Gainfully Employed

[UfarkTheRipe]

A bit of a misnomer as I'm not talking about for work to make a living, but rather in your free time because you want to:

What do you produce?
ie paintings, music, short stories, etc

AND the bonus question:
How did you get started doing that?
ie because my mommie told me to.

AND the super bonus question:

How does your INTPness empower you in it?

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

Right now my spare time is spent living off of dead people, scumbag scavenging the obituaries cold calling survivors to buy the estate or a portion thereof and then scalp it elsewhere. Even right now I'm sorting through some lady's garage in 29 degree weather. Pays more than one might expect and provides entertainment, i.e. discovering porn and "accessory" stashes, boxes of prison mail, guns, drugs, the whole shebang. There's also a learning aspect as well regarding appraisals. That's really what it produces: entertainment and education.

Securities and options trading is something else that produces the same. Otherwise I've taken up crochet for those rare "sit on my ass" moods. Painting might be next since I now own several boxes of art supplies...

I started doing these because it's not cold enough to ice fish and too damn cold to do anything else.

Bonus question: N/A, though my ENTPness enjoys the freedom and stimulation they provide. I'm freezing my genitals off at 4am, yet I'm oddly content...

 

[redbaron]

What do you produce?

I wouldn't say I 'produce' it, but I play drums.

How did you get started doing it?

Dad played drums, I wanted to play drums too. I've had my own kit since I was about 12, I never wanted to take lessons or anything though. When I was about 18 I started to self-study music.

How does your INTPness empower you in it?

It doesn't really. If anything it makes it more difficult, I go through phases of intense obsession and relative disinterest. When I'm 'obsessed' I can play 6 hours a day no sweat, plus time spent watching T.V. while I do basic exercises on a practice pad. When I'm disinterested, I can sometimes not play for a day or two. Although I get an itch after that and have to play at least an hour or so.

I love free-form, improvisational playing.

I guess it's not so much disinterest as interest in other things occurs. Like I want to learn more about a certain science or read a book or just do nothing but lie on the grass and watch the clouds or the stars. My interests in general just shift in phases, so I guess my INTPness actually makes me somewhat less empowered to do any one thing.

 

[Architect]

What do you produce?

Indie software (apps)

How did you get started doing it?

It's also my day job

How does your INTPness empower you in it?

Ti/Ne is a powerful cocktail for writing software.

 

[Stranger]

What do you produce?
Nothing. I test software so I just help programmers and managers release a better product.


How did you get started doing it?
A friend of mine got me this gig. I've been doing it for a year.


How does your INTPness empower you in it?
Testing can be pretty repetitive so in that regard my INTPness can be counter productive. Thankfully, there are some other things about my job that I really like; for instance, working from home, understanding software as a whole (I test the whole damn thing, while most programmers on my team just focus on parts of it) and overseeing different projects (so I don't get too bored).

I plan to get into programming and project management too, just to see which role I like the best. I think this is my first post by the way, hello everyone!

 

[UfarkTheRipe]

@thehabitatdocto
Painting frozen corpse genitals! I have taken snippets of your post out of context.

@redbaron
I do a little of that too.. but I'm not a real drummer.

@Architect
What kind of apps do you write?


@Stranger
You actually produce quality then. Maybe you can test Architect's apps..

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

@thehabitatdocto
Painting frozen corpse genitals! I have taken snippets of your post out of context.

I like you already...

 

[Affinity]

What do you produce?

Electronic music and photos.

How did you get started doing that?

The music stems from my love for trance music and my curiosity as to how it was made.
I'm not sure what drawn me to photography, it was always something I've had an affinity for.

How does your INTPness empower you in it?

The desire to learn I would imagine.

 

[JimJambones]

What do you produce?

Pencil Portraits

How did you get started doing that?

Started drawing people in the first/second grade

How does you INTPness empower you in it?

I would say that it is just a skill, separate from my type, but I suppose it has allowed me to appreciate the uniqueness of individuals in this seemingly meaningless universe.

 

[UfarkTheRipe]

So, 7 people in the forum have hobbies where they actually produce something?

Anyone else?

 

[MichiganJFrog]

What do you produce?

I play guitar with a friend of mine who plays mandolin. We haven't "produced" anything in the sense of original material, but we cover everything from Amy Winehouse to Russian folk songs. "Taking it to the next level" means playing out eventually, which means open mic nights around town.

How did you get started doing that?

I joined this Unitarian church where he played bass in the "house band," and I started playing in it, too. Our temperaments seemed pretty similar, so I guess we hit it off in a low-key kind of way.

