Explain your use of Ni

[Morgain]

That's empathy and it is Fe in its pure form. I think Ni sort of amplifies it. And yeah, I do relate to it.

I thought that was Fi. It helps us know when people are being fake or insincere or if they are basically good. It is like having an internal sense of the

 

[Tamagochi]

I thought that was Fi.

Let's get it straight. Fe is about feelings that are outside That means other people. Fi is about inner workings of oneself - feeling what's inside.

Fe motto: I'm happy when you're happy. Fi motto: all good things come from within.

 

[Morgain]

this is the best and shortest explanation I have found:

Fi : Feeling people makes decisions based on feelings, so the Introverted Feeling function allows a person to know what they value. It is the ability to see through others and know what they are really like as if they had an internal radar. When it identifies a person with similar values there is a desire to connect.

Fe: Feeling people make decisions based on feelings, so the Extraverted Feeling function allows a person to adjust their behavior to the needs of others. Is it the ability to relate and the desire to connect with others with warmth and consideration. It draws others out and responds to expressed or unexpressed needs.

Ne: Intuitive people process data through impressions, possibilities and meanings, so the Extraverted Intuition function allows a person to see different path or ways. When information comes in, different possibilities are thought of, realizing that there is always another way of looking at things.

Ni: Intuitive people process data through impressions, possibilities and meanings, so the Introverted Intuition function allows a person to have a sense about the future. It is the ability to grasp and get a sense of a pattern or plan. Information that is usually hard to understand and dissect is easily processed through Introverted Intuition.

 

[Billy]

1. experience a premonition or foresee the unexpected

Its random, I will have nothing cognitively going on in my mind, but I will just have something pop into my head. It usually based off of connecting things together in my environment or in my mind. Its usually extremely relevant but maybe not obviously so. I have had gut feelings about things or people that didn't make sense at 1st but then they suddenly did when something went down or happened. I wouldn't call it a psychic thing, because its not that I am seeing the future with facts I haven't taken in, it usually involve me putting the facts together in an unconventional way, but not cognitively. Its very random but the way I assume it works is that my mind is literally shredding information and experiences down to the basic elements then mixing and matching it all together with other information, the stuff that makes sense from this random pairing of ideas constantly becomes a flash of insight that I can understand cognitively.

2. feel pulled to the symbolic, archetypal or mysterious

I am unable to hold details like numbers and logic in my head for very long, but I can hook into theory very very easily. I assume being like this is what makes it easy for me to tap into symbolism and such much more easily. My brain is wired to work in the abstract and not the logical. Even my logical thought processes aren't a working of Ti or anything, its more feeling based but backed by logical deduction backed by intuition to know whether or not something is true.

3. feel certain that future changes will unfold in a foreseen way

This is exactly how I live mentally. Every idea and thought I have usually extends much further then need be, I follow the most possible outcome of something years into the future whereas some people might follow it only into its immediate repercussions. It makes my wants, desires, and goals extremely long termed.

4. rely on a focal device or symbolic action to predict, enlighten or transform

Don't know what you are asking here.

5. lay out how the future will unfold based on unseen trends and telling signs

See question 3

6. work out a complex concept or system of thinking about things in a new way

Not sure what you are asking

7. conceive of symbolic or novel ways to understand things that are universal

Not sure what you are asking

8. create transcendent experiences or solutions that transcend a problem

Hmm I am not entirely sure what you are asking here, but I did create a transcendent experience to deal with the guilt of hunting for the 1st time. Instead of going out and just murdering a deer, I decided that this is something I had to do in order to gain an appreciation for the sacrifice animals make for my meat consumption. Which lead into a whole idea of my having a dislike for people who refuse to kill animals but who still consume grocery store meat. So I set it up so that I forced myself into a deer hunt with a friend, slaughtered the deer, and skinned and dressed it, so that I can be immersed in the actual process. I think doing that hardened my heart about killing but alleviated the guilt I had for eating meat so readily and easily without ever having done the killing myself.

 

[Top cat]

That's how it works, but it's really hard to explain why it works. Or why it doesn't work like that for non-Ni users.

I heard something interesting yesterday. My sister is sick with something we don't know, pain in the stomach. My dad (ESTJ) told her, the night before as he was about to go to sleep he "received a sign" --a great grandfather had a similar thing, a sort of ulcer... And then he went to add his analysis about always having breakfast in the morning,etc. which might not have been part of the message. It was profound to me, I've never heard him say something like that. About signs. Although both my parents believe in spirits, fairies, mermaids, dwarves etc.

