[SP] A question to determine S or N?

[SwimmerGal97]

For a while I've been stuck between S and N. I'm good at typing other but being in my own head, knowing all my own thoughts and how much I can change makes it difficult to type myself. I'm sure I'm one of the XXTP types (more than likely EXTP). I've read loads of descriptions of S and N and I (like most normal people) have elements of both. I'm either an imaginative S or a pragmatic N. Reading isn't getting me too far and I was wondering if someone could ask me a question (a simple task like tell me about....., or ask how I'd act or respond in a given situation) and give me feedback. Thankyou

 

[Raspberry_rain]

For a while I've been stuck between S and N. I'm good at typing other but being in my own head, knowing all my own thoughts and how much I can change makes it difficult to type myself. I'm sure I'm one of the XXTP types (more than likely EXTP). I've read loads of descriptions of S and N and I (like most normal people) have elements of both. I'm either an imaginative S or a pragmatic N. Reading isn't getting me too far and I was wondering if someone could ask me a question (a simple task like tell me about....., or ask how I'd act or respond in a given situation) and give me feedback. Thankyou

I'm gonna get hate for this and I could be wrong but if you don't know what you are you're probably an S. I'm an N (although an N dom admittedly so it may not be true for all N types) and I've always known I looked at the world differently than most people since loooong before I knew what MBTI was, all the tests did was explain it. I can also spot another intuitive a mile off, I've always been able to. But as far as some hypothetical situations here's a good one. Let's say someone started talking to you about some random idea or abstract concept that had nothing to do with your life. Would you be more likely to jump right in and get excited about the subject or be wondering why they brought up something weird like that. Go with your gut on that, not what you think is polite or the right answer. Also nothing beats actually taking a good MBTI test, they come up with lots of determining questions. That's the best place to start

 

[á´…eparted]

I'm gonna get hate for this and I could be wrong but if you don't know what you are you're probably an S. I'm an N (although an N dom admittedly so it may not be true for all N types) and I've always known I looked at the world differently than most people since loooong before I knew what MBTI was, all the tests did was explain it. I can also spot another intuitive a mile off, I've always been able to. But as far as some hypothetical situations here's a good one. Let's say someone started talking to you about some random idea or abstract concept that had nothing to do with your life. Would you be more likely to jump right in and get excited about the subject or be wondering why they brought up something weird like that. Go with your gut on that, not what you think is polite or the right answer. Also nothing beats actually taking a good MBTI test, they come up with lots of determining questions. That's the best place to start

Of course you're gonna get hate for this. It's a bunch of baseless stereotypes designed to make N look like the good guy and S look like the bad guy spawned out of narcissism.

Try again.

 

[Pionart]

I'm gonna get hate for this and I could be wrong but if you don't know what you are you're probably an S. I'm an N (although an N dom admittedly so it may not be true for all N types) and I've always known I looked at the world differently than most people since loooong before I knew what MBTI was, all the tests did was explain it. I can also spot another intuitive a mile off, I've always been able to. But as far as some hypothetical situations here's a good one. Let's say someone started talking to you about some random idea or abstract concept that had nothing to do with your life. Would you be more likely to jump right in and get excited about the subject or be wondering why they brought up something weird like that. Go with your gut on that, not what you think is polite or the right answer. Also nothing beats actually taking a good MBTI test, they come up with lots of determining questions. That's the best place to start

"wondering why they brought up something weird like that" - why would you say something weird like that???

I would take some time to form a picture in my head about what the subject is and then speak about the picture I formed, or I would ask questions to clarify what it is they mean about it

what type does that make me?

 

[Pseudo]

Try thinking of it in terms of Cognitive functions. Then it's not a matter of if you have S or N, but rather what type of S and What type of N.

 

[SwimmerGal97]

I'm gonna get hate for this and I could be wrong but if you don't know what you are you're probably an S. I'm an N (although an N dom admittedly so it may not be true for all N types) and I've always known I looked at the world differently than most people since loooong before I knew what MBTI was, all the tests did was explain it. I can also spot another intuitive a mile off, I've always been able to. But as far as some hypothetical situations here's a good one. Let's say someone started talking to you about some random idea or abstract concept that had nothing to do with your life. Would you be more likely to jump right in and get excited about the subject or be wondering why they brought up something weird like that. Go with your gut on that, not what you think is polite or the right answer. Also nothing beats actually taking a good MBTI test, they come up with lots of determining questions. That's the best place to start

