[Ni] Ni in INFJs

[istina]

I have read website after website, thread after thread and I still do not get Ni. This makes me uneasy because it's (most likely) my dominant function.

In the descriptions I've read of Ni, it's presented in abstract language. What I'd really like are concrete, practical examples of Ni at work. Can anyone help?

 

[Lightyear]

Same here. I get Fe but still can't put my finger on Ni.

 

[Oaky]

Here's somewhat of an example:
My brother had quit smoking for over 3 months. One day he told me he wanted to use something that belonged to me that he hadn't used for a long time. I told him if he used it I'm certain he would start smoking again. Note that this item has nothing to do with smoking. He asked me how I came to that conclusion. I told him just don't take it and I have no proper explanation for my conclusion. He took it and assured me he wouldn't start smoking again. 2 days later he started smoking again.

I think it's basically coming up with a conclusion or assumption for something without consciously thinking about it.

 

[Sniffles]

Well one example I can give happened a few months ago when I went for a job interview. I had a bad feeling about this, but really couldn't put my finger on it. I thought this might be some kind of scam. It turns out the job wasn't a scam, but it really wasn't anything that impressive.

They often say that Ni is reliable but not infallible, and I guess would be an example of such. My bad feeling towards the interview proved correct, but not in the exact manner in which I thought.

Same logic applies when people talk about Ni "seeing the future". Yes you can easily discern future trends in a general sense, but don't place too much faith in the details. Ni tends to thrive on the general or big picture.

Hope this helps.

 

[Thursday]

Its like walking on unmarked landmines with your intuition using your eyes and ears as receptive

 

[istina]

These examples are very helpful. Thank you. Keep 'em coming!

Here's something I've wondered about. When it comes to people, I tend to be attuned to subtle changes in behavior that signal that something is wrong. It's not that I consciously think about their behavior patterns, but I immediately know when something is amiss. Is that an example of Ni? Or is that an example of Ni and Fe working together?

 

[Thursday]

These examples are very helpful. Thank you. Keep 'em coming!

Here's something I've wondered about. When it comes to people, I tend to be attuned to subtle changes in behavior that signal that something is wrong. It's not that I consciously think about their behavior patterns, but I immediately know when something is amiss. Is that an example of Ni? Or is that an example of Ni and Fe working together?

both

 

[2XtremeENFP]

Can someone give examples of Ni + Te (and Te + Ni)?

 

[Heinel]

Can someone give examples of Ni + Te (and Te + Ni)?

You just arrived at campus and you're looking around for parking. You see campus security around the corner ticketing a car. You continue driving and finally found a spot on the next row. You hasten your footsteps to the paying station (which is inside a building) but someone with no clue on how to pay is holding you up for what seems like an eternity. You curse internally. Finally it's your turn to pay and you press the buttons as fast as you can. You bought the ticket and go to class. After class you go back to your car to find a ticket on the dash. The time stamp is one minute before you purchase your ticket...

 

[surgery]

Introverted Intuition still confuses me too. Recently, I've done some reading that has helped me understand it a bit better, though. I can summarize some examples that Lenore Thomson gives in her book Personality Type: An Owner's Manual that I thought were helpful.

While at the beach, a user of Introverted Intuition may wonder why today's society considers tans desirable. Introverted Intuition will then attempt to look at the problem from a perspective other than one in its current context. For example, her or she will think about how a person from 18th century Europe may have considered pale skin attractive, while associating a tan with the lower class.

Thomson provides an example of Introverted Intuition influenced by Extraverted Feeling through an anecdote from her days as a copy editor for a magazine. She recounts how an INFJ editor in chief decided to not print a quote for an article in its original "Black English." Her reasoning was not that it would be prejudice to do so, as some members of the editing committee protested. Instead, she changed her perspective to that of a readers -- one who would have interpreted the language as a proofreading error.

Her examples of Introverted Intuition are more difficult for me to rehash. If you all are interested, I can post a direct quote. She does mention, however, that INTJs use Extraverted Thinking to organize their inner thoughts and objectively evaluate them against external ideas

Over all, Introverted Intuition seems to take information out of its present context, then reanalyzes it from a new angle. In this way, Introverted Intuition differs from from Extraverted Intuition in that the former shifts perspectives and the latter explores possibilities. For this reason, Introverted Intuitives experience reality in malleable way, because information can be so easily arranged based on the situation. Extraverted Intuitives view reality more holistically because they see a complete framework for connecting information.

 

[Ethereal]

I work at a publication at my college and one of my best friends (and the main reason I am still a part of this publication) is an INFJ. Being an introverted intuitive in an organization dominated by extroverts and having to intimately work with an unbalanced ESTP is not easy. When we were in the production room together, her doing actual work and me just milling about hanging out, she related her stress to me and said

"It's so comforting not having someone constantly looking over my shoulder at my computer screen."

While she is saying this I am literally standing over her shoulder looking at her computer screen. However, she intuitively knows that I am simply blankly staring at her screen, or at the very least not judging her.

Another instant is where I had parted ways with her and two other ladies for the night, but events then led me to go in the same direction as them. Therefore, I decided to try out my skills and give these oblivious females a scare, so I quickly and stealthily ran through them. The two others had little panic attacks, one of which had a screaming fit, the other claiming she nearly peed her pants, while my INFJ friend, un-phased, said "I knew you were coming."

The later case was a premonition, but the previous case illustrates the innate ability to pick up on vibes. With my intuition being extroverted and auxiliary, I cannot simply do this. I must observe the situation and then come to the same conclusion.

Another way of looking at Ni, and possibly easier, is to observe it at the other end of the spectrum, as the inferior function.

