Age

[Cobra]

Well, I am 20 and some people think I look like 30 and there are others who think I am not older than 16.

I feel you brother. Since the age of 16, I've had a remarkable ability to grow a full face of fur. For a yearlong period, I wore it with pride. During that time, I met a number of new friends. I shaved it off, and it was like the day the earth stood still. First off, none of my newer friends knew it was me. Second off, when literally TOLD that it was me, they legitimately did NOT believe me. It was only my voice and a few factoids that finally made them believers. And thirdly, after I became freshly shorn, everyone said that I now looked like I was "supposed to." They said that I looked notably younger, but that it was more "natural." Now, when I grow even a mild beard, people look at me and go, "It's confusing. You look like a child that has grown a beard now."

Decided it didn't matter.

EditorOne, you are, and have been, my favorite poster since joining this forum.

i must look pretty young, because i still get carded at some of my usual liquor stores (you'd think they'd know who i am by now).

Some people estimate me to be 30+. Others wouldn't believe me even if I showed them an ID that I am over the age of 18. That's anecdotal, actually.

There's a gas station down the block from my apartment where I buy cigarettes. This ambiguously eastern European gal who works the register there always gives me the most suspicious looks when I ask for my cigarettes. She has a look on her face that looks like she's reserving an ease to switch to "GOTCHA!" if I crack a smile or turn around and abort. She knows me! I've been there a hundred or more times... She waits a good 3 seconds before she actually averts from eye contact and grabs the cigs. For fux sake. Give me my cigarettes.

I typically buy my cigarettes from states with lower taxation rates to save myself money, so I don't have to go in there all that much, but I KNOW she knows it's me. She does it every time. I think when I don't go there, she probably thinks I'm trying to "wear off the suspicion" by staying away for a while, or something.

i think what editorone brings up is a good point. i know a lot of older people (no offense) that just can't seem to keep up with modern advancements, but to me INTP's seem like the perfect people to always be open to progress.

Reminds me of one of the only "pass-around" jokes from e-mail blasts I regularly get from my elder friends that I actually lol'd@:
http://www.whatnow.org.uk/blog/shezbert/stunning-senior-moment

26, although for some reason I keep forgetting when people ask me and default to 25.

Score! I'm not the only one!

I'm 23 and look a few years younger but have the presence of someone much older.

Has anyone ever told you "You're an 'old soul?'" I still cringe when I hear that, although the message is clear, which I find rather flattering.

Agreeing with EditorOne and AI, I have felt (and said) in the past and will continue to say that a constant search for knowledge (learning) keeps you young. When I said that out loud to a group of those some would call my peers (some might even call them my co-workers), they burst into laughter asking in ridicule whether I even knew what that meant and why someone my age would even be using that turn of phrase. I believe that a mind is something you should never take for granted. To live by those words, I believe, will be to live long by those words.

I believe we are as young as we feel. Although some take that phrase a little too literally, and go, "Well my back is killing me..." What I think it means is that you may or may not identify with a true peer ("peer" in the literal sense; age). I built my first philosophical question at the age of 5: "What if the blue you see, is not the blue I see?" Oh, the humanity. My mother, father, teacher, and brother all wanted me to stfu. "WHO CARES???" they'd scream. "YOUR BLUE IS MY BLUE. SHUT UP." *snort* Incorrigible little scamp, wasn't I?

Growing up, I never identified with my peers well. I also didn't identify with my elders, either, since they were busy denoting anything I had to say and pretending that I didn't know what F-U-C-K spelled. I felt in adolescence that I was usually a good 3 years ahead (to be modest/on average). But these days, I only feel that way about friends of a few years older than me. The typical person in the said age bracket tend to cripple my patience.

I am 24.

EDIT: Sorry for the long'n. I liked a lot of these responses, and believe it or not, I didn't actually respond to all the ones that interested me. The topic of age is a very intriguing one for me. *waves hand* Continue.

 

[Insanity]

I built my first philosophical question at the age of 5: "What if the blue you see, is not the blue I see?" Oh, the humanity. My mother, father, teacher, and brother all wanted me to stfu. "WHO CARES???" they'd scream. "YOUR BLUE IS MY BLUE. SHUT UP." *snort* Incorrigible little scamp, wasn't I?

