Developing Extraverted iNtuition
[INFP]
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Yeah. I started a thread on this same subject a while back: Developing my Ne? No one ever came up with much concrete advice, which was what I was looking for. I suppose the last post, by unleashthehounds, came pretty close. Hopefully this one will do better. :happy:
Edit: Oh, and re-reading the thread, the last sentence in this one by whisperycat is good too.
Edit: Oh, and re-reading the thread, the last sentence in this one by whisperycat is good too.
Start asking questions!
Whenever I want an extra jolt of Ne, I start asking myself "Why does this work? Why should I care? How can it be improved? How can it be absurd? How would someone else see this?"
Don't be picky about the subject of your questioning. My motto: If I haven't found something interesting yet, it's probably because I haven't looked at it from the right perspective. I try to imagine someone who is enraptured by the item/topic/person at hand, and then see it from their point of view. Things you've previously found boring can start to sound terribly seductive from the right vantage point.
Or I sit with my journal, start with a simple metaphor about my life, and see how needlessly swollen and complex I can make it.
Whenever I want an extra jolt of Ne, I start asking myself "Why does this work? Why should I care? How can it be improved? How can it be absurd? How would someone else see this?"
Don't be picky about the subject of your questioning. My motto: If I haven't found something interesting yet, it's probably because I haven't looked at it from the right perspective. I try to imagine someone who is enraptured by the item/topic/person at hand, and then see it from their point of view. Things you've previously found boring can start to sound terribly seductive from the right vantage point.
Or I sit with my journal, start with a simple metaphor about my life, and see how needlessly swollen and complex I can make it.
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Be around ENFPs and ENTPs. They'll teach you.
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I don't know if this is correct in what it says but: http://www.psychological-types.com/TB/E/dev/EN.pdf
I think that my Fi function holds back my Ne a lot of the time. I tend to get irritated by the entrepreneurial and non-profit type people, thinking of them as overly gratuitous and secretly narcissitic. Of course, that's not always true, but they're such enthusiastic and extraverted go-getters that it becomes annoying. At the same time, however, I envy them and want to be just like them deep down.
Don't get me wrong, I can be very passionate and enthusiastic about something that interests me. However, my strongly developed Fi (my dominant role) and Si (my relief role) tend to make me hold a part of myself back when it comes to making a huge impact. When I was a little kid, I had no trouble using my Ne (Auxilary function). I was constantly wandering around, getting lost, and had a great imagination. By the time I reached my teens in middle school and high school I was forced to feel the total weight of the disadvantages that my disability left me with. I was born with mild Spastic Hemiplegic CP on the right side of my body, and my school gave me an IQ test to find out if I needed special help. Though the overall score was inaccurate due to my disability, the test still left me with a newfound sort of cynicism and hopelessness for higher aspirations. I have been gradually regaining my desire for higher aspirations over the year, my Ne function. Indeed, it was always there in middle school and high school too, just hindered by my loss of self-confidence, my overdeveloped Si function.
Don't get me wrong, I can be very passionate and enthusiastic about something that interests me. However, my strongly developed Fi (my dominant role) and Si (my relief role) tend to make me hold a part of myself back when it comes to making a huge impact. When I was a little kid, I had no trouble using my Ne (Auxilary function). I was constantly wandering around, getting lost, and had a great imagination. By the time I reached my teens in middle school and high school I was forced to feel the total weight of the disadvantages that my disability left me with. I was born with mild Spastic Hemiplegic CP on the right side of my body, and my school gave me an IQ test to find out if I needed special help. Though the overall score was inaccurate due to my disability, the test still left me with a newfound sort of cynicism and hopelessness for higher aspirations. I have been gradually regaining my desire for higher aspirations over the year, my Ne function. Indeed, it was always there in middle school and high school too, just hindered by my loss of self-confidence, my overdeveloped Si function.
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Does Ne actually actually manifest in the form of social extroversion? I feel like I use my iNtuitive abilities to connect ideas and brainstorm all the time but it doesn't seem to be a social context, more like a burst of creative, solitary thought. In other words, how does Ne-dom make ENxPs social extroverts?
Basically, Ne is taking things from the past, present, and future and creating new ideas for change. For an INFP, Ne acts as a random idea or daydream that they keep inside their head or express through fine arts, writing, or helping the underdog. Still they won't necessarily air their new ideas directly and verbally, like an ENFP. For an ENFP Ne might be more of a vision of change that they intend to speak with other people about, and bring about. ENFP's are the extraverted version of us:
Their dominant function is Ne (Extraverted intuition)
Their auxillary function is Fi (Introverted feeling)
I think that INFP's tend to use their Ne function t to bring about internal impact. ENFP's, on the other hand, use their Ne function to bring about external impact.
