Hello
@David Nelson, and thank you for your post. I'm glad you have shared some thoughts on Introverted Intuition, because it's a topic that can spur some very interesting ideas for discussion. Would you agree it can be a difficult function to define and describe, precisely due to the "psychic" character of it? And I hope you are open to some open-ended thoughts about this.
- The "power" of Ni? Is Ni a "power" cognitive function? In my opinion, yes it can be, but it depends on which position in the functional stack it is in. For instance, I ask myself, why is it that ENTJs and ENFJs are always archetypal viewed as leaders, kings/queens, CEOs, mob bosses, etc, and INTJ and INFJ are often not viewed this way automatically? Ni-doms tend take on the archetypal image of "masterminds"(INTJ), "mystics"(INFJ), monks, artists, counselors? The ENTJ and ENFJ have Ni in their auxiliary position, so their personhood, who they are, is not based on Introverted Intuition. It's based on their position in an already established hierarchical system. For ENFJs, their social circles, and where they fit in those social circles, is extremely important to them and their identity. The same goes for ENTJs when they identify themselves within an ordinal structure(aka. corporate, government, military, etc. structures). Thus, ENxJs actively, consciously, wield Ni as a tool or weapon to accomplish their objectives within a defined system, which makes them very likely to make it to the "top" of these system's hierarchies. So when it comes to the question of Ni and "power", this to me, clearly shows Ni as a very powerful function. Why? Because ENxJs understand better than anyone else the power of the imagination. If you can make someone believe in something that they previously didn't believe in before, you can make them do anything. You don't need to make it, solve it, or create it all yourself, in the way an Ni-dom needs to, to prove what is possible, since, you have the backing of the system behind you, if you are an ENFJ or ENTJ. Also, imo, I think Ni by itself is a useless function(Carl Jung himself said of Ni-doms: “From an extraverted and rationalistic standpoint, these types are indeed the most useless of men.”), but it is essential. I think Ni-doms, especially, understand how much the nature of reality is shaped and formed by the individual's ability to perceive it. It is up to Ni-doms to decide what to do with this level of awareness. And as for INFJs, I think it comes from their Fe, which when coupled with Ni allows them a nearly infinite range of flexibility in terms of expression and blending.
- As for my thoughts on Ni versus Si: I agree with @aeon and @Asa here in that there are no "superior" functions. They are all there in every individual. I highly suggest reading(and I'm giving a bit of a "shout-out") some of @Ren's blog posts on cognitive functions, as well as his excellent book The Ecstatic Soul: A New Look At The INFJ Personality for a good and in-depth look at the metaphysical nature of the INFJ personality, as well as how it differs from the ISFJ, who are a lot like INFJs but have Si in their dominant function. In my opinion, they are simply different and not at all superior/inferior. I really don't like a lot of the online comparisons of personality types with IQ-score, college degree status, and career patterns. It really boxes people in, imo, beyond what is practical, healthy, and true based in real world experience. From my experience, Si-doms, and specifically ISFJs, are very smart, saavy, and "smooth" people. A good popular example of the ISFJ personality would be the U.S. President Barrack Obama. They also have a wide range of expressive capability, in relation to INFJs. They make up about 15% - 20% of the population (which is why, from my pov, most people won't see anything particularly special about an INFJ, nor is there anything strange or different at first glance about an INFJ person, because they very easily blend in with 15 - 20% of the world's ISFJ population). Si is extremely good at paying close attention to details, hard facts, familiar objects, and particular items. ISTJs can be very "powerful". A good example would be someone like Amazon CEO's Jeff Bezos. Te is often perceived as the "power" function. However, no function has "power" alone. Fi is the best counter to Te. A good recent example of this is the current Russia/Ukraine conflict. I think of Russia's direct and forceful bombardment of Ukraine as a very Te-style form of power. You overwhelm your opponent to force them into submission. I think of "Fi" as the necessary element of war, that in order to hold your newly won territory, you must win over "hearts and minds". So even if Russia takes over the capital of Kiev, that will not stop Ukrainians from resisting the Russian power structure. All functions can be "powerful", especially if used optimally. There are because of INFJs rarity, unfortunately, not a whole lot of great modern-world examples of "powerful" INFJs, in the proverbial sense of "power". But there are examples of successful and highly influential INFJs(which are found here on the forum). They are especially influential as "Big idea" people, saints, martyrs, philosophers, model-builders, artists, humanitarians, and authors. They need the acceptance and cooperation of a social or ordinal system in order to do this, imo.
- Have I had similar experiences[of "premonitions" I assume?]. Yes, all the time. I have seen all kinds of layers of reality, too. I won't divulge in this talk too much though. Nobody cares. It's a lot of the same stuff people make fun of and say, "it's outside of reality". Or, "what have you been smoking"? It's shit. The key is being able to use this perception for the better ends of the world, the people around you, and the systems that hold up our reality as it is in place.
A final note: On this forum, and this is just a neutral observation, I see a lot of talk about "power"; and I admit, it strikes me because I don't hear people talk about these notions very often or so directly and openly outside of the forum. But it seems very important to a lot of people who come on here for some reason. Not a bad thing - it's just something I notice. I really liked the blog post by
@John K Accountability and Power, which gives a thoughtful examination on some of the aspects of seeking leadership and positions of power that don't often get talked about. All in all, all power ultimately belongs to a higher power(s) found in the universe, and I mostly see us mortals, and especially the INFJ, as a "vessel" for communicating the power of truth, faith, and love.
