Do you "zone out"?

[Seraph]

As we all know, INTP's spend a great deal of their lives within their minds, almost to the point of being oblivious to the world around them. When the teacher (or whoever) starts talking, I stare at a wall and my mind takes the wheel. I think and think and think, and then-- whaa? The teacher's been saying "Brianne? Briiiiaaaanne?" for a full minute now?

I "zone out" constantly, numerous times a day. Most of the time, I don't even notice it! In fact, I've just now come to a realization that it would've been a great way to help me figure out more about my personality type, but until now, I've never really paid attention to it.

So am I maybe a bit ADD, or is this definitely an INTP thing?

[Avengardh]

Not as much....I learned really early on in life to pay attention and listen...otherwise I won't really do ok in tests...I just always look out for stuff I can learn.

But it does happen, usually...when the teacher goes off into a random tangent...I just want to get the lecture done with, get to the point man. Happened a lot in College Physics....

~*Aven*~

[int]

My wife needs to tell me to pay attention, although she always forgets and gets mad at me when I get mad at her for not telling me something, when she told me but I was zoning out and don't remember.

I don't really feel like rewriting that. :)

[flan2dave]

I always look like I'm thinking of other things while I'm around people, so they let me know. On occasion I'm actually thinking of something interesting.

During lectures, I think I pay attention on average to about a tenth of it. Most of it is elaboration to make sure everyone in the room understands (I bet many times the teachers are really entertaining themselves, because if you don't understand something simple right away, elaboration only causes more confusion).

I don't have any good absent minded strories like some intps I suppose, nothing I can think of right now anyways.

[Phreon]

Wha...? Did you say something?

Phreon

[sme_bro]

Easy to zone out at my school, we have compulsory chapel 3 times a week. I usualy wag the sunday one but the morning ones are unavoidable, in these times its impossible not to zone out and daydream.
Im more likely to zone out if i have a newly descovered interest or passion.
A fellow intp from my school recently gave me a burnt copy of the maxis 'the sims' game, i love it! and now the sims 2 has come out and it looks realy realy nice...only problem is theres not much point me getting it because i could only play it on weekends at my friends house. But lately ive been zoning out imagining the possibilities. I love god games!
Maybe there will eventually be an xbox release, i wait and hope.

[cloakable]

Wha...? Did you say something?

:D

Yeah, I 'zone out' fairly frequently, mostly when I'm concentrating heavily on one thing, or when the 'real world' becomes boringly information sparse.

[spirilis]

Yep, I zone out quite frequently. Always have...

[spirilis]

Wha...? Did you say something?

:D

Yeah, I 'zone out' fairly frequently, mostly when I'm concentrating heavily on one thing, or when the 'real world' becomes boringly information sparse.

More often than not I zone out because of the latter :D

[Seraph]

A low-priority sensing function might also add to this.

Yep, that says it. My Sensing function is...hell, I don't know if I even have one! My iNtuition rules all.

[CosmicDust]

I'm a zoner-outer. It could be a sign of ADD, which I was diagnosed with at age 13 (zoning out wasn't my only "thing," though), but some believe ADD is just a pathologization of P and especially NP tendencies. I'm not sure what to believe on this issue any more...I quit my speed a few weeks back, but I still have my over 11 years of history as a corporate dupe hanging over my head.

[spirilis]

I don't know, I think the introverted sensing has a lot to do with it. (it is "introverted" after all)
Extraverted sensing is what makes you live in the "here and now"... introverted sensing means you sorta view the external world on a broad timescale, so you connect past with present. I find I often reflect back on the past when I'm zoning out.

[Google Monster]

During car rides is the best time for zoning out. Time flies.

[spirilis]

Yeah. Considering I commute 55 miles one way and back to work each day, I get a *lot* of zoning out time in the car... (with music playing nonetheless). I find that combination to be highly invoking of the Ti and Si functions, Ne less so because I'm not really talking to anybody or expressing myself... Fe only if the music strikes the right emotion ;)

[Johnny]

Zoning out is normal for me too, but when I'm caught doing this at work I readily admit to "taking a thought train ride" and then immediately scramble to offer an insight relevant to the issue (something interesting is usually available for public consideration). Making this particular disposition we have work for us in a positive way with others is worth practicing.

