Sensing vs Intuitive

The S-N dichotomy is our ‘input’ scale - ie how we each take in and process information. As Jung suggests:

The Sensation and Intuition…are perceptive functions, they make us aware of what is happening, but do not interpret or evaluate it.

interpretation and evaluation are the purpose of the Judging functions: Thinking and Feeling.

Sensing types prefer the known, the factual, the actual, the concrete. They are present-oriented and prefer a grounded approach taking in information that has practical application and may see concepts and theoretical models as a bit airy-fairy. Intuitive types prefer seeing possibilities, shapes and patterns. They like to ‘see around corners’ and will prefer information that has general principles and scope for change. They are future-oriented and like juggling possibilities and see factual material as a little dry.

Jung saw this scale as the process involved in becoming aware of something, ie how we take information in, process and access it and identified two kinds of perception: Sensation and Intuition. Sensing is a taking in information in a tangible, concrete way, focusing, according to Jung:

...on the perception of actualities...These are the fact-minded men, in whom intellectual judgement, feeling, and intuition are driven into the background by the paramount importance of actual facts.

Intuiting is a process of taking in information in concepts and visually, around future possibilities and where, according to Jung:

...actual reality counts only in so far as it seems to harbour possibilities which then become the supreme motivating force, regardless of the way things actually are in the present.

Sensing and Intuiting can both be carried out in either the outer, extraverted world or in the inner, introverted world depending upon our own orientation on the E-I scale.

If you are a Sensing type this determines the way you tend to take in and process information. You will prefer experience, concrete facts and will absorb data in a literal, more concrete way. As Jung describes:

The concrete sensation of a flower…conveys a perception not only of the flower as such, but also of the stem, leaves, habitat and so on.

So Sensing types take in and process information in a more linear, tangible way and you will tend to see anything more abstract as woolly which needs to be broken down into constituent parts and understood in a sequence, rather than in relation to each other. You will ‘sense’ the physical qualities of information, situations, etc and you will tend to process what you see in a linear way which allows you to separate it out and put it into a plan of action. You will tend to value experience and a more traditional ways of doing things, rather be attracted to the new and unusual

You will be more grounded in the here and now and the day-to-day physical realities, rather than the conceptual or abstract and you will probably be known for ‘keeping it real,’ dealing with people, situations and tasks with an focus on the facts an detail which is how you remember people, names, situations, by the specifics rather than the generalities, your recall mechanisms tends to be factual rather than impressionistic. You are essentially practical, preferring practical applications of knowledge and experience, and will tend to learn best by doing, immersing yourself in the detail, rather than by allusions or allegories. You will tend to prefer working ‘bottom up,’ ie grasping and understanding all of the facts before building it into the whole picture.