[ISFJ] maybe just a wierd isfj?

[toluene]

the main reason i think i'm in isfj: i forget about posting at forums for months at a time............

j/k o/c but it seems like a common theme? <8)

i got caught in a confused spiral the last time i immersed myself in cog function/mbti stuff because i had such a hard time pinning down my dominant function. Historically my ability to parse/analyze my own internal state and phase changes has been dismal, but i think partly my mbti related confusion was because Si isn't talked about very often. The closest thing i found was Ni, and it had me sidetracked for a while because i felt like i identified with a lot of it. The more i read about Ni though, the more i get completely bewildered- it's obviously a highly complex function to describe, but there is a lot of conflicting, super vague, very mystical stuff written about it. I'm a really disorganized, abstract, initially leaning heavily on intuition thinker, but concreteness and direct relation to real world application is my absolute endgame. I got burnt out trying to distinguish between ne/ni descriptions, as fascinating and AWESOME as the functions clearly are, and completely lost interest in MBTI for a couple months. to me that's a clear sign that i don't actually use intuition the way ni/ne users do. thoughts?

So i'm still really curious about it and i LOVE descriptions of how people experience their Ni, but i feel really confident now that my dom function is Si- this description really clinched it for me. It's very close to the more concrete parts of lots of Ni descriptions, from this site

Introverted Sensing often involves storing data and information, then comparing and contrasting the current situation with similar ones.

The immediate experience or words are instantly linked with the prior experiences, and we register a similarity or a difference—for example, noticing that some food doesn't taste the same or is saltier than it usually is.

Introverted Sensing is also operating when we see someone who reminds us of someone else.

Sometimes a feeling associated with the recalled image comes into our awareness along with the information itself. Then the image can be so strong, our body responds as if reliving the experience. The process also involves reviewing the past to draw on the lessons of history, hindsight, and experience.

This is me!!!!!!!!!!! this is what i do, every day, constantly 24/7, while i'm sleeping, or on the toilet or chewing food, it doesn't matter. my experiences are getting tucked away into my internal map that i'm always tweaking and checking for signs of internal stress/dissonance. I devote more energy to this than any other activity. I worry sometimes I might take it to unhealthy levels, but big picture, i seem to be functioning fine and currently i'm having an active productive life, which is something i've had a really hard time holding onto in the past. so until it becomes an issue, im going to assume it's just my brain functioning the way it wants to, and leave it at that 8\

on the surface i feel like i might not fit in with most isfj profiles, but in terms of the way my cognitive functions stack up, i feel really at home thinking of myself as in isfj!

traits i have that seem like not very common isfj traits, maybe?

• science major
• leftist
• atheist
• gay
• main stress outlets tends to be visual art or exhausting physical activity
• friendly feelings towards controlled substances although i don't have much interest in experimenting anymore
• same with casual sex

things i value that make me think i am an isfj!

• propriety!!
• tradition!!!
• religion!!!!!

it might sound like cognitive dissonance headache given my first bullet point list (gay socialist atheist etc) but preserving and refining/perfecting traditions and other human systems is where my brain lives full time. anyway this post is becoming an actual 800 page novel, sorry about that, but if anyone wants to discuss anything related to the different ways we express value for stuff like tradition/propriety/manners/unspoken social contracts, i'd friggin love to!!

in conclusion, what do you guys think? do i sound like i might be an isfj or should i keep looking?
also, do you guys have Si descriptions you really like and feel like posting links to??
or maybe any experiences w/ confusing your Si with another function?

Also, I'm really happy i feel like i finally found my MBTI type, i just wanted to say hi to you guys

 

[bronte27]

As a bisexual fairly liberal unorthodox ISFJ I'd say those don't have to be exclusive. If you're fitting in other areas beyond that then I wouldn't doubt your ISFJ status. Best of luck figuring it out though. Not always easy to pin down your type. Have you done any tests? Did you get ISFJ on those? I find them nice for at least giving some level of confirmation, though I find they're not always 100% reliable of course.