Going with this... Ni is about forming a concept of how reality develops under certain assumptions/interpretations (skeptical that current or suggested ideas or ways of framing things will lead to any change), whereas Ne is about exploring possible interpretations (aka assumptions - but many! as many as it can!) for reality that can lead to change (takes for granted that these possibilities are, well, possibilities, or that they will lead to any deeper change).
Exactly, this is very well drawn. For Ne, all of the possibilities fan out as connected dots, while Ni is more like a 3D Venn diagram. Ne sees things as connected, Ni sees things as intersected.
What's a fascinating thing to me though is how the Ni attitude filters down through all of the cognitive functional layers with the assumption of seeing everything rather than recognizing the siloing inherent in the function. Notice how we can be in here talking about Ni and you and I both know that Ne is not as depth-oriented as Ni, and we're not going to even entertain the notion that it is, and we're not struggling to assert any type of depth. It doesn't ping our ego need to be recognized, here. Yet from years on the forum of examining attitudes, I've observed that nearly everyone leading with Ni believes their own extraverted function IS AS DEEP as their introverted counterparts (exception Se; it's the one place Ni dom will cede competency, and that's at least partially fueled by the dislike for Si). This filtered attitude of proficiency very much colors the tertiary as well. You and I again would likely both agree that our tertiary is .. troublesome. At a certain point we are able to compare it to the consistency of our dom function & see it as not being, well, as reliable or clear or deep. Yet every Ni type apparently rocks the tert. Now, since we're talking about a system, only one attitude is more reflective of "reality". Is everyone "good" at all functions or are they hierarchical? Since the system is hierarchical
by design, the answer should be apparent.
I think to deter Ne types from choosing Ni answers (as well as all extroverted preferences from finding introverted answers appealing, ie Fe types choosing Fi answers, Te types choosing Ti answers, etc), you may have to touch on the stuff the extroverted attitude doesn't really value. It will seem superfluous to them because they take aspects of it for granted, and it may appear narrow and dismissive towards some of what they are taking for granted.
Yes. To repeat, since we're talking about a system, only one attitude is more reflective of reality. From a logical perspective of looking within the confines of this system, you aren't naturally "good" at all of your functions. And empirically, I don't see Ni doms exhibiting the proficiency in the aux or tert function as one might expect if the prevailing Ni attitude of proficiency over all functional pockets were in fact true either. So, you are going to get Pi doms (Ni in particular) checking boxes that they shouldn't be checking too, since this belief about themselves, not necessarily reflective of true capabilities, prevails. An Ni dom will see a lot of Ne being true, and a lot of Ti or Fi being true in particular.
Now, if anyone has read this far, you might be all like, "Aww PB, why you shitting on teh Ni doms again?" But I'm not placing any value judgements on these observations, and any that you might draw are coming from you, dear reader, not me. Because, fascinatingly and paradoxically, this belief of capability also enables the Ni dom to enact a vision simply by virtue of the belief of competency itself. This belief, one that's capable of fueling ideas into reality, can be an awesome thing, and like all things, can either be
good or bad -- outcomes really depend on the person, the time and the circumstance, very complex. Whereas for a Ji dom, thinking an idea into reality can all fall apart as too many scenarios in our mind can lead to negative outcomes even with good intention, and without certainty of believing that outcome to be good, it can be easier to do nothing at all. I love playing with the question that I pondered after watching the Matrix for the first time: was Neo the One because he was the One or because at no time did someone not believe him to be the One and this
belief was what shaped reality? Is fun to entertain.
And as an aside -- what I've written above is why Fi and Ti dominant types often experience frustration with our Pi dom peers and struggle to assert our dominant function. We do have an ego need, here. You're not a Ji dom. If Pi doms truly saw
everything, logic alone would suggest that they would understand Ji dominant thinking patterns but this doesn't happen. I don't want to expand much on that here but might later in my blog.
To conclude the rambling, I haven't thought of ways to formulate questions yet that would help in the differentiation though. I'm making some observations here that could possibly play into larger conclusions or actions. Connecting dots. I'll think on it some more.