People Watching. What Do You Think About As You Do It?

[magpie]

I haven't seen anyone write something like this yet and I'm worried about how weird it is, but I basically imagine people's life stories. Like if I see a woman walking by on her phone who is wearing a business outfit and looks to be in a hurry, I'll think to myself, "That's Lynn. She works in public relations and is in the process of getting a seperation from her husband because he wants children and she doesn't. Every night she lays her clothes for the morning out beforehand, and every morning she does 10 sit-ups before eating breakfast. She is very particular and detail oriented, but not severe. About once a month she goes out with the ladies, gets completely smashed, and gives someone a lap dance as a form of stress management."

 

[Peter Deadpan]

[MENTION=9627]Xann[/MENTION] - Does my answer sound more Ni than Fe in socionics? I guess it's the whole "humanistic angle" and "what makes people tick" thing that is persuading me to choose Ni over Fe, but I'm not sure yet.

 

[Xann]

@Xann - Does my answer sound more Ni than Fe in socionics? I guess it's the whole "humanistic angle" and "what makes people tick" thing that is persuading me to choose Ni over Fe, but I'm not sure yet.

Well in my eyes, your answer was unmistakeably both, but came off slightly more Fe than I expected. I'm not certain from this post alone how much more you use your Ni as a tool to glean insights into fundamental human nature and carve out universally applicable likelihoods (more Ni variant) in comparison to how you use it to observe how other people relate to each other and yourself in a more direct and intensive manner (more Fe variant), but it is certain that you do both to a large extent and that it's what you're inherently most attuned to perceptually. When you have the time/desire, maybe you'd find it useful to take a look at these just so you can be more certain and have more to work with when you discuss the topic with other people:

Socionics Types: IEI-INFp Subtypes

ENFj/EIE Subtypes

(After looking over them myself just now, you still seem IEI-Ni fwiw).

 

[EcK]

I haven't seen anyone write something like this yet and I'm worried about how weird it is, but I basically imagine people's life stories. Like if I see a woman walking by on her phone who is wearing a business outfit and looks to be in a hurry, I'll think to myself, "That's Lynn. She works in public relations and is in the process of getting a seperation from her husband because he wants children and she doesn't. Every night she lays her clothes for the morning out beforehand, and every morning she does 10 sit-ups before eating breakfast. She is very particular and detail oriented, but not severe. About once a month she goes out with the ladies, gets completely smashed, and gives someone a lap dance as a form of stress management."

That s like every infjs' favorite hobbie. That and stalking people online.

 

[Kas]

I enjoy guessing who they are, what they do in life, what is relation between them, what are their interests etc based on what I observe.

I liked to play this game as a child and I never grew out of it.

 

[Dreamer]

I haven't seen anyone write something like this yet and I'm worried about how weird it is, but I basically imagine people's life stories. Like if I see a woman walking by on her phone who is wearing a business outfit and looks to be in a hurry, I'll think to myself, "That's Lynn. She works in public relations and is in the process of getting a seperation from her husband because he wants children and she doesn't. Every night she lays her clothes for the morning out beforehand, and every morning she does 10 sit-ups before eating breakfast. She is very particular and detail oriented, but not severe. About once a month she goes out with the ladies, gets completely smashed, and gives someone a lap dance as a form of stress management."

Actually my dad used to this all the time. He'd see someone and come up with this elaborate story line for that person on the spot. We'd have fun coming up with scenarios for this person but then I'd bore with the topic and want to move on and he'd want to continue on with this new story of ours. He was INTJ, so perhaps what you do is Ni based?

 

[Coriolis]

Actually my dad used to this all the time. He'd see someone and come up with this elaborate story line for that person on the spot. We'd have fun coming up with scenarios for this person but then I'd bore with the topic and want to move on and he'd want to continue on with this new story of ours. He was INTJ, so perhaps what you do is Ni based?

I can do that easily as well, it just doesn't usually occur to me to do it. I do something similar in coming up with backstories for RPG characters. I roll the stats, come up with a name, and the character seems to build him/herself automatically. I just have to look to see what is there.

 

[Yama]

I haven't seen anyone write something like this yet and I'm worried about how weird it is, but I basically imagine people's life stories. Like if I see a woman walking by on her phone who is wearing a business outfit and looks to be in a hurry, I'll think to myself, "That's Lynn. She works in public relations and is in the process of getting a seperation from her husband because he wants children and she doesn't. Every night she lays her clothes for the morning out beforehand, and every morning she does 10 sit-ups before eating breakfast. She is very particular and detail oriented, but not severe. About once a month she goes out with the ladies, gets completely smashed, and gives someone a lap dance as a form of stress management."

I do this too

 

[Showbread]

I really love watching people interact. Random strangers, people on dates, teenagers out acting like they own the world, etc. People on dates are pretty much my favorite thing to observe because there is SO much nonverbal communication happening. If the date is going well their mirror neurons are firing out of control and their postures practically mirror each other. Or if it's an awkward first date everyone is all nervous and twitchy. My second favorite would definitely be children. Watching them explore a new environment is the best because everything is amazing. They observe so intentionally, and yet sometimes so recklessly at the same time. Since I've become obsessed with Attachment theory, parent-child interactions have a whole new meaning.

 

[Trash Panda]

I imagine what they might be like. What they're thinking, feeling.How they think. Do their thoughts run in a singular line. Are they steady and just one at a time or in jumbles like mine can be. Are they wondering about what I'm thinking. What do they think other people are thinking about. How do they imagine other's minds to be. Why would they imagine other's minds to be that way. What it is that makes a mind what it is. How did this persons mind develop into that person. What are the building blocks of this persons identity. What is an identity. WHat is personality.

I mean obviously there's no way for me to know even if I were to ask them questions about themselves. "Hey what is the origin of everything that makes you who you are?" So maybe I fill in the blanks as needed in ways that seem to build off of what I can tell about them via observation and intuiting. It's basically fruitless but it passes the time.

 

[Agent Washington]

That s like every infjs' favorite hobbie. That and stalking people online.

Compared to INTJ, where INTJ just gets straight out to the point and stalks them online.

 

[Dreamer]

Here's a thread that was about almost the same thing, additional answers for you....

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/instinctual-subtypes/77320-people-watching-crosses-mind.html

Thanks for linking me Cas! I'll have to take a look.

 

[EcK]

Compared to INTJ, where INTJ just gets straight out to the point and stalks them online.

I honestly have no clue about intj mating / serial killing behavior

All I can say is that people usually describe them as 'polite quiet people who weren't causing any trouble"