I'm going to re-write this page in plain English soon, please bear with me.

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The functions do not operate or exist in isolation, but rather in dynamic interactive relation to each other.  A typical sequence is that in which background data is acquired through Sensing perception.  This data becomes the background field for iNtuitive perceptions about the nature of the whole and about possible futures, or what might be, as opposed to what is.  The combination of these two function perceptions is the basis for judgments that can be drawn from Thinking; that is, inductive or deductive logic; or from Feeling; that is, an individual's own subjective values.

Another sequence of dynamic interaction begins with a Feeling, an aesthetic value; from that, the gathering of data; then the analysis of this data with Thinking; and finally the arrival at judgments and choices out of Feeling and Thinking.  If Feeling is the beginning, it orients the perception of facts.

Here's an example:  The scientist who discovered Valium, the largest selling drug in history, began with an aesthetic feeling about crystal structure and followed that feeling choice to the discovery of Valium.

Another example of dynamic interaction is found in one's choice of vocation or career.  What do you want to do with your life?  The answer to this question might begin with perception:  What is out there?  How do people make  living?  How do people make a contribution?  Here, much of the perception is Sensing perception of the facts:  What does a surgeon do?  How much does he or she earn?  What training is required to become one?  Beyond these bare facts, iNtuition can look behind the facts to get a sense of what it is like to be a surgeon, what the future of the profession might be, what it would be like to be in medical school, what it would be like to be in residency, what the chances are of getting admitted to medical school or to a surgical residency.  In other words, you might begin with perception, then, with facts and your own iNtuitive sense of what is out there, you could analyze the data logically to think about risk, reward, and effort.  Next, you could draw on your Feeling of what you want to do with your life.  Feeling is obviously a key function in this decision-making process.

This should provide you with a sense of how all the processes interplay with each other in the personality and dynamically interact in a systemic way.  The pattern of the system is how the type pattern manifests.

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