how do you interact with sensors? | INFJ Forum

how do you interact with sensors?

elect locution

elect locution

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Feb 24, 2012
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When surrounded by sensors, I tend to just stand/sit silently and feel awkward. When I do manage to blurt something out, it is liable to be so bland that nobody even acknowledges it. This is very frustrating because, like may INFJs, I am both a social and a socially adept person--so I both have the desire to and feel like I should be able to talk with anyone, but I just fucking can't $&#*@$&#@*!!!

"So... nice weather. So... how are you doing? So... I had a sandwich for lunch. So... these chairs are uncomfortable. Uhh... did you get much sleep last night?"

How do you interact with (or act around) sensors?
 
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I used to feel this way around them and would often try to modify my manner of speaking or even what I talked about in order adapt. But that just led to me expending excess mental energy on observing the conversation from a third person perspective, trying to manage my interactions in a way that felt forced and unnatural. Really, that just made the problem even worse.

So now it's just like...fuck it. I merely roll with it and if we connect, fine. If not, fine. Usually we sync up after a few minutes and meet in the middle without much problem.
 
When interacting with sensors I tend to assume a passive role. I'm averse to small talk, but I humor it to marginal degree. If anything is said that piques my interest I'll provide more in-depth responses, but what usually happens is that I entertain the situation as long as it's necessary (while attempting to mask my discomfort) and extricate myself from it when appropriate. On my worse days I experience much like you're describing, though.
 
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/sigh. Yeah; still struggling with that too. NO IDEA WHAT REALLY. At the moment my head is like "okay so what are we going to talk about" "beep." "...what." "beep."

....In a better mood, I can think of random options; random things I seen, I experienced, I thought. And at least I can find a way to think one point of "BUT YOU KNOW WHAT--"

Dammit. Learned lessons, where are you.
 
I would never interact with such disgusting entities. Eew.

No really, stop blaming all negative traits on sensors. That does not make you cooler.

They are people, just like you(?) and me. They can think. Yeah, I swear. They can be intelligent. They can even IMAGINE THINGS!!! OMG!!!
 
Idk, I just talk about myself no matter what.
 
Majesty said:
I would never interact with such disgusting entities. Eew.

No really, stop blaming all negative traits on sensors. That does not make you cooler.

They are people, just like you(?) and me. They can think. Yeah, I swear. They can be intelligent. They can even IMAGINE THINGS!!! OMG!!!
Click to expand...


It should go without saying that sensors can be wonderful (or awful) people same as intuitives. I was just fishing to see if there were any INFJs who have successfully and consistently bridged the conversational chasm between themselves and sensor types.
 
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If I feel I'll be able to connect with them, I'll ask about their hobbies/interests and we might be to relate to each other. In the case of the many I don't connect with, they'll just give me tons of boring information about their lives while I sit their saying: 'yes, yes, mhm, yes, yeah I understand, I agree' and so on-- I'll give these people no information about myself. If I'm dealing with nosy annoying sensors (gossipy barbers/small town taxi drivers) I'll answer their questions with lies. Joining a cult in Brazil, etc. The few ISTP girls I've met online have been pretty cool. It certainly can be a frustrating experience.
 
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I find common ground with them.

Lately, the common topic has been physics.
 
Sensors can be wonderful even if at times on an obviously different wavelength. If they are ESFJ, for example, I can appreciate their emotionality. Some or most sensors also enjoy physical horseplay, and my childlike Se can be enjoyed through that. When I need time to do my nerdy hermit shit, I just retreat to the library or to my room :)
 
Try to understand them, and try to take interest in the sensory world. Then show your interest in that and in them. If you have no interest in their world, then you probably shouldn't bother talking to them, but it's probably a good skill to at least be able to feign interest and caring.

Honestly I don't really understand a lot of what is supposedly different between "sensors" and "intuitives".. so I don't really know how to respond to this or give advice to INFJs. From what I've seen of INFJs in person, they seem to do just fine interacting with "sensors". Maybe try to be less of a weirdo at first and give them time to warm up to you? That's pretty obvious/general advice though. I think sensors generally like having a reason to talk about things, and usually wouldn't feel like they have to make idle conversation with strangers. Just be a nice person and do your own thing and try to be aware of behaviour that might freak people out. I don't know what else there is to say.
 