And this is what I think Jung means when he talks about psychological functions and differentiation, that we are to harness them for our needs and goals instead of being slaves to them. I like taking a magnifying glass to leverage the sun and light a flame...but when I can do it for both personal and public benefit, I can keep a good lead on the adult ADD piranha. :sombrero:

[file cabinet]

when things don't interest me I sort of zone out.. not the point of being lost in my thoughts though.. although at work when I am asked a question and I'm trying to focus on something else entirely, I have to ask them to repeat it a few times

[EternalCynic]

I tend not to zone out at school (at least not this year) because I am loving most of my classes. World Lit and Psychology, yay.

However, I find that the more detatched I am while I'm zoning in class, if I'm thinking deep, it must be obvious on my face because my teachers leave me alone. Won't call on me for questions, won't tell me to wake up, they steer clear. It's fun :D.

[nobarcode]

I never "zone out", .......................unless I want to. B)

[Google Monster]

Ever zone out when someone talks to you and something they say brings back an old memory or reminds you of something thats been needing some mental attention. happens to me alot.

[spirilis]

I don't know, I think the introverted sensing has a lot to do with it. (it is "introverted" after all)
Extraverted sensing is what makes you live in the "here and now"... introverted sensing means you sorta view the external world on a broad timescale, so you connect past with present. I find I often reflect back on the past when I'm zoning out.
Perhaps I should add that my reasoning is not based on the functional theories of the MBTI. :) The sensing function is always fed with data from the objective reality; while this should not exclude "zoning out" for an introverted sensor, it implies that the connection is always there when the sensing function have high priority. That is why I suggested that low priority sensing might add to the effect.
Ah yeah, makes sense now. Zoning out is therefore when my mind shuts off sensory functions so much that it only accepts information absolutely necessary to sustain the current mental processes. I've found myself completely unaware that my back was sweaty after a 1 hour drive in the car... until for one reason or another I somehow "woke up" and realized it.

I guess the Extraverted Sensing shadow-function (isn't that the right term--Fe is our "inferior" function, but Se is a shadow function because our primary method of sensing is Si, just like Te is a shadow function because Ti is our primary method of thinking) is all but shut off in that state of mind.

[Salad]

so i was walking back to work (summer job) from lunch one day, a street that i had walked numerous times before, lost in thought. suddenly, the world comes rushing back to me and i become completely confused and disoriented. north had become east, east had become south and so on. the world in my mind had shifted 90 degrees from the actual world. i knew what street i was on and i knew where i was, but it didn't make any sense at all for some strange reason. it took me a full 30 seconds to realign my world with the actual world and during the whole process all i could think about was "i know that this street i'm on leads to my building, i know that north is that way. why does it feel as though i am on a different street even though i can see the street sign? why does north feel like it is that way instead?"

so in short, yes i zone out. the interesting thing to me though, is that when the world comes rushing back i am so completely disoriented and confused. it's as if i have forgotten that there should even be a physical world that i should have been paying attention to.

my favorite example of zoning out though is when i ask someone a question about something I am genuinely interested in, but before they have a chance to answer my mind has moved on to something else. of course, 5 minutes later i remember that i had been interested in something, so i ask the exact same question again only to get a sense of deja vu and a puzzled look from the person i asked.

[Laeskis]

Since my job is 8 hours of mentally deficit labor, I have the opportunity to 'zone out' for nearly the entire period.

