Do you like being an INTP?

[Linsejko]

Further than that, I wonder-

Do we like being INTP because we are INTP? (Assuming you do like this state, of course. I, actually, am partially undecided...)

Being, (quite possibly), the most objective personality type there is, we are in a unique place to answer that question.


.K

 

[Chimera]

Frankly, I think it's both wonderful and horrible, depending on my current mood. I love being able to understand things that many people find difficult, and I like to be able to live the way I do...constantly assessing, analyzing, et cetra. And then of course there's the nice little bonus of INTPs only covering approximately 1% of the population...we have our own little clique. I like that. Makes me feel special.
Then again, when my Feeling side is showing (how embarrassing!), sometimes I loath being an INTP more than I can express. I hate the cold, calculating way I view things sometimes, hate how I'm detached from most of the world. I especially despise it when I'm forced into an emotional setting (such as when a friend comes to me sobbing her eyes out), and I can't offer the support they need without feeling awkward or out-of-place.
Being an INTP has its pros and cons, just like any other personality type. I'm just biased because...well, nobody wants to hate themself. At this point in time I'm content with who and how I am.

 

[loveofreason]

The more I think about this question the more impossible it seems to answer. I have nothing to compare against being me. No alternative state.

What a mind bender.

 

[Ex-User (221)]

hmmm... I personally don't find life as an INTP exhilarating,but then again, maybe that just comes hand-in-hand with being an INTP...

Of course, you can't really compare it to being anything else, because you don't know anything else. It's as if electricity hadn't been invented- you wouldn't miss it because you wouldn't know any better. Unless you're psychic you can't really say for sure who's better or worse off, and it's irrelevant in any case, because you can't change it.

 

[Cabbo Pearimo]

I love it. Being a perceiver, I've always seen the good side of people as well as the bad. And that gives a more applicable way of choosing friends, and acting out the scenarios which will give happiness. Aww, sentimentality.
I've never been an emotional person, but I've always been empathetic in that I know how someone will react to certain things. Unless of course they're ruled by emotion, in which case you really have to choose carefully if and what to say. Be logical, but appreciate emotion even if it overrides logic. Has to be done sometimes.

Also, the whole clique thing. We can be a very close group when it comes to it. We all think reasonably alike without it getting boringly machinated. A good thing all round.

 

[Wisp]

I love it, except at very few times.

e.g

Once a girl asked me if liked her. I looked inside myself and was quite stunned to realize I didn't actually know... "Hi I'm an NT and I'm obtuse!"

Also, post #300!!!!!!

 

[Linsejko]

Chimera, I relate well to your sentiments. I especially have become depressed, in the past, at an inability to sympathize with a crying friend.

lor, your answer shows a profound understanding of the question. I know you understand and perceive others very well, insightfully- yet you cannot compare yourself to those perceptions.

I would not be so inclined, to recognize the imperfection of comparison to those analysii. You encourage me to view my own question with another layer of depth.

Still, imperfections aside, I feel comparison is at least possible, if imperfect.

.L

 

[Cabbo Pearimo]

And there's a little bit of professor's analysis in that.
The way I deal with unusual situations. Like being comforting. God that sounds psychopathic. Anyway, yeah: Imagine what you would do in their situation. Place yourself firmly in their shoes. Then, given that you know the person well, asses how they would react and what they are thinking as you sit there. Asses how you would like to be treated, and if the way they would like to be treated is unreasonable, for example giving them false hope, then give the least crushing honest advise you can.

 

[Cabbo Pearimo]

.K .L?

 

[Ermine]

I wouldn't want to be anything else except for the times when I second guess myself, or my feelings burst out in a very irrational way and I have no idea what to do with it. It's also hard being the "only one" all the time.

However, I like my independence and my objective way of thinking. Couldn't imagine being anything else.

 

[Wisp]

For all my faults, I wouldn't WANT to be anything else, much less imagine it.

 

[Yozuki]

Yozuki is not the liking many the other INTP. To much the picking the snot nosing and the shoving in Yozuki's face. Yozuki is too much the disgusting. Not even funny the sarcastic INTP. Yozuki is the glad he is barely the INTP.

[Pressing the Edit Button] Yozuki is gladding whom he is the. Yozuki is Yozuki, and nothing else not the matter.

