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[INFP] INFPs and gut feelings

Joined
Mar 23, 2010
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516
MBTI Type
Mann
Any of you other INFPs have a problem with trusting your instinct and it always turning out shitty that you didn't?
 

nolla

Senor Membrane
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May 22, 2008
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3,166
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INFP
Sometimes, yes... the hunches I have don't seem to have anything to do with the facts, and then later on turn out being correct. The problem is, how do I double-check them?

At the moment I am conflicted about what I should do about a friend of a friend who gives me bad vibes. I know there is something wrong with him, but I don't know what it is, so I can't just tell people to not hang out with that guy. I am now settled with waiting to bumb into that guy and seeing if he still gives me the creeps...

To clear that up a little... "something wrong with someone" doesn't mean that they are mourning their late grandmother or anything like this. Usually what I see is the incongruence between their body language and other communication. In the past I've spotted people who had psychopathic tendencies or some other shit like that, and I tend to not trust it enough... but the thing is, it can also be only a deeply fake personality, and I don't feel that I should do anything about them, since they are not exactly dangerous.
 

CrystalViolet

lab rat extraordinaire
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
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5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
There's a man at work that I feel that way about. Luckily, he works in another department, but he seems like the sort of guy that would be a molester or some thing like that. Yet I have no basis for this, other than he sends shivers down my spine, and the way he says hello, and greets people doesn't seem right. I just keep waiting to hear some thing of that nature, my gut feeling is so strong.
 

izzie

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Overthinking is the enemy of intuition.
 

izzie

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Intuition can actually save you from danger, so it's wise not to underestimate it. At the same time it doesn't mean intuition should let someone do hypocritical or immoral acts. It's about balance; combine intuition with logic or trust yourself enough to let intuition lead you to a logical conclusion.
 
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
516
MBTI Type
Mann
Sometimes, yes... the hunches I have don't seem to have anything to do with the facts, and then later on turn out being correct. The problem is, how do I double-check them?

That is the main issue most of the time. After the initial warning I tend to forget and go on to screw it all up because I forgot what my intuition told me. :doh:
 
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
516
MBTI Type
Mann
Intuition can actually save you from danger, so it's wise not to underestimate it. At the same time it doesn't mean intuition should let someone do hypocritical or immoral acts. It's about balance; combine intuition with logic or trust yourself enough to let intuition lead you to a logical conclusion.

This I need to work on mastering. It could really save me the trouble in the long run.
 
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
516
MBTI Type
Mann
There's a man at work that I feel that way about. Luckily, he works in another department, but he seems like the sort of guy that would be a molester or some thing like that. Yet I have no basis for this, other than he sends shivers down my spine, and the way he says hello, and greets people doesn't seem right. I just keep waiting to hear some thing of that nature, my gut feeling is so strong.

Ah I have felt something like this before. I don't suggest letting go of it no matter what happens. I let it go thinking he may not be the creep I thought he was and it turned out he was exactly what my instinct painted him as.
 

Savage Idealist

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sp/so
At times yes, making a desicion based on instinct can go wrong, but of course there is a certain risk to it, and it can lead to some better consequences as well.

Originally posted by izzie
Intuition can actually save you from danger, so it's wise not to underestimate it. At the same time it doesn't mean intuition should let someone do hypocritical or immoral acts. It's about balance; combine intuition with logic or trust yourself enough to let intuition lead you to a logical conclusion.

This.
 

musicnerd93

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Apr 19, 2010
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Yeah, like when I take a test and I'm torn between two answers, and I originally put the right answer but then I say "Well, that one makes sense too." So I put that one instead. :doh:
 

William K

Uniqueorn
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Aug 13, 2009
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Yeah, like when I take a test and I'm torn between two answers, and I originally put the right answer but then I say "Well, that one makes sense too." So I put that one instead. :doh:

Heh, back in my schooling days, I rarely double-check my answers. Usually only to see that I didn't get the numbers wrong or that my name/id was on every answer sheet. Regardless of how much time I had left, I just submit the answers and walk out of the room.
 

tkae.

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Yup!

Every time I've ever ignored my gut feeling in order to be more "logical" about a situation, it ended up in a disaster.

Example: In the seventh grade on a math test, I changed all the bubbles so that there were none that repeated more than twice in a row, or repeated at all unless I was confident about them.

...

Better example:

The other day on a Greek vocab quiz, I wasn't feeling confident about the answers and was about to change them. But instead of changing them, I went with my instinctual answers and came out with 12/15. Had I changed them, it would have been a disaster :blushing:
 

CrystalViolet

lab rat extraordinaire
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Ah I have felt something like this before. I don't suggest letting go of it no matter what happens. I let it go thinking he may not be the creep I thought he was and it turned out he was exactly what my instinct painted him as.
Yes, it's a hard feeling to ignore. I find it weird that no-one else thinks the same way....but the alarm bell ring. I just pray, that I'm never in a vunerable situation with him, because I just know he'd try to cop a feel while standing too close.
 

