Introverted Intuition vs. Introverted Sensing | Ni vs. Si

[@BuizelCream]

As an Ni user, I definitely find Si to be this mysterious function hard to describe and understand, and I bet it's the same for the Si users finding Ni to be this mysterious function as well.

[@kenthartig7065]

Third slot Si user here. Can confirm that Ni never makes much sense to me. Even with that Se blindspot, this whole running alongside your body rather than within it falls lost on me.

[@Water_droppp]

idk my type for a while now and i think i understand both but i’m quite sure one of them is my driver😭

[@darkrebel123]

Yeah I'm an INFP and I find it hard to understand how Ni is different from Fi-Ne or Si-Ne working together. Like with Ne I can see all the possibilities and filter them through my Fi function or organize them with Si to narrow the one I want to act on. I know Ni is different from this but I can't wrap my head around how it's different. Even with Ne-Si, I'm very good at predicting the most likely future outcome of a situation, so the future orientation typically ascribed to Ni doesn't help me understand it either. I've watched countless explanations on all these functions and I'm still a bit confused lol. Because of this confusion, I mistyped myself as INTJ for years.

[@jagerbaby8628]

Ni has always confused me. Like the way people with Ni speak is so confusing to me. It’s very poetic and spiritual almost.

[@darkrebel123]

As an INFP, I have a metaphor for the relationship between Ne and Si. Together they are like a bookshelf full of books. Ne is expansive and explorative, just like physical books. When I learn a new concept, I file it away on my Si bookshelf in the form of images. Interconnected images. It's an ever-growing spider web of interconnected ideas, concepts, and patterns. Now whenever I have to retreive information from the bookshelf, all I have to do is pull out that book or image in my mind, turn it over in my hands a few times to recover the feeling associated with that image, and as a result of that personal connection I have with the idea, I can then remember whatever understanding I have associated with it. The personal/emotional connection to everything on the shelf is a critical part of the reason I'm able to retrieve the imagery needed.

[@johnknight9150]

The bookshelf, or a library, is already the common metaphor for Si, with Ne being more of a diving board into possibilities from that stable Si basis. So good for you. :)

[@neurodivergentlogic]

Sounds very similar to what I do to retrieve any memory that I have filed away. My mind is a huge shelf, like the shelves from the Department of Mysteries in the 5th Potter movie. Whatever I can see at present is directly at my eye level on the shelf. What is going to happen has yet to emerge from the bottom shelves, so I don't pay much attention to them, because even if i look, the images are vague at best. Then there are the upper shelves, sometimes so high up that I can't hope to reach it even if i stand on my tip-toes on a chair. And climbing a ladder is just too laborious with the height of the shelf. Since the shelves constantly move up with each passing day, I have to put a tag on everything as I place it on the shelf at eye level. Whenever I want to retrieve something from my past, i find the tag that it is attached to. Sometimes this process of finding the tag takes a bit of time. The tag is constructed from the context I was emerged in when I filed the memory away: the place where I was, the activity i was engaged in, the things I was thinking around the time, etc. But once this context-tag is identified, i just pull on it, and the memory that it is attached to, will fall into my metaphorical hands. It is easy. So, I have just now come to understand, via your description, that this is Si. Makes me wonder, whether i am not an Si dom.

[@PowerRedBullTypology]

In a way Ni is more psychology or the "nurture" type of perception whilst Si is more biology or the "nature" type of perception . The Si like the deep rooted biological hardware aspects of ourselves that are unchangable by the imagination, whereas the in this Ni is the focus on the software or nurture side software like parts of our psychology that are changable by the mind. In a way they are both right, but in a way they also both tend to forget the other side and overestimate their side. Where Si can indeed view things as unchangable while there is a possibly to change some aspects about them, Ni can view themselves or things in their enviroment as much more changable than they are (in a sustainbale way) Si is basically like following your instincts. Your instincts guide you towards the things you are made to do, just like a lion's instincts tell it to eat other animals rather than eat plants. After all, it's not really up to him whether to decide to do one thing or the other. So an Si perception would be not to try to fight ones nature, as you are never going to win from nature, just as a crab is never going to win a race from a cheetah as the biology of them predetermined the race. So the crab might as well think: "Ok, I'm not going to win, so why bother trying rather to win at something I'm naturally build for?" and will follow his instincts rather than try to fight his biology because of an idea. Of course one could call the crab fatalistic, because he's not even trying to win and sticts to his biological instincts he deems himself to be build for. However, he is quite realistic and down to earth in his thinking. The Si person will often focus on constants, like let's say their natural talents and weaknesses and build their life around these as being a consistant reality rather than trying to change things about themselves or their enviroment they will possibly not be able to actually change. Ni as the opposite of that and will fully focus on the changable things that they can transform things or themselves and can burn down, yet like a phoenix rise form it's ashes and be or do something totally different. This is why an Ni user more so see things like their life as a sort of story where everything happens for a (meaningful) reason and will progress you further into the next chapter. It's all about the movement and transformation. The protagosist of the story may start as a nobody in the begining and then transform into a superhero everyone loves, as that implies the big change. Ni is of course the more modern and sexy view of things, but the downside is that it can also quite unrealistic (or sometimes even delusional) and can end up denying constants in reality that can not be altered, as they can deny overestimating the changable things compared to the non changable things. For example, these days people are told that they should follow their big dreams, yet often enough these dreams are so big that they are unrealistic. It's like praising the person without any talent for singing trying to become a famous singer. They say "never give up on your dreams" while this person is 99.99% going to fail at this. When there is too much Si and too littel Ni, a person might not dream big enough and choose a simple, yet balanced life without any big extremes or big dreams. However, the chance of them succeeding in doing what they deem themself to be naturally fit for rather than fighting it, is likely higher. _Disclaimer: There is possibly some Se/Ne involved in some of the things I mentioned about the other function in the axis_

