Personality Cafe banner

Functions, and how they work.

105K views 377 replies 103 participants last post by  Eren Jaegerbomb 
#1 · (Edited)
This is for me to see if my understanding of what is meant by different cognitive functions is right. I'm a Te user, so I like to have a system of understanding things that everyone can agree upon as being right. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Perceiving Functions

Here's a fantastic piece of art from one of the ISFPs. (Do you mind me using it? If you do, I will remove it and use one of my own creations.)
Se will notice the vividness of the colours, the details of the lines and shapes, and immerse themselves in enjoying the objects and colours and details.
Si will notice the details in terms of the subconscious impression they make on the person, their own personal interpretation of what they see, relating it back to past experiences and eternal images from the unconscious.
Ne will see alternate meanings, alternate ways of interpreting the picture, suggestions of metaphors or the art may catalyse action from the ideas present in it.
Ni will be focused on the significance of the subject and its meaning from different possible perspectives, it may represent or spark some insight into their own personal understanding of the world, it may symbolize universal concepts.

So now, to go from that example to using more technical language to describe how it works.
- Se notices the details. Attention is captured by the object, separate from the self, and is held by experiencing the outer world in rich detail. it is an objective function, ie it gains energy by focusing on what is readily observable in the real world. Vivid experiences energize Se.
- Ne is also an objective function. How it differs from Se is that it does not notice physical, concrete objects, but it notices the ideas or concepts inherent or present in these objects. Every object can suggest ideas and possibilities. Playing with ideas, concepts, metaphors, and meanings of words energize Ne.
- Si is a subjective function. Instead of noticing the object, the impression, meaning, significance or "rightness" of an object is noticed by Si. Awareness of the actual object itself is repressed, but the personal representation of the object is heightened. New impressions are connected to past or known impressions, even to universal images. Positive or negative sensations may be connected with the subjective representation of the object.
- Ni is also a subjective function, but it is the subjective side of intuition. Ideas and concepts are important in the impression they make on the person, and the personal subjective value of them. Concepts and patterns of universal importance draw Ni's attention, and understanding the concepts, perspectives, and underlying assumptions that shape the world fascinates Ni.


Judging Functions

I don't really have an example for these. So I'll just give some brief descriptions.

- Fi is a subjective value-based reasoning that allows the user to make judgements based on personal ideas of what has value and what does not, and what is right and what is not. Fi dominants focus on refining their value judgements, for example their ideas of right and wrong.
- Fe is an objective value-based reasoning that ascribes value when everyone can agree upon it.
- Te is objective reasoning based on observable facts. Decisions are made based on impersonal standards. Te is objective in that the logic used should be universally understood and agreed upon.
- Ti is subjective impersonal reasoning. It involves clarifying concepts by breaking them down into the smallest possible parts. Ti desires to build a logically complete system to understand something, or the world in general.

That's all for now, as I'm rather tired. I may be adding more later.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Here are my two main sources:
Some great descriptions of function characteristics: http://www.enfpforum.com/Wiki/tabid/56/Default.aspx?topic=Cognitive+Functions
Jung's original work: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Jung/types.htm
 
See less See more
#3 ·
I agree, that's an awesome picture @Sovia :happy:

When I look at it I'm drawn to the image in the water drop, trying to work out if it's inverted horizontally, vertically, or both. It looks like both, but that doesn't go well with my (rusty :blushed:) understanding of the laws of refraction, so I'm tempted to recreate a similar scene to check. I could look it up but that wouldn't be as fun! But would that be Se noticing the details in the foreground and background don't fit or Ne seeing a water drop and thinking of the principle of refraction? I'm not sure.

I was going to comment on how precise these descriptions are, but I think they're too precise for me.
 
#5 ·
@asmit127 I'm going to say that is Ne and Ti. The words are escaping me at the moment. It isn't Se, as Se doesn't start theorizing or conjecturing. Ne provided you with some ideas for possible theories, and then you needed some Ti to try and figure out which one was right.

Its actually inverted both ways :)

@BlissfulDreams Yeah... I used a lot of technical speak. There are plenty of other threads that discuss characteristics of each function and what results each function produces. I wanted to get down to the core ideas though, the foundation that produces the results that are seen. Maybe later I will write up more about how these functions work together, and what sort of thoughts they produce.
 