Haha! I totally had that same question and response as a child. And then found out a few years later I'm "mildly colorblind"...figures.

 

[Cobra]

Well, one of the fascinating things about it is, how can you know? Truly, you cannot. *patiently awaits some a-hole INTP to post some amazingly long article about how you CAN*

 

[Insanity]

I agree, there is no way to know for sure. I may see blue like what you see green. But since I was always told that color is blue. To me green might in fact be blue.

 

[Waterstiller]

Has anyone ever told you "You're an 'old soul?'" I still cringe when I hear that, although the message is clear, which I find rather flattering.

I get that quite often and consider it flattering as well. I stopped cringing; I find the whole soul age thing a fascinating take on personality type.

 

[Cobra]

I agree, there is no way to know for sure. I may see blue like what you see green. But since I was always told that color is blue. To me green might in fact be blue.

Or worse yet: a color unimaginable to my mind. That was, naturally, the next step in the argument. What if my blue (or my entire color spectrum, for that matter) is a completely unimaginable concept to your brain?

 

[bdubs]

Or worse yet: a color unimaginable to my mind. That was, naturally, the next step in the argument. What if my blue (or my entire color spectrum, for that matter) is a completely unimaginable concept to your brain?

I have always wanted to test that idea .

On the topic, I am now 19, but have been confused for as young as 15 or so recently. I apparently have a younger looking face.

I find it odd how I can be outright socially inept at times and emotionally immature at other times, yet be touted for my "maturity".

 

[Deleted member 1424]

You know the color question might be an INTP thing. I remember vividly how annoyed I was when no one would take me seriously for asking it. I'm 18, but only 5'1 so people generally think I'm a year or two younger.

 

[Solfege]

Or worse yet: a color unimaginable to my mind.

You mean like squant?

And yes, my friends have expressed frustration at my seemingly impossible combination of maturity and childishness (I'm 18). Admittedly, I too have gotten sillier over time. Unfortunately, most of my peers seem to mature the other way around. I've been told that I look older, possibly even intimidating, because of my lack of facial expressions. People are often surprised to hear me spout silliness, especially if I deadpan it (though I don't always do it on purpose). Maybe it's another INTP thing.

 

[severus]

I've asked the color question! Classic.

I am 15. I feel younger and older. Ti is wise and Ne is childish? When I'm around people I feel older; when I'm with, say, my cat I feel younger. (I think that cat is the only thing I love. Maybe that's why.)

 

[zephryi]

Oh, the color question... @____@ That has bugged me forever, and half the time people will go, "WTF?" and the other half is like, "Well... I dunno. : )" One time, I heard a small girl asking that question of her friends and trying to get them to understand- I think the kids may have been around ten? Thinking about it now, I wonder if she grew up to be an INTP... XD

I agree, there is no way to know for sure. I may see blue like what you see green. But since I was always told that color is blue. To me green might in fact be blue.

Exactly. @____@ When trying to use words to delineate colors, it doesn't matter if you say that something is blue, and you can't prove it wrong because colors should look "natural" in certain combinations because it's natural to that person... And even if you say a color is based on a quantitative wavelength, it has nothing to do with how it's perceived... I wonder if you were to do a sort of brain scan while having people look at a specific color, if you could detect differences in perception with differences in active areas of the brain...? Because if you perceive things differently, then your brain is processing them differently, I'd think. I wonder if that's ever been done, if I'm not overlooking some fact that makes this null. XD

I am 15. I feel younger and older. Ti is wise and Ne is childish? When I'm around people I feel older; when I'm with, say, my cat I feel younger. (I think that cat is the only thing I love. Maybe that's why.)

I get the same thing, except it's when I'm around my friends I feel silly and like I've gone back to being thirteen again, while with other people, especially adults or people right around my age group especially, I feel like I'm years older...

 

[Cobra]

I wonder if you were to do a sort of brain scan while having people look at a specific color, if you could detect differences in perception with differences in active areas of the brain...? Because if you perceive things differently, then your brain is processing them differently, I'd think. I wonder if that's ever been done, if I'm not overlooking some fact that makes this null. XD

I doubt it. I've thought about it, but if the wave length is the same, then the brain would process it the same... no matter whose brain it was. If the color is indeed "blue," then the brain is going to activate the part (viewable in the scan) that shows it's seeing "blue."

