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[Jungian Cognitive Functions] Ni - What the hell is it?

Arclight

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I don't think so. I think both Ni and Ne do both. The distinction, again, is what the intuition is about.

From what I have researched I would have to politely disagree. The distinction is the source of the intuition and the direction or directions it goes in.

How would the subject be of relevance? i.e. What it's "about"
 

Thalassa

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Intuition in general is the process of gaining a conclusion by understanding a certain focused topic. Understanding what, how and why something is occuring.

Yes, Ne figures out why something occurs but through that which they first visualise how it came to be. In other words, figuring out the whole process of the event. The thought process works in that what is thought about brings about more things in relation to the subject and that it continues until a judgement factor plays into it for conclusion. They do not dwell into the purpose as usually Ne users tend to find knowing the purpose less useful than knowing the process.

Ni tends to look at the same focused thing within a different perspective usually with the intention of finding the purpose of that focused thing. For example: An Ni user could look towards someone wearing slick expensive sunglasses as 'an insecure person who uses expensive items to try to increase his/her social status' rather than 'someone who is posh'. Something that would tend be seen as generally positive was changed to negative.
It amount for large amounts of skepticism and that why compared to Ne, Ni amounts to more definite assumptions.

The bolded, definitely Ne.

Well of course people with Ne can have those thoughts about status symbols too - seems like kind of a simplistic example, honestly.

But I will say when I was a teenager (a lot of times to understand my dom function I have to go back to my extreme youth) that I had friends who seemed a lot more cynical and judge-y of other people's motives for dressing a certain way or being certain way, I guess in a way that took me by surprise at that age, because in my mind (when I was a teen) people should be allowed to express themselves as individuals without judging their innate reasons for doing so ...and I was more inclined to go for the "shiny" in the way that young ENFPs do...if it looks cool, I might want to try it, and others should have the freedom to do the same. My judgements of my peers were usually more about them clearly behaving in a less authentic way or if they were trying to actively hem me into conforming.

So yeah - my cynicism about why people wear expensive sunglasses probably came into being in my twenties as I developed shadow functions or something.

I'm confused now, honestly.


EDIT: I went for a walk and came back, and I've decided that the sunglasses example is really terrible. I'm sorry. I'm even thinking back to my teens and I know I questioned things constantly - and I really don't think that's the difference between Ni/Ne. It seems like the difference between being an adolescent N or SP vs. being an adolescent SJ. Seems to me quite frankly immature SJs would be the least likely to question the motives behind status symbols or ways of dressing. I guess SPs might do something just for the sensation because it looked cool...but NO. NO. Ni doms/aux do not own privelege to thinking that people who drive this kind of car or wear this kind of clothing have an ulterior motive for doing so. It's bullshit. The example from my teens I gave prior was just the people who were more likely to call other people "poseurs" for dressing a certain way vs. me, who thought that my peers should be free to dress and experiment however they wanted, no matter what their motives were. And not all of those assholes who were pretentious about calling other people "poseurs" were Ni users, nor were all the people who were more accepting of others' choices Ne doms like me.

No sale.
 

redacted

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From what I have researched I would have to politely disagree. The distinction is the source of the intuition and the direction or directions it goes in.

How would the subject be of relevance? i.e. What it's "about"

The source of the intuition is a good way to think about it. I don't think the directions the intuitions go (I'm pretty sure I know what you mean by this) are actually fundamental to defining the difference, though.

It looks like Ni goes inward because it starts with all of the assumptions of the inward experience -- so whatever it does from there is still likely to be more relevant to the internal standard. But it isn't technically limited in where it can go, any more than Ne is. The distinction is in the assumptions/inputs/what's being looked at/whatever you want to call it. The base assumption of Ne is "what's going on around me is most important" and the base assumption of Ni is "what's going on in my head is most important". The process being played out given those assumptions is the same. Intuition is basically metaphor -- it links seemingly unrelated concepts, creates assumptions, etc... constantly looking for new ways to think of things. Ni creates new ways of looking at things by mulling over what they already know. Ne creates new ways of looking at things by taking in new data.
 

Polaris

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When dealing with the external world, Ni involves getting perceptually outside of a system, usually in order to take a shortcut or avoid a pitfall that everyone who plays by the rules is oblivious to. You might be wandering through a maze, for example, when it suddenly occurs to you that you don't need to weave your way through the halls and corridors; you can climb over the walls or dig a tunnel under them instead, and reach your goal in a more direct fashion.