#6 ·
As far as I can tell, I don't see anything wrong with your description.

When looking at the painting, at first I've noticed the nice colors and how they complemented well with each other. But after staring at it for another minute, I started thinking of how the branch would make a really cool looking golf club. :tongue: With your descriptions, that would be Se and Ne for me
 
#7 ·
Se will notice the vividness of the colours, the details of the lines and shapes, and immerse themselves in enjoying the objects and colours and details.
I would clarify that Si can do this too. I think there is some confusion about this. Sensing is sensing, its just Si is making comparisons to that which has already been experienced and Se has more of a perspective of emergent experiences.
 
#8 ·
This is for me to see if my understanding of what is meant by different cognitive functions is right. I'm a Te user, so I like to have a system of understanding things that everyone can agree upon as being right. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Perceiving Functions

Here's a fantastic piece of art from one of the ISFPs. (Do you mind me using it? If you do, I will remove it and use one of my own creations.)

Se will notice the vividness of the colours, the details of the lines and shapes, and immerse themselves in enjoying the objects and colours and details.
Si will notice the details in terms of the subconscious impression they make on the person, their own personal interpretation of what they see, relating it back to past experiences and eternal images from the unconscious.
Ne will see alternate meanings, alternate ways of interpreting the picture, suggestions of metaphors or the art may catalyse action from the ideas present in it.
Ni will be focused on the significance of the subject and its meaning from different possible perspectives, it may represent or spark some insight into their own personal understanding of the world, it may symbolize universal concepts.

So now, to go from that example to using more technical language to describe how it works.
- Se notices the details. Attention is captured by the object, separate from the self, and is held by experiencing the outer world in rich detail. it is an objective function, ie it gains energy by focusing on what is readily observable in the real world. Vivid experiences energize Se.
- Ne is also an objective function. How it differs from Se is that it does not notice physical, concrete objects, but it notices the ideas or concepts inherent or present in these objects. Every object can suggest ideas and possibilities. Playing with ideas, concepts, metaphors, and meanings of words energize Ne.
- Si is a subjective function. Instead of noticing the object, the impression, meaning, significance or "rightness" of an object is noticed by Si. Awareness of the actual object itself is repressed, but the personal representation of the object is heightened. New impressions are connected to past or known impressions, even to universal images. Positive or negative sensations may be connected with the subjective representation of the object.
- Ni is also a subjective function, but it is the subjective side of intuition. Ideas and concepts are important in the impression they make on the person, and the personal subjective value of them. Concepts and patterns of universal importance draw Ni's attention, and understanding the concepts, perspectives, and underlying assumptions that shape the world fascinates Ni.


Judging Functions

I don't really have an example for these. So I'll just give some brief descriptions.

- Fi is a subjective value-based reasoning that allows the user to make judgements based on personal ideas of what has value and what does not, and what is right and what is not. Fi dominants focus on refining their value judgements, for example their ideas of right and wrong.
- Fe is an objective value-based reasoning that ascribes value when everyone can agree upon it.
- Te is objective reasoning based on observable facts. Decisions are made based on impersonal standards. Te is objective in that the logic used should be universally understood and agreed upon.
- Ti is subjective impersonal reasoning. It involves clarifying concepts by breaking them down into the smallest possible parts. Ti desires to build a logically complete system to understand something, or the world in general.

That's all for now, as I'm rather tired. I may be adding more later.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Here are my two main sources:
Some great descriptions of function characteristics: ENFP Wiki
Jung's original work: Classics in the History of Psychology -- Jung (1921/1923) Chapter 10
Wow, thank you so much. It filled my heart up with joy to see this here :happy:
You are more than welcome to use it and any of my other pieces, it is my pleasure.
 
#10 ·
Ne will see alternate meanings, alternate ways of interpreting the picture, suggestions of metaphors or the art may catalyse action from the ideas present in it.
Ni will be focused on the significance of the subject and its meaning from different possible perspectives, it may represent or spark some insight into their own personal understanding of the world, it may symbolize universal concepts.
Sorry, I didn't get very far, but I find this part a bit off. I'd argue that Ni is more interested in metaphor than Ne. Ne seems to tend more towards metonymy: seeing a part of a possible whole that keeps expanding towards an even bigger network of possibilities. Ni is more interested in the system-building that metaphors are so good for. At least in my mind.

