The Inner Experience of Xi

In my previous blog, an XIP in full view, I explored how relevant it is to be aware of one’s way of processing sensorial information, and how this operates in a completely different manner compared to one’s way of rational information processing. The uncommonness of XIPs and gifted people expresses itself in both modalities, but the sensorial mode may be … ….. read on

Finding your Balance Between Gifted Verbal and Imaginal Thinking Across the Lifespan

Finding your Balance Between Gifted Verbal and Imaginal Thinking Across the Lifespan is the title of an article by Willem Kuipers that was published in Volume 18, 2019 of the American journal ‘Advanced Development, a Journal on Adult Giftedness’. This refereed journal is published by The Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, Inc., (ISAD) a nonprofit research institution in … ….. read on

Being Gifted, Being Me

Being Gifted, Being Me is the title of an article by Willem Kuipers that was published in Volume 17, 2019 of the American journal ‘Advanced Development, a Journal on Adult Giftedness’. This refereed journal is published by The Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, Inc., (ISAD) a nonprofit research institution in Westminster, Colorado. More information on the Advanced Development … ….. read on

A Manual Helps

Suppose you buy a nice new piece of electronics, recommended by your friends or the media: unparalleled function and quality! At home, you remove its packaging; let the show begin! But unfortunately, it’s not working, or only partly. While one asks friends or experts, another starts searching for the manual, a third keeps on pressing all buttons, and a fourth … ….. read on

Let there be complexity

For me, complexity is normal: I’m used to e.g. view and understand important issues from many perspectives, and to gather and interpret information with respect to my interactions at different levels. But it also works the other way around: I am not only able to handle complexity, I need it too. Without complexity my work feels fragmented or superficial and … ….. read on

Extra receptivity

It is a fact that extra intelligent people experience life in an unusually intense manner: They are extremely interested in new developments, very concerned with others, or just as strongly introverted, have an outspoken taste in food, clothing or interior design, an extremely vivid imagination, exceptional or extremely outspoken ideas, and so on. The average environment considers all this somewhat … ….. read on

Temperament

Temperament theory was introduced by Hippocrates in 370 BC and through the centuries has taken various forms and had varied degrees of popularity. It is founded on the idea that four essentially different personality patterns can be distinguished. American psychologist, David Keirsey, introduced in his book, Please Understand Me (1978), a link between Temperament theory and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator … ….. read on

Male / female archetypes

Rigid role conceptions about masculine and feminine can act as a hindrance to expressing one’s Xidentity. Deep convictions of the family involved, as well as of their environment may lie at the foundation of this. Archetypes are useful in making these thinking and behavioural patterns more explicit. They provide some handles to seeing the direction in which a change can … ….. read on

Degree of Xi

It is easy to imagine that gradations of Xi exist. One person is, for example, structurally more curious than the other, or knows even fewer boundaries. In other words: extra intense, extra complex, and extra driven. The stronger the extra intelligence is, the more uncommon the XIP is, by definition, and most often, the more important a proper management of … ….. read on

Imaginal / Verbal thinking

Imaginal thinking is thinking in a multi-dimen­sional associative structure of “images” in time and space. Often, the structure has visual aspects, hence the term imaginal thinking. The image can be connected to sounds, feelings or other sensory impressions. In that case imaginal thinking is an associative structure of experiences, perceptions or pieces of imagination. Imaginal thinking is the way of … ….. read on