Is anyone able to explain (using analogies or examples - rather than a text book definition) of what sensing is? I understand - by which i mean - i am aware consciously (of both introverted and extraverted) within myself (and others) of feeling, intuition, judging and perceiving but i am not easily able to identify what sensing actually is.
if anyone could help explain i would be much appreciative.
Just look at the blue sky
For/to me Jungian Sensing -- as constrasted with iNtuiting -- most closely resembles apperception.
Where apperception is sensing via the senses PLUS pattern recognition as facilitated by memory of past experiences.
It's interesting that you mentioned analogy because many/most sensors SUCK at analogy and analogical reasoning.
I'd venture that functional fixedness is at it's worse with sensing J types, though Judgers in the main are probably more prone to functional fixedness and `inside the box' cognition than Perceivers in the main.
Jungian `sensing' is a misnomer in that MEMORY of past events and activities is absolutely required to serve as look-up table for whatever is triggered by sensory stimuli; apperception sans analogical expansion of patterns recognized/apperceived seems the crux of it.
Just my take on it ... I've never seen it described this way.
That's because of the literal and figurative escapism inherent in Perceivers. We're a mentally claustrophobic breed. A Perceiver type thinks outside the box because the moment they see the box, their reaction is "Fuck! I've got to get out of this box! I can't think in here!"Originally Posted by gps
I am mine and thou art thine.
What?! That's your iNuitive doing that because the box is on the ground and your head is the clouds. P/J is how a person organizes and lives their life.
That's my poop stirrin' stick- Don't touch it! You don't know which end is the handle..
As I understand it, sensing is our ability to process and decode external stimulus (our environment) using our senses. Decode here means be aware of and understand. The more it is used or it's order of preference, the more apparent it is. Jungian typology has it that people who uses extraverted sensing often reports/describes events using words that are tactile, aural, gustatory, or olfactory. They describe these events as they are, happening in the present, without necessarily having to access past memories. Meanwhile, introverted sensing users tend to be cognizant of a stimulus and decode through layers and layers of past events accumulated through observation - i.e. their previous reaction to such stimulus, how and why. At best, they 'introspect' what they are sensing.
First, you have to differentiate Se (extraverted Sensing) from Si (introverted Sensing).
Speaking of Se first: Se notices someone walking down the street and comments on their posture, gait, looks, etc. Se notices your clothes and makes a comment as to whether those clothes are appropriate for the season, or whether the colors are a good match. Thus, Se is about interacting with immediate appearances and welcomes novelty in input.
Then compare how Si works: Si looks at a friend or family member and notices that he or she has lost a couple pounds since the last visit, IOW Si compares the present picture to a library of past pictures of the same subject. So Si is about the change in one’s appearance and seeks the familiar in order to make comparisons.
Se is about appearances; Si is about changes in appearances.
As for how an INTP might identify Sensing in themselves: INTPs are Si-users, and there's one additional feature of Si that deserves pointing out.
Si intercepts, stores, and categorizes lots of data. Then it compares the data to each other to determine "best practices" for doing things, determine progress in things (change over time), etc. From that, Si-users can then generate rules and "automate" lots of daily routines for the sake of increased productivity: What's the best place to buy furniture, quickest way to put on make-up in the morning, best way to maintain their checkbook, etc. (I was married to an ISTJ for 10 years, and she was one of the most productive people I've ever known.)
It's this rule-making function that makes Si-Doms and Si-Auxes good at such jobs as the military, police, etc.: They love the standardization and automation of procedures for greater productivity, resulting in a natural affinity for environments that favor rules.
How would INTPs use this function? They use it to streamline and automate secondary and auxiliary processes, so they don't have to devote energy to them in the future: Like dressing the same way every day for work, parsing out the most efficient route to and from work (Ti) and then automating its use to the point that it becomes second nature (Si), etc. Ever the good rationals, INTPs actually use their Si a lot to clear their daily life of distractions and petty details, so they can concentrate their energies on the stuff that really matters to them.
