[MBTI General] Question for the Extraverted Sensors here

[tinker683]

Hello my dearest and most favorite of types, SPs!

Question for you: I have a friend of mine whom I was pretty sure was an ESTP except I've started to wonder that as since we've been spending a lot of time together recently I've realized that her brain goes in all kinds of goofy directions.

For example, her and I were blocking the baby food aisle tonight at the grocery store we both work at and out of the blue in apropo of NOTHING we were talking about before she suddenly asks me if some parents realize that they have particularly ugly babies or not. When I asked her where in the hell that came from, she proceeded to tell me a story about how her older brother thought his daughter was an ugly kid (and how her ESFJ mother flipped her shit over that).

I mean...I'm guessing she drew that connection from the fact that we were working on the baby food aisle but my question is: Do you guys ever find your mind wandering in the goofiest of directions?

I ask because I'm wondering if I've totally got her wrong and mabye she's an ENTP, not an ESTP.

 

[wolfy]

Sure, something reminds you of something...

 

[tinker683]

Well, I only ask because I think I'm misunderstood Se and Ne.

Se I always thought of as living in the moment, taking in the sensations of whats going on right then and there and painting a picture with it. Ne I thought of as seeing the hidden meanings and the patterns for things in front of you and putting them together into a picture.

Now I'm thinking this a misunderstanding on my part and I'm just looking for clarification. In retrospect, this topic may have been more appropriately posted under the MBTI section but seeing as you SPs are the primary users of Se, I thought I'd post it here.

 

[Sunny Ghost]

This is precisely why I always say there is a very thin line between S and N. Se and Ne are not too far apart, really. Same with Si and Ni.

My mind jumps around, and I can be quite random and sporadic. To clearly define what makes Se different from Ne, is incredibly difficult. My Ni-dom boyfriend is always super stumped by my use of Se, too. The thing is, Se isn't bringing together several different thoughts, ideas to form some sort of picture to create something else. Rather, Se sees something, reacts towards it, or is sparked to recall something from the past that they've seen or heard or done, and can reincorporate that into the present moment as well. Sensory is often connected with past experiences, as well as present. I'd say, intuition is typically more oriented with present and future. (By future, I don't mean in a necessarily goal oriented type of way. That's a P/J thing for sure.)

Did any of that make sense?

 

[Randomnity]

I do that allllll that time (enough to irritate other people, as I'm frequently told). ADD-like. I don't know if it's Se being weird or just Ne (everyone uses all functions, and preference does not necessarily lead to function strength).

For me it's almost always sparked by something I see (so I would infer that Se is involved). Seeing a can of baby food and thinking about ugly babies isn't exactly a stretch. (non-Ne users are still human beings with creative thought capacity!) (although I wouldn't really call that particular example very creative or bizarre)

 

[tinker683]

Hey all,

Thank you for your answers. I hope I didn't at all imply the Se-users were somehow lacking creatively or at all thinking like that. I'm just trying to understand my friend and where she comes up with such seemingly goofy things to me.

Another example: Her and I are dance partners she was teasing me about how during some of our practices I've accidentally hit her or stepped on her or dropped her or whatever. She teases me about because she knows it bothers me (She doesn't understand why it bothers me even though I've explained it to her before: It bothers me because even though I realize that these things are prone to happen as one is learning a new choreography or new pattern, I don't like the idea that I might actually hurt her ).

In any event I made some joking remark about how people are going to think I beat her regularily at something. She laughed, then asked me "How funny would it be if you actually were beating me? A nice guy like you? That would be hilarious!".

As she guffawed over that, I just sort of stood there looking at her with this bewildered look as if I was saying you actually think that would be funny?. I mean, I can understand the irony or how such a thing would fly in the face of what people know of me...buuuuuttt...I don't find some guy genuinely beating a woman to be funny in anyway

At this point I'm just willing to chalk it up to a goofy sense of humor but I just wanted to see if other Se users had a similarly quirky sense of humor. I suppose it's important to me because I want to understand her as best I can.

Thank you all again for your responses

 

[Thalassa]

This is precisely why I always say there is a very thin line between S and N. Se and Ne are not too far apart, really. Same with Si and Ni.

My mind jumps around, and I can be quite random and sporadic. To clearly define what makes Se different from Ne, is incredibly difficult. My Ni-dom boyfriend is always super stumped by my use of Se, too. The thing is, Se isn't bringing together several different thoughts, ideas to form some sort of picture to create something else. Rather, Se sees something, reacts towards it, or is sparked to recall something from the past that they've seen or heard or done, and can reincorporate that into the present moment as well. Sensory is often connected with past experiences, as well as present. I'd say, intuition is typically more oriented with present and future. (By future, I don't mean in a necessarily goal oriented type of way. That's a P/J thing for sure.)

