Si and Fear of Change

[Mal12345]

"Si collects data in the present moment and compares it with past experiences, a process that sometimes evokes the feelings associated with memory, as if the subject were reliving it. Seeking to protect what is familiar, Si draws upon history to form goals and expectations about what will happen in the future." Wiki

Why is it that the Si function must "protect what is familiar"? Maybe it has something to do with the inferior function of Si-dom types, which is the Ne function.

"Ne finds and interprets hidden meanings, using 'what if' questions to explore alternatives, allowing multiple possibilities to coexist. This imaginative play weaves together insights and experiences from various sources to form a new whole, which can then become a catalyst to action." Wiki

This is exactly what Si doesn't want. There can be no imaginative interplay of alternatives. There is the right way, and then there is the wrong way. There can be no new whole, only what has been.

That's not to say that the Si-dom is afraid of new things. You will find them investing in new products and inventions all the time. But there won't be any new principles or paradigms to be found anywhere near the Si-dom.

 

[Cellmold]

'Mal and fear of

THE ONION!

'

 

[Mal12345]

I tested this Si "fear of change" theory on someone just the other day. This ISTJ I work with 2 or 3 days a week has a habit of parking in exactly the same place at the other job site. Since I happened to get there first that day, I did his Ne-inferior a favor and parked in his spot, right outside the door to the office.

I sat in the office and waited for the show to begin. It was awesome. He pulled around the corner as usual, and when he saw my vehicle parked there, he blasted his horn for a GOOD FIVE SECONDS straight. Then he sat there for a little bit, backed up, and parked in my usual spot.

 

[Mal12345]

'Mal and fear of

THE ONION!

'

I don't really waste my time with fake news stories, but to each his own.

 

[Cellmold]

I don't really waste my time with fake news stories, but to each his own.

Yeah satire and humour are such pointless pursuits in human life. Anyhow on topic it's interesting, although ive heard this put forth before. Most likely true.

 

[Mal12345]

Yeah satire and humour are such pointless pursuits in human life. Anyhow on topic it's interesting, although ive heard this put forth before. Most likely true.

I'm a videophile and somewhat of a pic freak.

 

[skylights]

Ne and Si are not at odds; rather, they rely on one another, and each utilizes the other as the base assumption for operation. Ne must have Si definitions - I think of them as "statics" - to have things to connect. There is no whole without parts. Si must have Ne connection - all things exist in relation to one another, and there would be no existence of "similarity" without the ability to grasp connection.

As for fear of change, my first thought is that strong Si users are Js - people who have a specific external agenda. When you disrupt what has been a pattern (Ne!), you suddenly change the path to get to the external goal. When you park in your coworker's spot, you disrupt the amount of time it takes for him to get inside. You disrupt his car being closest to the streetlight. You disrupt him having a good excuse to talk to the cute chick who parks next to him. The familiar is protected because it is expedient (TJ) and/or because it is reliable (FJ). Change forces recalibration and hampers reaching goals.

That's not to say that the Si-dom is afraid of new things. You will find them investing in new products and inventions all the time. But there won't be any new principles or paradigms to be found anywhere near the Si-dom.

I don't think this is true. I think it's less inherent for Si users to constantly question paradigms, like Ni doms, but that does not mean there is hostility towards growth, or that there is stagnation. They may not originate the new paradigms, but they will see, accept, and adapt to new perspectives.

 

[Mal12345]

Ne and Si are not at odds; rather, they rely on one another, and each utilizes the other as the base assumption for operation. Ne must have Si definitions - I think of them as "statics" - to have things to connect. There is no whole without parts. Si must have Ne connection - all things exist in relation to one another, and there would be no existence of "similarity" without the ability to grasp connection.

As for fear of change, my first thought is that strong Si users are Js - people who have a specific external agenda. When you disrupt what has been a pattern (Ne!), you suddenly change the path to get to the external goal. When you park in your coworker's spot, you disrupt the amount of time it takes for him to get inside. You disrupt his car being closest to the streetlight. You disrupt him having a good excuse to talk to the cute chick who parks next to him. The familiar is protected because it is expedient (TJ) and/or because it is reliable (FJ). Change forces recalibration and hampers reaching goals.



I don't think this is true. I think it's less inherent for Si users to constantly question paradigms, like Ni doms, but that does not mean there is hostility towards growth, or that there is stagnation. They may not originate the new paradigms, but they will see, accept, and adapt to new perspectives.

After the new paradigm has become established as fact.

 

[skylights]

After the new paradigm has become established as fact.

They have to decide it, though. You can't force a paradigm on someone. They have to come into it of their own.

 

[Eugene Watson VIII]

I believe it's true for immature Si types. I have a friend who I occasionally play on steam with. Sometimes if I show a new game I have or is coming out he doesn't really want to get into it. I guess it can be true of lots of people, but he plays mainly shooters and the game I showed was like a warfare chess game. It's kind of similar but doesn't share the tradition of shooter games his Si enjoys.

 

[The Iron Giant]

Si connects with resistance to change because it manifests as a disbelief in the expectation of differences. Si builds impressions based on experience and then interacts with things primarily through those impressions. An oversimplified example: an Si user sees its first cardboard box and learns that cardboard boxes are brown. When that Si user sees a cardboard box that's a different color, there is a question of whether this is a cardboard box at all, and a preference (if given the choice) for the familiar brown type of cardboard box. Over time, this changes. The older an Si user gets, the broader their base of experience. I theorize that ideally there is a breaking point where Si goes, "oh, I get it... boxes can look very different from each other, but are still boxes." This is a point where the Si user does not need to see new kinds of boxes to accept them.