I have been worried a lot about the difference about sensing (S) and intuition (N) (MBTI). The people I thought were intuitive and saw patterns and understood what you had to say before you said them, were strong sensors.
I keep getting to a stage where I think at last I understood the difference between S and N only to realize later that I am back to where I started.
Today, i read this (from http://www.thepeopleprocess.com/articles/sensor-or-intuitive.php): Quote from there:
I have known people who went through the same kind of experience "brain literally freezing" until they knew what the objective or context was. But the same people (they are definitely T and I assume they are N) are hardly "big picture" and "lost in thought" kind of people when there is some job to be done. Perhaps it's the J and not the N which makes these people get on with something instead of just theorizing. Maybe the presence of J makes an N very different from the classical definition of the N type.
"The gathering of Information dimension represents the greatest potential for differences between people, since it applies to our worldview. For instance, I am an Intuitive and a couple of years ago did some marketing for a civil engineering company. Most civil engineers prefer Sensing to take in information and when giving information relate it in terms of specific facts, numerical order and systemization. When the engineers I worked with gave me information for a project, my brain literally froze and I couldn't think until I translated the information through my Intuitive frame of reference. I needed to know what we were trying to achieve and the purpose of the project. Once that was clear, I was able to understand what to do with the facts and what information the engineers needed from me. And, I'm sure that when I presented Information to the group of engineers I was working with, my tendency to describe the big picture without the facts leading up was just as confusing to them. Sensors see the individual trees and Intuitives see the forest. Sensors spend a lot of time describing detail and Intuitives can become impatient with this detail preferring the "bottom line" approach to giving and receiving Information."
I have known people who went through the same kind of experience "brain literally freezing" until they knew what the objective or context was. But the same people (they are definitely T and I assume they are N) are hardly "big picture" and "lost in thought" kind of people when there is some job to be done. Perhaps it's the J and not the N which makes these people get on with something instead of just theorizing. Maybe the presence of J makes an N very different from the classical definition of the N type.
When it came to academic theorizing about things not immediately relevant to day to day living, they seemed to be N. But when it came to their daily life, perhaps because of their J, they seemed to be "at it". The N was a private (like "Mr Hyde") part of them. The N nature was obvious by a marked absence of any interest or ability in sensing unless there was an activity to be completed. And no, the ones I know do not have gut feel, intuition etc the kind that feminine nature is supposedly empowered to be with.
The "dark" intuitive nature was not always visible. It came to light only while doing certain activities. And then it would seem like they have become a very different person, an amazing transformation. And these "N's" do not have any idea of the big picture nor can they "read between the lines". They may not have a clear picture / vision of future possibilities as mentioned here and here. They may not be disorganized.
But, they do go beyond the data to see what the data implies - just as Newton saw beyond the apple. Newton saw the "big picture" behind the apple falling. But that was not in real time, it was much later. Perhaps years later. Nor did he read between the lines. I wonder what kind of gut feel or intuition Newton had, or even whether he had any... Would those definitions mentioned in the links above apply to Newton? Or was he Sensing?
I know a person who seems to be a combination of IxTJ and EyFP, almost a dual personality. IxTJ in profession and IyFP in his personal space. One of x and y is S and the other is N. I am not sure whether x is N or y is N. It is interesting to note that the dominant, auxiliary, tertiary and inferior functions of both the times are the same.
The following quotes from http://careerassessmentsite.com/tests/myers-briggs-tests/about-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator/ seems to fit one part of his personality perfectly.
"Adaptable Innovators (NP) are constantly seeking new challenges of the unknown and are able to adjust to new opportunities and possibilities as they arise. They love their creative freedom and are independent and unconventional in their thought and decision making process. They like to explore new solutions for not only new problems, but also old problems that they feel can be improved upon. It is also not uncommon to see MBTI NP types to proceed head-first into challenges that others may see as very difficult or impossible."
About Thoughtful Innovators (IN=Introverted Intuitive): "Non IN Types also have a tendency to judge MBTI IN Types as being too serious and for missing out on many of the aspects of life that are associated with a practical outlook. Thoughtful Innovators are very serious academically and unfortunately the modern workplace does not provide many career fields where individuals can spend the majority of their time on intellectual pursuits."
