Hey there.... I guess

[PricklyPanda]

Hi, I've been tested as an INTP times, an ISFJ for about two times (no idea where that came from), and an INFP once. So, I thought it would be safe to conclude that I'm an INTP and decided to join, since the discussions here were just fascinating and reflected my thoughts a lot. I'm 16, and female, which makes it kinda awkward since I don't know very many female INTPs, unless you count the fictional ones like one of the Companions in Doctor Who, etc.
I have a LOT of friends in school, in fact, I'm probably part of what one would refer to as the "popular" clique, but only because I have lied a fair bit (not sure if this is an INTP thing or not, since I'm fairly new to the whole process here). I've had pretty bad experiences with bullying in my elementary school years, being an immigrant, which kinda lead me to believing that it would be more logical to play it safe and act the way everyone wants me to. But this results in me getting stressed too much emotionally (as if I needed more, I'm in the IB program), and me needing an outlet to be honest with myself and others. Hopefully this place can help me with that. Although I'm part of the popular kids, I have my on and off moments: if it's any discussion in which I can input my opinion, I join quite enthusiastically. However, a few minutes into the discussion, I find that no one understands my differing perspectives, and I just withdraw. Other moments, I'm just quiet, and even if it's my closest friend sitting next to me (I've never become close enough to ANYONE to call them best friends though), I just block everything out, listen to my music and just... think. A LOT. About EVERYTHING and ANYTHING.
I also procrastinate quite a bit (not at all good in IB), although I am smart. School just bores me, since everything is so structured, and I hope I can just endure one more horrible year in this hellhole and be free in Uni (probably not, but hey, maybe it could happen). I'm hoping to do something Psychology related, since I just love observing people and analysing their motives and such (I just realized how creepy that sounds).

Hope to actually make good friends here!

PS. I've read somewhere that when an INTP writes or types something, they feel this need to add parentheses and slashes to insert additional side thoughts. Not sure if this is totally true, but hey, look what I did!

 

[QuickTwist]

To the later, yes. To the previous, it appears that you are an INFP.

 

[PricklyPanda]

To the later, yes. To the previous, it appears that you are an INFP.

Wait, what? What do you mean, "later"? I checked the cognitive functions as well, and INFP didn't exactly match me, but I don't really know...

 

[Base groove]

^sigh. he meant "latter". He is a fool. Don't be fooled by the first fool you meet.

 

[PricklyPanda]

Oh... Thanks. I could kind of understand what he was getting at, though. I just didn't understand where these "latter" and "before" parts are from, though.

 

[The Introvert]

Yeah, the second fool is the one you need to worry about

Welcome

 

[Base groove]

Yeah, the second fool is the one you need to worry about

Welcome

good 1

 

[PricklyPanda]

Yeah, the second fool is the one you need to worry about

Welcome

Thanks!

 

[Hawkeye]

Hello and welcome.

I've been at university for too long. It's still a structured system I'm sad to say; however, if you go against the grain you might not get good marks, but you'll learn a lot from the experience. ^^

 

[redbaron]

I just didn't understand where these "latter" and "before" parts are from, though.

Neither do I, since former and latter (or, "later and before" as QT so eloquently puts it) are usually employed to refer to something with a clear-cut dual dichotomy. A dichotomy which isn't clearly defined in your overall post, and so I assume QT is relating to one specific part - though if that's the case there's a somewhat unspoken responsibility on his part to point this out before blurting things out. That is, if he wants to foster a productive discussion in some way.

In any case, I do get the impression that you're trying to play into the stereotype of INTP slightly. Statements like, "School bores me because it's structured, INTP's have this need to add side-thoughts." etc. are things that one tends to come across quite often on a typology forum.

It seems there's a habit for people to use MBTI almost like an excuse to explain their behaviour using an arbitrarily defined system, in the vein of, "I'm like that because I'm INTP!" and so neglect to look deeper into the potentiality for a myriad developmental factors involved (nurture vs. nature...though not quite as simplistic).

