# Ne vs Ni Daydream



## LeftEyeDominant (Aug 15, 2015)

First of all, I know daydreaming isn't exclusively related to functions. But as far as I know, daydreaming is more common with intuitive types.

So, what I want to know here are the differences between Ne and Ni daydreams

Would Ne be more about alternative endings? Something that is completely irrelevant or random? Original? Mostly weird world of fantasy that no one would ever think will make sense?

How about Ni? Would Ni be more about what you desire for the future? Would it be more subjective? Something that relates to a person's desire rather than figuring out/playing with possible outcomes? Straightforward? Is it deep?

Of course you don't have to answer all the above questions. They're just suggestions to what I think they may be about. But what do you think? And how are they influenced by other functions when daydreaming?

Discuss!


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## TrailMix (Apr 27, 2011)

(Ni-dom)

I create worlds, characters and stories in my head. Mostly characters and fantasy crap haha... ALL. DAY.

Either that or deciphering the meaning of life or reading meaning into everything and it's mom.


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## Aelthwyn (Oct 27, 2010)

TrailMix said:


> (Ni-dom)
> I create worlds, characters and stories in my head. Mostly characters and fantasy crap haha... ALL. DAY.


sounds like my daydreams too  I'm always creating worlds, cultures, histories, characters, adventures... 

I'm not sure there's a big difference between these functions in this regard. Maybe... just maybe Ni dwells longer on or revisits the same ideas more? while maybe Ne moves from one idea to another more quickly?

I also contemplate philosophical meaning of life stuff, I just don't count that so much as 'daydreaming' but yes, those things often occupy my thoughts - the whys behind things, questions about the true nature of things, their significance and connections, and so forth.


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## TrailMix (Apr 27, 2011)

Aelthwyn said:


> sounds like my daydreams too  I'm always creating worlds, cultures, histories, characters, adventures...
> 
> I'm not sure there's a big difference between these functions in this regard. Maybe... just maybe Ni dwells longer on or revisits the same ideas more? while maybe Ne moves from one idea to another more quickly?
> 
> I also contemplate philosophical meaning of life stuff, I just don't count that so much as 'daydreaming' but yes, those things often occupy my thoughts - the whys behind things, questions about the true nature of things, their significance and connections, and so forth.


I think possibly Ne generates more ideas where Ni will refine them and whittle away at them in a perfectionistic kind of way. I've always felt that Ne was more the inventor while Ni was the innovator. I've never been great at coming up with new ideas, but I've always been very good at morphing old ideas together into what only appears to be a "new" idea. Ni is insight or shifting perspectives whereas Ne creates new ones maybe... i dunno haha. At time i find Ne to be disturbing. Such lawlessness! haha


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## LeftEyeDominant (Aug 15, 2015)

@TrailMix 
So does your Ni create something that always connect to one idea? 

So what I'm getting here is that, while Ne generates more and more original ideas/daydreams, Ni wishes to think of a better way to have the "perfect" impression of the daydream? Like adding or editing some aspect of the dream to get the perfect impression of it?


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## TrailMix (Apr 27, 2011)

Hmmmm...

not necessarily... For example, I'm an aspiring writer and I have a bunch of ideas for stories and worlds and characters and whatnot, but I've found that often times, these worlds, stories, etc., are extrapolations or combinations of other ideas and stuff like that... And yeah, i'm always trying to "perfect" the idea and get all the details of these worlds right... thats just me though, I dunno for sure.

But in a sense... kind of... I feel like for me, everything fits the worldview, including my ideas for stories/my daydreams and all that... I dunno I'm confusing myself because I'm tired. haha


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## ReturnOfSaturn (Apr 4, 2015)

I don't really daydream anymore, but when I do I feel like my daydreams are very random. It's my own personal Old Spice commercial.


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## angelfish (Feb 17, 2011)

I create a lot of fantasy scenarios in my head. Sometimes whole worlds, sometimes little snippets. A lot of times I'll start with a fiction world that's been created by someone else and come up with more detail for stories inside that world. Other times I'll make up my own worlds. I also really like imagining how my present surroundings could be imbued with mystery and magic...


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## UraniaIsis (Nov 26, 2014)

I interact with different leaves sharing the same branch at different times basically. Whether I create my own worlds and characters or I borrow from frictional characters and worlds that already exist, I run multiple worlds at the same time but they are all lynch-pinned by some sort of archetypal symbol or concept. I suppose a decent example would be how the archetype of the infinity stones is being utilized to tie so many different Marvel (movie) story lines, worlds and characters together that would otherwise seem to have almost nothing to do with one another.


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## LeftEyeDominant (Aug 15, 2015)

UraniaIsis said:


> I interact with different leaves sharing the same branch at different times basically. Whether I create my own worlds and characters or I borrow from frictional characters and worlds that already exist, I run multiple worlds at the same time but they are all lynch-pinned by some sort of archetypal symbol or concept. I suppose a decent example would be how the archetype of the infinity stones is being utilized to tie so many different Marvel (movie) story lines, worlds and characters together that would otherwise seem to have almost nothing to do with one another.


Ahh, I see. This one is actually what I've been thinking about the Ni way of daydreaming.


