NFPs, how do you use extraverted intuition?

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

For me, I think a lot of it is as an aid to speculative thinking; I tend to put it to what you might call an intellectual use (as obnoxious as that sounds) . Also, attempting to make people laugh and understand other people's points of view. I'm curious about how other types might use it, how the use of Fi and might have a different effect.

What was an example of an occasion or instance in which you were using it?

 

[Luminous]

A huge example for me, I think, was getting an interdisciplinary degree in college. Also in addition to seeing so many options, seeing so many ways things could go wrong.

 

[1487610420]

Ne uses u

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

A huge example for me, I think, was getting an interdisciplinary degree in college. Also in addition to seeing so many options, seeing so many ways things could go wrong.

That's interesting. I chose something interdisciplinary for grad school, and that's kind of the career path I'm going down. It took a long time for me to decide I wanted to commit to that, but I still needed a lot of flexibility.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Ne + Fi = so many options, but liking none of them, so no options

It also equals fantasizing a lot about scenarios in which feelings are amplified (a 4 thing). It could be negative feelings too, like having an imaginary argument, or imagining what it'd feel like to get into or witness a horrible car wreck. Or obviously positive feelings, like idealizing relationships or what the future would look like if I "made it" based on my own desires.

I'm not very imaginative in a surreal or apocalyptic way. I suspect that's more an Ne thing with 7s and 9s, or 6s and 5s, respectively.

 

[Zhaylin]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but going off the conversation...

When I have to be around other people I take in everything- peoples eyes, body language, gesturings.
Let's say, a person is limping. Are they in pain? Is it an old injury or something new? Have they just been standing for too long? Can I help in some way?
That information passes through my mind faster than I can completely (consciously) process it, most of the time. I, sometimes, have to pause and reflect on why I'm feeling a certain way. Using the example above: I'll start scanning an area for a chair for someone, then wonder why the heck I'm doing that lol. Then it hits me- the person and their limp and a compulsion to help.

But then "logic" kicks in. Maybe they've limped all their life. Perhaps they'd feel insulted if I said or did anything. And then I feel annoyed at my brain for giving me useless information lol So, unless there's an apparent need to act (a kid's about to walk in front of a car), then I just brush the info aside and try to forget about it.

I do the same thing when driving: a car was going almost 90mph but has slowed down a great deal. Does he have a radar detector? Is there a cop or an accident in front of him? Is he texting or playing with the radio? And what about that idiot who just swerved onto the berm and the other guy who's tailgating me?

It's exhausting.

As for Peter Deadpan's post, that used to be me so hard core. I would spend HOURS in "daydreams". In one of them, I drove off a hillside during a snow storm. I was injured and had amnesia (of course ). I walked and walked through a blizzard until I stumbled across a cave. I had to warm up and treat my injuries using only the stuff in my fanny pack and jacket. What would I use? I pass out from the pain and shock and weeks pass and I still have no memory. Thankfully, there was a natural spring inside the cave. Unfortunately, the opening was too narrow and I got snowed in. Okay... how would I solve that problem? What could I make to keep it from happening again?
The story just kept growing and growing- how I could hunt and treat/store the kills. How does one make a primitive smokehouse?
Then, a guy showed up. A hunter. I was raped and became pregnant. (I killed him, of course, and made a daring get away.)
But now, how do I take care of a baby in these conditions? Twins? Are you kidding me, imagination?!

For a couple of years, or so, I built on to the story until:
One day, I get brave and leave the place I called home. I had adopted someone's horse and a stray dog over the years. I used those to transport the kids and all the stuff I had made (for trading). I got to a town and as I was leaving, someone said (to another person): "That poor lady. No one knows who she is, but she comes here from time to time. She thinks she has a son and daughter, but there's never anyone with her."

So yeah... surreal and apocalyptic summed up my musings quite well.