So perhaps xNxx or xSxx doesn't matter...

 

[Cecilff2]

Though I tend to be a lot more NiFe ish than simply Ni alone, this is what I seem to get out of it. Ni simply tells me whether whatever I'm thinking about is valid or invalid(Have I seen it before? Is there any pattern in this? Mostly it's unconscious and I don't know how I come up with my answer). My Fe seems to determine how I act on it. When it's in play my Ti sometimes pops in and says, hey do we have something solid to back this up?

Could you please explain what exactly happens to you when you:

1. experience a premonition or foresee the unexpected

2. feel pulled to the symbolic, archetypal or mysterious

3. feel certain that future changes will unfold in a foreseen way

4. rely on a focal device or symbolic action to predict, enlighten or transform

5. lay out how the future will unfold based on unseen trends and telling signs

6. work out a complex concept or system of thinking about things in a new way

7. conceive of symbolic or novel ways to understand things that are universal

8. create transcendent experiences or solutions that transcend a problem

1. It's just a feeling I get. Sort of like Deja Vu. Just a flag that goes off and warns me. If it's an actual premonition I typically only have those in dreams, and wonder about them the next morning.

2. I like these sorts of things. It's just a drive to understand things.

3. My mind tends to examine many different possibilities and tries to pick out the most likely one.(Or just the one that "feels right")

4. I'm guessing you mean something like how do we know the actions/gestures of others mean what they really mean? This one's almost all pattern recognition. I've seen this before, and it means [blank].

5. I'd see 3 on this one. Maybe we place ourselves into the situation and think about what would happen? Typically it's accurate.

6. It's just an ability to piece together all the things that make up the idea. Sometimes I just get the impulse to try it differently because a question about how things are pops into my mind.

7. This has more to do with how I know the person I'm explaining something to. We seem to be good with metaphors.

8. Just get carried away I guess. I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to ask.


I found myself wanting to say it's intuition for a lot of those.

 

[Afrelen]

For me, I would describe my Ni behaving like moving around a bunch of parts and functions until it just worked. The best way to describe it is to say that when a group of thoughts or ideas come together in right way they feel as though they harmonize and "glow" with truth.

1. experience a premonition or foresee the unexpected

It's almost like feeling a strange impulsive whim, but I know it's different. A lot like deja vu, but this moment hasn't happened before and I know it.

2. feel pulled to the symbolic, archetypal or mysterious

It makes me feel connected into the greater scheme to enjoy them. It would be denying myself not to be pulled to them. Would mass ask why gravity pulls it together?

3. feel certain that future changes will unfold in a foreseen way

I see the pattern of things and, like I said earlier, a certain configuration of events just seems to "glow" with truth.

4. rely on a focal device or symbolic action to predict, enlighten or transform

See #3.

5. lay out how the future will unfold based on unseen trends and telling signs

See #3 again.

6. work out a complex concept or system of thinking about things in a new way

#3. Noticing a pattern?

7. conceive of symbolic or novel ways to understand things that are universal

I just mull it over. Play with the ideas mentally and eventually a pattern starts to emerge and there's a way where it all just works. I am satisfied and the whole thought just "glows."

8. create transcendent experiences or solutions that transcend a problem

Typically it's because I already saw how problem or experience fit into a bigger pattern in the first place, but sometime I just recognize the way the idea seems to "shine" so to say and that when fit with a certain idea the whole thing will "glow."

 

[midnightmelody]

Examples of my Ni usage:

1. Strong assocations w/ songs and people or songs and other things in general: Today while sitting with some friends, I randomly started singing this song they had tuaght me. ABout 3 seconds into the song, I realized that I was singing it and that it was just sort of an "automatic" thing, just because I was sitting in the same spot with the same people. I didn't conciously think about it.

2. Subconcious: Similar to the above reference, my subconcious just works things out, and then something will randomly trigger it to come to the "surface", or my concious thought.
-Also, I'd rather let things "simmer" than force myself to understand something. It's better if it slowly and steadily works things out.

3. Figurative speech--I use metaphors very often. The more complex the metaphor, the more interested I am in it. Sometimes I use metaphors without even noticing. Oh look, I used metaphors in my previous post. I honestly didn't realize that until just now.
I suppose metaphors and archetypes make more sense to me than hard facts.

