[Si] What does Si mean to you?

[Fun in the Sun]

I think people misunderstand Si, so I'm going to describe some of its positive attributes because it really is difficult to describe. It is experiential and words often fall short.

I love the warm comforts of routine. I'm not referring to the boring, mundane tasks that we have to do every day, but of keeping the pleasures and comforts in life routinely coming; like that cup of coffee in the morning, or that glass of wine with dinner, or eating your favorite food at your favorite restaurant when you go out. I love sleep and make sure I'm in bed at the same time every night so I can enjoy sleeping, going for walks every day to enjoy being outdoors, and having sex as often as possible(with the same person of course ).

Not only that, but it makes me happy to know other people are getting the same enjoyment out of life. I do what I can to make sure they experience these fine little things in life too. I enjoy sharing it with others. I'm all about the quality over the quantity.

I feel uncomfortable when I go somewhere knew. In fact I feel nervous and overwhelmed in traffic and around knew people, enough for me to want to crawl back into a hole somewhere and wait it out. I cannot stand the hustle and bustle of modern life. I'm very much of the mindset that the tortoise will win the race in the end. Slow and steady wins the race baby, yeah!

This all comes together to make me someone who lives in the same place for years, doesn't change jobs often, has maintained childhood friends, and has long lasting intimate relations. I do what I can to protect my environment, to make it feel comfortable and safe and enjoyable A little excitement doesn't hurt.

 

[Fun in the Sun]

Quit crowding! One at a time please.

 

[Lunar Light]

I think people misunderstand Si, so I'm going to describe some of its positive attributes because it really is difficult to describe. It is experiential and words often fall short.

Yeah I agree and I appreciate you making this thread. Si is definitely one of the more misunderstood functions.

I love the warm comforts of routine. I'm not referring to the boring, mundane tasks that we have to do every day, but of keeping the pleasures and comforts in life routinely coming; like that cup of coffee in the morning, or that glass of wine with dinner, or eating your favorite food at your favorite restaurant when you go out. I love sleep and make sure I'm in bed at the same time every night so I can enjoy sleeping, going for walks every day to enjoy being outdoors, and having sex as often as possible(with the same person of course ).

Not only that, but it makes me happy to know other people are getting the same enjoyment out of life. I do what I can to make sure they experience these fine little things in life too. I enjoy sharing it with others. I'm all about the quality over the quantity.

This is such a good point and I see it a lot in my Si-heavy INFP SO. The cup of coffee when he gets up is definitely him. There's also staring at the sunset at dusk, going out and watching the stars when night falls, etc. It does seem like a source of comfort.

I think I'll come back to add more on my own experiences as a Si-inferior ENFP, since I feel like in the last few months, I've finally started to understand Si beyond vague feelings of "oh that's Si I think" and the basic things people have said about Si being related to the past and memory (which is overly simplistic I think). You saying that Si is experiential was a good point.

 

[fetus]

Examples of Si in my life:

I remember your full name and the time you told everyone in second grade music class that you love strawberries and hate cheese. I can recall the most random trivia about you, but I'd sound creepy if I told you I remembered all that. I'm sentimental pack rat; I keep everything and anything that reminds me of my past. I love fantasizing about the past--what happened, how it happened, and what could have happened. If it reminds me of my past, I can't throw it away. I make playlists of music I listened to at different points in my life. Sometimes I'm afraid of change, and I don't always want to rock the boat. I read my old diaries all the time and sift through old poetry just for fun. I have a great memory for the stupidest things. I keep old shampoo bottles so I can smell them and remember the past. I avoid buying the same deodorant or shampoo twice, because I associate them with different points in my life, and I don't want to tarnish the memories with new ones. At my worst points, I get so attached to how things were, and I can't live in the present. It's essential that I get some "down time" to process things and relax. As a kid, I was obsessed with geography. I was an antique car nut when I was little, and I could point to a car and tell you when it was from. I was fascinated by history, and frequently dressed up and imagined I was a part of the elegant past. I've always been fond of grammar and spelling.

