Are INFPs useless?

[lulabelle]

I'm wondering how you all feel about INFPs. I'm an INFP with an INTP friend and I often feel like I don't have much to offer him

 

[Brontosaurie]

if everyone was INFP, all would be fine in the world, no conflict, no shortage

but the INFP is least capable out of all people to improve the world from where it is

 

[Ex-User (11125)]

Certainly not.
And what does "useless" mean anyway? Useless to whom?
some of my favorite infps: fiona apple, regina spektor, tori amos, kierkegaard, camus, proust...etc
I <3 infps

 

[lulabelle]

if everyone was INFP, all would be fine in the world, no conflict, no shortage

but the INFP is least capable out of all people to improve the world from where it is

no conflict? are you kidding me? INFPs with different Fi values can clash like no other

 

[Brontosaurie]

no conflict? are you kidding me? INFPs with different Fi values can clash like no other

what is "different" Fi values? imo that's when Fi is weak like in TJ's. dominant Fi is competent and arrives at sound, intersubjectively valid conclusions. immature/suppressed Fi makes selfish, unreasonable moral claims. good Fi knows how to live and let live.

 

[lulabelle]

what is "different" Fi values? imo that's when Fi is weak like in TJ's. dominant Fi is competent and arrives at sound, intersubjectively valid conclusions. immature/suppressed Fi makes selfish, unreasonable moral claims. good Fi knows how to live and let live.

yeah, well not every person of every type is evolved LOL. i'm sure if the entire world was comprised of INFPs there would be major disputes. i know many deeply unhealthy, antagonistic INFPs

 

[Cherry Cola]

Yes, INFP's are mostly just defective INFJ's.

 

[lulabelle]

Yes, INFP's are mostly just defective INFJ's.

that's what it feels like!

 

[Jennywocky]

Wow, I thought this was a thread but it ended up being a public toilet.

 

[Idunno]

Yes, INFP's are mostly just defective INFJ's.

doesnt that mean one can say intps are defective/useless intjs

 

[Idunno]

what is "different" Fi values? imo that's when Fi is weak like in TJ's. dominant Fi is competent and arrives at sound, intersubjectively valid conclusions. immature/suppressed Fi makes selfish, unreasonable moral claims. good Fi knows how to live and let live.

wouldnt immature fi make selfish unreasonable moral claims
while
suppressed/repressed- repress the claim(feeling) and decide not to make any claim at all?

 

[cheese]

Wow, I thought this was a thread but it ended up being a public toilet.

Just lol'ing at this thread.

Hey! Don't discriminate against public toilets! They have just as many feelings as private ones, but they have to take so much more crap!

 

[kora]

Can have a tendency for depressed apathy but that's common to all IN types, stronger with INF perhaps. But they are usually sensitive and subtle thinkers in my experience, and they are witty and quirky as well, they open up more when you speak to them one on one. I'm an INFJ and INFP's look frickin' cool to me, they don't have this socially anxious Fe vibe that I have, which can sometimes make me haughty and closed up, the stress that I have to control the image I have to make people like me. they appear more relaxed and kind. There are many great INFP writers and artists and probably scientists and other things too.

 

[J-man]

Yes, INFP's are mostly just defective INFJ's.

Kinda like how INTPs are merely defective INTJs.

edit: oh goddammit, someone already said it. well that's just further proof.

 

[RandomGeneratedName]

Wait.. so being INTP pretty much my whole life, T%80 drops down to T%1 being with INFJ GF,
and basically now you're saying i'm not an INFP, but INFJ?

I don't find that amusing at all *continues to pretend to act very seriously*
(i'm actually devasted and barely holding back the tears)

 

[Jennywocky]

Just lol'ing at this thread.

Hey! Don't discriminate against public toilets! They have just as many feelings as private ones, but they have to take so much more crap!

you're right, I should have used a less formal and warmer name, so as to make the public toilet feel more at home:

"squat pot."

Spoiler

I don't know if I should call it a "shit pit" around company.

 

[Idunno]

Kinda like how INTPs are merely defective INTJs.

edit: oh goddammit, someone already said it. well that's just further proof.