 

[sagewolf]

I've thought the colour question; never asked it, though. Eventually I decided that ultimately, it didn't matter; no matter whether or not I see the same blue as the people around me do, we all agree that the colour we each perceive the sky as is called (usually) blue, although on occasion, it can also be the colours we respectively refer to as orange, black, and red. (Normally, actually, in this country, we can't see the sky at all. We see lots and lots of clouds.)

I had a fantasy when I was younger, though, that everything was only there if I could see it: whenever I turned around, everything behind me just winked out of existence until I turned around again. I haven't really been able to disprove it yet, either. "I'm not playing hooky; the school doesn't exist if I'm not there." Hahah... no, I don't actually think that will work on anyone, honestly. Shoot.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

I agree, there is no way to know for sure. I may see blue like what you see green. But since I was always told that color is blue. To me green might in fact be blue.

My mom is an ophthalmologist, so she pwned me when I asked this question a long time ago. The thing is that as humans we notice color contrast pretty easily. So if my blue if your red and my green is your blue then all of the contrast is going to be fxked up!

So that's how they work tests to make sure you have normal color vision.

AND NO LOOKING AT THE IMAGE URL YOU COLOR BLIND CHEATERS

 

[Cegorach]

CivilianJones:
I see the 29...
But is it just me or is there also a some sort of numbers or extension of the 29 in a dark green behind the orange and red?

Is that just used to confuse people?
...because it's working...

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

That image also doubles as a "are you easily confused" test.
AllKnowingCow, I have your results...

 

[Cobra]

I think we may have gotten a bit off topic! Hahahaha.

But for the record, we weren't originally off topic on the subject of "color blindness" so much as we were discussing whether it's possible that each person's color spectrum is completely different and incomprehensible to the next person. Imagine a color that doesn't exist to you. That's my blue. Metasophically speaking, of course.

EDIT: And I see the 29 in red with the green dots all around, but I also see what All is talking about. Can't make out what it's supposed to be there in the background. Is that what you're supposed to see clearly if you ARE color blind?

 

[Insanity]

I had no idea what number was in there until I read your post Cobra, lol. It just looked like a bunch of green dots to me. I hate these tests... :P

 

[Sugarpop]

I doubt it. I've thought about it, but if the wave length is the same, then the brain would process it the same... no matter whose brain it was. If the color is indeed "blue," then the brain is going to activate the part (viewable in the scan) that shows it's seeing "blue."

Now, I'm not a neurologist or anything, but as far as I know, people may react quite differently to sensory data (see synesthesia, as a somewhat obscure example).

Different associations pertain to different colors, and they are all individual. Some people, predominately women, can discriminate between far more colors than you (presumably) and I can.

 

[Cobra]

Now, I'm not a neurologist or anything, but as far as I know, people may react quite differently to sensory data (see synesthesia, as a somewhat obscure example).

Different associations pertain to different colors, and they are all individual. Some people, predominately women, can discriminate between far more colors than you (presumably) and I can.

Og. What have I started? Sorry, OP.

Let me respond by repeating that this philosophical moment started when I was 5. I've never studied optometry, neurology, or synesthesia. Nor do I intend to.

But the overall question is not whether someone's brain processes any nameable color in a recognizable way that someone would process some other nameable color. Nor is it in question of whether they'd see something else because the wavelength of a color comes in the wrong way, or whatever.

It's an underdeveloped philosophical question: is my blue your blue? Or is it something completely different that you could never imagine because you are not me? Wavelengths aside, it's still blue no matter what. The question doesn't persist that it could be your red or your yellow.

The problem is, there are no colors that we cannot imagine so it's untestable. If I see a blue you don't see, it isn't a question of hew, shade, or intensity. It's a question of what the product is after it comes through the same motions of the same model of neurological factory conveyer belt.

