Does anyone else enjoy confusing people?

[AnnaC]

Confusing people: Do you like to, or no?

I, for one, am an INTP who would prefer to disassociate with the bulk of the human populous, except for those instances wherein I may completely bungle peoples' minds and (hopefully) either embarrass them or identify another intelligent life form. When I first meet people, I purposefully appear my oddest and least conformist: I joke with them about something people I wouldn't like to speak with probably wouldn't understand. If they understand it or applaud it, they earn my companionship for a few minutes.

Plus, I think it's just plain fun to watch people's expressions morph from charming to blankness. It's like when you're watching anime, and one moment the character's eyes are hearts exploding forth from their eye sockets, and the next moment there are birds flying through the character's ears. It's hilarious.

I believe this may have something to do with the combination of the INTPs' intelligence and lack of any need to appear normal. Throw in our general social inadequacy (or our disdain for petty socialization, in some cases), and I think I may have figured out why exactly it is that I like to appear as something of an eccentric. Of course, I don't know the proper names for the contributing functions or anything...

Anywho, back to the first question: Do you, as an INTP, enjoy confusing people? (If you're not an INTP, just make note of it, and join in anyway.)

 

[Duxwing]

Sometimes baffling an xSFx with some ontology makes me feel proud of my intelligence; my feeling of pride is especially great if said xSFx realizes and admits that he or she does not understand but nonetheless agrees because his or her admission of intellectual weakness is an implicit compliment of my intellectual strength. My seeking such admissions is pathological, and I therefore try to minimize it.

-Duxwing

 

[ApostateAbe]

Confusing people is something I normally do without trying, and I would rather not be that way. I get better results out of people when my meaning is fully understood.

 

[cynibon]

Don't like. I prefer to be as bland and unremarkable as possible in my interactions with others. Professional politeness. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Get it over with as quickly and painlessly as possible.

If they don't remember me 5 minutes later, I've accomplished my goal.

 

[Architect]

Don't like. I prefer to be as bland and unremarkable as possible in my interactions with others. Professional politeness. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Get it over with as quickly and painlessly as possible.

If they don't remember me 5 minutes later, I've accomplished my goal.

Agreed. Confusing them seems narcissistic and pointless.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Sometimes baffling an xSFx with some ontology makes me feel proud of my intelligence; my feeling of pride is especially great if said xSFx realizes and admits that he or she does not understand but nonetheless agrees because his or her admission of intellectual weakness is an implicit compliment of my intellectual strength. My seeking such admissions is pathological, and I therefore try to minimize it.

-Duxwing

Well if you've realized its pathological you can safely engage in it moderately imo

I do it to man.

 

[Pyropyro]

Yes but only if fooling around with friends. They would usually get it on time.

As for serious matters, I tend to be as precise as possible, sometimes too precise since I tend to use words unfamiliar to the people that I talk too.

 

[Duxwing]

Well if you've realized its pathological you can safely engage in it moderately imo

I do it to man.

Ah, yes, guilty pleasures. Telling an ESTJ some truly wild interpretation of a piece of postmodern installation art--the full on, "this bent thumbtack represents man's inherent..."-- could be very fun for you.

-Duxwing

 

[TheScornedReflex]

I never confuse people. It is just something I cannot do. Or is it ? Probably not.

 

[Hadoblado]

I relate strongly to the OP, thought don't think it's something that will largely be generalisable to the INTP population, given the emphasis on accuracy.

It's sort of a test. I have no interest in engaging with the next man at a base small-talk level. I don't care. So I try to make the interaction more complex, making observations that fly in the face of what I assume their beliefs are. If they keep up, and have anything to add, I'm achieving my ends of mental stimulation. If they try to turn the conversation back to the immediate, I'll try and escalate it again.

Eventually, I'll find out that they're someone I want to talk to, or they'll figure out that I'm someone they don't want to talk to. I don't have to openly reject anyone, and I get to do what I want without being burdened by morons.

It's backfired 2-3 times, where the people were of such low ability they did not recognise that we were talking about the same thing in different ways. They thought we were somehow on the same wavelength, and tried to make me their new best friend. It was awful.

 

[doncarlzone]

Confusing people is something I normally do without trying, and I would rather not be that way. I get better results out of people when my meaning is fully understood.

Agreed, I don't like this part of me at all.

It is connected to an insecurity of mine so it's like a child that comes up in me once in a while. People got plenty of reasons to dislike me, I see no reason to add this trait to the list. This does not mean that it is easy for me to avoid, it's quite a challenge actually.