I finally figured out I was having them to begin with because I was frightened of the drive I had to take from town to our country house. I lived there, of and on, for a few years and was especially nervous during Winter. It was a coping mechanism as well as a way to kill time during long drives. People ask, "well, how bad could it be" (referring to anything and everything). I tend to imagine just how terrible things CAN go and what I could do to fix/change/survive it. Doing so actually makes me feel better lol.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Ne + Fi = so many options, but liking none of them, so no options

It also equals fantasizing a lot about scenarios in which feelings are amplified (a 4 thing). It could be negative feelings too, like having an imaginary argument, or imagining what it'd feel like to get into or witness a horrible car wreck. Or obviously positive feelings, like idealizing relationships or what the future would look like if I "made it" based on my own desires.

I'm not very imaginative in a surreal or apocalyptic way. I suspect that's more an Ne thing with 7s and 9s, or 6s and 5s, respectively.

This is actually what I was hoping to find out with this thread, how the INFP use of it might be different. So, it's sort of speculative emotional exploration, maybe? Like thinking about how you would feel in other scenarios (which I do, but probably everyone does), but also coming up with scenarios that fit your feelings? Or am I way off here?

What do you mean by imaginative in a "apocalyptic way"? I'm not that into the zombie thing. I find TWD to be kind of boring.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

This is actually what I was hoping to find out with this thread, how the INFP use of it might be different. So, it's sort of speculative emotional exploration, maybe? Like thinking about how you would feel in other scenarios (which I do, but probably everyone does), but also coming up with scenarios that fit your feelings? Or am I way off here?

What do you mean by imaginative in a "apocalyptic way"? I'm not that into the zombie thing. I find TWD to be kind of boring.

For a long time, I thought I couldn't possibly be an Ne user because I don't have a wild imagination that dips into the surreal or what have you. I don't wander around thinking about what it'd be like to live in an underwater world or outer space or whatever. I don't even have crazy dreams (I know a lot of people who have apocalyptic dreams and I'm sure some people think about that stuff during waking hours too).

I've totally laid in bed at night though imagining what I'd do if someone broke into my house. I imagine the fear and what path I might take to get to the kitchen for a knife (lots of Te here too). But everything I imagine is mostly rooted in reality in some way. I do speculate on possibilities, like could we all just be in a computer simulation? And I'll come up with supportive reasoning for that, like "maybe that explains how someone can have a traumatic brain injury and wake up with the ability to speak another language, like wires being crossed in the programming". Still, that's relatively rooted in reality (I'm not mentally writing the next Fifth Element or Harry Potter).

But yes, mostly I just fantasize about silly things, like love, or envisioning the home I want built into the tree canopy one day. I also connect a lot of real stuff to abstract conceptual stuff. Like a tree swaying in a storm will immediately represent a person struggling in life but staying grounded by bending with the gusts (the gusts representing whatever difficulties life throws our way). I can unravel such a comparison on many different levels (incorporating the leaves as being that which we need to let go of, incorporating the seasons to represent symbolic death and rebirth, etc etc etc).

 

[Luminous]

I relate a lot to what Peter Deadpan describes. I spend a lot of time in fantasy, but they are not out-of-this-world fantasies. They're mostly about love. There are also fantasies of what might happen in the future, what I'll do about it, how it'll feel. I used to fantasize about the past, and rewrite some things, but not anymore.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

For a long time, I thought I couldn't possibly be an Ne user because I don't have a wild imagination that dips into the surreal or what have you. I don't wander around thinking about what it'd be like to live in an underwater world or outer space or whatever. I don't even have crazy dreams (I know a lot of people who have apocalyptic dreams and I'm sure some people think about that stuff during waking hours too).

I've totally laid in bed at night though imagining what I'd do if someone broke into my house. I imagine the fear and what path I might take to get to the kitchen for a knife (lots of Te here too). But everything I imagine is mostly rooted in reality in some way. I do speculate on possibilities, like could we all just be in a computer simulation? And I'll come up with supportive reasoning for that, like "maybe that explains how someone can have a traumatic brain injury and wake up with the ability to speak another language, like wires being crossed in the programming". Still, that's relatively rooted in reality (I'm not mentally writing the next Fifth Element or Harry Potter).

