[IdealEuphoria]

Maybe someone will find this interesting.

I recently got a revelation about Ne.

It's a thing I have known about myself for at least 10 years (long before I discovered MBTI).

The thing is my complete absence of the so called common sense. I just can't seem to see the 'obvious' solutions to problems. As an example, let's say I've never seen a hammer before. I can promise I would ask someone how it works: "How do you use it?", "What should I think about when I use it?", "Am I doing this right now?", "What about now?", "Should I use the same technique when the hammer is smaller?" and so on. Most people think I ask the most irrelevant and annoying questions, but here's why I ask the questions:

When I see a new thing, I literally see every possible way it can be used. If you think about it, there are at least thousands of ways you could use a hammer. Of course, there is only one (maybe more?) way of using it efficiently - but how am I supposed to know the most efficient way before I've either tried every combination myself, or asked someone who has the experience?

I just realized that this is Ne at work. I don't see the hammer as just a hammer: Ne extracts every possible solution simultaneously, leaving me overwhelmed and confused when I have to solve new problems where I have no experience. When I have to do a practical task that's new to me, my mind goes completely blank.

This is exactly what happens when I need to do cooking; drive a car (although I have my license now roud; help out with practical things during, say, a wedding; or fix something that's broken.

The interesting thing about this is that once I've collected the necessary experience and done my experimenting (which sure can take a while), it often doesn't take long before I can radically outperform the people who have 10 years of experience.

So when I start something new, Ne instantly makes me maximally confused. The result is that I appear comically childish. But if I just keep at it, it will give me a deep understanding of the problem that few other has.

Ne is my secret superpower. Too bad I have to go through that long initial 'blank stare'-phase though.

Anyone can relate to this? I've just seen this as an odd pecularity of my personality, but today I found out that it's most likely a product of my strong Ne preference.

 

[Near Lawliet]

Oh! Me! Me! I relate completely! Though I am an INTP but Ne is my secondary function as it is for you as an INFP. roud:

 

[illicit iridescence]

Anyone can relate to this? I've just seen this as an odd pecularity of my personality, but today I found out that it's most likely a product of my strong Ne preference.

I see a bit of irony in here, it being your revelation about your Ne is exactly like your Ne. ^^

I can relate to this, yes. An example I have is when doing research - at the start, I go in Ne-like, seeing a lot of interesting possibilities to explore that may be related and relevant to the subject I'm researching. But then I'm so overwhelmed by the possibilities that I either forget or don't recognize what is truly relevant and what is not. Like brainmapping, generating ideas, finding connections, only to at some point look at the whole picture and think "Crap, this is a little too much, I need to organize this". It's a phenomenon of which I kinda forgot the name ^^;

I'm thinking it may be because during such searches, we may be not using our Fi enough to rule out possibilities, perhaps it is similar with Ti for @Near Lawliet?

 

[Near Lawliet]

I see a bit of irony in here, it being your revelation about your Ne is exactly like your Ne. ^^

I can relate to this, yes. An example I have is when doing research - at the start, I go in Ne-like, seeing a lot of interesting possibilities to explore that may be related and relevant to the subject I'm researching. But then I'm so overwhelmed by the possibilities that I either forget or don't recognize what is truly relevant and what is not. Like brainmapping, generating ideas, finding connections, only to at some point look at the whole picture and think "Crap, this is a little too much, I need to organize this". It's a phenomenon of which I kinda forgot the name ^^;

I'm thinking it may be because during such searches, we may be not using our Fi enough to rule out possibilities, perhaps it is similar with Ti for @Near Lawliet?

Either that or too much. I am the type of guy who takes a LONG time to come up with a decision. Always weighing the advantages and disadvantages of things and then when I do come up with what I see as the "solution" it at times doesn't turn out as good as I thought it was. I think that might be over use of my Ti-Ne combo but I am not sure.

 

[niki]

wow, this thread is really interesting,
and explained a LOT why I always got scorned by my ISTP (a.k.a "The Mechanics"!) father, when doing many common sense usual, daily grind activities!

also relevant I think is the fact that Ne keeps coming with a thousand ideas and thoughts much more vast than any 'typical, regular, ordinary' common-sense daily thoughts by those 'normal' people.
it's no wonder that we INFPs can also seem to easily lose sense of focus, got easily distracted,
and thinking about the mysteries of the Universe, while 'clumsily' losing focus when changing the car's tire/wheel!..

 

[neologismaker]

Ne is my secret superpower.

^ I want shirts.

 

[Wheeze]

I am very much in the same boat. But I have a twin who is very much mechanically inclined. So when I get lost in something new I know I can usually go to him and he'll put me on the right track.

 

[Marimeli]

Yes!!! Yesyesyes!!!

I used to do an exercise with my Spanish students involving this. I would give them an object whose function was not immediately apparent and have them say in Spanish what it might do. It was so funny to see how the different students responded to this task. Some students would take it apart and look at the individual function of each piece and put them together to describe the possible function of the object as a whole; some would try to find a connection with something analogous they might have seen before; some used the object's aesthetic features as a jumping off point for a creative exploration of its identity, and some thought the task was unfair.

Sounds like a MBTI fest, right?

 

[Marimeli]

P.s. I guess me coming up with an activity like that in the first place says a lot, lol.

