Dominant introverted intuition
Introverted Intuiting (Ni) Explained - One of Your Eight Cognitive Functions
By Michael T. Robinson
Founder
CareerPlanner.com Inc.
| Ni | Ne | Si | Se | Ti | Te | Fi | Fe | Overview |
Introverted Intuiting (Ni) is one of your 8 cognitive functions. How you experience it and how useful it is for you depends on how well it is developed and that depends on mostly your age and what your 4 letter personality type is.
Click here for a simple explanation of cognitive functions
Introverted Intuiting is 1 or 4 ways for you to perceive information. The other 3 are: Extraverted Intuiting, Extraverted Sensing, and Introverted Sensing.
You will only be good at using 1 of these 4 cognitive functions.
People whose dominant function is Introverted Intuiting (Ni) usually experience the world as such:
You are used to having insights and hunches that frequently turn out to be correct. These "aha" moments are introverted intuiting at work.
What happens is this. You feed your mind with information and data. You let your unconscious mind process the data. Then, perhaps when you are in the shower, or jogging, the answer just pops into your mind.
It's not magical nor mystical. It's simply that, of the 4 ways to get information (the 4 perceiving functions), Ni is the only one that easily taps into the unconscious. In fact, Ni is the only perceiving function that is not under conscious control.
So unlike someone whose dominant function is say Extraverted Sensing (Se) where they get their information directly from their five senses, a person with dominant Introverted Intuition gets much of their information after it has been processed in the unconscious.
Introverted Intuition is focused inwards, on the internal world of thoughts, ideas, and concepts as opposed to an extraverted function which is focused on the world that is external to the mind. i.e.
the real physical world.
Those with Ni as their dominant function prefer to focus on the future. They are adept at analyzing the past, but they only do so when looking for clues to the future.
Dominant Ni's have trouble focusing in the present moment. You will frequently notice that dominant Ni's will be mentally elsewhere, even when they are driving a car.
Dominant Ni's are big picture people. Details are their weakness. They can handle details like bookkeeping and accounting but it takes a lot of extra energy and it's stressful.
They are driven to see the big picture and to understand how thing work down at a fundamental, root cause level. They love theories, concepts, and complex systems. They tend to be strategic.
Those with Ni as their dominant function are good at spotting trends and patterns. They can easily connect the dots. Tell them what actions you have been taking and they will tell you what the future implications are for you. This is not hocus pocus magic.
Their brains are simply wired to process data this way. They are experts at connecting the dots and telling you what will probably happen.
In the past, people with introverted intuiting have been known to act as oracles, fortune tellers, shamans and medicine men. In fact many people with dominant Ni will tell you that while growing up they did have mystical experiences.
When Ni is combined with a feeling function such as Fe, as is the case with INFJ, or ENFJ the individual will probably be good at understanding people, relationships, human issues and such.
When Ni is combined with extraverted thinking (Te), as in the case of INTJ or ENTJ, the insights, hunches etc will probably be focused more on complex systems, concepts, things, products rather than people and human issues.
If Ni is your dominant function, please realize that not everyone is going to be like you. But you have probably already noticed this. In fact there are certain personality types that are just going to make you crazy.
But that's another subject.
Leaders and CEO types should always have a dominant intuitive around to keep an eye on the future and to help prevent serious missteps because they dominant Ni's can foresee the implications of your actions.
A good example of people or movie characters who have Introverted Intuition as their dominant function would be the fictional Merlin the Magician in King Arthur's Court and Gandalf the Wizard in Lord of the Rings.
These characters seem to understand how nature works at a fundamental level. Their deep understanding baffles others who are not able to "perceive" the world at that level.
For more examples of famous people and their personality types, go to www.celebritytypes.com
Introverted Intuition (Ni): An Inside Look
By Dr. A.J. Drenth
As with all introverts, INFJs’ and INTJs’ first order of business is an internal one. They enjoy tinkering with ideas, perspectives, theories, visions, stories, symbols, and metaphors.
Their dominant function, Introverted Intuition (Ni), serves as the veritable foundation for this inner playhouse. In this post, we will explore the inner workings and manifestations of Introverted Intuition in the INFJ and INTJ. Since Ni is a Perceiving function, INJs often report that its workings often feel effortless. When INJs express the need to “think about” something, this means something very different from what it might for other types. Namely, the lion’s share of INJs’ “thinking” or cognitive processing occurs outside of their conscious awareness. Their best thinking is typically done without thinking, at least not consciously. For INJs, “sleeping on” a problem is as sure a route to a solution as any.
