Can you be literal and still be an N?

[prplchknz]

It's not that weird.When I was going to Speech therapy (aged four), I used to call butterflies, Flutterbys...there are a couple of other examples, but thats the one I remember, because I still do it.
Or some times, when there is no frame of reference that fits the context.
Happened a lot more in my teens and early 20's, when memory or general knowledged failed ( or I had no experience at all of the situation), and I had nothing to extropolate out with. Also when I was in South Korea. I was flying blind there, as again, no frame of reference. Is awkard, but I don't think Prp's NFP card should be revoked, for taking things literally.

I was in speech therapy as well at age 4

 

[CrystalViolet]

I was in speech therapy as well at age 4

That's actually kinda a freaky coincident, with the topic and all.

 

[prplchknz]

ah it had nothing to being literal for me, it was because i didn't talk til i was 2 1/2 and trouble forming words I would know what i wanted to say but for some reason couldn't say it

 

[Turtledove]

Okay, well you just perhaps have an issue in the English/literature department; it's not a big deal. There are other Ns who have a hard time in that area, too. I have an INXP father who isn't good in English/Literature, but he is a good handy man, a good bass player, and can see through people's motives that can surprisingly astound me.

 

[Lexicon]

ah it had nothing to being literal for me, it was because i didn't talk til i was 2 1/2 and trouble forming words I would know what i wanted to say but for some reason couldn't say it

I think CrystalViolet might've been referring to the possibility that the speech therapy sessions had played some secondary role in how you process the meaning of words..

 

[prplchknz]

I don't know I made connections in literature all the time, I just had trouble figuring out the correct meaning and would take the words literally in my head.

 

[wolfy]

You can't be literal and an N. The universe will split in two.

 

[prplchknz]

You can't be literal and an N. The universe will split in two.

explains a lot, thanks.

 

[Mal12345]

well can you. I'm very literal at times when someone says something metaphorical my first thought is picturing it literally. it took me years to figure out about 15 minutes didn't mean exactly 15 minutes and would get mad when it take 16 minutes.

Nobody ever said you can't have some sensing traits, it's just that the majority are intuitive traits.

 

[Such Irony]

well can you. I'm very literal at times when someone says something metaphorical my first thought is picturing it literally. it took me years to figure out about 15 minutes didn't mean exactly 15 minutes and would get mad when it take 16 minutes.

Same here. I think I attribute my situation to mild aspergers.

there is also another type of literal-mindedness where one has difficulty understanding figures of speech (metaphor, simile, allegory, certain sorts of symbols etc.) they way they were intended. for instance, you would hear a poetic expression - such as, say, "the copper of the leaves is flowing quietly" or "the bells of the stars ring silently", if we take the work of my favorite poet sergei esenin - and you would think, how on earth are leaves like copper? or, how could stars ever be like bells and how it is possible for ringing to take place without any noise? you may be able to understand these expressions rationally and trace the semantic connections they were based on, but they would still make no sense or produce a feeling of distaste/discomfort. that would be more like genuine literal-mindedness.

I think I have some difficulty with this sort of thing. I find it very mentally straining to parse such statements. I think I'll sort of get it but I always end up second guessing myself. I much prefer to read more straightforward things.

on the other hand, i can be very bad with implied meanings. if someone' s speech is implicature-heavy and they drop hints without getting to the point, the likelihood is that i am not going to "get it". i usually ask people to tell me what they want from me outright, as this spares a lot of confusion and miscommunication on both sides. and i used to have difficulty understanding irony/sarcasm and humor as a child (i used to take everything seriously, which meant the most light-hearted comments left me insulted); these days, humor is fine, or at least slavic humor is, but i do occasionally miss irony, especially when the shift in voice tone is not that noticeable. that makes me wonder whether i might be S, too.

I used to have alot of difficulty with this in my childhood. Again, I think mild aspergers is partly to blame. I'm alot better at this sort of thing now although I do miss the point on occasion. I do enjoy irony though, when I get it. It's one of my favorite forms of humor- hence my username.

Just skimming a tad about what was said and all. Do you at least think about the connections of what they are saying?

I think (not sure though) Intuitives are able to interpret information by "reading between the lines" of why somebody or something does this or that without anyone telling them. It's like being able to discern something whether it's people, poems, or objects without having a whole lot of knowledge about it...like a third eye!

In answering your question...I really don't know. I like that stuff, but I usually sit down and think about it until I'm stumped and then go google it.

Does that make sense?

Yes, I do think alot about the connections and don't have too much trouble reading between the lines. I know that people don't always say what they mean and there's more than meets the eye. However I didn't always think that way. Again, in my childhood, I took everything very literally and rarely read between the lines. I just expected that people would say exactly what they meant always. It was only after a few times of learning that people didn't say what they meant and feeling like I was deceived that I learned to start reading between the lines. Again, could be Aspergers or maybe I really am an S.

