Doubting N

[nolla]

Intuition. It seems like it is not equal to the other functions. Thinking, feeling and sensing are all very "real". I can concretely feel when I'm using one of them, but with intuition that is not the case. I understand that it is "the world of meanings" compared to "the world of objects" but I can't make it real for me.

Any advice on how to do this? Better definitions? Good quotations?

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by nolla

Intuition. It seems like it is not equal to the other functions. Thinking, feeling and sensing are all very "real". I can concretely feel when I'm using one of them, but with intuition that is not the case. I understand that it is "the world of meanings" compared to "the world of objects" but I can't make it real for me. Any advice on how to do this? Better definitions? Good quotations?

Can you clarify a little more what you're asking for, exactly?

What do you mean by "make it real?"

[Nocap]

I used to doubt my N a lot too. Knowing that intuition doesn't happen consciously helped. Its rather rare for an intuitor's consciousness become fully aware of all their perceptions. A lot of them go out the window when T or F take over.

[nolla]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

What do you mean by "make it real?"

I know when I am thinking, I know when I am feeling, and I know that the input coming in is sensing, but I don't exactly know when I use intuition. I mean, the three functions are self-evident. Intuition is not.

Originally Posted by Nocapszy

Its rather rare for an intuitor's consciousness become fully aware of all their perceptions.

This is interesting. More, tell me more!

[xNTP]

I think of intuition as picking up on themes and patterns. When your thoughts wander and you start looking for patterns in your life or in people's behavior, or some relationship between/among different things, you're using intuition. It's not some magical feeling or experience, if that's what you're looking for.

[nolla]

Originally Posted by Edahn

I think of intuition as picking up on themes and patterns. It's not some magical feeling or experience, if that's what you're looking for.

No no, I'm not expecting it to be any more magical than feeling or sensing.

I see patterns to be a conclusion, a result of thinking. Convince me that it isn't thinking. How can I know when a pattern is coming from "out there" as intuition, and not as a result of the thinking process? Intuition should be opposite of sensing, but similar in a way it gives me information of the world, right? So, how does this information come to me? I have eyes, so I see. Is intuition a different way to use that visual information? I don't clearly see how intuition could work in the role of sensing. Or in a similar way...

[Night]

N is pattern recognition

Realizing and interpreting interrelationships between otherwise unrelated elements

Accuracy is incidental. Configuring accuracy is a facet of intelligence. This is typically the disconnect most associate between positive intelligence and iNtuition. In truth, they are only causally linked.

iNtuition is fundamentally opaque. Mechanical tuning sharpens clarity.

[xNTP]

Er... I'm not an MBTI expert, nor do I think you have to be one to answer this question, but here's my take on it...

Originally Posted by nolla

I see patterns to be a conclusion, a result of thinking. Convince me that it isn't thinking.

Why? Of course it's thinking. It's all thinking. Some of it might be implicit/subconscious, but it's still thinking. Social Cognitive Neuroscience Matt Lieberman (UCLA) has done research on intuition and connects it to implicit processing. Here's an article for you to read. Keep in mind, this is the work of a researcher, not an MBTI theorist, though I would argue that the experience they are trying to measure and describe is the same.

How can I know when a pattern is coming from "out there" as intuition, and not as a result of the thinking process?

No. It IS thinking. How would you get information from "out there?" How would that work, even on the a theoretical level? Reality isn't organized into concepts and themes; your mind is.

Intuition should be opposite of sensing, but similar in a way it gives me information of the world, right? So, how does this information come to me? I have eyes, so I see. Is intuition a different way to use that visual information? I don't clearly see how intuition could work in the role of sensing. Or in a similar way...

I think of the relationship as this: intuition is the result of your mind taking in raw data (sensory experience, or sensing function) and organizing it in some way. The organization and insights that come from it is what people call intuition.

[Night]

"My Mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun."

Anyone can say this.

To give it definition and inspire discourse, one must explain why. Add marrow to the bone. Give it complexity beyond the immediate.

1-D is a point. 2-D is a line. 3-D is a box. How can we interpolate as to determine n-Dimensionality?

[Jennifer]

Well, I wasn't sure what you meant because Intuition always seemed obvious to me.

I can look at a situation with my Thinking and say, "Here is what I can say about this... and this is ALL I can say about it." Everything is sifted and categorized and labeled in terms of probability -- the weighted chances of each statement being true.

So the presence of Intuition has been so obvious for me. It says, "Yes, I know that that's all you can fairly say about it... but you know what your gut is telling you the truth is."

That's more Ni to me -- the deep-seated hunch that leaps the gap that my Thinking rightfully points out as shaky ground and refuses to put its weight on. That's how I recognized it: Because I would fight internally over acting on the knowledge. Thinking screams, "No, you can't trust it THAT much," and Intuition yells back, "Stop being a scaredy cat -- you KNOW what the truth is."

Ne is more the "leapfrog" function, where I ping off one idea to the next like a pinball, taking new twists and turns with each step. Thinking demands a more linear line; Ne seeks to "ping" off each new concept, sensation, experience, or whatever, in any sort of direction as long as there is SOME sort of connection there.