Because it does much of its work subconsciously, Ni can seem to have a certain magical quality about it. In fact, it is not unusual for INJs to be viewed as having some degree of psychic or prophetic abilities. Despite its magical appearance, Ni can be understood on a rational basis.
What seems to be occurring is that many INJs have a highly sensitive inferior function, Extraverted Sensation (Se), which gathers copious amounts of sensory information from the outside world, including subtleties that other personality types tend to miss. Their Ni then subconsciously processes this data in order to make sense of it, like assembling pieces of a puzzle. Once finished, Ni generates an impression that seems to come out of “nowhere.” But the fact is that the intuition did not come out of nowhere, but from a synthesis of sensory data gathered from the immediate environment combined with information from the INJ’s own psyche.
Introverted Intuition (Ni), Vision, & BeautyIt is often said that human beings rely more heavily on vision than any of the other senses. This seems especially true of INJs, who often report a strong visual element to their Introverted Intuition. They often think by way of images rather than words. Their intuitions often manifest in the form of symbols, images, dreams, or patterns.
This is consistent with Jung’s characterization of the Ni type as a dreamer, artist, or seer. There is a distinct visual character to these notions, which is why vision-related terms—foresight, insight, seer, visionary, etc.—are invariably used in describing INJs.
Considering the visual nature of Ni, it is no surprise that many INJs are highly sensitive to beauty—visual, metaphorical, or otherwise. French philosopher and INTJ Jean Paul Sartre confessed: “I’m only a desire for beauty.” Another INTJ, Frederich Nietzsche, wrote that “life is only valuable as an aesthetic phenomenon.” What seems to be of great irony here is the fact that, at least superficially, INJs seem to be valuing aesthetics in a way similar to their typological opposites, ESFPs / ESTPs. The apparent reason for this is that INJs and ESPs both use Se as one of their four functions. The difference is that ESPs use Se more consciously, while INJs do so more unconsciously.
This explains why INJs, the most otherworldly and abstract types, are often perplexed by their felt need to create beauty and ensconce themselves in beautiful surroundings.
This represents a common point of difference between INFJs and INFPs. Namely, INFJs tend to have far more refined, sophisticated, and exquisite tastes than INFPs, for whom sensing is introverted (Si).
Of all types, INJs are those most concerned with the “big picture.” This can be understood in terms of their Ni, which is the most abstract and forward-looking of all functions. Ni is comprehensive and holistic. Its visions, answers, and insights manifest as comprehensive wholes. Consequently, INJs often feel more like recipients than they do creators of their ingenious ideas.
In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King (INTJ) describes his process of writing novels. He is adamant about the fact that he does not consciously plan or piecemeal the plot or direction of his stories. Rather his stories emerge from his unconscious as preexisting wholes, requiring little as far as conscious effort or planning. Other INJ novelists report similar experiences, feeling that once they have established the spigot to their creative unconscious their ideas seem to flow effortlessly and without volition.
Because of the inherent sense of completeness in Ni-spawned insights, INJs often feel they have been granted a sneak preview of the future, or at least a vision of a possible future. This strong sense of foresight can serve as the driving force behind their desire to see their ideals actualized.
Convergence, Certainty & ConvictionWhile not technically a judging function, Ni often functions in a convergent fashion, providing elegant answers and solutions to complex problems. As discussed above, Ni takes clues gathered by Se and unconsciously pieces them together toward a comprehensive solution. INJs commonly report that the solution arrives through a single flash of insight—an “aha!” moment. This may occur while dreaming or awake, but tends to come suddenly and all at once, like an unexpected gift. INJ philosopher Frederich Nietzsche describes his intuitive process this way:
Something profoundly convulsive…suddenly becomes visible and audible with indescribable definiteness and exactness…There is an ecstasy whose terrific tension is sometimes released by a flood of tears…There is a feeling that one is utterly out of hand…Everything occurs without volition, as if an eruption of freedom, independence, power, and divinity.
