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Please explain the difference between the internal and external world

Kanamori

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Apr 23, 2007
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The internal world is everything you see/experience. The external world is everything causing what you see/experience.
 
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To me, my internal world is something that I could not describe in words. At best, it can be approached obliquely and is only hinted at in anything that I say/do. A metaphor for that would be spirituality. I would describe it as a wholeness that is neither coherent nor consistent, but is undeniably complete.

The external world is something that can be broken down into an infinite number of components and be made coherent by my inner world choosing which bits of information to assimilate.

While my inner world affects what I view of the outer world and my interpretation of it, the external world and experiences also shape the inner world of today and affect how I view the external world of tomorrow. As such, while I experience my inner world and external world as being separate from each other, there is undeniably an interplay between them.

These are ideas that I came up with while thinking about the nature of identity and self-definition.
 

BlueScreen

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I haven't read other responses yet, but with Jungian Functions, the internal world would be the subjective reality or the wider reality you infer. The external world would be the objective or actual reality in front of you. I think Jung said Ne is sort of an anomaly in this sense.
 

redacted

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I don't think it's as simple as the mind being the internal world and the external world being 1-the mind. The mind counts as part of the external world in a lot of situations (possibly at the same time it's part of the internal world).
 

Jaguar

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The external world is a manifestation of our internal world.
Your reality can be very different from mine.
There is no single "reality" or "outer world."

How many times has someone said to you:
"The reality of the situation is X,Y or Z."

The next time someone says that, try responding with:
"Your reality, or mine?"
Their facial expression will be priceless.
 

Robert Dyke

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Feb 19, 2017
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I like this model of External and Internal Reality.
So External Reality is made of tiny stuff, let's call it atoms.
Internal Reality is made of inter-neural communication
that uses electrical pulses and chemicals.
Another name for Internal Reality could be Fantasy.

When we are talking about a material, human artifact, i.e.
a glob of atoms with a name, meaning, and purpose,
that's External Reality, pure and simple.
Everything works pretty much like the default assumption of our language and society.

Things get complicated when
we start talking about ideas like:
Justice, value, democracy, and so on, that is: abstract nouns.

With concrete nouns we can get a Reality sample,
measure it in all known dimensions,
agree about what it is, and
use Reason to arrive at a decision
concerning what to do about it.
Not much politics involved here.

But those abstract nouns are just killing us.
We speak as though Democracy were a concrete noun
made of those atom things, but no,
Democracy is a Fantasy.
It's nothing really.
But we might be willing to take a spear in the chest defending democracy.

Rationalism does not work well when dealing with abstract nouns.
Abstract nouns require:
Intuition
Emotion
Devine Revelation
Tradition
Anecdotal Evidence
Experience.

The big bug-a-boo is
Social Science and its use of statistics,
Social Science which ain't no science

We cannot know individuals by
Collecting statistics about groups of people.

IMHO this External/Internal Reality dualism
is at the core of the Progressive/Trumpian divide.

No sign this is going to get sorted out any time soon.
 

Yuurei

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I haven't read other responses yet, but with Jungian Functions, the internal world would be the subjective reality or the wider reality you infer. The external world would be the objective or actual reality in front of you. I think Jung said Ne is sort of an anomaly in this sense.

Hm. That would explain a lot.
 

kotoshinohaisha

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so
Internal, what lies in your head.. Ex. Intuition, introversion
External, what lies in front of you, what your senses can perceive..
Ex. Sensing, extroversion
 

LightSun

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The internal world is what you keep to yourself, the way you process things, the way you make connections. Things you might not even be consciously aware of. The external world is whatever you share with others, and what they can perceive about you, or experience with you.

Basically, the inner world is that which cannot be shared or expressed, the external world is that which can be shared and expressed.


In psychology a counselor through empathy, communication skills and active listening enters into another person's phenomenological or inner universe of experience.
 

LightSun

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The internal world is what a person thinks, feels and believes. It is a foundation of schema developed at an early age. The internal world is made up of beliefs.

The external world is the whole world around us: what we can see, touch, feel, smell, taste and hear. it is the world of objective facts.
 

Polaris

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Part of what is entailed by a thing being psychologically internal is that the thing is experienced on a first-person level. This is in contrast to psychologically external things, which are experienced from a detached vantage point. All things in existence have both an external and an internal aspect. Whenever I see a rock, this rock always has a first-person significance in the form of the impressions it makes on me. And when I think a thought, this thought always manifests itself as particular configurations of the brain and body. The two are related to each other like the two sides of a coin.
 

LightSun

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Imo. The internal world is everything involving myself. Things I can control, influences in my life, my personal inner thoughts, my actions, and reactions. They include the things I influence, my morality, and my philosophy. Imo, the internal and external world changes. For example: I considered my apartment part of my internal world, but now that I no longer live in it, it is not.

The external world is that which I cannot touch. The things outside of my control, the people I am a stranger to, information and knowledge I am not aware of or never bother to/fail to understand and grasp, the ideas and beliefs of those around me, and so on.

kyuuei wrote, (1) "...internal world is everything involving myself. Things I can control, influences in my life, my personal inner thoughts, my actions, and reactions. They include the things I influence, my morality, and my philosophy."


