Inferior Function

In Lenore's theory, the inferior function is an attitude that is pushed out of consciousness as a person develops a Dominant Function. The inferior function still exerts an influence on the person, but in a childish way. It leads the person to try to fulfill neglected needs, but in ways that clash with the rest of the person's life and self-understanding. When you get way out of balance, the inferior attitude "floods" you with motives and emotions you don't understand. You fall into a sort of ego-vertigo.

One of Lenore's Main Propositions is that you can't solve those sorts of problems by developing your inferior function directly. She says that the path to consciously incorporating these neglected elements of yourself is through your Secondary Function.

See Place-Your-Stakes Exegesis for an exploration of how and why pressure from the Inferior Function happens.

Interpretations and Readings

The Semiotic Standpoint

The Inferior Function pressures you to take a different interpretation of certain signs than you are used to. However, this can lead you to become Semiotically Disoriented. Suddenly your inferior function confronts you with strange goals (due to different interpretations of signs), but your dominant function offers you no way to relate to them, let alone meet them. In fact, your dominant function will deny that these goals are even valid in the first place. It would love to sweep them under the carpet, and the Tertiary Temptation offers an excuse to do so. However, the secondary function may offer a way of interpreting signs that allows the dominant function to properly orient itself in relation to the goals of the inferior function.

The inferior function as your "alien hand"

p. 76 (Describing split-brain patients):

"When the left and right brains are no longer cooperating, it becomes clear that each hemisphere has a distinct personality of its own--memories, experiences, self-awareness, and goals that conflict with those of the other hemisphere. Neurologists recognized the latter phenomenon when some split-brain patients developed a condition known as 'alien hand' syndrome. Their left hand literally interfered with things the right hand was attempting to do.

"...Most of us favor functions governed by one side of the brain or another, which ensures that the 'alien side' of our personality receives little attention. Eventually, we reach a state of typological imbalance. Much as the 'alien hand' of a split-brain patient stops the other hand from opening a door or putting on a sock, our least-developed function asserts its own priorities, flooding us with impulses that interfere with our usual goals."

Hypothesis: the Inferior Function is the Semiotic Attitude through which you can see most clearly the parts of yourself that lurk in the Yawning Void.

Maybe you don't want to look there. Maybe with good reason.

The Inferior Function as "Tying Your Right Hand Behind Your Back"

As mentioned in the Parliament of Attitudes, attempting to use the Inferior Function will conflict with the life investments, ego, and identity that you have built with your dominant function. In other words, by using your inferior function, you are stepping outside of the criteria you have previously defined for yourself (Te). A possible Ti perspective is that directly using the inferior function is simply not true to the principles of "how the mind works."

When you attempt to use your inferior function, you must metaphorically keep your dominant function "tied up," so it doesn't interfere. It seems that the dominant function can work in tandem with the secondary function, or with the tertiary function, but not so easily with the inferior function. If you try to use your inferior function when your dominant function is running full blast, your dominant function will usually take control through the Tertiary Temptation, unless your secondary function intercedes with a new perspective. This makes sense both from the standpoint of the gear-shifting theory, and Lenore's meaning filter theory mentioned in the Genus Problem. You cannot be in forward and reverse gear at the same time; neither can you can you assign meaning to a sign with two mutually exclusive attitudes.

Of course, there are other explanations of why the dominant function and the inferior function clash besides Te and Ti:

• Se explanation: People don't use their Inferior Function directly because they know that they know it is too weak to have any kind of impact on anyone.

• Fi explanation: People don't use their Inferior Function directly because they don't want to compromise how they feel about themselves.

• Si explanation: People don't use their Inferior Function directly because they know better than to carelessly dash off into uncharted territory.

Inferior Function as Neuroticism

Dealing with spectrum behavior (ala the enneagram levels of development, Big 5s Neuroticism scale, Schizoid/Schizotypal behavior vs full-blown Schizophrenia)

• Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Schizoid

• Manic Depressive

In his descriptions of Introverted Thinking Jung directly correlated the type-specific neurotic behavior with psychasthenia (which correlates to Schizophrenia, and to enneagram type 5).This overflows somewhat to 4w5 INTJs - depressive schizophrenia - Haruki Murakami's book Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World; and to 6w5 INFPs - paranoid schizophrenia - Adolf Hitler; and to some 8s - L. Ron Hubbard.

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See Taxi Driver.

And then see Function Attitude, Terms With Nonobvious Meanings, Cocooning-vs.-Conforming Exegesis.