human need for diversity and distraction | INFJ Forum

human need for diversity and distraction

TinyBubbles

TinyBubbles

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Oct 27, 2009
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... contrasts strongly with our simultaneous need for stability and familiarity.

wasn't going to post another thread for a while but i've got to get this out

the mind seems to have an infinite capacity for distraction... for new things, for change, for a better life, for progress.... and our desire for it seems to grow the longer we're involved in the same situations without change

at the same time though, change can be destabilizing, and the comfort of knowing what things are going to happen and when and being assured that you're prepared for them can be very desirable; even paramount, if you've come to expect such predictability.

watch a man focus on a candle flame for a long enough and eventually he'll react to the darkness behind the flame... the flame will lose all meaning because the flame has always been there.. you know what i mean? it might be the same with everyday life, that we're responsive to difference moreso than similarity because difference is the only thing that can potentially improve (or worsen) our lives

what are your thoughts?
 
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distractions are the spice of life.

life is your meal, mostly stable.. you just spice it up a little with change. otherwise it's boring and bland. :(
 
Distractions can be necessary to take us away from painful thoughts or stressful situations. Over indulgence of course takes its toll on my productivity. Have a balance between the two.

If you have a certain way of doing things for a specific task. Something you do day to day for work or at home that is a necessity then I can find comfort in just letting my brain blank out and my body just take care of what needs to be done. Shovel tests are very much like this. Write out ST flag, take bearing, pace thirty meters, check bearing, hang flag, dig shovel test, write up paperwork, fill hole, repeat. Time passes extremely fast. Change up anything in what you are doing and you get pulled back into reality.
 
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Skathac said:
Distractions can be necessary to take us away from painful thoughts or stressful situations. Over indulgence of course takes its toll on my productivity. Have a balance between the two.

If you have a certain way of doing things for a specific task. Something you do day to day for work or at home that is a necessity then I can find comfort in just letting my brain blank out and my body just take care of what needs to be done. Shovel tests are very much like this. Write out ST flag, take bearing, pace thirty meters, check bearing, hang flag, dig shovel test, write up paperwork, fill hole, repeat. Time passes extremely fast. Change up anything in what you are doing and you get pulled back into reality.
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This is a much better answer than my own. I need distractions to help my brain unwind. Otherwise life just seems too dull and/or stressful to handle.
 
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May said:
... contrasts strongly with our simultaneous need for stability and familiarity.

wasn't going to post another thread for a while but i've got to get this out

the mind seems to have an infinite capacity for distraction... for new things, for change, for a better life, for progress.... and our desire for it seems to grow the longer we're involved in the same situations without change

at the same time though, change can be destabilizing, and the comfort of knowing what things are going to happen and when and being assured that you're prepared for them can be very desirable; even paramount, if you've come to expect such predictability.

watch a man focus on a candle flame for a long enough and eventually he'll react to the darkness behind the flame... the flame will lose all meaning because the flame has always been there.. you know what i mean? it might be the same with everyday life, that we're responsive to difference moreso than similarity because difference is the only thing that can potentially improve (or worsen) our lives

what are your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Balance. I think each person tends to find a balance point of comfort between life-refocusing novelty and the stabilizing effect of the familiar. Where that balance point rests varies among people for, at least, reasons of personality and age, I think.

In exploring MBTI, I've observed that while I have a strong need, stronger than many others it seems, for novel experience to refocus me on living, my sense of distress over stability loss in the wake of rapid or overwhelming change is more than others who also seek novelty.

I suspect this has to do with perceptive cognitive functions. My sense is that Ne seeks a higher degree of novelty and at a higher rate than Ni. In general I think N's seek more novelty than S's. I have less exposure to dominant/auxiliary S types, but my suspicion is that Se is probably a higher seeker of novelty than Si. My guess as to the reason the Xe perception types seek novelty more readily than Xi is due to the slower processing routes of introversion. So with introverted perception functions, there may need to be a lengthier adjustment period for effectively and comfortably processing novel input.

I've also been reading about lifespan psychology recently. According to the cited research in my reading, as one ages there is a movement among most people away from the novelty seeking and a stronger emphasis on the stability of familiarity. It appears there is some correlation with diminishing speed of information processing in cognitive abilities and a desire to consolidate effort and minimize the taxing of declining energy levels.
 
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