Their dominant function is Ne (Extraverted intuition)
Their auxillary function is Fi (Introverted feeling)
I think that INFP's tend to use their Ne function t to bring about internal impact. ENFP's, on the other hand, use their Ne function to bring about external impact.
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Social change at large is more of a venture of the NFJ or NTPs. The ENFP poses the question "how can I improve myself or live and project a more authentic version of myself, or help others accomplish the same."
There's a distinction between Fi,Ne and Ne,Fi:
With Fi in the driver's seat (FiNe), Fi is like the reasonable, calm ruler with an advisor that wants to realize the grandiose.
With Ne in the driver's seat (NeFi), Fi is like the sensible secretary that tries to temper the 'big dreams' boss.
Ultimately, it's who has the control; with Fi in control, it tends to become a filter, but with Ne in control, Fi doesn't act as a filter but rather as a rudder for Ne's jumping around.
This is the difference between INFP and ENFP in a nutshell. If you are an INFP and want Ne to be more prominent, you have to exercise to reduce the Fi filter.
With Fi in the driver's seat (FiNe), Fi is like the reasonable, calm ruler with an advisor that wants to realize the grandiose.
With Ne in the driver's seat (NeFi), Fi is like the sensible secretary that tries to temper the 'big dreams' boss.
Ultimately, it's who has the control; with Fi in control, it tends to become a filter, but with Ne in control, Fi doesn't act as a filter but rather as a rudder for Ne's jumping around.
This is the difference between INFP and ENFP in a nutshell. If you are an INFP and want Ne to be more prominent, you have to exercise to reduce the Fi filter.
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I think I'm more introverted tbh as Ne tends to lead to thinking & pattern seeking, which then generates more ideas & connections to think about. I spend a lot of time in my head, because my subconscious thrives on connecting seemingly random pieces of information into intuitive insight. Its like inductive problem or puzzle solving. For this reason I also tend to consume a LOT of information (no watching tv is not part of this)
It however does lead to a need to share discoveries & to receive feedback from people.
The social aspect of it mainly depends on feedback. If people aren't interested or capable of giving feedback that triggers a back & forth debate (and most people don't) then I may get stuck with my ideas, something that is experienced as frustration. I often feel the need to share information..ENTHUSIASTICALLY.
I do get tired of small talk & boring parties to a point where it feels like 'm introverted & my batteries are running low. Its especially bad if I'm bored because of the above mentioned reasons & boredom is painful. I usually only get bored if I'm forced to stay in a social situation with no feedback & don't have the room to think due to loud music or whatever.
Idk how to develop Ne, for me its second nature. I don't know any other way to operate. My cognition simply is like this.
When I meet someone new the very first thing that will happen is a automatic assessment of that person's character as well as a in real time moment by moment assessment of what is going on with that person internally & between us aka the relationship, with a primary focus being how I feel about it. (aka figuring people out is like solving a rubix cube)
I basically monitor everyone I interact with this way o.o, its often curious how ppl don't even know what their subconscious is doing. I assume this is true for me as well, its just harder for me to self monitor.
The difference between me & a Fi dom would be a lack of stability in decisions & values. I'm more mercurial even when it comes to ethics of relations. With Ne lead comes a degree of flexibility & a tendency to change one's mind or reevaluate based on external input more often.
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Apologies to all for the length. I rely very heavily on my Ne personally and professionally with significant success, and I'm fairly confident I'm not an ENFP for reasons I elaborate later, so I hope this is of some value to the INFP crowd.
@FreeBeer, what you said resonated strongly with me; do you find you can overdo Ne?
While I can do all of those things, I end up spinning faster and faster, getting less and less really done, and reaching a point where I reach a state approaching panic (or even worse, dissociation) due to the amount of input that isn't evaluated fast enough by Fi. So while my Ne works very well, thank you, I need to regulate my use of it carefully, whereas I can use Fi endlessly. "Fi binges" recharge me, whereas Ne burns me out, but that's also external interaction in general for me. If I evaluate Ne input using Te more heavily, it just makes the wheels spin out of control even faster (and my judgement goes to hell). Sometimes it's useful in small bursts, but on the whole, it wreaks me.
As for developing Ne, do we mean having it be more sensitive to input, having it be more accurate, or relying on it more of the time? For me: Sensitivity is a matter of quieting down other ways I process input and putting a little trust in Ne so it opens up past whatever resistance is in place. Accuracy is a matter of patiently watching things unfold, becoming mindful of my biases (including confirmation bias), then deepening my understanding to fully accept what I observe has happened. Reliance can be easy to acquire too quickly. If that happens, I lower my trust in my intuition and strengthen the mental tools that improve intuition before diving back in, lest I be an example of the Dunning–Kruger effect.
