Q. Why is nearly everyone on the planet so irrational and unreasonable? Can anything be done to save our species from its own ridiculous stupidity? ~INTP

A. With Ti (logic and reason) as your dominant function, it’s easy to understand why you view those who don’t naturally use Ti high in their function family as illogical and not reasonable. You are used to ordering your thoughts into a logical train before acting on them. When ordering your thoughts, you look at the broadest possible picture to find what is universally true, regardless of individual quirks, preferences, or opinions. So naturally, those who don’t go to that effort seem to be selfishly prioritizing themselves over the good of the collective.

There are two pitfalls within this viewpoint I’d like you to consider.

First, are you certain that the actions you’ve decreed as “most logical” are not tainted by your own views and experiences of life? For example, suppose you’ve decided it makes absolutely no sense to have more than one tissue box per room. Could it be that your wife has put 3 boxes in each room because she experiences events and sensations that are outside the norm of your own existence? Perhaps she has a constantly runny nose, but also has difficulty walking about due to hip pain. The box in every usable corner allows her to keep the mucus flow under control while minimizing the walking about she has to do. From her perspective, the plethora of tissue boxes makes quite a bit of sense!

In order to be most effective, you must use your Ti to carefully sort what seems most logical from a limited perspective, from what actually is logical from all perspectives. What I’m saying is that, believe it or not, your own logic often is tainted by your personal biases. Use this knowledge to relate to those you are condemning.

Second, if you’d like to communicate reason and logic for the benefit of the world, you’ll be more effective if you curb the condescension oozing from your frustration that others don’t see what is so clear to you. This is where it will be very useful for you to develop the Fe (social relationship) that balances out your Ti.

Regardless of the universality of absolute truths that apply to all humans (like gravity on earth and history repeating itself), the experience of the individual human and the collective experience of society affect how we deal with universal truths. Learn why people hold the beliefs they do, irrational as they may be. What purpose do the beliefs serve them? What experiences have they originated out of? What would be lost, if these beliefs are lost?

From this broader perspective, you can temper the delivery of your information. It’s not enough to provide an intellectual analysis. You must relate the information to the daily experience of people in society and the consequences to their loved ones. You have to provide an alternative for all that is lost if old beliefs and ways are given up to account for new information.

Above all you must have patience. People resist change and they resist what they don’t understand. Acknowledge that you do the same and learn from your own resistance.

The vast majority of the population does not have Ti in the upper portion of their function family. In order to come to understand how Ti works and why it is an important perspective, we need INTPs who will patiently explain the universal principles over and over in simple terms, gauging the receptivity of their audience and actively working to remain polite and respectful despite the perceived unsavory aspects of the message.

Of all the types, you have the inner calm to absorb over-reactions of vitriol and stay the educational course. Look to Sam Harris as a prime example.