Doubt: Good memory is directly related with Si?

[SilentNight]

I'm pretty sure I'm a Ni dom, INFJ. So, Si is my "devilish function", and this function is normally related with recalling things from the past etc.

The strange thing is that I have a very good memory, in the sense that I easily remember some "distant" facts/ people I haven't seen for a long time (and that wasn't important to me), and and some dates.

But otherwise I just can't remember the most trivial, everyday things, that, for example, my ISFJ mother can remember so easily.

But I don't have a "photographic" memory like Si-doms./auxs. I know. And it's not related with "traditions" too.

So, can memories be related with Ni+Se working together, or I'm an odd INFJ that developed Si by living in a SJ household?

 

[Sniffles]

I got a relatively good memory too.

 

[Athenian200]

I have a very good memory in general, but I don't have the same attitude as an SJ. That seems to be the main difference. I don't think of the past as something specifically to treasure, I just think of it as information that potentially contains something useful, and sometimes serves as an example of what not to do.

I think the Si/Memory association might be faulty. I've met people who have the same attitude as SJs, who are extremely forgetful. Maybe it's just that they remember to do things that they're supposed to get done more often? I'm not sure.

 

[SilentNight]

I have a very good memory in general, but I don't have the same attitude as an SJ. That seems to be the main difference. I don't think of the past as something specifically to treasure, I just think of it as information that potentially contains something useful, and sometimes serves as an example of what not to do.

Exactly. I'm like that...

 

[skylights]

my understanding, and i do not know how accurate this is, is that Si is less about pure memory storage and recall and more about assessing concrete information and comparing and contrasting between situations, which most prominently is applied to the realms of past vs present. it's much like Ni in that there is a sort of "storage bank" of internal information that is used for identifying and integrating what is useful, but instead of Ni pattern substitution Si links sensory data.

i would be careful of thinking of SJs as people with photographic memory, as people who are stuck in the past, or who glorify what has been. my SJ mom - and yes, i am completely sure she is SJ - couldn't care less about tradition, and my INTP brother has better random, specific situational memory than anyone in the family. however, mom looks to past collected concrete data as a way of assessing things in the present. she is extraordinary at dealing with details, both in general information she takes in and when she is handling situations in real time. my brother might have somewhat of a databank but he doesn't habitually put it to good use, unless there is a really obvious reason for it, and it's very grouped into specific episodes, he can't just wield it like mom does - which i assume is typical tertiary Si.

in reality, i believe all Js tend to use past Perception to assess present and future - at least much more so than Ps, who tend to respond in the moment according to our Fi and Ti structures. but the difference is that Si users draw on past concrete detail while Ni users draw on past patterns and connections.

i think.

 

[Thalassa]

Si is not exactly memory.

It's distinct sensory impressions which are personally meaningful that you carry with you and refer back to. Si also notices detail, and can be quite concerned with it.

They have intense subjective reactions to objects, in an almost archetypal or "mythological" way, though may not even be aware of it, because they aren't delving underneath the symbolism of the archetype like Ni.

Si likes to collect, and notices when things are "off"...like a picture is crooked, or a food they usually make doesn't taste "right." Si has a very strong sense of what is correct....it can be quite impressive in terms of aesthetic things....but what is "correct" to the Si user is highly subjective and personal, it has nothing to do with the "social correctness" of Fe, or the "correct answer" like Te.

Someone with good Si can make a meal without a recipe if they've made it before, often down to the last detail, without barely even thinking about it.

Si also tends to be highly aesthetic, having strong preferences for a *particular* kind of music, film, wine, etc....it goes back to the Si having very strong PERSONAL impressions of sensory experiences.

The sensory information must be personal to have impact, where as Se will take in *the now* without much (or any) filtering, and seeks new experiences.

For this reason, Si is associated with "it should be this way" because the Si user will have these personal sensory impressions and want to refer back to them.

Si is also highly aware of internal bodily states. It's also been suggested to me that Si craves a very linking and linear train of thought to follow, diametically opposed to Ne's hopping around.

NPs, with tertiary or inferior Si, can also display some of these traits, as well as negative reactive traits to lesser Si, such as anxiety or hypochondria.

You can read more here:

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Jung/types.htm

 

[IZthe411]

No.

My ENFP sister will txt me or call me with some wierd memory she has of something we did in the past when we were kids. Some I do remember, but some she has totally lost me.

Personally, my mind will bring back to mind 'flashes' of sensory information without me calling it to mind. Like last night we were having a discussion about our meeting on Tuesday. One guy was looking for a specific point that was mentioned in the material. I didn't have the material on me, but I could recall exactly where that statement was on the sheet, even though I made no special effort to remember the insignificant information he was looking for. It was stored somewhere in my mental, and I was able to recall it. 1 week later maybe not.