In a situation where I'm told to be imaginative, I become the worlds greatest pragmatist. But put me in a room with super sensible, feet on the ground people and my weirdness shines : I jump topics and get bored really fast and tend to get 'out there' ideas. I was told recently that my short attention span was my best and worst trait (I never run out of things to talk about but can jump topics midway through an interesting conversation). I also worry that I WANT to be S, like the version of me I want to be or the version I am in daydreams is an S (they are quite action filled which again leads me to the dilemma, imagination is a very N thing, action is a very S thing). I then worry that I'm reading too far into the whole thing and question why I'm so obsessed with finding my place in the mbti framework. But a practical exercise helps consolidate things, and putting things down on paper or computer screen makes things clearer and easier to understand

And in answer to the question I'd probably jump right in. The weirder the subject the more I like it. Its mundane small talk I really hate. For example, I'm basing this off my work in retail where I interact with hundreds of people daily. Some people come up and say things like 'how are you' or 'this weather's awful' (I'm British so hot or cold the weather is never great to us) and I can respond maybe shoot a question back and the conversation will die awkwardly. But then there are other customers. One lady came up and without so much as hi said 'I'm going to lanzarote tomorrow, on my own and its going to be am adventure!' And we got talking about holidays and adventures. Another guy came out of the blue and asked if I was welsh. I'm not, I'm very Mancunian but we then got talking about accents and country rivalries. My favourite of all was this one woman, she bought a card then said 'will you write it?', so naturally I was all like 'pardon?!' And she said 'my little girls about to lose her first tooth and I know she will recognise my writing so if I tell you want to say, will you wrote it and sign 'the tooth fairy'?' And maybe I was a pushover but I could resist. I love people like that

 

[Jaguar]

I've always known I looked at the world differently than most people since loooong before I knew what MBTI was, all the tests did was explain it. I can also spot another intuitive a mile off, I've always been able to.

Congratulations. You sound exactly like someone who went on and on about her "NFPness" for years and then finally switched to SFP. She, too, could spot those oh-so-speshul intooeetives a mile off.

 

[cascadeco]

I can also spot another intuitive a mile off, I've always been able to.

My intuitive INFJ friend doesn't really like the notion of my being ISFP (I'd typed as an N for years and years), as she's 'only friends with N's' - the notion of my being S tips her understanding of mbti upside down I think. I too used to have a similar notion about my being friends just with N's, I wasn't like all of those S's who were so superficial and boring.

Congratulations. You sound exactly like someone who went on and on about her "NFPness" for years and then finally switched to SFP. She, too, could spot those oh-so-speshul intooeetives a mile off.

Pretty much.

 

[Jaguar]

My intuitive INFJ friend doesn't really like the notion of my being ISFP (I'd typed as an N for years and years), as she's 'only friends with N's'. I too used to have a similar notion about my being friends just with N's, I wasn't like all of those S's who were so superficial and boring.

You were my favorite "INFJ" because of your posts. I don't care if you put ESTJ in your profile, my opinion of your posts will not change. (Speaking of ESTJ, I'll never forget when a bunch of people thought Little Linguist (FP) was ESTJ, just because she kept shooting off her mouth.) How absurd is that?

 

[Ene]

[MENTION=22853]Chemgirl258[/MENTION]

I would suggest that you keep reading, But don't buy into everything you come across on the net, not that you do or would, but I just want to put out a word of caution that there is a lot of mis-information floating about. There is a media section here http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/vbtube.php with some fairly decent choices for viewing and check out this section for clues to starting place reading material http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/forum105/

It's important to NOT build a rigid notion that all S doms are pragmatic and N doms aren't.

For example, I know lots of ISTJs and while they may enjoy talking about "mundane" things, they also enjoy their share of "weird" subjects. Every one of them that I know has a quirky side. For example, my uncle loves Ferrangis and another one I know loves to talk aliens, demons, Angels, UFOs, etc. He is exceptionally intelligent and is a never ending source of little known facts. An Si dominant with Ne inferior can come up with fascinating topics for discussion. There's a lot more to it than that. I sometimes cringe because such notions sometimes lead to typism and to superiority complexes. And as for Se doms, I know an ESTP who will happily discuss the super natural any time. I know another ESTP who writes haunting poetry. My point is that we can't always look at ourselves and say, "Oh, I must be an xxxx because I'm this way and they're all like that." We have to study and understand how the functions operate with each other and in different positions.

