Another Look at INTP
Written by Jesse Gerroir with additions by Ryan Smith
In some of my other 'Another Look' articles, I ventured to describe the type on the basis of my personal experience with them. In this article, however, I intend to go for a more function-based approach.
Dominant Ti in INTPs
The INTP's dominant function is Ti. Whereas Te is an externally oriented function, Ti points inwards and is often more cerebral - especially so in the case of the INTP when compared to the ISTP.1 In either case, however, Ti is more interested in the principles by which things work, whereas Te is more interested in how things work in the external world.
A good way to think of Ti is that it contemplates the workings of things while extending only a minimal amount of contemplation to the specific time and space that the objects under its scrutiny were originally found in. By contrast, Te tends to spend more time contemplating things in relation to their specific time and place. That is, it is when things must be set on a definite path towards execution, made to come together, and to progress towards an overall goal that the interest of the Te type is truly piqued. Hence, when assessing the importance of an object or occurrence, Te tends to seek an external metric and, more often than not, this metric will be closely tied to how the object functions in relation to a specific time and place.
INTP functions
For their part, Ti types are generally uninterested in external metrics. As a rule, they tend to be more interested in abstract principles that ultimately govern how things work, independently of the observer.2 In this manner, INTPs are not as interested in the objects themselves as they are in whatever principles they may discover about them. For the same reason, INTPs are not particularly interested in enforcing structure, rules or organization upon things in the outer world, preferring instead their own inwardly deduced mode of organization.3 As a rule, their cognition is more preoccupied with discovering and understanding the principles that (at least to their minds) seem to occur naturally in objects when not under the influence of one-sided human agency.4 INTPs tend to have a very systematic way of thinking about these things, a way that is often close to the dictates of classical logic and which tends to bear some resemblance to the workings of symbolic logic.
Because of these intellectual allegiances, INTPs will often approach a problem by starting with a handful of fundamental axioms and then stringently following the logical chain of deductions that arises from those axioms in order to figure out the answer. Since the intellectual method of INTPs tends to revolve around the postulation of deductions and principles, the proper classification of objects may sometimes become so important to them that the very act of classification becomes more important than the objects themselves.5 INTPs will often observe or learn about something new and unconsciously think to themselves, "How does this relate to the principles that I have discerned in other matters and what is the proper classification of this information? And once classified, what can I deduce from this classification?" For example, Charles Darwin spent years classifying the various species he observed in relation to one another, detailing their similarities and pondering what principles that might have led to their simultaneous and parallel existence. It was by way of these long and laborious processes that Darwin was finally able to present to the world his theory of evolution according to natural selection. As Darwin himself would have it, his mind seemed to him to be "a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts."6
Naturally, these dispositions tend to entail that INTPs spend a considerable amount of time in their heads, thinking. In this respect, INTPs may resemble INJs when viewed from afar. But internally, there is a crucial difference:
"There is, however, a considerable difference between the introverted intuitive, full of his one idea which came to him as a revelation, and the introverted thinker, dominated by systems and principles and endeavoring to find a foundation for the truth he has perceived. ... It is not possible to regard [INTPs] forthwith as egotists or ego-centric, since their interest is focused more or less outside themselves in systems and principles." - Van der Hoop: Conscious Orientation (Kegan Paul & Co. 1939) p. 192
To others, it may seem strange that an INTP should go through life processing it all from such a purely logical standpoint, and in some sense, it might even be strange to the INTP himself (though even if he should want to do so, an INTP would hardly be able to alter this attitude or substitute it for another).7 Scrutinizing everything from the viewpoint of reason, INTPs can often have a hard time completing their projects in a timely manner, since they are in some sense never really done refining and fine-tuning their personal understanding of how things work.8 In this sense, INTPs may often come across as the stereotypical absent-minded professors of life.