Location: my mind

Location: our mind*

 

[Fled]

if everyone was INFP, all would be fine in the world, no conflict, no shortage

but the INFP is least capable out of all people to improve the world from where it is

Not only INFP's but any other type. If everyone in the world were one single type, there would be no conflicts.

 

[Ex-User (8886)]

Not only INFP's but any other type. If everyone in the world were one single type, there would be no conflicts.

lol, look at this forum or intjforum and watch how people disagree with each other, and most of them are same types

personally, I have the least problems with ExxP and IxFJ types

INFPs are good in supporting people and making them smile

or another way - good artistic individualists

 

[Nibbler]

Not at all! I'd much rather spend time with an honest meaning INFP.

If I got stuck in a room with an INFP it would be OK as long as you didn't start crying in fear. Maybe you can help the mood with nice stories. The worst person I'd like to be stuck with is the ISTJ stereotype ready to dog and criticize every suggestion. And as every plan fails (as often you have to go through many plans to find the right one) they dig in their heels even more convinced they are right that "nothing will work!" which only goes to shake everyone's confidence--the LAST thing that is needed.

(I'm sure there are individual exceptions).

INFPs aren't dream killers. The only useless person to me is the ISTJ dream killer or one who stands in the way. I'd rather your crying and poetry than a dream killer.

 

[Grayman]

The effect an INFP has on people cannot be so tangibly and directly defined. It must be felt and experienced with intuition and feeling to be appreciated.

With no INFP's around it would be like having no pictures or decorations in your house. You can certainly live without them and get by but something will just be missing and things just will not feel right or as cozy and at home. The usefulness cannot be directly observed as it must be intuitively observed through experience. I don't think the picture on the wall sees the world in the same way and likely will not know how pleasant I find it being there.
edit: Movies without music.

 

[xbox]

NO. You have to look deeper than that cute fuzzy vibe they give off.
I find their insight valuable, they are balanced in the way they speak, they are able to see both sides of a situation even if they have their own strong opinions on a topic. I actually find that really awesome and intriguing. Basically I know a couple of infps who are that way. They are pretty quiet but have this strange potential of being powerful leaders (if they had the right training)

Infps r sexy.

 

[Grayman]

Why do INTP's think that perspective, insight, and thoughtful ideas are more important and deeper than the emotional structure and dynamics a person might have to offer?

I think I disagree with you xbox but not on your agruement that they have these other things to offer but on your assumptions that the 'cute fuzzy fibe' is of little consequence.

 

[Yellow]

I've always liked this analogy:

INFP - warm and fuzzy inside and out
INFJ - cold on outside, warm and fuzzy on the inside
INTP - warm on the outside, cold and hard inside
INTJ - cold and hard inside and out

Warm and fuzzy isn't useless. It's just not something that INTPs relate to very well, so it can seem that way in isolation with one. The world at large needs INFPs just like they need every other type.

 

[TBerg]

What would drive anyone to do anything if they never had a good feeling?

 

[Jennywocky]

I've always liked this analogy:

INFP - warm and fuzzy inside and out
INFJ - cold on outside, warm and fuzzy on the inside
INTP - warm on the outside, cold and hard inside
INTJ - cold and hard inside and out

Warm and fuzzy isn't useless. It's just not something that INTPs relate to very well, so it can seem that way in isolation with one. The world at large needs INFPs just like they need every other type.

So inf's are like peaches in different stages of refrigeration?

 

[TheManBeyond]

XD

 

[dark+matters]

I'm wondering how you all feel about INFPs. I'm an INFP with an INTP friend and I often feel like I don't have much to offer him

I think INFPs will feel that they don't have much to offer sometimes (like anyone else, really, but they're more inclined to be aware of and communicate this feeling). But of course, we can't determine if your friend actually returns the feeling that you have nothing to offer him. It seems most likely that he doesn't feel that way since, as stated by the other posters, everyone has something to offer and most people seem to understand this.