This isn't to say that you're not an INTP, just that one should be aware of their own inclination to jump at an idea that resonates with them in some way - and that this inclination is not necessarily reflective of the truth.

Oh, uh...welcome

 

[Rook]

Aye, welcome to the madhouse. Wether you're an intp or not, you find the forum interesting. That is all that counts.

 

[PricklyPanda]

Neither do I, since former and latter (or, "later and before" as QT so eloquently puts it) are usually employed to refer to something with a clear-cut dual dichotomy. A dichotomy which isn't clearly defined in your overall post, and so I assume QT is relating to one specific part - though if that's the case there's a somewhat unspoken responsibility on his part to point this out before blurting things out. That is, if he wants to foster a productive discussion in some way.

In any case, I do get the impression that you're trying to play into the stereotype of INTP slightly. Statements like, "School bores me because it's structured, INTP's have this need to add side-thoughts." etc. are things that one tends to come across quite often on a typology forum.

It seems there's a habit for people to use MBTI almost like an excuse to explain their behaviour using an arbitrarily defined system, in the vein of, "I'm like that because I'm INTP!" and so neglect to look deeper into the potentiality for a myriad developmental factors involved (nurture vs. nature...though not quite as simplistic).

This isn't to say that you're not an INTP, just that one should be aware of their own inclination to jump at an idea that resonates with them in some way - and that this inclination is not necessarily reflective of the truth.

Oh, uh...welcome

Oh.... I wasn't exactly trying to play into any particular stereotype, school actually does bore me, and I'm sorry if it seems like I'm trying to play into the stereotypical INTP attitude to you. I am pretty new to this, and I've tried my best to not let it get to me, and use it as an excuse. I do try to use my assets to my advantage now that I am aware of them. I'm just also aware of my faults and try to hide them. I don't even think about this stuff on a daily basis. I have other things to worry about. And the 'INTP like to add side-thoughts' thing was just something interesting I read in another forum, and felt like sharing...
Anyways, thank you. I'm definitely not playing into any stereotype, I'm just more aware of what I'm good at and what I need to improve or control. I do act somewhat un-INTP in many instances. I'm not one for the so-called 'brutal honesty' that INTPs are supposed to have, I do actually consider the feelings of others to some extent (too much compared to really hardcore INTPs).

 

[PricklyPanda]

Hello and welcome.

I've been at university for too long. It's still a structured system I'm sad to say; however, if you go against the grain you might not get good marks, but you'll learn a lot from the experience. ^^

Aw, seriously? But hey, I'm going to studying what I like and not have to be stuck in boring Geography class for a good 1.5 hours of my day.

 

[Hawkeye]

Aw, seriously? But hey, I'm going to studying what I like and not have to be stuck in boring Geography class for a good 1.5 hours of my day.

I decided to do a post-grad in educating teenagers and young adults because I'm a fucking idiot...

It's the biggest pile of garbage ever. They focus far too much on promoting "new technology" which is basically Powerpoint... (the most boring way to deliver lessons ever).

I got slated for not using a computer in my observation because they think that new technology enhances learning. Does it buggery; calculators made everyone shit at arithmetic and Wikipedia has made knowledge retention pretty much redundant. How about I make all my teaching material digital and simply email it to them so they don't even have to bother coming in..? I mean, I'll only be reading off the Powerpoint...

My subject specialism is music, but I have more hours teaching English as a foreign language thanks to their completely biased and idiotic system. I have to gain a minimum of 100 hours solo-teaching, but I can't class one-to-one instrument tuition within those hours because and I quote... "that is not teaching"

I'm too far into the course to quit, but too irritated to take it seriously and complete it...

FML

But yeah... enjoy uni ^^

 

[The Gopher]

HEY WHATS UP. Honestly I did think INFP due to the fact you intro'd similar to an INFP I know. (and no not the unicorns are awesome type[although rhinos are awesome so unicorns can't be that bad{LOL I JUST WENT BAD AND READ THE PARENTHESIS THING<I used to do this kind of convo a lot a while back infuriated people }) However if you aren't that's cool, you know yourself better than us probably.

