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Now I'm wincing. And laughing. Yes indeed, Israel is a modern country on the planet Earth. My impression was that the two soldiers were neither illogical nor unfeeling. Not everyone who goes through such a program of basic training ends up robotic or brainwashed or whatever. It doesn't...

On the subject of sleep, that is possibly one of the worst things about your situation. Here's an article by Po Bronson about that. The article will make you angry, I expect, but will also present interesting studies that will validate your opinions, and that's always nice. Eight hours seems...

You have my best wishes. I understand (and agree with) your opinion on human life, and really appreciated your description of the process. When I was in high school, some soldiers of the Israeli army came to California, I guess as an educational/good will thing, and explained to all the...

I was reading a couple of months ago about the innate number representations of animals (such as rats and mosquitofish) and humans (adults and infants), and included a study very similar to this one. The article was about the ratios that the subjects could or could not distinguish. For...

I can tell you from close association with a lot of INTJs, they do not like to be "reeled in" or treated as a "candidate." While they can be wise, they won't share their wisdom with you until you have become a very, very close friend. And they aren't really good shrinks, and they really hate...

Things like to be anthropomorphized.

Because nerds rule [the world from behind the scenes]. In response to your original question, by the time you are 42 like me, you should have found some way to handle social situations gracefully. I do a pretty good job of hiding being introverted, so only people who bother getting to know...

Don't ask strangers on the internet for medical or psychological advice. Go get a professional opinion from a psychiatrist. I'm scared of medical professionals myself, so I understand your nervousness. Ask someone close to you to arrange an appointment and go with you. Chances are, it is...

I can't speak for everyone, and I don't approve of pretending to be dumb in order to get out of responsibility or work, but I have certainly dumbed myself down in the past. I did it to please others, because other people did not like me being smart. I did it to avoid pain, because other people...

I'm not convinced that only one person can be active at one time. Astraea is a group that has a great website covering the subject, and that doesn't sound like their experience. They also disagree with it being necessarily a disorder, and in their own case say that it is their natural state...

I used to have a lot of trouble with this, until I started limiting myself to two sentences when describing something. (And no fair using a lot of semicolons or subordinate clauses.) It forced me to think of the small number of things I found significant, or the one thing the listener might...

How you feel is how you feel. There isn't a right or wrong way to grieve. You will do it your own way, in your own time, and it isn't for other people to judge you. You are not a robot, you are not emotionless, and you are not unnatural. Just be there for the rest of your family. Later...

I just watched Amadeus (1984) for the first time in about 20 years. Although it has long been one of my favorite movies, I had forgotten how excellent it was, especially F. Murray Abraham. It won all kinds of awards. Amadeus is an adaptation of a play, offering a fanciful account of the...

Impressive example of what you can do when you practice a lot. I think you are a more serious musician than I am and have gone rather farther than me. I hope you keep that up.

I agree completely with LPolarite. I never played guitar but I took drum lessons for years and I think there is similarity in all instruments. The logic behind the music eventually comes clear. Not all at first, but in little bits, and with greater depth over time. The brain gets trained by...

Do you mean a semester-long class, a single lecture, a hands-on project lasting a week, a school spirit event, or what? Also, what do the students study? Are they science majors, literature majors, history, speech pathology, or what? Do we have indoor space available, and do we have outdoor...

The Journal of Irreproducible Results? It is hysterically funny, at least. I second Science, but I've never had a subscription to Nature so I can't compare them like Mellivar. I have always found Astronomy to be beautiful, so if your interests in science tend to the aesthetic, try that one...

I've felt much the same, but I am frequently reminded that not all Christians believe the same things. The ones you are talking about sound like born-again fundamentalists, which are the majority in my area, too. They drive me crazy. On the other hand, I have Quaker and Anglican friends, and...

Yeah, thanks for sharing that.

The author makes a decent case that the MBTI is easy to abuse or misuse. There are many threads on this forum that say similar things, such as the MBTI doesn't define a person, that growth is possible, and so on. I agree, for example, that refusing to hire someone of the "wrong" type is a bad...

Some of the nicest people I know are INTJs, but they sure don't like to be told what to wear, or having their non-conforming clothes criticized. And gay rights isn't everyone's issue. @SQ_Minion, I have some sympathy for your point of view. Gay people can't be mainstream until the straight...

Well, can we have more details about what it was like? How did it go? How much preparation did you have to go through? How long did it take?

Well, said, shoeless. I hope that someone who was feeling alone will see all the purple and realize they have more support than they knew. @Cavallier, I think rainbow pride ribbons count as support no matter what color you wore today. Anyway, shaking people up is fun.

I think that would be extraordinarily dangerous.

I wouldn't say I have zero data to work with. All of mine is admittedly anecdotal, and I wouldn't claim it for scientific. All the INTxs that I know (around 20 people, mostly from college or work) say they worry that they are faking being smart. The xSxJs that I know (around 30 people, mostly...