In terms of how I feel about INFPs, I have liked the definite INFPs I've met. One of my best friends is an INFP, and he's been one of the most loyal, helpful people in my life- always ready to listen and generous of heart with anyone, really. That Te of his doesn't always kick in, but hell, Te is even lower in the INTP's stack, so that's certainly nothing for an INTP to realistically talk smack about. The ISFP in my life is really nice and helpful as well (even when he is neither sober nor lucid. LMAO) And both are probably more dedicated to their professional lives than I am, even though I know they don't feel that they are more dedicated than I am.

Actually, I do worry that my main INFP feels this "nothing to offer me" thing sometimes, because a new INFP I met communicated the feeling that she didn't have much to offer me as well. It certainly wasn't true. Maybe she's not interested in what I am or lives in a different dream than I do, but she helped make our group vastly more tolerable through her empathy and girlscoutishness and was as equally hard working and competent as the people in the group of other personality types.

Also, my physics/math/chemistry tutor in high school was most likely INFP. He was fantastic! He always knew exactly the minute I stopped understanding something and wouldn't let me get away with not knowing stuff. LOL I would not have thought I could do math or science without him, and I'm pretty happy with the decision to start moving in that direction now that I'm older and see the folly of my desire to make my living with art in this day and age.

My experiences with him really make me question whether or not personality typology should encourage NFs to go into the arts and humanities. My tutor was super-contented with his choices about pursuing physics. He was great at it, it offered him a broad set of career options, and he just pursued literature and film after he graduated in his spare time. That is so sensible. Now he has the funding and the problem-solving abilities to tackle the things he values. I think logic is a potential strength for the "rational temperaments" to develop, but I certainly don't think the NFs or any of the other types should at all shy away from logic and critical thinking. Anyway- that's a rant aside from the original topic. And I need to be ranting in three English papers instead of here! Bleeerrrrgh...

 

[dare_mo]

My significant other is INFP and she seems to balance me quite well. She handles all the emotions, works out well.

 

[xbox]

Why do INTP's think that perspective, insight, and thoughtful ideas are more important and deeper than the emotional structure and dynamics a person might have to offer?

I think I disagree with you xbox but not on your agruement that they have these other things to offer but on your assumptions that the 'cute fuzzy fibe' is of little consequence.

im not sure if im intp. but I do have infp friends. also its ok if ppl disagree with me its my opinion afterall

 

[Yellow]

So inf's are like peaches in different stages of refrigeration?

Oh, you know what they say: Everyone's a peach if you're brave enough.

 

[dark+matters]

Uh oh. I just questioned the question I was asked in one of my papers. *dark+matters gets in trouble again...*

 

[Helvete]

fucking kids, get off my lawn, cunts. I'll bury you there, my lawn is so flat and I like hills, maggots.

I may be INFP, I'm not sure, never been sure. But I sure do not feel useless. Up until the point where others are involved and I take a back seat and observe and let them get on with it. I could keep up and join in but I like to spend time thinking which slows the process of doing, making me come off as slow and airy (physically not mentally).
So I can offer valuable input, but only when people will take the time to listen which they rarely do. I on the same token do not feel inclined to speed up. The majority come across as way more useful here, as they probably are.

 

[Brontosaurie]

fucking kids, get off my lawn, cunts. I'll bury you there, my lawn is so flat and I like hills, maggots.

imma INFP 2 if it cumz wyv a laun.

 

[Oddity]

Kinda like how INTPs are merely defective INTJs.

It's like INxJs have some bizarre compulsion to be a piece of shit to the type that has their first 3 letters but with a P.

 

[The Gopher]

It's like INxJs have some bizarre compulsion to be a piece of shit to the type that has their first 3 letters but with a P.

Well lets face it have you ever seen a useful ESTP? Thought so.

-----------

I'm bored of being an ESTJ I'll be an ISTJ now.

 

[Brontosaurie]

It's like INxJs have some bizarre compulsion to be a piece of shit to the type that has their first 3 letters but with a P.

i guess it's frustrating to have a perception pointed inwards when perception should be pointed outwards. they're a flawed design and they're jealous.

 

[kora]

This^

 

[punchinelli]

It's interesting that you brought this up. My ex girlfriend was an INFP, and she constantly worried that she didn't have anything to offer in comparison to me.