There are probably more examples, but I think this is enough for now.

 

[Oaky]

Si is simple to understand in that it is a subjective sensation. Stimuli brought about by the world makes you sense what's around you, and to ever the slightest pleasure or disgust in a sensation, your Si is what defines it.

It is very simple: As we are perceiving things with our senses, we become accustomed to it and find comfort in it over long periods of time. We harden the comfort we get of the sensation and so our memory of the sensation is imprinted. This is why a lot of Si users often like what they sense is familiar to them.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Si is simple to understand in that it is a subjective sensation. Stimuli brought about by the world makes you sense what's around you, and to ever the slightest pleasure or disgust in a sensation, your Si is what defines it.

It is very simple: As we are perceiving things with our senses, we become accustomed to it and find comfort in it over long periods of time. We harden the comfort we get of the sensation and so our memory of the sensation is imprinted. This is why a lot of Si users often like what they sense is familiar to them.

I think Si might be kind of associative, in that we like something that reminds us of something else we liked.

 

[Oaky]

I think Si might be kind of associative, in that we like something that reminds us of something else we liked.

It's as the name suggest, introverted sensing which means it's a subjective mental experience derived from the senses. What your describing sounds more Ne than Si, but then they're functions that are two sides of the same coin.

 

[Starry]

I've always suspected that a good number of the literary masterpieces supposedly penned by INFPs and INFJs...


came from ISFJ pens.

 

[RedAmazoneFriendZone]

A little excitement doesn't hurt.

I'm getting curious...what is "a little excitement" to you ?

 

[RedAmazoneFriendZone]

Examples of Si in my life:

I remember your full name and the time you told everyone in second grade music class that you love strawberries and hate cheese. I can recall the most random trivia about you, but I'd sound creepy if I told you I remembered all that. I'm sentimental pack rat; I keep everything and anything that reminds me of my past. I love fantasizing about the past--what happened, how it happened, and what could have happened. If it reminds me of my past, I can't throw it away. I make playlists of music I listened to at different points in my life. Sometimes I'm afraid of change, and I don't always want to rock the boat. I read my old diaries all the time and sift through old poetry just for fun. I have a great memory for the stupidest things. I keep old shampoo bottles so I can smell them and remember the past. I avoid buying the same deodorant or shampoo twice, because I associate them with different points in my life, and I don't want to tarnish the memories with new ones. At my worst points, I get so attached to how things were, and I can't live in the present. It's essential that I get some "down time" to process things and relax. As a kid, I was obsessed with geography. I was an antique car nut when I was little, and I could point to a car and tell you when it was from. I was fascinated by history, and frequently dressed up and imagined I was a part of the elegant past. I've always been fond of grammar and spelling.

There are probably more examples, but I think this is enough for now.

I have to look for a guy IXFX

They loooook soooo romantic

Shampoo bottles...

Theatre....

Inspiring !

 

[RedAmazoneFriendZone]

Is it possible I feel attracted to people who have Si because I lack Si ?

I never remember anything this way I'm too much focused on my "close future" and plans

 

[Starry]

Oh whoops...

My own experience of Si = The Full Panic Spectrum. So everything from lowest degrees of "you're doing it wrong" to the highest register on the spectrum "a panic attack so massive you unwittingly cause an emergency landing of the international passenger plane you just happen to be riding without your "Si Inferior cures" - a fist full of Xanax and a 5th of Moonshine."
[MENTION=23222]senza tema[/MENTION]

 

[Lunar Light]

Examples of Si in my life:

I remember your full name and the time you told everyone in second grade music class that you love strawberries and hate cheese. I can recall the most random trivia about you, but I'd sound creepy if I told you I remembered all that.

