How Ni Insight Can Fail: A Fictional Example

Introverted Intuition, in the NJs, often gets talked up to point of being described as the bringer of brilliant insight. Now, Ni can certainly be insightful. However, it is not bulletproof, as many descriptions often lead you to believe. After all, NJs are merely human. In this article, I wish to share an example that Ryan and I stumbled across in fiction that demonstrates how an NJ’s natural intuition can fail them drastically. Bear in mind, it’s not my intention to specifically bash NJs more so than any other type. However, many other types are most commonly described at their worst, such as the SJs, while NJs are often described at their best. I’m simply levelling the playing field, to give people a more balanced understanding of Ni.

First, Let’s Talk About Insight

A common mistake in typology is to take a single, contextual concept and apply it far too broadly, to the point of detaching from reality. For instance, some people act like thinkers are the only types capable of thinking. Similarly, when it comes to insight, some people seem to think that only NJs can insightful and predictive, but that simply isn’t true. Insight is a fairly broad word that can come from different sources, such as life experience rather than intuition. Or, someone can have “insight” into another human being because of similar personalities or shared trauma. Likewise, reading between the lines is not the sole domain of intuition in the typology sense. Feelers often have an intuitive sense of other people’s emotions, which is partially why so many FPs think they’re FJs. (That intuitive sense of feelings gets over-attributed to Fe.) And, of course, sometimes reading between the lines is a simple matter of intelligence.

Ultimately, the mistake people make is in assuming that all of this stuff is a simple binary. There’s a lot of context and nuance to take into account, and most importantly, it has to be compared against the real world. Real people are not caricatures. Don’t dive so deep into this stuff that you forget to “touch grass”, so to speak.

Next, Let’s Talk About Ni

With that all being said, Ni does project out into the future, predict, and read between the lines. While these things are not exclusive to Ni, Ni does take a specific approach that other personality types do not, an approach that is exclusive to them. Ni locks onto a single vision, possibility, or potential outcome to the exclusion of all others (kind of like tunnel vision). Many describe this single-mindedness as a goal, but it’s not necessarily a goal. NJs aren’t inherently goal-oriented. After all, Ni is perception, not judgement. Instead, Ni vision is a simply a projection of the abstract patterns that they have internalized. An eventuality in their mind. Now, based on the earlier principle, keep in mind that everyone sees possibilities and potential to some degree. It’s a gradient, not a binary, with potential one end and current reality on the other. Ni in Jung’s work is often depicted as a prophet loudly proclaiming a vision that only makes him seem mad because there’s no concrete evidence to justify his prediction. That’s the dichotomy between Ni and Se.

Now, Let’s Get To The Example

The example Ryan and I came across from the Rings of Power. Galadriel from the Rings of Power is widely recognized as an INTJ. (You have to type her specifically from this series, not the Lord of the Rings movies or book, because the series is not canon, and may be inconsistent.) After watching the series, INTJ seems right. The only other personality type I gave any serious consideration to was ENTJ, which would technically still work for this example but I think INTJ makes more sense for Galadriel in this series. For the record, if spoilers are something you’re concerned about, then this isn’t the article for you. The two seasons I’ve watched have been out for some time now, so I’m not going to bother to avoid giving anything away.

Galadriel’s Ni Obsession/Fixation

From the start of the series, it’s obvious that Galadriel has an obsession. The eventuality that her Ni has locked onto is that Sauron will return; that he’s still out there somewhere. Up until this point, she had dragged a team of elves around with her for hundreds of years after the war has ended in effort to find where he’s hidden himself and prevent any future designs he has for Middle Earth. After all this time, everyone else is starting to move on, essentially telling her that she’s chasing ghosts. Her team mutinies and her King orders her to give up, gifting her a trip to Valinor in hopes that she will. However, Galadriel is so fixated that she cannot let go. She’s very nearly at the threshold of Valinor, bathing in its light, when she jumps ship at the last minute, in the middle of a vast, empty ocean. And that’s where Halbrand comes in.

(A quick note: People like to attribute a failure to move on to Si, but both SJs and NJs can struggle with this, just like both can struggle to live in the present. SJs just get more stuck on what was and NJs get more stuck on what will be.)

