If The Phantom Menace portrayed the tension between Introverted and Extraverted Thinking (i.e. Ti and Te), then Attack of the Clones explores Extraverted versus Introverted Feeling (i.e. Fe vs. Fi).

Fe emphasises our duties and obligations within our respective social roles. As a Jedi, Obi-Wan has a duty that goes beyond his own personal feelings—he is a Jedi first and an individual second. On the other hand, Fi transcends these roles, freeing us from the context of whatever role we’re playing at the time: the guiding principle instead is what we personally feel is right—this is embodied by Anakin’s choices in the film.

These are the functions of Fe and Fi as acted-out within the psyche of an INTP, however. Fe is the Anima/Animus, being positive and idealised, whereas Fi is the Demonic Personality, being steeped in the darkest of connotations. It’s personal bonds that keep leading Anakin down the path of the Dark Side because he’s ignoring his larger duties and obligations.

One scene in particular makes this dichotomy quite plain: Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme are chasing Count Dooku on Geonosis when Padme falls out of their ship. Anakin demands that they fly back to get her, but Obi-Wan bites back: “Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way!” He then asks “What do you think Padme would do, were she in your position?” to which Anakin must admit, “She would do her duty.” Padme, of course, is Fe as the Anima. (See my earlier post on The Phantom Menace.)

Beyond all this, Te (as the Opposing Personality) gets another beating, this time as a political philosophy: when Anakin advocates what is essentially a benevolent dictatorship, his reasoning is simply, “If it works…” Meanwhile, Dex’s commentary on the difference between knowledge and wisdom can easily be interpreted as Te vs. Ti.

There’s more, but I need to ponder it further…

I want to discuss briefly Introverted Thinking (Ti) as a function for a moment.

Ti-types, more than any other, want to understand systems at a fundamental level, getting to the core principles. Unlike Te-types, they’re not satisfied with simply knowing isolated causal chains (i.e. if-then statements, such as “If I press this button then the third light goes on”).

Why?

Once you understand the system rather than simply its outer behaviour, it affords you independence by liberating you from only being able to work within certain contexts. In other words, if a condition outside of Te’s if-then-else chain is met, it’s out of luck while the Ti keeps motoring along.

Ti-types thus want to anchor observed causal chains to underlying principles. Their bias, then, is that all well-designed systems should be internally consistent, and it’s the seemingly arbitrary nature of Te that is the most frustrating to them.

But if we look at Heroes like Qui-Gon Jinn (The Phantom Menace) and perhaps Tron (Tron), as well as Father-figures like Harry Tuttle (Brazil), we get a better idea of the essence of Ti…

At heart, Ti is an approach to life whereby you’re guided by reasoned principles independent of the rules and laws of “the system”. The Ti mindset is that of an intellectual rebel who wants to come to conclusions on their own terms through reason without anyone else’s framework being imposed on them; furthermore, it’s a mindset that demands such conclusions to be present in order to guide actions.

In a sense, then, Ti is similar to Fi, except its conclusions are arrived at by intellectual reasoning instead of moral certitude through Feeling. Whereas Fi is concerned with the question “How do I feel about this?”, Ti instead involves asking “What do I think about this?” and indeed, it’s this question that preoccupies the consciousness of Ti-types (i.e. ISTPs and INTPs). This question is more than just an arbitrary judgement, however — it’s more like the Socratic method directed upon oneself, and perhaps that’s the perfect illustration of Ti at work.

To summarise, Introverted Thinking (Ti) is an approach to life that involves forming independently-derived principles based on an intellectual process of reasoning.

I just finished watching The Phantom Menace for the first time in years, and something leapt out at me this time around:

The major theme here is Ti versus Te.

Te is symbolised by the planet of Coruscant, and in particular by the Senate and the Jedi Council. These arms of the Republic have become unthinking and institutional, following their rules and procedures to the letter rather than the spirit of their laws. This is, essentially, a cautionary tale of Te run amok and is a great example of the Te Opposing Personality in INTPs.

