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Describe Si more clearly

Llewellyn

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Si can also be something that makes a person 'comfortable' with something.

I see "well-being" as part of Si.

Another way, isn't it that we don't use our functions all the time, that they only show up under certain circumstances, and is there a neutral mode that we use 'all the time' (in between)? For me I guess this is (non-)observation.
 

The Ü™

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Si is more aware of how the body reacts to the sense impression. It thinks in terms of what is physically comfortable and uncomfortable, beautiful and ugly, and so forth.

Se, taking a more active role, thinks in terms of intensity of experience.
 

Cimarron

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INTJMom, all I can really answer to that is specific things. I hate sports, I find random trivia pointless, and my jokes are really sarcasm. One specific example I can think of is when I worked at a fast food restaurant. I had worked at the register so much that I had memorized the prices of 90% of our foods. At that restaurant, when I was working on the drive-thru, I'd have to cook some things while taking orders. Many times, when someone ordered things, I'd remember the prices of each thing, add it up in my head, and then tell them the total. My manager was just shocked when he saw me do that.
That's what I'm saying. :D Wouldn't/couldn't everyone do that after enough times? Perhaps not...

Yes, Uberfuehrer, I think that describes it well.
 
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raz

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Everyone could do it, yeah. Everyone that works in sales will memorize SOME prices after a while. I guess my examples could've been better. I'm still stuck on the memory thing.
 

prplchknz

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I hAVE a question: would this be Si: Like I'll be walking around and something will remind me of the past and then part of my mind will think I'm in 2004 in some other city and I have to keep reminding myself that it's 2008 and this is Chicago. It's like I smell the smells and hear the sounds of the other place aswell as my age I feel younger (cuz I'm in the past). Or is that Ne or something else entirely. same thing happens with certain pictures.
 

INTJMom

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That's what I'm saying. :D Wouldn't/couldn't everyone do that after enough times? Perhaps not...

Yes, Uberfuehrer, I think that describes it well.

Everyone could do it, yeah. Everyone that works in sales will memorize SOME prices after a while. I guess my examples could've been better. I'm still stuck on the memory thing.
No. Everyone could NOT do that.
That is my point.
You have gifts that you think are "average" when they're not.

I had a waiter once who remembered what everyone at our table ordered and didn't forget or mess up anything.
There were 10 of us!
That is a special gift!
 

nightning

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No. Everyone could NOT do that.
That is my point.
You have gifts that you think are "average" when they're not.

I had a waiter once who remembered what everyone at our table ordered and didn't forget or mess up anything.
There were 10 of us!
That is a special gift!

Practice makes us better at remembering details... but some people are naturally gifted with crystal clear recollection. The woman who can remember everything - Telegraph Photographic memory...

As to me? My memory has never been precise. I can vividly imagine details, but I cannot recall them.
 

Cimarron

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This is probably also why lots of people on this board will remember being scolded by bosses, superiors at work, teachers, parents, etc., even friends for forgetting details like this. It's no secret that there are lots of SJs out there--and all the SJs have strong Si (either 1st or 2nd place). So this misunderstanding comes up a lot, and you've likely experienced it before.
 

raz

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No. Everyone could NOT do that.
That is my point.
You have gifts that you think are "average" when they're not.

I had a waiter once who remembered what everyone at our table ordered and didn't forget or mess up anything.
There were 10 of us!
That is a special gift!

I was actually wanting to become a waiter, but it was mostly because I enjoyed running around keeping up with what was going on. Wait a minute, isn't that Si and Te in action? Using Si to store the data about what's going on around me, and then Te to keep my environment under control? When I worked at that fast food restaurant, I loved working during the lunch hour. It required quick thinking on your feet, and I actually preferred that the urgency didn't allow me to second guess myself.
 

Cimarron

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Under stress, though, I start constantly second-guessing myself. My Te crowds out my Si, and I work through the problem slowly and methodically. This is what happened a lot when I had a job at the cash register in the movie theater, during busy hours. People probably thought I was a moron because I had to make sure at each and every step of the way that everything was right, which came out as me asking for the boss' instructions several times, or asking for the customer's order several times. It was far too fast-paced.

But your waiter thing sounds correct. I just don't thrive under pressure like that.
 
