# Do you guys like Ni?



## umop 3pisdn (Apr 4, 2014)

Because I like Se, I'm just wondering if in practice there's a slight discrepancy. For one Se makes more 'sense' than Ni does (scanning the immediate environment? hmm, seems useful), plus statistically I've probably been exposed to more Se in my lifetime, and it being an extroverted (and thus a 'visible' function), means it's more normalized to me.

Also Ni doms might be more annoying to deal with due to that 'closed minded certitude' thing that gets said about INXJs. INTJs get the worst reputation for it, but with INFJs the same basic rules apply, we're just nicer and more socially malleable because Fe, but we're not less likely to claim certainty for nebulous or inexplicable reasons. So I kind of wonder what it is like.

Idk, this was kind of a spontaneous thread. Like maybe all of the introverted functions, I feel like Ni might only really be fun to the person using it.


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## Wild (Jul 14, 2014)

umop 3pisdn said:


> Because I like Se, I'm just wondering if in practice there's a slight discrepancy. For one Se makes more 'sense' than Ni does (scanning the immediate environment? hmm, seems useful), plus statistically I've probably been exposed to more Se in my lifetime, and it being an extroverted (and thus a 'visible' function), means it's more normalized to me.
> 
> Also Ni doms might be more annoying to deal with due to that 'closed minded certitude' thing that gets said about INXJs. INTJs get the worst reputation for it, but with INFJs the same basic rules apply, we're just nicer and more socially malleable because Fe, but we're not less likely to claim certainty for nebulous or inexplicable reasons. So I kind of wonder what it is like.
> 
> Idk, this was kind of a spontaneous thread. Like maybe all of the introverted functions, I feel like Ni might only really be fun to the person using it.


Personally, I think Ni is the coolest function because I don't understand it at _all_. 

The only gut feelings I get about stuff are tied to people. I sometimes get intuitions about whether a person is good or bad, but otherwise, I never get strong intuitions. If I do get one, it's weak and I ignore it! I'm very good at making academic connections though. Figuring out math problems, the meaning behind metaphors, stuff like that. That's where I see nearly all of my Ni, and I'm very thankful for it :laughing:

I had an ex that was one of those INFJs that get intensely powerful intuitions about all sorts of things, and I thought it was extremely interesting. It did present problems in our communication, though! I like to be very straightforward about anything in a relationship, and he would drop vague hints about things he needed and be pissed if I ever asked for elucidation. I found that I understood what he was trying to tell me, but I just didn't want to jump to conclusions. I saw the other side, but I didn't want to make the leap. I don't think I've ever met an Ni dom that I couldn't communicate with since then, though. He was very extreme! And not very mature, either.

You should be proud of your Ni. I'm fascinated with it, and I love watching it in other people. I like mine when it pops up, too! 

I don't believe that the self-righteous Ni doms are so because of their Ni. That's special snowflake syndrome, not Ni itself.


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## umop 3pisdn (Apr 4, 2014)

Shotophop said:


> Personally, I think Ni is the coolest function because I don't understand it at _all_.
> 
> The only gut feelings I get about stuff are tied to people. I sometimes get intuitions about whether a person is good or bad, but otherwise, I never get strong intuitions. If I do get one, it's weak and I ignore it! I'm very good at making academic connections though. Figuring out math problems, the meaning behind metaphors, stuff like that. That's where I see nearly all of my Ni, and I'm very thankful for it :laughing:
> 
> ...


I feel the same way about Se. It's like, oh, there really _is_ a whole world out there! 

You know, I use my Ni in a similar way. I mean, I do think it is useful in getting a feel for people, but it can also be kind of misleading in some ways. Like hypothetically if someone does something bad, sometimes people will say they're a 'bad person'. But you're only noticing that one side of the person, and the person and their actions are separate things. I think Ni can be kind of like that sometimes, you get an impression which is useful, but if you're not careful you can let that colour your impression of them too much. I think it can take a lot of skill to both have faith in your intuition, and also measure it against reality. At least I haven't quite figured it out, yet.

Hahaha. I communicate in metaphors so much it's kind of ridiculous. It's weird because I think that way, but I also wonder like where the motivation comes from to develop that perspective. I think it's usually intelligible, but it's a strange way to communicate. Like one time my supervisor was talking to me about the expectations placed on her, and I'd say "they expect you to spin straw into gold". I don't really know where that came from, because the last time I read Rumpelstiltskin I was probably ten at most, but it was still a very easy idiom for me to reach for, to express the expectation that she perform an impossible task. In some ways it's really straight forward, because you're packing a lot of meaning into a tiny little box; and in other ways it's incredibly _not_ straight forward, because you're alluding to a childrens' fairy tale to make sense of real life situations 

I think there's a weird thing with our dominant functions, where we kind of take them for granted. Like since it's hard to imagine yourself without it, in a way you can't value it as much as you should, and also you don't really know what it looks like from the outside (because to you it's just so natural). 

