# Is it possible to be ISFP if your Si is high?



## Pixzelina (May 25, 2013)

My Si use seems to be really high. I think about the past a lot and I don't like it when things change at first (though I get used to it very quickly. I'm always looking at strangers and then having them remind me of someone else, same with the taste of food and smells. Is it possible to be ISFP if you use Si a lot?


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

Yes.


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## LiquidLight (Oct 14, 2011)

No. At least not in Myers-Briggs as it relates to cognitive functions.

Its because the P in ISFP comes from Se as a second function, so if you had Si instead of Se you could not be an ISFP. In order to be an ISFP you have to have Se. Now, is this unnecessarily rigid? Probably. Should Se be the determining factor of P? Maybe not. But that is the system.

Also most of what you call Si isn't Si. Si deals with a subjectivity of perception. Basically you pay more attention to what a sense experience gives off in you -- how it comes across to you, rather than the objective experience itself. If Se tends to want to experience the world as it is, then Si focuses on the world 'as I see it.'


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

Wow, that is best explanation of the difference between Se and Si. That helps me to understand why my Si is just not there...



LiquidLight said:


> No. At least not in Myers-Briggs as it relates to cognitive functions.
> 
> Its because the P in ISFP comes from Se as a second function, so if you had Si instead of Se you could not be an ISFP. In order to be an ISFP you have to have Se. Now, is this unnecessarily rigid? Probably. Should Se be the determining factor of P? Maybe not. But that is the system.
> 
> Also most of what you call Si isn't Si. Si deals with a subjectivity of perception. Basically you pay more attention to what a sense experience gives off in you -- how it comes across to you, rather than the objective experience itself. If Se tends to want to experience the world as it is, then Si focuses on the world 'as I see it.'


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## Pixzelina (May 25, 2013)

LiquidLight said:


> No. At least not in Myers-Briggs as it relates to cognitive functions.
> 
> Its because the P in ISFP comes from Se as a second function, so if you had Si instead of Se you could not be an ISFP. In order to be an ISFP you have to have Se. Now, is this unnecessarily rigid? Probably. Should Se be the determining factor of P? Maybe not. But that is the system.
> 
> Also most of what you call Si isn't Si. Si deals with a subjectivity of perception. Basically you pay more attention to what a sense experience gives off in you -- how it comes across to you, rather than the objective experience itself. If Se tends to want to experience the world as it is, then Si focuses on the world 'as I see it.'


When I read the explanation of Si online it just says stuff about comparing and contrasting things, having a detailed memory, etc.. This is really confusing


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## Pau7 (Jun 20, 2013)

lunareclipzee said:


> My Si use seems to be really high. I think about the past a lot and I don't like it when things change at first (though I get used to it very quickly. I'm always looking at strangers and then having them remind me of someone else, same with the taste of food and smells. Is it possible to be ISFP if you use Si a lot?


My Si isn't very good, but I still see people sometimes that remind me of another person (mistaking identity). I think that might be a symptom of shadow Si, because it's being improperly used.

Sometimes I don't like it when things change, either - but I think that has more to do with the fact that I need to find the underlying idea of whatever I'm experiencing _first _before I can fully adjust. It's an introvert thing in general. Although, I think everyone likes predictability to some extent, just because it makes things easier.

Just remember that we use all the functions every day, but our most conscious processes are going to be Fi and Se, as well as Ni to some extent. You might be paying special attention to when you use Si, which could skew your view of how often you use it.


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## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

lunareclipzee said:


> When I read the explanation of Si online it just says stuff about comparing and contrasting things, having a detailed memory, etc.. This is really confusing


Like every area of human endeavour that persists for a while Jungs type ideas have divided into factions. So now you have lots of different takes and descriptions, but everybody use the same labels.

I personally find Jungs description the best as all the others kinda had their own agendas with redefining what he did. To understand what the different descriptions mean you have to understand why they decided to diverge from Jung. Some did it for idealistic reasons, some wanted to simplyfy, some wanted to expand on him, others wanted proof and yet others wanted to make money. No matter the reason it has colored the theories significantly.

You have to choose one of these systems and just operate out from it's teachings.
Every time someone clash on this site, they have different takes on what the labels mean.
ISFP is traditionally organized like Fi, Se, Ni, Te (Fe, Si, Ne, Ti) in shadow.
Socionics and the Beebe model expand on the role of Si in their systems as in standard MBTI ISFPs don't use Si.

