# Could Ni be my dom function?



## mistakenforstranger (Nov 11, 2012)

spicytea said:


> I don't mind if you come off as harsh as long as it helps me solve this problem.
> 
> There is this INTJ woman who has a site about the cognitive functions (I can't remember the name of it) but she basically knows a lot about the functions, esp Ni. And she was the one who gave that "suit example". But I think that many S people can relate to it as well (as you stated).
> 
> ...


The website I think you're referring to is by Lenore Thomson, whose book, Personality Type: An Owner's Manual, is one of the best out there on describing cognitive functions and types.

Also, this website has very clear descriptions of the functions: http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory2.html

From my own experience, Ni is about recognizing the story under the story. It's what the suit example points out. There's the story of the suit itself, but then there's the story of the motivation behind wearing the suit, or what the suit means, or why do people wear fancy suits at all?, etc. That's what I'm more drawn to understanding. It causes Ni-doms to be detached from reality (i.e. the suit), but then maybe what other people consider reality, isn't really reality at all.


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## Vanishing Point (Oct 2, 2012)

@*spicytea *Maybe you could fill in one of the type questionnaires in the What's my personality type? stickies to give people more to go on than your OP. 
I also like that "Holly's tip for finding your type". After reading too many things about functions it gets harder to take tests. I've noticed that people who have thought about what function they use a bit too much tend to start having some pretty odd test results. Holly's tip test is good because people are usually better at knowing what they don't like and what they wouldn't do. It worked for me.


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## emerald sea (Jun 4, 2011)

Ni is...to narrow it down to its core...tuning in to the subconscious mind, thinking in impressions/themes/patterns/big picture rather than detail, gut feelings/hunches/intuitive "just knowing" (all of which is data being fed from the subconscious to the conscious mind), dwelling in the subjunctive, and seeing through the surface to the meaning behind it (as if all of life were a metaphor, every sensory experience an allegory to be interpreted).

i can't know your entire thinking processes from a single post, but what you expressed in the OP does not sound like Ni to me. however, you do sound like an intuitive with creative tendencies. your enneatype would explain your imaginative/creative nature. 

but you know yourself better than i could, so don't rule out Ni yet. i don't have time to re-write all of it, so instead i'll quote an old post i wrote comparing Ni with Ne. see which sounds more like the way you naturally think:



> both are focused on what is potential more than what is actual, and view everything in light of what it could be...so both are the mother of possibilities.
> 
> what type of possibilities? Ni generates potential interpretations and future outcomes, within the mind (as if the world were a metaphor to be decoded for internal understanding), and Ne produces potential interpretations and future feasibilities, within the external world (as if the world were a problem to be solved or a potential to be utilized/realized by creation or development).
> 
> ...


i hope this helps.


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