4. I'm not psychic. I often don't remember my dreams. Usually they are whacky and have to do with people I love (other than family, I'm not sure why--I think it has to do with people I feel as if I'm in a transitioning state with, or am pursuing), familiar places (I always dream about my previous house), or my fears (tornados are a constant but other things pop up).

I did have this one odd premonition-like gut reaction, once.

It was right before the crush of a life time. I honestly dislike the word crush, but I suppose there isn't a better way to put it.
I saw the picture of a guy that I liked...I honestly am not sure why, but I heard this voice in my head earnestly saying "He's going to break my heart."

It could've been sheer pessimism, but it had a different vibe to it than pessimism does.

It came true.

5. I use the word "vibes" all of the time, because that's how I percieve things. I don't recieve things in a concrete why. I get "vibes".

6. I nervously pepper my sentences with "you know what I mean?" because
a. meaning is most important to me
b. Ni is often too abstract for a world that is primarily of sensors. I'm not going to say I'm misunderstood or anything whiny like that. I just find it hard to express my thoughts with words, sometimes.
"Words fail me"

 

[Top cat]

So I'll explain what happens when I...

1. experience a premonition or foresee the unexpected
i don't think i've ever had this

2. feel pulled to the symbolic, archetypal or mysterious
i feel excited, i'm curious where it will lead me and what will i see. no expectations

3. feel certain that future changes will unfold in a foreseen way
answer #1

4. rely on a focal device or symbolic action to predict, enlighten or transform
i definitely get a unique sensation. all senses wake up, sight is clearer
almost euphoric. goosebumps on the skin, hair rises kind of thing

5. lay out how the future will unfold based on unseen trends and telling signs
i don't lay out the future. i wait for signs though, 'coincidences'
nowadays i ask before sleeping and expect to wake up with an answer

6. work out a complex concept or system of thinking about things in a new way
generally i always try to simplify. if i can get it into one sentence, that's excellent

7. conceive of symbolic or novel ways to understand things that are universal
if i've simplified it, i feel relieved. burden off my shoulders

8. create transcendent experiences or solutions that transcend a problem
again i simplify to the most essential
and the same with feeling less burdened

 

[Kaipaus]

Ok, I should be asleep but will take a stab at this. My Ni is my subconsious, they are one and the same. I am very in touch with that part of my mind, at least compared to most. I spend a lot of time there even when I'm awake. It doesn't need to be feed all that much. It shifts though all the trivial BS and always finds the crux of any situation or problem. Often, the details are flowing by unnoticed until that one important thing comes up then Bingo! It doesn't always come up immediately. Sometimes the eureka moment comes later after I sleep. I know for a fact that I am still processing when I sleep. I can even give my subconscious mind "homework" sometimes, and get the answer later on.

That's how it works, but it's really hard to explain why it works. Or why it doesn't work like that for non-Ni users. Some people crave the stimuli, even if it's not needed for understanding. It just bogs me down. I once heard Chess explained as "seeing the heart of the position". To me this means not getting sidetracked with non-essential details (which most details are). Ni allows you to see the heart of the position.

So is this why INTJs are usually so good at chess?

I wonder if my mom and dad are Ni-doms. I haven't figured their types out yet completely but my dad is really good at chess (all I know for sure is that he's a J... he just doesn't seem "mystic" enough to be an INFJ and not "arrogant" enough to be an INTJ) and my mom says that she doesn't really dream at night, she *processes information*. She's also very intuitive. Often she's had the feeling that something is going to happen and then it happens, things that most people wouldn't guess are coming.

For myself, I can think of times when I have "just known" something, but I don't know if it happens often. Like, when I visited an online acquaintance of mine for the first or second time and urged him to pick one of my paintings-- I didn't know anything about his artistic preferences-- I had a feeling that he was going to pick the gloomy, abstract painting. He just seemed to be the kind of personality that would like that kind of stuff. And he picked it. I don't know if that intuition was Ni or some other function working.

When I was a child, I sometimes tried to attune my inner clock to wake me up at a certain hour in the morning. I just went to bed, thinking, "I'll wake up at six o'clock". My mom told me about the technique, and usually it worked. I haven't done it in a long time, though.

My dreams have usually been quite imaginative, like, normal dreams, instead of "processing information". Sometimes, though, I don't dream but process information. Mostly it happens when I've been reading for an exam. Then my mind is so cluttered with new information that I've got to sort it out in some way.

I like chess but am pretty average at it. Does that mean that I don't have stron Ni?

