What Extraverted Sensing (Se) Isn’t

Misinformation about Extraverted Sensing (Se) annoys me. Of course, it’s my auxiliary function so that shouldn’t be surprising. Several years ago, I began doubting my personality type, which prompted me to spend an obsessive amount of time trying to learn the core difference between Se and Ne. After all that, after essentially deep diving into both functions, I suddenly found myself noticing all off the incorrect information out there, all of the anecdotal or stereotypical information that people associate with both functions. There are so many things that are treated like core attributes of Se, which honestly, are barely related, if at all.

I see it everywhere too. It’s extremely common place for people to make casual statements about something that they believe is Se related, which in reality is, at best, loosely correlated. Not too long ago, I wrote an article called The Value of Se. In it, I honed in on exactly what Se is, at it’s core, without all of the added stereotypes and characteristics. Go ahead and give that a read, because I’m not going to retrace my steps on that subject here. In this article, I’m going to take the opposite approach; I’m going to talk about what Se isn’t.

Think of the relationship between a disease and it’s symptoms. (It probably sounds terrible that this is my go-to analogy in this context, but I suck at coming up with analogies, and this one does the job well enough.) See, multiple people can have the same sickness, but get different symptoms. Sure, there are symptoms that are fairly common, but everyone gets a different mix of the potential symptoms. Of course, with all that being said, the symptoms are never the disease, and many diseases have similar symptoms. Understand? Some traits may often go along with Se, but they’re not exclusive to Se, nor are they guaranteed to come along with it.

So, without further ado…

1. Se is NOT an appreciation for aesthetics

Se has been closely tied to an appreciation for beauty, as if Se users are the only ones that can truly appreciate nice visuals. Of course, this is carried extremely far by some, and Se is made out to be shallow, only concerned with appearances, never bothering to look more than skin deep. But, did you know that all types can be shallow? Did you know that most people appreciate beauty? Now, if you wanted to theorize about the specific way their tastes in visuals might skew, then go ahead. But, to say that only Se users or even all Se users will be concerned about looks, graphics, and etcetera is false. For instance, in spite of being an ISTP, I’ve found that Ryan (ISTJ co-author), tends to be far more concerned with having a visually appealing setup than me.

2. Se is NOT a natural affinity for style, fashion, decor, design…etc.

As someone who can barely tell if their clothes are matching, I find this one to be eye-rolling. If I were to pin down which Se types are the most prone to being like this, I would specifically point to the SFPs, since Fi makes one inclined towards self-expression. I’ve noticed that STPs trend toward wanting comfort and functionality rather than style (or really, anything neutral or nondescript that we can hide under the radar in). However, with that being said, not all SFPs care about style; and I know plenty of other types that excel at style, fashion, or design in some form or another. Se users aren’t born with the secret recipe for making something (or themselves) visually appealing.

3. Se is NOT about details

As Ryan was just telling me a few minutes ago, Se is not Si+. Now, I’m not saying Se can’t be detailed oriented, after all any personality type can get detailed about something that really matters to them. However, if we’re going to attribute detail-orientation to any particular function, it’s going to be Si. Details are basically a way of life for the SJs. Se users can tune into the details, but they’re not inherently concerned with holding onto the details or recreating the details. Se users are the ones that typically report noticing the details in the moment, and then forgetting shortly thereafter (because they don’t typically place any value in retaining all of that unnecessary information).

4. Se is NOT physical skills

People everywhere assume that Se has a natural affinity for physical skills (or crafts) of any kind, like wood working. In reality, Se might not even be geared toward physical crafts at all. Dealing in “reality” doesn’t mean creating a physical item. But, moving beyond that, I have seen so many people mistype as SPs because they have some kind of physical skill, because it’s assumed that’s a defining characteristic of being an Se user. STJs in particular tend to mistake themselves for STPs because of this stereotype. After all, STJs tend to excel at precision, which when focused on a craft, can result in an intricate, quality product. Although, like I said in the previous section, any type can get detailed about something that matters to them.

5. Se is NOT athletics or sports

So many people insist that Se users have a leg up in athletics or sports. However, these activities, like any skill, takes practice. People who choose to dedicate all their time to particular activity are usually good at it. Physical ability really has nothing to do with being an Se user. There are plenty of Se users that waste all of their time in front TV and video games, because that’s how they choose to outlet their Se. Ultimately, any activity can be done with the backing of any cognitive function, because functions are about thought processes not abilities or skills. It kinda kills me a little that the go-to advice for how to develop one’s Se always seems to come back to something like working out or experiencing nature. That’s not how that works at all. I know types all across the spectrum that enjoy camping, or have established workout routines. You’re not guaranteed to dip into Se when you do something like that; you’ll just use whichever functions you usually default to.

6. Se is NOT heightened reflexes or awareness

Se is often described like a super power (when it’s not being described as short-sighted or shallow). This point is similar to some of the earlier points, but I like to attack things from all perceivable angles just to drive the point home, so here we are. Se users don’t magically have good reflexes; they have good reflexes if they consistently participate in activities that activate those reflexes. Training. Se users are also not the only ones that are observant, and sometimes they aren’t really even that observant. Se users will notice what they notice. (Deep, right?) Sometimes they hone in on one thing within their visual scope, and completely miss everything else. They can also occasionally get lost in their thoughts and tune out. (This is especially so if the Se user leads with an introverted function.)

In conclusion…

After rejecting basically everything that people associate with Se, you’re probably wondering what Se could possibly be. Well, as stated, I’m not interested in retracing my steps. I deep-dived it in The Value of Se so go read that. However, I will go ahead and share this one tip with you. If you really want to develop your Se, go do something spontaneous. Take advantage of the day. Carpe Diem, right? Do something without thinking about the consequences, without coming up with a plan, without thinking about the future, or how it ties into your past. Do it without any expectations of how it’ll go, or how you want it to go. Just go do. Right now. That’s Se.