Do a lot of INTPs consider themselves different from the rest of society?

[LAM]

Now I have no problem in admitting that all people are different, but at the same time they are almost all stunningly predictable and similar in many ways.
Like for example when I was looking at students from a business school in the inner city walk out to go home, I noticed that apart from the uniforms they looked, talked, walked and did exactly the same as the actual businessmen. Most of them will end up like that in all probability, yet they would never know just how obvious it was.
A lot of people that belong in groups generally take the attributes from those groups; most people are shaped by their surroundings, the media they watch and the people they are close to.And this lead me to continually for the rest of that time look for those similarities in people. This has lead me to look at the forum-goers on here and INTPs in general.Are INTPs more or less or as likely to be influenced so much by outside forces as other types?
I find that especially on these forums, the virtues and attributes of INTPs are repeated very often and the main focus is on the differences between "us" and others. But are we all really as different from the rest of society as we make it out to be?
I have no doubt that we all share a large number of similarities on this forum. The you know you are an INTP thread list described me probably more than 80% of the time. Also I tend to find that other INTP forums have forum-goers which are much more different than the people on here, but in their own way very similar to each other...
Note: my laptop for some reason never gives spaces between paragraphs and I only now realised how to do it manually ( i have to put in < p > at start and same thing but with slash at the end.)

 

[Van]

I don't think the spectrum of people is terribly wide, but what is there to measure it against?

 

[Darby]

As a general rule are we totally different? or are we not as affected by outside sources(media etc)?

as a general rule, not as much as we like to think, that was a big realization for me, it also helped me make good meat-space friends.

and for outside influences yes and no, I personally when I see ads and things get frustrated and irritated by how obtuse many of the ads out there are, and therefore I am less likely to buy their stuff. But at the same time, certain ads even when I know it's an ad, will pull me in like quicksand, just because it's slightly different from others, and more fun or exciting.

Like this one(no I have never actually bought any of their stuff):

Louis Vuitton "Superflat Monogram"

 

[RubberDucky451]

We spend so much time inside our own minds it's hard not to separate ourselves from others. Hopefully when i get to college I'll meet more people like myself when i sign up for an art or programming class.

 

[citrusbreath95]

LAM, I know exactly what you mean, I find myself sitting in a room or classroom, just watching the students and teachers talk and how they act and find they act in such so very similar a way that it seems quite strange how they are entirely oblivious to this conclusion. I then wonder if I, myself, seem like everyone else to other observers, and if I only feel different as I live most of my life in my head. I suppose anyone could stick out from the crowd if anyone took the time to truly analyze them to an extent as to characterize them where they were different (even if they in no means weren't)

 

[floccinaucci]

do you all remember the point when you really changed like this? for me it was Jr. high. All my friends were cool with the other kids from other districts and the older kids who drank. for some odd reason I couldn't join in on their fun so I began reading more and more(read all my text books.) In elementary they said i had a learning disability. in Jr. high and high school I was on the principals list.

 

[Sapphire Harp]

Don't forget about confirmation bias, LAM. Once you started seeing similarities and building a theory on it, inevitably it became much easier to notice those than differences.

I was going to answer further, but then I got stuck wondering whether you meant society, or were actually asking if a lot of INTPs consider themselves different from 'the majority of people.'

If we're talking about INTPs being different from the majority of people, there is some numerical evidence for it. The N-S characteristic, which is the most radically defining part of the mbti in my opinion, divides people into 70 - 30. That's more than two people saying "you're different from us" to every third individual.
​

 

[ashitaria]

We are very different. I knew I was different ever since I was 2? 3?

Kindergarten and Primary School were especially hard times for me. And yes, unlike other people who are easily shaped by peer pressure, the media, the expectations of parents, etc, we set our own standards, not only because we are introverted and complicated, but because we love the truth.

And our love of truth is what separates us from most people.

 

[Gather_Wanderer]

haha, i thought thats why we we're all here? i've always felt different from everyone else. i don't know anyone like me, except for you guys on here.

 

[Prinznobody]

Though sometimes others feel that we're sarcastic haha I love that...

 

[citrusbreath95]

do you all remember the point when you really changed like this? for me it was Jr. high. All my friends were cool with the other kids from other districts and the older kids who drank. for some odd reason I couldn't join in on their fun so I began reading more and more(read all my text books.) In elementary they said i had a learning disability. in Jr. high and high school I was on the principals list.

