The Introvert, have you observed some INTJ's on a forum before?
No, and I don't plan to. I imagine it would be much worse than what I've experiencing now. Don't tempt me into falling into existential despair XD
Oh... haha!
A lot of science... is... well.. I find it very boring and mindless. I don't think it's useful to think of this in a negative way however. Empiricism is useful, I'm glad someone else is doing the legwork to give me data to work with.
Yes, I agree, it's very useful, and yes, I agree, it's very boring. I just don't think we should allow empiricism to appear to be
more useful than it actually is.
I too am glad someone else does it (although I'm currently doing it and my frustration with it is borderline insidious) but hopefully in due time I'll be the one interpreting and thinking rather than testing and re-testing.
I don't think you quite understand why INTPs debate.
I don't debate because I enjoy being right. I don't debate to convince you that I'm right. I debate - and yeah, "nitpicky" stuff too - because I'm interested in exploring different ideas in an attempt to discover truth for myself, to find more effective ways of accomplishing things, and to clarify and refine ideas that have logical holes. Especially my own!
Then why does it seem that the debate is almost always close-minded? If your point is to explore other options, then why
stubbornly disagree (logical or not) with the other debater? As Kuu pointed out, it's annoying.
That means that I don't even necessarily think the points I'm debating are "right." They're just the best thing I've come up with so far, and I tremendously appreciate the opportunity to test them out to see if they hold up under scrutiny by others. Or even myself. Sometimes I've started writing a post (on other forums, since I'm new here) and even before I got to the end of writing, I noticed that my logic was flawed and had to go back and start over.
Yes, playing devil's advocate. I'm aware. But that's not what I'm talking about here, that's not where my frustration stems. It is with the people that use logic irrationally; the people that, although you cannot find error in their logic (or at least I can't), they're still being stupid and annoying and arguing just to argue, for no reason. If the reason is to understand different viewpoints then I say that a certain viewpoint is only useful until the bounds by which you can argue for it are outside the realm of feasibility or rationality.
Sometimes I'm just playing devil's advocate to "try on" different perspectives and see if I can find something of value on either side to apply to my own evolving positions. Or purely for mental exercise.
Tenacity in a debate doesn't mean that I think I'm right and you're wrong. I'm just holding out for that moment of clarity in which one party - either one! - hits on something that makes sense. Past beliefs, even yesterday's, aren't relevant. If it doesn't make sense right now, then it's rejected. That's just as true for my own positions as it is for yours.
Of course, because most of my positions (at least the ones I really care about) have been thought through so thoroughly, analyzed, and debated so much, it isn't going to be easy to make an argument I haven't already heard. So it isn't often that someone else's debate point makes a sudden change in how I think about something. Especially because I need to scrutinize it first and make sure it holds up.
So even if I think you're onto something, I'm still going to debate you to test it. In fact, I usually don't bother going that far with people whose positions are irrational or that I've already considered and rejected. If I'm debating you, usually that means I respect you and believe that I can get some value from the conversation, whether by refining my position by incorporating some of yours, or confirming that mine is still solid.
Well, at least there's some good news
My positions have changed dramatically over time, largely because the old ones have been put to the test in debate and failed. You're not likely to see it happen today, but that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to consider it. I'm always willing. You just have to present a more logical, well-crafted position than the one I'm currently holding/testing. Not too many people are analytical and emotionally detached enough to do that, though, which is probably where you're getting the "stuck up" vibe.
Fair enough.
I think you're hitting a soft spot here. I like to proclaim that I'm all about the truth as if I'm some sort of machine of objectivity, which is of course impossible.
I also sometimes find myself nit picking to the point where I won't stop unless my "opponent" walks off like a defeated dog. I purposely try to avoid this if possible, however, it's a part of me which comes out on rare occasions regardless. Sometimes it's positive like verbally executing a douche bag, and sometimes it's negative where I can almost ruin a perfectly nice evening with my INTJ friend.
And the butt-hurt part, that is true too, although I think it's far more apparent for TJs. I think it comes down to the fact that I hate when people make feel stupid, which is ironic since I always make other people feel exactly that.
In other words, we all have emotions.
Yes.
Perhaps it is just that INTPs tend to be 'detached', almost to the point of when they feel emotions, they're 'primitive' or 'juvenile'.
Maybe that's what this whole thing is about for me. It's not about being stuck up, or being emotionally sensitive despite clearly having no regard for others' emotions.
Perhaps it's that it all just seems so
juvenile. That after a point, there is no point, but they won't give up the point no matter how hopeless it really is, even if they know that (read above quotes).
Perhaps I even see a little bit of myself in this conundrum, a part of me that wants to hang onto something despite its being irrational and obsolete. And maybe it's the current changes in myself that want to start everything fresh whenever possible, and maybe that's why I've been so detached myself, lately. Because I've learned that holding onto irrationality is bad, so then constantly changing, being in flux must be good. And it's got me all confused on which way to go and I can't figure out what should stay, what's worth anything and what should go, what's worthless.
So I'm stuck in this system, upon system, upon system of thought. Trying to figure out what I need to do but having no guidance on how to figure that out. So I base my decisions on experience, but I know far too little to make an accurate judgement. So I try to experience more to get better judgement, which in turn causes more frustration, more unease, and more decisions that I have to make, deciding what to keep and what to throw out.
I need someone wise, someone who can help me decide what I should keep and what I should throw out. Because I'm the type of person that can get into something and get trapped before I realize I can't get out, which is never a good thing. I need a mentor.
\\RANT