The Ni Fake Nap

[Usehername]

This thread had a few comments by Ni dominants re: the Fake Nap.

So, what consists of your fake nap? What do you do? What do you seek? Do other, non Ni-dominants have their fake naps?

My INFP bro and I have discussed how we actively create daydreams; without it we get really cranky. But clearly he is not Ni dominant, so do Fi dominant types do this as well? Do other types?

My Fake Nap:
*I have an assortment of probably 3 dozen "main daydream" situations; I resort to one of them depending on my mood, what I want out of my daydream, etc.
Sort of like how you have such a knowledge base of character interactions with a television sitcom, you could easily create a new "episode" and just fall into the pre-formed characters to explore their interactions.
*I have integrated real life friends into my fantasy world (which actually isn't very fantasy-oriented; it's always "normal". Just extraordinary, unlikely circumstances happening to "normal" people.) I have also stolen movie/TV characters, given them new identities and allowed them to fill a role in my daydreaming situation.
*I have an alter-reality family. Their character traits were laboriously selected (although the labor was pleasurable) and well-thought out so that I can best find my identity in this alter-reality. The good parts of my identity. This helps me figure out how to behave as myself without it being a reaction to the character flaws in my real family. (I do love my real family. But I think the other Ni dominants will know what I mean?)
*I explore how I feel in situations, and "live out" how I would process things before they actually happen.
(the basics being death, marriage, etc. but also including trivial reactions to weird circumstances.)...


Perhaps this is why the Ni dominant NT is so calm in stress situations? We've all "lived it out" before in our heads, so we just run the program IRL?
How are INFJs in stressful situations? I really haven't read enough about them and don't know any IRL to include/exclude them from that.

 

[Metamorphosis]

Wow, I do this all the time. I think half of my life is spent in my head sometimes. I also have a couple of scenarios/places/whatever that I return to often, although they have changed over time. It's actually what made me think of the song The Quiet Place by In Flames that I posted yesterday.

It's like a form of self-hypnosis.

 

[Usehername]

My daydreaming repertoire definitely changes over time, evolves... but then every once in a while, I'll accidentally hit a neural pathway and remember one from way back and MAN it just brings back great memories; i surf the daydream and get the warm fuzzies of being 13 again or something

 

[Metamorphosis]

I know what you mean. The nostalgia is awesome. I really can't imagine not having a seperate world in my head like that...but then, if I didn't I would probably have some idea what was happening around me most of the time. At least now I have a good excuse for walking right by people I've known for years without noticing them.

 

[erm]

I pretty much do all that's in the OP, though it's rarely very in tune with reality.

I find it easier to enjoy music if I'm daydreaming along with it as well. Sort of like a music video, except more crazy.

 

[Usehername]

I pretty much do all that's in the OP, though it's rarely very in tune with reality.

I find it easier to enjoy music if I'm daydreaming along with it as well. Sort of like a music video, except more crazy.

My INFP brother says his are more surreal than mine. I think he's more prone to make a whole new world, whereas I take the existing earth; it's more efficient so I can get to teh good stuff of daydreaming

 

[Dark Razor]

I do this too, though my characters are not as fleshed out. I think generally I focus more on the action than on the characters. Though I have also incorporated people I know in real life into my stories.

And I often can get completely absorbed in my daydreams, especially when listening to music, it is an important way of relaxing to me actually.

 

[Rohsiph]

It's such a natural, every-day thing for me that, especially prior to meeting the insinuations of substantially different personality types, I find it hard to believe that people can exist without at least some level of detailed "escape" worlds.

It makes the concept of "boredom" pretty hard to believe, knowing that I can easily summon up an internal imagined world when nothing enticing is happening in front of me.

 

[Kyrielle]

I do the same thing. I don't often use people from real life, but I do tend to use characters from movies and books to form the basic structures of a lot of my characters. Sometimes I even make new characters, though they'll still possess some sort of archetype to make creating their personality a little easier.

And there are certain places I visit repeatedly. Certain storylines that are so well established, all it takes is the slightest of nudges and I'm miles away.

 

[lbloom]

I have two kinds.

The first is more common. I'll replay parts of conversations with people from my life that affect me closely, and extrapolate them, movie-like, to a ton of different scenarios. Some of these scenarios may be whimsical or wishful.

The second form shows up when I'm at peace, or really want to be. It's more nebulous than the first. A good example would be flying through dark purple clouds. I think pretty deeply in this mode, but it's not concrete.

(<--- Me's INTP)

 

[Kiddo]

I have three primary scenarios.

The first is I replay conversations in my head, changing elements of what I may have said and done so I look better than I did. I developed this strategy to cope with the anxiety I felt when I had said or done something stupid, or to calm down after someone had said or done something to me that upset me greatly.

The second is I imagine taking some idea or philosophy to the extreme and imagine if I were president or someone important, how it would pan out.