I am in Jr. high now (hopefully this won't make people view me less as of how young I am) and I am really starting to feel different from everyone. Elementary school it was so-so... but now I feel as if I stick out from everyone. Also I too, read A LOT! Not just the fantasy books that everyone is into today, I actually dislike most of the modern books (Twilight is a great example of this) but I love to read nonfiction books and classics, especially science fiction! No- one I know is interested in anything I am. I have a question for you as obviously you are older, did you continue to really change mentally after Jr. High or was it consistent throughout?

 

[Cogwulf]

Yes, and it depresses me greatly. The majority or people I meet everyday could easily be picked up and thrown aside and have someone else put in their place and the world would be no different. They're all just generic interchangeable people who are there to keep the earth spinning round. All these people aren't just generic, they all think they're making decisions but really they're just doing what they're programmed to do, acting on instincts or following the behaviour of the group they're in. And all these people don't question, they read things in newspapers or see something on TV and instantly take it as fact.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm not different from everyone else but just a narcissist instead, but either way it still means that the rest of the world cannot live up to my own views of how things should be

 

[Gather_Wanderer]

Yes, and it depresses me greatly. The majority or people I meet everyday could easily be picked up and thrown aside and have someone else put in their place and the world would be no different. They're all just generic interchangeable people who are there to keep the earth spinning round. All these people aren't just generic, they all think they're making decisions but really they're just doing what they're programmed to do, acting on instincts or following the behaviour of the group they're in. And all these people don't question, they read things in newspapers or see something on TV and instantly take it as fact.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm not different from everyone else but just a narcissist instead, but either way it still means that the rest of the world cannot live up to my own views of how things should be

yeah. what you said.
i see exactly what you mean but then i always get back to the big question looming over my head right now: what the heck are we all supposed to be doing right now anyway? what difference does it make what the guy next to you does if we all have no general purpose? this is why, although i could be different than most people i encounter, i try not to value myself as anything more. to me, without purpose.... nothing matters. i don't know how to value something if its eventual process will be for it to wither away and die......i'm trying to but i don't understand right now. if purpose doesn't exist and life is exactly what we make of it..... who cares really?
that being said....somehow inside i do believe there is purpose. and i don't think i will ever make sense of it.

 

[CryoStasis]

It depends on whether you mean mainstream society or specific sub-societies. For instance, in an academic setting I would feel slightly more homogenous than in a mall setting ( I never go to them unless forced). In mainstream society I have always felt out of place. Like others here I enjoy books, particularly Science Fiction. I always felt books as a means to escape reality. The biggest difference for me was lack of shared interests among peers. I was very shy when I was younger and it wasn't helpful that it was impossible to have a conversation on something of interest that few people my age cared about and conversely I knew very little about what they would talk about such as the latest music, sports figures, etc.

I'm now 21 and probably more aware of being different, but I have come to accept that rather than change who am I am.
Press ENTER to look up in Wiktionary or CTRL+ENTER to look up in Wikipedia

 

[LAM]

Don't forget about confirmation bias, LAM. Once you started seeing similarities and building a theory on it, inevitably it became much easier to notice those than differences.

I was going to answer further, but then I got stuck wondering whether you meant society, or were actually asking if a lot of INTPs consider themselves different from 'the majority of people.'

If we're talking about INTPs being different from the majority of people, there is some numerical evidence for it. The N-S characteristic, which is the most radically defining part of the mbti in my opinion, divides people into 70 - 30. That's more than two people saying &quot;you're different from us&quot; to every third individual.
​

To answer your question, I did mean society. Another person said here that if you replaced one person with another one then there would be very little difference in the world. Now I want you guys to think if an INTP, perhaps even you was replaced with say another type who isn't an INTJ since they are too similar to other people from an outside perspective? The answer will probably be that the world won't change either. We are only special inside our minds (this sentence isn't literal...)

If you looked at yourself from a third-person point of view, would you say you are similar from and outside perspective to the people around you. (You compare yourself to both your friends and then separately to others.)

 

[amorfati]

I'm different from society. I used to wear this as a badge of honor, and I still do to some degree because I need to feel good about something, but it's a difficult road to walk and I walk this road because I have to; because I was born this way.