So, maybe, just spend time getting well acquainted with the functions and in time, it will click and you'll really see yourself per cognitive line up. Descriptions can often be deceiving. Also, even the officially MBTI test isn't a hundred precent accurate. It's probably more like 75 percent (I forgot the exact percentage), so you can only imagine how inaccurate online freebies are. They are a starting place to maybe get you in the ball park.

 

[miss fortune]

you really can't go by the stereotypes that people throw out about these sort of things because they're all rather... well, I suppose that stupid would be a bit of an understatement really... it's like there were some vague descriptions out there and they got totally flanderized by people over the years because it somehow pleases humanity to set up dramatic dichotomies

this leads to things like reading the descriptions usually floating about the internet of sensors and deciding that they must all be dolts or accountants and that intuitives are all loopy mad scientists and manic pixie dream girls and then people get confused

"well I can't be a sensor because I enjoy reading fantasy novels and watching documentaries about theoretical astrophysics"

or

"I can't be an intuitive because I haven't left the oven on and set the house on fire once in my life!"

of course the losers in the descriptions are usually the sensors who get put in the "unbearably mundane" or "dumb jock" type categories... why? because people who don't feel that they fit in in normal society are the ones who go online and look for things about personality and such most of the time, and they conclude that since N types are so "rare" and "special" that they must be intuitive and that all of those people who they don't like or that don't like them or that they just don't fit in with must be the sensors... and that colors the descriptions

of course it's rarely mentioned that people of EVERY type don't feel that they really fit in anywhere... it's generally made to sound like it's a problem that poor intuitives are always facing in a cold and cruel sensor world because all sensors have something in common so they must fit in better... right?

not really... there are a myriad of manners in which people differ and can stand out that have nothing to do with the MBTI, which is the least of concerns in fitting in in most cases

I settled with the sensor camp because I'm actually comfortable in my body and take great sensory pleasure in the things that surround me, such as food, or the smells and feels of being outside on a lovely day or that feeling of being worn out in a good way after a lot of exercise... this doesn't mean that I have anything against theoretical discussions (I think that almost any topic can be quite fascinating) or that I lack imagination or originality... and it certainly doesn't mean that I'm incapable of it by any means... it's a preference not a strength. I happen to prefer to live in the present and enjoy the enjoyable things, even though I may drag a fantasy novel out to the lawn with my blanket, the dog and a pitcher of iced tea.

hope this helps clear things up a bit, and that I didn't ramble excessively!

 

[cascadeco]

You were my favorite "INFJ" because of your posts. I don't care if you put ESTJ in your profile, my opinion of your posts will not change. (Speaking of ESTJ, I'll never forget when a bunch of people thought Little Linguist (FP) was ESTJ, just because she kept shooting off her mouth.) How absurd is that?

haha, and aww, thanks.

It's important to NOT build a rigid notion that all S doms are pragmatic and N doms aren't.

For example, I know lots of ISTJs and while they may enjoy talking about "mundane" things, they also enjoy their share of "weird" subjects. Every one of them that I know has a quirky side.

Yes, very true!

My point is that we can't always look at ourselves and say, "Oh, I must be an xxxx because I'm this way and they're all like that." We have to study and understand how the functions operate with each other and in different positions.

Yes, true. I think it is pretty easy to take detailed elements of ourselves, in isolation, and fall into the trap of using those to type ourselves. It's harder to form a more holistic understanding of ourselves, by ourselves -- I think accurate self perception is pretty hard to accomplish for many -- and misinformation definitely compounds the issues. (also, upbringing/nurture, as well as level of health, can impact typing/lead one astray)

because people who don't feel that they fit in in normal society are the ones who go online and look for things about personality and such most of the time, and they conclude that since N types are so "rare" and "special" that they must be intuitive and that all of those people who they don't like or that don't like them or that they just don't fit in with must be the sensors... and that colors the descriptions

of course it's rarely mentioned that people of EVERY type don't feel that they really fit in anywhere...

Yes, you see this a lot on personality forums. I've said before, I have been guilty of it too. Bolded is something very important to remember.

