Si6 in the wild

[tuathe]

Dear EIIs and LIIs,

Se6 is probably the first one that comes to mind of many of us when we hear about the 6th function - the try-hard one, wanting so bad to be good at a given element but failing miserably. We don't really hear all that much about the other elements in that function, maybe with the exception of Fe, but that's it.

I myself thought I'm pretty decent at Si matters (at least some of them, like decorating and stuff), but recently have been noticing it's not the case at all. I've never considered myself a creative person (Ni-leads are the ones I'd call truly creative, I myself mostly just take already existing things and mix them up in new ways, what's creative about that?) - I struggle even with coming up with ideas for a meal, give me the recipe or else I'll eat the ingredients separately lol - but was pretty sure I'm not that bad at creating aesthetically pleasing things. But then I've met this one EIE and suffered an existential crisis. I'll spare you the details of my comparing myself to him and getting all frustrated, but I do want to ask - how do you feel about your Si? Has it ever changed? Where do you see your shortcomings? Have you consciously tried to improve yourself in this regard? Have you succeeded? Have you failed, and if so, is it a lost battle?

If you're not an Si6 type but know such people and have some observations, feel free to share them here as well.

[persimmonism]

Before and around the time I learned about Socionics, I was having a similar struggle with my Ti, although I didn't have the words to express what it was.
For most of the year, my self-esteem was in the gutters. This was was worse than the typical 4ish lack of self-esteem because it was about something I actually did think I was good at and pretty much took it for granted.

On the flipside, when I read about my type IEI, for the very first time, I realized that Fe was actually something I'm good at. Then, I realized what Fi was and how I'm also effortlessly good at that (as is the nature of the demo) (I refer to the demo as the "superpower" because you don't even have to try or care, if you even realize what it is, and you're still good at it)
Aside from making me feel better about myself, Socionics enabled me to view myself as the person I am: Great at Ni, Fi, and Fe. Okay at Ti and Si. If I were good at Ti, then I wouldn't be good at Fe and Fi.

Maybe you don't realize how good at Ne and Ni you actually are.

I think that LIIs/EIIs are a pleasure to be around. Especially when the individual is a base subtype-- creative Ne comes out as witty and charming remarks that are neither annoyingly silly nor overdone. You guys also manage to remain openminded about things in a way I admire. That isn't a strength that should be downplayed.

I struggle even with coming up with ideas for a meal, give me the recipe or else I'll eat the ingredients separately lol

This has nothing to do with Ne creativity; in order to easily and flexibly come up with meal ideas without outside inspiration, you have to have a good base of experience- that's all. It's like how no artist can draw a face from memory without having studied numerous references in the past.

Just a question, if you don't mind. I'm curious why meeting the EIE made you notice your actual Si ability if they have Si PoLR?

[rivka]

its because ur viewing si thru a ne lens. what helps is to really immerse yourself in the process like a si base would ― like if ur cooking something try to focus on the flavors and keep adjusting them until ur satisfied. also noticing the tendency for ne to take leaps & bounds planning a recipe or wtv which is diametrically opposed to the more step-by-step si

& ur functions arent something u can battle. think of it like problem solving. what i like to do is pretend, sort of mimic my activity relation. i know that's very archetypally fe but it helps a lot with si too. si is thankfully one of the easiest IMEs to access. good luck

[Exodus]

This is an area that I basically didn't pay attention to at all when I was younger, but I've improved a lot since then. Living on my own made me think more about what my needs are and how to fulfill them in the best way.

[tuathe]

Just a question, if you don't mind. I'm curious why meeting the EIE made you notice your actual Si ability if they have Si PoLR?

Maybe it's too big of a simplification on my part, but one of the things I associate with Si is aesthetically pleasing things. This EIE turned out to be really good at creating those, it came effortlessly to him. I've tried to create something equally beautiful and comfortable and found myself unable to do it with such an ease, it was a struggle. Maybe it's because it's really hard for me to decide on one option and this slows the progress making, while he has a vision he sticks to? idk

[AWellArmedCat]