I really want to discover what the fundamental difference is between me and most other people. I'm starting to think it's the power that my mind has over me and the relative indifference I carry towards the material world. The day to day external events that so many people seem to invest so much time and energy in just don't seem to effect me in any significant way. My fantasies, and whatever stimulates my fantasies, is what I seem to live for... unfortunately. I'm wired this way. My mind is like an infinite playground where I am free to do whatever I want whenever I want, and the external world is like the teacher who breaks up the fun and says "recess is over".

I just can't understand how most people who work a 9-5 job five days a week, go home and watch t.v., etc. don't seriously think about killing themselves. And the only answer I can come up with is that I'm wired one way and they're wired another way. It is what it is.

 

[Trebuchet]

Sure we are different from the rest of society. If we weren't, I wouldn't hang around this forum. I'm only here because people's posts make sense to me (even if I don't agree with them) and people don't act like I'm some kind of alien when I post something (even if they don't agree).

INTPs are a valuable part of society. We come up with ideas that they other types don't, and vice versa. We analyze things that others don't, and vice versa. Clearly we are different from the xSxJs that are all over the place. They are the ones who really look at me strangely, and criticize everything I do.

Once, a three-year-old girl brought a toy to entertain my then-infant daughter. My daughter was delighted. I said to the three-year-old, "Wow! Look how happy you made her! Your instincts were really good and you made the perfect choice!" (You have to use exclamation points with little kids.) The child was beaming.

Her mom, hearing this, told me that I should not have used a word like "instinct" because she was only three and couldn't understand hard words. She said that as a new mom, I needed to learn how to say things to kids in a more appropriate way.

The little girl's face fell. She might not have known the word instinct, but she knew hers was good, and I was impressed with her, and she had done well. She also knew her mom would rather take away her praise by saying she couldn't understand it, than to join in and say, "Good job, honey."

I told this story to other people, and the xSxJs always thought the mom did right by telling me how to praise children. I bet most people on this forum would rather see the kid proud and learning a new word.

When I am talking to other parents (sorry for all the parent stuff, you non-parents) about homework or whatever, I am the only one who brings up correlations, studies about cognitive development, etc. And since I am fascinated by it, I really have read recent studies on the subject, even though I am not an expert in that field. If someone said those things to me, I'd ask them to send me the source material. The people I talk to just believe everything I say. Again, I bet most people on this forum, if they had an interest in whatever I was talking about, would demand to know where I got my "facts" rather than assuming my numbers are right.

INTPs aren't that different from other people. We aren't a different kind of human. But our interests, assumptions, and approaches to situations have a self-similarity that others don't share. (We also use proper grammar and punctuation more on this forum than on any other forum I've seen.)

 

[Geminii]

Well, I do consider much of society in general to be freakin' weird, so I guess that counts.

 

[truthseeker72]

Sure we are different from the rest of society. If we weren't, I wouldn't hang around this forum. I'm only here because people's posts make sense to me (even if I don't agree with them) and people don't act like I'm some kind of alien when I post something (even if they don't agree).

INTPs are a valuable part of society. We come up with ideas that they other types don't, and vice versa. We analyze things that others don't, and vice versa. Clearly we are different from the xSxJs that are all over the place. They are the ones who really look at me strangely, and criticize everything I do.

Once, a three-year-old girl brought a toy to entertain my then-infant daughter. My daughter was delighted. I said to the three-year-old, "Wow! Look how happy you made her! Your instincts were really good and you made the perfect choice!" (You have to use exclamation points with little kids.) The child was beaming.

Her mom, hearing this, told me that I should not have used a word like "instinct" because she was only three and couldn't understand hard words. She said that as a new mom, I needed to learn how to say things to kids in a more appropriate way.

The little girl's face fell. She might not have known the word instinct, but she knew hers was good, and I was impressed with her, and she had done well. She also knew her mom would rather take away her praise by saying she couldn't understand it, than to join in and say, "Good job, honey."

I told this story to other people, and the xSxJs always thought the mom did right by telling me how to praise children. I bet most people on this forum would rather see the kid proud and learning a new word.

When I am talking to other parents (sorry for all the parent stuff, you non-parents) about homework or whatever, I am the only one who brings up correlations, studies about cognitive development, etc. And since I am fascinated by it, I really have read recent studies on the subject, even though I am not an expert in that field. If someone said those things to me, I'd ask them to send me the source material. The people I talk to just believe everything I say. Again, I bet most people on this forum, if they had an interest in whatever I was talking about, would demand to know where I got my "facts" rather than assuming my numbers are right.