Ni will often see ways to take advantage of the assumptions it detaches from. For example, an Ni user may realize that there is a certain style of speech, a certain carriage, a certain overall way of presenting oneself that creates the mere impression of authority; and that Ni user will by the same stroke learn how to make themselves appear authoritative to others, who for the most part, won't be perceptive enough to question appearances.

So Ni is essentially about playing the game instead of letting the game play you. This becomes possible only through an attitude of detachment toward the world, an attitude that regards the world as a place made up of people carrying out actions in an uncritical and almost mindless fashion. To the extent that an Ni user continues to develop that sense of detachment, they'll eventually seek a perspective that transcends the world and even conception itself, discarding them both as mere appearances. What is left is Ni at its purest, and linguistically, this purity of intuition can only be described as a kind of silence or nothingness, not because those words are at all accurate but because they don't mean anything: they erase language and lay bare the essence that Ni seeks.

That essence is the silent truth within us--the clear vision, the lucid knowledge, the "just knowing" that constitutes Ni at its purest. That knowledge may take the form of a certain future, an insight into another person's behavior, or any number of things. What is essential to this knowledge is its irrationality: it doesn't come from anywhere or take an instant to arise, nor does it spring from any line of reasoning.
 

animenagai

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This is something I always come back to. lol I never QUITE fully understand it. More specifically, I have problems differentiating Ni from Ne + Fi/Ti. Is Ni simply more conclusive than Ne + Ti?
 

Thalassa

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When dealing with the external world, Ni involves getting perceptually outside of a system, usually in order to take a shortcut or avoid a pitfall that everyone who plays by the rules is oblivious to. You might be wandering through a maze, for example, when it suddenly occurs to you that you don't need to weave your way through the halls and corridors; you can climb over the walls or dig a tunnel under them instead, and reach your goal in a more direct fashion.

Ni will often see ways to take advantage of the assumptions it detaches from. For example, an Ni user may realize that there is a certain style of speech, a certain carriage, a certain overall way of presenting oneself that creates the mere impression of authority; and that Ni user will by the same stroke learn how to make themselves appear authoritative to others, who for the most part, won't be perceptive enough to question appearances.

Wow, this is the same kind of pretentious crap that Oaky implied. I assert that this is NOT Ni. Plenty of people know how to do these things for various reasons. Crazysauce, no way.

The only pattern I'm seeing here is that Ni doms are so self-absorbed that they falsely believe that they're the only people who question appearances or find ways around the rules.

That essence is the silent truth within us--the clear vision, the lucid knowledge, the "just knowing" that constitutes Ni at its purest. That knowledge may take the form of a certain future, an insight into another person's behavior, or any number of things. What is essential to this knowledge is its irrationality: it doesn't come from anywhere or take an instant to arise, nor does it spring from any line of reasoning.

This is the only acceptable part of this description, the "just knowing." Everything else is speculatively self-congratulatory.
 

Oaky

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The bolded, definitely Ne.

Well of course people with Ne can have those thoughts about status symbols too - seems like kind of a simplistic example, honestly.

But I will say when I was a teenager (a lot of times to understand my dom function I have to go back to my extreme youth) that I had friends who seemed a lot more cynical and judge-y of other people's motives for dressing a certain way or being certain way, I guess in a way that took me by surprise at that age, because in my mind (when I was a teen) people should be allowed to express themselves as individuals without judging their innate reasons for doing so ...and I was more inclined to go for the "shiny" in the way that young ENFPs do...if it looks cool, I might want to try it, and others should have the freedom to do the same. My judgements of my peers were usually more about them clearly behaving in a less authentic way or if they were trying to actively hem me into conforming.

So yeah - my cynicism about why people wear expensive sunglasses probably came into being in my twenties as I developed shadow functions or something.

I'm confused now, honestly.


EDIT: I went for a walk and came back, and I've decided that the sunglasses example is really terrible. I'm sorry. I'm even thinking back to my teens and I know I questioned things constantly - and I really don't think that's the difference between Ni/Ne. It seems like the difference between being an adolescent N or SP vs. being an adolescent SJ. Seems to me quite frankly immature SJs would be the least likely to question the motives behind status symbols or ways of dressing. I guess SPs might do something just for the sensation because it looked cool...but NO. NO. Ni doms/aux do not own privelege to thinking that people who drive this kind of car or wear this kind of clothing have an ulterior motive for doing so. It's bullshit. The example from my teens I gave prior was just the people who were more likely to call other people "poseurs" for dressing a certain way vs. me, who thought that my peers should be free to dress and experiment however they wanted, no matter what their motives were. And not all of those assholes who were pretentious about calling other people "poseurs" were Ni users, nor were all the people who were more accepting of others' choices Ne doms like me.