EDIT: The rest seems bang on though.
 
#13 ·
Nice picture and post. :happy:

As soon as I looked at that picture I had an idea of some ethereal plane of existance beyond normal human reckoning. Perhaps a place of unearthly powers.

In any case I love it for it's eerie beauty.

^Would you say that was Ne? Or Ni? Or neither?
 
#21 · (Edited)
I want to come back to this. I'm going to follow the title of the thread and do it properly.

Function: Ne.

How it works: First, you saw the picture. Everyone sees the picture. Cognitive functions come into play next as lenses through which we interpret the picture. What came to your mind was the intuitive ideas contained in the picture, and not the details of the picture itself. So we have determined that you used intuition. The ideas appear to be connected with the object itself, and what possibilities the object suggests about the external world, which is extroverted intuition. Introverted intuition, in contrast, is interested in the possibilities the object has suggested about changing his/her own internal subjective understanding of the world.

Therefore, Ne. :)
 
#14 ·
@listentothemountains

Maybe later I will write up more about how these functions work together, and what sort of thoughts they produce.
--that would be very interesting (the sort of thing i've been thinking about but haven't had any luck finding information on). it would be especially interesting since when i first looked at the picture my mind immediately started coming up with questions as to what it was that i was looking at:

*"what is this?"
*"is it a painting?"
*"is it a picture that someone has painted over?"
*"is it digital?"
*"how did they get this effect?"

in any case, i'm not sure what functions those are (Ni+Se augmented with Ti--initial concrete information intake that gets whittled down through more information being brought in--noticing that the areas that represent the "highlights" are too defined in regards to the picture as a whole and then changing the assumption?), but it would be fun to read about the mapping between functions and the result that comes from the combination.

anyhow, cool thread and awesome pic @Sovia.
 
#15 ·
*"what is this?"
*"is it a painting?"
*"is it a picture that someone has painted over?"
*"is it digital?"
*"how did they get this effect?"

in any case, i'm not sure what functions those are (Ni+Se augmented with Ti--initial concrete information intake that gets whittled down through more information being brought in--noticing that the areas that represent the "highlights" are too defined in regards to the picture as a whole and then changing the assumption?)
Your thought process is very similar to mine on this. I wasn't sure where to classify them either. They went something like this:

-"Interesting, is this thread going to be about the functions ISFPs use in art? (before I read to the bottom)"
-"Ah, a painting of a droplet in a forest. Nice reflection and bright color, it has a good tone to it. Is it a picture that someone has painted over, was it referenced?"
-"I wonder why they chose the subject specifically. People do like droplets it seems. Maybe it's the upside-down reflections make them interesting, plus they're in a tiny world"
-"Is this digital paint? It looks digital. They might have/could have used such-and-such methods"
 
#17 ·
Ne will see alternate meanings, alternate ways of interpreting the picture, suggestions of metaphors or the art may catalyse action from the ideas present in it.

- Ne is also an objective function. How it differs from Se is that it does not notice physical, concrete objects, but it notices the ideas or concepts inherent or present in these objects. Every object can suggest ideas and possibilities. Playing with ideas, concepts, metaphors, and meanings of words energize Ne.
When I first saw the picture, I thought it was a real photo. Then, I wondered "why's he calling it "art"? This led me to take another look (at the details), and I could then see it was painted (particularly from the blurry background strokes, and the edges of the water drop.

I then though "wow; that is so good", and it reminded me of really good CGI graphics in animation.

I guess that's a a combination of Ne and Si.
In any case, the attention to the emergent details always comes later.
Judging Functions

I don't really have an example for these.
These are very similar to the examples of the functions Berens and Nardi give in their books.
Te would be about "organizing" something, such as perhaps, marketing the painting; Ti would be about "analyzing", like looking at what techniques makes it look so real; Fe about its obvious affect on others, like how this would look nice on the wall, and Fi about its deep affect on others, like how it might raise people's spirits or something.
 
#19 ·
I just read the Ni part. It's too abstract to a extent that it's incomprehensible.