Auxiliary Ne in INTPs
For their auxiliary function, INTPs have Ne, which is essentially a multifarious and many-sided function. Hence, the prominent presence of Ne in the psyche of an INTP means that, unlike INJ types who often prefer a controlled and predictable lifestyle, the INTP can often be at ease with any number of lifestyles and indeed be found living in a wide variety of ways. In other words, the prominent presence of Ne in their psyche is one of the factors that account for the considerable variety within the INTP type. One thing that unites their seemingly divergent lifestyles, however, is that INTPs will often be found to relate to whatever way of life that they are leading in an almost whimsical fashion, and that, even in the midst of great apparent conventionality there will be found some unconventional substratum in the psychic attitude of the INTP. Thus this apparent contradiction is really an example of psychic convergence, giving credence to the Heraclitean dictum built into Jungian typology that: "The hidden harmony is more prominent than the obvious."9
INTP functions
Because of their laid-back psychic attitude to their immediate environment, INTPs can drift to and from different jobs and places, attaining an eclectic assortment of skills that seem to develop chaotically, almost a posteriori as a result of the INTP's struggles to follow their own intellectual interests and find a place in the world that is capable of accommodating and appreciating their often unusual interests and personality. Hence, while INTPs are often hailed as specialists par excellence, that is not really the whole story: INTPs may have the skills to be the specialists par excellence in their field, but when one looks at their psychological dispositions, and the processes by which their skills developed, it will often be seen that their skills were amassed in almost a jack-of-all-trades type of way where breadth of knowledge was valued above authority or the standardized body of knowledge that they were expected to master. Einstein's drifting through life - at one point working in a patent office and at another point coming up with the Theory of Relativity without having mastered the math for it - may serve as a cogent example here.10
Like with their ENTP sister type, the prominence of Ne and lack of Te in the psyche of an INTP will often mean that INTPs are not the best managers. However, if they learn to allow for and listen to the dictates of their inferior Extroverted Feeling, their hands-off approach and ability to see a case from many sides can make them truly excellent at developing rapport with their subordinates and facilitate cooperation between the people on their team. When in an ebullient mood, INTPs can also act in a very gregarious, happy-go-lucky manner (if only for a brief time) where they will indulge in spontaneous activities and jokes with their co-workers and acquaintances and talk to people, asking them questions in a way that makes the other person feel that he or she is truly getting the attention of the INTP. While in this mode, INTPs can almost appear as ENTPs at times, where they can become very spontaneous, enthusiastic and bubbly, albeit they will be so in a more muted fashion.
However, while the type of auxiliary Ne that I have just described is probably the most frequent practical outcome of the Ti-Ne pairing in the psyche of an INTP, there are some INTPs whose Ne is a bit more straight-laced and seems to take place a bit more internally. These are the INTPs who are likely to seem a bit more "shut-in" and a bit more distant or absent-minded that even your average INTP. It is in these more internally oriented INTPs that Ne continuously prompts them to think about fundamental questions in the abstract, and challenges them to come up with all kinds of idea-based solutions, almost as a form of thoughtful play and not as a "serious" bid for scientific recognition or dominance (although the results of their "thoughtful play" may indeed end up as paradigm-defining anyway). Einstein's continual thought experiments, which he carried on from adolescence and to the end of his life, where he would think about problems like the hypothetical nature of light, is a good example of an INTP in whom the Ne was functioning a bit more internally.
Tertiary Si in INTPs
Introverted Sensation is linked to a heightened receptivity to the internal impressions that personal experiences leave upon the psyche.11 As with Introverted Intuition (Ni), the workings of Introverted Sensation (Si) may often go largely unstated or unconscious in the mind of the subject.12 It is often difficult to pin down the exact nature of the unconscious influence of Si upon the psyche, and for this reason (among others) Si may in some ways be said to be more complex than Ni, which, though often intellectually ingenious, only tends to occupy itself with one idea at a time.13
However, in terms of the conscious effects of Si upon the psyche of INTPs, there is an unmistakable element of Si at play when it comes to the INTP's maintenance and remembrance of sharply delineated classifications and their reifications.14 For example, where the ENTP may resemble the INTP in terms of overall reasoning style and intellectual method, the Si of an ENTP is repressed and pushed into the unconscious. The constraints set upon psychic life by the conception of specific classifications are therefore not a restraint upon the psyche of the ENTP, thus (for better or for worse) making the ENTP a far more liquid and blurry thinker than the INTP.
