How To Improve Extroverted Sensing

[gloomy-optimist]

I like Se

Se is activated not only with just outside observation, but with external stimuli in general. If someone is very focused on a project, such as drawing, painting, music, etc., and they are totally absorbed in what they're doing, they're using Se. That's one of the reasons ISFP are known as the artists and ISTPs as the mechanics.

Then, of course, Se is all about what's interesting. A good exercise to let out your Se is to go someplace and let your attention hit whatever is interesting in that moment -- if you see a store that looks interesting, go in without thinking, and as soon as it gets boring, leave. Totally sensory too -- what do you see, what do you hear, what do you smell, and if it's not shiny anymore, then leave it be.

Or just go to a party and let yourself go. That's always fun

 

[Gaze]

Then, of course, Se is all about what's interesting. A good exercise to let out your Se is to go someplace and let your attention hit whatever is interesting in that moment -- if you see a store that looks interesting, go in without thinking, and as soon as it gets boring, leave. Totally sensory too -- what do you see, what do you hear, what do you smell, and if it's not shiny anymore, then leave it be.

Interesting exercise.

 

[TrevOrTrevor]

I don't wanna live outside of my brain!
It's not as cool!

Me either!

This is a great conversation. Nice viewpoints!

Something that brings Sensing out would be making art. I find its fun to physically create something with your hands.
Learning to play an instrument would be good.
When I was 9 I learned Judo for a few years. It seemed like a chore near the end, but thinking back I remember that I did have a lot of fun dealing with people in that physical way. Countering them and learning techniques to move differently. Focusing on my own movement as well as theirs.
Met some good people too.

Dancing would be very sensing.

Has "Morning, Noon, and Night Sex" been said yet?

 

[sassafras]

I like Se

Se is activated not only with just outside observation, but with external stimuli in general. If someone is very focused on a project, such as drawing, painting, music, etc., and they are totally absorbed in what they're doing, they're using Se. That's one of the reasons ISFP are known as the artists and ISTPs as the mechanics.

Maybe I should pick up art?

I knew there was a reason why my mother wanted me to take piano lessons. If sculpting is out of the picture, maybe I should take that up again too.

Then, of course, Se is all about what's interesting. A good exercise to let out your Se is to go someplace and let your attention hit whatever is interesting in that moment -- if you see a store that looks interesting, go in without thinking, and as soon as it gets boring, leave.

lol. I already do that. I can't stay in the same store for too long; I get what I need and get out. Never thought of that as an Se activity, though.

Totally sensory too -- what do you see, what do you hear, what do you smell, and if it's not shiny anymore, then leave it be.

Yeah, but are you consciously processing that? You're not sitting in a room and think: Hmm, what does it smell like in here? And then getting yourself to describe the scent. I would say you take it in automatically, second-nature.

Or just go to a party and let yourself go. That's always fun

Haha. Is alcohol always a factor in a decent sensory exercise?

A surefire way to get all my other functions to quit is to introduce a bit of tequila

 

[NeverAmI]

At a metal concert I am fully Se.

 

[Raccoon Love]

Hmm,..My Se is almost nonexistent almost as much as my Si(they are my 2 weakest functions and came out as unused on the test). It's hard for me to pick up detail, and well I suck at the most practical stuff..I guess I just need to try to be more in tune with the physical world.*goes to the image practice exercises*

 

[surreality]

Do you have instances when you're forced to step up and use your Se? I find that my Se works best when I'm on an adrenaline rush or really pressured. It's not a very strong Se, but its pushed to the forefront in times of crisis.

Thing is, I can't ever recall my state of mind when I'm in this mode. All I know is that I'm very task-oriented and I'm instantly and instinctively collecting the information I need to get shit done.

I wonder if hyper-focus falls under the Se category? In which case, I'm pretty much screwed. I can't control mine.

Yes, I would say that it does. Se is being aware of, and observing all sensory data and remembering it. You need to slow down and focus to do that.

I would say I good exercise to do would be to go to a specific location and find a place to sit and observe. Pretend that this place is totally alien to someone you have to describe it to. They have never been there. You have to now write a detailed description of everything in your environment, from the sounds, to the smells, to what you feel (not emotions but things like texture or the breeze; how cold or warm it is), what you see and even tastes if you're experiencing any. Try to do this in as much detail as possible. That would be using your Se.

Drawing, painting, and photography would help to develop it also. Take a different way home and notice what's different in your environment. Pretend you have to give someone directions by only using descriptives of the environment and no street names.

Try to describe or draw a room in your house completely from memory...or a person you know well. Could you give a good police sketch description?

So what I understand is Se is all about taking in the details. I hate details....

People watching, without questioning their lives, ambitions, etc. Just observing... Would that exercise Se?

