Are you observant?

[Gauche]

When you are walking down the street, or in bus, or somewhere... do you stare around and constantly observe surroundings and people? Or do you rather be in your mind and don't look around so much?

Basically, would you say that you are noticeable by your vigorous watching around?

I wonder if NPs have this thing... As far as I know majority do have, but I'd like to hear your suggestions.

 

[Halla74]

When you are walking down the street, or in bus, or somewhere... do you stare around and constantly observe surroundings and people? Or do you rather be in your mind and don't look around so much?

Basically, would you say that you are noticeable by your vigorous watching around?

I wonder if NPs have this thing... As far as I know majority do have, but I'd like to hear your suggestions.

I am very aware of my surroundings and pick up on the communication (both verbal and non-verbal) of those I interact with the to the degree I know if they are truthful, lying, nervous, afraid, etc. I almost have ESP. Actually, I have ESTP.

 

[Zoom]

I tend to notice details more than most I know - especially if they are beautiful to me. I examine people, also - I had to learn that staring is impolite when I was younger, simply because I like looking at things.

However, if I am in a thoughtful trance (of sorts)... half-asleep and whatnot, such as daydreaming on public transit (which I do not take any more), time and people fly by and all I notice is the sky.

 

[Polaris]

Maybe I'm an atypical NP, and in fact I'm sure I am, but this is definitely not me. My surroundings always seem like a vague, dreamlike blur, and while my eyes are often darting around, they're not really taking anything in. It's just a reflection of my inner thoughts, which are always darting around.

 

[Quinlan]

Yes very much so, I don't miss much, for a while I thought everyone was like this.

 

[sculpting]

When you are walking down the street, or in bus, or somewhere... do you stare around and constantly observe surroundings and people? Or do you rather be in your mind and don't look around so much?

Basically, would you say that you are noticeable by your vigorous watching around?

I wonder if NPs have this thing... As far as I know majority do have, but I'd like to hear your suggestions.

I walk in a dreamworld. I am so unaware most days of what is around me. Even when I try to focus in on specific details I have realized I really pick up potential patterns, not the details. I often dont even see the people really, more just people blobs.

One day-perhaps it was hormones, I was at wal-mart standing in line and suddenly I noticed everything around me in explicit detail. It was..horrific on some level. Everything was so ugly. passed quickly thank god.

My ISTP ex husband was profoundly attentive to details, to the point where he was overwhelmed by them. He wanted a white painted room with black carpet, black furniture and minimal objects.

(I have endless piles of crap everywhere)

 

[Fluffywolf]

Definatly on my part.

 

[Moiety]

I do observe but not always pay attention. Like my peripheral vision might be picking up a seriously "WTF" moment but I might just not care enough to actual take a good look.

As far as places with lots of people are concerned...I do hate it when people stare at others. And today I was kinda stuck in traffic...1 km ahead there was an accident obstructing one of the two lanes...if people weren't so stupid as to stare as they drove past it there would be no traffic to begin with...


But yeah, for all my N-ness, I'm pretty much aware of my surroundings at all times. Obviously there are some times when I'm in full "head in the clouds" mode and thus oblivious to everything.

 

[kendoiwan]

Quite. Except when I don't care. In which case I can be as tarded as the N'est of them.

 

[Sniffles]

It can go either way for me. Often I'm very observant of people and things around me, but at the same time I can often be preoccupied with my own thoughts.

I can recount the one incident when I was waiting for some friends to see a movie, and I literally walked right past them without noticing. They had to shout out to me before I snapped out of my deep thinking.

 

[Costrin]

Physical details? Not so much.
But people, if I don't have other things to do I occasionally just start observing and figuring them out. It's fascinating the things you can observe from both a psychological and sociological perspective.

 

[professor goodstain]

There is some truth to the OP. I believe in the old motto-if you can see it, it can see you. But when one gets realy good at seeing it either before or after it sees them, one can notice everything if they time it right. Yet if that same one was caught lookin, that one would be labeled shifty-eyes

 

[LucrativeSid]

I can make an effort pay attention and observe everything, but unless there's a reason for it, I'm more likely to be lost in thought and not really paying much attention to my surroundings. This doesn't mean I'm oblivious, though. It's not like I brag about my observational skills after stepping around a puddle. Unconsciously, I think we all have a pretty good idea about our environment. We understand enough about it to either ignore it or consciously focus on it.

And usually, choosing to observe things is pretty boring. (There are some things worth watching, I guess, but doing something or thinking about cool stuff seems better.) Do I want to plan my day tomorrow, think about a dream I had, come up with a screen play, and think of things I could invent, or do I want to observe completely inane things in my environment that have nothing to do with me?

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

I joked with a friend of mine, ESTP, doing a "pants check" when getting out.. that is, checking that I have my pants on

No, I'm extremely unobservant. It's about focus.

When I try really hard to observe, I do really well. Oh, damned well.

One thing I can't do well if I tried, is to read anyone's emotions. I fall somewhat below the average on that, however I tried. That is, if I have access to just visuals of the said person. If there's audio, I do better; if I do history, I do much better. But. That is getting beside the point.

I'm not generally observant, but I am if I focus on it.

edit: .. but I lose too much of my other qualities when being observant, so it's a trade-off. Uhh. So, the bottom line, it's hard to be observant for me.

edit 2: observant why something works? why something is done? what benefit is there from it? who is who's friend because of the benefit involved? How would one change their behavior given slight adjustments to rewards / benefits? What likelihood is it for someone in a certain situation to act a certain way on based on their goals? Extremely observant.

 

[Snow Turtle]

Physical details? Not so much.
But people, if I don't have other things to do I occasionally just start observing and figuring them out. It's fascinating the things you can observe from both a psychological and sociological perspective.

This about sums me as well.
Unfortunately I'm quite bad at noticing small changes unless I deem them important - hence I failed to notice that my INFP friend had changed her hair colour from blonde to red until I was messing around with the stereotypical "Oh I'm having a blonde mome... wait a minute - Oh damn. When did you change your hair?"

 

[Glycerine]

I am very observant of people but obliivious to everything else. However, a lot of sensory imagery overwhelms me.

 

[Jeffster]

Yes.

 

[Biaxident]

Clothing type and condition, how much money in their wallet, items in pockets or purse, dandruff or other physical conditions, eye color, hair color, height, weight, affect. Environmental conditions and abnormalities. Yep, pretty much.

 

[Sentura]

Ne is all about this... i analyze people based upon what they wear, their pose and facial expression while trying them in different worlds/scenarios as to how they would prove useful.

 

[ring the bell]

It really depends on the day, hour, whenever. If I'm absorbed in thought, I wouldn't notice that someone was even standing in front of me. Other days, I'm very in tune with what's immediately in front of me. Of course, I will be playing a game with myself of guessing what a person's story is. i.e. a man sitting on a bench in a park.. maybe he's daydreaming about his youth as a fireman or thinking about his final jewelry heist.