Question about Ni

[palettesirens]

Do you guys relate to this?

It can even see patterns and trends from the present and past and extrapolate them into the future. Unfortunately introverted functions are not oriented toward communication, and the thought process for Ni is unconscious so the person is only aware of the result but not how they got there. This means that NJ's seem to have a way of just "knowing things", but they will be unable to adequately explain how they know.

This is the one thing about Ni I don't relate to... if I'm making an assumption I'll know straight away it's an assumption and can usually identify how I got to that assumption.

When you're consciously guessing are you using Ni? Some DomNis have said it always wrecks the endings of books for them for example, or it's obvious what someone's going to do next... I don't think I can extrapolate patterns into the future like that. Well okay I knew Harry wasn't going to die, as if she would kill off the "the boy who lived"!! But seriously, most of the time I don't make correct guesses/predictions. I'm better at not being surprised that something happened than knowing that it was going to happen. I can see how things connect upon reflection and thus give the event meaning. Does that make my Ni a little slow/backwards?

I also have a fear of my intuition being wrong so I don't even let myself attempt to "know without knowing how I know" and instead try to dissect these intuitions instead. Maybe that has something to do with it so that aspect of Ni is somehow underdeveloped? Is that even possible? :/ Whenever I'm wrong I get really discouraged and will be afraid to listen to any further hunches until I sort of just...stop having some.

There have been times where my subconscious has given me a quick result/"aha" moment, and yeah it would be pointless trying to explain it to someone, but it didn't predict the future because it had nothing to do with the external world. (I don't have these as often anymore now that I've been consciously trying to understand Ni). It was just a re-shifting of perspective where I had synthesised another aspect of my worldview. I can be aware of how the perspective was before it transformed, catching a quick glimpse of which data positioning had to be shifted, although I quickly forget about it after excitedly embracing the new model.

Some people reckon Ni and Ne aren’t separate functions which overlap but that intuition exists on a continuum. So it’s just a matter of where my intuition and its results are directed? I've had hunches that were correct about people but most of my intuitions are about the right future for me and what my purpose in life is.

When you just "know" something, what is it exactly that you know? When certain people will call you back? Whether or not Jesus is really coming back? What is your Ni most useful for?

 

[Lurker]

My Ni isn’t related to any kind of super natural knowing, it’s just like the description suggests, seeing patterns that exist and understanding their inter-relation and consequences. I do often struggle to explain why unless I actually think about it and if I don’t have to explain it to someone else I often won’t bother, if I accept it to be true I’ll move on to a practical use.

I don’t think being cautious about using Ni is a sign it’s weak, maybe it suggests you use it without realising *shrug* Just a question though, are you sure about being INFJ?

 

[Wyote]

For me, I think I am best at knowing things in movies and television (funny you mention Harry Potter). I have freaked people out before actually because I will say "____ is going to happen to that character" or "I bet this will end in ____" and it's not as if I have even been analyzing or paying a lot of attention or anything... sometimes I get that feeling within the first two minutes of watching something. I'll be so certain about it that I will basically state it like a fact and whoever I am talking to will respond with something like "oh really? You've seen this before?" And when I say no, I get a weird look.

It even makes me feel strange sometimes, when I'm right. And I usually am. After I make some such "prediction" I can sit and think about it for a little while and then explain why I felt that way, but it usually involves a lot of details about my thought process and inferences I make and information I gather that others don't for whatever reason.

 

[HolySmoke]

Sometimes, perhaps at least in my case, knowing what happens in movies seems obvious because we understand the human need for plot and drama and how it can play out to entice the viewer in ways that may seem obvious.

I can do this with sports...the few times I watch I can predict in advance things in football, Tae Kwon Do. Bizarre. Embarassing. In my sons Tae Kwon Doe some kid may be trying to cut a board and I'll look away because I know in advance they'll get hurt. I can't tell you how many times I see it coming, but they make them do it again to get beyond the fear, so right before contact I exert something - i dont know - a mental push - and they get it. I wouldn't mention it other than the fact that it has happened so many darned times that I almost have to wonder what the hec is happening, but somehow am used to it. This is hard, guys...

