Okay, another one of *these* threads; but I think this may be an interesting new way at looking at an old issue. Anyhow, just curious what sort of insights you may have on these........

It seems to me that yet another way of viewing of the various divergences in how people understand Socionics is to consider how these two things affect behavior:
* rationality vs. irrationality
* being in an Ni-Se vs. Ne-Si quadra

EFFECTS OF IRRATIONALITY AND RATIONALITY
In theory, having a dominant rational functions causes people to be more straightforward about decisions and an actions. Rational functions appear to be less changeable than irrational ones. Therefore, a person with a dominant rational function might be more inclined to follow a plan and to do what was planned. Activities might be more straightforward ("I decided to do x, and so x is what I did.")

In theory, having a dominant perceiving function causes people to be more changeable in their activities, as their differing perceptions lead them to go in various directions. For this reason, when afforded the opportunity, irrational types might be expected to prefer less planning, or less detailed planning, or at least to be more inclined to diverge from their plans, as their need to engage their perceptions causes them to want to continue with an activity longer than was planned, or to engage in activities that weren't planned in advance (or even forseen). In particular, irrational types may be expected to sometimes "lose themselves" in their activities; indeed, the common notion of "losing oneself" in something may be a perfect description for engaging the perceiving functions; and, according to a lot that has been said in Socionics, it would seem this would pertain to some extent to any perceiving function...Ne, Ni, Si, and Se.

EFFECTS OF Ni-Se vs. Ne-Si ORIENTATION
On the other hand, similar behaviors may be explained by some as emanating from whether a person is in a quadra that values Ni and Se, or Ne and Si.

Some Socionists say that Ni has to do with perception of time, understanding how long things will take, and taking a long-term view. Similarly, Socionists often associate Se not only with being tuned into what's going on around them (as Jung describes), but also with having a high action orientation, and possibly aggressive tendencies.

Conversely, Si is sometimes described in terms of taking more of a short-term view (putting comfort first, choosing to the enjoy the moment now), and Ne is often described as leading toward constantly changing interests.

It seems plausible from these views of the functions that an Ni/Se orientation would lead to the following:
*More action orientation; a "get things done" tendency (because of valuing Se)
*More self-restraint; ability to ignore short-term comfort for the sake of long-term gain (delayed gratification) (because of valuing Ni)
*More straightforward use of time; less rushing; less disorganization caused by not being aware of time (because of valuing Ni)

Similarly, Ne/Si orientation, according to these views, might be associated with:
*A great tendency to suddenly change interest (because of valuing Ne)
*Harder time with delayed gratification; more tendency to do whatever feels good at the moment (because of valuing Si)
*Less aggressive tackling of goals; more laid-back demeanor (because of devaluing Se)
*More disorganization resulting from less awareness of time; a great tendency to lose oneself in cherished activities and not recognizing the time (because of devaluing Ni)

CONFICT AND PROBLEMS
Clearly, the descriptions of tendencies of Ni/Se and Ne/Si quadra orientations seem quite similar to the descriptions of rational and irrational type tendencies, respectively...at least similar enough that in real-life situations these behaviors may be easily confused.

Of course, the biggest problem with these descriptions is that not everone agrees that Ni has anything to do with time perception; as has been addressed on this forum, many see Ni as a dominant function as having very little do to with time perception, while it may be directed toward time perception and long-term planning when used by Ej types.

Indeed, some may question whether the descriptions of Se often found in Socionics are even correct, given that they diverge significantly from Jung's descriptions.

In any case, many of the seemingly contradictory things that are said in Socionics appear to come from the inherent tension between these interpretations.