I guess I didn't really mean self-righteousness so much, as just letting yourself claim a kind of 'certainty' that shuts down ideas to the contrary. As people I think we sort of grow out of it, because I think it's symptom of a poor balance of the kind I mentioned before (having faith in your intuition, and also measuring it against reality). Often I think we'll do only one of those things, when really it's doing both that gets some good work done


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## Acadia (Mar 20, 2014)

I love having aux-Se. I also love my tert Ni  I'm a writer, so I frequently rely on it. I like that I have this inner world that nobody else can access. it's just..mine. Fi-Ni loops are the pits though.


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## animalfromthesea (Nov 19, 2014)

I love Ni but i have a lot of difficulties understanding.Unlike my other functions, i never imediatly realize i'm using it.


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## Bnova (Feb 10, 2015)

Ni all day ,everyday


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## boogiestomp (Jan 7, 2014)

Tert Ni has had a big role to play in my personal growth and development! 
Similar to what @heartofpompeii said, I also am a writer so I feel like I began developing it pretty early.
I'm pretty sure it's my tertiary Ni that's in play when I begin writing and the words almost begin writing themselves as if they are already part of a preconceived whole but original at the same time.
For me, writing is the only way that I can consciously "zone in" to my tertiary Ni.


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## Alpha_Orionis (Jan 18, 2015)

I like Ni better because i like to ponder on ideas, possibilities and future. It is just so interesting to me.


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## Zosio (Mar 17, 2015)

Ni is my constant companion, and I've seen many sides of it. For me, it's a powerful but neutral force that feeds off of my mood or situation. It can be very good or very bad depending on what said mood or situation is. 

When I was really struggling with depression, my Ni picked up the habit of kicking me in the soul over and over. It's difficult to control what Ni picks up and decides to make patterns with. When it makes a pattern, it uses that pattern to make predictions. If it's been fed negative things to make patterns with, it's going to make negative predictions. This is referred to in psychotherapy as "fortune telling", and it's one of the biggest setbacks to overcoming depression. Thoughts like "I'm always going to be alone", "Life isn't worth it because it's always going to be this way" are products of Ni that has been fed the wrong things. 

But it can work in the opposite way, too. This can make you very optimistic, but you still have to watch out for overconfidence. If Ni has been fed too much "sugar" it's not going to handle it well when you face opposition or struggles. The only people who have Ni as their dominant or supporting functions are Js, so this means that we'll tend to see disruptions in patterns almost like assaults (we like our stable infrastructures). 

If you've been doing the right things and feeding it in the right way, Ni becomes a powerful tool that almost feels supernatural at times. Being able to make fairly accurate predictions throughout your life is a very handy skill, and it makes your mind a fun place to live. 

Ni can be a pain, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else.


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## Schizoid (Jan 31, 2015)

I like Ni, but I don't like inferior Se.


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## AliceKettle (Feb 2, 2014)

I'm an ISFP, and I find myself using my tertiary Ni a lot when empathizing with other people and looking at both sides of a story, when I daydream about my personal future or how a scenario could turn out for me, and when I do personal writing. The Ni function for me can either turn out for my favor when I use it to motivate myself for my personal future or feelings, or in my disadvantage when I become stuck on and worried about how future scenarios will turn out badly for me.


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## Highway Nights (Nov 26, 2014)

It's pretty cool, but I don't like dominant or auxiliary Ni's "closed minded certitude" as stated by the OP or the paranoid conspiracy theories it often can generate.


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## Cesspool (Aug 8, 2014)

Ni is a strange thing, doesn't make much sense to me tbh. I understand Se, Ne, and Si, but Ni just sounds like a weirdo. 

I also don't see how Ni is any more insightful than Ne.


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## Max (Aug 14, 2014)

Hell yes. I use Inferior Ni when life becomes hell. Lucholand is an unreal place.


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## XO Skeleton (Jan 18, 2011)

I use my Ni as a gut instinct in dealing with people and situations. Sometimes to determine whether or not I will be compatible with a person, which happens almost instantaneously. I also use it in coordination with my Se to determine whether or not a woman is interested in me either during conversation or with my peripheral vision. Being spontaneous in this respect usually works to my advantage.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

I think that I like Ni but I don't understand it.
It is my inferior function.
I'm not sure that it likes me.
*sigh*


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