extraverted sensing= out of control

[drömmaren]

Here is a scenario that literally happens every single day:
My roommate and I walk down the street. I am either immersed in my own thoughts or attempting to carry on a conversation with her. I could be in the middle of speaking and she will interrupt and blurt out irrelevant things like, "Look! A bunny! Bunnies are weird. I've seen so many bunnies this week. And a few squirrels." "That guy in the window on the next block has on very colorful pants." "That apartment building is so tall." "Every time I see the tiny glowing white cross on the top of the church, I think it's the moon."
I don't mean to perpetuate sensor hate (okay maybe I do...), but WHO CARES ABOUT THESE THINGS? What is so compelling about them? Why must they be urgently and impulsively acknowledged at the expense of a perfectly good conversation? At first I tried to sound interested in her mundane observations, but after hearing them every three seconds I just don't really respond anymore. Of course it's nice to take a walk and appreciate nature and stuff, but I can't even have what I consider to be a worthwhile conversation while walking downtown with her because she cares more to talk about the frickin colors of fur on all the bunnies she saw, which I never even saw because they were all like half hidden behind bushes at night so how does she even notice them in the first place? And SHE is convinced something is wrong with ME because I don't notice anything going on around me. But if you are sooo overly attuned to everything going on around you you how can you possibly THINK?? She once told me she never daydreamed as a child because she was always completely in the moment. A LIFE WITHOUT DAYDREAMS? That's an atrocity if I've ever heard one...
Okay, that's all. I just needed to vent. Maybe one day I will overcome my superiority complex and my intolerance. I do want to understand how sensors work, and I want to be able to appreciate the simple things such as seeing bunnies, but for now the world inside my head is so much more interesting. Even as a kid I remember getting annoyed when my mom would dwell on how pretty the colors of the leaves on the trees were as we drove in the car. I woul notice it, appreciate it, and then return to my thoughts. I didn't need to sit there for thirty minutes being told repeatedly to look out the window, oh my gosh more trees! And they even have leaves, go figure! My thoughts after catching a glimpse of the scene will often involve what I just saw (for example, I may incorporate a memory of the image into a piece of writing or music). So I absolutely appreciate things I see, just in a different way.
In conclusion, sensors annoy me, but I guess I shouldn't judge because I'm sure they have capacities that I never wil.

 

[Minamimoto]

Ah, she sounds like loads of fun. Pointless observations are what makes them feel thoughtful, I suppose.

If it bothers you so much, and is cutting into your quality time with nature, perhaps you could walk alone? I find that I don't really like bringing other people on my walks because they're too inclined to talk, while I want to be lost in my mind and occasionally observe the scenery.

Of course, it may be difficult convincing her of this. ._. Good luck if you try it, man.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

Ahah, I know those situations.

A friend of mine keeps going on and on about extremely unimportant shit nobody cares about, I accepted it, he's a nice guy for the rest, but it really annoys me. Always explaining EVERYTHING he saw in some sort of really old video on the internet.


Your mom sounds like my dad in the car, he's always kind of annoyed with me because 'I never notice those special little things'. 'LOOK THERE'S A NUDE MAN IN A CAR!'(seriously, he said that once) 'LOOK, LOOK A DEAD CAT BY THE ROAD, AWWW!', 'THOSE TREES, THOSE TREES, JUST LOOK AT THIS WONDERFUL LANDSCAPE, DON'T YOU LOVE IT?'

But then again, I don't think he's a sensor... He has quite a good ability of coming up with fun observation-jokes and stuff... Or maybe he was N, but turned S over time, because he made some very surrealistic drawings as a teen, but doesn't draw like he used to at all anymore, he just draws newspaper-cartoon like people, oh and he designs stuff like cereal boxes for his job.

 

[Particle]

Hmm. That sounds like me, only to a much higher degree. I've long suspected that I'm pretty evenly split between S and N. Both are quite well developed which is probably due to me having been a computer programmer for so long. They say INTPs are well suited for it, but in reality programming involves a lot of theoretical modeling and constant compilation + testing. There's no way to do it without being a sensor to a degree.

Anyhow, my point is that I understand what your friend is feeling. It starts to feel rewarding to notice things in the world. I found this to be especially true after a period of what I'd describe as depression. A lot of my recovery turned out to be my pursuit of actually noticing the world I'm in again. Perhaps your conversational partner recently has gone through the same. Who knows? I'm not sure why all of those examples you provided are interesting enough to warrant interjecting into conversation in your friend's view, but I do think I know where they're coming from. If they're an extrovert, maybe that's the difference between what I experience and what they are like. I'm definitely an introvert.

 

[Puffy]

Perhaps you are an Ni dominant? Se as the inferior function wouldn't make much sense. I have no idea what it would be like to be an Se dom just because it is so alien to the way I experience.

 

[boondockbabe]

I am sooo glad I am not alone. I do not care about the everyday mundane shit that "normal" people are so infatuated with. My husband and I talk about this all the time.He says I'm insensetive. I notice things sometimes but never peoples feelings. At least in person. Here I would like to think I'm ok.
I took this test not too long ago and my Fe is actually in the negative -see below

Cognitive Process
Level of Development (Preference, Skill and Frequency of Use)
extraverted Sensing (Se)
**************************** (28.7)
average use
introverted Sensing (Si)
******************************** (32.7)
good use
extraverted Intuiting (Ne)
*********************** (23.6)
limited use
introverted Intuiting (Ni)
********************************* (33.5)
good use
extraverted Thinking (Te)
******************************************* (44)
excellent use
introverted Thinking (Ti)
****************************************** (42.8)
excellent use
extraverted Feeling (Fe)
(-0.799999999999999)
unused
introverted Feeling (Fi)
*********************************** (35.5)
good use

 

[Smooch]

I experience things very similar to this nearly every day.
A good friend that Iv'e known since the fourth grade, is always inclined to tell me when I'm spaced out and that it's weird and I shouldn't do it. -.- She likes for me to listen to her very made-up stories that she tells all the time. A lot of the time she tells me something that I've said to her, not realizing that I was the original source. :/

My mom, like many others here have experienced, likes to repeat herself about some stupid observation she's made that I don't care about until I pay attention to her.

Is it wrong that these people frustrate me so much? Is it bad that I rarely find what they have to say worthwhile?

 

[opheliaesque]

Half the time I'm tempted to just scream I DON'T GIVE A DAMN, but then I remember social reciprocity and I reluctantly give some lame comment back. Sometimes, even if I mean to just ignore them, what they say just automatically breaks my train of thought, and I end up thinking (very reluctantly) about what their saying and it irritates me.

I dislike chit chat, and it's chit chat which makes for the bulk of my verbal communications.