The term ‘blank’ doesn’t quite sit right with me ... I feel it’s more like looking at one of those Magic Eye 3D images and a sort of ‘waiting’ (without much idea of what will surface, but the distinct feeling that the image is already there and I can't see it yet- I’m not choosing it, it’s just there) than it is ‘blankness’ per se.
Actually, that does resonate more with how I experience it. I think the initial "blank" description in this thread came from a non-Ni-dom, then the ink dabs part was added by a Ni-dom. But I think your description is even more resonant with what's really "there" for me. It's a landscape of information that's non-differentiated to my conscious mind. And for me, organically, that's really okay.
eta: So, at dinner, I mentioned the "blank" concept to my partner and she said it doesn't match with her experience of me at all. I then mentioned your Magic 3D Eye metaphor to her and she said
that actually does mesh strongly with her experience of me. This underscores my sense that your metaphor refines whatever we're trying to get at in favor of greater accuracy.
I think I've written this somewhere before but - organically, in contrast to my Fi-dom partner, I seem to have a very high tolerance for ambiguity (ambiguity meaning a lack of consciousness and judging) of information. Like, I'm okay with looking at that undifferentiated field (the metaphorical Magic Eye 3D image) without seeing "it" at first. Unless I accept external standards that aren't in synch with Ni perception, I'm really fine with that situation, the looking and waiting. In contrast, if I try to describe anything of that field to my INFP partner, she wants to know what it means in a very sharply defined conscious way. And if it isn't defined and conscious like that, she'll start filling in the blanks and generating possible meanings ... like "Maybe it's this over there, that could look like a bear" *point point* ... which then disrupts the waiting, the stillness, that
I need to allow the image to show itself.
And interestingly enough, I wrote the above before really reading this next part, but it seems to fit perfectly with my experience and observations:
And yeah, Pe (even Pe aux) to me seems to not understand that limbo in between ‘knowing something is there’ and actually being able to guess what it is. It’s almost like- as soon as they suspect ‘something is there’ (and I realize ‘something’ is incredibly vague, but I can’t think of any other way to say it), they’re flooded with ideas about what it might be- especially Pe doms (obviously).
This resonates very strongly with what my INFP/Ne-aux has described to me when we've discussed why things so often go wrong when I try to share Ni information before I clearly know what it means. It's like, without something to anchor the information, she's almost compelled to start generating possible meanings. And again, in interaction, this can really create difficulty for me because I need the stillness of waiting in what you call limbo and what I called ambiguity. Mine is a much slower, quieter space - it's like I have a need for a certain kind of silence and stillness to allow what's there to emerge, and my INFP is inexorably drawn to fill up that silence with possible meanings as a way to get at what "it" is.
eta: After discussing this a bit with my INFP, my sense is that in her case at least, the requirement for focus over ambiguity is more of a Fi thing (or at least a Ji thing) than a Ne thing - Ne-aux is serving Fi-dom's requirement of more focus. But the discussion itself was sort of unclear, so not completely sure that's the case.
Interesting with the "feels more vivid" than the rest, for I experience a similar phenomenon where I think some information feels like it is heavier than other information, as if there is an added dimension of weight (it sounds strange, but it really isn't).
I didn't expect you to have a metaphorical "feel" for the information because I've seldom seen INTJs talk in terms of that kind of thing, so this is an interesting surprise! Seems like in both our cases, there is a sense of an
added dimension (weight in your case; color, layer of sound underneath, actual additional dimension in mine).
Also, I've had a bit of an epiphany for the "symbols" said to be characteristic of Ni-types. This always confused me because I thought it was literally seeing a still-image symbol for something, when in fact my symbols are like video bits. I don't always know what they mean, but they feel heavier and more pronounced than other forms of thought when I think about them. I have one prominent one right now where there is a dark figure, who I know is me, facing away from my point of view, as if I'm looking at my own shadowed back, and then about 3 seconds an even darker person comes out of the foreground and puts a hand (the entire arm is colored, but nothing else other than the light-bluish foreground and darker blue background) on the top portion of my back.
FWIW, I can actually feel some sort of additional gravity to the words when I read your description. Something in my stomach and the hairs on my legs stood up in response. Not a bad response at all, just a visceral one and some sort of humming recognition. I have no idea what it means (which IMO makes sense given the subjectivity of Ni) but the feel of whatever this is seems to translate across a computer screen.
(this makes me wonder, if a group of Ni-doms got together and described this kind of information to each other, would we consistently feel the extra dimensions from each others' direct descriptions of Ni information? I feel like I've had experiences like this before when other Ni-doms have described images from Ni perception ... like I can tell it's not my area of the landscape but I can still feel the additional dimension of the information).
Since the purpose of this thread is to demystify Ni, I need to explain that I can dissect the "video-bit" (meaning that it isn't some ridiculous vision) which is more like a product of my imagination anyways (everyone can make a simulation in their imagination). I don't know what it symbolizes right now, but I have some ideas.
And I know I'm kind of repeating myself here, but I'm a different kind of Ni-dom from you and I have no idea what this means specifically, but I can feel the additional layer in your description across a computer connection and from a screen. I repeat this to underscore something: apparently give our shared dominant function, I already know - viscerally, in feel - that it's not a ridiculous vision. I'm just really glad you decided to go ahead and describe it directly before you added the demystifying part.
Interestingly, when I change something with my mind's eye about the simulation/video, it doesn't feel right; for instance, trying to illuminate who the darker figure is by filling in the spaces with random people yields an "uncomfortable" result, and it feels more right if I imagine the figure like it originally was, shrouded.
I have absolutely had this kind of experience! I actually didn't expect anyone else to describe it. On reflection, I think it's a core attribute of Ni information for me. Whether the information is visual or something else if I try to change it, it feels wrong ... and when I return to what it is, it feels right. And sometimes my conscious mind would prefer that it is some other way, but again, it doesn't feel right, it's
uncomfortable, if I try to change it. I hadn't actually associated this with Ni before but it fits the overall discussion pretty well IMO.
By the way, any other Ni-doms experience a compulsion to always know what's coming next or what to expect, at least to have a general idea?
Yes, I feel that way in relation to the
external world. I've associated this with Ni-dom + Je-aux. My inner world is extremely undifferentiated and ambiguous and open (as described in the comment to Z Buck), and I seem to need some sort of balance of structure when it comes to my outer world. My INFP partner has it in reverse: her inner world is quite structured by her Fi value matrix, so her outer world orientation needs an open flow for balance.