Iceland: Land of INTPs?

[Moocow]

http://www.liveabroad.com/articles/iceland.html

From what this article describes, Iceland sounds like the perfect place for an INTP. In fact, the country itself shares our individual characteristics: distant, cold, surreal, yet whimsical, laid back, and cooperative. Also drunk.

Some really nice sounding bits:

Iceland has six chess grand masters and several world class bridge players. The literacy rate is 100%, and it is perhaps the most literary of nations, with the largest number of poets and the largest number of books published (about 20 times as many as the U.S.). One night every year, members of the Parliament must all speak in rhyme. Icelandic is the oldest living European language and people read the medieval sagas with no difficulty.

In Falling off the Map, Pico Iyer writes that it has a "never-never quality: it is a cozy, friendly, Christmas-tree kind of place." But Iyer is not deceived. He witnessed the untamed quality as well. Writing about a midsummer visit there, he describes the "ghostly light" after midnight, and "the sun landing on the sea at 1:00 AM." To some, the landscape is starkly beautiful; to others, surreal and barren. Of the few trees remaining, most are dwarf birches. There are no ruins to visit because most structures were built of wood and turf, and did not last. It is the most volcanic place on earth, and only 1% of the land is under cultivation. Iyer calls it "otherworldly...a country so lunar that NASA astronauts did there training there..."

People here avoid playing roles dictated by their occupation or anything else; they let you know you are dealing with an individual. Employees take orders willingly but need to know what part their tasks play in the whole project.

I'm taking this article with a grain of salt. I don't really know anything about iceland or anyone that lives there, but now I'm excited.

Also it should be noted that I decided upon Iceland whilst trying to think of a country that would be safest from nuclear war and other international turmoil.

This site has some good pictures of it.

http://www.flickriver.com/groups/1000-iceland/pool/interesting/

 

[CoryJames]

Those pictures are pretty phenomenal. Sounds like a nice place too.

 

[Beat Mango]

If true, I'm going. To live.

 

[gruesomebrat]

Wow... I don't know what to say to this...

OK, my house will be packed up in an hour, who's going to Iceland with me?

 

[crippli]

Greenland is perhaps even more of an INTP paradise with it's 57000 vs 310000 inhabitants and colder. I certainly get along well with the 2 people I know from Greenland. These places does seem to make a different mindset, then what is common.

But Sealand must surely be unbeatable. :P

The singer Bjørk is from Iceland. And practically the same as mine. And since I like the weirdness I mostly use this name.

Even if Iceland is our neighbour country(Norway) I don't know many people from there. They keep to themselves. I like that they kept our old language. I can read it reasonably well. So not so different from how I speak, but different from how it's written. In any case I like it. It got style and originality (probably just the novelty aspect).

Moving there...hmmm...lot's of them came here after the financial crack. Not sure how the situation is now. But economically there has been hardship the last few years from what I gathered.

I also like ice bears. So don't want to move as they struggle enough as it is with the human population.

 

[Moocow]

Greenland would probably be too cold and barren. Iceland is just MOSTLY cold and barren.
I would want to live there for their unusual orientation with time. The idea of having 100 days of sunlight in the summer might be pretty nice.


http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/sl...s/outsideyellowstone/iceland/Images/15342.jpg
They also have a geothermal powerplant that doubles as a huge public spa.

 

[Ermine]

According to the article alone, it sounds like a dream come true. And it's home to one of my favorite bands, Sigur Ros. Definitely a plus. Also looks like they'd have great skiing.

 

[Stoic Beverage]

I always wanted to move somewhere where I wouldn't be disturbed, and with nice landscape. I was thinking of Alaska, but from what I've just read, even the mood of the Icelandic people is perfect. It's definitely at the top of the list.
Grue, I'll bring the chips!

 

[Gather_Wanderer]

*Puts plane ticket on table top*

Nice mountain pictures, there.

 

[Beat Mango]

Iceland may be joining the EU, although it seems that at best it will happen in 2012:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accession_of_Iceland_to_the_European_Union

As an EU citizen, that would make things much easier...