 

[Zebedee]

Aaaah, I like it!
Here I've always attributed inefficiency to some kind of mental block, ADHD, or something similar. A few months back I was traveling overseas doing volunteer farm work and I was discouraged seeing how people who started at the same time as me just "got down to it" without asking many questions. Eventually, I would catch on, and even excel with certain tasks.

You're on to something here. So assuming your theory is correct, I'm wondering how we can really capitalize on this in practice, ie. what jobs would suit us best given our secret superpower?

 

[illicit iridescence]

So assuming your theory is correct, I'm wondering how we can really capitalize on this in practice, ie. what jobs would suit us best given our secret superpower?

I'd love to one day be part of a corporate strategy / communications team or think tank, for a company that is truly sustainable and honest. Yes this might never come true ^^;

 

[OrangeAppled]

When I was younger, I noticed I interpreted things & thus accomplished them differently from others. I always had a "missed the memo" feeling, because everyone else seemed to have this "common knowledge" way of seeing/doing things. I always approached everything with a different perspective, because I had this sort of blank slate I was coming from, without those assumptions or understandings others were confined by. I really like that now...sometimes it makes you seem awkward or odd, but it's a key to being creative, IMO.

The cool thing about approaching things without associations already attached to them is finding those hidden possibilities or new ways of doing things. It also makes you really adaptable, flexible, able to improvise, because you can work with whatever is there, not stuck on the familiar way. I actually enjoy improvising as an adult. I like to wing it & see what I can make of the situation without any prior knowledge of it.

 

[FlowerChild]

Wow, that describes me perfectly. I thought I was the only one, and people always give me a hard time about it. Most of my friends think i'm the 'goofy, slow one' because I do this a lot. It has lead me into so many embarrassing situations, and I always feel bad about it afterwards and scold myself for not knowing something so simple. But this explains why i'm like that, so now I know I don't have something wrong with me It can make things challenging, especially when you're faced with research, and you have unlimited sources of information. I go crazy just thinking about all the possible topics I could branch off into.

 

[Decoy]

This is really interesting to me, because it plays at some realizations I've been toying with about myself as well. A few months ago a friend told me, based on her observations, that I am "incompetent at life". If I'm missing information about something, I tend to fill the gaps with pretty bizarre and complicated details, to offer as possible explanations to myself. They don't seem bizarre to me and it's just what pops into my head within an instant, but apparently there are usually really simple and straight-forward conclusions that most people would come to right away, but that don't occur to me.

Maybe this also relates to why I tend to feel overwhelmed by everyday things that most people don't really seem to think about.

Thanks for this topic.

 

[JoCZker]

Its interesting. Maybe it could even explain my strange attitude to rules and manuals . . . I hate playing by rules, when i am doing something i feel confident about. But i insist on exact procedure or step by step manual, when i am doing something I dont know very well - like cooking or things like that. I can be absolutely rigid, when it come to follow steps in something i have never done. Is this it or is this just me?

 

[Jewl]

Holy cow. O___O

Yes.

It actually makes me kind of shy and cautious (-happens to be shy and cautious ENFP-). I see so many possibilities that it's pretty easy to feel like an idiot. If somebody tells me to do something, I have to clarify. It's funny because even when something seems incredibly clear, I think of the other ways you can interpret something and end up doubting everything. ^^

 

[bigtalljay]

I can definitely relate. Sometimes I am going to seem a little slow and spacy because I process things a little bit differently. I guess I hadn't put it together quite like you had, but what you are saying makes sense to me. It is overwhelming to encounter new information because I try to take everything into consideration, including possibilities that others probably did not think about, and the context as a whole. I think our non-conventional approach to problem solving is a huge strength because we are trying to explore the best way to do something, regardless of how it has been done before. It just takes a little longer to figure out. After I get past the deer-in-the-headlights blank stare stage, I'm good to go. Really good.

 

[Zebedee]

I may have found a hole in this revelation: What if our lack of common sense is simply poor memory coupled with a lack of concentration?
I hope I'm wrong.

 

[thetoken]

Ah, interesting thread. I definitely relate to this, though I have never felt like a slow learner. It's just that my mind seems to run at a 100 mph, so that speed with Ne means I am actually pretty damn good at solving puzzles. Regardless, I have been in situations where friends stare me down for a good minute or two, scratching their heads after I have asked a postulating question about something's function. I usually save face by making a joke out of my own words though. Like say there is some odd button on same fancy, technological gadget a friend is like, "It turns it on." In response, I would be like, "Well, you know it could just so happen to be a self-destruct button. You know like the kind in Space Balls where the countdown voice actually engages with you in conversation." That, of course, gets more stares, so I follow up with, "I mean maybe this device you are holding came from a future alien civilization that adored Mel Brooks. They're trying to play a mean prank on us." Finally my friend will be like, "Just press the goddamn button and watch the screen light up." "With fire?" *facepalm*

Ne is quite entertaining in my opinion, and eventually my friends will end up laughing along with me.

But, no. Definitely revel in this Ne superpower. As I somewhat alluded to at the beginning of my post, it helps solve puzzles. Most of common sense won't. It will just inform you of the most likely function of certain buttons. xP

 

[esoterictimes]

Wow. I've never ever had anyone speak of this before. I guess there are other people similar to me. It can be frustrating at times because you can feel the frustration of others.....when they try to train you the typical way and it takes longer to stick. Then later on you are fixing problems and they are asking how you did it. Sometimes I can't even give a good answer, as strange as that may sound. Even if it's something mechanical......I just somehow take past experience together without thinking about it and fix the problem.