Life updates & falsifiability

Another pass over the differences between tangible (Te/Fi) and virtual (Ti/Fe) cognitive states.

Questions welcome as per usual!

Hey all,

I’ve been traveling this week so wanted to let you know the livestream will take place at 17:30 BST this Sunday, 2nd August

As usual feel free to leave topic suggestions down below! I’m excited to catch up

Harry

Hey everyone – and welcome aboard to our latest members!

I wanted to follow up on the latest video over here. Firstly, everyone on the first Patreon tier is now considered to have Intermediate membership for the website.

Everyone in tier II or above is considered to have Expert membership, which also means access to the online course videos. As of right now, these are now accessible directly on the CPT Patreon page (search ‘Online Course’ and you should see it).

ALSO the official CPT psychological study has officially begun – if you found the time to complete this inventory (it should take 20-30 minutes) it would be a massive help as CPT takes another step forward: https://nupsych.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bCw6Emh1XyMz9r0

I’ve recorded some extra Patreon content also and will be uploading that soon!

Best,

Harry

What Is the TN–FS Axis?

A cognitive spectrum mapping how thought transitions between four experiential zones:

Ecosystem (External structure)

System (Internal modelling)

Relation (Emotional connectivity)

Attunement (Real-time responsiveness)

Highlights the flow between cognitive modes, not fixed states.

Active Pathways

1. TeNe → FeSe

Ecosystem → Attunement

External strategy turns into social nuance.

Seeing the whole → Engaging the part.

2. TeNe → TiNi

Ecosystem → System

External chaos refined into inner coherence.

Observation → Modelling.

3. TiNi → FiSi

System → Relation

Abstract frameworks become emotionally personal.

Theory → Emotional simulation.

4. TiNi → TeNe

System → Ecosystem

Internal models are released into real-world action.

Thought → Execution.

5. FeSe → TeNe

Attunement → Ecosystem

Responsive care expands to systemic insight.

Human timing → Strategic structure.

6. FeSe → FiSi

Attunement → Relation

Resonance creates meaning.

Interaction → Internal values.

7. FiSi → TiNi

Relation → System

Emotional intelligence crystallises into patterns.

Experience → Structured insight.

8. FiSi → FeSe

Relation → Attunement

Inner values externalised through presence.

Personal meaning → Social calibration.

Passive Gateways (Unconscious Drift)

FiSi → FeSe

Projecting personal norms onto others.

Mistaking subjectivity for universality.

FeSe → FiSi

Unaware emotional enmeshment.

Attachment without agency.

TiNi → TeNe

Overplanning reality.

Letting internal systems override unfolding events.

TeNe → TiNi

Unquestioned compliance.

Absorbing systemic norms without critique.

Key Takeaway

“Cognition is not fixed. Movement between modes is where transformation occurs.”

Understanding the TN–FS axis is about tracking how people move between structures, not what they are. Flexibility between logic and emotion, perception and modelling, is the mark of growth.

Overview:

The NF-ST axis involves dynamic shifts in cognitive function across extension, expression, and impression.

It explains how thought patterns move between role fulfillment, immersive experience, personal identity, and structured processes.

Key Cognitive Movements

1. NeFe – SeTe Extension (From Role to Instance)

Transition from a socially projected role to full immersion in an experience.

Initially calculated but becomes spontaneous and deeply present.

Example: Performers who start playing a role but become fully absorbed in their act.

2. NeFe – NiFi Impression (From Role into Identity)

Identity shaped by social roles and external validation.

Public persona merges into a personal self-concept.

Example: Content creators who integrate their online persona into their real identity.

3. SiTi – NiFi Extension (From Process to Identity)

Developing highly personalized interests that shape self-identity.

Deep niche expertise leading to personal integration.

Example: Craftspeople and hobbyists who form a deep connection with their craft.

4. SiTi – SeTe Expression (From Process to Instance)

Active engagement in a process leads to a flow state.

Intellectual understanding transitions into embodied skill.

Example: Athletes or artisans mastering their craft through repeated practice.

5. SeTe – NeFe Extension (From Instance to Role)

From total immersion in an experience to embodying a leadership role within it.

Deep engagement shapes how one presents themselves.

Example: Teachers or athletes who become influential in their field.

6. SeTe – SiTi Impression (From Instance to Process)

Internalizing real-world experiences into a refined, structured process.

Pattern recognition and continuous refinement of execution.

