality.
It's the reality below that,
which are sort of the symbols, the images,
the unconscious archetypes
that make up the concrete physical reality.
Frank, what does that even mean?
I don't know, but that's what it is, so.
It's just like, seeing everything abstractly,
first and foremost, like the physical world
is merely a starting point.
And what the real stuff that we're interested in
is what it all means.
Intuition, if we're just gonna dumb it down,
what intuition is is imagination.
I mean, there's a little bit more to it than that,
but that's what it is boiled down.
Now, extroverted intuition, people who have that,
like, you know, the ENFPs out there,
their intuition is a bit more rooted in objective reality,
because it's extroverted.
When it's introverted,
the introverted intuition is subjective.
It's only about our inner world.
It's about the, like I said, the symbols, the images,
the abstract meanings that we have assigned to things.
And it's a way of also trying to boil everything down,
to take a lot of stuff
and boil it down to one kind of symbol,
or one concept, if you will.
And it's very personal,
because an introverted function
is subjective, it's personal.
And that's where the misunderstanding comes in,
that's why it's hard for people to understand INFJs,
why you might be feeling misunderstood.
Because the primary way that we see the world
is something that is just not easily communicated to people.
Like we have, and it's this thing
of having a really strong intuition
that's, you know, working overtime in your brain.
But then we're not necessarily so equipped
to then be able to make it make sense to anybody else.
So we'll have a lot of stuff that makes sense to us,
patterns of how we think life works,
you know, ways that we've kind of distilled life experience
into these abstract symbols, images, patterns,
that when we try to share it with other people,
it's like, they don't know what you're talking about.
What does that even mean?
I feel like maybe that's what people
are gonna say about this video,
what're you even talking about, brotha?
Why don't we stop really quick and support this channel
with a commercial break.
And, you know, another thing I feel like
with introverted intuition is that a lot of the stuff
that we come up with in our mind
is coming from like an unconscious place, in a way,
where we don't even know, it's like we don't even see
where it's coming from from within us,
it's just these things appear.
I might be getting a little off into the weeds
with that observation, I don't know.
But, definitely it's like, I don't know,
it's like seeing the world,
seeing this layer underneath of the world,
and having it make perfect sense to us,
and then not being able to get it across to other people.
And I think we also, on the one hand,
maybe we just don't care to really get it out there
because it's, you know, it's our introverted intuition,
who cares if we share it with anybody.
So there's that, but then maybe we've also found,
over time, over life,
that when we do share, try to share this inner world,
it's often met with confusion
and people not knowing what the heck we're talking about,
maybe even with derision.
So we learn, let me not share that anymore.
And so a lot of INFJs probably just keep to themselves,
because they just don't see the point
in trying to share that inner world.
So, of course, if you're not sharing anything
about yourself, that leads to misunderstandings,
people aren't really sure exactly who you are,
what's going on.
You pair that with extroverted feeling,
which, because it's extroverted, is not terribly personal,
like this feeling state that's extroverted.
It's easy for people maybe not to actually get to know you
in a real way.
'Cause you, you know, you could talk to people, sure,
you can be buddies, whatever.
But it's also very easy for the real you
to be somewhere deep in there.
You maybe even think of yourself in symbols.
Like you can't even express yourself, who you are.
If someone asks, who are you?
You can't get it out there in a concrete way
because it's just all these,
it's just like an abstract thing in your brain.
It's like, I get it, I just don't know how to tell you.
Then, I don't know.
It barely makes sense to me,
how am I supposed to express it to you?
So, ultimately we come across these like odd,
unconventional people, which, you know, is fine.
Sometimes we might be able to fit in,
be a bit conventional, ain't nothing wrong with that.
But, you know, people can feel that we're kinda weird.
And so that can make us feel
kinda outsiders and misunderstood.
Now, a lot of people would like to just leave it there,
a lot of INFJs would be like,
hoo, I'm isolated and misunderstood, great,
let me just put on that misunderstood badge
and walk around proudly with it.
But I say, nay, we shan't stop there.
I think we should try to be understood.
I think we should try to learn how to harness
the introverted intuition that we have,
and bring it out into the real world in some way
to work on our inferior function,
to work on the extroverted sensing
which is being in the present moment
in the concrete physical world.
So that we can take what's in our brain
and turn it into some kind of reality,
rather than it just being stuck in our head.
So I would say it's good
to occasionally dial down introverted intuition.
It's always gonna be there.
You can dial it down for a little bit,
come right back to it, it'll be just fine, it won't matter.
So that you can then focus on,
let me get more into the real world,
let me work on reaching people.
Let me work on that extroverted feeling
so I can, you know, be able to connect
with people more easily.
Let me work on my introverted thinking,
so that I can develop my ideas in a rational way
that can be communicated to people.
It's a little bit of a workout, a mental workout,
but I think that's what we can do
to kind of be more understood
and share our gifts a little bit more.
You know, being misunderstood
ain't helping anyone.
You know, secretly it might feel good,
oh man, I'm so misunderstood.
But ultimately, no.
It's just a waste of time and energy.
So, yeah, just work on those other functions.
It might take some studying.
I know, functions, it scares people
when you start talking about 'em.
'Cause it's like, what's going on?
It's okay.
(laughing)
But just know, it's just about
getting in the real world more, that's all it is.
Thanks for watching.
Check out some other INFJ videos
that I'm gonna move outta the way
so I can put 'em right there.
Make sure you smash like, subscribe to this channel
if you haven't already.
'Til next time, stay cool and attractive.
(gentle music)