No sale.
Hmmm, I see. I understand what you mean however my example was supposed to be Ni in a simple form. The capacity the general population would take for use of Ni. And we use all functions so one will always find aspects of every function in the general thought process of society.

In a more stronger form of Ni with Ni-doms many variables would be taken into account usually in a subconscious fashion as the Ni-dom would usually be used to it he/she wouldn't think twice of the answer unless he/she were taking into account the probability levels of their understandings of how they themselves understand things. The average person may be skeptical and say that that person is wearing sunglasses because he/she is trying to maintain a higher social status. But then there is also a possibility that someone bought it for them as a present. Or that it's a fake brand. Or that they just want something to fit with their clothes. Or that they are experimenting socially on other people by seeing their reactions when wearing it. Or maybe they simply just want proper eye protection from the sun and like the look. And so on... To determine the most probable conclusion one would have to take in more information about the person which could be the clothes, expression, style, body language, location etc. All will be taken in to further produce the most likely outcome of the purpose the person wore such sunglasses. The general society do not usually go so deep in the mind process. Ni users would.
It is as many calls it 'trying to see the 'truth'' even if the truth is as it's clearly shown which is why you may find some Ni users being 'delusional' when they think about certain things too much.
 

Craft

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This is something I always come back to. lol I never QUITE fully understand it. More specifically, I have problems differentiating Ni from Ne + Fi/Ti. Is Ni simply more conclusive than Ne + Ti?

No. Think of it this way. Where does Ne gather ideas? In a similar way, where does Se gather details? From the immediate surroundings.

Where does Ni gather ideas? Where does Si gather details? From the self.

Ne sees many stuff out there. Ni sees one thing in many ways. Ne manipulates outside information while Ni manipulates inside information. This causes Ni to be defined as "perspective shifting"---just looking at things from another angle(manipulating perception itself). Ni then is unaffected by the pressures of the surrounding causing it to grasp universal or rather "timeless" ideas.

And if one can look at things in a different way, one, for example can see a whole history just by looking at a face. In other words, symbols, connections, and another forms of "perspective-relationships" are manifested.


Course, this is only my own understanding but it does make sense. Just the two words, Introvert & Intuition, if defined properly can lead to the more accurate definitions of the whole (the combination of the two words which is Ni).
 

Thalassa

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Hmmm, I see. I understand what you mean however my example was supposed to be Ni in a simple form. The capacity the general population would take for use of Ni. And we use all functions so one will always find aspects of every function in the general thought process of society.

In a more stronger form of Ni with Ni-doms many variables would be taken into account usually in a subconscious fashion as the Ni-dom would usually be used to it he/she wouldn't think twice of the answer unless he/she were taking into account the probability levels of their understandings of how they themselves understand things. The average person may be skeptical and say that that person is wearing sunglasses because he/she is trying to maintain a higher social status. But then there is also a possibility that someone bought it for them as a present. Or that it's a fake brand. Or that they just want something to fit with their clothes. Or that they are experimenting socially on other people by seeing their reactions when wearing it. Or maybe they simply just want proper eye protection from the sun and like the look. And so on... To determine the most probable conclusion one would have to take in more information about the person which could be the clothes, expression, style, body language, location etc. All will be taken in to further produce the most likely outcome of the purpose the person wore such sunglasses. The general society do not usually go so deep in the mind process. Ni users would.
It is as many calls it 'trying to see the 'truth'' even if the truth is as it's clearly shown which is why you may find some Ni users being 'delusional' when they think about certain things too much.