INTPs aren't that different from other people. We aren't a different kind of human. But our interests, assumptions, and approaches to situations have a self-similarity that others don't share. (We also use proper grammar and punctuation more on this forum than on any other forum I've seen.)

I'm not a parent, but if another parent was lecturing me about dumbing down conversations with kids, I'd explode. Why must adults bring themselves down to infantile level, instead of gradually raising children's vocabulary and intellect?

 

[White Rabbit]

I like this topic, I relate a lot.

I find it very amusing to observe people around me. I will talk to them, share opinion on something, laugh, but it's something that's just me - observing and analyzing people around me is like my 24/7 hobby. Mainly because it almost never gets boring. And when it does, then I have fun predicting their reactions.

I've found myself a comfortable seat at the back of the cinema and I have the whole screen in front of me. Great understanding of what's going on, but I'd say I'm pretty detached in terms of external influences. Adds, news, popular/not popular, sexy/not sexy, any sort of media influence on me is a blank shot. This raises onto a higher level too, mainly in terms of manipulation by others. Anything even remotely related to manipulating is instantly rejected.

But anyhow, I'd say we're different in terms of our awareness (issue of internal vs external is debatable here for INTPs), and our tendency to quickly comprehend connections between causes and consequences. This could be applied onto a broad range of activities, our relationship with the outside world, as well as ourselves. The mix of Te and Ni as two dominant functions can build a very powerful analyzing tool most other types don't posses.

 

[FrostFern]

I'm different from society. I used to wear this as a badge of honor, and I still do to some degree because I need to feel good about something, but it's a difficult road to walk and I walk this road because I have to; because I was born this way.

I really want to discover what the fundamental difference is between me and most other people. I'm starting to think it's the power that my mind has over me and the relative indifference I carry towards the material world. The day to day external events that so many people seem to invest so much time and energy in just don't seem to effect me in any significant way. My fantasies, and whatever stimulates my fantasies, is what I seem to live for... unfortunately. I'm wired this way. My mind is like an infinite playground where I am free to do whatever I want whenever I want, and the external world is like the teacher who breaks up the fun and says "recess is over".

I just can't understand how most people who work a 9-5 job five days a week, go home and watch t.v., etc. don't seriously think about killing themselves. And the only answer I can come up with is that I'm wired one way and they're wired another way. It is what it is.

I hear you. I also don't understand how people watch shows like "Jersey Shore" and enjoy it. They really are a different species it seems.

 

[Luminates]

Yes, and it depresses me greatly. The majority or people I meet everyday could easily be picked up and thrown aside and have someone else put in their place and the world would be no different. They're all just generic interchangeable people who are there to keep the earth spinning round. All these people aren't just generic, they all think they're making decisions but really they're just doing what they're programmed to do, acting on instincts or following the behaviour of the group they're in. And all these people don't question, they read things in newspapers or see something on TV and instantly take it as fact.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm not different from everyone else but just a narcissist instead, but either way it still means that the rest of the world cannot live up to my own views of how things should be

Wouldn't you perceive this as a good thing towards us? It is somewhat depressing to know that the majority of humans can be and most likely are in some cases (especially in our past) dispensable, but look at it from there perspective. If were not the same as the majority that is, then aren't we Indispensable? Meaning when we look at the news, instead of seeing a story headlined and believing those are the absolute facts, we conceive and answer by finding out the truth of the matter, and most of the time, there is more meaning that what was portrayed. I would view this as a gift which would enlighten me from being depressed about those other facts.
Like you said, either way, they can't live up to how you or we view things, so that right there is a golden trait.

 

[Cleo]

Most other people are far more emotionally driven than me, and seem to embrace drama in their lives.
At the age of 35, I can look back and honestly say that I've always been different from those around me, even my family.

 

[walfin]

If were not the same as the majority that is, then aren't we indispensable

Methinks indispensability is a continuum. Also, [relatively] indispensable to whom?

The INTP is different because s/he does not see a need to conform to others nor conform others to himself.

SPs can seem "different" and crazy as well. What can I say, SJs form the bulk of society, and NJs lead them.