Furthermore, in the case of the INTP, their Introverted Thinking is also more present in consciousness than that of an ENTP. As a judging function, Ti is naturally more interested in trying to understand the world in terms of systematized experiences, meaning that naturally and after a time, the logical relations between categories and classes begin to codify and assume schematic form in the INTP. Therefore, in the end, objects and occurrences may come to be defined almost exclusively by their relations to each other and by the patterns in which they are components (rather than by the influence of the objects themselves, which would be more reminiscent of an Se/Ni mode of perception). Hayek's epistemology of the social sciences is a good example of this relational type of judgment, and of the Ti-Si orientation in general on the part of the INTP.15
After a period of acclimatizing itself to a certain object, the Ti-Si orientation will essentially codify its classification and definition. It is for this reason, among others, that though INTPs are often forgetful and somewhat absent-minded, they can sometimes have surprisingly good memories when it comes to the details of a system and its components. Where the INTJ will most often tend to remember such things by way of analogy and metaphor, or by way of the outcome or effect of an endeavor, the INTP tends to remember the same details in a more a priori and factual manner, much in the same way as one would codify that knowledge if it were to go into a textbook on the subject.
However, while the advantage of the INTP over the ENTP in terms of Si tends to be that the INTP is a more systematic and rigorous thinker, the downside is often that over the years, an INTP may reify and systematize too much: The more they learn about a system and think it through internally, aided by Si, the more immutable that system eventually becomes in the mind of the INTP. In this manner, an INTP who is firmly set in his ways may come under the negative influence of Si and fall prey to the same inflexibility and closed-mindedness that the SJ types are often blamed for.16
An example of how the Ti-Si orientation in an INTP's intellectual inquiries may lead to psychic fossilization, and to remaining stuck in one's ways, is given by the Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli: While Einstein's early work on physics was of course brilliant, the later Einstein refused to reconcile his outlook with newly-emerging data from quantum phyiscs. As Einstein saw it, physics was supposed to be deterministic and non-random, the way it was when he first started thinking about it. And so:
"From 1927 on Einstein was disappointed by the development of physics. Inflexibly he withdrew into his intellectual loneliness. While his subsequent papers on field theory are written with the same ... mastery as the earlier ones, close contact with nature seems to be lacking in them. It is doubtful whether these last theoretical formulations of Einstein's have actual application in physics." - Pauli: Writings on Physics and Philosophy (Springer 1994) p. 122
As a result, the older Einstein would simply refuse to deal with the data from quantum physics, which he saw as making "concessions to randomness," and he rode on to craft a series of papers, all of which exhibited the same cerebral brilliance and intellectual beauty as his earlier works, but most of which were irrelevant and inapplicable to modern physics. Contrary to what should have been his better judgment, one might say, Einstein unyieldingly clung to a previous state of physics theory where his preferred outlook of classical mechanics and deterministic causal laws still made sense. But in doing so, he turned his back on the real world and made his later theories irrelevant for the future of physics.17
It is also because of their tertiary Si (along with their inferior Fe) that INTPs may tend to become overly judgmental at times. Once a principle or pattern has been strongly categorized in the mind of an INTP, they do not tend to like it when new developments and upheavals arise to push for its re-categorization. Because of their inferior Fe, INTPs will also often see only trivial differences between developments arising impersonally, as a means of scholarly progress (such as the re-alignment of physics along indeterministic lines), and a change that is brought about because of a development in people's emotional needs or wants. Indeed, because of their inferior Fe, INTPs may often either fail to take conscious stock of a development in people's feelings and views, or they may try to deal with such developments as if they were impersonal, academic forces.18
This approach can potentially cause great anxiety and stress in the INTP, perhaps even leading him into depression and the unshakable feeling that he does not 'fit in,' or that the approach that seems 'natural' to him is out of place and ineffective for dealing with the needs of others.19 These experiences may sometimes build upon themselves over time, thus eventually turning the INTP's penchant for system-building into a weakness and a self-fulfilling prophecy where everything the INTP experiences simply ends up confirming to them that life is miserable and that it is rational for them to feel depressed.