[spirilis]

so i was walking back to work (summer job) from lunch one day, a street that i had walked numerous times before, lost in thought. suddenly, the world comes rushing back to me and i become completely confused and disoriented. north had become east, east had become south and so on. the world in my mind had shifted 90 degrees from the actual world. i knew what street i was on and i knew where i was, but it didn't make any sense at all for some strange reason. it took me a full 30 seconds to realign my world with the actual world and during the whole process all i could think about was "i know that this street i'm on leads to my building, i know that north is that way. why does it feel as though i am on a different street even though i can see the street sign? why does north feel like it is that way instead?"

so in short, yes i zone out. the interesting thing to me though, is that when the world comes rushing back i am so completely disoriented and confused. it's as if i have forgotten that there should even be a physical world that i should have been paying attention to.

my favorite example of zoning out though is when i ask someone a question about something I am genuinely interested in, but before they have a chance to answer my mind has moved on to something else. of course, 5 minutes later i remember that i had been interested in something, so i ask the exact same question again only to get a sense of deja vu and a puzzled look from the person i asked.
Woah, that's pretty cool :ph34r:
I don't think I've ever come out of a zone-out completely disoriented, unless I was sick or on medication or something

[BritainOphira]

I am constantly zoned-out at school. It's to the point of bordering on ridiculous. Even if I am interested in what someone is talking about, I can't concentrate on it, and it seems like the harder I try to concentrate, the more zoned-out I become. The other day I completely lost track of what was actually going on, and by the time I finally "came back" I found the teacher yelling about tapestries. ("Doesn't anyone know what a tapestry is? Have you ever even heard the word before?") The next thing I knew I was off on a mini-lecture about the uses of tapestries, castles, and the ever-present rodents...

[spirilis]

I am constantly zoned-out at school. It's to the point of bordering on ridiculous. Even if I am interested in what someone is talking about, I can't concentrate on it, and it seems like the harder I try to concentrate, the more zoned-out I become. The other day I completely lost track of what was actually going on, and by the time I finally "came back" I found the teacher yelling about tapestries. ("Doesn't anyone know what a tapestry is? Have you ever even heard the word before?") The next thing I knew I was off on a mini-lecture about the uses of tapestries, castles, and the ever-present rodents...
god, memories of high school... I used to zone out all the time, no wonder I was never in a mood to socialize after class http://forums.maxima.org/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

[Jezebel]

so i was walking back to work (summer job) from lunch one day, a street that i had walked numerous times before, lost in thought. suddenly, the world comes rushing back to me and i become completely confused and disoriented. north had become east, east had become south and so on. the world in my mind had shifted 90 degrees from the actual world. i knew what street i was on and i knew where i was, but it didn't make any sense at all for some strange reason. it took me a full 30 seconds to realign my world with the actual world and during the whole process all i could think about was "i know that this street i'm on leads to my building, i know that north is that way. why does it feel as though i am on a different street even though i can see the street sign? why does north feel like it is that way instead?"

I've had experiences that I could describe similarly. It has happened while walking, but it mostly happens while I'm driving. When I come out of it I'm disoriented and confused. I don't recognize my surroundings right away and wonder if I've passed my turn, even in familiar surroundings. It happened to me today, but luckily this isn't a daily thing, because it scares me when I do that in a vehicle.

[CthulhuLuvsU]

OH GOSH!

I'm always the one who goes to school with tags and stickers still on his new clothes! Sometimes its even the dreaded "open zipper"

As for virtually falling asleep on reality at random instances...
I spent the whole semester of chem class thinking about things like why do we have to eat?, and Why are there so many damn SJ's?

[Jkrs]

I seem to zone out fairly often, to the point of not responding until someone shouts at me (usually breaking off a highly interesting chain of thought). Occasionally, what with the event-oriented time system, I'll suddenly notice that I'm ravenous, as I've missed dinner by three hours or more.

[libertarianjim]

I've zoned out during lectures before.

While I was GIVING them.

[Almaviva]

I zone out, but fortunately only when I'm by myself. It's really bad in the shower, I can get lost in thought and time just sort of slips away, sometimes for an hour or so.

[spirilis]

I zone out, but fortunately only when I'm by myself. It's really bad in the shower, I can get lost in thought and time just sort of slips away, sometimes for an hour or so.
haha, same here... not sure about the hour part, but I used to be known for taking 45 minute showers when I was younger, and that was the main reason.