That doesn't sound fun at all!

Yeah, stuff like that. It can be fun! Well, I would still do the questioning their lives etc. I couldn't help it LOL. But, I used to play this game with a co-worker at a coffee shop I worked at years ago. We'd play a kind of "spot the worst dressed person of the day" game. You'd have to really be watchful to win because DETAILS that most people would miss would be the game winner.

Yeah, it would be more so taking in details about people, but I don't think you'd do it entirely ignorant of their ambitions or psychology; you would just consider these components with the intent of applying this information, not just noticing them for the sake of noticing them and appreciating them for being beings in themselves. It's an entirely different form of taking in your experiences. Hence sensing is the counterpoint to intuition.

And I would say that's pretty fun.

...

That made me think of another thing you could do. Pick a person you know and pretend they are making a movie about that person's life and you are going to be playing them. You have to learn how to talk like them, walk like them...everything.

 

[Ria]

I find I have become good at this in my job.

Although, I have to admit that outside of work, I feel guilty because usually I am completely disinterested in my surroundings and even when I try to take them in, I just cannot experience total gratification or admiration that I see/hear other people express...

Does anyone else here find this to be true for themselves too?

 

[midnightmelody]

Oh dur. I use my Se all of the time with my music and art hobbies.

Other than that, though, I have little desire to use my Se because my other functions would make me feel guilty for whatever was done under its influence.

 

[flux]

I admit that what brought me to this board has more to do with who I'm not than who I am. Put differently, I'm probably an INFP who has more of a deficit in Se than Te, and therefore your collective inferior inspires more of my curiosity. I can follow lines of reasoning as well as most people (Te) until I feel intimidated -- then, under stress, I will mostly just miss the details in front of me (Se).

That YouTube video was important to engage more of my senses on the matter of eye contact and gender role. Mostly because I do look away from people during a lot of make-or-break moments most people would consider both "desirable" and "undesirable". At times prolonged eye contact, even the kind that comes from loving friends, can make me feel like prey on a completely instinctual level. I hold just as much fear of intimacy as I do of authority, and therefore take on more compliant characteristics (or "social" variant in enneagram-speak). I have no desire to be a traditional male/provider for anyone but myself, and so far, it's probably been better that way. This absolutely does show in my body language. Looking down helps me find the nurturing words necessary to reflect my subjective reality, but I can easily get lost in that mode, and therefore lose objectivity as well as goal-setting ability.

My biggest challenge as I see it, is that Se and Te are two sides of the same coin for me. I try to look to both functions as the rules of the world, rules which I must obey to a point, in order to enjoy the fruits of Fi, Ni, and other favourite functions. Both can work to improve each other. I ask myself, when do I feel the most capable? the most adult? And it is usually when I am uniting some combination of functions that I don't ordinarily try. I can get lost in boredom for long periods of time, which is a sort of death. But even the resurrecting of Se through sport -- I would contend, any sport(!) -- as well as walking through nature, and appreciation of any form of art, hobby or novelty -- can help boost the Ni-Se pair and make me feel more worthy. I look to Te as being necessary, but I look to Se as having untapped power.

It's true that you have to slow down to realize some of the power of Se, but in terms of cognitive speed, it's probably the quickest function we have. It also has enormous survival benefit. If a wolf is leaping towards us, we don't stop to ask ourselves about all the similar encounters we've had (Si), or if everything we've been told informs us that he's only going after our food supply (Te). So give yourselves credit for the Se that you do use, even when it's tacitly running in the background of everything else.

 

[Faye]

Utilize projectiles. And go swimming and climbing a lot.

 

[VH]

I don't mean to bust anyone's chops, but I'm seeing a lot of conjecture on how to improve Se that has nothing to do with Se.

Focusing on details on a rational level is the function of Si. Examples include picking out the details in pictures, memory games, and the like. Si is the function of taking in what you perceive. Examples of Si include sheet music, cooking from recipe, using rote strategies in games like chess, mathematical reasoning, counting, analysis of surroundings, and the like.

Se is is the function of being part of what you perceive. Examples of Se activities include, visual art, using reactive tactics in games like Go, improvised music, martial arts, free form dance, athletics, camping, outdoorsy activities, target shooting, archery, jogging, sports, juggling, acrobatics, and the like.