Sorry, Sug. I wasn't counterattacking. Since this topic is so interesting, maybe a thread split is in order? idk

EDIT: Sug, I see where you were going with that now. You were trying to make it clear that a scan might show different stuff not because we're seeing a color that's unimaginable to the voyeur, but because individuals might process colors differently anyway. Thank you.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

Well, the OP (flow) posted this on January 4th. I therefore consider him vastly different from the flow of April 10th, and no harm done.

It is true that your blue could be different from someone else's, but it would still have to be right next to their green and purple on the spectrum, and opposite of orange, and the right-amount-of-opposition with yellow & red. And it'd have to be in the 'cool' color grouping of green, blue, purple.

It's possible that it's different. But it's unlikely. It's even more unlikely since humans have pretty similar brains, and what have multiple ways of interpreting colors if it isn't necessary?

It's also interesting that we usually only have this argument regarding colors. Why not sounds? Is my A-flat your A-flat? When I listen to Seven Nation Army, is it the same as when you listen to Seven Nation Army? To extend it even more: Is my experience of love your experience of love?

 

[zephryi]

It's also interesting that we usually only have this argument regarding colors. Why not sounds?

Because we believe things when we see them. Erm, wait, no... XD

Actually, I can't think of any reason except maybe that most people tend to not trust their hearing as much and so people wouldn't think hearing different things would be as odd? I mean, there is the phrase "My eyes are playing tricks on me," but if something isn't moving quickly, you can look back and see it, but once a sound is heard, you can't hear it again.

So I guess what I'm saying is that to have people seeing different things would be more disconcerting and therefore we question it?

Eh, that doesn't make much sense, does it...? I could be arguing the opposite thing. @___@ Well, maybe someone else can make sense of it...
--

 

[Cobra]

I kinda get ya. But there's always recordings.

 

[FacetiousPersona]

20 or 19 here. Maybe 22.

 

[Sugarpop]

Sorry, Sug. I wasn't counterattacking. Since this topic is so interesting, maybe a thread split is in order? idk

If you need to emphasize that you didn't counterattack, it appears I have to emphasize that I didn't attack. I usually don't see discussions in terms of attack and defense.

EDIT: Sug, I see where you were going with that now. You were trying to make it clear that a scan might show different stuff not because we're seeing a color that's unimaginable to the voyeur, but because individuals might process colors differently anyway. Thank you.

Yep. And this different processing, I imagine, would also lead to a different subjective experience of the color itself. When our respective sensory registers process data about the color of an object, the data might be pretty much the same, but once the information is processed by other parts of the brain, individual differences in the perception of - and associations pertaining to - a particular wavelength.

In other words, your neurological factory conveyer belt could be subtly - or dramatically - different from mine, giving a different product at the end, despite our input being identical. The same argument could be applied to sound.

 

[Vodhgarm]

I'm 16 .. I have observed that INTP's mature at an early age , and I don't think we get more stupid with age , au contraire , we get kind'a smarter , that's because INTP's use their past experience in whatever they do , so it's only logical that we get better. And about the "like" and other filling words , not many of use use them , I for one think so fast that I can't keep up with my mouth and make silly mistakes like messing up the order of the words or do strange things with my mouth very often. So yeah we rock!

 

[Words]

I don't like the OP and its a bit sad how many are emphasizing the "INTP's dominant nature". By default, we are all the same and different humans. it shouldn't be discriminated by personality tendency. I am an immature dumb INTP. (18)

 

[flow]

You don't like the OP?

 

[Starfruit M.E.]

I too have some people who think I am much older, and other people who let me order off the kids menu and charge me kids price to get into sports games. I'm a college student who doesn't release certain information on the internet. Forgive me.

 

[Trebuchet]

Well, IB, you are my age (41) and I think you give yourself away by picking a quote from Hitchhiker's for your sig.

You can tell I'm old because:

The movie Watchmen brought back nostalgic memories of the Cold War.
I learned to type on a typewriter.
I remember bell-bottom jeans.
Shrek 2 wasn't the first place I heard of John Cleese.

 

[Dormouse]

Well, other than the Watchmen thing, all of those apply to me and I'm several decades younger than you.

 

[Anthile]

When the Big Bang occurred, the particles that would later form the entity that is currently known as 'Anthile' were born. I am 14 billion years old. It's been a long journey. I feel... tired.