I settled with the sensor camp because I'm actually comfortable in my body and take great sensory pleasure in the things that surround me, such as food, or the smells and feels of being outside on a lovely day or that feeling of being worn out in a good way after a lot of exercise... this doesn't mean that I have anything against theoretical discussions (I think that almost any topic can be quite fascinating) or that I lack imagination or originality... and it certainly doesn't mean that I'm incapable of it by any means... it's a preference not a strength. I happen to prefer to live in the present and enjoy the enjoyable things, even though I may drag a fantasy novel out to the lawn with my blanket, the dog and a pitcher of iced tea.

Yeah, I can relate to a lot of this. I think sorting out ones' preference vs ability can be most challenging -- all of us have the abilities to do many things, to learn many things and even become accomplished at things outside of our natural preferences. Especially as we age, and to be more 'successful' and accomplish things in the real world, it's almost necessary for us to branch out of our preferences. And as we age, maybe it becomes more difficult to figure out what is a preference vs what we can do / are capable of. It has taken me a while to figure out what I actually PREFER -- which is why I've realized I'm a sensor - and quite happy with that.

 

[Amethyst]

it's a preference not a strength.

Came here to say this.

I realized I was a sensor in college when I realized I enjoy the simple things in life, or the fun things, or the fancy things and had less of a preference for certain philosophy classes that were just too "out there" for me. Granted, a lot of "what if's" that were asked in said class were hysterical, but mostly because they were so unrealistic, just as an example. My favorite had to be the discussion on "What if someone was able to impregnate all women via tampons?"

At the end of the day, I'd rather be outside playing sports or sitting on a beach than discuss philosophical ideas in a classroom (some philosophy does interest me to an extent).

 

[Raspberry_rain]

My intuitive INFJ friend doesn't really like the notion of my being ISFP (I'd typed as an N for years and years), as she's 'only friends with N's' - the notion of my being S tips her understanding of mbti upside down I think. I too used to have a similar notion about my being friends just with N's, I wasn't like all of those S's who were so superficial and boring.


Pretty much.

Oops I quoted the wrong post. But any N who won't be friends with an S because of "superficiality" is the superficial one.

 

[TheCheeseBurgerKing]

INTP

 

[Raspberry_rain]

Of course you're gonna get hate for this. It's a bunch of baseless stereotypes designed to make N look like the good guy and S look like the bad guy spawned out of narcissism.

Try again.

Really? Why don't you tell me how it's designed to make S look like the bad guy? My S friends are some of my favorite people in the world and my N friends are some of my other favorites. On the other hand I've also met ignorant, shallow, and incredibly rude S types and N types (you'd be one example) I love seeing the different ways people look at the world. Everything I've said is based on my personal experience. I have helped numerous people determine their Myers Briggs types for work and for fun. These are the patterns I've seen. How about you get over yourself and realize not everybody thinks like you and that doesn't mean they're narcissistic okay? Thanks. Oh also every person I've suspected was an N I tested and they ended up being an N and every person I suspected of being an S was also a confirmed S....oops so much for me stereotyping

 

[Raspberry_rain]

you really can't go by the stereotypes that people throw out about these sort of things because they're all rather... well, I suppose that stupid would be a bit of an understatement really... it's like there were some vague descriptions out there and they got totally flanderized by people over the years because it somehow pleases humanity to set up dramatic dichotomies

this leads to things like reading the descriptions usually floating about the internet of sensors and deciding that they must all be dolts or accountants and that intuitives are all loopy mad scientists and manic pixie dream girls and then people get confused

"well I can't be a sensor because I enjoy reading fantasy novels and watching documentaries about theoretical astrophysics"

or

"I can't be an intuitive because I haven't left the oven on and set the house on fire once in my life!"

of course the losers in the descriptions are usually the sensors who get put in the "unbearably mundane" or "dumb jock" type categories... why? because people who don't feel that they fit in in normal society are the ones who go online and look for things about personality and such most of the time, and they conclude that since N types are so "rare" and "special" that they must be intuitive and that all of those people who they don't like or that don't like them or that they just don't fit in with must be the sensors... and that colors the descriptions

of course it's rarely mentioned that people of EVERY type don't feel that they really fit in anywhere... it's generally made to sound like it's a problem that poor intuitives are always facing in a cold and cruel sensor world because all sensors have something in common so they must fit in better... right?

not really... there are a myriad of manners in which people differ and can stand out that have nothing to do with the MBTI, which is the least of concerns in fitting in in most cases

I settled with the sensor camp because I'm actually comfortable in my body and take great sensory pleasure in the things that surround me, such as food, or the smells and feels of being outside on a lovely day or that feeling of being worn out in a good way after a lot of exercise... this doesn't mean that I have anything against theoretical discussions (I think that almost any topic can be quite fascinating) or that I lack imagination or originality... and it certainly doesn't mean that I'm incapable of it by any means... it's a preference not a strength. I happen to prefer to live in the present and enjoy the enjoyable things, even though I may drag a fantasy novel out to the lawn with my blanket, the dog and a pitcher of iced tea.

hope this helps clear things up a bit, and that I didn't ramble excessively!