The spontaneity of the images and similes is most remarkable; one loses all perception of what is imagery and simile; everything offers itself as the most immediate, exact, and simple means of expression.
The powerful means by which Introverted Intuition reveals its insights are associated with a gut sense of conviction and certainty. At a deep intuitive level, INJs experience their intuitions as true and trustworthy. But they cannot stop there. Once they have received an intuition, they must work to flesh it out. They must articulate and illustrate it in order to render it accessible and useful to others. This is where their auxiliary function, either Extraverted Feeling (Fe) or Extraverted Thinking (Te), enters the picture, helping them unpack their vision, sort of like decompressing a computer file. This process can at times be difficult and painstaking, sometimes taking longer than birthing the vision itself. But in order for others to trust and get behind it, INJs must do their best to translate their vision into words, images, or formulas.
For INTJs, this might entail proffering a detailed framework of their proposed solution, including its parts and processes. INFJs may opt for a more metaphorical or narrative approach, using analogies, word pictures, or stories to illustrate their insights.
Ni can also be an effective tool for handling paradoxical or contradictory evidence. To the rational mind, two contradictory assertions cannot simultaneously coexist; one of the them must be rendered false. But according to Jung, the unconscious, through it’s innate creativity, is adept at reconciling opposites and transcending paradoxes.
An INFJ friend of mine is a champion of paradoxical or Janusian thinking. In our discussions of philosophy, she has sought to transcend traditional categorizations and dichotomies by claiming that knowledge is at once relative and absolute, subjective and objective, temporal and eternal, etc. Again, to the rational mind, which relishes and even relies on such dichotomies, this can be difficult to swallow.
When seen through the lens of Ni, however, ostensible paradoxes may become more readily intelligible and explainable.
Learn more about Ni in our books:
My True Type: Clarifying Your Personality Type, Preferences & Functions
Beyond Rare: The INFJ’s Guide to Cultivating Growth & Self-Awareness
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📖 Dominant and auxiliary functions of sixteen types, Appendix 2. Dominant and auxiliary functions.
The complex nature of an introvert. Types of people. 16 personality types that define how we live, work and love. Kroeger O. Page 16. Read online Types of people. 16 personality types that determine how we live, work and love Otto Kroeger | Tewson D. M.
Initially, we were talking about four letters that define how a person prefers to perceive life and human relationships. The combination of these four letters gives us a "personality type" and helps to better understand the characteristics of a person. nine0005
There is another concept beyond the four-letter type, which was developed by C. G. Jung and improved by Isabelle Briggs-Myers. This concept focuses on only two functions of our personality: the function of gathering information (sensory or intuition) and the function of making decisions (logic or ethics). In our four-letter code, these functions are represented by the second and third letters, respectively (for example, E NF P).
According to Jung's theory, as a person grows and develops, one of these functions begins to predominate. This is the most reliable, manageable, obedient and predictable function of the human personality. This is the function that (if possible) determines human behavior. It's called the "dominant function". Isabelle Briggs-Myers called her the "commander-in-chief" of personality. Simply put, she is the most important. nine0005
Psychology bookap
Another function is called "auxiliary function". This is the second most important feature, which sometimes tries to take the first place, but is more often content with the role of an add-on. The auxiliary function provides assistance and support to the dominant one. Isabelle Myers called this function the "faithful adjutant".
With the help of the dominant function, extraverts focus their vital energy and activity. In the case of an extrovert, we get exactly what we see. His outer side is an honest reflection of the inner.
Ethical extroverts impose their "commander-in-chief" ethics on the whole world around them and do it for the common good. (Most clerics are extraverted-ethical types, because it is so natural for them to impose their value system on the flock and society.) Logic extroverts, on the contrary, impose their logic on the world around them: they like to put in order and organize everything that is within reach , so they are the best "managers" in the world. nine0005
The energy and attention of introverts, on the contrary, are directed inward, because it is there that the dominant function of their personality lives. Therefore, you will only be able to see the “commander-in-chief” of the introvert personality if you have an appointment with him that is, if the introvert trusts you. And even then, you're more likely to be "let in" than an introvert to "come out." As a result, introverts keep in touch with the outside world through their auxiliary function, and, therefore, the solution of all external issues requires the final approval of the information gathering or decision-making function, which is dominant.
nine0005
Psychology bookap
Introverts are not only at a disadvantage in our society there are three extroverts to one introvert, they are also endowed with a more complex mechanism of the psyche, because their energy and attention are focused on the inner world.