My recollection doesn't have to be related to something I associate any value. It's not an on/off switch that I can produce on demand. It's a constant process where I see/hear/smell/taste/feel (physical or emotionally) and can make some immediate associations. In decision making and problem solving, It's not my final assessment; it's just the start. Maybe it's my comfort zone, all I've known, or have understood to be 'the way'. All valid reasons for not wanting it to change, but won't kill somebody if it has to.

Ask about me.

 

[SilentNight]

my understanding, and i do not know how accurate this is, is that Si is less about pure memory storage and recall and more about assessing concrete information and comparing and contrasting between situations, which most prominently is applied to the realms of past vs present. it's much like Ni in that there is a sort of "storage bank" of internal information that is used for identifying and integrating what is useful, but instead of Ni pattern substitution Si links sensory data.

i would be careful of thinking of SJs as people with photographic memory, as people who are stuck in the past, or who glorify what has been. my SJ mom - and yes, i am completely sure she is SJ - couldn't care less about tradition, and my INTP brother has better random, specific situational memory than anyone in the family. however, mom looks to past collected concrete data as a way of assessing things in the present. she is extraordinary at dealing with details, both in general information she takes in and when she is handling situations in real time. my brother might have somewhat of a databank but he doesn't habitually put it to good use, unless there is a really obvious reason for it, and it's very grouped into specific episodes, he can't just wield it like mom does - which i assume is typical tertiary Si.

in reality, i believe all Js tend to use past Perception to assess present and future - at least much more so than Ps, who tend to respond in the moment according to our Fi and Ti structures. but the difference is that Si users draw on past concrete detail while Ni users draw on past patterns and connections.

i think.

Thanks. I misunderstood what is Si. Now I see what it really is. And, yes, I do not use memories to compare and contrast situations, but more for connections and patterns, as you said.

Si is not exactly memory.

It's distinct sensory impressions which are personally meaningful that you carry with you and refer back to. Si also notices detail, and can be quite concerned with it.

They have intense subjective reactions to objects, in an almost archetypal or "mythological" way, though may not even be aware of it, because they aren't delving underneath the symbolism of the archetype like Ni.

Si likes to collect, and notices when things are "off"...like a picture is crooked, or a food they usually make doesn't taste "right." Si has a very strong sense of what is correct....it can be quite impressive in terms of aesthetic things....but what is "correct" to the Si user is highly subjective and personal, it has nothing to do with the "social correctness" of Fe, or the "correct answer" like Te.

Someone with good Si can make a meal without a recipe if they've made it before, often down to the last detail, without barely even thinking about it.

Si also tends to be highly aesthetic, having strong preferences for a *particular* kind of music, film, wine, etc....it goes back to the Si having very strong PERSONAL impressions of sensory experiences.

The sensory information must be personal to have impact, where as Se will take in *the now* without much (or any) filtering, and seeks new experiences.

For this reason, Si is associated with "it should be this way" because the Si user will have these personal sensory impressions and want to refer back to them.

Si is also highly aware of internal bodily states. It's also been suggested to me that Si craves a very linking and linear train of thought to follow, diametically opposed to Ne's hopping around.

NPs, with tertiary or inferior Si, can also display some of these traits, as well as negative reactive traits to lesser Si, such as anxiety or hypochondria.

You can read more here:

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Jung/types.htm

Thanks for the link, some days ago I was looking for it.
Your description of Si is exactly what I see in my SJ's relatives. I really don't have these abilities, what sometimes cause me a lot of trouble... heh.

No.

My ENFP sister will txt me or call me with some wierd memory she has of something we did in the past when we were kids. Some I do remember, but some she has totally lost me.

Personally, my mind will bring back to mind 'flashes' of sensory information without me calling it to mind. Like last night we were having a discussion about our meeting on Tuesday. One guy was looking for a specific point that was mentioned in the material. I didn't have the material on me, but I could recall exactly where that statement was on the sheet, even though I made no special effort to remember the insignificant information he was looking for. It was stored somewhere in my mental, and I was able to recall it. 1 week later maybe not.

My recollection doesn't have to be related to something I associate any value. It's not an on/off switch that I can produce on demand. It's a constant process where I see/hear/smell/taste/feel (physical or emotionally) and can make some immediate associations. In decision making and problem solving, It's not my final assessment; it's just the start. Maybe it's my comfort zone, all I've known, or have understood to be 'the way'. All valid reasons for not wanting it to change, but won't kill somebody if it has to.