While developing a theory or systematized mode of perception to analyze one's own unhappiness is not necessarily a bad thing, an INTP that is in the grip of melancholia will often be unable to recognize that most of their observations while in this state will be imbued with an inherently pessimistic bias. This bias will invariably rub off on their conclusions and thus, rather than counteracting their unhappiness, the theorizations of a disconsolate INTP may simply end up confirming to them that the situation is hopeless and that there is nothing to do about it at all. In this way, the INTPs may fall prey to the same closed-circuit type of thinking that healthy INTPs often fault the INTJs for.20
To healthily develop Si, INTPs need to understand that both Ti and Si build upon impressions in fundamentally subjective ways while at the same time seeming thoroughly "objective" to the person himself.21 Though INTPs may earnestly and sincerely strive to form impersonal systems, many need to remind themselves that they can never be totally neutral or objective (as indeed no human being can) and that just because they have figured something out in theory, that model (however good it may be) is probably still limited when compared to the multifariousness of Sensory reality. In short, they need to develop a greater awareness of the physical side of things and their uniqueness, and not just of their philosophical significance.
Inferior Fe in INTPs
Extroverted Feeling is orientated towards the external environment, picking up on the sensibilities, sentiments, and needs of others.22 In the psychic organization of an INTP, Fe occupies the place of the inferior function, meaning that INTPs will usually have only a vague and indirect awareness of their own Fe.
However, since the inferior function represents not just the inferior aspect of a person's cognitive orientation, but also unconscious counter-movement that is at play in the personality, the inferior Fe of INTPs nevertheless holds great sway over them. When Feeling occupies the inferior position, it is naturally not well-developed and Feeling will frequently be tied up with an emotionality that is usually not the case for types that make more prominent use of Feeling.
In the case of the INTP with their inferior Extroverted Feeling, one frequent outcome of this psychic arrangement will be that the INTP only has a faint awareness of their own emotions, as well as of those of others. And since there is always in psychic life a temptation to let the dominant function falsify the inferior (or vice versa), INTPs may attempt to deal with matters of Feeling through the use of Ti instead of actually engaging with their personal sentiments. Over time, this can result in the INTP becoming emotionally tangled up in their own logic, being unable to see that they are rationalizing their decisions and advancing their personal values and sentiments behind a veneer of objective logic.
While engaged in this mode, INTPs are not judging on the basis of what is sensible, fair, or even logically coherent (as they would otherwise normally do), but instead tend to single out one judgment which they are quite emotionally invested in. They then tout that judgment as if it were the only logical position possible, even though there may well be alternatives that are equally logical. While in this 'touting' mode, INTPs will essentially find some piece of ad hoc logical reasoning to justify their actions and viewpoints, rather than admitting that they might have championed them out of personal motivations like lust, greed, fear, anger, or joy.
The later Richard Dawkins and the numerous uproars he has caused in recent times might serve as an illustration of this kind of behavior. For example, in his best arguments, Dawkins seems to acknowledge that while there is little evidence for the existence of God, the absence of such evidence does not logically allow us to conclude that God does not exist. In The God Delusion, Dawkins identifies his position on the matter as follows: "I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."23 However, while this position is perhaps the most scientifically and philosophically defensible version of atheism (or at least many NTP observers seem to think so), Dawkins sometimes gets carried away in his vehemence, expressing himself with a degree of certitude that seems to lie beyond the confines of his own argument. As the English writer and neurobiologist Kenan Malik has said, "So great is [Dawkins'] loathing for religion that it sometimes overwhelms his reasoned argument."24
Another example of Dawkins' emotional involvement in his own judgments could be seen in a discussion from 2014 where Dawkins declared that it would be categorically immoral not to abort a fetus with Down syndrome. As Dawkins saw it, this assertion was simply "completely logical."25 However, it is hard to see how Dawkins could arrive at this conclusion using logic alone and without unconsciously injecting his personal values into the argument. Unlike the morality of Immanuel Kant, which was deduced through a careful weighting and counterbalancing of the rights of each and every human being in relation to each other, Dawkins' assertion does not factor in the rights of the unborn fetus, for example. It may well be that Dawkins' assertion is correct, but the fact remains that his reasoning rides roughshod over pertinent questions such as value pluralism and whether people with Down syndrome can be made to lead meaningful and happy lives. Now, Dawkins may have cogent reasons for believing as he does. One can easily be made to agree with Dawkins if one's values are aligned with his to begin with. But by itself, his logic does not cut it. However, that was not how Dawkins saw it: In his mind, he was simply "approaching moral philosophic[al] questions in a logical way," blinded to how his personal values were affecting the entirety of his argument.26
