There are two different ways of gathering information from the world around us. We gather information either by sensing or intuiting the world around us. These two ways that we become informed about our world create the “great divide” in the four temperaments: two temperaments are Ss and two are Ns.
Sensing or Intuiting: Outward Emphasis for the “Ss”
Again, we find an outward/inward contrast of preferences and emotions like we find in the extrovert/introvert category.
While they also have intuition, the “S” prefers to gather information outside of himself (or herself) by using their five physical senses. The facts of life around them that they detect mostly with their physical senses satisfy their information-gathering needs. For them, it is comfortable to live in this external world — manipulating, controlling, and experiencing its many enjoyable stimulations. Although emotions are inward, it is the world outside that stirs them.
The news of friends and family can be all-important to an S, and they wonder why others can live happily without constant contact, so they are “social” introverts. The others, the “Ns,” live inside themselves and emerge (so to speak) with less urgency to check the “mail” with their outward sensory mechanisms.
The “Ss” are very observant because they are focused on the realities that are seen, heard, touched, tasted, and smelled. Practice increases skill and the “Ss” get a great deal of practice from dawn to day’s end as they observe their world and file the information they gather. Seldom do they pass by an object without noticing it.
Sensing or Intuiting: Inward Emphasis for the “Ns”
The “Ns” also gather information via their five senses. However, by contrast, the “Ns” prefer to focus on how they feel inwardly about things and events, and they rely more heavily on that information than do the “Ss.” Since the focus is inward and they are often lost in thought, they can easily pass by an object without noticing it (such as an exit sign on the highway). Or they may even bump into something (such as a chair that has been moved). They use intuition — this inward sensing (the “eyes of the soul,” some call it) — reliably to guide their passage through life, but not to avoid those physical objects. Emotions that satisfy and challenge them arise from the use of their intuition, imagination, and empathy. “Ns” trust these gut feelings and insights. When they are lost in thought, they are lost in their minds. Any thought that comes to mind, they focus on and examine its potential emotional and rational rewards. Therefore, they seldom miss insights and intuitive information.
The “Ss” focus their information-gathering energy on the outside world, while the N prefers to check in with the effect the world is having on their inner life and then spend time enjoying it. The pride that arises from accurately remembered details is an emotion not so familiar to the “Ns” (one they wish they had).
Which Is Your Preference — Sensing or Intuiting?
Have you discovered your preference? All of us have both, but it is our preferred reliance on one over the other that will determine which side of the “great divide” we live on. The world is made for the sensors because approximately 75% of the population are sensors. The 14% who predominantly intuit their world tend to feel somewhat removed and “different” because they are different from the large majority of the population. However, that is not a negative place to be. Whether you belong to the sensing or intuiting group, you are wonderfully made. All you need to do is learn about your wonderful strength and what benefits it provides. They are wonderful benefits.
Once you have discovered your strengths, you can learn about them and how to develop them in my book, INNERKINETICS, Your Blueprint for Excellence and Happiness.
You might also like to read Do You Have Intuition