Destroying the Myth of Si
We all know the stereotypes. High Si users are “dutiful, responsible, stick to the rules, respect authority, etc”. They would never be called lazy– it’s highly that the MBTI community would look at a lazy person and never assume that they’re a high Si user.
Let me tell you something: “dutiful” “responsible” and “hard working” are POSSIBLE traits of high Si– IF the person has come to believe that this is the way shit gets done, and if it is what they are used to, grew up with, etc. These traits have nothing to do with Si itself, and it’s even possible for a high Si user to have none of these traits.
Si at its core is simply this: Recalling experiences and details and using it to compare what is expected, known, and reliable. It is looking at what has worked for them in the past to determine what to do in situations, how to solve problems, etc. It is looking at what has made a strong impression on them– whether good or bad– and storing that information to use for every possible situation in which this scenario comes up (which is why it’s so important not to make a terrible first impression with a high Si user).
Let’s use an example. Let’s examine my ESFJ aunt. This 47 year old woman has never worked a day in her life– neither in a profession, nor as a housewife, nor anything else. She has always lived off of others good graces by using Fe to guilt relatives, friends, or her partner into letting her continue the lifestyle she has always had. An uninformed MBTI fan might say “That’s no ESFJ– she’s not responsible”. She doesn’t have to be– she is simply doing what she is used to, and what has always worked for her. This is what has yielded results, and what she will likely always fall back on. It’s an unhealthy example, yes, but she is truly an ESFJ nonetheless.
In this way you can almost say that high Si users can be the most diverse of each other of all of the types, because how they behave and what they decide to do in situations is highly reliant on what they’ve experienced and been through. One ISTJ can decide to confront someone in a situation because they have learned that reliably gets results, while another ISTJ can decide to avoid the same confrontation because they have learned for some reason or another in their lifetime that confrontation is a waste of time and only leads to more problems. One ISFJ may adore doctor’s visits while another may refuse to go because of one very bad experience that they had (meanwhile Ni users will go to the doctor primarily due to future consequences, no matter what experience they’ve had in the past, and this is the most distinct difference between Ni and Si, but that’s a discussion for a different day). This is not to say of course, that non-Si users don’t consider their past experiences at all when making a decision– but Si-doms will consider it first and foremost, and for them it will happen automatically before they are even conscious of it.
Saying a high Si user must be responsible, dutiful, and hard working is like saying a high Fi user is always just, merciful, and kind (<— once again, possible Fi traits, but not a necessity because Fi at its core is simply making decisions based on the user’s personal beliefs and happiness– so therefore if the user believes it’s no good to give people mercy, then they will not be merciful!) In order to properly type someone, you cannot focus on these possible “byproducts” of the functions, but instead, examine what the person bases their decisions off of, and what they consider important when solving problems.