When working with Type Awareness, it is important to understand that extroverts express their preferences more easily, while introverts are much more difficult to understand. Moreover, when an introvert "extroverts", he always carefully considers and analyzes his (already committed) actions afterwards. This means, for example, that the "final" decision expressed by an introvert may still change after reflection and reflection. Similarly, the seeming "compliance" of an introvert may turn out to be only imaginary, as soon as he withdraws into himself for a while and considers the question posed. nine0005
From the point of view of extroverts, the outside world is a positive and joyful source of energy, so they usually do not hesitate to use their strongest points there, keeping what is “worse” inside.
Psychology bookap
Introverts are the opposite. They prefer to trust their own inner world which is as good for them as the outside is for extroverts so their greatest strengths (dominant function) are directed inward. The outside world is tedious, but there is no escape from it: we all have to deal with it daily, but for the introvert it is nothing more than a necessary evil. Accordingly, in a world that is less pleasant and attractive, the introvert prefers to use what is "worse", that is, an auxiliary function. The introvert's point of view on this issue can be expressed by a slightly modified advertising slogan: "We don't love you enough to give you the best." nine0005
So, extroverts share with the outside world their most important and strongest dominant function. And introverts share with the outside world only an auxiliary function second in a row.
The dominant and auxiliary functions of each type are described below:
ISTJ
- Dominant function introverted sensorics : facts and practical activities.
- Auxiliary function extravert logic : objective decisions and schemes.
ISFJ
- Dominant function introverted sensorics : facts and practical activities.
- Auxiliary function extraverted ethics : decisions and schemes based on interpersonal relationships.
INFJ
- Dominant function introverted intuition : inspiration and opportunity.
nine0002 - Auxiliary function extraverted ethics : decisions and schemes based on interpersonal relationships.INTJ
- Dominant function introverted intuition : inspiration and opportunity.
- Auxiliary function extraverted logic : objective solutions and schemes.
ISTP
- Dominant function introverted logic : objective decisions. nine0005
- Auxiliary function extraverted sensory : factual and practical observations.
ISFP
- Dominant function introverted ethics : decisions and schemes based on interpersonal relationships.
- Auxiliary function extraverted sensory : factual and practical observations.
INFP
- Dominant function introverted ethics : decisions and schemes based on interpersonal relationships.
- Auxiliary function extraverted intuition : possibilities and abstract observations.
INTP
- Dominant function introverted logic : objective decisions.
- Auxiliary function extraverted intuition : possibilities and abstract observations.
ESTP
nine0002 - Dominant function extraverted sensory : detailed perception of facts.- Auxiliary function introverted logic : objective solutions.
ESFP
- Dominant function extraverted sensory : detailed perception of facts.
- Auxiliary function introverted ethics : decisions based on interpersonal relationships.
ENFP
- Dominant function extraverted intuition : possibilities and abstract observations.
- Auxiliary function introverted ethics : decisions based on interpersonal relationships.
ENTP
- Dominant function extraverted intuition : possibilities and abstract observations.
- Auxiliary function introverted logic : objective solutions. nine0005
ESTJ
- Dominant function extraverted logic : objective decisions and schemes.
- Auxiliary function introverted sensory : facts and practical activities.
ESFJ
- Dominant function extraverted ethics : decisions based on interpersonal relationships.
- Auxiliary function introverted sensory : facts and practical activities.
ENFJ
- Dominant function extraverted ethics : decisions based on interpersonal relationships.
- Auxiliary function introverted intuition : inspiration and opportunities.
ENTJ
- Dominant function extraverted logic : objective decisions and schemes.
- Auxiliary function introverted intuition : inspiration and opportunity.
Introverted intuitive type | Analytical psychology (abstracts and summaries)
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In the Myers-Briggs typology, it corresponds to the types INTP (introverted intuition with the first additional function of thinking) and INFP (introverted intuition with the first additional function of feeling).
KG Jung. Psychological types
Introverted intuitive type
When introverted intuition reaches primacy, then its peculiar features also create a peculiar type of person, namely the mystic dreamer and seer on the one hand, the dreamer and artist on the other. The latter case might be considered normal, for this type tends in general to confine itself to the receptive character of intuition.