[SensEye]

Oooh, I used to love it back when I lived in an apartment complex which was big enough that it meant I had virtually unlimited hot water. I would take hour long showers all the time. It was especially nice when there was no exterior window. Turn off the lights and it would be pitch black. What with the darkness, the noise from the water, the steady pressure of the water on your body, and the comfortable warmth...sort of like sensory deprivation. A wonderful environment to escape just about whatever ails you.

Now in a house with a 40gal hot water tank...20 to 30 mins tops. And a corresponding utility bill to match my indulgencies.

[nobarcode]

I've always wanted one of these at home, but fear that if I got one; I just might not ever leave the house:
http://www.samadhitank.com/#FloatationTankDescription

[shaytana]

zoning out is part of who I am, if I couldn't zone out I think I would finally go mad.

[file cabinet]

the power went out once but I "needed" a shower so I washed myself with the lights off.. I like the experience.. also, when I go to sleep I prefer the room to be pitch black. I want to put a wooden board over my window but I haven't gotten around to it and I don't know how my parents will respond.

[spirilis]

I've always wanted one of these at home, but fear that if I got one; I just might not ever leave the house:
http://www.samadhitank.com/#FloatationTankDescription
hahaha
Reminds me of the movie Altered States.
And yes, that would be really awesome. I need to try this some day.

[BritainOphira]

the power went out once but I "needed" a shower so I washed myself with the lights off.. I like the experience.. also, when I go to sleep I prefer the room to be pitch black. I want to put a wooden board over my window but I haven't gotten around to it and I don't know how my parents will respond.

People with water companies, ergh. I have a private well, so therefore no water without electricity. :rant:

[SensEye]

I want to put a wooden board over my window but I haven't gotten around to it and I don't know how my parents will respond.

Tape tin foil over it. Works great and probably won't get your folks to worked up (easy enough to take down if necessary).

[Vagabond]

Yeah I zone out. I've trained myself to do so without being obvious though, mostly because at school I didn't want teachers to interrupt me and pull me back.

[Seraph]

I zone out, but fortunately only when I'm by myself. It's really bad in the shower, I can get lost in thought and time just sort of slips away, sometimes for an hour or so.
haha, same here... not sure about the hour part, but I used to be known for taking 45 minute showers when I was younger, and that was the main reason.

Me, too. I'll always step in the shower telling myself, I'm gonna take the quickest shower in history, I'm NOT gonna zone out...But sure enough, thoughts end up being runaway trains to me. It's fruitless.

And why are there so many damn SJ's?

[int]

I'm the same in the shower. Every morning - turn on, hop in, zone out. :)

[spirilis]

I guess the Extraverted Sensing shadow-function is all but shut off in that state of mind.
Using another model, S is inferiour for INPs. Its tendency to reside in unconscious levels agrees with your statement.


(isn't that the right term--Fe is our "inferior" function, but Se is a shadow function because our primary method of sensing is Si, just like Te is a shadow function because Ti is our primary method of thinking)
Something like that. Consider this, though: If a person with a distinct T leaning have a certain wealth of attitude-balance (growing in both directions), would it not be reasonable to look at that their ("same" position) T function having a touch of both, influenced by the dynamics of attitude? It would, model-wise, encourage individual patterns.

A binary-dictated rulework is limiting the results. That is why you will find persons with patterns that does not correlate with the the ordering of the defined stereotypes.:banghead: To cover these holes (sub-typing), theory quickly become complex and redundant.
ooh, never checked back on this thread. Good stuff.
That's kinda what I was thinking, but didn't mention much of it because it does break that "binary dictated rulework." But my question is, where do the shadow functions fit in priority? The present Myers-Briggs system identifies a way to sort priority for your main functions, but I am clueless as to how the shadows are prioritized.

[s]

Guilty of zoning.

[Crazy]

Big time ......................... uh, what was I taking about, oh yeah, I'm a zoner

[Google Monster]

I noticed the zoning out and best results come from when I am about to sleep. Because your senses are so relaxed that your mind goes on undisturbed. The bed is comfortable and your feelings are in tune. The room is quiet or atleast some white noise which is relaxing for your ears. The room is pitch dark and your eyes are relaxed as well. I'm sure the taste sense isn't doing much at all. The best enviroment for thinking and zoning indeed.