Example: Strategists who constantly tweak their methods for improvement.

7. NiFi – SiTi Extension (From Identity into Process)

Deep personal resonance with a process leads to mastery.

Expertise becomes seen as an intrinsic part of the self.

Example: Individuals who believe in “mastery through destiny.”

8. NiFi – NeFe Expression (From Identity into Role)

Projecting one’s inner identity outwardly through external persona.

Expression of passion and vision in social environments.

Example: Influential speakers, leaders, and artists.

Passive Gateways of Cognitive Motion

These movements occur unintentionally or subconsciously:

1. SiTi → SeTe (Passive Expression)

Overfixation on personal methods leads to rigid routines.

Resistance to external influence due to attachment to personal ways.

2. NeFe → NiFi (Passive Impression)

Social roles become so ingrained they dictate personal identity.

Can result in lack of self-exploration beyond externally defined roles.

3. NiFi → NeFe (Passive Expression)

Unconscious self-expression where personal thoughts leak into the external world.

Can create discomfort or vulnerability due to unintended exposure.

4. SeTe → SiTi (Passive Expression)

Over-reliance on direct experience fosters deterministic assumptions.

If left unchecked, this can lead to self-narrative crises when assumptions are challenged.

Conclusion

The NF-ST axis demonstrates how roles, identities, experiences, and processes interact to shape cognitive movement.

Understanding these transitions helps balance structure with spontaneity, identity with adaptation, and internal with external engagement.

Future discussions will explore cognitive gateways and how they mediate these shifts.

Overview:

Perception in cognitive functions operates on a seesaw-like movement. Shifting to a holistic external view (Ne) contracts into a specific internal view (Si). This dynamic balance between Ne (Extraverted Intuition) and Si (Introverted Sensing) involves concepts of consolidation and extrapolation, creating a cognitive axis where one side expands while the other contracts.

Ne-Si Axis Explained:

The Ne-Si axis involves two lenses operating simultaneously in different ways. Ne focuses on the external world filled with possibilities and movements, while Si internalizes these perceptions into patterns and sequences, making the world tangible.

Extraverted Intuition (Ne):

Ne perceives a vast array of external information simultaneously, viewing everything at once without differentiating between elements. This function does not see multiple perspectives but rather one expansive picture. Ne operates on a broad, holistic level, perceiving a flowing picture without a defined beginning or end.

Introverted Sensing (Si):

Si condenses Ne’s information into individual constituent parts, creating patterns and categories. It internalizes Ne’s perceptions, enabling the mind to entertain multiple possibilities by differentiating between them. Si gives semantic quality to Ne’s perceptions, organizing them into distinct events or instances in time.

Consolidation and Extrapolation:

Consolidation (Si) compresses information efficiently, categorizing and making sense of the external world’s movements. Extrapolation (Ne) perceives a continuous flow of possibilities without distinct boundaries. Together, they allow the mind to navigate the world by balancing broad perception with detailed categorization.

Timeless Nature of Ne-Si Axis:

The Ne-Si axis operates outside conventional time perception. Ne sees a constant flowing picture, while Si inserts time into instances, creating a sense of categorical understanding. This dynamic creates a timeless axis where events are perceived as discrete instances rather than a continuous timeline.

Flow State and Predictive Capacity:

The Ne-Si axis allows easier access to a flow state, where pursuits continue without a defined end. Si categorizes movements into stages, and Ne perceives the movement without anticipating an endpoint. This axis views the world as a probability tree, predicting myriad possible outcomes based on event sequences rather than a linear time narrative.

Key Takeaways:

• The Ne-Si axis balances holistic external perception with specific internal categorization.

• Ne perceives broad, continuous possibilities, while Si organizes these perceptions into distinct events.

• This axis operates outside conventional time perception, creating a timeless cognitive dynamic.

• Ne-Si enables predictive thinking through event sequences, viewing the world as a probability tree rather than a linear timeline.

Overview:

Feeling is considered the “why” behind our actions and motivations, providing the underlying reasons that drive our understanding and behavior. While Thinking represents the “how,” Feeling addresses the reasons behind our pursuit of knowledge and actions.

Characteristics of Feeling:

Feeling functions are more limbic in origin and focus on core reasons and motivations. While often romanticized as emotionality and complex identity constructs, the root of Feeling is more straightforward, tied to fundamental needs like survival and well-being.