The third is usually just fantasizing and exploring how I feel, which is sadly usually much more intensely than I in real life. A lot of these are spin offs of anime, movies, and books, where I take on the identity of a new character and live it out in that imaginary world.

 

[Atomic Fiend]

I have three primary scenarios.

The first is I replay conversations in my head, changing elements of what I may have said and done so I look better than I did. I developed this strategy to cope with the anxiety I felt when I had said or done something stupid, or to calm down after someone had said or done something to me that upset me greatly.

I don't know if it's to look better then I did but I also do this quite a lot. Just to see all the different routes it could've taken. It's like reading an alternate reality story, when the protagonist does one thing differently, and through a comedy of events the earth explodes.

 

[ygolo]

I do all the things mentioned in the OP.

When I get too busy to do these things, I start feeling bad. I need my day-dream time. I also need social goof-off time (despite being an introvert).

I used to day-dream a lot more about who I would be and what I would like to accomplish. But those type of day-dreams have waned, since I've gotten to where I wanted to be, in many ways, and things have turned out not to be that great. But, I think, I need these type of dreams for motivation, since these days I don't feel like doing much at all.

Actually, I day-dream a lot when I'm at work (I don't close my eyes or anything). But I pretend that people I have respected in real life (or imaginary versions of people I've read) are judging my work, and/or giving me suggestions on how to proceed.

I also have imaginary machines that I let run in my head (these are computing machines, so they are not visual, and generally I do only a few steps).

Sometimes, I explicitly go back and read the essays that prompt my thinking (like Feynman's "Cargo Cult Science" essay, or some of Popper's philosophy), but often, I just replay simple advice given by parents, friends, x-bosses, and co-workers.

Unfortunately, when people watch me too closely, they get annoyed, and believe I do very little real work. Though if they are just familiar with my past work they think the opposite.

 

[htb]

A question to the lot of you: are these "daydreams" responses to, or direct coping mechanisms for, real life?

 

[Usehername]

A question to the lot of you: are these "daydreams" responses to, or direct coping mechanisms for, real life?

I've gone white-water rafting, played in competitive varsity sports games, trudged through mucky trails on canoe trips, lived in a hut with wicker walls and a tin roof through the wickedest thunderstorm, abseiled (rappelled) down a 100m+ waterfall, gone SCUBA diving on a coral reef in Mexico, surfed on the beaches of world famous surfing spot Jeffrey's Bay in South Africa, summitted multiple mountains on multiple continents...

and let me tell you, the daydreams are more thrilling. Seriously.

edit: upon further reflection, the thunderstorm in the tin roof beats them all (the 40 year old leader who was guiding us through the middle of nowhere even claimed it was the best thunderstorm he'd ever experienced, it was that great). but daydreaming beats the rest.

 

[quietgirl]

My INFP brother says his are more surreal than mine. I think he's more prone to make a whole new world, whereas I take the existing earth; it's more efficient so I can get to teh good stuff of daydreaming

This is the difference between my INFP brother (and my INFP cousin) and me. I take the existing earth into my daydream world as well. My brother and cousin have their own little place with their own little characters. It's more of an escape from reality than mine seems to be. Mine tends to be a highly imaginative extension of reality?

Mine involves interacting with people I know in all sorts of ways. I would guess this MAY be the difference between an INTJ and INFJ - INFJ's are notoriously systemizers of human relaionships. If it's a problem I'm working out, I'll occasionally talk to myself. If it's simply during my fake naps, I am just imagining scenarios involving certain people & how they are reacting and interacting. I get very lost in it. I love Ni.

Maybe the fake nap is a form of introvert recharge time? I tend to need them most after a day around people. Getting in tune with ourselves may just be getting in tune with our dominant functions - whether it be Ni, Fi, Ti, or Si. Extraverts, I believe, would need interaction for theirs... hence why my old ENFP roommate didn't really understand why I needed my fake naps.

I find I also need my fake nap when I'm anticipating a social event. I tend to lock myself in my room for an hour before getting ready to go out with friends - I guess to recharge my Ni or Ti before having to use Fe & Se all damn night? It's an interesting idea...

 

[quietgirl]

A question to the lot of you: are these "daydreams" responses to, or direct coping mechanisms for, real life?

Umm depends. If I have a problem in my life, I will initially work it out in my daydreams (or in my head, I guess). I tend to do the same when I have to cope with something as well.

However, that isn't the ONLY time I daydream like I've described in my previous post. I truly need to daydream in order to not get burnt out on day to day reality.

 

[quietgirl]

The first is I replay conversations in my head, changing elements of what I may have said and done so I look better than I did. I developed this strategy to cope with the anxiety I felt when I had said or done something stupid, or to calm down after someone had said or done something to me that upset me greatly.

Add this to my list of things I do during my fake naps. The INFJ constant need for self improvement? The Ni perfectionism rearing it's ugly head?