Oh, I do this, but I didn't think that was Si. I remember so many details and people think it's creepy as hell. I remember people's full names and their birthdays and remember when you told your friends on the bus when we were in 2nd grade that your older sister tricked you into going outside with only your underwear on. I remember that you don't like chocolate ice cream because it's too rich and I agreed with you on that, also in the second grade. Sorry, I felt like carrying on what you started LOL. I thought this was more Si-influenced Ne. Hmmmmm.

I'm sentimental pack rat; I keep everything and anything that reminds me of my past. I love fantasizing about the past--what happened, how it happened, and what could have happened. If it reminds me of my past, I can't throw it away.

Oh I do this too. I figured for me personally it was immature Si since I seem to have a weak grip of it and so thus it controls me more than I control it.

I make playlists of music I listened to at different points in my life.

HI NEW BEST FRIEND

Yeah, when I want to relive my past, I go through these and remember what I was doing and thinking at the time that music was important for me.

I feel like I'm inadvertently stalking you. I hope this isn't overwhelming because I'm overwhelming myself at the thought of overwhelming you and I need to stop oops

 

[Frosty]

What I experience as Si is a comfortability to an extent with external familiarity. I can wear the same things for years, appreciate the same foods, the same people. Much of that has to do with an immediate reaction to the intensity of the stimuli probably, loud music hurts my ears, brushing my hair gives me headaches, dislike of any sort of texture immediately makes me full body spasm. It has always been like this<---- .


I think I also really get into the negative aspects of Si occasionally. I'll have a hard time sleeping but will desire to do so, try to catch up and fall behind. Bite my nails, chew pens, pick at my skin, mess with my hair, just generally fidgit with body awareness.


I use Si to clarify terms occasionally, if I think of a word and am not sure precisely what it means then I will look it up.

I am not good at keeping to a schedule, really really not. Starting one seems overwhelming and keeping to one is a constant battle and sacrifice- everything else goes to hell while I drive myself insane all the while failing at it. I am very disorganized, hopelessly so- but organization stresses me out, while disorganization really doesn't. I am very inattentive, can go days without doing anything or engaging with anything at all- even and especially if it is forced.

 

[Mal12345]

Quit crowding! One at a time please.

You would get far more responses far more quickly in a facebook MBTI group.

As for your question, What does Si I mean to me, I was with an ISFJ for 13 years. And I worked with a therapist-tested ISTJ for 7 years. Also, my father was an ISFJ and I obviously lived with him for quite some time, although in the beginning he was always either at work or sleeping. In between that, I just remember him punching my mother.

The ISFJ I lived with for 13 years was very romantically repressed and had OCD. She believed that the Earth was running out of fresh water, and she would do everything she could to recycle tiny teaspoons of water even if it was soapy. Her house was immaculate. I told her it was because she was afraid of what other people think, but she responded that it wasn't for others, but that she kept it neat for herself. Every morning, every bed was made, and every sheet was so tight you could bounce a quarter off of it. She kept others under control like refugees in a refugee camp, and demanded a modicum of love in return. She used music and gardening, books and TV, as her escapes. Her favorites books and shows were fictional but of a more intellectual variety. She also watched some political forum shows on PBS.

She also had her share of eccentric beliefs, something more common with the ISFJ than the ISTJ types. At one time she was a staunch Pentacostal, she said because she loved the ritualization there. But she had a falling out with the church and adopted the Earth mother as her official deity instead, although she didn't exactly announce that to everybody.

In my experience, the ISFJ is more artistic than the ISFP (Artist) type. My ISFJ father was also a neat housekeeper, but he didn't keep up with the dusting very well. He made every house his home, individualized according to his specifications - but not necessarily his personal needs. For example, he made sure every blank spot on the wall had a picture, every dark spot in a room had a light, and every uncovered area had some knick-knack covering it. In one place he lived he had so many fake flowers (covered in dust and cobwebs) in the living room that one of his friends told me that it looked like a funeral parlor. My ISFJ father didn't like a quiet house, so he always had the stereo playing if nothing else. He was also a huge "people-person," one of the most popular sporting-goods salesmen in the state, and an all-around "Mr. Nice Guy" except at home where he took on personality traits of a very opposite type to the "Mr. Nice Guy" face that he presented to the public. His "functional alcoholism" destroyed our family when I was very young.