But yes, mostly I just fantasize about silly things, like love, or envisioning the home I want built into the tree canopy one day. I also connect a lot of real stuff to abstract conceptual stuff. Like a tree swaying in a storm will immediately represent a person struggling in life but staying grounded by bending with the gusts (the gusts representing whatever difficulties life throws our way). I can unravel such a comparison on many different levels (incorporating the leaves as being that which we need to let go of, incorporating the seasons to represent symbolic death and rebirth, etc etc etc).

I relate a lot to what Peter Deadpan describes. I spend a lot of time in fantasy, but they are not out-of-this-world fantasies. They're mostly about love. There are also fantasies of what might happen in the future, what I'll do about it, how it'll feel. I used to fantasize about the past, and rewrite some things, but not anymore.

So would you say it often involves a sort of metaphorical, poetical perspective?

 

[Luminous]

So would you say it often involves a sort of metaphorical, poetical perspective?

Metaphorical? Not on purpose, no. Poetic? I suppose so. Do you mean are the fantasies not based in reality, or not based on real events? Mine typically have a starting point that is based on reality.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

So would you say it often involves a sort of metaphorical, poetical perspective?

I don't generally consider myself very poetic, but I suppose I can be given the tree example.

I borderline hate poetry because I almost never understand it or find it relatable.

Metaphorical makes sense. I speak in metaphors often when I really get into talking about something. It can be hard to explain my feelings and thoughts without metaphors and lots of hand gestures.

 

[Population: 1]

In conjunction with Si I guess?

I recognize patterns and then reference past experiences to find similarities. It’s usually how I tell someone is a bullshitter within a minute or less. Their appearance (body language and micro expressions) is assessed in conjunction with their speech patterns. Obviously this is a garbage system for judging others online.

And yes I have a wild and often times overactive imagination which travels through scenarios both plausible and implausible as well as downright impossible and doesn’t fear to cross from light to shadow.

I find myself speaking metaphorically quite often. I love language and enjoy comparisons between things, wordplay, and just making a conversation more interesting through verbal expression.

 

[Luminous]

In conjunction with Si I guess?

I recognize patterns and then reference past experiences to find similarities. It’s usually how I tell someone is a bullshitter within a minute or less. Their appearance (body language and micro expressions) is assessed in conjunction with their speech patterns. Obviously this is a garbage system for judging others online.

I think I have a pretty good BS detector, even online. Even without the nonverbal cues, there are patterns to be detected...

 

[Earl Grey]

I recognize patterns and then reference past experiences to find similarities. It’s usually how I tell someone is a bullshitter within a minute or less. Their appearance (body language and micro expressions) is assessed in conjunction with their speech patterns. Obviously this is a garbage system for judging others online.

I think I have a pretty good BS detector, even online. Even without the nonverbal cues, there are patterns to be detected...

How do you guys tell if it's Ne + Fi as opposed to Fe- social currency/language at work with the laser focusing / hidden-meaning-seeking of Ni?

 

[Luminous]

How do you guys tell if it's Ne + Fi as opposed to Fe- social currency/language at work with the laser focusing / hidden-meaning-seeking of Ni?

Good question. And I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I think, for me, it's more of seeing that things don't add up to what is being presented, rather than seeing that some other specific thing is the truth. It may be seeing that something isn't one way, but not seeing the one way it actually is. Does that make sense? It's not a laser-focusing for me, it works in the background (though I know both Ni and Ne do that background work).

 

[Earl Grey]

Good question. And I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I think, for me, it's more of seeing that things don't add up to what is being presented, rather than seeing that some other specific thing is the truth. It may be seeing that something isn't one way, but not seeing the one way it actually is. Does that make sense? It's not a laser-focusing for me, it works in the background (though I know both Ni and Ne do that background work).