 

[Words]

When the Big Bang occurred, the particles that would later form the entity that is currently known as 'Anthile' were born. I am 14 billion years old. It's been a long journey. I feel... tired.

Anthill? no....what's an Anthile?

 

[flow]

you must learn to go with the....flow, cauterize.

 

[Words]

you must learn to go with the....flow, cauterize.

wonder if there's a personality for that..

 

[flow]

There isn't. However, if you have an iPhone or an iPod touch, there IS an app for that.

 

[shoeless]

...i got served my first beer when i was 13. i didn't even ask for it.

anyway, i'm 16, but i figure you all knew that.

i'll probably actually read this thread later. right now i'm supposed to be getting ready for school.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Well, IB, you are my age (41) and I think you give yourself away by picking a quote from Hitchhiker's for your sig.

You can tell I'm old because:

The movie Watchmen brought back nostalgic memories of the Cold War.
I learned to type on a typewriter.
I remember bell-bottom jeans.
Shrek 2 wasn't the first place I heard of John Cleese.

Interesting. Well you can tell I'm old because:

Instead of being obsessed with obtaining sex, weed, music or books I am now more obsessed with getting all 100% of the daily recommended allowance for fiber. I'm not kidding about that either.

I've seen live performances by 8 musicians who later died....in the 80s and 90s!

I remember when you weren't properly dressed unless you had a comb in the back pocket of your designer jeans.

I remember the disco craze.

 

[Cavallier]

Well, IB, you are my age (41) and I think you give yourself away by picking a quote from Hitchhiker's for your sig.

Okay, wait. I'm 26 and I was delighted to discover that IB had a Hitchhiker's reference in his signature....but then, I read them when I was 12.

People always thought I was way older than my actual age as a kid because I was so tall. When I was a teen people thought I was in my 20s because I could carry an intelligent conversation and I came across as confident. At around 16 I started forgetting my real age. By age 23 people started thinking I was younger than my actual age. Even now I had to ask my boyfriend how old I was so I could compose this response. I've recently decided to just choose an age and tell people that one age for the rest of my life. My mother said she was 36 for 10 years. She started saying that when she was 24. I've never identified with my age so I don't really see a reason for remembering what mine is. I've never identified with my age group either.

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

I is 35, fyi.

 

[Fukyo]

When the Big Bang occurred, the particles that would later form the entity that is currently known as 'Anthile' were born. I am 14 billion years old. It's been a long journey. I feel... tired.

Liar.

 

[Mints]

I've recently decided to just choose an age and tell people that one age for the rest of my life.

I've never identified with my age so I don't really see a reason for remembering what mine is. I've never identified with my age group either.

You just gave a great idea

I might do that as well.

I remember once a 22 year old friend I had thought I was 25 (msn chatting only, by the way) when I am much more younger. Physically, some people think I am 20. Most 16 an up, though.

And I am 13.


I MUST dissagre on my age, I don't blieve I have a 13 years old person mind, if you ask me.

 

[Kidege]

Age 24 for this year (most of it).​

I thought you were older than me.

I'm 26, but for some reason I keep thinking I'm 27. "Almost thirty" also comes to mind.


Edit:

I had to go through the entire thread to realise I had posted in it last year. I feel silly now.

 

[Darby]

I'm 18
when I am interested in a topic, I'm said to be able to hold a conversation with anyone of any age, if I'm not, I can at least be respectful (I guess that shows maturity?)

Also, people generally think of me as much younger, and even worse when I speak since I have a bit of a speech impediment (It's because I always smile so my R's come out as Au's).

And on the sub-topic of the color question, Someone asked me it around 6th grade, and I took a step back and said "oh, I guess your right" and realized although I never asked it about colors, I used the same question in other instances. Also the question posed was specifically that we all have the same favorite color, such as my purple, and that whatever your favorite color happens to be, is my purple.

