[Other/Multiple Temperaments] How do you brainstorm?

[wallflour]

Hey, I'm curious how Ne-dom, Ne-aux, Ne-tert, Ne-inferior, and non-Ne users differ in their brainstorming experiences, or at least how they describe them.

I usually think of strong Ne users as brainstorm powerhouses, but how does everyone else experience having to generate a variety of ideas?

Some questions:
What's your personality type and how would you describe your brainstorming process?
How frequently do you brainstorm? Is it necessary for you? Do you like to brainstorm?
For context, what do you generally brainstorm for?


For me, I'm either Ne-aux/inferior or Ni-dom. I like brainstorming, but I don't feel comfortable just throwing thoughts out or exchanging them with others. I tend to just work them out internally first, maybe because they're too hazy to be captured by words or images as yet. Sometimes, it's because I feel I haven't arrived at something satisfactory yet and I'd rather fill that time between now and conclusion with input from others or any outside source. A kind of internal tornado will be running in the background, wrapping everything in its way because it's always trying to find something that encompasses all the ideas. Once that's set in motion, it really doesn't know when to stop (maybe out of perfectionism?). I tend to feel overwhelmed and lost in it all as a result... All in all, a slow process! I get so nervous when I see others just putting down ideas immediately (in academic writing, research, visual arts) because I need time to think or sit on it. And then I don't usually want to choose, because it's normally a premature decision to me. Anyone relate?


p.s. I didn't know this until now, but here's an informal definition of 'brainstorm'

informal
a moment in which one is suddenly unable to think clearly or act sensibly.

 

[Sacrophagus]

I'm pretty curious about that too.
Mine is pretty minimalistic. I just set a goal, think about an algorithm to achieve it, ponder the possibilities, calculate the risks, gather the tools, command the lines, and then admire its fruition. Meh. I don't derive satisfaction by only thinking about it if it doesn't serve a purpose. The final product matters more.

You know one thing? This is the stage of a special type of gifted people. Shall we ask the NPs to join the party?

 

[Population: 1]

You rang?

I love brainstorming. Of course 95% of the time it's purely for fun. I think thinking a thought purely to think it serves a definite purpose. How else would you find that it might be worth futher mental exploration? Then there are the beloved paths that branch forth from the original thought. A sprawling network of possibilities stretching in all directions and disappearing over the horizon! Unfortunately being a divergent thinker means I often become lost on the journey. Yet some discoveries would remain undiscovered unless a cerebral wanderer stumbled upon them purely by accident.

Just leave me in a room for a few hours, I'm sure I'll come up with a profound insight on something. It may not be the something you asked for though. Lol

I think this is a thread for a [MENTION=25763]Dreamer[/MENTION]!

 

[Smilephantomhive]

The informal definition of brainstorm fits me rn lol.

But I just think of ideas as I go about my daily life. Or when I get mad at something or need to solve an unfamiliar problem.

 

[Polaris]

I don't really brainstorm if by brainstorming you mean generating as many ideas as I can, however outlandish some of them may be. What I do instead is think about a problem until a reasonably likely solution occurs to me. Then I consider how well the solution is going to work. If I don't think it will work well enough, I come up with a new idea in the same fashion as I came up with the first one. I find this very natural, unlike normal brainstorming, which exhausts me and makes me feel like I'm producing a bunch of garbage.

 

[Hermit of the Forest]

When I need to brainstorm or think something out I usually go to a deserted place and just pace around talking to myself.

Sounds a little nutty, but it helps me focus. Especially when I'm looking at a situation from multiple perspectives.
Each perspective has a voice and I use them to elucidate my varying ideas.

 

[á´…eparted]

My brainstorming essentially consists at passing ideas through my head. When one appears that I can go further with, I follow it. This process repeats as much as needed. As for where the original ideas come from I cant explain, it is just a feeling.

 

[Hiraeth]

It depends what I'm brainstorming for. Overall though, my thinking style is very go with the flow and I don't plan anything out in a formal manner. I just keep adding things if more ideas fill my mind to see if I can use it for later or not. My ideas tend to come in droves, so I usually end up having more than one way of how something can be done. Once I'm working on a project and have my ideas lined out, I like being able to connect them together somehow to form the overall concept. I like searching for specific meanings behind something that could possibly be used as a symbol, and from there generating more ideas to connect it all together. I use this process mainly for visual art projects though.

I also keep a bunch of writings of various subjects that I ponder over in case for later use and have them stored in my phone. I like keeping things so that I can go back and elaborate on them later and also so that I don't forget. This would include topics that I find interesting and some that pertain to certain ideals I feel strongly about. In addition, I like collecting random images that I encounter in daily life or online that I believe are intriguing, beautiful, meaningful, etc. Basically images that I may find useful for later so that I can use them for inspiration when brainstorming and for references.