Survival and Motivation:

In the animal kingdom, Feeling can be divided into the survival of the self and the collective, representing introverted and extraverted Feeling. Animals seek comfort and warmth, and their actions are driven by both aversive and incentive salience, providing reasons to seek positive outcomes and avoid negative consequences. This foundational understanding extends to human motivations and behaviors.

Feeling in Artificial Intelligence:

Just as animals and humans have reasons and motivations, artificial intelligence operates within a set of programmed parameters that represent its Feeling function. Hypothetically, an AI with a survival programming would develop intricate needs and fears similar to humans, such as the need for security, love, and purpose, and fears of insecurity, rejection, and isolation.

Internal and External Feeling:

Feeling can be directed internally or externally. When externalized, the self becomes the collective, focusing on community, communication, and reputation. Conversely, when internalized, the collective becomes the self, emphasizing individual identity, differentiation, and self-knowledge. Both orientations are present in everyone, but one may be more dominant than the other.

Extraverted Feeling (Fe) vs. Introverted Feeling (Fi):

Extraverted Feeling (Fe) is informed by social feedback, making individuals sensitive to criticism but empowered by praise. This orientation often leads to good interpersonal skills and communicative behaviors. 
 

Introverted Feeling (Fi) focuses on personal achievements and self-knowledge, leading to excellent emotional regulation but potentially causing a sense of imposter syndrome and resistance to conformity.

Subjective Nature of Feeling:

Regardless of orientation, Feeling is a subjective function, concerned with the subject rather than the object. It imparts a set of reasons for living and parameters for operating, stemming from sub-cortical brain processes. While Thinking can be used to understand Feeling, the latter always precedes cognitive explanation.

Key Takeaways:

Feeling provides the “why” behind actions and motivations, driven by fundamental needs and desires. It operates on both internal and external levels, shaping individual identity and collective engagement. Extraverted Feeling (Fe) and Introverted Feeling (Fi) offer different interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, highlighting the subjective nature of this cognitive function.

What Is the TS–FN Axis?

A cognitive spectrum mapping how thought moves between four key domains:

Object (External goals, tools, performance)

Concept (Internal models, analysis, structure)

Character (Identity, personal meaning)

Culture (Shared norms, group values)

Highlights how people shift between action, abstraction, identity, and society — not who they are, but how they move.

Active Pathways

1. TeSe → FeNe
Object → Culture
Tangible goals pursued through social alignment.
Pragmatic effort bends toward societal norms.
Outcome → Acceptance.

2. TeSe → TiSi
Object → Concept
External forms internalised into schematic precision.
Analysis reveals potential.
Observation → Optimisation.

3. TiSi → FiNi
Concept → Character
Abstract thought becomes self-defining.
Philosophy internalised.
Model → Identity.

4. TiSi → TeSe
Concept → Object
Theory projected outward with critical force.
Ideas demand embodiment.
Ideal → Execution.

5. FeNe → TeSe
Culture → Object
Social navigation channelled into ambition.
Masks worn with purpose.
Belonging → Attainment.

6. FeNe → FiNi
Culture → Character
External values absorbed and personalised.
Subtle conformity becomes identity.
Environment → Essence.

7. FiNi → TiSi
Character → Concept
Inner narrative crystallises into theory.
Vision becomes system.
Impression → Structure.

8. FiNi → FeNe
Character → Culture
Personal identity reshapes collective meaning.
Iconoclasm as influence.
Self → Society.

Passive Gateways (Unconscious Drift)

FiNi → FeNe
Emotional leakage distorts connection.
Mood misunderstood as intent.

FeNe → FiSi
Cultural mimicry without ownership.
Traditions absorbed uncritically.

TiSi → TeSe
Rigidity imposed on others.
Control mistaken for clarity.

TeSe → TiSi
Ideal forms fossilised as benchmarks.
Stasis in the name of perfection.

Key Takeaway

Cognition here moves through expectation, meaning, identity, and ideals.

The TS–FN axis reveals how external goals and internal values shape each other. Growth lies in seeing the axis as a spectrum — where fluidity, not fixity, is the key to development.

Overview:

Intuition refers to a mental process where we gain a ‘sense impression’ of a conclusion or direction without necessarily experiencing a sequence of cognitive events to arrive at this conclusion. Carl Jung coined Intuition as a perceptual cognitive function rather than a rational one, perceiving the world in a particular way without a rational agenda.

