# Ni vs Ne Eye Movements (While Thinking and Speaking)



## imaginaryrobot (Jun 11, 2013)

So I was thinking about my own eye movements the other day and how they might relate to Ni. I have watched a video about INFJ speaking styles before, and what they were explaining in it is consistent with my own ideas on the matter.

I don’t know if a thread like this has been started before, but I was curious to see if others might relate to the differences I took note of. I wanted to focus both on eye movements while thinking (no social interaction), and then eye movements while talking to other people. These are just based on my own observation and what I know about Ni and Ne. 

Ni thinking: Will have a direct, fixed gaze, as if focusing very strongly on something. May also look as if the person is “far away” in their mind. Gaze will likely be level or pointed down or to the side, as these ideas are coming from within oneself.
Ne thinking: Will scan with their eyes around their surroundings, as if looking for possibilities or ways to connect things from the outside world. Gaze will not be fixed, and may come off as random. Gaze will likely be level or pointed up (as if searching), as these ideas are coming from outside oneself.

**Now it looks as though Ni and Ne have switched places.
Ni speaking: Will look around a lot while trying to explain something to others. As intuition is introverted, they will have a harder time being direct and getting ideas from the inside to the outside world. May look like the person is trying to sort through their ideas. May come off as unsure or confused.
Ne speaking: Will have a fixed gaze while trying to explain something to others. As intuition is extraverted, they will have an easier time explaining the ideas they came up with. May come off as confident, knowledgeable, or enthusiastic.

*I guess what I’d like to know from you is a) What do you think of these descriptions? and b) Ni and Ne users, do these eye movements sound like your own?*

If anyone has noticed things like this for the other cognitive functions, I would be happy to hear about them here as well.


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## WinterFox (Sep 19, 2013)

I'm an Ni user and yes I tend to have that fixed gaze with that serious facial expression on my face whenever I am deep in thoughts.
I have this tendency to stare at the same spot for long period of time whenever I am thinking deeply about something.
This isn't really a good thing of course, because whenever I am in class, my teachers always think I am daydreaming away and they will pick on me non-stop. 


If you want to know how Ni gaze looks like, this is how it looks like:










^ The above pic is a good example of how an INFJ's eyes look like. 
When you are speaking to an Ni user, their eyes don't really look directly into your eyes, instead, their eyes looked as if it's looking *through* you.


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## Grad0507 (Dec 12, 2013)

a) What do you think of these descriptions? Eh...
b) Ni and Ne users, do these eye movements sound like your own? No, when I'm thinking I'll look up and to the right (diagonal). When I'm speaking in public I don't necessary stare at anyone directly. When I'm speaking in private I'll look at someone, but not with an intense stare, more like looking as opposed to avoiding eye contact. I'm a Ni user.


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## brajenful (Feb 16, 2014)

Although I'm a tertiary Ni user, I can agree with this. However, my Se tends to "override" my Ni in case of eye movement, which means that I usually look around whenever I'm not thinking *deeply* about something. That being said, I think these descriptions are too fixed, and you should definitely consider their interaction with other functions, even if they are dominants.


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## Harizu (Apr 27, 2014)

> Ni thinking: Will have a direct, fixed gaze, as if focusing very strongly on something. May also look as if the person is “far away” in their mind. Gaze will likely be level or pointed down or to the side, as these ideas are coming from within oneself.
> Ne thinking: Will scan with their eyes around their surroundings, as if looking for possibilities or ways to connect things from the outside world. Gaze will not be fixed, and may come off as random. Gaze will likely be level or pointed up (as if searching), as these ideas are coming from outside oneself.


I do both; it depends on what I am talking about, who I am talking to and most of all on my mood. When I am angry or sad I am more likely to keep my gaze still, when I am happy or excited or just calm my gaze moves a lot.

About the speaking style, I honestly don't know. When my Ne attacks I just have a lot of ideas in my mind and say whatever comes to my mind, may it make sense or not.


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## Draki (Apr 4, 2014)

What do you think of these videos? 
(some of them were criticized because of mistypes but many other people see themselves in it.)

Ni dom





Ne dom:





they also have other types.