I basically am in alignment. To me the inner universe phenomenological landscape is based on what I think, feel and believe. The internal world is more ideal.


(2) "...things outside of my control, the people I am a stranger to, information and knowledge I am not aware of or never bother to/fail to understand and grasp, the ideas and beliefs of those around me..."

Our external world is composed of objective facts. It is what we can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. It is much more concrete.
 

LightSun

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“There was a saying," The true battle lays within us all." I sort of believed this wholeheartedly. Now I believe in balance. One should be aware of their internal reality. But I believe we need to be both externally as well as internally cognizant. If the pendulum swings to one way, then there is chaos and confusion. Knowing ourselves can help us understand ourselves, the external world as well as the people in it. It is an ever ongoing project, as well a worthy occupation. To know others one knows more of oneself.

Do not so readily accept what it is you know to be truth. Real truth can be divined from within. Do not trust the sayings of your parents, teacher, priest, or Pope. Rather rely on the inner universe of knowledge. The knowledge of the ancients of all races of the human species resides there. It is an encyclopedia on how to learn to reach freedom. The mightiest enemy to conquer is self. For since, birth we have been deceived with at best half-truths. It takes a lifetime to disentangle oneself from the net of lies and illusions. In addition, it takes a willing heart; the battle still may not be won.

Nevertheless, we must try that or continue being caught, ensnared, and entangled by the net. For myself I wish to be a free man. Free of illusion, distortion and false various beliefs handed down, imprinted and brainwashed into our soul and conscious. To break the bonds will be the greatest battle you will ever face in your entire lifetime on this our planet earth. Searching the external world exclusively for happiness is a fool's dream. You will die searching because you never discovered yourself. This is the inner world.

The path of self- discovery and finding out what you stand for and where your passions in life lay. Discovering your real self you find completion and balance. Too many times we may ignore the inner universe, searching for peace, as well happiness when these lay within us. Too many times we may ignore the inner universe, searching for peace, as well happiness when these lay within us. If one are miserable inside, then all the money, riches, all the members of the opposite sex (or whichever sex one is attracted to, fame, material possessions, food, and travel will not soothe the soul, most certainly not for long.

Learn to listen to an inner voice. I call it the universal consciousness. It is there within. It can help provide guidance in pursuing an activity where one can enter into a Flow state. This is to discover one’s true inner gift where we make discoveries about ourselves, others and our reality. They say that we live in a world of illusions that fool us or lead us astray. I think it is a mixture. Half of the Real world is within as well as half of the real being external. To move along our path we must learn to walk the middle path. The road called the Shining One of balance. It is true we live in a world of partial illusions. The answers lie within.

Seek and ye shall understand. Look inward for the truth and you shall find it. All of these are partial truths. There are real truths in the external world as well. We need the basic material goods to find comfort and security as well as a modicum of happiness. But to search the external world exclusively for happiness is a fool's dream. You will die searching because you never discovered yourself. That is the inner world. The path of self- discovery and finding out who you are and what you truly wish to contribute to the world. Here is completion of self. It is a search for inner peace that is a mantra of an INF/ENF. This inner universe is so crucial.

There are many paths to achieve this. No one person can tell another how to live. That must come from inside. Learn to trust yourself. Learn to heed that inner voice as long as it is founded on virtue and not lies and self-deception. Transcending, balanced, and centered. I strive for this. Learn to hear the stillness of the universe that is within. In the use of the Myers Briggs test in determining characteristics, traits and personality temperament we gain insight as well awareness into one's self and understanding others.

It has been my experience that some people are more apt to look within, and are aware of this inner universe. Such types are apt to be labeled deep. Yet there are others who view the external world as real at it is their only concern. Do you think that it is possible for an entire culture to learn to listen to this inner voice, or even a large percentage? I think people are built differently and have different talents and different perceptions of the world. Thus there are many versions of what is real. How does one divine the truth?

This is why one needs to develop self-esteem and a healthy self- concept to truly know and acknowledge the beauty of the world. For an ISP/ESP, it may be different. This is why for greatest harmony to occur; both inner and outer realities need be balanced. Listen to this inner voice. I call it the universal consciousness. It is there. It can help one perceive and pursue activity where one can enter into a state of "Flow." This is to discover one's inner gift. What one was made to do and to become. It is true we live in a world of partial illusions. The answers lie within. Seek and ye shall understand. Look inward for the truth and you shall find it."
 

Mole

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We are remarkable in that we respond in almost the same way to reality as we respond to our imagination. And it is normal to confuse the two. In the 18th century we started to separate the two with evidence and reason.

Evidence and reason require discipline, and the bearing of the emotional pain of cognitive dissonance.

And narcissists reject discipline, and avoid the emotional pain of cognitive dissonance, by regressing to fantasy.

And they defend their right to fantasy with ego defences, so it is difficult to appeal to them through reason.

And just as religious belief is enhanced in a congregation, so the secular religion of the USA is enhanced through popular culture.

The secular religion says we are all equal just that we have different personalities, but only sixteen. This is the fantasy of the secular melting pot.

And the two high priestesses of the secular melting pot are Mrs Briggs and her daughter Mrs Myers. Neither of whom who had any qualifications at all in Psychometrics, rather they are two priestesses of the American secular religion.
 
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