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Virtual ghost

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Look at it this way.

Your main function is something that totally defines you.
You think that everyone can do it just like you can, but that is just a side efect of watching from subjective position.


For example I could not understand what Ni is. Descriptions did ring some bells but I could not see it. Plus Ni is probably the most illusive and abstract function of them all.

On the other hand I have very well developed Te and I am quite J. Te is hard to miss, actually it is impossible to miss it.

But with time I have come to understanding that the "bastard "is invisible almost all the time and it is invisible since it is introverted function and it is not all about what ideas/information will I get. It also about the way my thoughts will be created in the first place. So the "show" goes since I was a baby and it was hard to pinpoint something that is always there. I mean always as always.
With time I have learned that I can do things with my mind that are out of reach for other people (at least this is how it looks like)


Maybe I am wrong but this is how I see it and I presume that similar story is with Si. Probably it is easier to detect it since it is more earthly, but I think that trick is same.
 

Cimarron

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Antisocial One, I agree with you. The most difficult thing about finding Si is that it's an introverted perceiving function (the two of these are Ni and Si), so like you said it deals with how your mind takes in information. Add to this the fact that since it's my strongest function, I've always had it working, it's hard to actually see it there.

Still, I would feel more sure of it if I had more verifiable evidence. That's all I'm saying.

And this thread is about describing Si, so I'm trying to dig out whatever I can find.
 

raz

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I've come to think of each thread as just ongoing conversations that might derail for a few minutes until someone says, "FOCUS PLEASE!"
 

Virtual ghost

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Isn't that a wonderful situation: you are S and you main function is totally ethereal.
 

Cimarron

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Isn't that a wonderful situation: you are S and you main function is totally ethereal.
I know! That's the wonderful problem! I love the struggle, in a certain way.
 

raz

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Isn't that a wonderful situation: you are ISJ and you main function is totally ethereal.

Correction. ^^

He could be S and have a main function of T or F. :)

So, can it be assumed that Si is the function that we find recharges us? After something that's drains us of energy, what do we look to do?

I'd have to say that I want to do something that I know to be revitalizing. I want it to be something that I know to be enjoyable and not draining. If I need to take a break from something, I look for something I'm used to, and I know will be comfortable.

Take for instance, right now. I'm sitting in the student lounge reading Gifts Differing. I love the book, and I want to finish it, but I have to take breaks every little bit. Just now, I looked over and saw a table with a bunch soda bottles and a cooler. Instantly I thought of when I was in Wal-Mart earlier and saw people buying Thanksgiving food. That thought lasted a half second. Then, I thought about Thanksgiving coming up, and the meal I'll have with my family.

My next thoughts were, "It'll be really relaxing to have a Thanksgiving meal. It's familiar." In all that's been going on in my life, I'm looking forward to it because it's something that I can expect to be comfortable. That's if my family doesn't find something to argue over.

That's just what I mean and I think what Jennifer meant. It governs things familiar. It's why new situations are difficult for us.

Take for instance, if I were planning to go out after work. Let's say I were going out with someone I just met a few days ago. We're going to a restaurant I haven't been to before. That's a lot of newness. That's not something I'd think of as rejuvenating, although it's an experience that I willingly wanted to partake in. I'd be thinking about the amount of processing of the events that night I'd be doing afterward.
 

Virtual ghost

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Question

How skilled are you when it comes to music? (I have seen the picture)

That requires a lot of Si from logical perspective.
 

Cimarron

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Raz, that makes sense to me. :yes: That's partly why I started this thread when I did: I was looking for a break from all those ISTJ Relationship threads we've been doing lately. They were fun to think through, but I wanted to go back to more familiar grounds. Si and "comfortable" go hand-in-hand to me. :) Of course, it's going to make more sense to us that way than to others.

Anti, well, my music teachers back in grade school all said I had a "gift" for understanding music. The people in my band (both school band and out-of-school) think I have that "talent" too. Music theory really works well for my Si-Te combination, as it puts my inner impressions of the notes and tones (Si?) into a working system (Te).

What I'm not good at is making up my own music. I really struggle with that, and those same people mentioned above are surprised by the obvious gap. So it's not all easy sailing for me, I have some big obstacles.
 
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