“Galadriel was so certain her search should continue,” Elrond says in a private conversation with High King Gil-galad, shortly after sending Galadriel off to Valinor. It is then that the king states his true intention behind sending Galadriel away. The king replies, “We foresaw that if it had, she might have inadvertently kept alive the very evil she sought to defeat. For the same wind that seeks to blow out a fire may also cause its spread.” Of course, the king ends up being right.

How Galadriel’s Ni Leads Her Astray

Halbrand presents as cynical rogue with no true purpose other than surviving. He and Galadriel survive the ocean together until they’re picked up by Captain Elendil, who brings them to Numenor. Of course, at this point, Halbrand’s true identity has yet to be revealed. Once on Numenor, Halbrand expresses a desire to stay, and schemes to get a guild crest so he can work. Meanwhile, Galadriel is still fixated on returning to Middle Earth to hunt Sauron.

During her time with Halbrand, Galadriel notices him wearing an insignia that she eventually identifies as the emblem of the Kings of the Southlands. Of course, to have found the true King of the Southlands would be extremely convenient for her, like fate propelling her forward towards her purpose. She confronts Halbrand about it, and he dismisses her suspicions, stating truthfully that he took it off a dead man. However, her mental gears are already turning, and she ignores him, instead reading between the lines to draw a different conclusion. After all, there’s nothing that she knows of that specifically contradicts this intuitive leap that she’s made, other than, of course, Halbrand’s own words. His behavior and somewhat mysterious nature could easily fit into the persona of a king hiding away from his destiny. Of course, he does this intentionally. As the opportunist that he is, Halbrand keeps his statements minimal and vague enough to not negate any potential options, in the process giving Galadriel just enough rope to hang herself with.

Obviously, we know that Halbrand was hiding something, so Galadriel wasn’t entirely off the mark in that respect. Unfortunately, she draws a hasty conclusion (based on very little information) as to what exactly he was hiding.  Without hesitation, Galadriel pushes forward from there in spite of his initial protests and resistance. She doesn’t doubt her conclusion and does not feel the need to investigate him further until much later, when some obvious concerns crop up. But, by that time, it’s already too late.

Analyzing What Happened

Essentially, Galadriel saw things for what they could be. Halbrand could be the King of the Southlands. He could unite his people, and help lead them to a victory against the Uruk. His personality and actions seemed to fit, and there was a piece of evidence giving credibility to this possibility. However, it wasn’t nearly enough evidence, so the leap was a risk, a gamble, lacking concrete evidence (low Se). In addition, framing Halbrand as the long-lost king provided her with a much-needed solution right now, a bargaining chip to convince the Queen-regent. Ultimately, Galadriel subconsciously interpreted everything based on what she needed, and twisted the evidence to fit her agenda. She had the general idea right: that there was more to Halbrand than meets the eye, but she ultimately jumped to all the wrong conclusions because she only had a few details to work off of.

This is the potential flaw with Ni. If Galadriel had been right, it would have been a brilliant risk right in the nick of time. NJs sometimes move faster than SJs, because they don’t need all the information. The only drawback is that when lacking information, one risks drawing an entirely wrong conclusion. No one is perfect. With NJs, you primarily hear about the masterful successes because they seem quite brilliant. For the most part, the epic fails never see the light of day, unless they crash and burn is a very visible way.

Another thing to note is that Galadriel inadvertently made her own fears come to pass. The eventuality that her Ni fixated on might have never been if she had just let it go. When Galadriel confronts Halbrand at the end of a season one, where he’s finally revealed as Sauron, Halbrand points out that if not for Galadriel, he would have given up. He had wanted to stay in Numenor as a blacksmith. He had been ousted and nearly killed by Adar and the orcs, having barely survived. He no longer believed he could rule Middle Earth… until Galadriel came around and dropped the opportunity of a lifetime right into his lap, literally trying to convince that he could be king. Obviously, there was a lot plot convenience that happened here, but this is another danger of Ni. Someone can fixate so hard on one negative outcome that they literally become a self-fulfilling prophecy.