 

[Mr.W]

For years I've dreamed of moving to Iceland and living there for a while. The place looks surreal.

 

[DarkGreen]

>.< It's cold, I hate the cold. I prefer the jungle better. Somewhere like Brazil is beautiful to me but I'll settle for Haiti. I love the hot hot heat.

 

[EditorOne]

Sometimes when people like a place they see themselves reflected in it, and it informs their writing. Just a slight caveat for everyone.

 

[Polaris]

The ultimate Icelandic movie for intp's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noi_the_Albino

Enjoy. :smiley_emoticons_mr

 

[The Gopher]

Hmm the police don't carry guns... I might move there.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

Greenland is perhaps even more of an INTP paradise with it's 57000 vs 310000 inhabitants and colder. I certainly get along well with the 2 people I know from Greenland. These places does seem to make a different mindset, then what is common.

Yeah I dated a girl from Greenland. She was kinda crazy. And told me that the people from Greenland were crazy.

Jeez, Iceland is actually kinda sounding tempting. Like, I hate the cold, but it could be really fun in the summer.

And like... I dunno if smaller cities/nations really jive with INTP. As much as we like our aloneness, I think we're also attracted to big cities because we're more likely to find other iNtuitives and have more variety of interesting things to visit. Also, it's easier to hide in perpetual crowds than a small town.

edit: Screw that, the average warmest it gets in the summer is 55F! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjavík

 

[The Gopher]

edit: Screw that, the average warmest it gets in the summer is 55F! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjavík

on the other hand it only gets -15 below 0 degrees Celsius or 5 F

 

[Moocow]

Yeah I dated a girl from Greenland. She was kinda crazy. And told me that the people from Greenland were crazy.

Jeez, Iceland is actually kinda sounding tempting. Like, I hate the cold, but it could be really fun in the summer.

And like... I dunno if smaller cities/nations really jive with INTP. As much as we like our aloneness, I think we're also attracted to big cities because we're more likely to find other iNtuitives and have more variety of interesting things to visit. Also, it's easier to hide in perpetual crowds than a small town.

edit: Screw that, the average warmest it gets in the summer is 55F! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjavík

Yeah, I've decided that I don't enjoy painfully cold weather very much and Iceland probably isn't that great to visit. It's still quite neat to look at from afar though.

I'm not sure I could stand living in a big city though. I don't like pretty much anything about them.

 

[MacGuffin]

You all might want to wait a little while before you move there:

2008–2010 Icelandic financial crisis.

 

[gruesomebrat]

Moocow, by East Coast, do you mean Florida??? Iceland has warmer winters on average than New York, so you can't possibly be from anywhere north of North Carolina. Classing 5F as "painfully cold" can only possibly come from a Floridan, maybe a Georgian.

Winters that only dip down to -15C sounds like heaven, and considering that they're set to join the EU in a year and change, I can always go and visit France, Spain, Italy, etc., for summer vacations, to get some warm temperatures during July and August.

MacGuffin, I don't see that the financial crisis would have that much effect on individual people. It has increase the unemployment rate a good chunk, but since before the crisis, unemployment was hovering around 2%, I can't see that it wouldn't return to that level once the current recession dies off.

 

[Moocow]

I live just a few miles north of North Carolina. I just have a poor tolerance for cold weather these days. I don't think I'd mind visiting in the summer, but I find long, dark winters, spent mostly indoors to be difficult.

 

[MacGuffin]

Classing 5F as "painfully cold" can only possibly come from a Floridan, maybe a Georgian.

Spoken like a Canuck!

MacGuffin, I don't see that the financial crisis would have that much effect on individual people. It has increase the unemployment rate a good chunk, but since before the crisis, unemployment was hovering around 2%, I can't see that it wouldn't return to that level once the current recession dies off.

Uh... Much effect? You mean the decrease in pensions? The reductions in pay? The tripling of unemployment?

Let me guess... you're a student.