[Jkrs]

I want to put a wooden board over my window but I haven't gotten around to it and I don't know how my parents will respond.

Blackout curtains are easier to arrange for, and don't leave holes in the wall.

[greenintp]

If I had my way, I would balance real life with zone out time.

Zoning out just makes it easier to deal with the crappy aspects of the real world.

[synchronous]

I have two memories of zoning out.

Once when in high school biology class while the teacher was explaining DNA, I zoned out thinking about all the possibilities this new information was fueling. The teacher caught me 'zoned out', stopped his lesson to ask me if I was ok and whether I was understanding the concept. Well, not only did he draw attention to me which was embarassing, the implication was that I didn't 'look' swift enough to have understood made me angry.

The other episode was when I was 6 and too busy in my head to heed my mother's warnings about staying away from my sister swinging the baseball bat. I don't know why, maybe I found something intriguing on the ground to observe, tuned everything out, and zoomed right over to a spot behind my sister and 'WHAM' got bonked on the nose. Now that wasn't very swift of course, I admit. Needless to say I got a nose job out of the deal. LOL.

[Lucas]

I zone out a lot. All my friends say I'm absent minded. I'm just occupied in my own world.

[Ckyzxr]

I can zone out in varying degrees depending on the depth of the concept or situation. I drive on autopilot quite a bit and will take the same exits without thinking which gets me in trouble if I'm not going to a usual destination.

But the dangerous times come when I get completed lost in my head while driving. I can completely go into a mental state where I am visually and emotionally experiencing the event in my head. At these times I am completely oblivious to my surroundings and will "wake up" 10-15 seconds later. I usually only do this when alone as I appear mentally disturbed when others see me acting and talking very strangely.

The wife will sometimes tell remind me of the same thing 4 or 5 times over a couple of days just to make sure I got what she was saying since I can appear available for conversation but am lost in my head instead.

I actually like it there, its so comfortable sometimes.

[synchronous]

I can zone out in varying degrees depending on the depth of the concept or situation. I drive on autopilot quite a bit and will take the same exits without thinking which gets me in trouble if I'm not going to a usual destination.

But the dangerous times come when I get completed lost in my head while driving. I can completely go into a mental state where I am visually and emotionally experiencing the event in my head. At these times I am completely oblivious to my surroundings and will "wake up" 10-15 seconds later. I usually only do this when alone as I appear mentally disturbed when others see me acting and talking very strangely..

Ouch, I can relate to all of this.

[jimkopelli]

Some video games seem to require me to zone out while playing... to go unfocused and not think, but to go by reflex... saves me from worrying about the Centipede's Dilemma.

[Google Monster]

I hate it when friends say wake up when your in the good zoning mood.

[cloakable]

I hate it when friends say wake up when your in the good zoning mood.

Arg! What is this 'friend' thing that people keep talking about!

[Aryan]

Yup i tend to zone out sometimes
Sometimes I zone by myself so much that I get the feeling of Deja vu
:huh:
Did I post this message earlier ?

[Arioch]

I zone out. I prefer it even. Gives you some quiet time in which you can nicely think and dream those dreams.

[spirilis]

haha yup, you are a zoner.











(better than being something else, like, a stoner, right?)

[Vagabond]

Weird. I either started zoning out more often since I read this thread, or I just started to realize that I do it... :huh:
Yeah we are mind-control experts... :D Just kidding. Welcome to Zoning Land.

[restoride]

for me its every tenminutes, part way through a computergame or driving or anything. part way through sex, once in the middle of a guitar audition.
its quite out of control sometimes.

i ride my motorbike really fast because the adrenaline keeps me totally focussed, and i enjoy being able to harness my brain more

but most of the time its all over before its begun.
im abit new here, so if you have advice about mastering these intp 'gliches' i would more than appreciate some tips.