31/10/2022 15:07 Ni, Si, and Self-Delusion (Essay Contest 3rd Prize Winner) – IDR Labs

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Ni, Si, and Self-Delusion (Essay Contest 3rd

Prize Winner)
This essay, “Ni, Si, and Self-Delusion,” won 3rd prize in the CelebrityTypes essay
contest. The views and type assessments expressed in this essay represent the
opinions of its author and not the editorial point of view of the site.

By Christian Vieweg

In Jungian typology, Introverted Sensation (Si) and

Introverted Intuition (Ni) represent the two possible
forms of introverted perception, by which we gather
information and understand the world by relating our
internal perception to what we see in front of us.

The nature of these introverted perception functions is

that they are focused on the subject (i.e. the person’s
own psyche), rather than on actual, external objects.
This focus lends Si and Ni users a certain tendency
towards self-delusion. For while introverted perception
can provide us with greater depth and complexity of
perception than would be possible if we only had
extroverted perception, we also pay a price for this mode of perception
because it makes us more detached from objective reality. Introverted
perception may therefore lead to irrational fears, ideas, and beliefs. Both
forms of introverted perception fall victim to such delusional notions at times
but they tend do so in different fashions, each revealing a different facet of
their function.

Si vs. Ni

To begin, let us consider the differences between Si and Ni. Both functions
tend to develop a kind of mental “roadmap” for future activity, which is based
on personal experience or associations. The subject’s personal perceptions
are unconsciously reinterpreted to represent general truths.

But this is where the similarity ends. Si, as a sensation function, preserves the
person’s subjective experience in a literal fashion whereas Ni, as an intuitive
function, tends to ignore specifics, in favor of what it perceives to be the “true
underlying” patterns, essences, and meanings in events.

These differences have a major impact on how Si and Ni types view the
future, or relate to new events and changes in the outside world. Here are
two example of Si and Ni self-delusions:

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31/10/2022 15:07 Ni, Si, and Self-Delusion (Essay Contest 3rd Prize Winner) – IDR Labs

Strong Si types (SJs) are often described as “conservative” and “level-headed”

and the reason for such epithets is that Si bases its attitude to, and
assessment of, the future on what the individual has personally experienced
before. For this reason, Si types tend to lack a certain confidence when they
approach “new” things that do not resemble anything that the Si type has
experienced before. They want to be sure that they are doing it properly.

Strong Ni types (NJs), on the other hand, tend to believe they can see the
underlying similarities or properties in objects or concepts and use these to
foretell the future or the ultimate nature of the object. For this reason, where
Si types are often described as “conservative” and “level-headed,” Ni types are
often described as “visionary” and “grandiose.”

To the Ni type, what is objectively new and unfamiliar is not really

experienced as “new” at all, because Ni is neither bound by external (E) or
physical (S) frames of reference. As such, all other things being equal, NJ types
tend to exude a greater confidence when approaching “new” things than SJ
types do.

(However, that Ni types tend to think that they can perceive the essential
nature or future of the unfamiliar better than others does not mean that they
actually do understand the unfamiliar better than anyone else. We are only
concerned with the individual’s psychological attitude towards new and
unknown phenomena in this essay. We are not saying that Ni types are
actually better at handling new and unfamiliar situations, in fact, in practical
terms they may be quite the opposite.)

Si Multiplicity of Information vs. Ni Centrality of Information

Whereas Si is inclined to create new frames of reference whenever it

encounters something that it perceives as novel, Ni likes to use as few as
possible, and ideally would like to condense everything into simple, universal
truths that require as minimal an explanation as possible.

Again this difference causes each group to exhibit distinct biases when it
comes to planning for the future. Relative to SJs, NJs have a tendency towards
delusion optimism. This optimism is engendered by the remarkable capacity
for reinterpretation that is the hallmark of many an Ni type: Ni can shift
among any number of internal perspectives in order to perceive and interpret
the same thing from multiple different, subjective angles. In this way, even
the Ni type’s own delusional mistakes can be reinterpreted to appear in a
more positive light.

With full credence in his powers of interpretation and reinterpretation, the Ni

type tends to believe that ultimately anything can be understood or archived.
While this characteristic might give the NJ types the advantage of keeping
their spirits high, as well as the ability to easily spot a Plan B when things go
awry, this same optimism and belief in their own abilities can also lead to a
kind of self-assured carelessness where NJs ignore the necessary elements of
practical preparation. Similarly, they may not always bother to learn enough
about a given topic before diving in, being confident in their already existing
knowledge and abilities. No matter what happens, their attitude seems to

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31/10/2022 15:07 Ni, Si, and Self-Delusion (Essay Contest 3rd Prize Winner) – IDR Labs

say, they will find some way to employ the resources at hand to solve their
problems.

Undercommitment and Overpreparation

Ni types, when they have not developed their extroverted judging, tend to
make plans which are dangerously optimistic and that allow for no margin of
error. They tend to fool themselves into thinking they are being efficient when
they are really just demanding the impossible of others, or indulging in free
time and reveries, thinking they can “execute the plan and reach the goal” in
one sitting if they want to.

Si types, on the other hand, instinctively feel that the world is less predictable
and therefore that more sound and practicable plans are necessary. But the
Si bias towards perceiving the world as fundamentally unpredictable also
carries its own capacity for engendering irrational ideas. Because Si types
tend to see their own experiences as they relate to their personal subject,
they sometimes fail to see the underlying connections between one
experience and the next. Because SJ types, and especially ISJs, are prone to
see potential disaster around every corner, they often expect new things to
go poorly and may be overly risk-averse as a result.

Just like an underdeveloped INJ is likely to under-devote himself to a menial

task that doesn’t interest him, then, so an underdeveloped ISJ is likely to
devote an excessive amount of preparation and planning for a upcoming
event that features elements of the unfamiliar. Unless they develop their
auxiliary extroverted judging functions, INJs and ISJs may therefore have
difficulty discerning between objective reality and their own internal
perceptions.

***

Ni, Si, and Self-Delusion © Christian Vieweg and CelebrityTypes International

2014.

Drawing of a medal commissioned especially for this publication from artist

Georgios Magkakis.

18 Comments

januszkucharczyk says:
MAY 20, 2014 AT 2:57 PM

Ni and Si is source of self-delusion only as dominant function (INFJ, INTJ,

ISTJ, ISFJ) or also auxiliary (ENFJ, ENTJ, ESFJ, ENTJ? All types have Ni or Si as
any function.

admin says:
MAY 20, 2014 AT 7:13 PM

We guess what is meant is SJs and NJs.

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