Ask about me.

Thanks. Got it...

Oh, my God! How my Si sucks!

I think I misunderstood the idea of Si, because one day I read that tert Si in INP's makes them nostalgic, so I don't know why I related this function with facts storage so hardly... lol!

 

[Eric B]

A function's position in a type's "function order"simply indicates the type of emotions the function translates into cognitive data. If preferred (for an SJ), they will have a strong emotional investment in it, and it will be relevant in the way they gather information.
For an NJ, it is at the bottom, which doesn't necessarily mean "weakness". They can remember (recall from their internal sensory databank) as well as anyone else. (And internal body sensations are another example of Si).
The concrete data just won't be as relevant as the images they abstract from that databank. So they don't just remember something, they link it to conceptual patterns, which then give them additionally a sense of how things might turn out. The concrete data might come up in its own right when certain forms of stress cause them to pay attention to it more. then, it will seem "devilish".

 

[Thalassa]

Thanks. I misunderstood what is Si. Now I see what it really is. And, yes, I do not use memories to compare and contrast situations, but more for connections and patterns, as you said.



Thanks for the link, some days ago I was looking for it.
Your description of Si is exactly what I see in my SJ's relatives. I really don't have these abilities, what sometimes cause me a lot of trouble... heh.



Thanks. Got it...

Oh, my God! How my Si sucks!

I think I misunderstood the idea of Si, because one day I read that tert Si in INP's makes them nostalgic, so I don't know why I related this function with facts storage so hardly... lol!

I am very nostalgic, and Si makes so much sense to me that I was able to discern between being ENFP vs. ISFP because of Si *specifically*, as opposed to Se. I suck at detail though, like crazily suck at detail and resent it, I can suck at fact checking and do better with analysis, and as a very young woman feared lack of change to a crazy degree because I still rejected the inferior until I was probably in my early 20's.

Aside from nostalgia, though, I have anxiety and mild hypochondria, a need for aesthetic things to be "a certain way" (like food, or I'll listen to same music a lot, I can listen to songs I love over and over again...for years)...I have my little rituals and habits. My creative writing also springs somewhat from Si because I'll be inspired by meaningful past sensory impressions if they're connected to strong emotion. Apparently it's common in Ne/Si creativity to make something new from stored, past information.

I thought INFP might even be a possibility because of it, making Si tertiary, but no. I think I just tapped strongly into Si at a slightly younger age due to influence and environment.

 

[SilentNight]

A function's position in a type's "function order"simply indicates the type of emotions the function translates into cognitive data. If preferred (for an SJ), they will have a strong emotional investment in it, and it will be relevant in the way they gather information.
For an NJ, it is at the bottom, which doesn't necessarily mean "weakness". They can remember (recall from their internal sensory databank) as well as anyone else. (And internal body sensations are another example of Si).
The concrete data just won't be as relevant as the images they abstract from that databank. So they don't just remember something, they link it to conceptual patterns, which then give them additionally a sense of how things might turn out. The concrete data might come up in its own right when certain forms of stress cause them to pay attention to it more. then, it will seem "devilish".

Yes, I see it. When it comes to memories, I "use" them more for concepts/ abstractions/ imaginative things etc than reality/ concrete things/ for it's own sake/ pointing discrepancies.

I really dislike Si things (though I am amazed with them for being so "different" to me), maybe because I'm so bad at them, and my family requires it so much...

 

[Arclight]

Si is not exactly memory.

It's distinct sensory impressions which are personally meaningful that you carry with you and refer back to. Si also notices detail, and can be quite concerned with it.

They have intense subjective reactions to objects, in an almost archetypal or "mythological" way, though may not even be aware of it, because they aren't delving underneath the symbolism of the archetype like Ni.

Si likes to collect, and notices when things are "off"...like a picture is crooked, or a food they usually make doesn't taste "right." Si has a very strong sense of what is correct....it can be quite impressive in terms of aesthetic things....but what is "correct" to the Si user is highly subjective and personal, it has nothing to do with the "social correctness" of Fe, or the "correct answer" like Te.

Someone with good Si can make a meal without a recipe if they've made it before, often down to the last detail, without barely even thinking about it.

Si also tends to be highly aesthetic, having strong preferences for a *particular* kind of music, film, wine, etc....it goes back to the Si having very strong PERSONAL impressions of sensory experiences.

The sensory information must be personal to have impact, where as Se will take in *the now* without much (or any) filtering, and seeks new experiences.

For this reason, Si is associated with "it should be this way" because the Si user will have these personal sensory impressions and want to refer back to them.