Okay. This makes more sense. Thank you for clarifying.
 

skylights

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hm. the quick-quote in the new layout does not appear to work for me. :/

in any case, i actually completely agree about Ni seeing shortcuts in the system. however, that is not to say Ne does not.

as far as i understand it, the difference is that Ni understands how to work the system from within the system. Ne understands how to change the system by getting out of the system. you could say that Ni looks for shortcuts, while Ne looks for loopholes.

this is not to say that we cannot utilize the other function, of course, but simply what our preference is. i would rather abandon the system, and change it. a Ni user may prefer to reinterpret it.

that actually goes perfectly hand-in-hand with the Ji and Je functions too, if you think about it, because the Ne desire to escape/repair is accompanied by the desire for a more ideal (Ti/Fi) system, while the Ni desire to reinterpret/best utilize the system is accompanied by the desire for the most harmonious/effective (Fe/Te) system. to combine opposing pairs - Ji and Ni or Je and Ne - would seem counterproductive (though, i am sure, lead to rather interesting conclusions).

just my thoughts so far. i agree that Ni and Ne are tricky, especially because it would seem that Ne wants to be everything all at once and Ni wants to be mysterious and elevated... together they obviously would like to be the be-all-end-all... lol... :)
 

skylights

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hm. the quick-quote in the new layout does not appear to work for me. edit - huh. and i was shot to the reply screen after attempting to post. curious.
:thinking:

in any case, i actually completely agree about Ni seeing shortcuts in the system. however, that is not to say Ne does not. N always looks for what is not, thus we will both always look to something beyond the status quo. we will look for what could be (in a timeless sense) and what can be (in a future sense).

it seems important to me that introverted and extraverted are not just about ourselves. they are about ourselves at a very core level, but we have to extrapolate that a bit, because having a function be introverted means that we also tend to look at the insides of other things - not just ourselves - with that function. as far as i understand it, the difference is that Ni understands how to work the system from within the system. Ne understands how to change the system by getting out of the system. you could say that Ni looks for shortcuts, while Ne looks for loopholes. Ni looks in. Ne looks out. this is not to say that we cannot utilize the other function, of course, but simply what our preference typically is. i would usually rather retool the system. a Ni user may usually prefer to reinterpret it.

it actually goes perfectly hand-in-hand with the Ji and Je functions too, if you think about it, because the Ne desire to escape/repair is accompanied by the desire for a more ideal (Ti/Fi) system, while the Ni desire to reinterpret/best utilize the system is accompanied by the desire for the most harmonious/effective (Fe/Te) system. to combine opposing pairs - Ji and Ni or Je and Ne - would seem counterproductive (though, i am sure, lead to rather interesting conclusions).

just my thoughts so far. i agree that Ni and Ne are tricky, especially because it would seem that Ne wants to be everything all at once and Ni wants to be mysterious and elevated... together they obviously would like to be the be-all-end-all... lol... :)
 

Thalassa

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as far as i understand it, the difference is that Ni understands how to work the system from within the system. Ne understands how to change the system by getting out of the system. you could say that Ni looks for shortcuts, while Ne looks for loopholes. Ni looks in. Ne looks out. this is not to say that we cannot utilize the other function, of course, but simply what our preference typically is. i would usually rather retool the system. a Ni user may usually prefer to reinterpret it.

it actually goes perfectly hand-in-hand with the Ji and Je functions too, if you think about it, because the Ne desire to escape/repair is accompanied by the desire for a more ideal (Ti/Fi) system, while the Ni desire to reinterpret/best utilize the system is accompanied by the desire for the most harmonious/effective (Fe/Te) system.

Clearest description that I've seen so far. Thank you. YOU WINZ THE INTERNET.:cheese:
 

Polaris

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Wow, this is the same kind of pretentious crap that Oaky implied. I assert that this is NOT Ni. Plenty of people know how to do these things for various reasons. Crazysauce, no way.

The only pattern I'm seeing here is that Ni doms are so self-absorbed that they falsely believe that they're the only people who question appearances or find ways around the rules.



[...]Everything else is speculatively self-congratulatory.
I can understand why you would be upset if you thought I was saying only Ni-doms do those things, but that isn't what I meant. What I meant was simply that that's how I see Ni. Nothing more, nothing less. And to that I would add that, yes, of course, non-"Ni-users" can see through appearances and do the other things I mentioned--just that they're not as prone to do it in the same way that I described. On the upside, non-Ni-users are far better at doing a lot of things that Ni-doms are really bad at.

Of course, all of this is just theory, anyway. In the natural course of things, it would be extremely abnormal for someone to single out the behaviors we talk about here and give some of them emphasis to the exclusion of others; most people are far more balanced in their function-use than the MBTI is willing to acknowledge, which means that plenty of supposed non-Ni-users are probably very good at the process.