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## Doc Dangerstein (Mar 8, 2013)

... dude! Lawrence Krauss is like looking in the mirror. Tessa Violet and Adam Savage come are a close second; Kari Byron is more like my ENFP friend. Notice how she punctuates every logical point with a gesture like a Te user and the dead give away was her starting to count on her fingers. Her hand gestures strike me as quite aggressive. Notice how the Krauss/Violet/Chuck have the flow of an orchestral conductor. I talk with my hands ... a lot, and I'm the only one in my family to do so.

... edit, the guy wearing the track jacket in the top video is a calmer version of my ENTJ mom.


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## Bagelian Circus (May 31, 2013)

Draki said:


> What do you think of these videos?
> (some of them were criticized because of mistypes but many other people see themselves in it.)
> 
> Ni dom
> ...


These videos come from a guy who has his own website called cognitivetype.com. Its actually really informative and has a lot of theories on typing people based on facial movement (eyes, mouth, etc). And the OP's observations also concur with a lot of stuff on the website. I suggest checking it out if you want to pursue this in depth.


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## Angina Jolie (Feb 13, 2014)

Ne user reporting in.
I know that, when I'm listening, I need to look at the person and have my sight fixed on them, especially their eyes and lips as to take everything, that they try to communicate, in.
When thinking and speaking I gaze in the air, but the fixation or non fixation is changing. Ne jumps from a thought to a thought, connection to connection very quickly. While I'm on one thought, my gaze is fixed, when the next thought and connection suddenly appears, my focus moves (just tried it out).

I have noticed something similar with my other Ne friends.


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## Satan Claus (Aug 6, 2013)

That sounds just like me! I think it has to do with Se a little bit too (I'm talking about the Ni one) since Se is always focused on something. You can always spot out an Se user by whether they look really focused when they talk to you or not. 

Ni/Se user: Russell Crowe






Ne/Si user: George Carlin (Fully developed ENFP)







Sorry, I'm just adding to the OP's post. It's a really interesting topic.


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## Kavik (Apr 3, 2014)

A strong Tert Ni user here. I look around with Se like an insane person when entering a new environment. When I talk to someone, I don't tend to look them in the eye. I naturally look up and left to envision images because I'm more focused on thinking about the conversation than the actual person. When I do look the person in the eye, it's because I'm fixated on them. When I'm thinking deeply I get an intense, vacant stare that makes people constantly ask if I'm okay or say I look like a serial killer. I'm either fully focused on the inside or outside world and my eyes give away what mode I'm in.


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## Reluctanine (May 11, 2014)

imaginaryrobot said:


> Ne thinking: Will scan with their eyes around their surroundings, as if looking for possibilities or ways to connect things from the outside world. Gaze will not be fixed, and may come off as random. Gaze will likely be level or pointed up (as if searching), as these ideas are coming from outside oneself.
> 
> Ne speaking: Will have a fixed gaze while trying to explain something to others. As intuition is extraverted, they will have an easier time explaining the ideas they came up with. May come off as confident, knowledgeable, or enthusiastic.
> 
> *I guess what I’d like to know from you is a) What do you think of these descriptions? and b) Ni and Ne users, do these eye movements sound like your own?*


Spot-on for me! When I'm walking around, I look at EVERYTHING! Except people. People tire me out, so I don’t tend to look at them. I look at the sky, the birds, the trees, the fruit on the trees, the clouds, the monkey bars, the track, the trees again, the birds flying by, the sun peeking through the clouds, and then occasionally look at the ground when there’s an uneven step.

When I’m talking to others, I maintain direct eye contact. Especially when I’m explaining things to them. One-on-one eye contact is easy for me, but in speeches I have to force myself to maintain it with particular audience members. In one-on-one, I use the eye contact to gauge if they’re with me or not, then alter my speech to draw attention back. Or explain points in a different way or with more elaboration after some thought. 

It’s very hard for me to teach someone when we’re sitting side by side, because it’s hard to gauge if they understand it and if I have to say more to make them understand. So much so I have to like twist my head and body amost contortionist-like across the table to maintain eye contact. Diagonal works best for me, because I can maintain eye contact when needed and look away for thinking without pressure of controlling body language. Sitting opposite each other is too confrontational and energy-draining for me. Hard to share a book like that, anyway.