Si is also highly aware of internal bodily states. It's also been suggested to me that Si craves a very linking and linear train of thought to follow, diametically opposed to Ne's hopping around.

NPs, with tertiary or inferior Si, can also display some of these traits, as well as negative reactive traits to lesser Si, such as anxiety or hypochondria.

You can read more here:

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Jung/types.htm

This..^^^^^

It's more like RAM vs Your hard drive.

Random Access memory is more like Si. It doesn't remember facts and details.. it remembers sensations. What you are sensing now and how it relates to sensations in the past.
it is not why you remember your telephone number from 20 years ago.
It's the stuff the smell of a fireplace triggers .
It's like petting your dogs fur and being reminded of every time you have ever pet an animal, the similarities and differences between each.
It's Kissing someone.. and..OK.. I'll stop.. you get my point.

 

[entropie]

I have a good memory, if I want to, yet my gf sucks at it bigtime. According to mbti theory, she has with being infp the higher ranked Si, tho it of course could be less developed. I tho think it is not less developed, since she is much more habitually with things than I am.

Hard to tell what makes a good memory. I know entps, who are living wikipedias and I know entps like me who cant remember shit in deatil, but rather fill in memory blanks by making something up that sounds plausible. I can explain your everything, since I read a lot and am always eager to learn about thinks; but I wont remember it correctly and every minute detail, I rather fill in blanks then with my abilities in natural science.

Hard to say, I definitly dislike people who like to correct me on every minute detail, gets me angry and I think they are dumb mindless answering machines. But I respect people with a great faculty to remember. If its Si related I dont think so. There's more to it

 

[FDG]

Memory isn't type related, really. I have a photographic memory, much better than both of my parents', which are SJs. Yet they care a lot more about the minute details of every day life, so it might seem that their memory is actually better, since I rarely talk about my own mental picture unless I'm asked specifically to do so.

 

[swift sylvan]

my understanding, and i do not know how accurate this is, is that Si is less about pure memory storage and recall and more about assessing concrete information and comparing and contrasting between situations, which most prominently is applied to the realms of past vs present. it's much like Ni in that there is a sort of "storage bank" of internal information that is used for identifying and integrating what is useful, but instead of Ni pattern substitution Si links sensory data.

i would be careful of thinking of SJs as people with photographic memory, as people who are stuck in the past, or who glorify what has been. my SJ mom - and yes, i am completely sure she is SJ - couldn't care less about tradition, and my INTP brother has better random, specific situational memory than anyone in the family. however, mom looks to past collected concrete data as a way of assessing things in the present. she is extraordinary at dealing with details, both in general information she takes in and when she is handling situations in real time. my brother might have somewhat of a databank but he doesn't habitually put it to good use, unless there is a really obvious reason for it, and it's very grouped into specific episodes, he can't just wield it like mom does - which i assume is typical tertiary Si.

in reality, i believe all Js tend to use past Perception to assess present and future - at least much more so than Ps, who tend to respond in the moment according to our Fi and Ti structures. but the difference is that Si users draw on past concrete detail while Ni users draw on past patterns and connections.

i think.

That makes things so much easier. I'm almost positive I am an NJ, but my memory was always a red flag for an NP/SJ from how I understood it. My memory is exactly like what you have described.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

I have crap memory.

 

[Eric B]

It should really be clarified, that "memory" is being used basically as a sort of "shorthand" for the Si process, but again it can only be taken but so far as a descriptor. The true definition is "perception of concrete data from an internal source". Memory would technically fall into the category, but what differentiates it as a distinct type function is the focus.

Like I find that my wife is by her own admission horrible at "memory" of the sort of details (often trivial or nostalgic) that I focus on. This made it look like I was the SJ, and she was the N (or SP). But the differentiation of the function is tied to theor relation to our emotional life, which comes out as the archetypal complexes. For me, Si as the tertiary is tied to the "eternal child", so it appears to become very "strong", yet it's focus is clearly one of "play". When it comes to "work"; it's often horrible.
For my wife, it is a more serious function by which she informs her [non-play] decisions (with a strong emphasis on familiarity, and draws from to instructs others; to me, often coming across in a "this is how we do things" way (the "parent").

 

[Valiant]

I have a very good memory for most things. People who know me IRL can be freaked out by it.
My short-term memory is just pretty good, but my long-term memory is crazy good. If i'm not very tired or just don't care...
Well, let's say that if i'm paying attention, i'll simply remember something. Period.
My memory is also why I often know that I am right. As long as I paid attention, which I most often do, i'm in the clear.
It makes it easier to stick to my guns in discussions.