Why (I mean for what purpose) do you rely on reading those inner emotions? What purpose does it serve?
You tell me to what purpose!
I would say in my life Fi has served primarily as an emotional "truth" detector. Oh, not necessarily the universal truth or anything like that ... maybe, on occasional glimpses of serenity ... but probably closer to a truth
for me. Aside from childhood injuries, a few stitches and eye surgery, almost all of my earliest memories surround the differences between what someone was feeling on the inside vs what they were saying and doing on the outside. I grew up on a working farm in an old farmhouse where the kerosene stove had used to sit in the middle of the house, and there was still a covered hole where the stovepipe came through the floor in the middle of the sleeping area upstairs. When my parents had company over, and I was supposed to be asleep, I used to sit in the dark by the decorative iron grating covering the hole and listen to all the stories. My parents were different people depending on who was visiting. It was fascinating to me.
You asked once for my Si stories ... these are my stories. They all engage emotions so telling you my stories involves opening my emotions to you. Since it's probable you won't assign the same emotional weight to my Si data, your Ni examination of it will likely yield little fruit in this venue.
All I know is that I can read inner emotional data and it's as real and obvious to me as having a radio playing in the background of my life. Non-stop. Sometimes the volume is a little higher or a little lower, but it's there. I can't always make out the tune or the words, but when I tune in, it can be quite interesting. Even though we are undoubtedly miles apart, I sense the data from you too, through your words. The difference between the words here and "real-life" is that this is more static, less dynamic.
Identifying friend or foe? (I've already made a few similar assumptions on that way way back...Furthermore, I think Ni-dom may also be working with the aim of making sense of people, to identify whether they are friend or foe)
See, how timely for you to post this. I think that's totally right. To address you directly, your Fe is
right now seeking to put Ni to service though, as opposed to the other way around. You have an Fe judgement or goal and you are trying to make Ni make the pieces fit together. The issue is that your Fe is really not meant to only be used this way, imo. And you're supposed to be using it on yourself too. All the stuff you are examining about other people, you are
supposed to be examining all those judgements as reflections of yourself. werebudgie has the right idea, to let Ni free to pick up perceptual data, but it's not meant to exist and function in isolation. Imagine telling an INTJ not to engage Te. Doesn't make sense.
I'll save you the trouble of trying to pick apart your Ni sense and tell you what I think your sense data picks up about me. I can be opinionated, persistent, and holier-than-thou. I can sense the group dynamic but I do not subscribe to those values, especially here on the forum, since I value being more true to my typological voice
in this place. Fe values can seem exceedingly context-dependent to me and I find interfacing with those sets of variable rules troubling at times. If I think I can offer advice, I'll do it from time to time even when it's not been asked for. Sometimes it might piss people off because I seem like a know-it-all. And sometimes, I am. I can even be a smart-ass. eta: that's the inside. The outside me strives to be kind, caring and generous, living true to my values and being a decent human being.
Futhermore, so depending on the reading you adjust your stance/distance towards that person?...And when you detect an intent to hold back or conceal that emotion, you conclude that there's something "off" with that person...?
I'd have to then conclude everyone is "off". People conceal things
all the time and play with each other's emotions and energy
all the time too. I dislike it and aspire not to do it. Who knows, if I were to guess I'd say maybe 75-90% of everything that transpires in social contexts is all just emotional fabrication. The most refreshing people to me are people who are just themselves and there is little screen between the out and in. Who are wonderfully the same in most environments. Ironically, this is because I am not that way, since I am constantly adjusting myself to other people. I've been really thinking about that a lot over the last few years, why I do that related to my wiring and to my childhood programming.
If yes, I think this is analogous to what I (or other INFJs) have been feeling about [MENTION=5999]PeaceBaby[/MENTION] and certain other posters...Just as your Fi-dom is picking up on something "off", our Ni-dom is picking up on something else "off"...
You're picking up that I don't subscribe to the "rules" and that's true. Makes me a bit of a wild-card. I've just told you the other things you might not like about me. I might as well cop to them out loud rather than you trying to make up something else that's not accurate. Such as me being an emotional vampire!
Your Ni sense is very real. And it's very cool and it picks up on a LOT of stuff. In this venue though, you've only got the words, eh? That's the tripping point all over this thread.