 

[Cabbo Pearimo]

And that's the truth. Well posted.

 

[Wisp]

I think Yozuki just insulted me...

 

[Linsejko]

Me too.

Suck it up.

--

(K is right next to L on most keyboards, no? Even in Ireland?)

--

One of the things I dislike a great deal about being INTP is that I do not *do* as much as I think. I wouldn't want to trade my thinking, but I want to be a person of action. I want to accomplish, to perform, to create.

The emotional immaturity is frustrating, also; I feel the meaning of life is found in love, and so it is frustrating having to fight so hard for it, to feel easily & deeply.

To twist the philosophy professors question- would you rather be intelligent or happy? These may not always be mutually exclusive, but I feel there is a degree of validity in this question... INTP's are known for depression, it seems.

.L

(P.S.- I say 'suck it up' purely for comic interest. Unfortunately, I feel the internet requires this label on such jokes, because of all the well-known shortcomings of text-based communication.)

 

[Wisp]

INTPs, manic depressives one and all... I'd rather be intelligent, because with enough knowledge, I'd be staisfied, if not happy.

 

[VeganCarnivore]

I share many of the frustrations and joys of being INTP that have been mentioned in this thread. Though, I do not have an answer that I am satisfied with...

...At times I love it. Others, not so much.

I suppose the things that bother me the most are not being able to comfort a crying friend (as many of you stated), and also not having any like-minded peers.

 

[Agapooka]

I would not give up intelligence for a stupid, ignorant and blissful existence. I am not saying that INTPs are the only intelligent human beings; however, I would much rather continue seeing the world as I do. The drawbacks do involve depression and a sense of helplessness when faced with dealing with others' emotions, and whilst I recognise them, I sometimes view them as simply being irrelevant.

I have my periods of depression, but I truly see those experiences as positives. They are times when I am inspired to write, and I feel ashamed when I am not able to do so. Powerlessness is my greatest struggle; it tears me to feel at the mercy of certain, irrational emotions. When a friend confides in me, all of which I am capable, is to see their situation as happening to me and trying to understand it through my perspective, since it is the only one that I know. And then, what do I say? It's terrible? I hate having to say the obvious!

That being said, I have found that I can better deal with such situations if I modify my friends' expectations. I simply tell them that I am a very good listener and that I would love to hear their problems if it makes them feel better and understood, but that I am incapable of expressing my understanding thereof. I oft hesitate between saying nothing, saying something objective that I know will be misinterpreted, or saying something that is meaningless to me, but that I hope will satisfy the other person enough to cease seeking a subjective opinion from me. I think that this last option is foolish; therefore, I always feel stupid when I use it, but relieved that I am no longer "in check."

 

[CowSavior]

Yeah, I like being an INTP...

I'm super smart... I'm kinda mean, though, and I get annoyed by litterally EVEYTHING...

And I probly have OCD.

 

[FreakOfNature]

I definitely couldn't imagine being anyone else. Especially an extravert. (Do they ever listen to themselves talk? Honestly...) I love the independence and the comforting thought that I'm like only 6 million people on the planet Earth. (That is right, right? Or did I forget to tack on another zero?) Seriously, the thought of being someone who had a really popular personality type makes my flesh crawl. Who would want that?

On the practical side of things, though, I've honestly wondered if being someone else (other then INTP) would be easier. People would understand me and I would be emotionally taken care of my whole life. No one outside of the INTPs really get INTPs it seems like. And sure as hell ExFx types can't understand us.

But I still wouldn't give it up for the world.

 

[Zero]

I like knowing I'm pretty much an INTP. I don't know if I like being an INTP necessarily. If it's what I am, then it's what I am. Self-improvement wise, it gives me a basis to start with and to understand myself. MBTI gives me a way to deal with other people more effectively and affectively.

 

[Linsejko]

"affectively"? As in, allows you to be more influential?

6 Mil should be right. Welcome. I can't decide if I should call you "Freak," or "FONz"... we'll see, I guess.

A dichotomy I mean to suggest in asking this question, is, "if ignorance is bliss, would you prefer being ignorant?". See, if being what you currently despise is what would make life easy & happy, would it be worth it?