So to sum it up, I'm not trying to put anyone on a higher level than anyone else, especially not using cognitive process lineups (which I think are a little like horoscopes, in that they draw your attention to characteristics in yourself that only seem to fit the bill so well because of the very fact that you're looking).

On a side note, why don't you take a shot at your own definition of Ni? The fact that you know what Ni isn't suggests that you have a sense of what it is, however vague that may be.
 

Thalassa

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I can understand why you would be upset if you thought

No one is upset. I'm just criticizing your definition.


I was saying only Ni-doms do those things, but that isn't what I meant. What I meant was simply that that's how I see Ni. Nothing more, nothing less. And to that I would add that, yes, of course, non-"Ni-users" can see through appearances and do the other things I mentioned--just that they're not as prone to do it in the same way that I described. On the upside, non-Ni-users are far better at doing a lot of things that Ni-doms are really bad at.

Of course, all of this is just theory, anyway. In the natural course of things, it would be extremely abnormal for someone to single out the behaviors we talk about here and give some of them emphasis to the exclusion of others; most people are far more balanced in their function-use than the MBTI is willing to acknowledge, which means that plenty of supposed non-Ni-users are probably very good at the process.

So to sum it up, I'm not trying to put anyone on a higher level than anyone else, especially not using cognitive process lineups (which I think are a little like horoscopes, in that they draw your attention to characteristics in yourself that only seem to fit the bill so well because of the very fact that you're looking).

ok

On a side note, why don't you take a shot at your own definition of Ni? The fact that you know what Ni isn't suggests that you have a sense of what it is, however vague that may be.

Ni is an unwavering singular vision - that singular vision can be awesome and correct, or it can be paranoid or even batshit insane. And by "vision" I don't mean psychic vision. I mean VISION - like I SAY THIS WILL BE, for example a successful business, a brilliant film, a social solution, the very foundation of Christianity...or Nazi Germany, and religious cults. It gives Ni users a kind of focus (at least if they're using their Fe or Te fully) to manifest something new.

Ni is also a penetrating intuitive evaluation of the person or situation. It can be scarily spot on - like wow! - or bizarrely out of left field and ...not.

It's a kind of creativity and imagination that springs from within - I think one of the reasons I recognize myself as an Ne user is because I collect things to make something new, like a collage. Or I see patterns in divergent things or ideas. On the other hand, I think Ni users seem to come up with things that seem PURELY IMAGINATIVE. Like sometimes I feel like Ni users are more creative than me, because I can recognize how I've collected things from other sources and pieced them together into something new. But their creativity can at least appear to be...singularly unique...because it comes from their inner intuition instead of extroverted intuition.

At least that's my clunky interpretation.
 
G

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The best description I have read thus far is:

Ni prompts us to have a broad, sweeping change in internal perspective. It "looks past" superficial perception. For instance, if you're working on a team and people are having difficulty solving a problem, Ni may envision a previously unforeseen angle to approach it from.

Ne prompts us to have a broad, sweeping change in the external environment. It "revolutionizes" that which is perceived. For instance, if climate change is an impending dilemma, Ne may conjure ideas for fixing the overall problem at once.

The essential difference is that one is introverted and one is extraverted. They're both similar in that they are intuition. They seek patterns, connections, and future implications.
 

InvisibleJim

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Most people forget it is part of a system and by defining all the aspects of the system you can more clearly see the interactions and attributes of the functions. Anyway from an article I wrote a while ago:

Introverted Intuition - INTJ and INFJ

Foreseeing implications, transformations, and likely effects

As ever introverted intuition is an ill defined process. It is an introverted subconcious perceiving process thus leaving most bewildered at its function. It imaginatively creates benchmarks and using iconology determines the similarities in ideas proposing the implications of these ideas and how they can affect the world. It is also sneakily subjective as it lends to a person a censored thought pattern to others around them as the benchmarks and iconology may bear little relation to reality but subtle guide the definition of the introverted intuitive. Over time it is passively enriched by other functions as experience is gained.

For the INFJ the introverted intuition is supported by extroverted feeling as a way to deal with the need to protect the imaginative and uniquely defined benchmarks of the Ni mindset is reconciled with attempting to gain a mutual understanding of shared external space.

In contrast the INTJ supports introverted intution by protecting their mindset by logically critiqueing their external environment using thinking to select elements of the environment which suit their inner vision.
 