It turns out, she was one of the most gorgeous people I had ever met, both inside and out, and her compassion for humanity and our planet was unrivaled. She turned me on like no other personality had ever done so. I was obsessed with her. Her enigmatic nature defied all logic to me, and it kept things so exciting.

She was very in touch with her emotions, but would on many occasions over-emote, akin to a "drama queen", and make a mountain out of a molehill situation.

This INFP also had a complete and utter disregard for logic or rationale. She always acted on pure feelings, not data or evidence. It doesn't matter that I'm wrong, you made me FEEL bad, so now YOU'RE wrong.

My logician self became increasingly upset with her inability to act rationally, and we broke up. I miss her dearly and have a gaping hole in my heart with the remnants of her unpredictability dripping within. I tried to get her back and she flat out refused and now acts like I never existed.

 

[Brontosaurie]

^ you think the mystery she presented leads to a more profound appreciation of life or exposes a weakness in you?

or maybe those are the same. deep.

 

[Analyzer]

That inferior Te makes them act or think like they are logical people. They enjoy using their value systems as a way to modify or build systems. I have known couple INFP's who were really good at maths and sort of prodigies. I wouldn't be surprised to find more INFP's and even ISFP's than INTP's in scientific/technical fields.

 

[punchinelli]

^ you think the mystery she presented leads to a more profound appreciation of life or exposes a weakness in you?

or maybe those are the same. deep.

Both. And yes, they are the same, the more I think about it. I have little appreciation for Feeling ( F ) and she showed me the world with Feeling Goggles on. A very, VERY different world. She saw beauty in things that had no beauty. She found beauty in nonsensical things. She made me feel, and it scared the hell out of me. And now she's gone.

 

[scorpiomover]

I'm wondering how you all feel about INFPs. I'm an INFP with an INTP friend and I often feel like I don't have much to offer him

I've learned a heck of a lot that is very useful from my INFP friend. Honestly, the things that I've learned from him, would really benefit the INFPs here.

 

[The Gopher]

I've learned a heck of a lot that is very useful from my INFP friend. Honestly, the things that I've learned from him, would really benefit the INFPs here.

Oh yeah? Well spill the beans. Unless there is an obvious reason not to this probably is the thread for it.

 

[Doktorin Zylinder]

I was in a relationship with an INFP. She was really broken and had a list of mental issues up my forearm. She was a danger to herself and others in a indirect way and was in and out of the psych ward on a semi-regular basis.

I am incredibly cautious of INFPs in case they're broken because that shit hurts.

 

[Cloud9]

some of my favourite people are infps

I love them so muchhh <3

this type is one of the most understanding types ..
u make us feel loved, and oh.. even though I hate when someone hugs me, I accept infp hugs

infps are HONEST ... this is what I love ..

 

[Nihilmatic]

yes, im only saying that because two of my good friends are infps and insulting them and observing how they react is the funniest and one of the most amusing things ever.

 

[StevenM]

I dunno if I'm INFP/INTP or not.

Yet if I am, I'm definitely not useless. I need the intrinsic ambition by setting my ...err, ...soul into something by focusing on the goal I have in mind.

That, and I want control. I've got a stubborn, independent streak. I need to be the sole person managing the visualizing, planning, and then the enaction of completing the process.

Given those things, I can be pretty damn productive. The efficiency and resourcefulness has made people question whether some kind of wizardry is involved.

Tempt me my making it a problem-solving challenge. One with ingenuity, and no direction or aid.

 

[Sinny91]

My favorite person in the whole world is, I believe, an INFP, Amy Lee, Evanescence.
Deep, dark, happy, energetic, quirky, dreamer etc etc.

And also, one of the most depressing people I know is an INFP.
Depressed, apathetic, failed engineer. Armchair philosopher.

I've took MBTI 5 times, once came out as an INFP, but looking back, I was listening to EV, had had a beer and was rather stoned, as a slight psychedelic, my result was affected.

In all other tests my Ti was dominant.

 

[ENTP lurker]

IxFPs are pretty cold personalities outside. INFP is very able to be warm inside thus they are OK. ISFPs... we need to use them to feed starving non-ISFP children around the globe.

[My Fi is clearly in pristine condition ]