And if not, why not? Inexplicably, I find myself responding in the negative. I have even said before to people- I would prefer the truth, no matter how painful, for it is the only way to live.

I do not know why. I just know it is within me.

.L

 

[EditorOne]

'The emotional immaturity is frustrating, also;"

This nails it for me, and thank you Linsejko. Others seem to have no emotional reaction. I tend towards immature emotional reactions. Like part of me is frozen at age 14 or something.

Not that there's anything wrong with 14. :-)

Maybe some new direction for the wisdom thing: 'Wisdom is the ability to know when to take action?' Just throwing it out there.

Generally I like being an INTP, but isn't it pretty much the case that you tend to like what you are no matter the personality type? Only exception being personality malfunctions?

 

[Agapooka]

A lot of people are never content of what they are. Think of the entire cosmetic surgery industry, for example. Whilst the more faithful clients of such an industry are changing their bodies through it, as opposed to their minds, the way I see it, it's a problem with their minds, that they are never satisfied. I suppose that what I am getting at is that many people are not satisfied with the essence of their beings and are projecting that on their bodies.

By the way, nice addition to the definition of wisdom, although one could argue that timing is a mix many factors.

One chooses their timing based on the information (knowledge) available to them.

They use their intelligence to choose the most effective timing, based on the knowledge available to them, and use wisdom to assess the impact of their actions at that certain timing, in order to make a decision.

 

[hedgehogbe]

I just joined these forums... I didn't know there more people out there like me until a few weeks ago, when I took a sorting test. This is really weird to find all these people who think like me and are interested in the same things as well...

To answer the question of this thread, I both hate and love being INTP. I couldn't and wouldn't want to imagine not thinking like this, but at the same time, it has its costs. As was mentioned earlier in this thread, depression tends to go hand in hand with INTP. I myself have Major Depression, and actually just got kicked out of college for being suicidal. Overall, though, I think it's worth it. I love my style of thought, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[Radioactive_Springtime]

Only really gave the idea of the whole INTP (Architect) thing credence a couple days ago, though id taken the test probably about a year ago through random web searching.

I take a fuzzy warm comfort in realizing most people, at first glance, don't realize I use a copious amount of sarcasm and borderline misanthropic black humor in my everyday interaction; but see me as a rather eccentric smarty pants kid.

Then again, It's not surprising I've given up on intimate relationships to an almost celebatory existence multiple times over the last three years. And the exceptions I did make either ended in flames or the realization I just cant handle other peoples insecurities.

And the OCD is quite amusing. Can't walk on the cracks of a curb unless I'm thoroughly distracted or exhausted.

But I think I'd rather see through the bullshit rather than ingest it

 

[Agapooka]

I myself have Major Depression, and actually just got kicked out of college for being suicidal.

Are they trying to kill you or something? As soon as they think you,re getting suicidal, they try to give you more of a reason to wish for your own death... o.O

 

[hedgehogbe]

Ha ha ha, I didn't really understand the reasoning behind it myself while they keep claiming that it's for my own good. However, it is better for them if I don't commit suicide while at their campus. Which, as I told them, wasn't going to happen. Too many people I know there and such. However... Here in Florida, kicked out of school, with no prospects for the future and no friends, I don't have nearly as much holding me back. Oh yes. They care sooooo much about my well being lol.

 

[Agapooka]

For the purpose of simulating the scenario in my mind as happening to me, I would probably do something ludicrous such as ridicule the school administration anonymously. Well, anonymously to the public, but I'd like the administration to know it was me speaking.

I don't think that I need to tell you what kind of evidence I would use to destroy them legally. I would also find a certain degree of satisfaction in doing something like that, if only for a short period of time. I suppose that hypocrisy brings out the worst in me.

EDIT: Am I the only one who finds the following message hilarious, after clicking the "post quick reply" button?

"Posting quick reply - please wait."

 

[Olba]

Is it just me or is this topic taking a sidetrack to the worst possible way?

And damn, I have way too little time. I wanted to read all of the possible INTP descriptions I could find, but I just cannot find the time to do it. And I want to read a total of five books for a course in school but I just don't feel like walking to the library. Damn, I'm lazy.