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## Lemxn (Aug 17, 2013)

Satan Claus said:


> Ni/Se user: Russell Crowe


I can relate so much to this. I barely look at people's eyes when I talk (more in a one-one conversation) I am always looking behing some object and my speech is very spaced, because it's hard for me to put my insigh in words or I take a lot of time to try the others person understand the nature of my words.


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## PaladinX (Feb 20, 2013)

Not sure about Ne or Ni eyes, but here's something that Jung talked about with S vs N eyes:



> When you observe a man who is working by his sense function you will see, if you look at him attentively, that the axes of his eyes have a tendency to converge and to come together at one point. When you study the expression or the eyes of intuitive people, you will see that they only glance at things -- they do not look, they radiate at things because they take in their fullness, and among the many things they perceive they get one point on the periphery of their field of vision and that is the hunch. Often you can tell from the eyes whether people are intuitive or not. When you have an intuitive attitude you usually do not observe the details. You try always to take in the whole of a situation, and then suddenly something crops up out of this wholeness. When you are a sensation type you will observe facts as they are, but then you have no intuition, simply because the two things cannot be done at the same time. It is too difficult, because the principle of the one function excludes the principle of the other function.


- The Tavistock Lectures


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## Xyra (Dec 19, 2013)

I have noticed the eye scramble thing for INFJ's.

Since Internal Intuition is searching for the superior viewpoint (the metaperspective, the greatest truth), INFJ's are probably trying to search all over their brain for these viewpoints.

For neurolinguistic programming, there is a chart called the Eye Access Cues. The eyes look a certain way to access a specific thought process.

Here is a site to illustrate it: 

http://www.nlpliverpool.com/images/nlpliverpool_images/eye accessing.png


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

I move my eyes a lot so I am not sure how meaningful this is.


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## Xyra (Dec 19, 2013)

You have internal intuition as a primary also....why do you move your eyes?


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## Aerorobyn (Nov 11, 2009)

My thinking eyes are fixed, and my speaking eyes move around. I noticed this a few months back when I did 40-minutes worth of typology questionnaires.


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## DarkSideOfLight (Feb 15, 2011)

@imaginaryrobot

ENTP here

Ni thinking: Will have a direct, fixed gaze, as if focusing very strongly on something. May also look as if the person is “far away” in their mind. Gaze will likely be level or pointed down or to the side, as these ideas are coming from within oneself.

*That is exactly how I think.
*
**Now it looks as though Ni and Ne have switched places.

Ne speaking: Will have a fixed gaze while trying to explain something to others. As intuition is extraverted, they will have an easier time explaining the ideas they came up with. May come off as confident, knowledgeable, or enthusiastic.
*
This seems to be correct.*

I guess what I’d like to know from you is a) What do you think of these descriptions? and b) Ni and Ne users, do these eye movements sound like your own?

*I know Ne users being all around the place while thinking, BUT I do not think that is the rule, because I prove it wrong. It might be Sx fixation in my case. So would be more "distracted".*

Just my two cents.


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## God (Apr 11, 2013)

I am a huge Ne user and I'm laughing because this is totally wrong. 

Me? I'm not good with any kind of eye contact. It's all too powerful for common use. Just darted moments and subtle aversions.


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## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

About how I view this stuff.


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## TheDarknessInTheSnow (May 28, 2016)

Ni is intense staring


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## HolyMoony (Mar 11, 2021)

imaginaryrobot said:


> So I was thinking about my own eye movements the other day and how they might relate to Ni. I have watched a video about INFJ speaking styles before, and what they were explaining in it is consistent with my own ideas on the matter.
> 
> I don’t know if a thread like this has been started before, but I was curious to see if others might relate to the differences I took note of. I wanted to focus both on eye movements while thinking (no social interaction), and then eye movements while talking to other people. These are just based on my own observation and what I know about Ni and Ne.
> 
> ...


I'm INFP but I relate to Ni one.


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## HolyMoony (Mar 11, 2021)

TheDarknessInTheSnow said:


> Ni is intense staring


Yes, Ne is eyes looking around.


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