[INTP] INTPs and lack of memory for details

[RobinSkye]

Could be!! My ENFP brother notices all abstract things happening around him, but he can't recall anything, not even what he did 10 minutes ago. Indeed, INPs value more the Si security than extroverted types. My Si works better as Ne's sidekick (bringing some memories to the surface, so Ne has more material to work on its randomness) than alone.

Yes, I definitely think that we more so use Si as a tool/database. Where ENPs are more likely to notice more things externally.

 

[Yama]

I think my Si kicks me more by not being able to regulate normal bodily functions, particularly sleep and nutrient intake.

I'm an Si dom and I suck at this too... because sp last.


Overall, Si is much more than paying attention to details or your surroundings... it is very abstract and internal, like Ni, but different... It's an experience hoarder. It wants to build up its database with everything it can so that it always knows what to expect and have that knowledge to fall back on and draw from when it finds itself in an unfamiliar situation--knowing the details are included in that. Perhaps with weaker Si, which is not as valued, the NP may have trouble with things like details because they don't focus on that "experience hoarding" and so knowing those details is less important or relevant to them. But I am not sure as I am not an NP.

So, details are an aspect of Si... a means to an end. It is not what Si is all about, but it is a part of it.

 

[RobinSkye]

I'm an Si dom and I suck at this too... because sp last.


Overall, Si is much more than paying attention to details or your surroundings... it is very abstract and internal, like Ni, but different... It's an experience hoarder. It wants to build up its database with everything it can so that it always knows what to expect and have that knowledge to fall back on and draw from when it finds itself in an unfamiliar situation--knowing the details are included in that. Perhaps with weaker Si, which is not as valued, the NP may have trouble with things like details because they don't focus on that "experience hoarding" and so knowing those details is less important or relevant to them. But I am not sure as I am not an NP.

So, details are an aspect of Si... a means to an end. It is not what Si is all about, but it is a part of it.

Well yeah, I imagine it manifests very differently for one that has it lower in the stack. It's not like my conscious access of it really goes beyond maintaining a comfortable atmosphere and avoiding danger more than some Se users I know might. Though, who knows if either of those things really have anything to do with the Si in my stack.

In relation to your enneagram subtypes, I've actually been thinking that I'm likely Sx/Sp and not Sp/Sx. I do think that I naturally believe there is something more out there to be discovered, and I'm not fully content being completely secluded forever, I think I would feel stuck. But as I've read a lot, the variations of 5s are difficult to differentiate. I associate pretty well with all three of them.

 

[Noweej]

Wow, thank you for this thread, I was starting to think that alzheimer was coming when I found my glasses in the fridge, not rememberind why I put them here, forgetting names, jobs, what I ate yesterday, when the bills and taxes are due, who this person who talks to me like a friend is, but still remembering the phone number of my best friend when we were 8 and other now totally useless stuff.

Family and friends often give me things like organizers, portable batteries, gadgets to find my stuff, ... but since I always forget tu use them, it's not really useful.

Seriously, 13 years ago, 6 months after the beginning of my 1st year of university, a young woman came talking to me, we had a really nice chat and she seemed to know a lot about our university, so I asked her if she was a 2nd or 3rd year. She was the person sitting next to me in nearly every class since the beginning of the year and never wanted to talk to me ever again ^^'. It's not on purpose that I didn't recognise her, but I still felt really bad for her and thought that my brain was a dick.

 

[S16M4]

Well shit.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who brain farts all the time. Good thing it isn't important things though. It's usually minor.

 

[Mal12345]

I'll go to the top of the stairs and wonder why I'm there, it's nothing new though.

That is not type related. This link doesn't prove that it's not type related, it's just a common thing that I've seen everybody doing. Why Walking through a Doorway Makes You Forget - Scientific American

 

[Froody Blue Gem]

I have a pretty good memory when it comes to facts about topics I'm interested in. I bring these things up and people think the memory skills I have are freaky. But on the flipside, where my recall fails, it fails badly. I am also pretty good with dates and random facts about people that I know well. When it comes to job-related stuff and hardskills/handson things I usually forget little details if I have only done a task once. There are tiny little details I miss and I don't realize I missed them until it's pointed out. I'm bad at remembering names as well.

There are things that most people remember that I seem to forget in these types of areas. Like walking into a room and forgetting why I'm there, or putting things down then a few minutes later, I forget it's location. Then I find the object and it was in an obvious place all along.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

INTPs are like the grand joke of MBTI. Can't remember where they put their keys or the day planner they always forget to use, but they'll remember a million details about the intricacies of a computer program or their favorite science fiction franchise.