See the following Dilbert comic, on the same note (It's the July 12, 2014 comic, if the link doesn't work):
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2014-07-12/
Last edited by RDF; 07-17-2014 at 08:33 AM.
i have noticed that generally i notice when something changes more so than what currently is. for example, i may not perceive my desk as messy, but if something gets moved i notice the desk is different. is this what you mean when you describe Si ?
i understand the additional feature you mentioned, and the thanks for the comic, it also explains it quite simply and effectively
Just look at the blue sky
That's not precisely what I meant, but that's an interesting spin on it, and yeah, that could be a manifestation of it. Like INTPs, INFPs also have Si in the Tertiary and I've noticed the same kind of thing.
As for what I meant in my previous post:
Extraverted functions (Ne, Se, Fe, and Te) react to things in the outside world. They are ad-hoc and geared for quick fixes. By comparison, Introverted functions (Ni, Si, Fi, and Ti) pull a closed set of data down into an internal laboratory and work out the principles underlying them (using comparison, relations, juxtapositions, etc.).
For example, compare Te and Ti (extraverted Thinking and introverted Thinking):
As I see it, Te operates on an ad-hoc basis, coming up with real-time organizational tools for real-time problems. Ti, on the other hand, takes problems down into an internal laboratory and works out tools for that problem as well as a number of related problems, i.e., it works out a personal logical system for handling a broad array of similar problems. In that respect, Ti derives a kind of internal "delta" of Te. That is, it tracks lots of Te possibilities and works out an internal, personalized Ti system for handling them.
So in that sense (as I see it), the introverted functions represent a "delta" of the extraverted functions. And that's what I meant by "Se is about appearances; Si is about changes in appearances." Se notices what's happening in the real world, whereas Si keeps a library of Se-based data and makes comparisons in order to analyze changes and derive rules describing best practices.
But getting back to what you mentioned: Yeah, that could be Si working in a passive capacity, IOW, demonstrating that you've filed away data on what your environment looks like and signaling to you that what you're seeing currently doesn't match the data that you have on file.
Last edited by RDF; 07-17-2014 at 08:34 AM.
My cheesy little Type Trainer (40 A or B Questions) will help you get a feel of how sensing manifest itself in personality presentation.
http://forums.intpcomplex.com/showth...l-Time-Scoring
A strongly Intuitive person would be most acutely aware of the dichotomy if they worked for a strongly Sensor boss.
>>Realistic
>>Practical
>>By the Book
>>Tried & True
>>"Stop daydreaming and wanting to try an innovative approach that you thought of"
>>Typically, they show a "work with their hands" inclination such as mechanical aptitude, but Intuitive Visual thinkers are also so inclined.
>>Also, the obvious fixations with fashion etc.
>>and they remember B-days and stuff like that.
The next worse rub methinks is to have a strongly Judging Boss for a Strong Perceive.
>>Deadline driven
>>Orderly ~ Things in their place and categorized.
SJs dominate the population and are well suited to careers such as cops and solders.
/2 cents
Creativity is the residue of time wasted. ~ Albert Einstein
When I first read this, I had no idea what a "B-day" was. I tried to contextualize it in the same bucket as "B-sides" or "B-reels". The equivalent seemed to be either a workday, or a workday dominated by planned bullshit--like performance reviews or team building exercises. I always hated when we had big state of the company/team addresses.
Part of it was I never worked out the pattern of it. They just suddenly happened. Maybe there was no real pattern, it was just a "Oh, yeah! We do those every now and then" kind of deal. But mostly... mostly I resented being pulled from my work. I was being paid to sit and listen to blather, but I'd rather have been working.
If the goal was to make a person itch to get back to work... then that was brilliant. But somehow, I rather doubt it was. I most itched in the smaller meetings where it was clear that my co-workers were milking the meeting for down time by asking the same questions over and over in slightly different ways, and getting the same information in slightly different words.
I once got a meeting to adjourn by pounding my head on the table.
Then I remembered what "B-days" actually were, and for a moment, my forehead was in jeopardy.
I am mine and thou art thine.
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