 

[gruesomebrat]

Congratulations, you read my profile to find out I'm a Canadian student...

Anyway, I'd be willing to wager that the quadrupling of the unemployment rate (2% to 9%) since before the crisis is due in equal parts to the financial crisis and the global recession we're in the middle of (why does no-one call it a depression yet?) It can't be blamed entirely on the initial financial crisis. Same goes for the rest of the symptoms you mentioned.

 

[crippli]

And like... I dunno if smaller cities/nations really jive with INTP. As much as we like our aloneness, I think we're also attracted to big cities because we're more likely to find other iNtuitives and have more variety of interesting things to visit. Also, it's easier to hide in perpetual crowds than a small town.

I agree. I'm from inland. Isolated. But live mostly in the city. It's easier to find Ns yes. I like both places. But the lack of anonymity drives me crazy on the country side when I stay there to long.

There are cities at Iceland too.

 

[The Gopher]

Winters that only dip down to -15C sounds like heaven, and considering that they're set to join the EU in a year and change, I can always go and visit France, Spain, Italy, etc., for summer vacations, to get some warm temperatures during July and August.

yeah the problem with this is I am Australian meaning the coldest it normally gets here is -5C and it only goes to -15 in other parts of the country so it would be a culture shock to go from a max of around 40-42C to a max of around 20C.

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

I agree. I'm from inland. Isolated. But live mostly in the city. It's easier to find Ns yes. I like both places. But the lack of anonymity drives me crazy on the country side when I stay there to long.

There are cities at Iceland too.

The biggest city is 120,000 people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjavík Sure... I guess that's big enough, but it's still kinda small. They probably just have a handful of high schools.

 

[MacGuffin]

Congratulations, you read my profile to find out I'm a Canadian student...

No, I just figure no one that works for a living would be so blasé about the harm an economic crisis does to people.

 

[Beat Mango]

oh btw, I made it to Iceland. fking amazing

 

[Cavallier]

^ PICTURES!!!!

I have been looking through the various requirements to get naturalized in Iceland. I think I can do it. I just have to get a work visa for a few years and then once I have references I can take all the tests and I should be good.

Edit: That is unless someone from these boards who is Icelandic wants to marry me. Then it would be even simpler.



Also, I sometimes wonder to myself whatever happened to Ermine. I hope she is well and enjoying her life. She must be done with college by now.

 

[Aeroflot]

Good luck with all that. Once we have a foothold, get a divorce and marry me so I can too be an awesome citizen of Iceland. Then I'll divorce you and marry someone else to repay the karma.

 

[Cavallier]

A chain of circumventing the complicated naturalization laws via marraige while also undermining the "sanctity" of marriage? I like this idea.

 

[Beat Mango]

As an EU citizen would be relatively straightforward for me, but more so if they finally get their EU membership.

 

[Moocow]

oh btw, I made it to Iceland. fking amazing

You actually went? That's awesome. Is it anything like the article I linked made it out to be? Did you just visit or are you living there?

 

[Beat Mango]

I only went for a few days. But it most certainly has an "other-worldly" feel. I liken it to walking around in a fairytale.

It's harder for me to comment on the personalities. I imagine unless you actually worked there it'd be difficult to know for sure.

One thing I noticed, in Reykjavik, they pretty much don't have major consumer chains, either low cost ones like McDonalds, nor the high end fashion brands of Prada, LV etc which are so obscenely common in Europe (and everywhere else for that matter).

This may imply an independent spirit, unlike for example the Confucianism laced Asian countries which are so collective in their culture.

 

[Lol]

I'd like to live there but I'm black

 

[Polaris]

I'd like to live there but I'm black

And....?

 

[Architect]

Do they have good internet service there? If so I'm packing my bags.

Just kidding, I'd be cautious of such ideas. I lived in an introverted culture for a time - southern Germany. It's nice at first getting away from the extreme ESXX of the U.S. But after a while it's way too intense and wearing. For better or worse I grew up in the U.S. and I'm doubtful I can ever get away from that entirely. I'm used to a bit more extraversion in my culture now.

