Alright. After reading the discussion about Se, my quest for my type has entered another "I'm probably an INFJ" phase. (The other possible type would be INFP, and I have even begun to consider INTP and INTJ.)
Heh, not at all surprising. I still entertain the possibility that I'm an ENFJ or INFP, and on rare occaisions even an ENFP (though this notion never survives contact with an ENFP). I've got lots of reasons why I could be an ENFJ or an INFP that seem to make sense to me at the time, some of which always do.
The thing we have to keep in mind about type is that
everyone uses
all of the cognitive functions. Type is simply a collection of common preferences, but most importantly type does transcend the cognitive functions to a fair degree. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and that's something that Ni and Ti tend to overlook. Ni and Ti tend to want to find the answers, want to dissect the concept into its components, but the more accurate way of looking at personality type is that these components are raw elements thrown into a solution, creating a new compound that contains some of the properties of the elements that make it up but is otherwise an entirely new agent. Everyone is made up of the 8 elements, and the difference is in the measure of them. (Man, I hope that wasn't too nerdy to understand)
So I might add myself as sample data here. I'm not foreign at all to Se. I have been into karate, archery, skateboarding, juggling and currently dance (lindy hop), which I will talk about.
All of these are solo activities, as in they are not team sports. This implies introversion in a personality to me.
When I examine the way I dance and compare it to the style of others, I notice some interesting things. My first concern is always to make it comfortable for the follower. How it feels for me is secondary - if I can sense that it feels god for her, then I'm perfectly happy. That got to be Fe. The most common comment I hear about my style is that my lead is soft and clear, which I think is Fe/Se. When I overhear two followers discussing lead styles and they say "I don't like it when they...", I instinctively sharpen my ears and soak it in. Very important information for me. Fe has shaped my style more than anything.
I agree. This implies Fe and Se to me too, but with a much greater emphasis on Fe. Obviously, caring more about the partner than the self is an Fe reflex, but I'm finding that Fe is also responsible for the quality of how we move too.
I'd recently been told that I'm graceful, despite always thinking I'm a graceless adept that just kind of gets the physical activity done correctly without much style. And then I discussed this with my INTJs, and they've all noticed a pattern with NFJs that we're graceful, and tend toward fluid movements, even (and especially) in our subtle everyday unconscious movements. Apparently, Fe is also a catalyst for this gracefulness you've mentioned, because I can assure you, none of my INTJs have this. When they devote themselves to physical activity, they move well and often accurately, but not like us. They are very deliberate and mechanical, which proves it's not just Se. It's a mix of the two - Fe and Se.
It also implies that these things, Fe and Se but especially Fe, are more important to you than other aspects, proving their 'priority'.
I have one practice partner that is ENFP. She does not care as much about her partner as long as it feels good for her. I'm fine with that. She likes to play a lot, which I do too. Another (less frequent) comment I get is that one can never expect me to lead the same pattern twice - that I'm unpredictable. That's Ne I think, and my ENFP partner enjoys that.
Actually, that could be Ni. Keep in mind that Ni is not a tradtionalist or repetition oriented function like Si. It is very situational. It's looking for the answer based on the variables that currently exist. While Ne is always coming up with possibilities, Ni is always adapting to find the answer in the new context. It could be that your Ni leads differently each time based on subtle changes in your partner's mood, movements, the people around you, the music, etc. Ni is very outside the box, and is almost as much removed from Si as Ne.
The main reason I think this is Ni is because other people have to tell you that you're making the changes. Ne would be consciously aware of the changes that it was intentionally making, and would probably have more trouble staying in a routine than you're describing. Ni would adapt the routine to improve it in the moment. Ne would want to constantly overhaul routines.
My other partner is ESTJ. She is a lovely person, btw. Promise. Although she doesn't care much about how it feels for any of us. She is more into accomplishments. She wants to learn this move. Break it down and understand every step and every weight change and how she should twist her hip on the 4-count and lift her elbow on the 6-count etc. She can become upset if she doesn't understand it but becomes very happy once she has mastered it. I'm into beaking things down like this too. I don't know if it is Te or Ti.
NFJs tend to want to use Ti to break things down, as mentioned above. When we do it, we understand things on a micro scale and can have trouble re-integrating them back into the big picture. That's a good way to tell if you're using Ti over Te. It takes more effort to put it back together than to take it apart, mentally, especially if our Ti is dominant over our Se, because NFJs tend to use Se to see the big picture. Ti breaks it down for us in a more right brained kind of way, and Se then sees the point to it in an extremely right brained way.
It sounds to me like the ESTJ is using Si and Te, and not much Ti. Her Si wants to focus on the details, and only once she has gotten them locked into her memory is her Te able to put them all together in a way that allows her to 'accomplish' what her Te told her Si to do. Only then do her functions then shift down into the Fi range where she is happy about the achievement.
It's easy to look at people who use their functions in these sorts of ways and assume that we do too, because we have functions that fill the same roles for us, but do so differently. The only thing I need to do to realize I'm not an ENFP is be around one for a moment. Although we do many of the same things overall, it is so clear we come to them from completely different angles. It takes me a little while longer to do this with an INFP, maybe an hour or so (because they use the same introvert/extrovert/introvert/extrovert pattern as me), but the end result is the same - me realizing we're using completely different functions.
Si then. A lot of lindy hoppers like things to be done like the oldtimers did it. They dress up in 1930's clothing, dance only to authentic music. Try to mimic the styles of the famous dancers, copying their moves and styles. They do it like it is SUPPOSED to be done. And I just can't understand this. I'm sure there is substance to this somehow, but for me it is foreign. I like to dance to funk music, I wear my normal casual clothes, I make up moves on the fly and I try to find my own style. THIS is why I'm probably not by definition INFP. If I was, then Si would be my tertiary function, and I would at least see the POINT of all this.
Ti could fill that role too with its attention to detail so long as your Se was on board with an interest in the aesthetic. If your Fe ever got convinced that authenticity is something that should be aspired to, then you'd be right there with them, though from a different approach. But, even if either of these did so, it is likely that your Ni will always be more concerned with adapting everything into the best solution for the moment based on the variables presented.
So. For now, I'm INFJ again.
Highly possible. If not INFJ, then ENFJ, sounds like, though I'm leaning on INFJ due to the introverted nature of your sports interests.