<...> If he is an artist, then his art heralds extraordinary things, things not of this world, which shimmer with all colors and are both significant and banal, beautiful and clumsy, sublime and bizarre. But if he is not an artist, then he often turns out to be an unrecognized genius, an idlely ruined figure, something like a wise semi-fool, a figure for "psychological" novels. nine0286 <...> He is occupied with the meaning of his visions, he cares not so much about their further aesthetic possibilities, but about their possible moral impacts arising for him from their meaningful meaning.
His judgment makes it possible for him to know - though sometimes only vaguely - that he, as a person, as a whole, is somehow involved in his vision, that it is something that can not only be contemplated, but that would like to become life. subject. He feels that this knowledge places upon him the obligation to translate his vision into his own life. But since he predominantly and mainly relies only on vision, his moral attempt turns out to be one-sided: he makes himself and his life symbolic, although adapted to actual factual reality. Thus, he deprives himself of the ability to influence her, because he remains incomprehensible. His language is not the one everyone speaks; it's too subjective. His arguments lack persuasive rationality. He can only confess or proclaim. He is the voice of a preacher in the wilderness. nine0286 The introverted intuitive represses the sensations of the object the most. This is the hallmark of his unconscious. In the unconscious there is a compensating extraverted function of sensation, which is distinguished by its archaic character.
The unconscious personality might therefore be best described as an extraverted feeling type of the lower primitive kind. The strength of attraction and immensity are properties of this sensation, as well as the extreme attachment to the sense impression. This quality compensates for the rarefied mountain air of the conscious attitude and gives it a certain heaviness, so that it prevents complete "sublimation". But if, as a result of the forced exaggeration of the conscious attitude, complete submission to internal perception occurs, then the unconscious enters into opposition and then there are obsessive sensations with excessive attachment to the object, which resist the conscious attitude. The form of neurosis is then obsessional neurosis, the symptoms of which are partly hypochondriacal phenomena, partly hypersensitivity of the senses, partly obsessive attachments to certain persons or other objects. nine0297
Maria Louise von Franz.
Sub function
The introverted intuitive type has the same ability to sense the future and correctly foresee or anticipate future possibilities that are not yet visible, as does the extraverted intuitive type. But his intuition is turned inward, and therefore the traits of a religious prophet, a seer were originally laid in him. In primitive society, he becomes a shaman, initiated into the plans of the gods, ghosts and souls of ancestors and transmitting their messages to his tribe. In the language of psychology, one can say that he understands the slow processes taking place in the collective unconscious, archetypal changes, and transfers his knowledge to society. While the children of Israel slept happily (as they always do with the masses), the Old Testament prophets from time to time explained to them what Yahweh's true intentions were, what he was doing now, and what he wanted from his people. People usually listened to these messages without much joy.
nine0286 Many introverted intuitives can be found among artists and poets. Usually these authors create works with a very archetypal and fantastic content, such as Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Gustav Meyrink's The Golem, Kubin's The Other Side. Such ghostly, fantastic art is perceived, as a rule, only by later generations and gives an idea of what was happening in the collective unconscious at the time of the authors' work.
The inferior sense of this type also has difficulty in determining the needs of the body and controlling its appetite. Swedenborg, for example, had a vision in which God himself said that he should not eat so much! He naturally ate without the slightest bit of self-control, completely without thinking about the consequences of overeating. Swedenborg was a typical introverted intuitive of the prophetic or visionary type, having both simple needs and intemperance in food. An introverted intuitive, just like an extroverted one, is completely at a loss when confronted with the real facts of life.
nine0286 <...> The introverted intuitive is often so completely ignorant of external facts that his messages must be treated with the greatest caution. Without being a conscious liar, he may be telling the absolute lie simply because he is oblivious to what is happening right in front of his nose. For this reason, I do not put much faith in reports of ghosts and parapsychological phenomena. Introverted intuitives are very fond of these things, but due to their poor powers of observation and inability to concentrate on the external situation, they can tell you the most incredible nonsense, swearing that it is all true. nine0286 They pass by an astonishing number of curious external facts without paying any attention to them. I remember, for example, how one autumn I was driving in a car with a person of an introverted intuitive type. Potato fields had already been harvested, and haulm fires were burning. I noticed them and looked at them with pleasure. Suddenly the driver sniffed the air, stopped the car in horror and said: "Something is burning! Where does this smell come from?" We examined the brakes - everything was in order, and decided that the fires were the cause of the smell.
