Inferior Function

I don't think that it was until my late 20's that I became aware of how the inferior Se interacts in my mind. I know when I was younger I had a terrible time being conscious of my external environment.

I find it's difficult if not impossible to control. I'm wondering if this is my inferior Se coming out, but when I'm bogged down and sapped of internal resources, I pay attention to every single miniscule detail. All of a sudden I can see a fly on a black wall 30 feet away, and the tiniest pin drop suddenly becomes an overwhelming thud. I start becoming really fidgety, try to do everything at once and I have a difficult time trying to focus on any specific task.

I'm totally convinced, however, that even though I'm rarely aware of how my inferior Se is at work in my mind, I think it helps me in my job a lot. I find that even while my heads in the clouds, I know whether something is cleaned to my incredibly high standards or not. In my mind, I'm just "sensing" it, but it could be the inferior Se feeding into my mind external information without my awareness. I understand Ni-doms, especially INFJs (I guess because the auxiliary Fe gives us and edge in predicting human behaviors) tend to often be mistaken for psychics, the inferior Se always taking in information without our awareness, until we know the whole story without really knowing consciously how we know....

There's another thing that happens in my mind that I'm wondering if this is also being fed by the inferior Se. I have fantasies sometimes (in the 3rd person oddly enough) of me being a dancer or cheerleader (especially cheerleader). I'm kinda wondering if these are subconscious desires prompted by the inferior Se....

roastingmallows said:

How do you even function without the details? I've never quite understood how that works. If I am to make an informed decision, I obviously need all the details. For me to come to any conclusion, it would be reckless of me to do so without having all the details. So how does Ni work without a lot of attention to sensory/immediate details? I may never understand. D: It's like you just draw conclusions from thin air, or because something feels right...That doesn't seem like a very reliable method! Perhaps intuitives are simply able to look at things from differing perspectives and draw original conclusions outside of the obvious? So do you often ignore the obvious?

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Immature and younger Ni-doms often do ignore the obvious. My hypothesis is that Ni-doms do pay attention to a lot of details but are not always aware of it at a conscious level. That's why Ni has the reputation for being the "Knowing something without always knowing how you know it" function. It's really crazy how my mind works sometimes, especially when everything's in sync. It's hard to explain, because I have nothing else to compare it to. I do see everything, but sometimes, it's like "blindsight" like when you've traveled the same path to work every single day to the point that you don't have to consciously think of it because you know it by instinct now. That's actually how a Ni-dom might spend a surprising portion of their day.

Another way to look at it, is if you find an old letter with holes in it, so you don't know exactly what everything says, but by seeking out patterns, you can easily deduct what it says in the holes, and reconstruct the entire letter in your mind. I find, for me, that's how Ni-dominance works, except it goes beyond just reconstructing the letter, it also can sometimes deduce the purpose of the letter, the relationship between the writer and the recipient, and other such details by putting the pieces together. The Ni-dom, if they're on their game, might even be able to anticipate the most likely reply to this letter based on those clues.

Sometimes I can be in the moment, where my constant internal dialogue that constantly seeks meaning is shut off, but it doesn't last long. It's like having this ditzy professor in my head that can't shut up for more than a few seconds, who specializes in whatever thing I'm interested in or obsessed with during that period of time. Sometimes, it's a reply to this forum that I'm overthinking. Sometimes, it's ideas for this blog I'm working on as a side project, sometimes it's a certain band I like, and I'm analyzing their music. For instance, I can be in the supermarket, looking for beans on aisle 3, and, I'm thinking "Yay! I'm in the moment! I feel free!" but without even having to think about it the professor starts yammering again, and before I know it, I'm on aisle 6 looking at soup, and thinking "how did I get here? Oh no. Not again," lol. So I guess even mature Ni doms sometimes miss the obvious too. I'll be honest Ni dominance can be kind of a pain sometimes, especially in a world where Ni doms are so rare, and thus easily misunderstood, but it has it's shining moments as well, just like with any type.

I know all this might sound really odd to you, but it's like how I told you in your thread that I'm sure you use intuition all the time, but may not be consciously aware of it too. I'm sure that way of thinking sounds equally odd to a Ni-dom who can't turn their constant conscious intuiting off, and just live in the moment for more than brief periods of time.