This is just as stereotypical as anything else. Intuitives fit in just fine in society if they're healthy and mature and the same is true of sensors. It's not a war between the types. Oh and actually most people that type as N type that way because THEY TOOK THE TEST, not because they were crying about not fitting in. Amazing how simple that is.

 

[HongDou]

Really? Why don't you tell me how it's designed to make S look like the bad guy?

Well you basically asked "if someone is talking to you would you either have an engaging conversation with them (N) or judge them for what they're talking about (S)." Aside from that indicator being just plain wrong it portrays N people as open-minded and S people as narrow-minded.

 

[Raspberry_rain]

In a situation where I'm told to be imaginative, I become the worlds greatest pragmatist. But put me in a room with super sensible, feet on the ground people and my weirdness shines : I jump topics and get bored really fast and tend to get 'out there' ideas. I was told recently that my short attention span was my best and worst trait (I never run out of things to talk about but can jump topics midway through an interesting conversation). I also worry that I WANT to be S, like the version of me I want to be or the version I am in daydreams is an S (they are quite action filled which again leads me to the dilemma, imagination is a very N thing, action is a very S thing). I then worry that I'm reading too far into the whole thing and question why I'm so obsessed with finding my place in the mbti framework. But a practical exercise helps consolidate things, and putting things down on paper or computer screen makes things clearer and easier to understand

And in answer to the question I'd probably jump right in. The weirder the subject the more I like it. Its mundane small talk I really hate. For example, I'm basing this off my work in retail where I interact with hundreds of people daily. Some people come up and say things like 'how are you' or 'this weather's awful' (I'm British so hot or cold the weather is never great to us) and I can respond maybe shoot a question back and the conversation will die awkwardly. But then there are other customers. One lady came up and without so much as hi said 'I'm going to lanzarote tomorrow, on my own and its going to be am adventure!' And we got talking about holidays and adventures. Another guy came out of the blue and asked if I was welsh. I'm not, I'm very Mancunian but we then got talking about accents and country rivalries. My favourite of all was this one woman, she bought a card then said 'will you write it?', so naturally I was all like 'pardon?!' And she said 'my little girls about to lose her first tooth and I know she will recognise my writing so if I tell you want to say, will you wrote it and sign 'the tooth fairy'?' And maybe I was a pushover but I could resist. I love people like that

Personally you sound a lot like me for that reason I'm inclined to say N sounds pretty likely but I'm gonna get all kinds of hate from the ignorant people on here for that. N doesn't mean you can never be pragmatic or action based, and S doesn't mean you have no imagination. It's about how you process information and look at the world. Apparently I haven't done a good job of describing it judging by some of these responses so I'm sorry if I seemed rude. One is no better than the other, but whichever you are you seem like a pretty cool person and I hope you have success figuring it out!

 

[Raspberry_rain]

Congratulations. You sound exactly like someone who went on and on about her "NFPness" for years and then finally switched to SFP. She, too, could spot those oh-so-speshul intooeetives a mile off.

Good for her. I guess she was good at being able to read people too. Sorry you can't. If she switched she switched so what? I'm not her and if I switch guess what who cares? It's a test, it doesn't form your whole identity. You've never met me, my friends happen to like that I can always tell what type they are. I don't answer to you.

Well you basically asked "if someone is talking to you would you either have an engaging conversation with them (N) or judge them for what they're talking about (S)." Aside from that indicator being just plain wrong it portrays N people as open-minded and S people as narrow-minded.

Thanks for answering nicely. I agree, I probably didn't phrase that well. From my experience though (even as recent as yesterday) N people prefer to talk about really random things while S people prefer to talk about things that are more relevant to their lives. I didn't mean to imply that one was better than the other. They both have their place. I enjoy talking to S types and N types equally and have many close friends and family members of both persuasions so I'm shocked by the way people are interpreting my response.