Se can also be very competitive, and thrives on projecting strength. All of the people I know who have firearms permits and carry them regularly have a fairly strong Se. For example, my brother in law is an ISTP who never leaves the house without his gun. His father is an ENTJ who is a career Marine drill sergeant who served in Vietnam and owns several dozen firearms, yet never carries a gun outside his house unless he goes hunting (and all of his guns are hunting or target shooting weapons, which are both very Se activities). This is a good example of difference between secondary Se and tertiary Se. Secondary Se needs to feel capable of protection at all times (for T types that is physical protection, and for F types that is emotional protection). Tertiary Se is comfortable knowing that they can protect themselves when need be. Inferior Se gives protection last priority, but does consider it - for example INTJs are prone to take enough martial arts classes to feel confident in self defense, but after that give it up. Ironically, none of these friends would ever use this projected, implied, or reserved strength to harm anyone needlessly. Se is the projection of strength for more than the application of it.

At the same time, Se is very communal and benevolent. I personally think that Se is the biggest reason for the success of dance clubs. One of my favorite examples of the manifestation of Se is watching large groups of people who love each other spontaneously dancing in unison at a party. All of a sudden when a certain song comes on, the whole dance floor pops into position and everyone starts doing the same dance, and having a blast.

Lastly, this guy is perhaps the best example of Se I've ever seen.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MeiwLLZjDo[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MeiwLLZjDo

 

[VH]

Se spots the good parking space from across the lot.

Si remembers where you parked.

I've noticed that few people do both really well.

 

[Raccoon Love]

I practiced Taekwondo, and have developed good flexibility but my coordination/motor skills suck and I fail to do a lot of the stuff the masters considered practical and easy, I then quit as I found I had no real interest. I guess that's part of why my Se isn't that great,

 

[VH]

I practiced Taekwondo, and have developed good flexibility but my coordination/motor skills suck and I fail to do a lot of the stuff the masters considered practical and easy, I then quit as I found I had no real interest. I guess that's part of why my Se isn't that great,

Or maybe you quit because your Se isn't that great?

 

[Raccoon Love]

Or maybe you quit because your Se isn't that great?

Yup, I was really trying my best to get the hang of it, but each time I would get frustrated as I saw well, I'm just not so good with this sort of thing, each time I would get criticize for doing something which I tried my best to achive, really quite frustrating.

 

[VH]

Yup, I was really trying my best to get the hang of it, but each time I would get frustrated as I saw well, I'm just not so good with this sort of thing, each time I would get criticize for doing something which I tried my best to achive, really quite frustrating.

This is more evidence of you being an INFP, my friend.

 

[Raccoon Love]

This is more evidence of you being an INFP, my friend.

I do have a lot of INFP preferences, My Ne function is quite well developed and so is my Fi even though Ni and Ti are still dominant for me. I am very disorganized, can be random and very spontaneous, though I don't like improvising much since I'm afraid to mess up. I'm always making future plans but I often forget them a long the way and just go with the flow. I procrastinate a lot.

 

[VH]

Do you have instances when you're forced to step up and use your Se? I find that my Se works best when I'm on an adrenaline rush or really pressured. It's not a very strong Se, but its pushed to the forefront in times of crisis.

Thing is, I can't ever recall my state of mind when I'm in this mode. All I know is that I'm very task-oriented and I'm instantly and instinctively collecting the information I need to get shit done.

I wonder if hyper-focus falls under the Se category? In which case, I'm pretty much screwed. I can't control mine.

Inferior Se usually only manifests when absolutely necessary. You're describing classic INFJ and INTJ use of Se. You're forced to drop into ISTP and / or ESTP modes in those instances.

Se thrives on adrenalin. I've noticed in myself that the more adrenalin I have going, the sharper and more effective my Se is. When I am sparring, I'm not nearly as good as when I'm in an honest to goodness fight. I've also noticed that my best fights are with Se types, who have a notable tendency to become adrenalin junkies.

I've never considered hyper focus to be an Se trait, but I can see the merit in it. When I'm sparring, and I'm fighting someone who is so good they push me past my ability to think my way through the fight, I drop into a zenlike mode and just react in the moment. That's the most Se I ever get. However, I can feel an extremely strong Ni in there. Other times when I hyper focus, I can tell that it is very Ni with some Se. I think by nature hyper focus is a P dominant function, tandem use of Ni and Se.

 

[VH]

I do have a lot of INFP preferences, My Ne function is quite well developed and so is my Fi even though Ni and Ti are still dominant for me. I am very disorganized, can be random and very spontaneous, though I don't like improvising much since I'm afraid to mess up. I'm always making future plans but I often forget them a long the way and just go with the flow. I procrastinate a lot.

Based on your scores, I think it is likely that your self perspective is assessing your Ni and Ti higher than they are as tandem uses of Ne and Fi. If the only thing you actually use is Ne and Fi, they can merge to simulate Ni and Ti well enough for you to function. A lot of INFJs have merged their Ni and Fe to simulate Ne and Fi, even Te. This is really the failing of self assessment. People only have their own perspective to measure themselves against functions they may not use.