They were burning everywhere, and it seemed to me quite obvious that the smell of burning was coming from them. But an introverted intuitive can drive a car on the road for an hour, completely unaware that something unusual is happening around. And then all of a sudden this unusual strikes him, and he makes absolutely wrong conclusions. His subordinate sensation has the property inherent in all subordinate functions - to manifest itself in the mind in a dotted, fragmentary way: it either turns on or disappears. A person suddenly begins to acutely feel the smell, although before that he did not notice it at all for three quarters of an hour, and react to it very strongly. nine0286 The inferior sensation of the introverted intuitive is extremely intense, but breaks suddenly here and there, and then leaves the field of consciousness. The introverted intuitive has particular difficulty in the sexual realm because it affects his extraverted sensation. This problem is reflected in a particularly tragic form in the works of Nietzsche.
Towards the end of his creative career, shortly before he was overcome by madness, very crude sexual allusions appeared in poetry and in the poetic novel "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Having lost his mind, he apparently continued to develop this theme in his works, which were destroyed after his death because of their disgusting content. The subordinate extraverted sensation in his case was very much and very specifically related to women and sex, and he absolutely did not know how to deal with this problem. nine0286 As an example of the positive influence of subordinate extraverted sensation on the introverted intuitive, we can cite an interesting case of insight experienced by the German mystic Jacob Boehme. He had a wife and six children, for the maintenance of which he did not earn a penny. Boehme was in constant trouble in family matters, because his wife always said that instead of writing books about God and fantasizing about the inner development of the Divine, he should have thought about how to feed his family.
He was completely crucified between the two poles of his life. One of his greatest inner experiences, the divine revelation that formed the basis of all his later works, came from seeing a ray of light reflected by a tin plate. This vision brought him into a state of inner ecstasy, and it can be said that for a moment the whole mystery of the Divine was revealed to him. For many years he did nothing but slowly translate into the language of logical reasoning what he comprehended in just a minute, maybe even a second! What he wrote turned out to be so emotional and chaotic because he tried to describe this one experience, only developing it in different ways. But the vision itself arose from the fact that he saw a beam that fell on a tin plate that was on the table. This is how extraverted sensation works: the sensation of an external phenomenon triggered the process of individuation in him. Here one can see, besides the subordination of extraverted sensation, the amazing integrity and mystical aspect that the subordinate function often possesses.
Interestingly, even overeating Swedenborg connected him to the Divine. His inferior feeling was connected with his deepest and greatest ideas. nine0297
Darel Sharp. Personality types. Jungian typological model
Intuition, like sensation, is an irrational function of perception. Where sensation is motivated by physical reality, intuition is oriented to psychic reality. In the extraverted attitude, the subjective factor is repressed, but in the introverted it is decisive. When this way of functioning is dominant, we have the introverted intuitive type. nine0286 Introverted intuition is directed at the contents of the unconscious. Although it may be stimulated by external objects, writes Jung, "it is itself not at all concerned with external possibilities, but focuses on what has been caused by the external within the subject." The introverted intuitive sees what is happening behind the scene, directs his gaze there, is fascinated by those inner images that are brought into his life.
Jung gives the example of a person suffering from an attack of vertigo. Where an introverted sensation could mark a physical disturbance, grasp all its qualities, its intensity, its course, how it arises and how long it lasts, introverted intuition will not notice anything of the kind, but will first of all examine every detail of the images that arise as a result of such a disorder. . “She retains this image and, with the liveliest sympathy, states how this image changes, develops further and finally disappears”:
Thus, introverted intuition perceives everything that happens in the distant planes of consciousness with approximately the same clarity with which extraverted sensation perceives external objects. Therefore, for intuition, unconscious images receive the dignity of things or objects. But since intuition excludes the collaboration of sensation, it either learns nothing at all, or learns only insufficiently about disorders of innervation, about the influence of unconscious images on the body.