And lately I've been experimenting with different methods for coming up with ideas for art projects. One in particular is called surrealist automatism, which is a technique that was used by the Surrealist artists back in the day. What you do is let your subconscious mind take the wheel and draw or paint abstractly onto the platform of your choosing. You then can either let your mind wander and do it's magic, or you can also gaze into the image after working on it for some time and see if any shapes take form that resemble something concrete, and then shade them in to make them apparent. It's beneficial when you have artist's block or when you want to just generate more ideas for the sake of it.

 

[ceecee]

Analysis first. Then brainstorm. Evey possibly solution that could address the problem or meet the criteria of future problems because there is always incoming alerts and those - do you ever notice that every time XYZ happens, ABC shows up? It's extensive and it's not usually a group activity for me, although I like input from certain others. But if you're only showing up at the two minute buzzer for the end product, GTFO.

 

[Sacrophagus]

Unfortunately being a divergent thinker means I often become lost on the journey. Yet some discoveries would remain undiscovered unless a cerebral wanderer stumbled upon them purely by accident.

That's splendid. The ability to dare wander in unknown lands and generate a humongous torrent of different ideas of the same theme is an amazing gift. In your 'spaced-out' state, that is when we know the magic is happening. I particularly love the synergy, how NPs unleash the fountain of creative ideas, and how we take it from there, filter them, skim for the most efficient, and connect the dots in a seemingly "Aha! Eureka! That's it!" manner, and strech it linearly even further, make contigency plans, and get to work. That combined work is pure epicness that fills you with a certain gratitude for having great minds along.

 

[Population: 1]

That's splendid. The ability to dare wander in unknown lands and generate a humongous torrent of different ideas of the same theme is an amazing gift. In your 'spaced-out' state, that is when we know the magic is happening. I particularly love the synergy, how NPs unleash the fountain of creative ideas, and how we take it from there, filter them, skim for the most efficient, and connect the dots in a seemingly "Aha! Eureka! That's it!" manner, and strech it linearly even further, make contigency plans, and get to work. That combined work is pure epicness that fills you with a certain gratitude for having great minds along.

Absolutely. I think a wide variety of personalities make the human experience what it is. Aside from the obvious nightmare it would be, I would never want a world of just NPs because it would limit perspective. NJs definitely help us focus and refine the information we gather. You guys/gals have the map so that when we drag our party over hill and dale you know exactly what hill or dale it is and how to get us back.

 

[Dreamer]

Hmm...this actually won't be such an easy and short answer to offer, but I accept the challenge! And thanks for the mention [MENTION=33707]Population: 1[/MENTION], this is a super fun thread topic

Alright, so why this isn't so easy to explain is because it honestly never, NEVER shuts off, but it does take different forms and speeds. It ranges from the slow, sort of aimless wandering, to the ultra quick-paced rapid succession of combining thoughts and ideas and creating new angles from every which way. The quick mode is where I get my most mental, immediate stimulation, and is where I also feel the most productive, even if all I'm doing is sitting there in my head. But it's the fact that I'm running through so many ideas at breakneck speed, that it feels productive. Honestly, to me, "productive" isn't necessarily tied to achieving a tangible outcome, but is tied more into the potential. A sort of answering of my own "what-if?" questions.

But though I find the quickened thought processes exhilarating, and boy are they fun!, it's important to mention the slow, meandering process too, as I feel it's ultimately these times, where I'm just sitting there gathering this wealth of information in a way. Like, I'm not actually gaining new material in the normal sense, through books, through the internet, research, nothing like that. I'm letting my mind wander without imposing any rules, without any structure, without any factual limitation. It is in this mode where reality sort of dissolves and I start to question things. Literally anything and everything. The things I question also tend to come from my environment. A shadow I see, a shape I see, an interaction between people I see, it can really be anything and I can't just force thoughts to come or direct them either.

I'll include a few notes I wrote down in my architecture journal (just a small notebook I carry around everywhere to write down these thoughts as they come) as I wandered around the city on my own.
"What does the space between object and shadow look like? How does it feel?"
"Architecture is a collection of snapshots. It's form is a series of ideas and forms that is bound together to create a 3-dimensional flow of information"

These sorts of questions, this slow period, is what I call my data gathering periods because they sort of come up in unknown, abstract ways, when I'm in that fast, production mode. I don't really set out to actually answer these questions I ponder, but I feel in some way or another, I end up doing just that, but in a completely different way, somewhere down the line.