 

[Geminii]

I just can't understand how most people who work a 9-5 job five days a week, go home and watch t.v., etc. don't seriously think about killing themselves.

Beer.

And TV shows that reinforce the idea that it's OK to turn off your brain and allow it to dribble out your ears for a couple of hours in front of the boob tube every night.

People will find any mindless, senseless, destructive thing to do to avoid having to confront the reality of their own wasted and useless life. It's probably a survival mechanism of some sort.

 

[RobertJ]

Everyone is dispensable.
If we measure dispensability in terms of how we serve humanity at large, then none of us are exempt from that label. Because at best, we are simply serving other dispensable people.
This harkens back to the eternal question; what validates a life? I don't think there is a definitive answer here, and if we so happened to procure one, it would do an injustice to the magnitude of the question.

 

[violetblue]

Everyone is dispensable.
If we measure dispensability in terms of how we serve humanity at large, then none of us are exempt from that label. Because at best, we are simply serving other dispensable people.
This harkens back to the eternal question; what validates a life? I don't think there is a definitive answer here, and if we so happened to procure one, it would do an injustice to the magnitude of the question.

well---what if we are all indispensable? if it's such a broad either-or category---we're all dispensable, or we're all not---then it's a 50-50 chance either way.

i don't know whether we are or not. but i think it's important to live as though we are indispensable---and everyone else as well. otherwise, it is difficult to find meaning.

(i think INTP's feel their difference from others more acutely than most types do. i'm not sure if we stand apart and ask these types of questions because we feel our difference first, or if we feel different because we ask these types of questions. )

 

[Agent Intellect]

I agree with violetblue. I don't think that INTP's are "more different" than everyone else, but just that we both think about how different we are, and question/analyze those differences. It's easy to group everyone else into a single category and think how homogeneous they seem without actually getting to know them on an individual level - I'm sure everyone here would think that their friends stand out from the rest of the crowd, and that's mainly because we have seen more then just the surface.

I don't think there is anything that truly makes one person indispensable over anyone else. Hell, if we're just talking about someones utility in society, there is a definite need for droving masses - the brain or the heart would be useless without everything else in addition to it. Society is held up on the foundation of 9-5ers and the average joe six-pack - people like my family.

But, on a more cynical level, we're all equally as meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and no matter how important one thinks they are, if they were to perish, the universe and even the vast majority of humankind would not even notice they were absent. If they had never come into existence in the first place, the universe would not be that much different.

How meaningful someones life is ultimately comes down to how meaningful and fulfilling it is for one self - whether one gets that meaning from talking about what meaning is on an internet message board, or from the enjoyment of the company of other people, or from relaxing with a beer in front of a football game after a hard days work. They're all equally as devoid of any meaning on any grand scale.

 

[Hengeo]

I feel like this sometimes. But i don't think that we are so diffrent, it's just that the ways we favor to think and act are diffrent compared to the majority of the society. We like to overthink and analysize, most people like quick and solid solutions. Although everything is useful in it's way, i really think that the world should become a little more N-P

 

[_whispers_]

We are different. We see things and hear things that other wouldn`t.

Funny thing happened to me the other day. We had a Consumer behavior class and the teacher was explaining to us about the Gestalt academy. It was about how people make sense out of stimuli and she was explaining to us how our brains work. About 90% of what she said wasn`t true for me, but the rest of the class accepted it and agreed with her. I told her that I don`t see things the way she describes them. She argued that it`s on subconscious level and there is no way for me to know how my brain works. To which I started explaining to her what I see in one of the pictures and how it doesn`t have anything to do with what she was saying. She just replied that it`s a research and that's the way it goes. I would have really loved to argue with her some more like how the research is only the most common results and exceptions like me wouldn`t be included or how I`ve spent the last 20 years analyzing my self and getting to know my self. But in the end I decided to pass. Not only she didn`t recognize that the academy's theory might not be true for each and every one of us, she also didn`t want to recognize the fact that I might be different. I don`t like arguing with narrow - minded people. It's pointless and draining.

So yeah, not only do I consider my self different, but I am. I also hate being stereotyped and would do a lot to avoid it.

 

[Melkor]

I'M NOT DIFFERENT, I'M BETTER! BETTER I SAY!


