common stereotypes about Si (introverted sensing)

[Aylen]

Having Si as my role and being a core 4 I believe makes me more sensitive to certain aesthetics and balance. One thing that will bug me is looking at something that is crooked (picture on the wall) and I can spend some time trying to arrange things a certain way that feels "right" to me. Sometimes "right" includes arranging something in a way that makes it look "accidentally" messy good, like it happened without effort. I was recently talking to a forum member about redecorating my room. I had the hardest time imagining a certain shade of eggplant, matching an item I really wanted which was more burgundy and deep dark gold. Every time I closed my eyes and saw it in my mind it just didn't look right but something was compelling me to buy it anyway.

When the item arrived, and I put it all together, everything just matched so perfectly and I was happy with the outcome. I think what was bothering me is that colors on the internet are not always going to look the same when you get the item but I took a chance primarily based on my intuition and somehow it worked. The item was big and expensive enough that I would have had to make other big color changes if it didn't work. I had a backup plan btw and that will also work so it all turned out fine. I am not sure how much Si played a role in all that but it can get overwhelming if I focus on it too long and I have to shut it down. Ni is effortless to me. I imagine Si is effortless to an Si lead and is sort of automatic. It is like an intuition too but through the inner senses first.

My cousin is SEI by socionics standards. She is also an artist and loves to cook for large groups of people. I am not sure if that is directly related to Si. She has very specific needs when it comes to her comfort. She sleeps with a mask and earplugs every night and cannot sleep well without them. She sleeps on her back for hours and hardly moves position. We used to tease her that she slept like the dead. She has very strange habits that I don't get. She has a darkness to her but it is like a shadow that walks behind her even when she is in the lightest mood. At times I looked at her and felt as if I were watching someone in a perpetual state of mourning no matter how good her life was or how big her smile was. I later found out it was apathy due to her feeling stuck. She is much better since she got married though. I think having a stepchild helped her feel connected. She never wanted children so it was surprising to the family when she met him and was all in doing things for and with the kid a mother would do.

My youngest sister is ESE and she will cook or bake now and then but she is more of an adventurer than a homebody (like my cousin). I was reading Jung's description of Si and I felt like it captures the essence of my cousin very well. In a way she is still a mystery to me even after we lived together as children and for a while as adults. I seriously wonder what is going on in her head sometimes. I think she is very intelligent but was labeled developmentally "slow" and people would often ask me what was wrong with her. Nothing is wrong with her. That is just how she is and she is so creative/talented. I think it shocks people when they realize she is a true artist. She always looked the part. I think she is probably a core 4 too although I considered sx 2. She has a seductive energy to her and an ethereal beauty, at times, if you look at her a certain way. In many ways she was selfish and spoiled because everyone always gave her a break. She often played dumb in order to avoid unpleasant conversations. Even now she will often take a long time to answer you even if she is looking you right in the eyes. It can be unnerving to those who don't know her. She can also use her Fe in a very extroverted way which contrasts her usual quiet demeanor. I get a sense that she is haunted on a very deep level but cannot find the words to express it so it comes out in her art, the jewelry she makes, and the art she has chosen to tattoo on her body. When she lived with me she was a dancer...

Now contrast all that with the idea she now a regional manager for a furniture store and was promoted to that position. I have never seen her at work but I wonder how her employer sees her. How did she get the position...She is one of the most Te polr people I know.

The Introverted Sensation Type

The predominance of introverted sensation produces a definite type, which is characterized by certain peculiarities. It is an irrational type, because it is oriented amid the flux of events not by rational judgment but simply by what happens. Whereas the extraverted sensation type is guided by the intensity of objective influences, the introverted type is guided by the intensity of the subjective sensation excited by the objective stimulus. Obviously, therefore, no proportional relation exists between object and sensation, but one that is apparently quite unpredictable and arbitrary. What will make an impression and what will not can never be seen in advance, and from outside. Did there exist an aptitude for expression in any way proportional to the intensity of his sensations, the irrationality of this type would be extraordinarily striking. This is the case, for instance, when an individual is a creative artist. But since this is the exception, the introvert's characteristic difficulty in expressing himself also conceals his irrationality. On the contrary, he may be conspicuous for his calmness and passivity, or for his rational self-control. This peculiarity, which often leads a superficial judgment astray, is really due to his unrelatedness to objects. Normally the object is not consciously devalued in the least, but its stimulus is removed from it and immediately replaced by a subjective reaction no longer related to the reality of the object. This naturally has the same effect as devaluation. Such a type can easily make one question why one should exist at all, or why objects in general should have any justification for their existence since everything essential still goes on happening without them. This doubt may be justified in extreme cases, but not in the normal, since the objective stimulus is absolutely necessary to sensation and merely produces something different from what the external situation might lead one to expect.