Both are perceiving processes, so technically both do 'background work'. Bolded seems like extraverted perceiving for sure, yes. I just sometimes wonder that between NFP and NFJ, how'd you tell that extraverted 'perception' is Ne or actually the domain Fe (external, people-oriented structure/dynamics)? I guess it'd probably be clearer when actually contrasting this with a description of an NFJ's inner workings. Thank you for your answer.

 

[Population: 1]

I think I have a pretty good BS detector, even online. Even without the nonverbal cues, there are patterns to be detected...

In person I’m a very visual/audio driven listener. In fact, I don’t always fully process what was said until later. Strange I know.

With the written word I try and read between the lines and pay attention to how something is being said (choice of vocabulary and phrasing) and just as importantly, what’s not being said (what may be being avoided).

Hope that makes sense.

As for [MENTION=35920]Ixaerus[/MENTION]’s question, I have no clue. I doubt I’m an INFJ though.

 

[LucieCat]

I find Ne helps me to find potential flaws in an idea or concept when it isn't running crazy and causing me to think things without a practical application in my life. "What if we just had an international holiday dedicated to napping?" Or "I wonder if it's feasible that there will be a moon colony in my lifetime."

Part of this could also be tied to the apocalyptic thinking and imagining 6s can be prone to. It's probably disturbing how casually I can bring those in my mind. But I can identify reality vs my "What it's?" So, I think my nature as a 6 coupled with Ne allows me to see potential problems. So, while Ne is thought of as dreamy and impractical, I find it can be used in practical ways.

I also use Ne to run through more day to day "What it's?" How might someone react? I'll almost rehearse conversations in my mind so I can be prepared later when I have them. I also use Ne in the present to deduce where people could be coming from or what they might be thinking. This is sort of how Si can them blend in slightly sad I can use past experiences to figure out which options are the most likely and proceed based on my best guesses as to what's going on.

This is all at a relatively unconscious level though, or at least is a natural impulse that I can recognize.

When Ne and Fi are working together, I see Fi as a tool to sort out thoughts and ideas. Does my plan align with what I believe? How do I personally feel about the impact of the choice? Does the idea align with my moral compass? This is for actions and plans I plan to carry out or suggest or support. There are other Ne generated ideas that don't go into Fi because I'm not going to implement them. For instance, I'll create a hypothetical dystopian universe in my mind, but I'm not actually going to work towards that being a reality. Then again, it I did, my Fi would probably reject it. Fi can also trickle in to Ne observations not tied to a decision, but I'm not sure how to articulate that experience.

Te also comes in sometimes with Ne and Fi as a reality check at times. I find that I tend to try and frame decisions in Fi first and then look at Te to see my plan's feasibility and ways I can effectively go about it. Ne also trickles in to this process. And if Ne gets too apocalyptic, Te can step in and essentially remind me that this isn't reality and that I'm not acting reasonably.

 

[LucieCat]

How do you guys tell if it's Ne + Fi as opposed to Fe- social currency/language at work with the laser focusing / hidden-meaning-seeking of Ni?

For me, it's easier to tell through the decision making processes. Fi users will tend to think at first, "How does the decision relate to my morality and emotions?" Fe users tend to have their first response be, "What do I need to do based on external factors (including people's needs and the social environment)?" This is why Fe users, when unhealthy, can be prone to prioritizing everyone else's needs over their own (especially ExFJs, but it's also a trend in IxFJs. I've seen it the most in ESFJs but i think that's due to their extraversion combined with higher proportion of the population). Obviously, both Fe and Fi are going to consider factors related to both. The important part is what one emphasizes over the other.

I find the distinction is most apparent in the types who utilize Fe and Ne as dominant functions. I'm not sure why, but I often find INFPs and INFJs to seem rather similar and difficult to differentiate. Well mostly the INFJs seem to always be INFPish. Though some INFPs seem like INFJs.