How does your [insert type here] empower you in it?

As a newly minted INFP, I would say playing music clearly helps me access my feelings. If there is any residual INTPness in me , I would say the logic of learning to play the notes in the right order also floats my boat. I would also add that having P-ness of any kind probably explains why I hate sticking to any one particular musical genre. Many of my more J-oriented contemporaries fashioned quite a career for themselves out of basically playing the same thing over and over again, but whaddya gonna do? I just gotta be me!

 

[Montresor]

What do you produce?

I build things in my basement. Things like furniture, cabinets, aquarium stands, random stuff.

How did you get started doing that?

Actually started very young, gathering up whatever materials were at hand and building whatever I could from it. Long before I actually knew how to build anything.

How does your INTPness empower you in it?

Probably not INTP. I can say for sure it is fueled by Ti. I guess you could say that I approach these projects without much of a plan, I just keep putting pieces together until it looks finished.

At least one character.

 

[UfarkTheRipe]

@MichiganJFrog

It is still producing music though its not recorded and you produce another thing: Proficiency.

 

[MichiganJFrog]

@MichiganJFrog

It is still producing music though its not recorded and you produce another thing: Proficiency.

Thanks, Ufark, I appreciate that.

I forgot to mention, the next step after open mic night is hot babes and the inevitable involvement with elements of the criminal underworld.

 

[Elegia]

What do you produce?
Nothing yet, but I try to write good/interesting/cool iPhone apps in my spare time.


How did you get started doing it?
I've been interested in computers and programming since I was about 15, after having enrolled for a typing course. I had to write an iPhone application for my thesis and I've been interested in mobile development ever since. It's now my day job so I've been improving quite steadily.


How does your INTPness empower you in it?
I'm often solely responsible for writing an app and as such there are days where I have very little communication with the rest of the team, something that I often welcome. I think it also helps me to think about the structure of the code and figure out the best approach to any of the (technical) problems that arise from time to time.

 

[UfarkTheRipe]

At least one character.

I only have the one question..

Thanks, Ufark, I appreciate that.

That's how I roll, baby!

.. I try to write good/interesting/cool iPhone apps in my spare time.

Aren't you afraid the market is already saturated and isn't the $100 apple registration fee cost prohibitive for a hobby? Also, what kind of apps?(this question applies to both your work and your hobby apps)

 

[Rettstatt]

"What do you produce?"

I oversee design and development of digital products for children. I also write novels for children (one published so far, the first in a series).

"How did you get started doing it?"

I discovered digital media ages ago and dove into it like a good INTP, learning everything I could about the specific sub-section I'd just started working in. The field changed so quickly that I never got bored, and I was able to reinvent my career every few years while staying essentially on the same trajectory.

As for the writing, that's just something I always did.

"How does your INTPness empower you in it?"

I think in general that writing is a good hobby or career for an INTP. Architecting the story, then diving into the research to learn every detail about some tiny thing that's just on one page of the novel. It's an area where you can really follow your intellectual curiosity. Actually finishing a book can be a real challenge, though. It can also be challenging to avoid the instinct to rewrite the whole book based on some new idea that just occurred to you. And (at least for me) I have to remind myself to spend sufficient time on the characters' emotions and relationships.

And I discovered that worldbuilding is an even better fit for an INTP. I write science fiction and fantasy, so it involves a lot of worldbuilding. Inventing future world scenarios, crafting entire cultures, and so on. You can just follow it wherever it leads, all the while keeping all the pieces together in your head. When you change one variable in the world, you have to be able to follow all the connected paths and make any necessary adjustments. INTPs are particularly good at that sort of thing, I think.

As for digital product development, my INTPness comes in handy when I'm translating business parameters into product concepts, and then again when I'm architecting the products, juggling the design, technology, and content as part of a single, unified vision. I do find myself trying to unify things that don't really need to be unified, but the instinct is generally a plus in product development.

 

[walfin]

1. Piano (neo-classical compositions), Esperanto stuff (songs and newscasts), small software utilities
2. I play the piano but writing music is a lot easier than playing it. Esperanto is a hobby; I feel more expressive writing in Esperanto than in English despite having a more limited vocabulary. I started coding when I got my first computer at 11.
3. I am not very sure of my MBTI at present. The first depends on emotion, so I don't think it helps very much (I guess it helps because I can figure out how to use Musescore quickly!). The second, unknown, because more and more I am finding that using Esperanto brings a feeling of release of emotion too, though I suppose Ti helped in learning it initially.
Also,

Ti/Ne is a powerful cocktail for writing software.