G

Ginkgo

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You know, the more you add to the definitions of the functions, the more you run the risk of confusing or convoluting them by contradicting yourself. You also run the risk of merging the thoughts of one definition with another, which muddles the otherwise crispness of the system. I notice that many of the veteran members here have no qualms about jacking legitimate definitions from online sources to preserve the accuracy of the system. Most of those definitions can be difficult to identify with because they define cognitive functions, not behaviors. Nevertheless, I prefer that people do this rather than just making personal testimonies about their behaviors, their friends' behaviors, or pulling something else out of their ass that just confuses people.
 

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No. Think of it this way. Where does Ne gather ideas? In a similar way, where does Se gather details? From the immediate surroundings.

Where does Ni gather ideas? Where does Si gather details? From the self.

Ne sees many stuff out there. Ni sees one thing in many ways. Ne manipulates outside information while Ni manipulates inside information. This causes Ni to be defined as "perspective shifting"---just looking at things from another angle (manipulating perception itself). Ni then is unaffected by the pressures of the surrounding causing it to grasp universal or rather "timeless" ideas.

And if one can look at things in a different way, one, for example can see a whole history just by looking at a face. In other words, symbols, connections, and another forms of "perspective-relationships" are manifested.

Course, this is only my own understanding but it does make sense. Just the two words, Introvert & Intuition, if defined properly can lead to the more accurate definitions of the whole (the combination of the two words which is Ni).

This makes sense to me & manages to be simple also.

Using Ne, I am well aware that I use the external world for inspiration a lot. The tangible is not focused on, but what it implies. It's kind of like the mind sees the invisible layer of the world beneath the tangible/visible/concrete - the underlying processes, concepts, and connections - and it brings forth ideas/possibilities from these without any linear reasoning process or conscious effort. Because of this, it is difficult to be "in the moment" as far as focusing literally on what is right in front of you.

So I imagine Ni is some reverse of that....finding inspiration in some internal source, and it tends to make the individual appear more focused and composed. I think the confluence (Ni) vs. branching out (Ne) metaphor works pretty well. There is the creepy tendency of Ni people to shift perspective on an external issue and accept it in its new light, without any actual change except how it is viewed. This is disturbing sometimes and can seem delusional. Ne people will instead see many possible ways to explain something and choose that which suits their inner logic/ideals, and that can make them seem delusional. :p
 

InvisibleJim

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Most of those definitions can be difficult to identify with because they define cognitive functions, not behaviors. Nevertheless, I prefer that people do this rather than just making personal testimonies about their behaviors, their friends' behaviors, or pulling something else out of their ass that just confuses people.

It is very important that people understand that a cognitive function does not a personal behaviour make. It is a system/mode which processes senses and memory. In some ways they seem to categorise the flavour and ordering of an individuals id, ego and superego (to match Jung against Freud).
 

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Of all the functions, this is probably the hardest to understand what it means.

I mean you read a description and it's like "Knowing thins instinctively" and "Experiencing Premonitions" and it's just like WTF? It's hardly an explanation of how a mental function works. Does anyone have a better explanation? I can almost never tell definitively in characters if what they are using is Ne or Ni, since both are abstract idea generators and pattern connectors, supposedly.

Understanding the differance between the two is helped greatly by realising that the functions are motivations, rather than complex thought patterns. To be specific, Ne is a Pe function, which is an urge to explore and experiment with new ideas and how they play out in the real world. To an ENP reading about how to make gun powder is only half the story, producing some for yourself is the attractive bit. If you like, while Se is drawn to experiencing something for what it is, Ne is drawn to experiencing things for what they represent. In this case, the gunpowder is representative of the chemistry that makes it work. It is the visible, real world manifestation of a theoretical idea.

Ni is a Pi function, which means that is an urge to pause and think through the reason for something. While Si creates an urge to assess what works and what doesn't, Ni's urge is to pause and reflect on the more abstract issue of why things work or work out the way they do. Si urge will seek to assure success by choicing what the user believes is the most reliable information and routes forward. Ni will seek to control the way things work out, often by picking some specific possiible future and trying to make it happen.

This is why PE and Pi alienate each other. It is difficult to be both spontaneous/experimental/explorative while planning everything out in advance and reflecting and what has already been learnt. The more you raise up one urge, the further the other gets pushed down. When looked atin this fashion, the differance between Pi and Pe gets much easier to understand.
 
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