My example would be when Ni user looks at the image, he pauses for a second, then he notices the gravity and water cohension give the shape of water drop. After that, he will notice the light is passing through the water drop like through a convex lens. Something like that.
 
#20 ·
There are tons of examples floating around of cognitive functions. But, in order to evaluate whether the examples are correct or not, we need a deep, abstract understanding of what each of these cognitive functions really are. So, feel free to go back and evaluate your own example. What part of what you wrote is Ni itself, as a function? What part is your personal way of understanding the world, ie the results of your Ni building a subjective system of understanding the world? What part of that is influenced by having Te as opposed to Fe as axillary function?

Examples show the outcome, the results, without explaining the underlying mechanism. Your example is Ni, but can you explain why?
 
#28 ·
What a couple of posts to wake up to!

So huiwcleon's dominant function is physics while listentothemountains appears to run on maths :laughing: To interpret a 'parabola' I had to plug in some values and draw a graph in my head, much like considering refraction. Again I failed upon considering that a and b might not be positive...

For me the hardest part of learning about functions is the necessary use of language. Fi deals in knowing subjectively right and wrong while Si is a subjective feeling of right and wrong - obviously 'right and wrong' do not mean the same thing in these descriptions yet either function could be operating at any time. This makes me wonder what an Fi user might think of the picture - might the Fi response be 'natural green stuff is good' and they just enjoy the picture in a similar way to Se, without analysing for errors or methods of creation?

I can come up with questions like this all day by twisting my knowledge, the more I read the more I have to play with - it's counter productive and very frustrating! Maybe looking at the definitions of six words would work better - go for it @listentothemountains :wink:

Oh an thanks for trying to help me interpret my head :happy:
 
#30 ·
@asmit127 lol haha yeah in that case my main function would be physics+maths+music-communication skills. (I've been working on this for over 7 hours...) Also, your note on being able to define things in many ways, twisting definitions, is an indicator of Ni.

So all 4 of the introverted functions have this "right and wrong" stuff going on. It happens because the user has created their own individual conception of reality, and when something happens in the outside world that doesn't mesh with their inner world, then they notice. Ni and Si probably say something seems "off" or is "strange." Fi would say something is morally right or wrong, whereas Ti would say something is logically incorrect. What they mean by that is that it doesn't fit with their subjective system of understanding the world.

Now I guess I will get into defining those six words.

Let's start with the easy ones and build.
Judging functions: judging is the process of making decisions, shown through statements that are one-sided in some way, ie they support one thing and discard the opposite. Judging is the opposite of perceiving in that perceiving accepts what it has been given. Perceiving is undiscriminating, but judging is the process of discriminating, ie saying one action/idea is right but another is wrong. (Discrimination is a negative word in daily use because general society has taken discriminating to mean unfair or incorrect judgement-making, but in original terms discrimination really means telling good from bad, or right from wrong.)
Feeling: Making judgements based on values.
Thinking: Making judgements based on criteria that are impersonal.

Perception: Noticing, paying attention to something, taking in information about something.
Perceiving functions: A filter or lens through which some types of information are accepted more easily than others. For example, if you had a red curtain pulled across your window, some light would make it through the curtain, but it would be reddish light. So we all have curtains that let some types of information in, and keep others out.
Sensing: Paying attention to facts and data.
Intuition: Paying attention to concepts or ideas.

Now, for the complicated one: Introverted/Extroverted or Subjective/Objective. Each of those 4 functions listed above will have either one orientation or the other.
Objective or Extroverted: The external world has the focus, and is energizing. Ideas and data (perceptions) come from the objects themselves, and there is no influence from self in them, nor is there an impact on self as a result of those ideas. They simply exist in the world. Extroverted judging functions also make judgements based on standards outside of self, universally accepted or understood principles or values.
Subjective or Introverted: Subjective does not mean "relating to a subject." It means that the subject (ie the person or thing doing an action) influences the outcome. So a subjective lens takes whatever is out there in the external world, and relates everything back to the subject. Perceptions and judgements must be connected back to self, must be connected to an internal frame of reference. In this process the user ends up with a highly refined system or framework of making judgement or perceiving that is only a shadow or model of the real world. The subjective action tries to remove the influence/demands of the external object (details, ideas, judgements) on the mind, and replace them with subjective versions.