I think it is an INTP thing, and not all that universal. INTJs do it too, in my experience. Other types don't seem as worried that "they will find out I am just faking being smart." Not all INTPs become incomprehensible when threatened, of course. On this forum, I have assumed that...

Re: Harry Potter as an NT - recommended! (so far) I read maybe three pages and was already laughing at the Donald Norman quotes (a flat metal plate affords pushing). I don't usually read fanfic but I have to admit there is some charm here.

True. So? Like I said, the 33 people involved can be treated as individuals. I don't know any of the individuals, myself; do you? I'm not pushing censorship. How could I? I don't live in Chile, or have any authority in this situation. I was merely supposing that those in charge of the...

Perfect. Plenty of women are still being treated like dirt, including those who weave rugs. Rugs and feminism. You can't get much more quirky as a topic, I suspect, and yet it fits very well. Check out Muslim Feminism and the Feminist Movement, by Abida Samiuddin and Rashida Khanam. I...

First, there are only 33 of them, and mining isn't exactly an INTP occupation. It is repetitive, dangerous, and detailed, and I am thinking Sensors would survive a whole lot better at that job. It also requires working in claustrophobic environments in close contact with others, and lots of...

Actually, it isn't 2047 yet, so if you have a time machine, you might want to keep that quiet. As for equality, it is clear you haven't seen inequality yet, indicating a sheltered life. There are all kinds of inequalities that favor men, and few that favor women. The studies about why are...

Yes, the topic makes a huge difference to the difficulty of the assignment. I don't think being an INTP makes this worse. I actually had it easier than my peers because, like you, I enjoyed language for its own sake. What really helped was when I realized what my strength was in essay...

Everyone gets crummy essay assignments; there is no getting around them. Feminism is a common topic for those, because it is easy to find something to say. But it isn't worth getting mad at all women or all feminists or the woman who went undercover because of it. Why not be mad at your...

Whatever it is, it exerts a force on our universe. There is movement in the universe that is not related to its expansion, and current thinking is that there may very well be something outside the universe. I do think the name of this movement, "dark flow," is a bit precious...

It sounds like you might be burned out. For me, at least, symptoms include cynicism and insomnia, as well as the sort of violent apathy you describe. I would recommend more exercise, good nutrition, and happy experiences. They couldn't possibly hurt, after all. And they do always help me...

Or answered your own question. Even if you are happy in the middle of chaos, it does appear you have adequate reason to be a bit emotional from time to time.

I had a physics professor in college that had to be INTP as well as a kinesthetic learner. Everything he said made perfect, instant, obvious sense to me, but he wasn't especially known by others for being clear.

Irishpenguin makes a lot of sense to me, too. I am much more emotional when I have been having insomnia, or a change in jobs, or a big event coming up, or when the news hits me hard for some reason. (I was teary for quite a while after Jim Henson died, and also after the Challenger blew up.)...

2: of, relating to, or containing irony. I like it. I'm in.

Well, yes, they expect them to sit there. I volunteered a lot last year in my daughter's kindergarden class, and they sat still for 3.5 hours a day, with a single 20 minute break to have a snack and maybe play for 10 minutes. There was no gym. One of the brighter, more energetic boys was 5...

My objection to many psychiatric diagnoses is that they are "subclinical." I'm not an expert by any means, but a "subclinical" disorder that doesn't stop a person from functioning successfully is not a disorder. Destructive behavior is a problem, iconoclastic behavior is a gem. Context...

Yes, I know what ferrous means. But I didn't see how the song contained iron, either literally or literarily, though on reflection perhaps the midnight train ran on an iron road. Nevertheless, I was charmed by the description and wondered what you meant by it. My response was admittedly...

Is "ferrous" another word for "earworm"? Or do you consider that song to be metal?

Salmon filet and tater tots, and salad with a red wine vinaigrette.

That is neat. I have worked in an all-female environment, and I hated it. They all talked about how much they hated their boyfriends/husbands, talked forever about makeup and nails, gossiped all day, traded snide comments about how other people looked, and generally were mean. They treated me...

I think that is normal for INTPs. In college, I was around a lot of our kind, and everyone seemed to feel that way. We laughed about it, but we were all secretly worried that we were just pretending to be smart, and someone would call us on it. I still feel that way, here and everywhere else...

It doesn't have to be religious at all. A funeral is a chance to get together with other bereaved people and acknowledge the loss and celebrate the person. Atheists attend funerals. You can believe the person will be reincarnated and still attend a funeral and miss the person. There isn't...

I am a fan of David C. Roy, who creates kinetic wooden sculptures that are based on clock works. We have one in our home called "Quest," for which I saved my pennies for a couple of years. It makes soft irregular clicking sounds which are rather soothing. He puts them on his website...

Actually, there are many things you can't get away from. I've been seeing recent studies about bisphenol-A causing obesity, and that is used to line aluminum food cans, make cash register receipts, and preserve all kinds of food. Other xenoestrogens (which tend to cause obesity, too) like...

We like the internet because we have time to choose our words with care, and limit how much emotion we show. We like conversation because humans are social creatures. Even INTPs.