Ni and “mental states”
I’ve seen Ni linked to mental states. Does it correspond to the way Si is about physical states? I wonder what a mental state would be then. It’s probably not (just) about emotion because that’s Fe. So does it include something like focus/distractedness? A sense of detachment from the outside world? How do you experience mental states and how does that relate to strong or weak Ni?
Si monitors inner body phenomena, Ni intuites the deeper archetypal objects that these sensations come from. So there is a connection between Si and Ni. Both are introverted but Ni goes deeper. Check out what Jung writes on Ni.
The decisive thing is not the reality of the object, but the reality of the subjective factor, i.e. the primordial images, which in their totality represent a psychic mirror-world. It is a mirror, however, with the peculiar capacity of representing the present contents of consciousness not in their known and customary form but in a certain sense sub specie aeternitatis, somewhat as a million-year old consciousness might see them.
(Jung on Si)
So according to Jung’s description Ni is the perception of mental images as they enter the conscious (while Si deals with physical stimuli). Introverted intuitive types are more sensitive, attuned to whatever happens in their imagination.
Does it build on association – you see/hear/read about something and it brings to your mind something else, apparently unrelated? And then you try to figure out the relation between the two or get preoccupied with the association itself (which may produce associations of its own)… and you lose touch with the “real” thing that started the whole process? That could explain why Ni types are called dreamy, detached etc.
So a mental state and different images would be dependant on each other? A vision or idea influences the state of mind but it must also be proceeded by a certain mental state to occur?And there are probably different kinds of mental states. For example a state where you are so focused on what you’re doing that you don’t pay attention to any mental images or associations. Or the other way around, you feel a “pull” inward and your mind just gravitates to those ideas. You start daydreaming.
So Ni types are able to experience different mental states. Can they also explain what has caused a specific state or predict how something will influence their state of mind? Or even those of others? Can they regulate all that, just like Si types know how to regulate their physical sensations?
Sorry if I’m asking very basic questions, but every time I think I know what Ni is about, I stumble upon some new info that doesn’t fit the framework. Usually all I can do is think of some key words like “sense of time”, “perceiving trends”, “predictions” and then I’m not even sure what to look for in a person to assess their Ni :(
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