If you are already in the cool group try not to stress and just roll with whatever happens. A lot of people have this group mentality so if you start to differ a bit you should still be "part of the group". But then again I don't know the exact situation.

 

[PricklyPanda]

I decided to do a post-grad in educating teenagers and young adults because I'm a fucking idiot...

It's the biggest pile of garbage ever. They focus far too much on promoting "new technology" which is basically Powerpoint... (the most boring way to deliver lessons ever).

I got slated for not using a computer in my observation because they think that new technology enhances learning. Does it buggery; calculators made everyone shit at arithmetic and Wikipedia has made knowledge retention pretty much redundant. How about I make all my teaching material digital and simply email it to them so they don't even have to bother coming in..? I mean, I'll only be reading off the Powerpoint...

My subject specialism is music, but I have more hours teaching English as a foreign language thanks to their completely biased and idiotic system. I have to gain a minimum of 100 hours solo-teaching, but I can't class one-to-one instrument tuition within those hours because and I quote... "that is not teaching"

I'm too far into the course to quit, but too irritated to take it seriously and complete it...

FML

But yeah... enjoy uni ^^

Wow, rough, huh...
When I was in sixth grade, my math teacher made me redo a math problem simply because I had failed to use a calculator, even though my steps and calculation were perfectly right. I also get told of for not including ALL the steps in my math tests... I don't know, I saw your situation about being forced to use a computer, and I could relate to it.

Yeah, I'm trying to be as careful as possible with my university decisions. As stated in my original post, I'm doing the IB, and for a person like me, I feel like this is the shittiest decision I have ever made, since I procrastinate at an almost unnatural level, which leads to me rushing and handing in my most mediocre work in the last minute because failing to do so results in a zero.

I've personally never understood why they place so much of an emphasis on technology in education these days, as a high school student. Like, do I have to use that calculator to obtain my answer? Why can't I just use my head?Do I have to find a proper source on the Internet to back up my perfectly logical statement (such as "exercise increases heart rate")? And the worst part is, IB is so specific with things like this, which makes me hate it even more, but I'm stuck, and my parents paid for it, so I have to see it through.

Anyways, thank you!

 

[PricklyPanda]

HEY WHATS UP. Honestly I did think INFP due to the fact you intro'd similar to an INFP I know. (and no not the unicorns are awesome type[although rhinos are awesome so unicorns can't be that bad{LOL I JUST WENT BAD AND READ THE PARENTHESIS THING<I used to do this kind of convo a lot a while back infuriated people }) However if you aren't that's cool, you know yourself better than us probably.

If you are already in the cool group try not to stress and just roll with whatever happens. A lot of people have this group mentality so if you start to differ a bit you should still be "part of the group". But then again I don't know the exact situation.

Hi! Yeah, I know, I thought I was an INFP too (for almost a month!), but I felt like it just didn't suit me in more aspects than INTP doesn't suit me. Maybe I'm a hybrid, the INxP! (whoa, parentheses!)

I probably am an INTP though, I've got more tests telling me I'm an INTP than tests telling me I'm an INFP. But I've also heard things like "INTPs with a well-developed Fe", so maybe I'm one of those?

True, but sometimes I feel like I'm supposed to completely conform to ALL their views on things, which for the most part I don't, but I'm starting to slow get isolated from them, because I honestly can't deal with stress from them and from school. Not sure if it's a good thing though. I sometimes have to pretend to care about things that I could honestly not give two shits about, such as makeup and shows like Pretty Little Liars, and that just makes me.... irritated? Not sure how to describe, but it just feels like a lot of pressure.

Anyways, nice to meet you!

 

[Helvete]

Hello and welcome. So do you know any male intp's irl then? To my knowledge I'v never met any intp's irl, but i could of without realizing it maybe...

Interesting you say you're part of the popular group, yet have no one to call a best friend. Who says it is? you and your friends or the other people around you?