Did any of that make sense?

Se is different from Ne because it is actually here experiencing the moment on a sensory level, and seeks out new experiences simply for the sake of having the experiences. Ne on the other hand means the person is still very much inside their own head, they can be utterly out of touch with what's actually going on around them, and actually blend their imaginary world with "the moment" so that what they see isn't what is actually sensorily there, but an Ne analysis of it. Se types are much better at navigating things that require having sharp attention to what is going on around them than Ne types. Ne types are more likely to get confused because they aren't seeing "what's really there."

For example, ADD in Se types more commonly manifests as physical hyperactivity, where as Ne types with ADD might have no problem sitting still, but their mind would jump from idea to idea, and they would want to multi-task mental work to the point of not focusing enough to get things done.

Ne seeks experiences, but it's ideologically related.

 

[Thalassa]

It's probably best to just compare Se to Ne via Jung.

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Jung/types.htm

"Just as extraverted sensation strives to reach the highest pitch of actuality, because only thus can the appearance of a complete life be created, so intuition tries to encompass the greatest possibilities, since only through the awareness of possibilities is intuition fully satisfied."

 

[OrangeAppled]

Ne is not about random connections. Random connections can even be a sign of inferior N.
Se apprehends the literal object & its immediate, realistic possibilities. It also sees connections between these literal objects. These could be seemingly random. A blue car reminds them of the sky, which reminds them that they want to go skydiving. That is actually quite a Se line of thought.

Ne apprehends the concept behind the object and what that concept implies for future, hypothetical possibilities (they don't need to be realistic ideas; if it can be imagined, then it's a possibility). It sees connections between the underlying concepts of objects, not their literal attributes. This is why Ne types appear absent-minded, because they are not focusing their minds on what exists around them literally at the moment, but on what exists in concept in the world in general. The mindset is still focused on external things, but it's abstract, intangible stuff.

The examples of your friend don't seem out of line with Se thinking.

 

[Thalassa]

The examples of your friend don't seem out of line with Se thinking.

I thought so as well. The examples he gave struck me as Se motivated humor.

 

[Jaguar]

Sure, something reminds you of something...

That applies to any human being.

 

[tinker683]

Ne is not about random connections. Random connections can even be a sign of inferior N.
Se apprehends the literal object & its immediate, realistic possibilities. It also sees connections between these literal objects. These could be seemingly random. A blue car reminds them of the sky, which reminds them that they want to go skydiving. That is actually quite a Se line of thought.

Ne apprehends the concept behind the object and what that concept implies for future, hypothetical possibilities (they don't need to be realistic ideas; if it can be imagined, then it's a possibility). It sees connections between the underlying concepts of objects, not their literal attributes. This is why Ne types appear absent-minded, because they are not focusing their minds on what exists around them literally at the moment, but on what exists in concept in the world in general. The mindset is still focused on external things, but it's abstract, intangible stuff.

The examples of your friend don't seem out of line with Se thinking.

Ahh good good! That makes a lot of sense to me (no pun). Thank you for posting that, you explained that very well

 

[IZthe411]

That applies to any human being.

.........


All 4 perceptions could've arrived at that statement.

 

[wolfy]

That applies to any human being.

No doubt.

Ne is not about random connections. Random connections can even be a sign of inferior N.
Se apprehends the literal object & its immediate, realistic possibilities. It also sees connections between these literal objects. These could be seemingly random. A blue car reminds them of the sky, which reminds them that they want to go skydiving. That is actually quite a Se line of thought.

Ne apprehends the concept behind the object and what that concept implies for future, hypothetical possibilities (they don't need to be realistic ideas; if it can be imagined, then it's a possibility). It sees connections between the underlying concepts of objects, not their literal attributes. This is why Ne types appear absent-minded, because they are not focusing their minds on what exists around them literally at the moment, but on what exists in concept in the world in general. The mindset is still focused on external things, but it's abstract, intangible stuff.

The examples of your friend don't seem out of line with Se thinking.

This makes sense.

 

[EJCC]

Se is different from Ne because it is actually here experiencing the moment on a sensory level, and seeks out new experiences simply for the sake of having the experiences. Ne on the other hand means the person is still very much inside their own head, they can be utterly out of touch with what's actually going on around them, and actually blend their imaginary world with "the moment" so that what they see isn't what is actually sensorily there, but an Ne analysis of it. Se types are much better at navigating things that require having sharp attention to what is going on around them than Ne types. Ne types are more likely to get confused because they aren't seeing "what's really there."