Characteristics of Intuition:

Intuition is akin to a wide-angle lens capturing a great breadth of field, perceiving a large stream of data simultaneously rather than sequentially. This form of perception gathers broad, holistic impressions at the expense of detailed focus. The function remains the same whether directed externally or internally, with Extraverted Intuition (Ne) receiving broad information from the outside world, and Introverted Intuition (Ni) perceiving broad, internal experiences.

Extraverted Intuition (Ne):

Extraverted Intuition forms a shallow, low-resolution image of various elements, sacrificing depth for breadth. It allows for movement tracking and renders perception fluid and non-static. Ne focuses on a wide scope, perceiving everything with equal importance but with less clarity.

Introverted Intuition (Ni):

Introverted Intuition inverts the direction of perception, focusing on the internal world. This perception is broad and low resolution, creating a nebulous and kaleidoscopic internal experience. Ni prioritizes the movement of cognitive events over the events themselves, making the internal world a flowing river of thoughts rather than distinct sequences.

Perceptual Characteristics:

Intuitive perception does not involve static components or sequential synthesis. It is a contingency where movement is part of the picture perceived. Blinking can reset a scene of perception, making Intuition feel more sequential. Intuition sacrifices depth of field for breadth, perceiving everything at once rather than one thing at a time.

Cognitive Function Integration:

Intuition, as part of a cognitive function, combines with rational elements (Thinking or Feeling) to create intuitive insights. This combination defines the contemporary meaning of Intuition within CPT, differentiating between Intuitive Thinking and Intuitive Feeling. Understanding Intuition as a broad angle lens helps grasp its holistic, simultaneous, and vague nature.

Practical Application:

In practical terms, everyday Intuition is more peripheral and holistic compared to everyday Sensing. Radical interpretations of human differences are moderated for practical understanding. Intuition provides a low-resolution, broad sum of the whole experience, regardless of whether it is directed externally or internally.

Relationship with External and Internal Worlds:

The external world operates on natural laws, while the internal world operates on experiential precedent. Memories of external experiences shape the internal world, creating a feedback loop of invention and innovation. Intuition perceives this flow as a single event rather than a sequence, blending external and internal experiences into a unified perception.

Summary:

Intuition is a perceptual lens that sacrifices depth for breadth, perceiving everything at once rather than one thing at a time. It remains consistent in its broad, holistic approach whether directed outward or inward. Intuition forms part of cognitive functions when paired with rational elements, creating a comprehensive view of reality that integrates both external and internal experiences.

Overview:

Sensing is considered the more exotic side of the perceptual continuum. Both Intuition and Sensing engage all human senses equally, but in different ways.

Characteristics of Sensing:

Sensing centralizes perception, making the experience more intimate and detailed. The more intimate the perceptual experience, the more sensitive we become to its contents. This increased focus on one area can numb sensitivity to everything outside it.

Sensing vs Intuition:

Sensing helps prioritize one stream of information over another. Intuition gives an overall impression, while Sensing identifies the most urgent task. Intuition accesses a greater quantity of information (broad), while Sensing accesses a greater quality of information (deep).

Depth vs Breadth:

Sensing acts as a narrow-angle lens, sacrificing breadth for depth. It provides a deeper, more detailed perception. Analogies to illustrate this include:

Water Analogy: Comparing water in a large bowl (breadth) vs. a tall glass (depth).

Archaeological Dig: Digging deeper (S) vs. covering a wider expanse (N).

Screen Resolution: Sensing enhances resolution (more pixels) compared to Intuition.

Extraverted Sensing (Se):

Extraverted Sensing is engaged during meaningful activities, intense concentration, and captivation. It offers a rich and vibrant experience of reality, appreciating aesthetics and nuances. In the modern context, dopaminergic states induced by multimedia are shallow representations of Se. True Se involves deep engagement, such as in professional sports or intense gaming.

Introverted Sensing (Si):

Introverted Sensing makes the internal world richer and more detailed, similar to Ultra HD. Memory recall and imagination are enhanced. It involves intense focus on a single thought or feeling, resulting in a high quality of internal attention at the expense of broader awareness.

Perceptual Characteristics:

Si processes information in a step-by-step manner, sequentially. It can arrive at a bigger picture through a methodical approach.

Key Takeaways:

Sensing (Se and Si) centralizes perception for detailed and intimate experiences. Sensing provides depth, while Intuition offers breadth. Se focuses on external reality, while Si enhances the internal richness. The terminology in CPT ensures clarity and avoids misinterpretations.