The aforementioned unbalanced ESTP is a prime example of that. He has many times overstepped his bounds and it was once even necessary, after he had violated four significant protocols in one week, to have a harsh reprimanding of him during an open meeting. However, he just doesn't get it. He thinks he will be re-elected next semester, but nobody trusts or likes him. He is unable to pick up on these vibes and has made a very inaccurate prediction as to his future. This is what happens when one is out-of-touch with their Ni.

Another similar example is of my ESXP cousin. He has been dating an ESFJ for four years and has been living with her for about two years. Before thanksgiving, she left him because of his non-commitment. While he may be a good man and not unbalanced, he was still completely oblivious to her emotions, and completely surprised at her actions, whereas everyone else in the family, though not fully expecting it, was not surprised.

Si is where one takes in sensory data and lays it out onto a sequential grid. Ni is where the sensory data is taken in, but instead of being put into a grid, they are thrown into a pot where connections are made within. While this may seem obvious, it is essentially Ne within the mind. My Ne stays outside my being and connects the dots as they already are, all the data is left outside. Ni brings it within and does the work inside the head. This is also why Ni is a judging function and Ne is a perceiving function. Being that the data is brought within the body and processed within the body, Ni is less malleable because everything is set. With Ne, data is processed outside the being, and determinations made are all the more fluid because the data remains outside the body.

That was a lot longer than I meant to be

 

[Two Point Two]

I think of Ni as being primarily the shifting of perspective to view things in an alternative way.

The flashes of insight are associated with Ni, but they're only part of the entire process. Ni-doms aren't just running on some kind of default mode, with sporadic flashes of Ni - Ni should influence their processing all the time (in the same way that, I assume, Si is fairly constant for Si-doms, Ne for Ne-doms, and etc.).

Can someone give examples of Ni + Te (and Te + Ni)?

I'm not sure about Ni + Te, but I understand my Ni to be flavoured toward the impersonal by T. That is, I think about/am most interested in things that aren't about people most of the time. And its in this context that Ni operates. Ni means that there's always an alternative interpretation that you're aware of - even as you're using one interpretation. And it's not just that 'this could be viewed in that other way', it's recognising it as a thing that is not fundamentally closer to one or the other interpretation - that there is no fact of the matter as to what it is.

I have no idea about Ni + Fe.

 

[BlahBlahNounBlah]

Over all, Introverted Intuition seems to take information out of its present context, then reanalyzes it from a new angle. In this way, Introverted Intuition differs from from Extraverted Intuition in that the former shifts perspectives and the latter explores possibilities. For this reason, Introverted Intuitives experience reality in malleable way, because information can be so easily arranged based on the situation. Extraverted Intuitives view reality more holistically because they see a complete framework for connecting information.

If this ... as well as the portion about tans ...is the true definition of introverted intuition, as opposed to the spidey sense definition earlier in this thread, then I do this all day long.


To be more specific, I literally made that tan argument earlier today. That is how I see everything.

 

[Lily Bart]

Independence of thought might be another way to define it. You instinctively know inside yourself what you think about an issue or what you want for yourself or even what you think is right for other people (which they may find annoying). Other people want outside verification and/or approval or originally get their ideas from outside sources but Ni doesn't really see or appreciate the need for this.

 

[Sniffles]

Independence of thought might be another way to define it. You instinctively know inside yourself what you think about an issue or what you want for yourself or even what you think is right for other people (which they may find annoying). Other people want outside verification and/or approval or originally get their ideas from outside sources but Ni doesn't really see or appreciate the need for this.

Yes, I would also add that you know what you think about an issue - even though you may not be able to fully articulate such or why.

 

[vince]

Yes, I would also add that you know what you think about an issue - even though you may not be able to fully articulate such or why.

Yes exactly.

I agree with another poster that it's not infallible but it's not as wack as premonitions.
Ni seems to be some sort of advanced guesswork, or chance calculation, derived from a gigantic pool of gathered information.

I had to try hard to find a practical example : If a Ni kind of person sees a computer for the first time and studies it for a while, he/she might be able to build a surprisingly accurate inner image of how computers have evolved over the years to the one she/he is seeing at that moment. Or deduct which ideas have lead to it.

 

[Snow Turtle]

Here's somewhat of an example:
My brother had quit smoking for over 3 months. One day he told me he wanted to use something that belonged to me that he hadn't used for a long time. I told him if he used it I'm certain he would start smoking again. Note that this item has nothing to do with smoking. He asked me how I came to that conclusion. I told him just don't take it and I have no proper explanation for my conclusion. He took it and assured me he wouldn't start smoking again. 2 days later he started smoking again.

I think it's basically coming up with a conclusion or assumption for something without consciously thinking about it.

Interesting, what did you think that certain something was?

 

[Oaky]

Interesting, what did you think that certain something was?

Hmmm? Your question is a bit vague. Isn't something the action of taking the item in my case?

 

[SilkRoad]

Is it sort of like thinking outside the box, or is that too conscious a way to describe it?

I haven't figured out the function stuff yet. Is there somewhere that provides a very simple explanation??

 

[vince]

Is it sort of like thinking outside the box, or is that too conscious a way to describe it?

I haven't figured out the function stuff yet. Is there somewhere that provides a very simple explanation??

It's like thinking inside a box that has been shaken for 15 minutes (and still knowing how the objects inside relate to one another).

This is the definition of wikisocion :

Introverted intuition is generally associated with the ability to recognize the unfolding of processes over time (how one event leads to another), have visions of the past and future, develop mental imagery, and see intangible hints of relationships between processes or objects.

Introverted intuition - Wikisocion

kind of impossible to simplify something that is complex by nature.