I notice many people seem to associate brainstorming with serving a purpose, with starting with a problem, then brainstorming to find solutions to it. I guess that's true and normal to do, really, but I never felt I even needed a "purpose" to brainstorm. I don't really need a reason to. Again, this sort of thought process is literally on all the time. The speed and approach may be different throughout the day, but what it's doing, feels the same.

 

[Coriolis]

I rarely brainstorm in any deliberate or externalized way. When I try, I usually end up with a disconnected mess of ideas that leaves me even further from whatever problem I am trying to solve. The only solution is to walk away from it all and start from scratch. I'm not sure how fair it is to call this process brainstorming. It happens internally, without my conscious effort usually. Somehow, everything I know and have seen or experienced gets sifted around until possibilities surface; usually just the "best" one and a few alternatives. I can then examine each of these to see how worthwhile it is.

 

[burningranger]

Ideally I'd be brainstorming all the time. I trust really great ideas to come from brainstorming. My thinking is very much connected with my speaking ability...so I love to talk with people to get to ideas. It's as if when I'm with someone something in me amps up exponentially in the realm of ideas...i guess that's partly because I like to interview for information....and also to apply my brainstorming abilities to a specific topic that I can go through with someone.

For me ideas are not just ideas. They are not "nothing" without implementation as some school of thoughts would have you believe. Most of the time, ideas are enough to change things because we live in a world of prespective and ideas work at the level of the oberserve - us.

I'd love to have brainstorming sessions with people to resolve all kinds of problems and also come up with new ideas for stuff....but it seems to be my life theme that I always have this amazing energy that I very few people seem to be able, or like, to match. My Te get's REALLY fired up when brainstorming or discussing with others when we come together. In those scenarios I trust it ALOT. I trust my ability to be able to set out what needs to be done in an effective and effecient manner. It's a real marriage of Ne + Te and it's by far the most satfying experience I can have because this idea machine no longer seems like some arbitrary random thought generator, but something that can be put to use in pretty much any area. This also enables me to fall in love and read into all kinds of subjects where I'm not an expert in a really speedy manner. This is the main reason I like to be around people. All of this kicks in...unless you are depressed zombie with no zest for anything...then, fuck you

I don't have a whole lot of ideas necessarilly passing around my head all the time though. It's almost like I'm inside a pool all the time, but things only emerge when needed or relevant. In that sense, I don't think my brainstorming looks necessarilyl like the classical brainstorming of throwing a lof of things around...it can when I'm writing it down...but for the most part...it's just not needed. Stuff appears out of thin air when I'm engaging something. The best what if almost always comes first right away or on second or third time. It's true that when I'm more open emotinally I do get ideas out of the blue....but for the most part...it's when I'm engaged with something. I turn it on.

Anyone who'd like to brainstorm on something interesting PM me Although it's shit to brainstorm when it's not in real time.

 

[Dreamer]

Ideally I'd be brainstorming all the time. I trust really great ideas to come from brainstorming. My thinking is very much connected with my speaking ability...so I love to talk with people to get to ideas. It's as if when I'm with someone something in me amps up exponentially in the realm of ideas...i guess that's partly because I like to interview for information....and also to apply my brainstorming abilities to a specific topic that I can go through with someone.

For me ideas are not just ideas. They are not "nothing" without implementation as some school of thoughts would have you believe. Most of the time, ideas are enough to change things because we live in a world of prespective and ideas work at the level of the oberserve - us.

I'd love to have brainstorming sessions with people to resolve all kinds of problems and also come up with new ideas for stuff....but it seems to be my life theme that I always have this amazing energy that I very few people seem to be able, or like, to match. My Te get's REALLY fired up when brainstorming or discussing with others when we come together. In those scenarios I trust it ALOT. I trust my ability to be able to set out what needs to be done in an effective and effecient manner. It's a real marriage of Ne + Te and it's by far the most satfying experience I can have because this idea machine no longer seems like some arbitrary random thought generator, but something that can be put to use in pretty much any area. This also enables me to fall in love and read into all kinds of subjects where I'm not an expert in a really speedy manner. This is the main reason I like to be around people. All of this kicks in...unless you are depressed zombie with no zest for anything...then, fuck you

I don't have a whole lot of ideas necessarilly passing around my head all the time though. It's almost like I'm inside a pool all the time, but things only emerge when needed or relevant. In that sense, I don't think my brainstorming looks necessarilyl like the classical brainstorming of throwing a lof of things around...it can when I'm writing it down...but for the most part...it's just not needed. Stuff appears out of thin air when I'm engaging something. The best what if almost always comes first right away or on second or third time. It's true that when I'm more open emotinally I do get ideas out of the blue....but for the most part...it's when I'm engaged with something. I turn it on.

Anyone who'd like to brainstorm on something interesting PM me Although it's shit to brainstorm when it's not in real time.

