The Nature of Intuition | Page 3 | INFJ Forum

The Nature of Intuition

How, in your words, would you define intuition? (both in terms of MBTI and personality, as well as in other contexts.) What do you think is the nature of intuition?
What makes intuition unique, how does it work, and what sets it apart from other cognitive abilites/functions?

just some questions and FFT.


I can only answer for myself, not others.

For me, intuition is sort of a link. On one hand, it is a link to self-preservation.

I might have an intuition that opening that door has some unknown, but immediate danger. When the
 
Well, in my interpretation Intuition perceive something 'behind' concrete.

Classy example of mine, but it is a bit polarized: imagine a graph, x axis is time, y axis is the value. Imagine the next values for example: 3, 5, 11, 9, 15, 26, 29, 29, 32, 38, 35. Well, in this polarized example Sensing only stores the values, but stores them precisely, much more precisely than Intuition. Whereas Intuition perceives and stores the obvious rising tendency without much attention to the exact values.

Again this is really polarized, and people in this low level use both. But this is the nature I think: Sensing sees the tangible, the concrete, whereas Intuition sees 'behind' it and makes connections to other abstractized observations.

I'm not saying Intuition is 'better' or 'more' because even if it sees 'more', it neglects much of the concrete information which makes way for quick and effective decisions.

I think it's really the same with the judging functions as well: Thinking deduce upon what is 'there', what is logical, material, whereas Feeling 'sees more' it looks behind the reality and takes into account more the personal involvements of consequences of an action. It can do it, because it really sees human behavior in a way Thinking does not.

Again, Feeling is not 'better' it's just not the same: even if it's more people- or value-orientated, it manages not to be able to measure all the logical aspects of an action.
 
Note I wrote a few months ago on how I perceive Intuition:

In a sense we are always translating. The brain interprets a deluge of external stimuli which then swims in the mind, undulating like waves and shifting like sand toward the surface of what can be expressed in words. And like the ocean, most of these interpretations remain contained in the mind. Our lips slowly churn the remnants into makeshift sounds, words, sentences. It is this, the unfathomable ocean within our consciousness, that speaks quiet as autumn's shore. And the language is wholly other.
 
Someone said it. Sensors think in terms of x to y to z. Intuitives combine them all at once, without thinking about it. Then when you are explaining to a sensor, they always ask so where is the xyz oppose to intuitives who naturally understand your points and you don't have to explicitly describe every detail to them. Sensors think in terms of black and white. Intuitives have a lot of gray area.
 
Someone said it. Sensors think in terms of x to y to z. Intuitives combine them all at once, without thinking about it. Then when you are explaining to a sensor, they always ask so where is the xyz oppose to intuitives who naturally understand your points and you don't have to explicitly describe every detail to them. Sensors think in terms of black and white. Intuitives have a lot of gray area.

I think, for the most part, this is correct but there are some generalizations. Sensors still do use intuition and intuitors still use sensing. It's a matter of preference.