I recently had a conversation with a coworker which I thought beautifully illustrated the differing perspectives of Sensing and Intuitive types. I don't actually know the type preferences of my coworker, but thought what he said was the embodiment of how a Sensing type views life. Since the majority of people do prefer Sensing, it would probably be safe to guess that he does as well!
One day the man working next to me asked me where the scorers at the back of the room were, but since we were sitting in the front to middle section of the room I hadn't noticed they were gone. Apparently their project had ended. I told my coworker I didn't know because I was focused on what was in front of, rather than behind, us. Then in typical Intuitive fashion, I leaped from the specific details under discussion to a big picture application. Maybe looking ahead was a good attitude to have in, or toward, life, I told him. "Sometimes it's good to look around at your environment," he replied.
Looking around at my environment, noticing its details and staying focused on the moment, assuming that's what he was referring to, is something I'm not very good at. As someone with a clear preference for Intuition, seeing the connection between small details and a greater whole is food for my soul. I would find the world dull indeed if it was only full of details seemingly without meaning and with no apparent connection to each other.
While I do notice the general ambiance of my surroundings, while walking, for example, I tend to miss the details. I will notice that I am in an attractive area, for instance, but not notice what kinds of trees or flowers I've walked past. There are many times I've seen a friend's photos of a walk we've been on, and while reading the detailed captions about such things as the history of buildings I barely recall, I wonder if I could possibly have been on that same walk!
Sensing types have the opposite perspective. Facts and details are more likely to give meaning to their lives than a big picture vision that they don't see. Often they also fail to understand how anyone could have come up with that big picture from the facts at hand. While too many facts and details can be boring to me, to a Sensing type they may be the foundation on which his world rests. He may find satisfaction in having checked off several species of birds from his list as he walks, for example, without noticing the serene beauty of the area he's been walking through.
When I told my coworker I was focused on what was in front of us, I was talking about the front of the room, but when an Intuitive refers to what's in front of her, she could also be referring to that place she loves to visit as often as possible, the future. Intuitives are very fond of focusing on the future and its possibilities, while Sensing types prefer to focus on the realities of the present. To phrase it as my presumably Sensing coworker did, they like to look around at their environment.
My conversation with my coworker illustrates not only the different orientations of Sensing types (to facts and the present) and Intuitive types (to insight and the future), but
also how the two preferences depend upon and complete each other. I would never have noticed that the group in the back of our scoring room was gone without someone bringing it to my attention.
While this is certainly not of major importance, the concept can be projected onto much more important situations. For example, a work group which is planning something or developing strategies, such as marketing strategies, needs to be aware of both the present (and sometimes the past) and the future, details as well as the big picture. How have certain strategies worked in the past and how are they working now? What societal and economic conditions are likely to confront them in the future, and with what impact? Will they be ready for any changes which may be coming, including the changing needs of customers?
Such a group will fail if it focuses only on what is happening, or what works, now. On the other hand it will also fail if it only speculates on the future without considering present realities and what has worked now and in the past.
Or consider what a marriage between two Sensing or Intuitive types would be like. It might be delightful, until or unless it becomes apparent that both are so caught up with the details of daily life that neither has a vision for their life together, or that both are so full of a vision for the future that neither has been paying the bills!
Intuitives need our Sensing friends to keep us grounded in the realities, necessities and joys of daily life. Sensing types need Intuitives to help them dream about the future and figure out how to work toward turning their goals into reality. They need us to help them keep focused on their vision for the future.
Sensing types and Intuitives shine our lights on each other's blind spots and help each other to experience life more completely, as do all pairs of opposite preferences. Intuitives, vastly outnumbered at only 30% to 35% of the US population, can often feel as if we are from a different planet (or that others think we are!) to which we'd like to return as soon as possible. The friendship of Sensing types kindly fills in the details of the trees Intuitives often don't see because we are focused on the outlines of our forest as a whole. This friendship, as well as the details in the environment our Sensing friends help us notice and enjoy, can help us feel at home on this often strange yet beautiful planet.