*Sobs vehemently*

 

[Luzian]

No, everyone is equal
The morning birds sing for me
The sun always smiles
The grass is green
INTP = ESFJ

 

[RobertJ]

No, everyone is equal
The morning birds sing for me
The sun always smiles
The grass is green
INTP = ESFJ

stfu

 

[Luzian]

stfu

NO U

 

[RobertJ]

u

 

[Cogwulf]

Both of you!

 

[interloper]

Most other people are far more emotionally driven than me, and seem to embrace drama in their lives.
At the age of 35, I can look back and honestly say that I've always been different from those around me, even my family.

I hear this. There's nothing more annoyable than gossip & drama, and the people who are interested in it.

 

[FrostFern]

Funny thing happened to me the other day. We had a Consumer behavior class and the teacher was explaining to us about the Gestalt academy. It was about how people make sense out of stimuli and she was explaining to us how our brains work. About 90% of what she said wasn`t true for me, but the rest of the class accepted it and agreed with her.

What does the theory she endorses say about how our brains work? Or is it too much to explain here? Sorry, I'm just really curious.

 

[Zero]

stfu

NK. We're not equal and there are times when the grass is not green and the sky is cloudy. If this is humor I missed it. My apologies.

--
On the topic, I think that INTPs do tend to consider themselves different from the rest of society. I think a lot of people do though, not only INTPs. I think most INTPs tend to feel we don't fit into social society. Which may be due to being introverted. But the fact that we consider it is probably more N.

I don't know how the majority of INTPs feel about interacting with the outside world, not to mention with each other.

My problem tend to be my inability to understand meaning behind what's literally being conveyed. I tend to not understand humor or wit. My humor is also misunderstood most of the time. I try to make jokes fairly often, but the reaction to them reveals that it is not humorous to other people, including other INTPs.

Sometimes I do catch onto what's going on behind the literal meaning. I can decipher and make (simple) metaphors, as that is not what I mean by secret message. A secret message is when there's warrant behind what is being said and what is being said isn't literal. I may notice a warrant, but may not know what it is. My intuition tends to warn me something is weird about whatever I'm reading/hearing. It's extremely difficult on forums to understand. A good example from real life is when someone says, "I don't want to go", In a pouting, angry tone. I might as well not hear the words at all, as the meaning is all in the tone and is saying something completely different and off topic. My intuition would pick up on the fact that there is a hidden warrant. But not knowing what it is, I would reason the literal meaning and react to that instead.

On forums it would help if people put their tone in parentheses if, whatever they're saying, has a hidden warrant behind it.

Despite the fact that I try to explain that I take things literally, to the point of painful redundancy, it doesn't seem to register with other people. (Despair)

That pretty much sums up why I feel different.
--

What does the theory she endorses say about how our brains work? Or is it too much to explain here? Sorry, I'm just really curious.

I'm curious as well. (Unsure if needed to say that)

--
Trebuchet's Story (Despair [over society])

 

[Audentia]

I'm not a parent, but if another parent was lecturing me about dumbing down conversations with kids, I'd explode. Why must adults bring themselves down to infantile level, instead of gradually raising children's vocabulary and intellect?

Amen. I would want to smack that parent. What an idiotic thing to say to your child. The whole point is for the child, especially during that age, to absorb as much new information from their surroundings and peers as possible, it instills the desire to expand their knowledge and learning. The girl may not have understood the word, but she did learn something useful and a seed was planted. That parent is an idiot, she's going to raise that child to feel inadequate and constantly second guess her abilities.

My parents started teaching me basic arithmetic and beginning reading when I was 3 just to see what I could do and treated me as much like an adult as possible through each age group while still letting me be a kid. I think that is a very healthy way to raise a child. Expand their minds for crying out loud.

 

[ashitaria]

stfu

To say a one liner is not a good indication of maturity. I'd rather you shut up, though sadly, there's no way of taking away your right to speak.

Back on topic:

Not all INTPs are disconnected from society though. Although I have loner tendencies, I always manage to crack jokes pretty well, so feeling lonely hasn't been an issue for me, at least until I stop cracking jokes and all my current friends move away.

There's an exception to everything. INTPs can easily act as another personality type when they are around other members. When I am around other people (i.e classmates) I act like an ENTP.

Of course, many INTPs consider themselves different from society, mainly because unlike society, we are not shaped by external factors but by our own thoughts, so it's no wonder why we think so. Yet, we can still be different yet intertwined with society. Get my driff?