When I was at school (only been out a few years) I was part of many different circles of friends, yet I was close to no one. It was weird but kinda cool to be able to mix with a lot of different people, and have the choice of who i spent time with.
Anyway, the so called 'popular' kids in my school seemed to like me as much as everyone else. But i couldn't handle their show off mentality, shallow personalities and stupidity. I'm not saying they all were but the majority were like this, so I chose to not waste any time with them.
I guess I'm trying to say, be careful with those labels, they're meaningless

Also, what kind of lies did you tell? I lie to nosey people, to meaningless things. - why should they know?! aha
never for personal gain though, unless it doesn't hurt someone else. then i'd lie till the sun blows up.

Just so you know, best friends are overrated anyway. I have 2 now; ones far too clingy, the other is so distant it doesn't feel like a friendship.

 

[QuickTwist]

Don't take me too personally... it will cause all sorts of problems. And...

@Gopher, yes.

 

[PricklyPanda]

Hello and welcome. So do you know any male intp's irl then? To my knowledge I'v never met any intp's irl, but i could of without realizing it maybe...

Interesting you say you're part of the popular group, yet have no one to call a best friend. Who says it is? you and your friends or the other people around you?

When I was at school (only been out a few years) I was part of many different circles of friends, yet I was close to no one. It was weird but kinda cool to be able to mix with a lot of different people, and have the choice of who i spent time with.
Anyway, the so called 'popular' kids in my school seemed to like me as much as everyone else. But i couldn't handle their show off mentality, shallow personalities and stupidity. I'm not saying they all were but the majority were like this, so I chose to not waste any time with them.
I guess I'm trying to say, be careful with those labels, they're meaningless

Also, what kind of lies did you tell? I lie to nosey people, to meaningless things. - why should they know?! aha
never for personal gain though, unless it doesn't hurt someone else. then i'd lie till the sun blows up.

Just so you know, best friends are overrated anyway. I have 2 now; ones far too clingy, the other is so distant it doesn't feel like a friendship.

I actually don't know any INTPs in real life, to be honest! I've been suspicious of a couple of people, but they all end up being either INTJs or IxFP/Js. No one that I've felt confident is the closest to INTP.

In terms of the "popular clique", they are referred to as such by people around us, for the most part. They're referred to like this mostly because they're the kids that get involved in the clubs and organizations at school, take part in everything, communicate with the teachers a lot, and for the most part, get really good grades. Some of these make me feel somewhat pressured because for example, when I have a problem with something school-related, my friends always tell me to talk to a teacher. But I don't, I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to asking for help in general, because I always have this (completely deluded, I must add) belief that I will somehow find a solution. Unfortunately, because I am now grouped as one of the kids that can talk to the teachers with no problems, I have to do it. And I end up not sounding polite or some other stupid "political correctness" issue which gets the teacher upset at me, waste a few minutes lecturing me on being polite, and then giving me vague and useless advice, because the IB program is supposedly focussed on independent learning. So I end up wasting at least 15 useful minutes of my life which could have been used to make some attempt at finding a solution to my problem.
I do interact with everyone else, for example, I am part of the Anime club, and I do things like after school tutoring. It's just that I do tend to stick to the "popular" group more often, simply because I've known them better. But I do enjoy mixing it up once in a while and visiting the library, or hanging around the cafeteria kitchen, and talking to or simply observing my classmates in other "cliques".

I lie a lot about what my interests are, my opinions in some matters, etc. For example, if my friends and I have discussions about a topic, and all my friends seem to agree on something, I feel the need to ask them "wait, how about this?" but this has gone badly once, so I have to totally avoid it and just nod my head to whatever they say, which frustrates me because so many of my friends have such a one-track mind.

As for best friends, I know I can live without one, but it would be nice to confide in someone who isn't my mom. My mom is nice, and does understand sometimes, but she tends to give somewhat dated advice, which conforms to the traditional Hindu norms of our family (I'm Indian). I wish I had someone my age I could just tell some of my deepest thoughts to.

Haha sorry, didn't mean to write a freaking essay! But I tend to ramble a lot (I'm part of a Kpop forum, and I've been told to at least add a TL;DR at the end of my posts because they are so long and no one bothers to read them).
But nice meeting you!

 

[Cherry Cola]

Welcome, you must transcend school and collect real education like Vennu Malesh.