 

[Zero-11]

INFJ then I assume

 

[AnnaC]

It's backfired 2-3 times, where the people were of such low ability they did not recognise we were talking about the same thing in different ways. They thought we were somehow on the same wavelength, and tried to make me their new best friend. It was awful.

Agreed.

I experienced the same thing my very first day of high school. I threatened to turn someone's hair green for making fun of my blue hair, describing exactly how to do it with the various chemical's in my homeroom teacher's chemistry lab. He tried to keep up, failed, and ended up following me to my next class and chattering in a manner that made it perfectly clear he still had no clue what he was talking about. It was dreadful.

However, that did leave me with an ally of sorts among the numerous SF types in my homeroom, so I considered it a good enough conversation. Having been home-schooled up until that point, not only did no one else have an idea what I was speaking about, but I was immensely confused by their numerous innuendos... It was as if I spoke an entirely different language.

Agreed, I don't like this part of me at all.

It is connected to an insecurity of mine so it's like a child that comes up in me once in a while. People got plenty of reasons to dislike me, I see no reason to add this trait to the list. This does not mean that it is easy for me to avoid, it's quite a challenge actually.

Hmm... My close friends always seemed to find it interesting, and wanted to become friends with me for the simple fact that I was odd. I don't see it as something pathological (as others said above) or even vaguely dis-likeable. When I'm confusing people, I bring them to my own level rather than sinking to theirs, where I would inevitably embarrass myself.

 

[NullPointer]

I deliberately try not to be confusing, since I believe that's a failure of communication. If you know or suspect your conversational partner doesn't know a particular word, what is gained by using it?

I believe it's advantageous to avoid being overtly "strange", especially in situations such as schools or workplaces where you're interacting with the same people each day. I don't think you lose any of your identity by conforming a little when in public, you still have your thoughts to yourself.

Actually, one thing I have to say annoys me about my speaking/writing style is that I tend to be quite evasive. If I have to give an opinion about something, I'll give myself as much wriggle room as possible, which is confusing in the sense that it's hard for people to actually use that information.

 

[redbaron]

People are confused enough as is.

 

[Wolf18]

I love the question. Are you asking us if we like being around confusing people, or if we like causing the confusion?

I vote "no" for no. 1 and "at times" for no. 2.

SW

 

[kvothe27]

No. When I speak, it's because I want to be understood. I don't like playing social games. When I sense someone is continuously trying to manipulate me, fool me, or anything like that, I cut that person out of my life, if at all possible. People are annoying enough as it is when they're forthright.

 

[Jennywocky]

Confusing people is something I normally do without trying, and I would rather not be that way. I get better results out of people when my meaning is fully understood.

Agreed. Confusion never really suits my end goals, it just complicates my reaching them.
Result: Counterproductive.


Caveat: On occasion, I do like screwing with the heads of my friends, just so we can laugh about it later.

 

[Brontosaurie]

i like being confused together with someone but i don't like being in a power position in any sense. sadism is the ultimate sign of weakness.

probably do it anyway...

 

[AnnaC]

Alright, then: Any thoughts on using confusion as a defense mechanism? I.e., when you're so confused in a social situation that you resort to confusing the other person(s), in order to bring about a conversation on more equal ground?

 

[Jennywocky]

Alright, then: Any thoughts on using confusion as a defense mechanism? I.e., when you're so confused in a social situation that you resort to confusing the other person(s), in order to bring about a conversation on more equal ground?

Honestly, no. I'm usually working on trying to build a connection, and if I'm confused, I usually just withdraw or try to minimize the perception of my confusion in some way vs trying to mess someone else up.

 

[Hawkeye]

I and the most it was heard of down or them.

 

[Hadoblado]

Alright, then: Any thoughts on using confusion as a defense mechanism? I.e., when you're so confused in a social situation that you resort to confusing the other person(s), in order to bring about a conversation on more equal ground?

Yep.

 

[Brontosaurie]

Alright, then: Any thoughts on using confusion as a defense mechanism? I.e., when you're so confused in a social situation that you resort to confusing the other person(s), in order to bring about a conversation on more equal ground?

usually goes the other way


i desperately try to explicate and clarify, hoping it will outweigh my mistake. usually this fails and thus i gradually segue into scatterbrained wit via self-parody. preferably someone not entirely deprived of sense of humor is present.