Stephen,
I've never really understood Si.
I am the living embodiment of an Se whore.
I consume every particle of every experience of every second I live and after taking it all inside me to experience it I'm right back devouring the next moment.
How do I, an ESTP 7w8 use Si?
Better yet, how do I use it constructively?
And finally, how can it be a thorn in myt side?
Thank you for any wisdom you can share.
-Alex
how would one know if they had Si? what would be signs to look for within oneself?
i ask because Si and Ni seem very similar. the only reason i don't think i have Si is because i don't really have... what seems to be the attachment that Si-types can have, or the feelings/effects that are invoked from certain objects/over-arching styles of existence that correlate to their own experience. i'm confused because Si is the function that is supposed to affect the individual with a resonance of experience, so, in effect, a feeling; the confusion comes into my mind when i start to think on how inferior Se will effect the person, and how maybe the unconscious pull from the object could be mistaken for Si in someone who doesn't know any better, as in: odd feeling from conscious repression v.s. odd feeling from conscious domination; how to tell the difference?
Hey all,
I know you asked Stephen this question but being an Si-dom as well, I thought I might take a stab at this.
Alex,
I think the best I could do is tell you how I differ from my Se-dom friends in the way I go about doing things, in my own observations of how they seem to act, react, and process things, and hope that that might give you some insight.
My Se-dom friends, much as you said for yourself, seem to be almost ravenous in the way they go about wanting or needing stimulation or experiences. They seem rarely content to sit on their laurels and smell the roses, they're often apt to take a few wiffs and then go, "OK, next flower please!". It's almost like you guys are consumed with a restlessness and that keeps you constantly going. Like Pac-Man, you just keep moving forward and chomping at the next bit.
And this isn't a bad thing at all, mind you, but it does differ very much from myself. I do like new experiences and sensations as much as anyone else, but rather than feeling an overwhelming need or desire for new experiences I feel a very strong need for security and harmony. New experiences, while nice, can disrupt my inner harmony if I haven't had time to process and synthesize them into my own inner world, if that makes sense.
This is why I'm such a creature of habit, of why I go to the same restaurants and order the same things over and over and over again....once I've established a route in my mind of how to achieve certain sensations, I don't feel the need to expand that. If a certain food brings me pleasure, then I'll stick to that food and only change when it no longer satisfies my needs. I'm an Ne-inferior so eventually my Ne will beget me to seek out
something different but I greatly favor the safe and the predictable because they are dependable and sure-fire ways to achieve the things that I want.
So....how to cultivate this sense in yourself? I would almost urge you not to at all consider your Se-ness (for lack of a better word) some sort of hinderance. Se-doms seem to be my favorite types of type to be around, your restlessness and bold-wanderer mindset is enormously refreshing and a very great boon, I feel.
That being said...stop and slow down. Smell the roses. Take in the situation, realize that the things you want to go after will still be there and that there is nothing wrong with consistently doing the same thing, and in fact can sometimes be a strength.
I hope that helps, even if only a little.
EL,
Depending on who you ask, everyone has every function, they just utilize functions better or worse than others.
For me, Si is associating sounds, smells, and feelings with events or experiences and recalling them as such. For example, when I hear NES or SNES video game music, I immediately associate that with my childhood and the feelings and experience associated with it. I remember where I was, what I felt at the time, what I remember thinking about at the time, and how my world appeared to me at the time.
I think this is why Si users can get so nostalgic, because we we attach so much emotion and memory to
things, and to get rid of those things out of our life, is to cut ourselves out away from those experiences, emotions, feelings, etc..
I hope that made sense. Also, I will more than readily concede that other Si-users will have a different opinion or experience than my own.