From a Jungian perspective Si is about withdrawing from what the senses percive and only allowing effects that are persistent over time any real imprint. Se on the other hand accept all the sense impressions to have an effect all the time. Si users therefore get a very detached attitude to what is going on around them. And they have a feeling that each recognized effect is more like a spirit with magical powers. You see this in the Bible a lot where the Ni users "pure" religious attitude is in constant conflict with Si users aptitude to start worshiping idols. Si makes icons that over time gets revered almost like house-gods stated or not.


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## I Kant (Jan 19, 2013)

Technically I think yes.

Your type, if it is ISFP, doesn't have Si in the first main four functions.

Luckily you are a human being and not merely a type.

...

Presumably.


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## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

default settings said:


> Technically I think yes.
> 
> Your type, if it is ISFP, doesn't have Si in the first main four functions.
> 
> ...


What do you mean when you say that someone is a human being and not a type?
Do you think that isolating the trends in a persons orientation is somehow inhumanizing them?


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## I Kant (Jan 19, 2013)

hornet said:


> What do you mean when you say that someone is a human being and not a type?
> Do you think that isolating the trends in a persons orientation is somehow inhumanizing them?


A type doesn't even describe someone's personality.

It describes the natural preference for a particular function set.

It doesn't even describe the preferred balance of reliance or whatever other than ordering them as simple integers like first, second, third, etc.

Functions themselves are useful components of a person to understand, but so are arms. And arms don't explain everything I may want to know about a person, despite some arms being quite HANDY when they do FUNCTION.


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## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

default settings said:


> A type doesn't even describe someone's personality.
> 
> It describes the natural preference for a particular function set.
> 
> ...


Oh...
I was hoping you would run a totally different direction with this.
That I might actually learn something new...


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## I Kant (Jan 19, 2013)

hornet said:


> Oh...
> I was hoping you would run a totally different direction with this.
> That I might actually learn something new...


Not all that is different is actually valuable, or more valuable.

One can visit an asylum if you are after _difference_ rather than _usefulness_, for example.

Somehow I don't think I will lose any sleep over your opinion.

You are but one among many on the internet, and not really my concern.


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## ferroequinologist (Jul 27, 2012)

lunareclipzee said:


> When I read the explanation of Si online it just says stuff about comparing and contrasting things, having a detailed memory, etc.. This is really confusing


I would describe Si this way (having worked closely with an ISFJ for many years). To my ISFJ friend, his memory was almost more real to him than the actual experience. He didn't need, for instance, to taste something to remember it. He could remember the taste of something he didn't like, and almost gag, for instance. What you described seemed to indicate that when you sense something (taste or smell, or seeing a face) that this is when you have the memory. I'm kind of like you... I see a face, and it reminds me of somebody I know. But I would have a difficult time, in my mind, on its own, recalling to mind what my friend's face looks like. Worse, I drop my wife off at the store, and agree to pick her up at a certain time, and while driving back, I realize I don't remember what she was wearing! I worry I won't easily recognize her--but as soon as I see her, I remember--but it's always stressful--almost every time. 

I would say it this way--you might resort to using Si, but it would never feel natural or comfortable to you in comparison to Se. Think of handedness. If you are a righty, you may be able to write or cut your meat with your left hand, but you'd prefer to use your right. When I played basketball, I learned to shoot really well right-handed. Because I could switch-shoot, it always kept the other players on their toes, and made them keep their distance, because they could never tell which way I'd go, but I always felt more comfortable and natural shooting left-handed. So, ask yourself where you feel more comfortable--in your memories of the experiences, or in the experience?

Oh, I have an Si-aux. ESTJ friend. He gets lost so easily, that he always drives to our house the same way, even if he has to drive around from the opposite end of the compass, because that was the first way he found to get to our house. In fact, with me riding next to him, giving directions, he felt uncomfortable following my directions to get to our house a different way--that's Si. ;-)


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## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

default settings said:


> Not all that is different is actually valuable, or more valuable.
> 
> One can visit an asylum if you are after _difference_ rather than _usefulness_, for example.
> 
> ...


Yup none of your concern.
I'm dealing with my own issues of disapointment and you happen to be indirectly involved.
I'm basically making a huge virtual scene.


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## I Kant (Jan 19, 2013)

hornet said:


> Yup none of your concern.
> I'm dealing with my own issues of disapointment and you happen to be indirectly involved.
> I'm basically making a huge virtual scene.


One raindrop in the ocean.