If one considers the "Openness" scale of 5 factor model, the person would score very low for openness towards experiencing new stuff in the sensory world. The same person would score high in his abstract world of new ideas. How would the 5 factor theory rate such people on openness? Following added on 8th May 2017: I believe that Openness comes from P (as in MBTI) for life events or sensory things and from N for new ideas. Thus NP's will probably be the people most open in many respects.
The following is a quote from
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openness_to_experience:
"A number of studies have found that openness to experience has two major subcomponents, one related to intellectual dispositions, the other related to the experiential aspects of openness, such as aesthetic appreciation and openness to sensory experiences. These subcomponents have been referred to as intellect and experiencing openness respectively, and have a strong positive correlation (r = .55) with each other.""Openness to experience, especially the Ideas facet, is related to need for cognition, a motivational tendency to think about ideas, scrutinize information, and enjoy solving puzzles, and to typical intellectual engagement (a similar construct to need for cognition)."The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) measures the preference of "intuition," which is related to openness to experience. Robert McCrae pointed out that the MBTI sensation versus intuition scale "contrasts a preference for the factual, simple and conventional with a preference for the possible, complex, and original," and is therefore similar to measures of openness. As per http://psp.sagepub.com/content/36/1/82 (this article is quoted in the wiki link above), Need for Cognition (NFC) was more associated with fluid than with crystallized aspects of intelligence. Quote from that article - "NFC to be positively correlated with openness, emotional stability, and traits indicating goal orientation. Using confirmatory factor analysis and event-related potentials, incremental validity of NFC and openness to ideas was demonstrated, showing that NFC is more predictive of drive-related and goal-oriented behavior and attentional resource allocation."
Read this very intriguing article about multiple MBTI types in a single person. This article is worth reading.
Maybe the NTJ's are a weird lot. Note that where I have mentioned N's I refer to NT's.
Sensors have a great memory. N's tend to go beyond storing and retrieving of data. And some N's do not read between the lines. This is a lovely article on the difference between S and N and between NF and NT. Maybe discoveries are made by S. And new theories and inventions by N's.
In the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand the author would mention 2 kinds of people - one who would only read the editorial and one who would read the rest of the paper and not the editorial. Is there a S/N difference among the two types?
I was watching the movie Lagaan where the English lady explains the game of cricket while the hero listens intently to her. The heroine watches the hero's expression and she "senses" something wrong. Now while anyone would have just seen the hero trying to understand cricket from a "coach", the heroine sees something different. What caused it? Her F or N?
Similarly in the Cadbury's advertisement (in Hindi) where a girl is about to serve some refreshments to some a guy called "Sid" and she mocks his accent, mimicking "London, New York", and his talk to her elder sister. The elder sister "intuits" winks at her younger sister and having found that the younger sister actually is enamored by "Sid". Again, the same question: What caused the elder sister to find out?
A quote from http://www.awinningpersonality.com/psychology/the-big-5-personality-traits/agreeableness/: "Abstract thinking is bad for empathy. As Marilyn Manson (and perhaps others before her) said, “The death of one is a tragedy; the death of millions is just a statistic.” "
Does this mean N people are less empathetic than S people? I think the concept of altruism and examples quoted seem to miss one point. How much do altruistic people depend on "inward altruism (= begging or stealing)" - meaning their propensity to derive funds or benefits towards themselves without paying for it in any form or paying substantially less than the market value? Altruism should be looked at as the net contribution made by people (subtracting inward altruism or unfair benefits received) and not just towards payments. Who is the moocher? The ones without empathy or the ones with? Do people consider whether abstract thinkers beg or steal?
Additional reading:
- http://www.intjs.org/intuitive-vs-sensor-communication/ - nice one
- http://thoughtcatalog.com/heidi-priebe/2015/05/10-struggles-of-being-an-intuitive-in-a-family-of-sensors/ - another nice one
- https://www.truity.com/blog/intuitives-guide-getting-along-sensors
- http://www.celebritytypes.com/blog/2013/06/8-common-typing-mistakes/
- http://personalitycafe.com/myers-briggs-forum/98939-my-intuitive-sensing-realization.html
- http://www.slayerment.com/blog/ns-are-smarter-ss-mbti
- http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/02/entrepreneurs-and-employees.html
- http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/10/einstfpj-mbti.html