Here I will use an example of Se/Si from a book, White Fang by Jack London if you are interested. A man sits beside a fire, with his sled dogs around him in a cold Arctic wilderness. He could focus on the data at present, listening to the wind in the tress, watching the flame eat up his wood, notice how his dogs are rearranged and prepare for every possibility of wolves. Or, he could notice the subjective details, the fact that this reminds him of past times and locations that he has been around a camp-fire with his dogs, even to the point where noticing that this is a scene that has occurred over and over again since the dawn of humans. By thinking of the second he removes the influence of the actual events around him from his mind, and focuses on lessons of the past to ensure survival. By thinking of the first, he removes his memory of personal past history and focuses on the present to ensure survival.


I'm not sure if this is complete, but I hope this helps somewhat to understand the functions and the terms used.
 
#32 ·
one of the best and most easily digestible summary of the functions on this site, and great job plugging @Sovia 's art too XD :D more visibility for the ISFPs XD!

edit: I asked @Stephen to sticky it because a lot of people seem to come to this subforum unclear about certain functions and I feel that this is a great place for them to start, because diving in straight to Jung's description might be a little heavy. I think @listentothemountains' description of the functions will provide the answers to a lot of people...
 
#33 ·
one of the best and most easily digestible summary of the functions on this site, and great job plugging Sovia's art too XD :D more visibility for the ISFPs XD!

edit: I asked Stephen to sticky it because a lot of people seem to come to this subforum unclear about certain functions and I feel that this is a great place for them to start, because diving in straight to Jung's description might be a little heavy. I think listentothemountains' description of the functions will provide the answers to a lot of people...
Oh wow, thanks! I'm honoured!
 
#35 ·
Well if it helps it has an underlying significance to me and my imagination.
The "significance" you speak of is probably coming from Fi in conjunction with Ne, since Fi tends to determine what "feels" significant to you based on how congruent something is with your Fi standards. Isolated from Fi, there really is no digging deeper with this perception, since you are extracting it from the outside world. So far, I'm not seeing any evidence that it is coming from a deeper web of intuitive motivations, and I'm an Ni dom.
 
#38 ·
You still think im a Fi person? Im not saying im not; but I dont see it as much as you do in myself. For example when younger I was definitely an inferior Fe user, or at least some sort of Fe user as I wanted to fit in but always did so poorly or awkwardly, so instead I decided it was better not to care so much, but even now it's still there....a little.


Lol NTP thinking style. Can you slow down on that Ne a bit? :p (I'm just kidding, it's cool.) It looks like what you've got here is an NTP who is proud of his ability to come up with crazy alternate realities. It is significant because it is such an interesting and fantastic one, right? That's a different sense of the word significant than what a subjective perceiver would use, who would define significance as importance of the idea as relating to their understanding of the world.
Ne land is so much fun at times. :)
Exactly, you hit the bright pink fuzzy nail on the head. It isn't that the idea in my mind is significant to anything in particular, just the visualisation itself. I suppose that is shallow, but then again Ne is more shallow than Ni.

From Gift's Differing - Ne : "Regards the immediate situation as a prison from which escape is urgently necessary and aims to escape by means of some sweeping change in the objective situation"

As opposed to Ni: "Regards the immediate situation as a prison from which escape is urgently necessary and aims to escape through sweeping change in the subjective understanding of the objective situation "

One delves deeper into the subjective and wants to focus on one or two things and explore them as much as possible, while the other just leaps from one possibility to the next, wading into them a little, but not going so deep as to achieve the depth of the other, before jumping off to the next one.

ps: Ive been getting some sudden understandings lately lol. It's better when im in a positive mood, I think I must have been a bit depressed these last few weeks without realising.
 
#37 ·
Lol NTP thinking style.
How do you know that's an NTP thinking style? I've been arguing for a long time that @Worriedfunction is actually an NF type...
 
#46 · (Edited)
Experience.

For me, my mind has an understanding of certain thought processes that other people experience. I have gathered them over time in order to understand how other people think and make sense of what they are saying. I've been trying to correlate them with MBTI, and this one tends to show up with NTPs. It is definitely Ne and the weak Fe shows up as a desire to come across a certain way, to play with his role in society, to draw attention to himself.

