The eight functions
Se: Extraverted Sensing
"What is happening now?"
Se lives fully in the present: what is real, here and now, and what can be done with it.
What it does
Extraverted Sensing takes in the world as it is, through all the senses, fast and in full detail. It notices the colours of a room, a change in someone's posture, the opening in a game. Jung described it as the function of the concrete object and the intensity of the sensation it gives.
It is the function of action and presence. It learns by doing and reacts in the moment, often before others have finished thinking.
JungSigns of Se
- Living nowSeizing the day.
- All five sensesSight, sound, touch, taste and smell.
- Riding the waveQuick adjustments.
- Act firstThink later.
- AestheticsStyle, beauty and presence.
- RealismSeeing is believing.
- Sharp eyeNoticing details in the moment.
- Hands onLearning by doing.
- ThrillsSeeking intense experience.
- Centre stageAt ease in front of others.
At its best, and when it goes too far
At its best
- Present, practical and brave.
- Quick and calm in a crisis.
- Enjoys life and makes others enjoy it.
When it goes too far
- Impulsive, chasing the next thrill.
- Overindulging in food, buying, speed.
- Ignoring long term consequences.
The Se and Ni axis
Se's opposite is Ni. Se lives in what is; Ni lives in what will be. A strong Se grows by pausing to ask where things are going; a strong Ni by coming back to the senses and the moment.
BeebeSe in each of the eight seats
The same function feels very different depending on where it sits in a type. Your own seat is marked.Pick your type at the top to see yours.
In the light: the ego
The senses are your playground. Spontaneous adventures, great food, movement and beauty bring pure joy.
The physical world is your soft spot. Under stress you can overindulge, or fixate on details and sensations.
In the shadow
Opposing PersonalityISFJ ISTJYou
The pressure of the moment can make you dig in. When pushed, you refuse to act on demand, or push back hard against anyone who tries to force your hand. Made conscious, it gives you a sharp sense of what is really happening.
When you feel attacked, you turn coldly physical: you dismiss others as shallow or reckless, or use force and blunt facts to put them in their place. Accepted, it becomes a calm, grounded realism.
Your deepest fear here is losing control of your body or your world. In the worst moments it shows up as reckless excess or sudden destructive acts. Met and accepted, it gives you a fearless presence in the moment.
The eight seats are Beebe's. The texts of the light seats are the ones of the DTI result page; the shadow texts are our reading of Beebe. BeebeMazWiz reading