The ISTJ I worked with for over 5 years was a pain in the ass. Thankfully it was for only a few hours a week. He liked me, but I obviously wasn't very fond of him. He was germ-phobic, and he was thankful for it due to his 8 years of higher medical education. At times he reminded me of a robot, and one time he reminded me of the Terminator because he was walking like a robot with a shotgun over his shoulder: as he came around the corner, his face was always straight ahead, with a completely dead-pan expression, no feeling, and with a very stiff gait. He had just dispatched a sick cow, not to put it out of its misery, but because it was his job that he got paid to do sometimes. Another time he stated to me that he could kill me without feeling anything about it. He didn't tell me that out of anger; his statement came out of the blue as an emotionless observation he was making to me about himself. He also had the annoying habit of questioning everything I said, and I observed him doing that to others. I believe he found it to be personally amusing to watch people struggle with his skepticism.

He did make one statement that strongly reminded me of Si. He explained his skepticism (which wasn't exactly a secret) as originating during his childhood. He said a friend of his claimed to have been in the Vietnam War - the friend was probably born around 1980 - and he fell for the lie. When he found out he had been had he then adopted a skeptical attitude, apparently to torture through projection everybody around him for the rest of his life.

 

[fetus]

Oh, I do this, but I didn't think that was Si. I remember so many details and people think it's creepy as hell. I remember people's full names and their birthdays and remember when you told your friends on the bus when we were in 2nd grade that your older sister tricked you into going outside with only your underwear on. I remember that you don't like chocolate ice cream because it's too rich and I agreed with you on that, also in the second grade. Sorry, I felt like carrying on what you started LOL. I thought this was more Si-influenced Ne. Hmmmmm.


Oh I do this too. I figured for me personally it was immature Si since I seem to have a weak grip of it and so thus it controls me more than I control it.


HI NEW BEST FRIEND

Yeah, when I want to relive my past, I go through these and remember what I was doing and thinking at the time that music was important for me.

I feel like I'm inadvertently stalking you. I hope this isn't overwhelming because I'm overwhelming myself at the thought of overwhelming you and I need to stop oops

No no, you're not overwhelming me! I think it's interesting. I enjoy discussions like this.

 

[Fun in the Sun]

I'm getting curious...what is "a little excitement" to you ?

Building new experiences, something new. I don't do it very often, but once in a while I'll have something new off the menu or travel somewhere I haven't before. A new beer or bottle of wine or new music.

Yeah.....I'm easily entertained, lol.

 

[Forever]

Slippery and elusive.

Wait I got a bag of Si sprinkles from [MENTION=4660]Vulcan[/MENTION]

*sprinkles on self*

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Si is my 8th function, so according to John Beebe, it is my demon function, the one which is dangerous to me, which is true.

I have a kick ass memory, but not for mundane stuff like phone numbers and such. Instead I can bring up many significant memories and look at them and re analyze them. And get trapped trying to find the hidden meaning in so many long lost human interactions. Or second guessing what I told a date 25+ years ago. Or regretting life choices rather than living life.

I appreciate rereading good books and rewatching good movies. They are like old friends.

I am not overly sentimental. I don't keep too many friendships active when we no longer engage in person on a regular basis.

I am not overly attached to my parents. I blame them, especially my mom, who was never attached to me and rarely showed any interest in my life and shuts me out of her life for years at a time.

I dislike routine and rigidness. But I tend to drive by habit on a long commute.

So, a mixed bag. I like some Si things, but it can be really dangerous to me and lead to depression if I keep processing old memories and second guessing observations and decisions.

 

[Hawthorne]

Everything about the first post depresses me. Or maybe that's confliction.