I think that you have an INTP sister (if I remember correctly?), but maybe she doesn't come across this way as much if she isn't an enneagram 7 or 3.
 
#39 ·
You still think im a Fi person? Im not saying im not; but I dont see it as much as you do in myself. For example when younger I was definitely an inferior Fe user, or at least some sort of Fe user as I wanted to fit in but always did so poorly or awkwardly, so instead I decided it was better not to care so much, but even now it's still there....a little.
Do you want to fit in with social norms or do you just want to be accepted for who you are by others? The former would be Fe, the latter would be Fi.
 
  • Like
Reactions: outlawshaman
#40 ·
Im afraid my answer will be somewhere in between, however I will say I learn more towards social norms, I went through a short period when I was a young teenager in which I emulated the stereotypical personalities around me, the types who used to binge drink and say 'fuckin' every other word.
I stopped when it was pointed out to me by those around me and I suddenly realised I was just desperately trying to fit in and I didn't want to be like those kids. In fact I would say that my individuality was somewhat encouraged by my mother, rather than from within.

See I do possess a good understanding of the risks of blind conformity, but it took me a while to get there, the desire to appear different and have my own viewpoints that I expressed in my type me thread; was probably due to bitterness at being rejected by the mainstream that I wished to emulate.

I was different and weird growing up, but not necessarily willingly.

Did you ever read this thread of mine: http://personalitycafe.com/infp-forum-idealists/69574-you-liked-warning-long-post.html
 
#41 ·
No, I didn't. Thank you. I'll respond to you in that post, so I don't derail this one.
 
#43 ·
Wow this thread is amazing! :-D

My fist thought about the picture was!
I like it!
It hit me pretty hard on a visual level and was captivated for a moment.
Then I realized that it wasn't real.
So I felt respect for the painters skill.
Then I went back to understanding this thread.
 
#51 ·
@listentothemountains

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
(I don't have time to read the rest of the thread, so I assume you would still like a stream-of-thought dump from me.)

-At first, I though 'Woah, the colors! The lines, the play of sharpness and smoothness!'. That seems like my Se fired first, because it is more superficial, and a channel to the rest of functions. I liked the sensation, even thought it might be a bit kitsch.
-Then I asked myself, if the background is real (photo)- didn't seem so.
-Then my situation awareness and possibly 6 anxiety kicked in: Since I am shown something I like, am I put into danger of some sort? For example, is anyone trying to influence my decision, whether to buy something, using the method of appearances and deception; or am I being distracted from more important issues? Am I put in risk if I decide that the picture is real, and I'm wrong? Will I be embarassed, or my judgement loses respect in the eyes of others? And at last: does my superego allow me to like the object? Am I being shallow; or does my opinion of the sensation matter AT ALL?
-Then I remembered that relative differences between objects is all that stimulates us- be it when people perform poorly, and then surprise us, or when a group of lines is rather dense and then diverges, which then makes me associate this to the flow of continuum- thin cylinder has 'denser' and faster stream and when it diverges, the liquid moves at a rather relaxed pace. (This was evoked by the vividness and sharpness contrasts in the picture.)
-Then I felt slight fear and sympathy for the people that might have fallen for the scam, if the picture was used in such a cunning way (see point 3). People buying suboptimal products in hypermarkets on a mass scale, good producers having to close a factory and the deceptive jerks profiting and ruining this world once more. (This was all an abstract picture in my mind, and I do not trust it (as I think jung's ratonals have the priority to judge, I only have the priority to PERCEIVE, to IMAGINE. I reached the goal- the picture set me wondring about the abstract and unreal.))

(So I think I employed more and more Ni as time went on. We also see Te manifestation, in the striving to be correct in the eyes of others. I think the last point can be rather Fi, because I consider suboptimality and deception to me morally wrong (Fi in the subordinance to Te), and I do not care if the nice packages make people happy, or whether the suboptimal producers are smiling. I also condole slightly and genuinely with imaginary people. I would go so far as to say that the last point is a 'conspirationist' Ni-Fi loop, where my imagination starts to hurt me.)
 
