I just wanted to briefly respond to this. you were right, I was being stupid. After talking to hkkmr/point and xerx about historical patterns (both self-identified ILEs, if I recall correctly) I realized how differently we viewed history. To me, history has a pattern which cannot be escaped. To them, they were very quick to bust me about other possibilities.
On another MBTI site, someone said this to me in a discussion to differentiate between the two. "[Ne types] are content to ~describe~ the historical record with little discrimination to time, place, or party. They seem to view the historical record as an all-purpose toolbox where every incident is significant in its own right ...With the Ni types, rather than being content to describe the evolution and patterns of history itself, they are interested in coming up with some mental schema of their own design, which they then superimpose on the historical record. Once the pattern is imposed, the historical record is no longer an all-purpose toolbox from which you can pick and choose at your leisure; which events that are significant is now determined by the pattern that has been imposed on history, ~prescribed~, as it were. Events are therefore less significant in their own right, but rather significant in relation to the overall pattern."
On another resource on the site, this was said, "If a person has an Se/Ni axis, then that person’s observations will be more singular and intense The person will stress one point of view (Ni)...On the other hand, if a person has an Si/Ne axis, that person’s observations will be more multifaceted, drawing upon multiple perspectives at once."
I also looked at a functional breakdown of Nietzsche and Socrates (ENTP), pointing out that Nietzsche was indulgent (Se) while Socrates was ascetic (Si).
I also remembered being frustrated with Daniel Dennett (ENTP) despite us being interested in similar phenomena (club) due to his total unwillingness to commit to a viewpoint on anything he talked about. On the other hand, Oswald Spengler's (INTJ) historical overlay remains hugely influential on my thoughts today.
So I've recovered from my temporary bout of insanity. To be honest, both my sense of own personality and command and comfortability with this system is more tenuous then I let on. Other people knocked me off course; sometimes I am prone to seeing outside conversational input as a bastardized form of peer review, where this may not be the case in all situations. In any case, just wanted to express my gratitude for your incisive and clearheaded perspective. (that was a lot more long winded than I intended).