Misunderstood Ne

Misunderstood Ne

I often get asked to help people figure out their type, but there’s a lot of confusion / superficial understanding of what the functions do – based in part on stereotypes. One of the more common misconceptions is that Ne is just about ideas; people think if they have lots of ideas, or don’t mind change, or are impulsive, it means they might be Ne.

Now, it could mean that or it could not, but something to remember is this:

Ne is Extroverted INTUITION.

What does intuition do?

It reads between the lines.

What does dominant or strong intuition do?

It can read between the lines accurately.

This misconception about high Ne being believers in rainbow unicorns does not really take into consideration what Ne actually does or produces. Yes, it gets ideas. But it also sees the bigger picture – all the time. It also sees intuitive potential – most of the time. It also focuses on gathering information and forming often accurate conclusions – a lot of the time. Yes, it can sometimes be outside reality. Its most major flaw is reading too much into everything. But, it’s INTUITION. If it is not right at least half of the time in reading between the lines, it’s not proper (realistic / accurate / trained) intuition.

Allow me to elaborate on an example.

ENFP cannot figure out why she has not heard from X friend for six weeks. Even though X friend often takes a long time to respond, this silence is… unusual. ENFP thinks about it for half a day, and connects the dots between two ‘linked’ situations – the fact that X is behaving unusually right now, and that about eight weeks ago, ENFP gave X their novel to read. ENFP concludes that X must either hate the novel, or not be reading the novel (and feeling guilty), or finds the novel boring – and is afraid / guilt-ridden / unsure of what to say to ENFP. ENFP decides to test this theory by writing X, saying they no longer need X’s input on the novel, since they have received feedback from others and are working to ‘fix the novel’s flaws.’ Unsurprisingly, ENFP receives a long, newsy e-mail (with an undercurrent of relief that ENFP picks up on) the very next day; and everything seems normal. ENFP concludes their theory was correct. About four months later, X confesses the truth to ENFP that the novel bored them, and they felt bad, and didn’t know what to say, so they hid out of guilt; at which point ENFP just smiles and says, “I know.”

Ne is intuition; reading between the lines, and choosing the most rational theory (NeTi or NeTe) or explanation for whatever it sets its mind to. Being as it IS intuition and is focused on building connections between different pieces of information / knowledge / experience, the more attention the Ne pays to things, the more accurate their conclusions will be. Ne with a good developed T function will run with the most rational / reasonable intuitive conclusion – in this case, the novel and my friend’s strange behavior is connected; and then NeFi’s understanding of human nature / emotions accurately assumes the motive behind the absence is guilt / avoidance of confessing an emotional truth (”I don’t like your novel”), aided by an extensive past full of similar experiences with this person so that the ENFP knows their behavior patterns (Ne/Si).

If the ENFP tested that theory and X did not immediately write them back / the silence continued, ENFP would then progress to another likely cause / effect based on the same intuitive system / reading between the lines / connecting past behaviors with present potentials (depression based on their problems at work, which is causing them to enter a negative self-loop?).

While it is true that Ne can be impulsive, indecisive, and run with other people’s ideas, it is also true that it is still intuition and can have incredible insight into situations, people, potential short-term problems (and how to resolve them), the psychological needs of others, and what people are not saying.

Many ‘intuitive’ fictional characters do not have real Ne, but a pale, superficial imitation of Ne (and this is also the case for every other type / function); when you meet a real Ne, you will know it due to their intuitive insights. So when trying to determine if you have high Ne, ask yourself how often you read between the lines, how easily you can connect separate pieces of information to form an intuitive perception, and how accurate your perceptions are; it’s more than just ideas, or being impulsive, or being indecisive. It’s about broadness of insight.

- ENFP Mod