 

[Helvete]

I actually don't know any INTPs in real life, to be honest! I've been suspicious of a couple of people, but they all end up being either INTJs or IxFP/Js. No one that I've felt confident is the closest to INTP.

In terms of the "popular clique", they are referred to as such by people around us, for the most part. They're referred to like this mostly because they're the kids that get involved in the clubs and organizations at school, take part in everything, communicate with the teachers a lot, and for the most part, get really good grades. Some of these make me feel somewhat pressured because for example, when I have a problem with something school-related, my friends always tell me to talk to a teacher. But I don't, I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to asking for help in general, because I always have this (completely deluded, I must add) belief that I will somehow find a solution. Unfortunately, because I am now grouped as one of the kids that can talk to the teachers with no problems, I have to do it. And I end up not sounding polite or some other stupid "political correctness" issue which gets the teacher upset at me, waste a few minutes lecturing me on being polite, and then giving me vague and useless advice, because the IB program is supposedly focussed on independent learning. So I end up wasting at least 15 useful minutes of my life which could have been used to make some attempt at finding a solution to my problem.
I do interact with everyone else, for example, I am part of the Anime club, and I do things like after school tutoring. It's just that I do tend to stick to the "popular" group more often, simply because I've known them better. But I do enjoy mixing it up once in a while and visiting the library, or hanging around the cafeteria kitchen, and talking to or simply observing my classmates in other "cliques".

I lie a lot about what my interests are, my opinions in some matters, etc. For example, if my friends and I have discussions about a topic, and all my friends seem to agree on something, I feel the need to ask them "wait, how about this?" but this has gone badly once, so I have to totally avoid it and just nod my head to whatever they say, which frustrates me because so many of my friends have such a one-track mind.

As for best friends, I know I can live without one, but it would be nice to confide in someone who isn't my mom. My mom is nice, and does understand sometimes, but she tends to give somewhat dated advice, which conforms to the traditional Hindu norms of our family (I'm Indian). I wish I had someone my age I could just tell some of my deepest thoughts to.

Haha sorry, didn't mean to write a freaking essay! But I tend to ramble a lot (I'm part of a Kpop forum, and I've been told to at least add a TL;DR at the end of my posts because they are so long and no one bothers to read them).
But nice meeting you!

Essay? Have you looked around this forum yet? aha this is no essay, and people here will read, nothing to worry about there

From the way you speak about being Indian and your mom giving 'dated advice', am I right to assume you don't live in India? Would I also be right to assume you live in America, purely based on your spelling of 'mom' and how you described the popular clique :P

I could be very wrong here, about my assumptions above.
But assuming you now reside in America with students in their schooling system with proactive attitudes towards getting involved with lots of different things, like the clubs and such you mentioned, as a way to be more popular, does this make it harder to find someone close to confide in? As in culture change, different mindsets around you and different perceived popularity.
I'm going to stop with my assumptions now so I don't bury myself in the hole I may or may not be digging :P

I'd also like to say I'm not American, or Indian, so I have lacking knowledge of what it means to be popular in those cultures. This is partly what I meant earlier when I said labels are meaningless. - Not specifically culturally but personally to different people; often rubbing off into group mentalities, things becoming accepted as the norm etc. Example; where I'm from being popular is much less defined and people are (usually) a lot more open to variance of interests. I must add that the popular group i described in my other post were probably the most noticeable people trying to be the 'most' popular and due to that, I'd say a slight majority of people were drawn to want to be like them. I hate the P word though, I feel slightly sick now for using it so much!

Hmm, I feel the same way almost as you about lying, depending on who I'm with. I tend not to outright lie if I can help it in those situations, I'll usually just vaguely agree and not give any insight into my opinion.
Apart from lying about interests though, I have no interest in pretending I'm something that I'm not. Not socially anyway.

I hope you do find a friend to confide in soon, it's a nice feeling to be truly comfortable and open around someone. These people do turn up and can often lead to other friendships around more worthwhile people (without meaning to be harsh).

Nice meeting you too.