Two friends compared

[Whoobie77]

Hard to say. This could be the key point, but I have no clear answer. My potential Pe-DS could be described as this: let's imagine I'm navigating a river on a canoe. The river has many streams, and I'm on one of them. For whatever reason, I would like to be on a different one, but I have very little idea how to carry myself from where I am to where I would like to be. I feel like I I am dragged by the current.

As you probably have already imagined, the river is my life and the current is the flux of events. Is this feeling consistent with Ne-DS or Se-DS? I see arguments for both of them. You could change from one stream to another one both by will (Se-DS) and by taking advantage of opportunities (Ne-DS).

Anyway, inertia is a big problem for me.

I agree, this "flux of events" could be either Si or Ni cognition. I think it can be said, though, that you are definitely a Dynamic. I think the difference between how the two perceive the flux of events is that Si is more reminiscent, while Ni is prescient. Si is about storing and reflecting on previous sensations; Ni is the photo negative of the will, and is therefore about trying to predict actions before they happen. I think once you figure out if your orientation is towards the future or the past, you'll have your answer. (With your predispositions towards religion, I have my suspicions.)

An inability to muster up the will to do something sounds more Ni than Si, too.

So with all of this, I agree about Te creative. But deciding between Ni and Si, I'm not sure. I have always thought I'm intuitive because I live in my mind and always have lived in my mind; external interaction with the world is reduced to the minimum. I'm also quite prone to theoretical analysis, not an intuitive exclusive domain, but usually more appealing to them. I do not actively seek pleasant sensoric stimuli as an Si ego would do, and I'm quite hypochiondriac which is apparently non compatible. The closest thing to Si ego that comes to my mind is low tolerance to thermal discomfort and a mineral collection I have since my childhood. Their forms and colors have had always been a bit hypnotizing (shiny, shiny), but never cared too much about other forms of enjoying "external beauty".

So apparently Ni would be the solution but... although my way of reasoning is similar to ILIs (running mental simulations) my final ideas are somehow a bit more tangible, corporeal, more in line to Ne ideas. Some ILIs seem so sunk in their internal framework that when they express an idea it seems they're talking to themselves instead other people. Like if they were unable to put words in a common context which does not depend on their personal subjectivity. Obviously not all ILIs are like this, but some of them are, specially Ni sub variant. I usually do not have this trouble in communication, I do not find problematic to express ideas in a way that could be grasp by everyone, by reducing complexity, using analogies, etc, as Ne egos commonly do.

This fact makes me feel a bit inclined for SLI over ILI, and to consider that my theoretical inclinations and extreme introversion could be caused by E5 instead of socionics aspects. But regardless SLI or ILI, subtype is likely Te, not Pi.

I think the reason why you mistook yourself for ILE might be related to the fact that socionics is a system built around the worldview of an ILE. A guy called the Ex-Socionist once posited that ILE is the integral type of socionics. Like Schopenhauer's idea that outside ideas make an imposition of a consciousness, to be in the world of socionics (or any alien system of thought, for that matter) you have to encumber yourself with a different set of cognitions. When we do socionics, we all become more ILE. I had a similar problem. When I first found socionics, I was certain I was the spitting image of ILI. As I got more entrenched in the system, I started to mistake myself for ILE. Now I'm back to ILI again.

Still, I think Ni types are particularly attracted to analytical psychology because it is founded on the work of Jung, an Ni type. That's why there are so many IEIs on here. I think a lot of Si/Ne types might get easily bored with it because there are myriad of other objective intuitions that are equally possible (20 types, 30 types, etc.) I think it is especially attractive to Gamma NTs, despite their reservations about its Ti reasoning and lack of Te substantiation, because it provides a holistic map of how to interpret people. Newton (ILI) once said, "I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people." Socionics has that so-called hidden knowledge. I think Delta STs are more likely to say "it is what it", taking a very literal, sensoric view of Te, and not penetrating the issue much further. My grandfather is an SLI, I think, and for him, his Ne isn't really verbalized, it more just comes out in quirky bursts of inventiveness, like recently cutting a hole in our unused garage door so our dog can go in and out during the rain.

I think being a hypochondriac might be related to Si devaluing, though I'm not sure. It seems to have something to do with not understanding what is going on with your body. Si users seem to know exactly when they are sick. There's also kind of a stereotype about SEEs being easily hypnotized by shiny objects. Duality in action

While I do agree that Ni has a very subjectivist and solipsistic character to it, I do not agree that Ne is more tangible than it. Because Ne is the realm of objective possibilities, you'll often find that Ne types entertaining idealistic possibilities which still heavily improbable. Yes, Rousseau (EII), it is possible that if we relinquish all societal controls, everyone will come together in peace and harmony. But is it likely? In contrast, Se types are much more likely to "call a spade a spade". I also think this is why there is a stereotype of ILIs being atheists. The ones who are in touch with their Te tend to mercilessly cull all but the most probable (or pragmatic) hypotheses.

Your sig has a quote from Bioshock, a game about exploring a hellhole full of tweaker junkies and human atrocities. It's also a sort of proposed prediction of the end point of unfettered capitalism (It's favorite talking point of most ILIs, like Marx, and Kaczynski). In contrast, when Deltas talk about the "evils" of capitalism, it is often done with a sort of retrogressive pastoralism in their heads. If Bioshock is not Se/Ni, I don't really know what is.

Also, I like the thing about Spain being an Alpha country. I've seen pictures of Barcelona, it looks like SEI puke haha.