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Knowing something but not being able to explain it in words

Such Irony

Honor Thy Inferior
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Jul 23, 2010
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I know I experience this every now and then. I had someone tell me once that if you can't explain it, you don't really know it. I disagree. I think there are things you can know but have a hard time explaining. For example, I might get a sense that someone is a certain MBTI type but if you ask me to explain my reasoning, all I can say is there is a certain vibe they give off or they happen to remind me of someone that I know is a certain type.

Do you think you can know something but not be able to really explain it?

If so, how often does this happen to you?

Examples?

Is this type related? I'm guessing its probably more common in N types, and maybe in F types. I would guess that Ni dominants are most likely to experience this sort of thing.
 

prplchknz

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yupp
yes, all the time it's to the point where I act like i don't know anything most of the time.
 

KDude

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I think Ni dominants can get their words through better than anyone - even when they don't make sense/structure it around Fe or Te. :D They at least kind of just swash around observations often.

Fi has the most nebulous and personal way of wording things imo. Ti works things out fairly precisely, even if it's in their heads - I think INTPs can sometimes be concise, yet push out what they're seeing in a rather holographic way, that's almost hard to not see what they mean.
 

EJCC

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Do you think you can know something but not be able to really explain it?
It happens to everyone, so yeah, I think so. :yes:
If so, how often does this happen to you?
Sometimes. On a regular basis. But it drives me crazy and I usually brainstorm or talk through it until I can think of a way to express it.
Is this type related? I'm guessing its probably more common in N types, and maybe in F types. I would guess that Ni dominants are most likely to experience this sort of thing.
It seems like it happens a lot with anyone trying to explain their introverted function process (i.e. Si, Ti, Ni, Fi) - for example, don't even try to get me to explain my moral views, or else it'll come down to "I think this because it's RIGHT" without the ability to elaborate (and you have no idea how much it embarrasses me when other people witness that). But the difference I've seen is that the Ni types (and the NFPs) are the ones that tend to be convinced that those introverted thoughts/feelings are un-expressable that they don't even bother trying to explain them. I wonder if it's that they just stop caring about being understood, because they feel like they're going to be misunderstood regardless? Whereas ESTJs don't generally feel misunderstood because if they want someone to know something, they tell them loud and clear. Emphasis on loud :laugh:
 
T

ThatGirl

Guest
Welcome to 99.9% of my life. I have an incredibly difficult time smashing huge ideas into words.

The thing is, yes there are many things I just KNOW. If asked to explain it I can take a min to trace back exactly where it came from. But then trying to reiterate all that back enough for someone to follow along, is next to impossible in the time of relevance. I would have to start from the most basic idea and build up, showing how multiple things start merging etc and I would confuse the shit out of everyone.

so yes, I know where it came from just no one else does. Sorry to sound like a skeptic, but understanding my own mind has helped me understand others. I don't put a lot of stock into people's hunches, because especially if they don't know where it is coming from, it can be (and usually is) laced with bias.

Everything is traceable in the human mind, even people who are bat shit insane. Yes, I have problems explaining it, because there are a lot of variables at work in that one little idea.
 

William K

Uniqueorn
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Your multiple intelligence type could play a part as well. I'm linguistic so I usually have no problems getting my thoughts out in words/sentences. Whether the other person understands my words is another matter :D

I would think the logical-mathematical and spatial types would fare better in other communication forms
 

Octarine

The Eighth Colour
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Language itself is fundamentally limited, but one can spend time matching their thoughts with language so they can communicate their idea.

Our brains, regardless of type are very good at pattern matching based on experiences. Of course the patterns we are both exposed to and tend to match are those that are related to our prior experiences. It is natural to form such patterns without being able to explain how we formed such ideas. Of course if you train yourself, you can develop ways to unwrap the patterns you observe and devise hypotheses that will allow you to learn more about such patterns. The short cut is of course to consult literature or a more knowledgeable person, though you still need to integrate this knowledge with your experience.
 

KDude

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Extraverted Judging is about incorporating a lot expected or expedient processes from the environment, and this can also includes facility in communication (that is, in the widely understood i.e. extraverted sense). In the same way Se integrates and merges itself within images and trends in a sensory way (it isn't just about liking hamburgers or the color green). Valued extroverted functions shape what you push back out or what you've deemed the best means to express the introverted standpoint. Why do you think some ENFJs get joked about for being a little mesmerizing, for example.. Martin Luther King Jr. isn't just typed an NFJ just because he was an idealist. The same goes for Hitler, unfortunately.

Not that anyone else can't speak or be image oriented.. we all do and learn to operate from a little of everything. MBTI was always just intended to be about strengths/preferences. Like our behavioral compass, I guess.
 