I know intuitives who have learned to take things literally to avoid miscommunication. I am one of them.

Same here.

 

[Such Irony]

I could see an ISFP, INTP or even an INTJ having trouble with this, but not an NFP. NFPs are the typological aristocracy of figurative language.

I'm not so sure about that. My experience has been that NFJ is more the figurative sort compared to the NFPs. Maybe it has to do with Ni being the dominant or auxilary function. Sometimes its more difficult for me to read through heavily Ni laden materials than it is with more Ne stuff. Could just be me.

Having hyperactive Ti here, I prefer to get to the precise term or meaning that someone is communicating, and sometimes it may appear that I am interpreting what someone is saying literally. I've often filled in the meaning behind what is being said with my own thought process, and it's been inaccurate from time to time. It makes it less confusing and it either negates or supports what my intuition thinks.

Same here. I'm still trying to decide if my hyperliteral tendencies are really just dominant Ti or if I've mistyped myself.

 

[CrystalViolet]

ah it had nothing to being literal for me, it was because i didn't talk til i was 2 1/2 and trouble forming words I would know what i wanted to say but for some reason couldn't say it

I went because I hadn't learnt to talk. I'd been effectively deaf until I had grommits put in my ears. The hearing specialist wanted to kick start the learning process for me. So for me, the ground work was laid down in six months, for verbal language proccessing (and reading, so it turns out), While most kiddies have years to learn how to talk like a four and half year old. Some things are bound to get a little scrambled in the proccess.
But Lexicon got the jist of what I meant.
BTW, I still have trouble getting words out, and finding appropriate ones when stressed. Me, having a brain frizt, not understanding unless it's put very literally is that not uncommon. It now only happens when I'm tired, or overwhelmed, or if I'm really honest in new situations.
I just thought it was curious, you'd gone to speech therapy as well. Maybe it's a left brained thing, seeing as other people identify.

 

[Mal12345]

ah it had nothing to being literal for me, it was because i didn't talk til i was 2 1/2 and trouble forming words I would know what i wanted to say but for some reason couldn't say it

Late talkers aren't uncommon. I'm thinking that when you first started talking you immediately used full sentences?

 

[prplchknz]

Late talkers aren't uncommon. I'm thinking that when you first started talking you immediately used full sentences?

actually no

 

[prplchknz]

I went because I hadn't learnt to talk. I'd been effectively deaf until I had grommits put in my ears. The hearing specialist wanted to kick start the learning process for me. So for me, the ground work was laid down in six months, for verbal language proccessing (and reading, so it turns out), While most kiddies have years to learn how to talk like a four and half year old. Some things are bound to get a little scrambled in the proccess.
But Lexicon got the jist of what I meant.
BTW, I still have trouble getting words out, and finding appropriate ones when stressed. Me, having a brain frizt, not understanding unless it's put very literally is that not uncommon. It now only happens when I'm tired, or overwhelmed, or if I'm really honest in new situations.
I just thought it was curious, you'd gone to speech therapy as well. Maybe it's a left brained thing, seeing as other people identify.

I was tested for deafness at 18 months. I wasn't deaf

 

[Craft]

It's like this:

Figurative: Ni
(I don't know what Se is)

Creative: Ne
Literal: Si

See how I describe functions by sort of labeling it in a really simple single-meaning way? that's Si. INFP has tertiary Si so that must be it.

But in order to really understand this, you have to look at the differences between Pi and Pe. Pi deals with meanings, forms, and concepts(something that has a form) while Pe deals with connections, streams, relationships etc.. When you're talking about figurative vs. literal, you're talking about things that are purely definitional or semantic-related, which is Pi. It's something that is "perceived" instead of something you are currently "perceiving." INTP's likes to "establish" things by pointing out the truth behind things, and the best function to "establish" a meaning is Si. You can see this going on a lot in mathematics. The symbols in math are not some mystical voodoo shit(although the proper term would be "non-contextual"), they are universal meanings with single-definitions to be used in all conceivable mathematical context(which is technically only one context) and are consistently being "related abstractedly", now that is Ne. Ni, on the other hand, does not like to establish meanings.

 

[CrystalViolet]

I was tested for deafness at 18 months. I wasn't deaf

So you were kinda of like a stutterer?

 

[prplchknz]

So you were kinda of like a stutterer?

no

 

[Mal12345]

It's like this:

Figurative: Ni
(I don't know what Se is)

Creative: Ne
Literal: Si

See how I describe functions by sort of labeling it in a really simple single-meaning way? that's Si. INFP has tertiary Si so that must be it.

That's clearly a non sequitur. You can't say what's it without actually getting to know a person. Jungian functions are not some magical shortcut around this.

 

[CrystalViolet]

no

You couldn't connect the words to the sound? or your mouth round the sounds?
(Or I could just give up with my stupid theory.)