***
Another way in which inferior Fe may influence the mental life of an INTP is how they are at pains to understand ritualized conduct and social mores in society.27 Hence they often turn to some formalized system to determine how they should behave around others (thus having again their Ti falsify their Fe). One example in this regard may be the English philosopher Roger Scruton. Though Scruton identifies as a Christian, and has written at length on the topic, it has often been remarked that Scruton does not seem to be religious in the way that the term is ordinarily understood.28 While Scruton has delved deeply into the intellectual, factual, and historical side of Christianity, he tends to answer evasively when asked about his personal beliefs, or to give non-religious arguments (saying, for example, that faith also furthers patriotism, good governance, or aesthetic sensibility).29 He is capable of explaining the thoughts, reasoning, and doctrines of his church, but vague when it comes to matters of his personal faith. In Scruton's case, however, we may say that this indirect way of approaching his own Fe through an understanding of religion as a social phenomenon is probably healthier than Dawkins' attempt to pretend that matters of value and sentiment can be decided solely on the basis of logic.30
In general, less mature INTPs can often adopt a snobbish, judgmental demeanor where they embrace one ethical, political or philosophical system and then espouse and commit to that in a manner that is outwardly marked by certitude, but which also often features a great deal of emotional defensiveness underneath. Insisting that the multifariousness of life can all be contained in a single philosophical system is normally anathema to the INTP’s uppermost functions, namely Ti and Ne, but at times they may nevertheless adopt such a one-sided certitude as a way to avoid having to engage with their inferior Fe.
While INTPs may be made distinctly uncomfortable by the way people are concerned with their standing in the eyes of others, and indeed forcefully rail against it, the truth is that most INTPs are fairly receptive to these concerns themselves (far more so than the NTJ types, for example). While they may appear indifferent and impassive in their outward demeanor, most INTPs do care about how others see them and they tend to dislike being the source of conflict and consternation in their environment. Yet paradoxically, it is because of this dislike of interpersonal conflict that INTPs may sometimes adopt an arrogant, judgmental, or passive-aggressive demeanor in their relations with others: It is a means of defense; a way for them to avoid having to deal with their own inferior Fe and get into social situations where they might be vulnerable and inept.
Thus, while Atlas Shrugged may have been written by an INTJ, many of the adherents who were enticed to follow Ayn Rand, or who tried to construct a comprehensive philosophical system out of her often cursory remarks on other thinkers, were INTPs. In the same way, a lot of extreme hard-liner skeptics (in the modern sense of the term) and quite a few of the 'militant atheists' of modern times are INTPs.
Ironically, immature INTPs may often adopt such extreme beliefs for social reasons, rather than for intellectual ones. In such cases, they tend to do so in order to experience a sense of superiority that is often shared within their group, pointing fingers at others and highlighting how these others are allegedly uninformed and misguided for believing something else. In this way, the extreme beliefs of the INTP may simply become the pretext by which the INTP and his peers can confirm to each other that they really are superior and truly part of an intellectual elite.
These dynamics may even drag on to the point where the give-and-take becomes more of an intellectualized sharing of emotional grievances among people who already agree than an intellectual debate in its own right. Tellingly, while these types of discussions may go on for a long time, they will frequently be completely lacking in any sort of commitment or activity that might actually serve to change something in the real world.31
Fortunately, most INTPs are not like this. In general, most mature INTPs realize that even though their view of society may appear to be impeccably reasoned to them, it is still their view and as such it is bound to be based on their morality and their personal values to some degree. They are aware that though this view may have an impressive series of complex observations and valid deductions behind it, it is nevertheless still their view and does not necessarily represent the feelings and views of others. And that in the end, it would be inhuman to force other people to live like that, even if it were possible to do so.