[@BuizelCream]

I really love this explanation. I like that the keywords I can takeaway from this is that Si is like instincts guiding what one is made to do, and Ni is like change and transformation (and growth). While Si can learn a lot from Ne to not get stuck in a rut, and Ni can learn a lot from Se to make their plans feasible, it is only here where Ni and Si can both learn from each other the same lessons, but seemingly in a grander scale. With Si, Ni's transformative plans for oneself or the world can become grounded in reality by respecting the design of how things have always been. With Ni, the unknowns for the Si's has the chance to become grounded and make it part of their true reality.

[@Romantica210]

The comparison at 7:10 is really really helpful. When I first discovered mbti I was confused whether I was an INTJ or an ISTJ and this comparison would have helped me know my type much sooner.❤

[@LauraLouLou]

You just blow my mind. I thought I understood this all so much. I thought I was Intuitive for 25 years. I think because the sensory for details seemed like intuition. Like if I hand you what you need before you know you need it, I thought that was intuition. I’ve understood I am an ISTJ for about 4 years now.

[@LauraLouLou]

Alexis, is Si more prone to ADHD? Or could it be a chicken, egg thing?

[@jacobtroxel3428]

top tier content, having Si hero and purposely developing Ni, this was really eye opening.

[@johnknight9150]

That million year old perspective makes me more appreciative and respectful of Si, and certainly easier to relate to, as I think we Ni dominants are 'zoomed out' from time. Have any other INTJs had literal visions, as in the religious/prophetic meaning of the word? Thank you for not paraphrasing the unconscious as "subconscious". That drives me nuts about MBTI youtubers, just as Jung and Freud hated the term.

[@jiangximeng]

I know that I am a ni user based on what happens in my dream after a general anesthesia operation: traveling through a winding tunnel that have my mom's voice in the background reading a story book to comfort me from the reality and screens that play images on the wall, such a mystical experience.

[@jaredvaughan1665]

Socionics refers to introverted intuition as intuition of time. Which goes into the past and future equally. Introverted sensing is referred to as comfort sensing, which includes present sensory intake. Correctly defined Si is no more about past memory than Fi, Ti, or any other function. As Joyce Meng notes, there is Si memory, Fi memory, Ti memory, etc. All functions store memory!

[@Jan-kf7bt]

Alexis I’m loving this series thank you!!! My cousin and I are similar and both typed as INTJ. From this video it’s like seeing each other side by side. I think I’m an INTJ and he’s an ISTJ.

[@jennypage8257]

I’m an ISFJ and I LOVE Timeless as my descriptor! Thank you xx

[@realSimoneCherie]

12:31 very good point. I don't notice shit like that and that's why I married an istj. Personally see my body as just a thing that follows my brain around - I do need it so I can accomplish my mission but it's both dull and overly-complex... it's got too much going on for me to keep really careful track of it. ENTJ

[@ChaosBetwenEchos]

Now im excited for ne vs se vídeo

[@RedHybiscus]

I spend a lot and I mean a lot of time planning - it’s how I made a life for myself but with that said how I feel bth mentally and physically as well as how I look is super important to me as well. I will say this, I truly depend on my ability to develop a vision and then plan for and implement it. I would not have the ability to obtain my creature comforts without that ability so I still think the intuition is primary

[@louie4939]

As Ni user and having si to the 8th function.. means I forget the details of things easily. hahah names, birthday, what day today, hours.. etc.. hahahahah But I can easily explain the general idea or thoughts of all things.

[@michaelpipe5488]

Another very informative and helpful video. Thanks for uploading!

[@westcoastswingmusic]

This is so true and insightful that I got choked up over feeling understood as an Si user. I've been passionate about MBTI since 1989. Yours is the best description and analogy and examples that I've ever seen or heard. The one important detail I wanted to add is that one sentence refers to "things" only to which I would add "experiences" / "memories."" Awesome work! I'm a huge fan!

[@tebohomofokeng6767]

Alexis thank you. You work really hard to help us understand.