Ti, on the other hand, has its mouthpiece in Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). This Jedi Knight will “do what [he] must” despite what “the system” says. He’s a loose cannon as far as the Jedi Council are concerned because he won’t go along with consensus judgements (Te). It’s here that we see a clear example of the Ti Hero, where independent, intellectual judgement (free from “the party line”) is where the primary source of identity lies. (It seems pretty clear, too, that Jinn is essentially George Lucas’ surrogate.)

Perhaps most notably, however, the idyllic Naboo represents Fe. Why? It’s the primary depiction of the idea of symbiosis (i.e. mutual cooperation). Interestingly, it also stands-in for the feminine principle — the Anima — as embodied by Padme. Again and again, the Anima/Animus function seems to be offered as the ideal state to strive towards. Fascinating!

Finally, Se — trade, greed and conspicuous consumption — is played by both the Trade Federation and Watto, the junk dealer. These are Tricksters: dubious figures who aren’t outright villains.

I’m sure there’s more here as well, but that’s all I’ve got for the time being. But despite what anyone may think of the film’s merits, it’s yet another window into the INTP psyche and is valuable on that basis alone.

In conclusion:

• Hero/Heroine: Qui-Gon Jinn (Ti)
• Anima/Animus: Naboo (Fe)
• Opposing Personality: Coruscant (Te)
• Trickster: Trade Federation, Watto (Se)

What does Introverted Thinking (Ti) look like as Puer or Puella?

Star Trek seems to really appeal to INFJs (and ISFJs, too) — lots of big Extraverted Feeling (Fe) lessons to instruct and enlighten in order to appeal to their auxiliary Fe. The solutions are diplomatic and big on empathising and directly connecting with the antagonists. Contrast this with the big lesson of Star Wars: opening yourself up to the realm of unknown possibilities (Extraverted iNtuition — Ne). To this INTP, Star Trek often seems obnoxious in its touchy-feely lecturing, whereas Star Wars gives real insight… but that’s just my type talking. If only author David Brin could appreciate that taste does not equal truth!

(Incidentally, Brin’s screeds on Star Wars and George Lucas have that particular “tar baby” Introverted iNtuition (Ni) feel to them that drives me up the wall — he spins every fact to suit his own agenda so that he’s right no matter what. Folks, never argue with an IN_J!)

Anyway, what does Ti look like in I_FJs? I think the answer lies in the character of Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Data is obviously an instance of the Puer archetype: naive, ageless and generally child-like. Data tries to understand human relationships and customs by placing them in theoretical frameworks, reducing communal values to intellectual principles. He’s clearly a caricature of Ti. (It’s no wonder I find that show so condescending!)

The conclusion any armchair psychoanalyst should draw here is that this is in fact how Ti manifests in I_FJs themselves, though they instead choose to project it onto I_TPs. Ti in the I_FJ is clumsy and juvenile, being somewhat disconnected from reality. Again, check out David Brin’s far-out conclusions regarding George Lucas (i.e. that Star Wars is designed to promote anti-democratic elitism to impressionable children) — he’s using Ti theorising as a post-hoc rationalisation for (in this case) his own Ni spin.

I should add here that this is not to say that I_FJs are all intellectually-dishonest nutjobs. We’ve all got our little Puer or Puella inside us; I_FJs just have Ti in this role instead of some other function.

In the last post we looked at Sam Lowry as the embodiment of Heroic Extraverted iNtuition; in this post, we’ll move onto the Good Parent as Introverted Thinking (Ti).

The Good Parent is a supportive, mentoring role, usually sharing the same sex as the Hero/Heroine. Here we’re looking for the “Obi-Wan” of Brazil. To use Joseph Campbell’s parlance, the Good Parent is the “Supernatural Aid” who gives the Hero the guidance he needs to succeed in his quest.

In this case, the Good Parent is clearly Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro).

Tuttle is a renegade, subverting the system by playing by his own rules. He acts based on his own guiding principles quite apart from any officially-sanctioned rules or laws, in other words. As an INTP friend put it recently, there’s no point in following the rules “if the rules are stupid”.

More directly, as a rogue “heating engineer”, Tuttle is an improviser — he understands heating systems inside and out and can easily create solutions based on his knowledge of the underlying organising principles.

In short, Tuttle certainly encapsulates the flavour of Ti. Once again, Beebe’s theory seems to hold.

Next time: The Eternal Child (Fe)…