In contrast to some of the less well-developed ones, psychologically mature INTPs are some of the most genuinely humanistic and kind people you will ever meet. While they may still tend to come across as reserved at times, they nevertheless exude a quiet kindness and thoughtfulness that bear witness to an elegant and understated receptivity to the viewpoints and feelings of others. And while they may still be preoccupied with the theoretical systems-building that goes on in their own minds, they also tend to acquire a state of mild-mannered content where they enjoy just leaning back and getting to know others and catching up on how they are doing. Like Einstein in his later years, where he embodied a boyish, yet wise old man archetype, and seemed content simply to be alive and witnessing the spectacle of existence, quietly hoping that humanity would realize more of the errors of its ways.
References
Myers: Gifts Differing (Consulting Psychologists Press 1993) p. 88
Van der Hoop: Conscious Orientation (Kegan Paul & Co. 1939) p. 192
Van der Hoop: Conscious Orientation p. 66
Van der Hoop: Character and the Unconscious (Kegan Paul & Co. 1923) p. 154
Van der Hoop: Conscious Orientation p. 192
Darwin: The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Day 28 of 188 (1887)
Van der Hoop: Conscious Orientation p. 67
Jung: Psychological Types §628
Heraclitus: Fragment DK B54 cf. DK B51
Bryson: A Short History of Nearly Everything (Broadway Books 2004) p. 124
Van der Hoop: Character and the Unconscious p. 145
Jung: Psychological Types §656
Jung: Psychological Types §662
As the German philosopher Immanuel Kant taught us (and taught Jung), categories and classifications exist as much in the human mind as in nature, if not more so. - Kant: Critique of Pure Reason §A70/B95
In general, Hayek's thinking may serve as a powerful example of an INTP whose intellectual method was at once deeply reliant on his Si but which at the same time managed to steer clear of the INTP's unfortunate predilection for over-reliance on reified models and systemized classifications. Thus his famous dictum that, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." - F.A. Hayek: The Fatal Conceit (University of Chicago Press 1988) p. 76
It must here be interjected that the SJ types are often unfairly accused of being closed-minded (although some SJs are of course closed-minded). However, it must also be said that sometimes, the tertiary function tends to be both self-serving and naively over-optimistic about its own prowess in much the same way as a child; puerile, as it were. In this way one may argue that the tertiary Si in INPs can actually in some respects be more naively optimistic about the prospects of codifying experiences in a manner thought to be relevant "forever after" than is the more prominent Si of SJ types.
Bryson: A Short History of Nearly Everything p. 132
In Jungian theory, this is what might be called the falsification of the inferior function by the dominant. Von Franz: Lectures' On Jung's Typology (Spring Publications 1984) pp. 7-8
Van der Hoop: Conscious Orientation p. 68
Broadening matters out a bit, see for example Karl Popper's 'The Open Society and Its Enemies' for a sustained NTP type of attack on Heraclitus, Plato, Hegel, and Marx - all of whom were INJ types.
Myers: Gifts Differing p. 78, 80
Von Franz: Lectures on Jung's Typology pp. 41-42
Dawkins: The God Delusion (Bantam Press 2006) pp. 50-51
Malik: "I don't believe in Richard Dawkins," The Telegraph, October 8, 2006
The Guardian: "Richard Dawkins: 'Immoral' Not to Abort if Foetus has Down's Syndrome," August 21, 2014
BBC: "Richard Dawkins: 'Immoral' Not to Abort Down's Foetuses," August 21, 2014
Van der Hoop: Character and the Unconscious p. 154
The Guardian: "Is Roger Scruton Really a Christian?" November 20, 2012
Scruton: Our Church (Atlantic Books 2012) p. 111
Just like, for example, Ni types should not necessarily attempt to be Se types, but may attempt to approach their inferior Se through activities they can control, such as painting, wood and stone-carving, and the like, so Ti types should not necessarily try to be Fe types, trying to understand the principles behind communal values instead of attempting to determine them directly. Von Franz: Lectures on Jung's Typology p. 77
Jung: Psychological Types §634