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## kadda1212 (Sep 21, 2012)

lunareclipzee said:


> My Si use seems to be really high. I think about the past a lot and I don't like it when things change at first (though I get used to it very quickly. I'm always looking at strangers and then having them remind me of someone else, same with the taste of food and smells. Is it possible to be ISFP if you use Si a lot?


I don't know if that's really Si. On the other hand I don't understand Si very well as I'm an INFJ. 
I think, my grandma may be an ESFJ and uses Si a lot. A few examples for things she had said and done which I would interpret as results of using Si: We drove to Frankfurt, my parents, my grandma and me, for a shopping tour and we searched for a parking deck. And my grandma said something like "Last time we went to this parking deck." She wanted my mother to drive to the exact parking deck she once drove to - like 20 years ago. And she often does things like that, often referring to past events when she did something in this or that way, implying that we have to repeat that past action in order to do the right thing. 
It's like she almost lives in the past and often doesn't want to learn new things. I often have to help her with the computer, because she simply doesn't understand how to use it and refuses to learn it for herself by just trying some things. She wants me to explain her everything step by step, then she writes down every step, so she can repeat the actions next time. 
And the combination with Fe is like hell for me sometimes, because she wants to take control over the whole family, over every single person as far as telling me how I should cut my hair. Rules and traditions are very important for her.

Yes, that's how I see Si in the working.
I don't know whether you can relate to that.
Actually some of the things you wrote in your post remind me of a good friend of mine, who tested as an ISFJ. She always compares other people with things like colors or songs, very sensitive I think. But I like that.


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## KraChZiMan (Mar 23, 2013)

lunareclipzee said:


> My Si use seems to be really high. I think about the past a lot and I don't like it when things change at first (though I get used to it very quickly. I'm always looking at strangers and then having them remind me of someone else, same with the taste of food and smells. Is it possible to be ISFP if you use Si a lot?


Fi puts emotional overtones on memories and experiences ("It's been a year now without my best friend nearby, it's horrible. I exactly remember how he promised to be around, but he's not."), while Si relates with past in more objective sense ("It's been a year now without my best friend nearby, but I gained some new friends too, and it has really been a mix of positive and negative").

Everything you described here is example of dominant Fi in action. Si does not make these connections, because Si-dominants are very practical in that way and only make connections they deem necessary, because they can learn from it. ("Yuck, it tastes like apple cabbage stew! I hate apple cabbage stews, i got a food poisoning once from apple cabbage stew. Thanks but I'll pass!") while Fi is like ("Yuck, it tastes like apple cabbage stew! Last time I ate it was with my ex-girlfriend, now I can't eat it without being reminded of her. Thanks but I'll pass!")


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## phoenixpinion (Dec 27, 2012)

lunareclipzee said:


> My Si use seems to be really high. I think about the past a lot and I don't like it when things change at first (though I get used to it very quickly. I'm always looking at strangers and then having them remind me of someone else, same with the taste of food and smells. Is it possible to be ISFP if you use Si a lot?


Yep! Current function model is retarded.


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## phoenixpinion (Dec 27, 2012)

d


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

kadda1212 said:


> I don't know if that's really Si. On the other hand I don't understand Si very well as I'm an INFJ.
> I think, my grandma may be an ESFJ and uses Si a lot. A few examples for things she had said and done which I would interpret as results of using Si: We drove to Frankfurt, my parents, my grandma and me, for a shopping tour and we searched for a parking deck. And my grandma said something like "Last time we went to this parking deck." She wanted my mother to drive to the exact parking deck she once drove to - like 20 years ago. And she often does things like that, often referring to past events when she did something in this or that way, implying that we have to repeat that past action in order to do the right thing.
> It's like she almost lives in the past and often doesn't want to learn new things. I often have to help her with the computer, because she simply doesn't understand how to use it and refuses to learn it for herself by just trying some things. She wants me to explain her everything step by step, then she writes down every step, so she can repeat the actions next time.
> And the combination with Fe is like hell for me sometimes, because she wants to take control over the whole family, over every single person as far as telling me how I should cut my hair. Rules and traditions are very important for her.
> ...


Yes. It's not that Si would make an ISFP sentimental or merely compared experience, but Si types actually prefer what came before in a way that can almost shock me. They just won't try new things, with excuses such as I never did that growing up, and can't you mop up the floor instead of suggesting I simply adapt rationally by not wearing socks to the bathroom. I have come to realize that they can even be sadly self limited, avoiding new experiences or even negligible risk like the plague.

Its more like an attitude than having memory or sentiment or comparing sensual experience.


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