Seen from the outside, it looks as though the effect of the object did not penetrate into the subject at all. This impression is correct inasmuch as a subjective content does, in fact, intervene from the unconscious and intercept the effect of the object. The intervention may be so abrupt that the individual appears to be shielding himself directly from all objective influences. In more serious cases, such a protective defence actually does exist. Even with only a slight increase in the power of the unconscious, the subjective component of sensation becomes so alive that it almost completely obscures the influence of the object. If the object is a person, he feels completely devalued, while the subject has an illusory conception of reality, which in pathological cases goes so far that he is no longer able to distinguish between the real object and the subjective perception. Although so vital a distinction reaches the vanishing point only in near-psychotic states, yet long before that the subjective perception can influence thought, feeling, and action to an excessive degree despite the fact that the object is clearly seen in all its reality. When its influence does succeed in penetrating into the subject because of its special intensity or because of its complete analogy with the unconscious image even the normal type will be compelled to act in accordance with the unconscious model. Such action has an illusory character unrelated to objective reality and is extremely disconcerting. It instantly reveals the reality alienating subjectivity of this type. But when the influence of the object does not break through completely, it is met with well-intentioned neutrality, disclosing little sympathy yet constantly striving to soothe and adjust. The too low is raised a little, the too high is lowered, enthusiasm is damped down, extravagance restrained, and anything out of the ordinary reduced to the right formula-all this in order to keep the influence of the object within the necessary bounds. In this way the type becomes a menace to his environment because his total innocuousness is not altogether above suspicion. In that case he easily becomes a victim of the aggressiveness and domineeringness of others. Such men allow themselves to be abused and then take their revenge on the most unsuitable occasions with redoubled obtuseness and stubbornness.

If no capacity for artistic expression is present, all impressions sink into the depths and hold consciousness under a spell, so that it becomes impossible to master their fascination by giving them conscious expression. In general, this type can organize his impressions only in archaic ways, because thinking and feeling are relatively unconscious and, if conscious at all, have at their disposal only the most necessary, banal, everyday means of expression. As conscious functions, they are wholly incapable of adequately reproducing his subjective perceptions. This type, therefore, is uncommonly inaccessible to objective understanding, and he usually fares no better in understanding himself.

Above all, his development alienates him from the reality of the object, leaving him at the mercy of his subjective perceptions, which orient his consciousness to an archaic reality, although his lack of comparative judgment keeps him wholly unconscious of this fact. Actually he lives in a mythological world, where men, animals, locomotives, houses, rivers, and mountains appear either as benevolent deities or as malevolent demons. That they appear thus to him never enters his head, though that is just the effect they have on his judgments and actions. He judges and acts as though he had such powers to deal with; but this begins to strike him only when he discovers that his sensations are totally different from reality. If he has any aptitude for objective reason, he will sense this difference as morbid; but if he remains faithful to his irrationality, and is ready to grant his sensations reality value, the objective world will appear a mere make-believe and a comedy. Only in extreme cases, however, is this dilemma reached. As a rule he re-signs himself to his isolation and the banality of the world, which he has unconsciously made archaic.

His unconscious is distinguished chiefly by the repression of intuition, which consequently acquires an extraverted and archaic character. Whereas true extraverted intuition is possessed of a singular resourcefulness, a "good nose" for objectively real possibilities, this archaicized intuition has an amazing flair for all the ambiguous, shadowy, sordid, dangerous possibilities lurking in the background. The real and conscious intentions of the object mean nothing to it; instead, it sniffs out every conceivable archaic motive underlying such an intention. It therefore has a dangerous and destructive quality that contrasts glaringly with the well-meaning innocuousness of the conscious attitude. So long as the individual does not hold too aloof from the object, his unconscious intuition has a salutary compensating effect on the rather fantastic and overcredulous attitude of consciousness. But as soon as the unconscious becomes antagonistic, the archaic intuitions come to the surface and exert their pernicious influence, forcing themselves on the individual and producing compulsive ideas of the most perverse kind. The result is usually a compulsion neurosis, in which the hysterical features are masked by symptoms of exhaustion.

[marooned]

Having Si as my role and being a core 4 I believe makes me more sensitive to certain [COLOR=#333333]aesthetics and balance. One thing that will bug me is looking at something that is crooked (picture on the wall) and I can spend some time trying to arrange things a certain way that feels "right" to me. Sometimes "right" includes arranging something in a way that makes it look "accidentally" messy good, like it happened without effort. I was recently talking to a forum member about redecorating my room. I had the hardest time imagining a certain shade of eggplant, matching an item I really wanted which was more burgundy and deep dark gold. Every time I closed my eyes and saw it in my mind it just didn't look right but something was compelling me to buy it anyway.