And if anything, there's one side I don't like about being an INTP. The lack of co-operation. Most of the time, when working in a group, I spend my time quietly thinking about how damn annoying it is. The only time I really take big action is if the group is just too chaotic to come to a conclusion. But even then I just usually persuade the rest to agree to my view on the issue at hand.

This just happened on a course when we had to choose a type of books that we would read. I wanted to read books under the theme of "Crime and Punishment" because the example writers included people such as Sofokles, Tolstoi, Dostojevski and Franz Kafka. Well, my group consisted of four people, including myself. One of them was a "whatever"-type of guy who would read anything, one of them wanted to read children's books and the third wanted to read woman-centric books. Well, I quickly concluded that the "whatever"-guy was obviously on anyone's side, so it was 2-2 now. Then, I persuaded the one who wanted to read children's books by saying that he can read the Clockwork Orange, which he seemed to like. 3-1. Then I said to the last person that it doesn't matter which of the books you wanted to read (she was complaining about how boring The Trial had been) as long as you read them. Mission completed!

And I would say my lack of teamwork was also pretty apparent by the way my classmate adviced someone who was paired up with me. He said "Don't ask him to do something, just tell him straight down to do it. He doesn't have an opinion on most things anyways.

 

[Melkor]

In answer to the question posed in this topic:


Does anyone NOT like it?

 

[Aphasia]

Probably not. We love observing the box people think in and laughing at it, although we get baked by the sun and chilled by the rain outside.

 

[lazem]

Hey All,This is my first post...

I'd like to comment on few things here:

-first of all,i don't think that intp are objective enough to be objective about themselves,you see the idea of saying that intp is more objective than the other 15 combinations would imply that there's maybe someone-something- who has a "quantity" of objectiveness more than the intp have,and in this case he'll see intp as not objective especially when we add the emotional element which by itself inherent in everyone of us and also can't be objective,hence though other combination may think that they can judge themselves objectively,the objective thing from the intp is to know that he's not objective enough to judge himself... objectively.....


-on the other hand, we can consider the pragmatic side of the question, the subjective side,on this case it could be interpreted as "are you happy with being intp?" or more precisely "how happy are you with being intp?"...-affirming the "happy" is a truly subjective variable,that everyone has a personal formulation for it-,in this case my answer will be as most of you has said...that it has it's ups and downs,although to clear the pragmaticality, i'd like to include the time as an additional parameter and average the total sum of this ups and downs by the time,at this case the answer would be no for me,i'm not happy for being intp on average....

-i would like to comment also on the ignorance notion,you see the thing is that when you're stupid-which imply ignorance-,you won't have this infinite layers of analyzing and analyzing the analyzing and so on..so at this state you wont think "oh god,look how ignorant i'm,it's a shame that i don't have a structure for things around me!!" no..you'll be ignorant and you wouldn't think that you're ignorant....whether it's a bliss or not,that's out of my experiment,but i like to give it a try,-notice the irony as seeing it as another possibility -

-finally there's actually an approximate 60 mil. of intps,as long as there's 6 * 10^9 living people in this planet and .01 of them are intps...

another finally i'm Bassim-or Lazem whatever- i'm 21 ,from Cairo,Egypt,computer science student...

sorry for not putting those last lines in the introducing thread,i just have a bad image of it...anyway i'm happy to join the forum

 

[QueenHera]

it's not possible to answer this question objectively.

of course if you ask someone who is enlightened they would say they would rather feel the painful truth. you have no choice.

if you ask an ignorant if they're happy of course they are in their bliss.

to each his own.

for me i've come to appreciate my experience and viewpoint on things. hence i wouldn't trade "me" for anything else.

but i have a very biased view as with everyone else here.

 

[Linsejko]

Not at all. "Do you like being an INTP" is very possible to answer objectively.

To use your analogy- The enlightened man may or may not like his own preferences, and the emotions he get as a result of who he is. The blissful man has the same situation apply to him. Whether they have an intelligent understanding of why they do or do not like their own situation is a different question. You don't really need to rate the pleasure/joy associated with being other types to say whether or not you are happy with where you are.

.L

 

[Wisp]

And of course, the INTP is best equipped of any type to answer something objectively...

 

[Olba]

And of course, the INTP is best equipped of any type to answer something objectively...

