Two Birds in a Tree: Glossary: Intuition Function

One of the personality’s four functions. The intuition function is one of the two perceiving functions, along with sensation. People with strong intuition rely on hunches, getting their information from the unconscious rather than logic, feeling, or the physical world. Where people with strong sensation are mainly focused the physical, here and now, intuitive types focus on the possible and the future. The intuition function can be introverted (visionary, even mystical, holistic and synthetic in their thinking) or extroverted (enthusiastic, spontaneous, energetic, and adventurous). If intuition is your primary function then sensation will, by necessity, be your inferior function.

Intuition is another function that's difficult to describe because it's main focus is on potential; an intuitive knows things without knowing how they know it. This is because the information comes from the unconscious, from all the information that's constantly being collected there; intuitives have an innate, instinctive ability to access the unconscious. Extroverted intuitives are those entrepreneurs who can somehow sniff out the next big thing, before anyone else has even heard of it. Introverted intuitives are your typical shaman or medium, getting flashes of knowing from within.

Things to ask yourself to determine if intuition is your primary function(1):

Paying the most attention to impressions or the meaning and patterns of the information I get. I would rather learn by thinking a problem through than by hands-on experience. I’m interested in new things and what might be possible, so that I think more about the future than the past. I like to work with symbols or abstract theories, even if I don’t know how I will use them. I remember events more as an impression of what it was like than as actual facts or details of what happened.

The following statements generally apply to me:
• I remember events by what I read “between the lines” about their meaning.
• I solve problems by leaping between different ideas and possibilities.
• I am interested in doing things that are new and different.
• I like to see the big picture, then to find out the facts.
• I trust impressions, symbols, and metaphors more than what I actually experienced
• Sometimes I think so much about new possibilities that I never look at how to make them a reality.

Introverted Intuition: Perspectives (focuses on depth of insight)

Watches their mind form patterns. Gets inside the minds of others. Sees the far off future implications of things.

Where Exploration (extroverted intuition) asks “What if” questions (“What would happened if I pushed this button, or pulled this lever?”), Perspectives (introverted intuition) asks discovery questions (“Why do we use buttons and levers? Are there other – maybe better - ways of getting things done?”) Where Exploration expands the number of possibilities, seeking breadth of knowledge, Perspectives works toward a singular, comprehensive vision, seeking depth of knowledge. Both focus on the things that can't be known via the five senses.

People with intuition as their Driver become masters at recognizing patterns; they make spectacular leaps of thought or feeling based on very few data points... and they're often right. Unlike extroverted intuition, though, Perspectives focuses on the internal rather than external world; Perspectives is a ruminatory function that's concerned with patterns as they exist in their mind or heart. It does this by watching their mind form patterns. They may see images rather than think in words, or their intuition might manifest as a hunch or feeling. This leads them to understand the patterns of the patterns; to take a meta-perspective of the patterns. They know that their mind forms patterns in a personal, subjective way, and this is why they're able to accept that other people have their own patterns, their own perspectives. In addition, introverted intuition's grasp of their mind's pattern making facility allows them to slip into other people's perspectives with an ease that's unmatched among all the types.

Types that use introverted intuition as their main function: INTJs and INFJs (Introverted Intuition/Thinking and Introverted Intuition/Feeling).

Types that use introverted intuition as their auxiliary function: ENTJs and ENFJs (Extroverted Thinking/Intuition and Extroverted Feeling/Intuition).

Extroverted Intuition: Exploration (focuses on novelty and new connections)

Figures things out and tests in the moment. Asks “What If?” questions. Seeks to understand patterns in the world.

As with introverted intuition, extroverted intuition (Exploration) is concerned with pattern recognition but in the outer rather than inner world; as with extroverted sensation, it reacts to the world around them in real time. They “brainstorm out loud.” Exploration wants to, know right now, "What would happen if I did [fill in the blank]?" They are obsessed with pushing buttons and pulling levers, with exploring that unknown part of the city or the world, or juxtaposing known things in new and novel ways. Doing so allows them to figure out patterns as they go out and test and test and test.

Exploration is interested in breadth of knowledge more than depth of knowledge; they feel compelled to explore all options and possibilities. This often leads them to appear distractible and flighty. Extroverted intuitives are almost addicted to novelty; they see the world as an blank map, and they're just itching to go and fill it all in. They're generally fearless individuals; curiosity far outweighs caution as the pleasure they get from learning new things eclipses any fear that they may have; They’re usually pretty confident that they can figure things out when they cross any particular bridge.
Types that use extroverted intuition as their main function: ENTPs and ENFPs (Extroverted Intuition/Thinking and Extroverted Intuition/Feeling).

Types that use extroverted intuition as their auxiliary function: INTPs and INFPs (Introverted Thinking/Intuition and Introverted Feeling/Intuition).

Intuition gives outlook and insight; it revels in the garden of magical possibilities as if they were real.

- “The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16, par. 492

Individuals with the Intuitive trait prefer to rely on their imagination, ideas and possibilities. They dream, fantasize and question why things happen the way they do, always feeling slightly detached from the actual, concrete world. One could even say that these individuals never actually feel as if they truly belong to this world. They may observe other people and events, but their mind remains directed both inwards and somewhere beyond – always questioning, wondering and making connections. When all is said and done, Intuitive types believe in novelty, in the open mind, and in never-ending improvement.

- "The 5 Aspects" (16 Personalities)

In intuition a content presents itself whole and complete, without our being able to explain or discover how this content came into existence. Intuition is a kind of instinctive apprehension, no matter of what contents... Intuitive knowledge possesses an intrinsic certainty and conviction.

- “Definitions,” CW 6, par. 770

The first is a perception of unconscious psychic data originating in the subject, the second is a perception of data dependent on subliminal perceptions of the object and on the feelings and thoughts they evoke.