Sorry, I know this is tangential to the topic you wanted to talk about, but as an Ni-lead who's really into a wide range of creative pursuits I thought I should comment on you saying you weren't creative because you just "mix up already existing things." That's literally all anyone does. If you want to be creative then I encourage you to do more of that rather than less. I think what you're seeing with Ni-leads is that we're sort of blind to our own process so it looks a bit more "truly creative," but just because I don't know where I'm pulling my ideas from doesn't mean I'm not taking existing ideas and mixing them up. It's more that my mental world is a hunter's stew and I just throw ingredients in there as I wander around, and over time they cook together so much that you can't really tell one thing from another and it maybe ends up looking more original than someone who used the ingredients in a more raw form. That analogy maybe isn't perfect since Ni is also filtering out a lot of stuff it doesn't like, and I also do choose ingredients intentionally as well, but it's something like that. Anyways, if you feel your ideas "aren't creative enough" then you should mix together even more elements to further develop the flavour into something that's more than the sum of its parts

P.S. I recommend making soups and stews if you wanna be creative with cooking. They're very easy to make taste great without getting too complex. All you need is something to act as a broth, something to make it filling, and your choice of veggies (I literally just use whatever is taking up space in my fridge or on my counter)

[FreelancePoliceman]

As far as Ne goes, I guess I felt when I was a kid a little like how @tuathe described — that I wasn’t really all that creative or imaginative. Most ideas that came to me seemed boring and derivative; I felt someone had probably had better ideas before. I came slowly to realize that the scope of discussion about “new ideas” in the world was not so broad and infinite as I had imagined, and not only that but most people didn’t really bother much generating new and interesting ideas, or even really caring about them. When I realized the world wasn’t the infinite playland of endless possibilities and discussions around every corner I’d thought it to be, I was depressed for quite a while. But it also helped me realize I’m good at Ne, or if not as good as I feel I ought to be, than at least better than most people, and that’s somewhat shaped how I see myself and the "role" I try to fill in discussions. I try to bring up points and concerns I have in discussions with people now, instead of assuming the other person’s already thought of everything, because there’s a real possibility they haven’t.

I try not to be pretentious or feel that I know everything, but the opposite problem — the feeling that I don’t know anything and I’m completely worthless has been more of a problem for me. Maybe it’s also the problem for you. But it’s good to recognize the strengths you have, and take advantage of them — since not everyone has them. And with Ne in particular, it’s not really part of the dominant culture or general “outlook” people have in most parts of the world (the Americas, for instance), so there’s plenty of space and opportunity to try to establish a niche for yourself, is how I see it — does that make sense? What I’m trying to say is that there’s almost a need for Ne people right now, so you should value the talent you have in it.

About Si, I was initially going to say that I’ve “used” it more as I’ve gotten older and more mature, but I think it’s more correct to say my use of it has stabilized. When I was a child my Ne use was more...undirected, maybe, and more intense. I wasn’t really aware of any link to Si stuff when it was fully active. But sometimes “bursts” of Si also came upon me. I’d sometimes just sit for hours, trying to think about how I felt - “felt” in the Si sense of the word, I mean; trying to think about how my toes and feet felt the ground and air, the feeling of the circulation of the fan above me, the ticking of a clock in the background, the rumblings in my stomach...trying to take this all in; process it; understand how to carry this with me; how to understand how I felt that moment and compare it to others and create some unified sense of how I ought to make sense of this all. But also this was filtered by Ne. My mind would often begin wandering; I’d imagine someone coming to me and explaining to me the solution to my problem and show me how to appropriately respond to everything. Or I’d consider solutions myself. And also I would construct elaborate stories, with various characters and scenes, all in keeping with the “feeling” I was sensing, trying to understand it and turn it about through these stories. And I’d say it was helpful. It really did guide me to certain insights and significantly affected many of the decisions I made.

As I’ve gotten older, my ability to tell how I feel has gotten more constant, but I don’t tend to deeply analyze or give into it so often anymore. Those states feel pointless; like they won’t guide me anywhere really important. I guess it feels as if Ne has won the battle for my conscious mind; I just feel pressure to make something interesting happen already, and seem to have rejected the possibility that there’s anything significantly interesting in how I “feel,” so Si is kind of relegated to a barometer. I might eat something delicious, and genuinely appreciate it, but then it’s time to move on; I don’t really like to dwell on stuff like that too much, because it feels there’s nothing to be found there.

It's hard for me to describe psychic processes like this, so I'm sorry if it doesn't make much sense. I don't feel I explained myself very well.