[@ogreer]

Big Si words: Routine, Comforts, Duty, Discipline, and MAINTENANCE!

[@Claego]

It's almost like long-term memory vs short term

[@gargervon8697]

I might sum up Ni as implicit processing and Si as explicit processing.

[@KlaudiaPálinkás-y8i]

For me (ENTP) these kind of seem like to achieve the same thing? I mean both Ne-Si and Se-Ni have abstract thoughts and intuition based on the outside information? I think the difference is the order. Or idk. I don't really understand Ni.

[@hemantpatil733]

Could you please make a video that explains how 4 sides of mind works and how and which one is active during different circumstances. Weather unconscious mind is more active or subconscious is more active. Can we work weaker inferior and make it our dominant. 😊

[@johnknight9150]

"Subconscious" is a strongly deprecated term and was a faulty idea disproved by Jung and Freud. It creates an idea that is in reverse of the psyche's true form, like saying the Sun rotates around the Earth. If you're trying to compare the unconscious with the so-called "subconscious", that won't be anything that fits within any classical models of psychology, but maybe an idea of an individual author. Are you perhaps trying to compare the personal unconscious with the collective unconscious? Or maybe comparing Freud's ideas of unconscious vs preconscious?

[@jaredvaughan1665]

Great explanations

[@jaredvaughan1665]

Mbti falsely thinks all SJs value Si more than Se. In reality, Socionics shows that what defines SJs is that they all have sensation in their auxiliary (parent) position. And the introverted SJs actually value narrow Ni thinking/values over different Ne paths. Socionics shows Mbti-ISTJ "Inspector" (Incorrectly defined SiTe) = ISTj = LSI "Inspector" = Correctly defined TiSe = Ti structure logic enforced in the Se environment. IE ISTJ red tape. Mbti-ISFJ (Incorrectly defined SiFe) = ISFj = ESI = Correctly defined FiSe = Fi values enforced in the Se environment. Mbti-ISTP "Craftsman" (Incorrectly defined TiSe) = ISTp = SLI (SiTe) "Craftsman" = Si Sensory Te pragmatism. Mbti-ISFP (Incorrectly defined FiSe) = ISFp = SEI (SiFe) = Si Sensory Fe mood.

[@riverunbounded]

Ne vs Se please! 🙏

[@waykee3]

@Alexis Kingsley: What do you think you believe is your type?

[@fredrikdippel3664]

Mindful might be a keyword for Si users?

[@kenthartig7065]

That's actually a pretty good one. I tend to refer to it as maintenance, but I think that's way better

[@Rishabh-Dev]

Ni/Si User? 😅 People in the west have so much free time.

[@Lara-hq3dg]

I'm grateful we have her in the MBTI community and here on KZbin. I'm absorbing all the knowledge, her content is GOLD .

[@edomoeli1347]

We do ❤

[@Rishabh-Dev]

@@edomoeli1347 Yeah i know. I've been to USA.

[@jaredvaughan1665]

What mbti type are you?

[@vascogamero530]

🙏

[@hemantpatil733]

👍

[@jaredvaughan1665]

Because mbti messed up the introverting sensors' cognitive stack, it messed up Si and Ni definitions. In reality, what mbti calls ISTJ (and Socionics calls LSI "Inspector") leads with correctly defined TiSe = Structure logic enforced in the external sensory 🌎 This means mbti-ISTJs value Ni more than Si. But as Socionics notes, LSI or mbti-ISTJ is better at Si than Ni. So, for them, Si is strong and not valued. Ni is weak but valued and relies on others for external Ni guidance. As Socionics notes, Ni is intuition of time, which is images in our mind about the past and the future. Mbti-ISTJ (LSI) has -Ni. Which means they constantly look for what will go wrong in the future based on past events. Mbti-ISTJ has correctly defined Ni in their mbti tertiary position. They lead with +Ti which Socionics author Gulenko defines as rigid logical thinking. They then use correctly defined Se+ to enforce their +Ti structure logic in the Se world. This is why mbti-ISTJs are great government bureaucrats that enforce regulations and bureaucratic red tape. They have Ne Trickster. Which means they see no other options in doing things outside what their TiSe came up with. Study Wikisocion. It will make you go from great to super great!

[@enlightenedglass7879]

ISTJ enforcing structure towards external= Te but it makes sense that it could look like Ti+Se because Se is in some ways the same as extroversion and Si as introversion- expressing yourself vs supressing yourself, giving experiences vs receiving experiences - or Se likes high energy, highly stimulating activities like fast cars, partying... vs Si in the free time makes themselves comfortable and watches a computer/TV... That's like E vs I. ISTJ looks to the future through Ne inferiour which is scared of what might happen in the future and sees just 1 option for himself because ISTJs Ni demon doesn't care about his freedom of choice. Si has just 1 option so it has to do the 1 option- it's a duty, not freedom, Ni has a lot of options and chooses 1 of them.