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## Ntuitive (Jan 6, 2012)

My guess would be that Ne daydreaming might have more to do with the moment and random thoughts, where as Ni would be building upon larger existing ideas. 

I feel like I'm constantly day dreaming. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I'm always somewhere else. Usually I'm wondering something. I'm just very curious. I'll have a random idea and want to learn more about the general subject. 

I don't know if it has anything to do with Ne or Ni though. I feel like I use both to some degree.


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## phoenixmarie (Jun 28, 2013)

I usually take situations and people from reality and then think about how I think things will end up in the future. I usually have one or two outcomes that I think could happen and I'll sort through them in my mind. I get more in my head when I'm having a bad depressive episode and usually the daydreams become very negative and dark.


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## VacantPsalm (Dec 22, 2014)

I usually have some pet ideas that I keep coming back to (pops in and out for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks), one or more huge things I'm putting together (lasts months, or preferably more), and sometimes I just wander around.


Pet ideas are small things that intrigue me. I keep finding myself coming back to them, exploring around the concept(s). Sometimes taking it new ways, and sometimes just enjoying it for what it is. If I find a song or image that maybe fits with it a little bit, god yes. My new favorite thing of the hour... Hm, I never thought of it this way, but I guess I like keeping little icons around that would reignite the idea in my head and/or keep me on track. Like I have a bunch of images on my desktop that make me think/feel certain things.

Examples of pet ideas are things like: "What is black metal? What does it explore?" "That scene from that game where the usually bubbly girl tears that dude a new one was awesome." "I need to make that post about the thing." "Enneagram type 4. Now with twice the fascination, since I think it's my type so now my reactions make me think of it."


The bigger ideas are the things I feel guilty if I ignore for too long. Sometimes I'll focus on a small piece, and sometimes I'll play with the overall tone/theme. The best is when I connect ideas, like how scenes flow together or how X can portray Y, that makes me happy. I guess the most natural way to work on small things is to just think it through over and over and let it inevitably go in different directions, then judge if that direction feels right. (Sometimes. I guess I usually leave things in big paradoxical piles.) For tone/theme I just float around a feeling and see how things look with it.

Examples of that are things like: "This fantasy world. Ways it could be used in a book. Ways it could be used as a table top game. Ways it can be used in a video game. Ways it... yea I smear it on everything." "An idea for a horror game." "A concept for a dark moody children's book."


Random wandering is what it is. I think about something and it either leads to other things or something makes me think of other things and it's aaaaaaall worthless but fun.


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## VagrantFarce (Jul 31, 2015)

Concerning "daydreaming":


Ne would just be more active - there would be a quicker call to movement or action, catalysing things externally so _more_ possibilities and associations could be perceived and connected with. 


Ni would do the opposite - a kind of meditative detachment from the world would kick in, allowing you to dive deeper and deeper into yourself as you're consumed by your own thoughts.

In general:


Ne expounds on possibilities as they present themselves in the exterior world - so a situation might have within it a possibility or associative quality, and those would also have their own associations and possibilities, and so on, and so on. What you perceive are ways to "branch out" of a situation, and the temptation is to point them out and jump on them as exciting opportunities, wondering where they might lead.


Ni goes in the other direction, and allows impressions to build on top of impressions, synthesising and brewing in the background of your awareness. Instead of branching things out, you tend to see a global or cosmic "significance" in things. Instead of being excited by possibilities, it gives you a kind of fatalistic forecasting for how things might play out. It becomes more of an inner guide for the individual than an explicit path that everyone can grasp.


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## TimeWillTell (Jan 14, 2015)

Ne: Constantly pushing the edge of the box

Ni: Constantly trying to consolidate the box

Not a physical box mind you, an abstract one.


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## hizumi (Mar 7, 2016)

I would sometimes use my Se to help a little bit my Ni, so my daydreaming would be based off Se activating out of the blue and spotting a thing for a second, then Ni catching it and exploring the thoughts and stars and theories and cosmos and axolotles and is-that-even-a-words and black holes of concepts and drifting chairs (you never know what you can find in an infj's universe) and tiny lights related to this specific thing. I wouldn't say I'll keep thinking about this one particular thing for a long time, but the connections between my topics are usually not as 'random' and totally unrelated as Ne's.

Even if you say 'chocolate' to me and I reply with 'I wonder what wood is best for crafting stuff' this is actually because I thought about chocolate, then the process of making it, then stirring ingredients in a bowl, then about things used to stir them, then about spoons and wooden spoons, then my Ti peeked in and started thinking about how they were made and went on to what wood is generally best for that. All this in a blink of an eye.

Though, I think it's more about the functions Ne or Ni go with. My ENTP friend uses Ne but has Ti too, so even though our thought process about chocolate would be totally different, we will probably end up at the same page.* (see, I think I completely missed the original thread topic here by Ni wandering off like that - this post is a perfect example of how it starts)*

The thing is, Ne tends to get bored with the topic much more easily and starts seeking other things to daydream about.


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## marblecloud95 (Aug 12, 2015)

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， ＴＨＥ ＤＡＷＮ ＯＦ ＴＨＥ ＮＥＷ ＭＩＬＬＥＮＮＩＵＭ ＨＡＳ ＣＯＭＥ， 
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