 

[citrusbreath95]

To Flow, I completely agree. I am in the much younger age group, and I joined this forum as it covered all topics of my interest. I just recently discovered the Myer's Briggs test and when it revealed I was INTP I became OBSESSED!!! I was looking at all the discussions in this forum and found that there seemed to be an equal level of maturity and discussion content throughout, with age playing no determining factor. I suppose INTPs do pretty much think the same (perhaps that is why we have our moments of being logical, precise, and factual and other times acting completely childish, imaginative, and dreamy!)
p.s. I hope I haven't posted more than one of these replies, computer drama, I hate slow internet access!

 

[Nevermind]

If like people wrote like the way they like, spoke, then you know like, what age they group they like, might be from. Like, it's way easy to guess that like, they would like technology, but like, they kinda have to like, talk about it first, you know.

Of course I could be wrong about this, I don't know how many INTP teens over use the words like and you know. Those words are space fillers, they are used to fill in time so the brain can catch up. It has been said, but is unsubstantiated, that thinking types are more likely to pause without a word to fill in that time space. From what I have read and seen on t.v. the over use of the words "like" and "you know" is more common in the young. They tell people to not use them at work or in job interviews because it may make you appear immature.

As an amateur linguist, I look at it in a different way.
These words, at least, when I use them, have a specific function in indicating approximation as opposed to certainty, or to indicate a hyperbole.

"I, like, died" means something totally different from "I died".
Clearly, it is not just a filler.
"It was like $20" vs "It was $20"

Similarly it can be used as a quotative to indicate approximation or non-verbal "quotes".
"and he was like, "wtf?'." means something totally different from "and he said, 'wtf?'."

The only alternative of the 'like-phrasing' in this instance that I can think of would be something like "and he then wore a general demeanor of surprise and confusion". Clearly far less efficient.

I admit, some people do use it as a filler, but very often it has a legitimate function.
You may say, "we got along fine before the 'like'-thing", but we also got along fine in the 1400's when we would have spoken a very different English. Language just changes, usually for no real reason.
/end.rant

When the Big Bang occurred, the particles that would later form the entity that is currently known as 'Anthile' were born. I am 14 billion years old. It's been a long journey. I feel... tired.

p.s. This is the best answer. Ever.

 

[Wish]

Does anyone else besides me tend to view their old selves as idiots?
My cutoff is around six months, and my behavior past that point is incomprehensible to my current self. Of course I have no doubt my future self will feel the same about the current me.

It's on my profile, but in case you haven't seen it; yours truly is 19.

I can definitely relate, though I would be so bold as to put my cutoff in the neighborhood of 2-3 months. My past self can be a real goof!

Also, 19 here.

 

[dbtng_thomas]

This is starting to look like one of those immortal threads. The original posters are all a year older now.

I didn't write all the ages down, but there are two clusters. There's a big group at around 19 years old, with a deviation of about 2. There is another, surprisingly large group at around 40, with very few outliers. Strangely, very few posters indicated an age of 25-35. It would have been nice to see this one as a poll.

It's been pointed out that we mature as intellectually rather early, and socially rather late. I'll buy that. We also act 'silly' and like to play as we get older. Look at the Arcade and the Gaming forum. It's old farts and kids.

Oh, and you guys with your color arguement ... I believe that's been addressed long ago from a functional perspective. Chances are, one brain doesn't map directly on to another, so each individual's experience of blue is somewhat different. You define 'blue' by consensus. Just like any other part of reality, it's open to debate and revision should the community decide as much.

This color discussion isn't pure philosophical BS. There are two changes that our species may decide to make to our eyes some day. We might decide to incorporate polarized vision and ultraviolet, both of which are tricks we could easily do through swapping some genes with the octopus. Our children's children may be able to see new colors and visual effects that we will never truly understand ourselves.

(Edit: Oh, I'm going to be 41 soon.)

- dt

 

[BigApplePi]

I'm both the oldest and youngest here.

Oldest in terms of calanders I've had to throw away(41) and youngest in terms of maturity. I think the older we INTPs get, the sillier we get. I can think of reasons why this might be so.

Anyways, I enjoy the words of wisdom from everyone here but I really do wish you whippersnappers would get the hell off my lawn.

I am older than you are and I'm standing on your lawn, lol.

 

[flow]

I'm terribly sorry everyone, I should have added a poll to this A YEAR AGO. Oh well, better late than never. Please vote in your age! NOW.