Lots of deja vus.

Other really strange things have happened to me which makes me really wonder what reality i live in.

Feel free to doubt me. Just had to let that out there. I know it's somehow real, but again, have kept this quiet for a long time. My husband is the only other who has known about this until now.

 

[gloomy-optimist]

Ni...I don't really know how well this function works in me. I mean, I know it's there; I just never really thought about it before.
I do predict things. I don't watch a lot of tv or movies though, so I can't really name a lot of great examples. But I can predict what a person might do in a situation fairly accurately, etc.
I guess it shows up more in academics for me; I readily understand complicated things in literature, and I can easily connect things that don't seem obvious. And I usually "know" how I got there, but I wouldn't know how to explain it. Or if I tried to, it'd come across as really strange to others...

 

[Wyote]

Hey Smoke, that reminds me. When I use to watch ISKA a lot on tv I was pretty good at guessing whether or not a guy would break all the bricks. I'd probably be even better at guessing if I saw it live, but I think I know what you are talking about. I can just look at them and sense whether they really have the right amount of determination to pull it off or something.

 

[HolySmoke]

Cool. Glad you recalled it.

I don't know if I'm a skeptic or in denial or what here. Hard to say, but the problem that up to now I have privately always felt that I had some direct impact there while at the same time thinking, easy now, don't go there b/c that is probably some form of narcissism, except for the fact that it happens quite often...that is, thinking that I have impact on those outcomes. Perhaps it happens more often that I am seeing. I don't know what it means or what capacity I have to expand upon it. Someone else needs to draw me out on this...It is all just a weird series of events and occurrences that seem to have meaning. I think perhaps we need to create a thread on this b/c i need others input to see if i am not alone.

 

[NobleKnight]

Do you guys relate to this?



This is the one thing about Ni I don't relate to... if I'm making an assumption I'll know straight away it's an assumption and can usually identify how I got to that assumption.

When you're consciously guessing are you using Ni? Some DomNis have said it always wrecks the endings of books for them for example, or it's obvious what someone's going to do next... I don't think I can extrapolate patterns into the future like that. Well okay I knew Harry wasn't going to die, as if she would kill off the "the boy who lived"!! But seriously, most of the time I don't make correct guesses/predictions. I'm better at not being surprised that something happened than knowing that it was going to happen. I can see how things connect upon reflection and thus give the event meaning. Does that make my Ni a little slow/backwards?

I'm still trying to figure some of this out. Personally, I completely relate to the quote about Ni you presented at the beginning of the thread. There happens occasionally though, when I am consciously aware of exactly how a conclusion is reached on the spot and can verbalize it. Even then, it still seems weird to people. But because introverted intuition almost exclusively centers itself around subjective values, hidden meanings and possibilities, and things below the surface of an object rather than on the object itself, it typically relates to the future i.e. how something "should be" or "ought to be". For this reason, I think what you may be describing is the exercising of a more tertiary function, maybe Si, which typically centers itself around the object at hand, rather than the many hidden possibilities or "the big picture". That's just a thought though and I could be wrong. I just have never experienced Ni in the way you described. Whenever I exercise it (and it is exercised almost continually), it always relates to "the big picture" and how things fit into it. I constantly dream about and envision the future, being almost never interested in the way things currently are. I really relate to what you said Smoke. Yes, lots of deja vu experiences and what you said about understanding the human need for plot and drama speaks volumes to me.

 

[HolySmoke]

Thank you for that reply. My husband is very much like this...He can conceptualize the larger picture brilliantly. It's an incredible ongoing intuition. We were discussing this exact thing tonight. He makes these huge broad sweeping and inspiring observations, while somehow I have these daily, highly symbolic occurences/experiences. It's like when you go to the bookstore and find that perfect book that seems to just land on your lap. That kind of thing all around. I introduce an idea (often conceptually only in my mind) and it seems to permeate my environment and bounce back by someone else who seems to pick up on it. It is more direct and instantaneous. I almost expect it now, but it is more pronounced lately. The deja vu thing is another thing that is longer in play. I could have something happen 10 years later...