For example, ADD in Se types more commonly manifests as physical hyperactivity, where as Ne types with ADD might have no problem sitting still, but their mind would jump from idea to idea, and they would want to multi-task mental work to the point of not focusing enough to get things done.

Ne seeks experiences, but it's ideologically related.

Definitely. The bolded is a significant part of my Te-Ne loop - which drives me fcking CRAZY sometimes.

Ne is not about random connections.

So true. I hate it when MBTI tests have questions about "random" connections and associations. Because I never consider the connections I make to be random; though they can be pretty out there.

 

[miss fortune]

For an example

Setting: meeting at work, employees seated in rolly chairs... whatever somewhat back from the table

What Happens: boss keeps talking and whatever concludes that this is something she's heard before and there's better places to wander off to mentally

whatever ponders how the arms of rolly chairs kind of look like octopus tentacles with the casters being suction cups or something

meeting goes on and pondering about exactly how cool octopuses are and how they can escape their tanks, steal cameras and squeeze through small spaces and some of them are venemous and even change colors

Boss asks random employees what they want out of their career in a manner of inspiring people... whatever announces that having a pet octopus would be super cool

coworkers stare in a mix of horror and amazement

whatever gets asked multiple times where the fuck octopuses came from

Conclusion: flights of fancy have nothing to do with what type someone is

 

[tinker683]

For an example

Setting: meeting at work, employees seated in rolly chairs... whatever somewhat back from the table

What Happens: boss keeps talking and whatever concludes that this is something she's heard before and there's better places to wander off to mentally

whatever ponders how the arms of rolly chairs kind of look like octopus tentacles with the casters being suction cups or something

meeting goes on and pondering about exactly how cool octopuses are and how they can escape their tanks, steal cameras and squeeze through small spaces and some of them are venemous and even change colors

Boss asks random employees what they want out of their career in a manner of inspiring people... whatever announces that having a pet octopus would be super cool

coworkers stare in a mix of horror and amazement

whatever gets asked multiple times where the fuck octopuses came from

Conclusion: flights of fancy have nothing to do with what type someone is

LOL! That's way too funny.

And you're right, they really don't. I think I'm just over-analyzing this entirely too hard. I do think though that your example did help me to understand my friend a little more. I just find myself wondering, "Where the HELL did that come from?" some of the time that I talked to her and I'm always left wondering how she arrived of whatever phrase came tumbling out of her mouth. Thank you

 

[miss fortune]

just think of her mind like a spider web, where everything connects in an interconnected manner... you start at one point in the web, and depending on external input, ideas feed off of ideas and can take you to any given point in the web, no matter how seemingly unconnected it initially seems

and you would overthink something

 

[King sns]

just think of her mind like a spider web, where everything connects in an interconnected manner... you start at one point in the web, and depending on external input, ideas feed off of ideas and can take you to any given point in the web, no matter how seemingly unconnected it initially seems

and you would overthink something

Yea, the spider web example is actually in one of the ESFP descriptions. They talk in a "spider web" approach. It's probably just a general Se thing, though

 

[strychnine]

For example, her and I were blocking the baby food aisle tonight at the grocery store we both work at and out of the blue in apropo of NOTHING we were talking about before she suddenly asks me if some parents realize that they have particularly ugly babies or not. When I asked her where in the hell that came from, she proceeded to tell me a story about how her older brother thought his daughter was an ugly kid (and how her ESFJ mother flipped her shit over that).

1. My SJ friends have a similar reaction to my comments, lol: "where the hell did that come from?!"

2. I would not have a background story from the past like that, perhaps some reason why the two things are related though.

3. Earlier today, I was boiling water to make food, and it occurred to me that if you put all 8 cognitive functions in water and boiled them infinitesimally slowly (like the frog in water), Se would probably be most likely to detect the 'creeping normalcy'. I thought I should make a thread on that, to see what others think, lol. I don't know if this is a similar 'connection' to the one your friend made, but I wouldn't say it is random, strange, or anything like that. It's pretty typical of me though.

In any event I made some joking remark about how people are going to think I beat her regularily at something. She laughed, then asked me "How funny would it be if you actually were beating me? A nice guy like you? That would be hilarious!".

I think the absurdity of that would occur to me, but I'd hardly find it funny. I suspect this is just your friend's 'quirky' humour. But immediately after pointing out the absurdity, I would probably have a thought/ make a comment about how it's not actually that absurd, because perhaps this is how bad people hide, etc.