IMO, effective intuition comes from a well trained unconscious mind. A lot depends on having acquired, stored, and using a lot of knowledge, beliefs, and experiences in a highly connected, relational way. I find absolute truth abhorrent, but it might work for others. Keep in mind that until an individual's definite understanding gets close to the readily available expert human understanding in an area, intuition often isn't immediately useful. Even google often outperforms it. However, this is an ideal training ground if one takes the time to exercise that intuition before seeking expert answers.
You'll know you're getting somewhere when your intuition leads you to deeper questions, whose answers get you closer to a solution. That is, intuition isn't just about seeing answers/outcomes, it's very important in offering questions/perspectives. You'll start making little jumps that others didn't anticipate. With skill, this becomes more of a cascade that rapidly diverges from any initial course, and you'll need to ensure other functions are well trained to keep you in a useful pursuit.
I believe I solve rational problems something like this: I pour observations and statements being made in, wait for feelings to fire, dig around in there until I tease out what feels wrong, listen to intuition of which way to go from there, and when I find a solution that feels plausible, I finally have to dig out my thinking skills and "do the math." (It's generally hard to communicate to another until this is done, alas.) Finally, act or communicate results. Rinse, repeat.
For non-rational problems: Same but minimize the thinking part, so it's a simpler loop. If there's significant perceived danger in that, I tend to do more thinking. Lately it seems that thinking can be quite reductionist and tends to worsen my decisions by narrowing my field of view. Sometimes it does help me spot incompatibilities in my beliefs, which is important to me, though it's of little use in resolving them.
Where this all breaks down horribly: When it's entirely clear exactly what is needed from me, and this actually reflects reality, or when there is significant denial of the reality I see without refuting it effectively. Or when the future doesn't matter much to others. My productivity plummets, nothing I do is motivating, and I spend even more time coping with that stress than trying to force myself to do the work that I can't use my normal tools to navigate. It doesn't even matter to me in these situations if the work is good. It feels utterly pointless and I can't feel good about it.
@FreeBeer, what you said resonated strongly with me; do you find you can overdo Ne?
While I can do all of those things, I end up spinning faster and faster, getting less and less really done, and reaching a point where I reach a state approaching panic (or even worse, dissociation) due to the amount of input that isn't evaluated fast enough by Fi. So while my Ne works very well, thank you, I need to regulate my use of it carefully, whereas I can use Fi endlessly. "Fi binges" recharge me, whereas Ne burns me out, but that's also external interaction in general for me. If I evaluate Ne input using Te more heavily, it just makes the wheels spin out of control even faster (and my judgement goes to hell). Sometimes it's useful in small bursts, but on the whole, it wreaks me.
As for developing Ne, do we mean having it be more sensitive to input, having it be more accurate, or relying on it more of the time? For me: Sensitivity is a matter of quieting down other ways I process input and putting a little trust in Ne so it opens up past whatever resistance is in place. Accuracy is a matter of patiently watching things unfold, becoming mindful of my biases (including confirmation bias), then deepening my understanding to fully accept what I observe has happened. Reliance can be easy to acquire too quickly. If that happens, I lower my trust in my intuition and strengthen the mental tools that improve intuition before diving back in, lest I be an example of the Dunning–Kruger effect.
IMO, effective intuition comes from a well trained unconscious mind. A lot depends on having acquired, stored, and using a lot of knowledge, beliefs, and experiences in a highly connected, relational way. I find absolute truth abhorrent, but it might work for others. Keep in mind that until an individual's definite understanding gets close to the readily available expert human understanding in an area, intuition often isn't immediately useful. Even google often outperforms it. However, this is an ideal training ground if one takes the time to exercise that intuition before seeking expert answers.
You'll know you're getting somewhere when your intuition leads you to deeper questions, whose answers get you closer to a solution. That is, intuition isn't just about seeing answers/outcomes, it's very important in offering questions/perspectives. You'll start making little jumps that others didn't anticipate. With skill, this becomes more of a cascade that rapidly diverges from any initial course, and you'll need to ensure other functions are well trained to keep you in a useful pursuit.
I believe I solve rational problems something like this: I pour observations and statements being made in, wait for feelings to fire, dig around in there until I tease out what feels wrong, listen to intuition of which way to go from there, and when I find a solution that feels plausible, I finally have to dig out my thinking skills and "do the math." (It's generally hard to communicate to another until this is done, alas.) Finally, act or communicate results. Rinse, repeat.