Chill

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Jul 23, 2010
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At the moment I am conflicted about what I should do about a friend of a friend who gives me bad vibes. I know there is something wrong with him, but I don't know what it is, so I can't just tell people to not hang out with that guy. I am now settled with waiting to bumb into that guy and seeing if he still gives me the creeps...

To clear that up a little... "something wrong with someone" doesn't mean that they are mourning their late grandmother or anything like this. Usually what I see is the incongruence between their body language and other communication. In the past I've spotted people who had psychopathic tendencies or some other shit like that, and I tend to not trust it enough... but the thing is, it can also be only a deeply fake personality, and I don't feel that I should do anything about them, since they are not exactly dangerous.

^ This, hah, I'm going through the same thing, his intentions to manipulate are very clear-cut to me and I'm just waiting for him to fall into his own trap as like what Nolla mentioned, I can't just tell others to not hang out with him.


Yes, it's a hard feeling to ignore. I find it weird that no-one else thinks the same way....but the alarm bell ring.

^ And this, I feel extremely lonely that nobody else sees it. :cry: He, though, funnily enough, knows that I know things about him. I so see his true colours. As bad as it sounds, it's a secret only both of us know and I feel like a victim in a way, hence have resorted to completely avoiding any conversations with him in order to preserve my peace.

Can anybody provide me a guide on how best to cope with too much intuitive power? :doh:
 

musicnerd93

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Apr 19, 2010
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Heh, back in my schooling days, I rarely double-check my answers. Usually only to see that I didn't get the numbers wrong or that my name/id was on every answer sheet. Regardless of how much time I had left, I just submit the answers and walk out of the room.

You're very, very smart. :doh: I guess that's one of my dreaded S tendencies. :shrug:
 

paradox fox

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I've learned from experience that those nasty, "something's-not-right" feelings are pretty spot on. They have always been in relation to people who are interested in me. I used to always ignore those thoughts, and that always landed me face down in the mud. Last time I got one of those nagging thoughts (clues, really), I told myself not to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but at the same time I was wary about how much emotional investment I put into this person. Time played out and now it's clear that I dodged a bullet and saved myself a LOT of heartache. If I had ignored my intuition my life would be totally ruined right now.
 

Synapse

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Any of you other INFPs have a problem with trusting your instinct and it always turning out shitty that you didn't?

Turns out wrong because your attuned wrong. Your energy is spent trusting your mind. When your mind starts trusting your gut instinct then your energy is attuned towards a concrete fixture rather than an intuitive fixture. This means like a navigational compass you have come to mistrust your gut instincts in favour of your mind. However when you learn to trust your gut instincts with your heart, your intuitive center, then your gut instincts are attuned to a different frequency than your mind and then your intuition becomes stronger which means your gut instincts are more trusted and true.
 
A

A window to the soul

Guest
^ Spoken like a true INFP. I feel synapse is right on about the technical details here, but that doesn't make it so. The gut instincts can feel concrete when tuned to the proper frequency. No matter how fine tuned your gut instincts are though, the INFP way of being is not an exact science and is subject to catastrophic failure. Fortunately, as an INFP you're well equipped to deal with that too. For the healthy INFP, there's no fear of the unknown future... so what's a blank canvas today, looks like the beautiful colors and strokes of a masterpiece ahead. Even when we're so close, but so far away from it. There always seems to be enough hope left to drown out brief moments of doubt ...and so it goes. It's a mighty fine way of being. :)
 
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Einnas

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May 18, 2010
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Whenever I trust my gut I am wrong but when I do not I turn out to be right in the first place. I hate it and it drives me insane. Because I have no evidence only my feeling of something is not right...
 

Synapse

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^ Spoken like a true INFP. I feel synapse is right on about the technical details here, but that doesn't make it so. The gut instincts can feel concrete when tuned to the proper frequency. No matter how fine tuned your gut instincts are though, the INFP way of being is not an exact science and is subject to catastrophic failure. Fortunately, as an INFP you're well equipped to deal with that too. For the healthy INFP, there's no fear of the unknown future... so what's a blank canvas today, looks like the beautiful colors and strokes of a masterpiece ahead. Even when we're so close, but so far away from it. There always seems to be enough hope left to drown out brief moments of doubt ...and so it goes. It's a mighty fine way of being. :)

Technically speaking you could say that. :D
As with any guidance system, static disruption is possible and like a magnet moving the north and south poles in a directionless way the intuitive center can transmogrify or short circuit the gut reaction too and this very much hinges on our state of health.
 
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