As a Thinker, you are not necessarily any more rational, heartless, bitter, or whatever else the numerous stereotypes may say about Thinking. Being a Thinker simply means that you focus first on the use of things, before considering their intrinsic meaning. Everyone looks at both use and meaning, but Thinkers focus first and foremost on all the varied uses for ideas, possibilities, and people.
This means that Thinkers want things, people, events, and the whole world to live up to the abilities that they see in them. Any person or thing that doesn’t live up to its potential abilities is failing in its possible use, which will naturally be especially disappointing to a Thinker. Yet all this focus on use and ability gives Thinkers a zoomed-in sort of attention to the importance of each part of the whole, seeing how each piece is necessary and even precious in its own place. Usefulness thus has a meaning and a significance all its own.
Any healthy Thinker will learn to care for the intrinsic preciousness of things in the wider perspective of meaning, but their natural focus will still be on the necessities of use foremost. This results in a direct ability to understand the
steps needed to attain any goal, focusing on the benefit or detriment of each possible step. This ties use back to the wider picture of meaning, as “use” turns out to be “meaning approached through the steps necessary to get there.”
It is this focus on the steps needed to accomplish things that gives Thinkers a keen awareness of the potential benefits or detriments of any action, idea, or attitude. Beneficial things are of more use to the furthering of hopes and plans, while detrimental events or actions directly detract from usefulness. Thinkers therefore tend to find themselves focused more on the sequence of tasks between them and their goal, which helps them move forward one step at a time instead of staring with idle hope at the long road ahead. It is this attention to the sequence of each step that gives Thinkers a unique appreciation for meaning, seeing the preciousness of each brush stroke in the picture, without which Feelers might end up neglecting some of the most meaningful, yet least obvious things.
The differences between Thinkers and Feelers have garnered a particularly large amount of stereotypes, many of which seem flat-out mean spirited. Thinkers are no less emotional than Feelers, and Feelers are no less rational than Thinkers; everyone, of every type, can and should be both healthily emotional and rational. And every cognitive type is equally prone to being overemotional, each in unique ways. The difference doesn’t lie between Thinkers and Feelers, but rather, between being healthy or unhealthy in general. An overly emotion-driven psyche is an unhealthy one, and every type is equally vulnerable to being hijacked by their own emotions in times of stress or weakness, each in their different ways.
Now, Thinkers’ focus on sequential, useful steps can sometimes appear to simulate a greater focus on reason than on emotion. A focus on the specific uses of things can elicit immediate, private emotions like enjoyment or frustration, excitement or disappointment, and such ubiquitous yet personal emotions are often overlooked when people think themselves coldly rational. While Feelers’ focus on the meaning of things in the context of the whole picture can generate great feelings of hope or despair, wonder or contempt, such open and noticeable emotions are of no more or less hindrance to reason than Thinkers’ quieter moods. Thinkers are no less emotional than Feelers, and no less vulnerable or tender in any way. Thinkers’ emotions focus more on specific uses or misuses of things, and Feelers’ emotions are most often applied to the whole picture; apart from that, both can enjoy equal connection with emotion, as well as equal risk of overemotional irrationality.
And no healthy person, of any type, should indulge in irrationality or emotional subjectivity. While some stereotypes imply that only Thinkers are objective in their views, both Thinkers and Feelers can and should strive to understand the objective, measurable nature of things. Just as healthy Thinkers focus on the objective use of things in their own right, so also healthy Feelers focus on the objective, measurable significance of things in the context of everything else. Subjectivity, reaction, and impulsive emotion are neither a Feeler trait nor a Thinker trait; they’re simply human, and all types are equally equipped to master them healthily, in their own ways.
In the same manner, all types can learn to be in touch with their emotions and all the power therein, each in their own specialized way. To be human is to have emotions, and that’s good! Healthy, bridled emotions provide vital perspective that human thought alone cannot hope to contain. Healthy emotion reminds us of truths we might be entirely unaware of, even as we feel that they’re there. This is why emotion can be such a powerful, guiding light, at times dwarfing conscious reason. Yet this is also why runaway emotions are so dangerous, smothering all attempts at reason and balanced perspective, just as all powerful things are dangerous when they run amok.
This sheer power of emotions, and their ability to remind us of things our thoughts alone cannot keep track of, is why suppressed emotions always find a way to influence all our thoughts, views, and actions. This makes suppressed emotions much more dangerous, because their sweeping influence is ignored even while they steer conscious thought. The quickest way to be controlled by emotion is to pretend it isn’t a factor, thereby letting it run unattended in the back of our minds, coloring all experiences and skewing all opinions and ideas. Only unhealthy people, whether Thinkers or Feelers, attempt to suppress emotion, or indulge in being driven by it.
Regardless of how unemotional some may seem, those who are the most quiet about their emotions are often the ones who nurture them the most deeply, whether they mean to or not. Being a Thinker therefore does not mean you’re doomed to be cold, mean, or unfriendly in any way, nor does it justify such unhealthy coping mechanisms. While some may attempt to be coldly unemotional, that desire is often a very emotional desire in and of itself, usually resulting from fear, loneliness, or pride.
Such attempts to be unemotional are an example of unhealthiness. While blubbery, stereotypical emotions can certainly get in the way of reason, so also can emotions like distaste, discomfort at unwelcome ideas, and disdain or pessimism block all rational thought. These sorts of negative emotions are still emotions, yet they often replace reason for those who consider themselves unemotional.
Yet when reason and emotion are nurtured together in their natural relationship, we can live safely above either extreme of overemotional subjectivity, or falsely emotionless hardness. We can cultivate a rational and honest approach to life by remembering that emotions, when heeded, will lead to new discoveries and protect from unseen hazards. Feelings of all kinds can help us prioritize where we should employ our thoughts and our energy. Without emotion, logic loses context and perspective, causing it to neglect key principles and wander into inaccuracy. Healthy emotion is free to all types, both Thinkers and Feelers, each in their different ways.
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