Orangey

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This is not a type related phenomenon. It's called tacit knowledge and we all have it.
 

KDude

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Since some of my own inclinations are vaguely Te, I'll make an appeal to an authority and say it is type related.. :biggrin: I'm regurgitating some thoughts touched on by Thomson (INTJ). I must admit, I kind of ride her jock a bit, but whatever.

Since I'm not Fe, I don't give a shit what you think. Because I think she's more informed than any of you on this subject. Also, since I'm not Ti, I won't offer some arbitrary spin or rationalization that it's "not type related", because, to be honest, I have little confidence defending that point of view without getting worn out (my Ti ain't so good :(). I'm Fi and simply like Thomson more.

Seriously though, she has some interesting thoughts that touch a little on this (from what I recall, there are some explicit mentionings in the EFJ, ETJ, and ESP chapters).
 

KDude

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Actually, I'll offer one Ti idea (I guess?)...

E functions are more of a two way street. Often people talk about Se or Fe, for example, as something you do. Yet, you wouldn't know what to do if you weren't strongly informed by it as well. It's like a pipe with two open ends, where expressions stream through and operate in a more give and take manner. Introversion may work in a more insular way.

Like I said, my Ti sucks. That probably wasn't Ti..
 

SilkRoad

Lay the coin on my tongue
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I get strong feelings but frequently can't quantify them, so I don't quite know what I'm feeling or what it indicates. Or, perhaps I don't trust my intuition (I don't necessarily mean that in terms of Ni or Ne) enough so I think I don't know what it's telling me (kind of the opposite of people who say "my gut feelings are never wrong and I have never been wrong about anyone, ever"... :huh: )

It's not useful for much except writing poetry. It's rather frustrating, actually. :shrug:
 

Orangey

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I know I experience this every now and then. I had someone tell me once that if you can't explain it, you don't really know it. I disagree. I think there are things you can know but have a hard time explaining. For example, I might get a sense that someone is a certain MBTI type but if you ask me to explain my reasoning, all I can say is there is a certain vibe they give off or they happen to remind me of someone that I know is a certain type.

Do you think you can know something but not be able to really explain it?

If so, how often does this happen to you?

Examples?

Is this type related? I'm guessing its probably more common in N types, and maybe in F types. I would guess that Ni dominants are most likely to experience this sort of thing.

And anyway, this seems more like a semantic issue than an experiential one. The difference is not whether and to what degree we all experience knowing something without being able to articulate it, but rather if we consider that type of "knowing" to be genuine knowledge at all.
 

Beargryllz

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This is why I like writers

They can overcome this trivial annoyance
 

entropie

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I had this when I was younger but it vanished when I got older and gathered more experience about my own emotions and thoughts and how they work with people. It has become important to me to convince myself of a hunch or impression a person gave first and that I do this rationally. This attitude helped to filter a lot of crazy thoughts out of the brain and has made me more concentrated, reasonable and appear lesser crazy towards others.

My personal theory on this is, the sharper your brain gets, the lesser questions there are you cant answer.
 

SilkRoad

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This is why I like writers

They can overcome this trivial annoyance

That is true at least to a point...I'm a writer and in general terms I express myself better while writing than in any other means of communication, and I have often used writing as a way of working out what I'm feeling and why.
 

KDude

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That is true at least to a point...I'm a writer and in general terms I express myself better while writing than in any other means of communication, and I have often used writing as a way of working out what I'm feeling and why.

I used to write more, but I haven't focused on it enough. Sometimes I wish people would just write for me. Heh. I mean, I like collaborating too. I used to have a more disciplined writer as a friend, and it was fun to air out just my premises for stories. He'd appreciate them enough to come back a week later with a screenplay that was more fleshed out, more detailed..

I might be like this with some other things too. Maybe I'm extroverted.. :thinking:
 

SilkRoad

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I used to write more, but I haven't focused on it enough. Sometimes I wish people would just write for me. Heh. I mean, I like collaborating too. I used to have a more disciplined writer as a friend, and it was fun to air out just my premises for stories. He'd appreciate them enough to come back a week later with a screenplay that was more fleshed out, more detailed..

I might be like this with some other things too. Maybe I'm extroverted.. :thinking:

In terms of collaborating I've always thought what would work well for me would be working with someone who could develop plots and characters, but I'd do the actual writing, description etc. I'm not good at generating interesting ideas and working out plot details, but in terms of style, clarity of expression etc, I write better than most people. ;)

I would have thought that your tendency to come up with premises, rather than fully detailed and worked out stories, is more P than J, rather than indicating extroversion/introversion :) Not too sure though...
 
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