i've had these troubles too. this is one reason it is "torturous." i will especially get in this mode sometimes when i'm sick. i'll start noticing colors everywhere and comparing them and it seems to make me even more sick but i compulsively can't stop. and i think that the way in which these things invite in some OCD mindset that i don't want to get into is one of the things i mean by "torturous." if i start noticing these details, i start seeing more and more of them... soon there is no end to them and all the actions they would bring with them. my life at work brings them forward more - things i never wanted to know so much about - and everyone at work becomes quite neurotic about the little details in general, it seems. the details get in your head and start changing your thinking too because you have to think differently to notice them. in my case, it was long experienced as a strain but it's evolved into functional torture instead.

what i've been suspecting is that the main thing that characterizes Si lead is actually its low energy. it is short often on neurotransmitters... it is the most energy conservative type. because it has less "juice" or "fuel" to work with to begin with, it has limited mental resources to allocate. it also has certain pathways in the mind that are readily open to it. the rest depends on the individual. so you will find the Si dominant crafts people out there who inhabit the aforementioned realm and live quite happily there (usually at the expense of the development of other areas in their minds). and you'll find the ones who are very aesthetic in culinary arts, or graphic arts, or interior design, or ballet, etc. for whatever reason a lot of their mental resources ended up allocated to whatever brain region(s) that apply to that, and multiple connections (pathways) were thus formed between that and other regions. this makes it quite versatile and will result in that idea of a 4d IE (advanced aesthetics). i think a suite of certain regions/paths are more readily open to each temperament in general. aesthetic sense is maybe on an easily accessible pathway for all four IPs. i think that often times though Si dominants happen to get to it first in terms of really developing it (not always, just often... for instance i think you can find a lot of Si doms in science fields, but they will have probably allocated more mental resources to developing their logical capacity and it may be at the expense of aesthetics).

so anyway, the challenge for Si lead (and this is fitting with Ne DS) often seems to be finding ways to get more "juice" and to thus expand more of its mind.** some Si leads focus heavily on constantly trying to expand their mental world while others will kind of park in certain areas and stay there. a lot of the most physically crafty older Si leads i've noticed (they actually are often SLI) seem to get kind of stuck in their ways. they devote a huge amount of mental resources to their craft which they are often very skilled at, but they will often have very few topics of conversation and might say the same things every time on them (like a broken record). it's like their DS fct has been almost entirely closed off. (i think the DS fct often has a push-pull way about it in general because when it is open there is too much information coming in and it's hard to process/interpret it all - so there is a resistance with the DS fct as a result.)

i would note though that actually you can find Ni dominants with this problem where they end up on an emotional track about something that deeply bothers them in their life (it's often a little more existential seeming in nature though - the disturbance) and they can just repeat it over and over. although it won't be the *only thing* they are doing usually?

i really think when these kinds of patterns start forming it can mean there's not enough mental "juice" in the system. like perhaps one is very low on dopamine. this causes one to withdraw into reflection and rumination cycles. i was kind of influenced by dario nardi in this thinking because i really relate to the (dominant) right executive center as he described it (it's the executive he noticed meant P > J for myers-briggs types). it is very good at musing and reflecting (at introspection). but when your brain is short of juice it can become all-consuming. it tries to send signals out to the other brain regions asking for help, but there is not enough mental fuel for the signals to be strong enough to connect through. so you can literally get stuck in your mind (in your reflections) with no way out.

it's possible that Si lead is even more likely to get stuck in its reflections than Ni lead... as its journey through its own brain may tend to go more slowly due to often being short on "juice."

i was also thinking that a heavily developed and interconnected right executive is where i was getting my "cerebral Si" idea from. these Si dominants will be very aware of all of their mental process often. they watch their minds, their thoughts, their emotions. they reflect over the past and how they have changed. they use this information to navigate the future. it can *look* a lot like Ni but what it's often missing is large interconnection with symbol meaning. there will be some connection, but it will be less advanced - especially in the first half of life.


(also my main source of info on these thoughts is my own mind which i watch a lot, and my journey with depression - i know what it is like to be short on neurotransmitters and due to getting off my SSRI recently i feel like i've finally put the subjective picture together.)


eta: also, sorry about this too, but i'm trying this picture on... i can see how it can ring true but there are multiple pictures that could ring true and it can be only one of them for the most part. this is the one i've been looking at but i could dismiss it in the future. my perceptions are likely to change a lot with my serotonin overlord gone.

but what this current picture implies is that an information element is just a pattern of certain developed brain regions interacting together and the products of those connection networks. it means there is an arbitrariness to this. it means in a way, that IEs are not real.


**it's the same challenge for Ni lead actually also, but along this idea of Ni lead being the more neurotransmitter heavy of the two, it results in different needs and thus more forging of connections to whatever helps you take actions may be the thing its trying the most to access (Se DS). i think that Si lead can also have weak connections formed to that but it is usually trying to expand its imagination more... it takes it a while to actually completely develop the IP network track so it's not even there yet?