 

[Zero]

I think it's interesting that "all INTPs are different", considering the fact that the purpose of trait theory would be to put us in an archetype where we are similar.

We're different from society, but we apparently can't agree upon what makes us different.

Therefore, the question is: What makes YOU feel different from Society; verses a plural question which spawns generalizations.

(?)

 

[ashitaria]

Well in my case it'd probably be my absurd height and freakishly well proportioned body; this, along with my alleged INTPness naturally has engendered in me a pervasive and times overwhelming sense of superiority over all things/people.

Now that's what I call high self-esteem.

 

[Audentia]

I like this topic, I relate a lot.

I find it very amusing to observe people around me. I will talk to them, share opinion on something, laugh, but it's something that's just me - observing and analyzing people around me is like my 24/7 hobby. Mainly because it almost never gets boring. And when it does, then I have fun predicting their reactions.

I've found myself a comfortable seat at the back of the cinema and I have the whole screen in front of me. Great understanding of what's going on, but I'd say I'm pretty detached in terms of external influences. Adds, news, popular/not popular, sexy/not sexy, any sort of media influence on me is a blank shot. This raises onto a higher level too, mainly in terms of manipulation by others. Anything even remotely related to manipulating is instantly rejected.

But anyhow, I'd say we're different in terms of our awareness (issue of internal vs external is debatable here for INTPs), and our tendency to quickly comprehend connections between causes and consequences. This could be applied onto a broad range of activities, our relationship with the outside world, as well as ourselves. The mix of Te and Ni as two dominant functions can build a very powerful analyzing tool most other types don't posses.

Ditto. I do the same things. Except my intuition is sometimes too strong about people than I like - but only with strangers or 'new' people. I'll often know more about them than I care to right off the bat. With no words said, I know what kind of person they are, personality, and issues they have, I just know things about them that are true. Sometimes I'd rather be able to shut this off.

I've never belonged. Even with a close knit group of friends, I know something is not belonging about me.. hard to explain. I don't know if anyone really feels they belong until they create their own families. I always feel different, especially with people my own age, except for a few INTP types I know that are in many ways like me. I'm very shut off/detached from the outside world by nature, except what I'm passionate about and the few very close people to me that I'm very attached to. Most of the time I feel like I'm in my own bubble floating through life always getting lost in my thoughts . That said, I somehow manage to make friends extremely easily with my sense of humor and personality. But I'm still a big loner.

 

[Words]

We (I prefer "we" than "I" right now) see ourselves as "bombs". For most of the time, we stay silent. For rarer times, we "explode". Never in moderation and never in medium volume, unlike the rest of society.

 

[Zero]

Now that's what I call high self-esteem.

"freakishly well proportioned body" is an awesome descriptions and I wish I wrote parodies novels.

"He glittered in the sun and had a freakishly well proportioned body."

(iHumor sometimes)

 

[Infinite Regress]

No, everyone is equal
The morning birds sing for me
The sun always smiles
The grass is green
INTP = ESFJ

I agree with this!!!!
We're all human, and there are plenty of non INTP's whose thinking is not mainstream

 

[_whispers_]

What does the theory she endorses say about how our brains work? Or is it too much to explain here? Sorry, I'm just really curious.

That thing: According to her your mind should start trying to reconstruct the small back triangles.
I first counted them all and then saw the big white triangle, then went for the circles, because of the contrast.

There was another photo of a man whose mouth was cut out in an X form. Quite remarkable. Then she folded the paper in two and explained to us how our brain is trying to remember the other half. But his mouth wasn`t all that notisable anymore, so I saw the angry, accusing look in his eyes and started trying to figure out why he was looking like that. Nothing to do with the other half of his face. I wish I could have showed you that one. It's an interesting work, but it was some flayer and I can`t find it over the internet. I should look around to see the exact theory of what she was demonstrating us.

 

[FrostFern]

That thing: According to her your mind should start trying to reconstruct the small back triangles.
I first counted them all and then saw the big white triangle, then went for the circles, because of the contrast.

I first imagined the border of an upright triangle continuing beneath an upside down solid gray triangle. If I try to imagine how the image was constructed I picture the upright triangle and three circles drawn first. Then the upside down triangle is formed by erasing from the original.