 

[Jana]

I think it's when we know things that we haven't actually seen or heard. For example, few years ago I knew person. After some time I heard something about him. I was not surprised, I 've already knew that. But, I don't know how Iknew that.

My question is this one.
I am aware that my feelings can influence Ni. How can you make distinction between "what you just know" and "what you want to be just known"? Sometimes I think that my Ni better works if I am not completely involved in particular problem.

 

[midnightmelody]

So is this why INTJs are usually so good at chess?


I like chess but am pretty average at it. Does that mean that I don't have stron Ni?

I'm pretty bad at chess. I'll admit that I've never devoted a large chunk of time to learn how to be good at it, but I'm not sure how naturally it comes to me.

I do not think this is a function of my Ni, though. I am pretty decent at thinking in advance and conjuring possibilities. I just don't have the time to think my possibilities through. Also, I lack Te, so I usually end up on the defensive from the beginning. My thinking is definately more on the Ti axis than Te axis.

I am, however, amazing at prolonging my death. It's quite funny to watch the opponent who thinks he's got it won, have to figure out new strategies and take more time than he previously thought he'd need to finish me off.

Ha!


Also, I wanted to comment about something that might possibility be an Ni trait.

Ni is good at getting the "gist" of things. It is also the opposite of Se. Se people are extremely aware of their surroundings. Theoretically speaking, that means that Ni would not be unaware, but aware on a less detailed basis.

I am not incredibly clumsy, but I often "graze" things. I find it kind of funny. Whereas some people will smack right into walls, I just kind of clip them with my shoulder. It's as if I know the "general area" in which the wall is, but not down to a T.

I can see how Se would be clusmy, too, though. They would just be clumsy in a different way, though. They would be clusmy because they didn't take time to grasp the details (impusliveness). They seem like the type more like to "smack" the wall rather than "graze" it.

Comments?

 

[Isis]

Also, I wanted to comment about something that might possibility be an Ni trait.

Ni is good at getting the "gist" of things. It is also the opposite of Se. Se people are extremely aware of their surroundings. Theoretically speaking, that means that Ni would not be unaware, but aware on a less detailed basis.

I am not incredibly clumsy, but I often "graze" things. I find it kind of funny. Whereas some people will smack right into walls, I just kind of clip them with my shoulder. It's as if I know the "general area" in which the wall is, but not down to a T.

I can see how Se would be clusmy, too, though. They would just be clumsy in a different way, though. They would be clusmy because they didn't take time to grasp the details (impusliveness). They seem like the type more like to "smack" the wall rather than "graze" it.

Comments?

That's funny. I was just thinking about Ni and Se a few days ago. I concluded that when I walk down the street, I don't notice things or people around me but I'm aware that they're there. Well, I do that at home as well.

Exactly, I do know the "general area" of them. It's as if I'm walking in a thick fog or like time is delayed somehow. My mind is like a radar outside of myself and it has a full coverage of the surroundings but it's not concentrating deliberately on the details until something attracts my attention, I become conscious of it and then the detail becomes very clear.

And yes, I do the grazing thing as well. It is funny, I've been doing that all my life. And I know I'm going to graze things but it's a delayed information. After it happens I often wonder why didn't I avoid it completely because I already knew I was going to do that. :doh:

 

[dark_angel]

1. experience a premonition or foresee the unexpected
I get a feeling of impending doom but I cannot pin point what is going to happen. All I know is eg: I must cancel my booked holiday but why I do not know or I must not travel down this road right now or I must avoid interacting with this person. The last time I did not listen to it I got hit by a truck tyre but am all ok :wave: I sometimes have dreams too but once again not clear at all but very metaphorical.

2. feel pulled to the symbolic, archetypal or mysterious
There are times that I feel my influence has a ripple effect be it positive or negative. When it is negative I feel the strong need to align things again.
3. feel certain that future changes will unfold in a foreseen way
Yes I have learnt to trust what I feel but know the change can be altered though you seldom get affirmation of what you felt
4. rely on a focal device or symbolic action to predict, enlighten or transform
Nope can happen anytime anyplace with anything

5. lay out how the future will unfold based on unseen trends and telling signs
to a degree yes

6. work out a complex concept or system of thinking about things in a new way
yes I love doing this, I will ponder a problem be it social, insignificant or work related over a period of time and find a solution from an unexpected angle (sometimes it can happen quite fast)

7. conceive of symbolic or novel ways to understand things that are universal
yes I have some theories of my own on for eg: overpopulation

8. create transcendent experiences or solutions that transcend a problem
yes this refers back to 6.