#52 ·
@Worriedfunction

To me; it connects me through certain objects or feelings that trigger off a memory or relationship to something ive experienced, sometimes im hardly aware of it. A great example is watching something on a program, say a negative argument, then suddenly Si picks up some similarities in the argument to one I had YEARS ago, at which point I start remembering the feelings and hurts from that time and I start to feel uneasy, or it could be a positive experience, it depends.
hey, this is good man :p.

so Si is accessing memories through an internalization of sensational experiences?

hypothetical example: walking into a friends house for the first time and seeing stained hardwood floors leads to the 'internalized vision' of hardwood floors at your grandparents house. following the hardwood flooring leads to a stove which brings back memories of your grandmother's homemade cooking...

--is it like that? and if it is, how does it translate to academic settings? studying, or lacking the need to do so? (i'm trying to fit this in with everything else i've heard about Si).
 
#53 · (Edited)
@Worriedfunction



hey, this is good man :p.

so Si is accessing memories through an internalization of sensational experiences?

hypothetical example: walking into a friends house for the first time and seeing stained hardwood floors leads to the 'internalized vision' of hardwood floors at your grandparents house. following the hardwood flooring leads to a stove which brings back memories of your grandmother's homemade cooking...

--is it like that? and if it is, how does it translate to academic settings? studying, or lacking the need to do so? (i'm trying to fit this in with everything else i've heard about Si).
Ironically ive found out I could possibly be an INFJ after a lot of discussions with certain members which would mean that Si isnt even my inferior function, let alone one more readily used. Although I do know that we supposedly use all of them at some point or another.

I do have an inkling suspicion that Ni and inferior Se, backed up by my tertiary, the idea anaylzing and confirming Ti, possibly produces a similar impression. Which might be why I thought I was even ISFJ at one point.

In any case, that was the idea of Si that I got from reading various descriptions about it.

As for your hypothetical, id say you are on the right track, I see it at as working in the same way that Ni with Fe in an INFJ gives almost instinctive ideas about how a person might be feeling, creating connections and impressions to reach the conclusion of the idea at a speed faster than conscious thought could follow.
I suppose in my imagination I see it as a series of mental cue cards that record data and facts you have processed, whereas Ne and Ni tend to draw connections incredibly fast from information around and within, Si is using data that is already there and has been experienced or learnt and when it finds a connection to something it has on those cards; it goes 'AHA!' and holds up something of relevance.

It's why ISFJ's in particular; tend towards the medical professions, not that they are destined to be in a medical profession though, it is merely an inclination, they can in fact be anything, as can any type. But that ability, when applied to say...a mysterious rash, becomes an immense mental dictionary that searches for a relevant bit of data that confirms what that rash is, or might be.

This is in direct contrast to Se, which processes everything around it as it comes, it is the most practical and surroundings-aware function of all because of this, I imagine a fireman might need or benefit from Se somewhere in his functional lineup; so that when the information in his surroundings change: say, a roof just collapsed in a burning building, he is able to process that into an immediate action to deal with this change.

Of course that is just a simple example, all the functions are far more in-depth and complicated.
 
#55 ·
Hi!

So, yeah... Sometimes it's hard to find out what's Si because it's so much "everywhere" that I don't realize that X way of thinking isn't just normal.

Anyhoo, Si takes a summary of sorts of everything the individual takes in. It is often the case that I don't have much to say about the present environment, but ask me a few minutes later (provided that whatever it was was important enough to remember)? I'll suddenly have a much clearer description. This probably sounds crazy to somebody who extroverts their sensing. I can describe a room in greater detail after I have left it. It's because my surroundings are a lot of data. Lots and lots of plain data. After the fact, my brain has summarized the data and it has organized it and labeled it. Instead of essentially a string of random numbers, there is a "unit" that contains snapshots of details, like the old piano, the wall of bookshelves, the dark walls. And the brain's synapses fire up again in those parts and remember some of the other details. And I think of this detached from the "real" room that I'm sitting in right now.

But Si does not only apply to actual sensory information. It's for everything. Just making this post, my brain has located the mental bullet point list of ways to describe Si, with this being under the subheading of it being the best that I have found. All almost instantaneous. My thoughts on death? A collection, almost a list, of points of my opinions and other details on it. It's really my swiss army knife of perception.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top