It sounds as though you may live more in my described "quick-paced" brainstorm modes, and I totally agree, things just come out of air and connections are almost made instantaneously. It's awesome! I don't personally find myself working through Ne/Te too much, though I do know that mode well enough It really does bring a whole new level of satisfaction when your ideas become reality. I think for me though, I do more often than not, live in my head, and work through Ne/Fi. I think this is perhaps why I may reside in my slow, wandering periods a bit more than it sounds like you may. I can brainstorm on my own by pulling in things from my environment around me or by folding and turning over my own ideas, but I agree with you, when I chat with another Ne dom or aux, the brainstorming just floors the accelerator.

 

[Lord Lavender]

Hmm if I had to sum up my brainstorming process its like super natural since I tend to do it naturally so a bit like a fish breathing underwater without even knowing im doing it but if I had to sum it up I would say its like swimming in a sea full of other fish. I use Ne to latch onto and combine and generate new fishes in whatever way then I use aux Ti to assess if it actually is logical or all just a bunch of nonsense heh then tert Fe kicks in and makes me think will this sell well at the markets and if not ill then go back to Ne to try and create a new better product or re-frame it so to speak.

I am unable to brainstorm internally without any outer platform to get it all out since my process is externalized so to speak so it could be writing something down, inflicting myself on the poor people who have to listen to me and so on.

 

[1487610420]

weed

 

[Sacrophagus]

The quick mode is where I get my most mental, immediate stimulation, and is where I also feel the most productive, even if all I'm doing is sitting there in my head. But it's the fact that I'm running through so many ideas at breakneck speed, that it feels productive.

A long time ago, an INTP introduced herself during integration dinner and described herself saying "I'm jack of all trades, master of none" while wearing a very shy smile. At that time people laughed at her joke. Now they're not laughing as much.

it's important to mention the slow, meandering process too, as I feel it's ultimately these times, where I'm just sitting there gathering this wealth of information in a way. I'm letting my mind wander without imposing any rules, without any structure, without any factual limitation. It is in this mode where reality sort of dissolves

This. Some NPs tend to struggle socially because of that and try to restraint that ability. That's why awareness and acceptance is sine qua non, especially in work environments.
Whenever the INTP I mentioned is spacing out in her own vast cosmos of ideas, and comes back to mother Earth, I tend to tease her, kid around and ask her "Where have you been this time?", and laugh it off before getting serious. A co-worker even put a sign on her desk that says "Approach with caution".

 

[Dreamer]

A long time ago, an INTP introduced herself during integration dinner and described herself saying "I'm jack of all trades, master of none" while wearing a very shy smile. At that time people laughed at her joke. Now they're not laughing as much.


This. Some NPs tend to struggle socially because of that and try to restraint that ability. That's why awareness and acceptance is sine qua non, especially in work environments.
Whenever the INTP I mentioned is spacing out in her own vast cosmos of ideas, and comes back to mother Earth, I tend to tease her, kid around and ask her "Where have you been this time?", and laugh it off before getting serious. A co-worker even put a sign on her desk that says "Approach with caution".

Thank you for sharing this Sacrophagus. Had I read this a few years ago, I would've immediately put myself in that INTP's shoes and felt shamed, because I did for most of my life. I personally saw no value in such mode of thinking. Thankfully, I take it all in with the utmost enthusiasm and vigor (perhaps I shouldn't have changed my username from "Enthusiastic_Dreamer"). But yes, such comments as the one you mentioned to the INTP, "Where have you been this time?" these days, honestly, makes me smile. For it reminds me of the beauty and strength these wanderings posses, and not of shame from days passed.

 

[burningranger]

It sounds as though you may live more in my described "quick-paced" brainstorm modes, and I totally agree, things just come out of air and connections are almost made instantaneously. It's awesome! I don't personally find myself working through Ne/Te too much, though I do know that mode well enough It really does bring a whole new level of satisfaction when your ideas become reality. I think for me though, I do more often than not, live in my head, and work through Ne/Fi. I think this is perhaps why I may reside in my slow, wandering periods a bit more than it sounds like you may. I can brainstorm on my own by pulling in things from my environment around me or by folding and turning over my own ideas, but I agree with you, when I chat with another Ne dom or aux, the brainstorming just floors the accelerator.

You sound like a healthier, more aligned with his own nature, ENFP than me. When I'm more relaxed and at peace with life (which is seldomly these days) I also tend to be more pourous and slowly considerative of all possibiltiies as an effortless and enjoyable process that just happens. Kinda like "I wonder...." tangents with myself...and allowing myself to dream it up. But that involves slowing down...being in my body...not being in fight-or-flight and to be at peace with my environment. My life is kinda shit right now