What would Iceland be like? Who knows? Every culture has their oddities, and without having been there you just won't find out what they are until after the first year or two. Will you like it? Maybe.

I view living in a culture is like having a good immune system. There are germs everywhere, as there are bad cultural fits, all that matters is that you are strong and comfortable with yourself so as to be able to live anywhere.

 

[Lol]

And....?

The stares would be too much to handle

 

[AnnaC]

I've actually wanted to go hiking through several of the Icelandic national parks for quite some time now. The scenery is gorgeous, and the language of the people is something to marvel at in itself. Not to mention the cold weather is great: I hate summer, and would actually prefer that it never got above fifty-five degrees anywhere. It's despicable: Sunburns, wasps, mosquitoes, swimming, not to mention the oppressive humidity in my particular corner of the U.S.

However, I don't know if moving would be profitable, either socially or economically. I'm planning on going to an American law school, not an Icelandic one, so I'd probably have to go through numerous extras just to get into Icelandic law. In fact, I don't even know if they have lawyers. That doesn't mean I won't eventually buy myself a vacation house there, though, so I can go away randomly through the summer and hopefully forget the season ever existed.

 

[Architect]

I've actually wanted to go ...

FYI that signature is getting really distracting, I'm avoiding your posts and threads because it's an assault.

 

[Architect]

The stares would be too much to handle

Do you know that they would stare?

 

[Lol]

Do you know that they would stare?

Not for certain but I'd probably stick out like a sore thumb

 

[AnnaC]

FYI that signature is getting really distracting, I'm avoiding your posts and threads because it's an assault.

My most humble apologies. I found it on an authors' page describing how to publish a book, and as I myself danced in such a manner when I learned that one of my stories were going to be publish in an anthology, I couldn't resist putting it in my signature, haha. I'll change it, as I'm sure others feel the same way, and it's starting to bore me, as well.

 

[crippli]

The stares would be too much to handle

Not for certain but I'd probably stick out like a sore thumb

More like a fresh breeze I would suspect. A little visual diversity would do them good. They have been stuck on that island a long time now. The last few decades they have probably had internet, so most of them should have been exposed by now. At least on the screen.

I can take you there. If they stare, I will stare back. It was my ancestors who found the island after all, although settlement was done with the help of Irish slaves.

And I should correct my first post in this thread. I mixed up a bit Svalbard and Iceland. It's on Svalbard there are polar bears. None on Iceland. Except the occasional drifter on an ice flake.

 

[Fukyo]

FYI that signature is getting really distracting, I'm avoiding your posts and threads because it's an assault.

That's where the adblock's image blocking functionality comes in handy.

 

[Architect]

My most humble apologies. I found it on an authors' page describing how to publish a book, and as I myself danced in such a manner when I learned that one of my stories were going to be publish in an anthology, I couldn't resist putting it in my signature, haha. I'll change it, as I'm sure others feel the same way, and it's starting to bore me, as well.

No problem, but now you've gone and done it again

The big animated gifs are distracting, once you've seen it it's just an assault. I recommend just having some text, or do what I do where you put a <spoiler> around it so we don't have to keep seeing it.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Word ^

I hate gif signature forums. Too me its reminiscent to dressing up in gypsy festive clothing when going to a formal party. Makes you stick out, but not in a good way :P

Edit: Oh and on topic, I'm pretty sure Iceland is an overrated bore of a country that's likely got something of an ingrained xenophobia among its denizens owing to its being an island; unique, and relatively isolated. Its probably not apparent, but I reckon you'd start feeling it pretty soon if you moved there.

 

[AnnaC]

No problem, but now you've gone and done it again

The big animated gifs are distracting, once you've seen it it's just an assault. I recommend just having some text, or do what I do where you put a <spoiler> around it so we don't have to keep seeing it.

Meant to, actually.

But, seriously: I'll fix it. Can't have people avoiding me due to my love of GIF signatures, haha.