From this, the images seem to be detached from the subject and existing on their own, without relation to the individual. As a result of this, in this example, the introverted intuitive, who had an attack of dizziness, would not even think that the image he perceived could somehow relate to himself. This, of course, will seem almost unthinkable for a person set on judgment (thinking or feeling), but meanwhile it is a fact. nine0286 The introverted intuitive type, like the extraverted intuitive, has an extraordinary ability to sniff out the future, yet unmanifested opportunities and situations. But intuition is directed inwards, therefore, such people are first of all found among seers (siers) and prophets, poets, artists - among primitive people such are shamans who transmit messages from the gods to their tribe.
On a more secular level, people of this type tend to be mystical dreamers. nine0291 They communicate with difficulty, constantly being in misunderstanding and having insufficiently good judgment, both about themselves and about others ; nothing is completed.
They “pass from image to image,” writes Jung, “chasing after all the possibilities contained in the creative bosom of the unconscious, without establishing any connection between the phenomenon and itself.”
This type is particularly disposed to neglect ordinary physical needs. T These people have little knowledge of their own bodily existence or of its effect on others. nine0292 It often turns out that reality does not exist for them at all - they are simply lost in fruitless fantasies. Partly parrying this, Jung describes the value of this type for the collective community:
True, the contemplation of the images of the unconscious, created by the creative force in inexhaustible abundance, is fruitless only in the sense of immediate benefit. But inasmuch as these images are the possibilities of conception, capable under certain conditions of imparting a new potential to life, this function, which is the most alien to the external world, is inevitable in general mental economics, just as the mental life of a people should by no means be devoid of a corresponding type.
If this type did not exist, Israel would not have had its own prophets. nine0286 Characteristically, introverted intuitives have a vague idea of the details of the "real" world. They are easily lost in unfamiliar cities; always misplace their things; forget to come to an appointment; rarely come on time; arrive at the airport at the very last minute. Their working habitat is usually in disarray; they can't find the right paper, the right supplies, clean clothes. Rarely, when something around them is clean and tidy. They have a habit of getting things done haphazardly, depending on the patience and good intentions of sensation-oriented friends. nine0286 Their behavior often, at best, irritates other types, at worst, becomes painful for them. Themselves they remain carefree and indifferent, making excuses, with appropriate pressure, that "details are not such an important matter."
This type of indifference to tangible reality is very easy to misinterpret as indifference on the one hand and unfaithfulness on the other.
They are true not to external facts, but to internal images. They may unconsciously lie, but their memory or resurrection of the event hardly coincides with the so-called objective reality. In its extreme manifestations, a person of this type becomes a complete mystery to friends, and, ultimately, since they do not feel that they are valued and listened to, friends have every reason to gradually disappear from the horizon. nine0286 The highly introverted intuitive suppresses both functions of judgment—thinking and feeling—but most of all represses the sensation of the object. This gives rise to the manifestation of a compensatory extraverted sensation of an archaic nature. The unconscious personality, writes Jung, "could, therefore, be best described as an extraverted feeling type of only the lowest primitive order":
Desire and immensity are properties of this sensation, as is extreme dependence on sense impressions. nine0292 This quality compensates for the rarefied mountain air of the conscious attitude of the intuitive and gives it some heaviness, so that it prevents complete “sublimation”.
But if, as a result of the forced exaggeration of the conscious attitude, complete submission to internal perception sets in, then the unconscious enters into opposition, and then there are obsessive sensations with excessive dependence on the object, which resist the conscious attitude. The form of neurosis is, then, obsessional neurosis, with hypochondriacal symptoms, hypersensitivity of the sense organs, and obsessive attachment to certain persons or other objects. nine0286 According to von Franz, the introverted intuitive has a special problem in the sexual area. Such types are not the best lovers in the world, simply because they have little sense of what is happening in their own body, as well as in the body of their partner. At the same time they have a lustful nature - a reflection of a subordinate and therefore primitive feeling function - and through lack of judgment come out with vulgar, obscene and socially inappropriate sexual illusions. nine0286 Jung recognized that although both the introverted intuitive and the introverted feeling type are, from an extraverted and rationalist point of view, "the most useless people", the way they function is nonetheless instructive:
But if you look from a higher point of view, then such people are living witnesses to the fact that the rich and full of movement of the world, and its overflowing delightful and intoxicating life, live not only outside, but also inside.
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