For non-rational problems: Same but minimize the thinking part, so it's a simpler loop. If there's significant perceived danger in that, I tend to do more thinking. Lately it seems that thinking can be quite reductionist and tends to worsen my decisions by narrowing my field of view. Sometimes it does help me spot incompatibilities in my beliefs, which is important to me, though it's of little use in resolving them.
Where this all breaks down horribly: When it's entirely clear exactly what is needed from me, and this actually reflects reality, or when there is significant denial of the reality I see without refuting it effectively. Or when the future doesn't matter much to others. My productivity plummets, nothing I do is motivating, and I spend even more time coping with that stress than trying to force myself to do the work that I can't use my normal tools to navigate. It doesn't even matter to me in these situations if the work is good. It feels utterly pointless and I can't feel good about it.
Just an idea from a fellow INFP
go to YouTube and lookup "ask dr mike introverted and extroverted feelings". This is the best explanation of extraverted intuition I've ever heard.
So extraverted intuition has a lot to do with speaking in ideas, theories, poetic devices, and abstracts. We may be able to build our Ne up by broadening our knowledge base of theories, and poetic/rhetorical devices. This would increase our repertoire of metaphorical/theoretical speak that we love to use.
Just an idea from a fellow INFP
go to YouTube and lookup "ask dr mike introverted and extroverted feelings". This is the best explanation of extraverted intuition I've ever heard.
So extraverted intuition has a lot to do with speaking in ideas, theories, poetic devices, and abstracts. We may be able to build our Ne up by broadening our knowledge base of theories, and poetic/rhetorical devices. This would increase our repertoire of metaphorical/theoretical speak that we love to use.
Just an idea from a fellow INFP
See Below thread. Its to a YouTube channel "NFgeeks". The Dr. who, from what I can gather is a Dr. of philosophy, breaks down the functions Fi and Ne.
Actually I took out the link to the YouTube video because I'm apparently not cool enough to post videos here. just go to YouTube and lookup "ask dr mike introverted and extroverted feelings". This is the best explanation of extraverted intuition I've ever heard.
So extraverted intuition has a lot to do with speaking in ideas, theories, poetic devices, and abstracts. We may be able to build our Ne up by broadening our knowledge base of theories, and poetic/rhetorical devices. This would increase our repertoire of metaphorical/theoretical speak that we love to use.
Just an idea from a fellow INFP
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Pick a subject (preferably one that you don't have strong feelings about, or am I just talking out my Fi?) and study it. For me personally, that was economics. Make patterns, test assumptions. Learn about movie tropes; and then watch a movie and predict the ending. Or play "guess that song" on the radio/Pandora.
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Go out and get your feet wet doing new things for the sake of novelty.
Take up new hobbies/learn a new skill/eat at different restaurants/read more books/watch more movies/explore and wander around different places.
When you get more comfortable at this, strike conversations with strangers/Plan events with friends/Do art/Ask questions/Brainstorm creative projects/Just get out of your inner Fi headspace and try something new that deviates from normal routines.
INFP and ENFP are functionally very similar. The preference for Fi doesn't mean your Ne isn't as capable, it just means you're wired to see things first from an internal ethical/moral point of view before extrapolating multiple possibilities from one scenario. So to balance your Fi with Ne, you have to try to go into an experience without having any prior expectations/over-analyzing it with Fi and just be part of the present moment and the opportunities that can emerge from it.
Well-balanced INFPs can be just as witty, zany and spontaneous as ENFPs- the key is to learn how to spend time living in both the introverted (Fi) and extroverted (Ne) world.
Take up new hobbies/learn a new skill/eat at different restaurants/read more books/watch more movies/explore and wander around different places.
When you get more comfortable at this, strike conversations with strangers/Plan events with friends/Do art/Ask questions/Brainstorm creative projects/Just get out of your inner Fi headspace and try something new that deviates from normal routines.
INFP and ENFP are functionally very similar. The preference for Fi doesn't mean your Ne isn't as capable, it just means you're wired to see things first from an internal ethical/moral point of view before extrapolating multiple possibilities from one scenario. So to balance your Fi with Ne, you have to try to go into an experience without having any prior expectations/over-analyzing it with Fi and just be part of the present moment and the opportunities that can emerge from it.
Well-balanced INFPs can be just as witty, zany and spontaneous as ENFPs- the key is to learn how to spend time living in both the introverted (Fi) and extroverted (Ne) world.
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Brilliant post. I fully agree. If you want to "develop" Ne, i.e,, to make it more conscious and part of your personality, you have to try out what your crazy mind spawns, just like ENFPs do.
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