Shh! There's a certain member who thinks that INTPs cannot do that!

 

[Wisp]

Oh right... I forgot... oopsies...

 

[Dissident]

I think QueenHera is right but for the wrong reason. The enlightened would rather be that way, but not because he has no choice. Even if he could choose to be an innocent happy man, he wouldnt do it. I believe everything has its cost, its price (even virtues), but its lower than their value for those willing to pay it. The price of knowledge is sadness, the price of imagination is fear, etc. Someone without any virtue pays no price and so they may be pretty happy with not many ups and downs, thats OK; but they dont know the higher happiness, and even if they could understand the other way, they wouldnt want it because they are not willing to pay the price.
The world needs both kinds of people in order to function.

 

[Wisp]

That is one of the more true statements I've heard today.

 

[Linsejko]

The price of knowledge is sadness

The price of knowledge is the loss of innocence.

---

The enlightened would rather be that way, but not because he has no choice. Even if he could choose to be an innocent happy man, he wouldnt do it.

You imply there is some kind of morality to knowledge, then? What if the enlightened man determines there is nothing he can do about the human plight of which he so deeply understands? What value would there then be to action?

That's a fairly important if. And, please realize, I say this only to play devil's advocate; I certainly don't intuitively disagree with you.

The world needs both kinds of people in order to function.

er. What? Why do we need the blissful idiots?

.L

 

[Dissident]

The price of knowledge is the loss of innocence.

Maybe, but doesnt that imply sadness as well?

You imply there is some kind of morality to knowledge, then? What if the enlightened man determines there is nothing he can do about the human plight of which he so deeply understands? What value would there then be to action?

Not necesarily, knowledge is not good nor bad in itself, its just information, whatever you do once you have that knowledge, that is what has moral value or not.

That's a fairly important if. And, please realize, I say this only to play devil's advocate; I certainly don't intuitively disagree with you

That happens to me a lot, i value truth, so if someone says something wich is wrong or unfair about something or someone then i defend it even if its Hitler or whatever (even if i hate the one im defending)

er. What? Why do we need the blissful idiots?

.L

Because thats how the world works, atleast for now. We cant all be rich, and wise, and strong, and creative, etc. If we were who would clean bathrooms? Who would build houses? Who would consume creative work? Society would be at constant war since noone would accept anything but their own way, etc. And lets be realistic, the blissful idiots are the huge majority of the population, in order to control them to do what is thought to be needed was created the State, the church, the school, the mental institutions, etc. They are the brute force that moves the world for a convenient cost. Im not saying that it is the way it should be but the way it is and has to be in the present conditions of society, maybe in the future we will be able to come up with something more advanced.

 

[Ermine]

Yes, we can all be wise, strong, and creative. So we need someone to clean the bathrooms? Make the bathrooms so they clean themselves!

 

[Dissident]

its just gross example, you know what i mean.
Ill explain:

We cant all be intelligent because: We could be all smarter and increase the averange IQ by 20 points (for example), then to be cosidered genius you would need an IQ of 160, but the same way, someone with 100 would be considered stupid. You see what i mean? We cant be all intelligent or wise or strong, etc since men are not all the same, there will always be diferences and the only way to compare is to each other.

We cant all be rich because: There is not enough for everyone, this concept is developed by Marx (called "escasez" in spanish, i dont know what is called in english sorry, shortage maybe?).

 

[Ermine]

I understand the need for different people. That way there will be people that want to work with the system and people that want to change it. That doesn't mean that there has to be stupid "slaves" to do the dirty work. Also, IQ is not a very good way to measure intelligence. According to the IQ system, I have an IQ of 120 when I'm tired and something in the high 130s when I'm wide awake. Of course that is silly. I am always at the same "level" of intelligence. I could easily be classified as a "genius" by practicing the kind of questions they use on the test.

 

[Dissident]

Not stupid, not slaves. Just people who are happy with a simple life, an averange job, with an averange pay, etc. Im not a Machiavelic MOFO, just pointing how society works nowadays, it would be nice if it was diferent, but it isnt, for now.

