[MBTI General] NFs and (lack of) sense of direction

[WobblyStilettos]

Do any other NFs out there find themselves constantly mixing up where places are and getting lost? I have been wondering about this after having conversations with three other NFs in my close family.

convo #1
Me: So how was your day?
My mum (ENFJ): Well, I got so lost, first I tried... etc.

convo #2
My cousin B (also ENFJ): So, where is your sister then?
Me: Dundee, with her boyfriend
Cousin B: What?! Dundee in Paris??!!

convo #3 (and truly, this is the best)
Me: Guess what, cousin B thought Dundee was in Paris!
My sister (ENFP): ... Isn't it in australia?
Me: It's where you were this weekend, hun.
Sister: But I thought...
My dad (ESTJ, with an actual sense of direction): That's Crocodile Dundee.

Thoughts on this issue?

 

[Eileen]

I have a terrible sense of direction. I schedule 20-30 minutes to drive around lost whenever I go somewhere new.

 

[SillySapienne]

I oscillate between,

So yeah, to answer your question, I am chalk full of direction. :rolli:

 

[SillySapienne]

LOL, I am a space cadet, I thought you meant something else!!!

I actually have a decent, a very decent, sense of *geographical* direction.

 

[Ender]

Am I the only NF with an actual sense of direction?

I may not know the names of places or streets, but I never really get lost. At times I'll just drive aimlessly turning at whim when I reach an intersection and always know roughly where I am and how to get back.

 

[WobblyStilettos]

LOL, I am a space cadet, I thought you meant something else!!!

I actually have a decent, a very decent, sense of *geographical* direction.

Am I the only NF with an actual sense of direction?

I may not know the names of places or streets, but I never really get lost. At times I'll just drive aimlessly turning at whim when I reach an intersection and always know roughly where I am and how to get back.

Ack. Now I can't blame my inability to draw a map of where my house is in relation to my friends houses (all in one village...) today on my personality type. Pooey. xD

 

[Alchemist]

My sense of direction is pretty solid outdoors, but when it comes to large buildings, I generally need a map or ask for directions. I think as long as you can picture a map in your head, and know which way north is, you'll be able to find your way anywhere.

-A

 

[prplchknz]

I have an excellent sense of direction I'm usually chosen to be the navigator. I also did well in geography, though I've forgotten most of it since I hadn't had that class since I was 12. I think I have internal GPS because even if I've only been someplace once I can find it again or just know where I am in relation to some landmark even if I'm not looking at it.

 

[Atomic Fiend]

Once I drove about, a rough guess, twenty miles in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to go.

 

[Valiant]

I don't think this has anything to do with type... The human mind has only been used to the concept of big city street networks and such for a very brief time, and some brains are better att processing large-scale information. I suck at navigating through cities, but drop me off anywhere in alaska and i'll bloody well find my way to anywhere on the continent.

 

[WobblyStilettos]

Once I drove about, a rough guess, twenty miles in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to go.

My mum can beat that. A couple of years ago we were travelling around the US in a camper van and she was navigating... to be fair, she did get us on the right road, it's just a shame we were driving down it in the wrong direction for over 3 hours. xD

 

[cafe]

I love maps and and better at following them than verbal or written directions, but I have trouble with left and right (Don tells me "Your other left" and calls me his little Ninevite) and I often miss turns.

When other people's children are with us, they will sometimes wonder where we are and my kids will say with complete calmness "Oh, Mom's just lost again." They know I will get us there eventually.

 

[proteanmix]

Am I the only NF with an actual sense of direction?

I may not know the names of places or streets, but I never really get lost. At times I'll just drive aimlessly turning at whim when I reach an intersection and always know roughly where I am and how to get back.

No you're not the only one. I've got a great sense of direction, but I don't do maps very well. I can find my way anywhere as long as I'm not lost in a forest full of identical pine trees and weeping willows. I look for landmarks, which is what women are more likely to do anyways.

 

[Jae Rae]

I love maps and and better at following them than verbal or written directions, but I have trouble with left and right (Don tells me "Your other left" and calls me his little Ninevite) and I often miss turns.

I don't get this reference (and even looked it up).

When other people's children are with us, they will sometimes wonder where we are and my kids will say with complete calmness "Oh, Mom's just lost again." They know I will get us there eventually.

I used to tell my kids we were on an adventure, but eventually they figured out that meant I took a wrong turn.

My lefty INTP is much better with maps than I am. I'm better with verbal or written directions.

Jae Rae

 

[cascadeco]

Am I the only NF with an actual sense of direction?

I may not know the names of places or streets, but I never really get lost. At times I'll just drive aimlessly turning at whim when I reach an intersection and always know roughly where I am and how to get back.

Nope, I'm the same way!! I can't say I've ever gotten lost. Even if I take a wrong turn, I know roughly where I am.

[Sidenote: When I read only the title of this thread, I thought it was going to be about Life Direction (ha!!)...which would have been an entirely different answer!! ]

 

[cafe]

Jae Rae, it comes from the last verse in Jonah (at least in the KJV).

Jonah 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

My husband's a silly guy with a degree in Biblical studies.

 

[nightning]

I navigate using landmarks... which does not work very well in a city with grid-like layout of streets nor inside buildings with hallways all looking the same.

I guess I'm too visual... that leads me to recall landmarks better than street names. And so I've never learnt to see the system of city streets as a whole.

That leads to a poor sense of direction despite my having excellent visual spatial abilities.

 

[Ender]

I more or less use landmarks as well. Tho I can use names of stores etc as landmarks. Street names I'm useless with, I can't even remember my old address.. Only use maps or my GPS when I'm going somewhere I haven't been before.

 

[The Third Rider]

I have a full since of direction and where things are going expect for my life. *cries*

 

[Jae Rae]

Jae Rae, it comes from the last verse in Jonah (at least in the KJV).

My husband's a silly guy with a degree in Biblical studies.

He sounds adorable.

I have a friend who's a Ninevite. She gives directions by pointing.

Jae Rae