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Some sensors can annoy me. It's like they are incapable of thinking in the future. My sister used to be a strong sensor until she caught her boyfriend of 4 years having an affair. She became really depressed and lost weight. I remember when I saw her at her college graduation it killed me, the girl must have weighed 90lbs. She had heart break written all over her. She eventually recovered but in the process she transformed into a strong intuitive. Yesterday morning she told me she had a bad dream that people were telling her she thinks too much. Its weird because she used to always criticize me for thinking too much.

She got her heart broken so bad that it completely changed her thinking process. I wish I could turn her back into the sensor that I used to have difficulty communicating with. Lately I find myself acting like a sensor around her because I don't want to feed her intuitive thinking.
 
chulo said:
Some sensors can annoy me. It's like they are incapable of thinking in the future. My sister used to be a strong sensor until she caught her boyfriend of 4 years having an affair. She became really depressed and lost weight. I remember when I saw her at her college graduation it killed me, the girl must have weighed 90lbs. She had heart break written all over her. She eventually recovered but in the process she transformed into a strong intuitive. Yesterday morning she told me she had a bad dream that people were telling her she thinks too much. Its weird because she used to always criticize me for thinking too much.

She got her heart broken so bad that it completely changed her thinking process. I wish I could turn her back into the sensor that I used to have difficulty communicating with. Lately I find myself acting like a sensor around her because I don't want to feed her intuitive thinking.
Click to expand...

That's fascinating and sad Chulo.
Maybe the intuitive was always there, it just took awhile to really blossom.
 
I tend to do fine with sensors, the problem is when I get too involved with them, and eventually get disappointed with their action and behavior- they seem to repeat mistakes over and over again without much thought or reflection.
 
Poorly.

I met some today. At least two. Probably three. It was awkward to just plain uncomfortable.
 
I can't answer this question. It's impossible to know someone's type unless they tell you directly, so I never make judgments or decide for myself that someone is one type or another without really knowing.

I interact with people on an individual basis, interact somewhat differently with different people accordingly, but this goes beyond MBTI and involves actually getting to know people. How can I determine how I interact with sensors, when the vast majority of people in my life either aren't familiar with MBTI, and thus haven't tested as one type or another, or, well, that I don't bring up MBTI in everyday conversation?

I find that sometimes people decide that others in their life are a certain type without actually knowing this information, and that they then use the experiences with these people who may not actually be that type to judge the type in its entirety based on their limited observations of someone whose type isn't verified. I fear that this could lead to some pretty severe misunderstandings.

Perhaps some day I will actually interact with known sensors, and then I can let you all know. As it is, I interact similarly (and well) with a wide variety of people I am sure are a wide variety of types, and that's not including what makes up the rest of their personalities. When I interact with people, I guess on a surface level I just try to do so with decency and respect, regardless of the person and what their type may be.
 
[MENTION=4598]hush[/MENTION]

I'm kinda getting the feeling this MBTI thing is a new toy for people. I think it has some basis, but I'm not convinced I'd base major decisions on it. Maybe I think more to your point, I don't know how good I am at typing other people and making decisions based on that. And there is a part of me that wonders if I'd throw away a good person based on something I made up about MBTI. I'd rather trust instincts than personality types.
 
What thread starter and some other people here are forgetting is that we have a sensor function too - Se! And we need it, we need to cherish it, use it, and nurture it, so sensors can help us do this, hang out with them and enjoy the ride - they will make you Ni spin even faster, too, because I find you need sensory input to do intuitive things. Sensors are great people, and they have intuitive functions too, you're not like from some other world. But what you'll find is if you talk and push a sensor around, they will get drained, and if they don't have a respect for the fact that your S is weaker than theirs, you will feel drained. Hanging out with an ESTP might actually cause your hear to stop, if there's not alot of great respect for each others involved.

Don't try to play the S game at their level, but you have it in you to talk about sensory stuff, just try to wrap them in some intuition, like, talk about flowers adn nature and kittens and things you care about, if you don't do any sensory stuff at all and just sit in your house all day, I'm sure you will have a hard time communicating about sensory stuff..
 
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Some sensors seem to be especially good politically, others in terms of logistics.

I talk strategy and tactics with sensors - and l always learn a lot. It seems at times that sensors know how to do certain things extremely well, without understanding the principles of how they do what they do - it's almost like instinct. I study what they do, to establish the principles, that can be of use to me.


Most sensors are also slightly flattered when you're interested in their approach to things.
 
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