You are wrong about IQ though, itelligence can change, if you are sleepy (for example) you wont be able to think as clearly and so your ability to solve complex problems is lower, ergo your IQ drops (the same goes if you are depressed, etc.). And there is no way to get "practice" at an IQ test, either you get the answer, or you dont, you can take it several times and it wont mean much.

 

[Ermine]

I've taken the tests enough to know that the questions are always extremely similar.

 

[Dissident]

That doesnt help you get the answers.
But this is going way too offtopic, even for my standards

 

[Linsejko]

Maybe, but doesnt that imply sadness as well?

Potentially, for some, as a secondary result. But that would only come as a result of the realization of the loss of innocence.

Some people disdain innocence.

Not necesarily, knowledge is not good nor bad in itself, its just information, whatever you do once you have that knowledge, that is what has moral value or not.

You said the enlightened man would not want to be any other way. I assumed you were asserting that it would seem immoral to be happy and ignorant in light of the painful truth; if that was not the reason you meant, then tell me- why would someone choose sorrowful knowledge over ignorant joy?

Further, having knowledge creates moral responsibility.

Because thats how the world works, atleast for now. We cant all be rich, and wise, and strong, and creative, etc. If we were who would clean bathrooms? Who would build houses? Who would consume creative work? Society would be at constant war since noone would accept anything but their own way, etc. And lets be realistic, the blissful idiots are the huge majority of the population, in order to control them to do what is thought to be needed was created the State, the church, the school, the mental institutions, etc.

This world is going to hell in a handbasket. I don't care if that's how the world works now, maintaining its current form of functionality has zero value in my mind- its current functionality is broken.

Wisdom, intelligence, & creativity should not preclude humility. If everyone were equally talented, then it would not be a big deal to be talented, and people wouldn't be above doing what needs to be done. Otherwise, though, just raising the bar on the general populace couldn't hurt.

In other words- we have a bunch of idiots right now, and the world goes on. We cope. That doesn't mean we wouldn't be better off with having everyone be several levels more self aware.

Controlling a large group of people as it is is a terrible way to run things. This nature of large groups is the key to most historical problems on the large scale, and we'd be much better off with a more discerning public.

"Society would be at war because no one would accept any but their own way"? If we were intelligent enough to realize the need for the good of society above our own will, this wouldn't happen.

.L

 

[Dissident]

You said the enlightened man would not want to be any other way. I assumed you were asserting that it would seem immoral to be happy and ignorant in light of the painful truth; if that was not the reason you meant, then tell me- why would someone choose sorrowful knowledge over ignorant joy?
Further, having knowledge creates moral responsibility.

Not at all, knowledge and morality have absolutely no relation. Why does he want it then? hard to say, i guess if someone comes to be a wise man who knows many things its because he values truth and knowledge, therefore he seeks it. I know i wouldnt want to forget about things i know even when they are painful, would you? you could answer the question as well as me.

Wisdom, intelligence, & creativity should not preclude humility. If everyone were equally talented, then it would not be a big deal to be talented, and people wouldn't be above doing what needs to be done. Otherwise, though, just raising the bar on the general populace couldn't hurt.
In other words- we have a bunch of idiots right now, and the world goes on. We cope. That doesn't mean we wouldn't be better off with having everyone be several levels more self aware.

Sure we wouldnt, what i mean is (like i said in a previous post) people are not all the same and will never be. Even if we became more wise in general, there will always be people that compared with others will be called idiots, this cannot be avoided, there is no universal scale to measure.

"Society would be at war because no one would accept any but their own way"? If we were intelligent enough to realize the need for the good of society above our own will, this wouldn't happen.
.L

Thats utopical, even if the whole world was full of wise people, everyone would have their own view of what is good for society and what has to be done to achieve it. Look at philosophy history, we could say that all of the great philosophers were wise men, still they all had completely diferent views on the world. So if everyone thinks theirs is the best way to go why would they go along with what someone else says? what is "good for society" is not a simple thing to decide.
What im saying is: there will always be people who are more capable than others, what is wrong with leaving the important stuff to them and the rest take care of more simple tasks? But if the ones that do the simple stuff (who are supposed to do what the smarter guys are telling them) think that they know better and refuse to do it since the leaders "are wrong", etc, how can you ever get things done? You need for them to be happy with just what they do, to live a simple life, etc.