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INTP problems

Anomalous One

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What problems do you guys have as INTP's?

for me-
everyone thinks I'm unfeeling

I'm the only person I know who is actually interested in mbti (also the only intp I know, so...)

Everyone thinks my wild ideas are stupid- most probably are, but still..

I have no friends



anyone else?
 

Anktark

of the swarm
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Those don't seem like problems. I see them more as inconveniences/wants that arise from comparing oneself to an average person and abiding to commonly accepted traditions.

I suppose one of the more common INTP problems would be inferior Fe being spawn-camped and insta-killed by even a slightest Ti-Ne-Si fart.
 

Brontosaurie

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acutely understanding all of these (mostly emotional/motivational)problems as i encounter them but being unable to actively recall them in order to facilitate the installation of structure, discipline and reliable, realistic personal goals.

thus: having nothing to contribute here in this thread, for example
 

dark+matters

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I also get called names similar to "cold" or "calculating" or "sharp" or "willing to do anything to get ahead" every now and then, and it becomes a problem (especially because none of this is particularly true). If I verbalize my Ti too much, I'm very easily misunderstood by all but my teachers, and even they often can't see what I'm trying to communicate. I also test as INFP a lot, so I have a weird NF/NT duality that I have to juggle. Every now and then, this really seems to become a barrier between me and my NF friends. I'll also get called a "child" sometimes. I have very, very powerful feelings that I bottle up or hide... but at time same time, I don't always realize when I've upset someone. I have had severe problems with my ISXJ teachers. I live in my own head, so it's hard to juggle real-life responsibilities with reading, writing, net-surfing and communicating. I get drop-dead tired from too much contact with others, and sometimes, I have to be around people who do not comprehend or respect the sacredness of my alone time. Too many books and projects started that I will never finish. It's freakishly upsetting when I don't understand a concept, or when I answer something wrong. Wah, wah, wah.
 

thoughtfully

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Those don't seem like problems. I see them more as inconveniences/wants that arise from comparing oneself to an average person and abiding to commonly accepted traditions.

I suppose one of the more common INTP problems would be inferior Fe being spawn-camped and insta-killed by even a slightest Ti-Ne-Si fart.
Problmes are a problem only if you get stuck and frustrated. Inferior Fe isnt inferior unless you let it.
 

thoughtfully

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Need the right stimulation. Take notes to recall things.
 

thoughtfully

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I also get called names similar to "cold" or "calculating" or "sharp" or "willing to do anything to get ahead" every now and then, and it becomes a problem (especially because none of this is particularly true). If I verbalize my Ti too much, I'm very easily misunderstood by all but my teachers, and even they often can't see what I'm trying to communicate. I also test as INFP a lot, so I have a weird NF/NT duality that I have to juggle. Every now and then, this really seems to become a barrier between me and my NF friends. I'll also get called a "child" sometimes. I have very, very powerful feelings that I bottle up or hide... but at time same time, I don't always realize when I've upset someone. I have had severe problems with my ISXJ teachers. I live in my own head, so it's hard to juggle real-life responsibilities with reading, writing, net-surfing and communicating. I get drop-dead tired from too much contact with others, and sometimes, I have to be around people who do not comprehend or respect the sacredness of my alone time. Too many books and projects started that I will never finish. It's freakishly upsetting when I don't understand a concept, or when I answer something wrong. Wah, wah, wah.
I can identify with a lot of that. I think I can recognize my feelings. If I can do that I can recognize others feelings. That should help.
 
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A frequent problem of mine is that probing people for answers or ideas/using them as a soundboard for my own answers or ideas tends to be met with irritation. They'll think I'm being difficult, fickle, anal, etc.

I'm always surprised when they get angry, as if it's a personal attack. To me it's honest curiosity or indecision. There's no malicious intent. (Unfortunately, they don't know that.)

Nobody likes being asked lots of questions, for some reason. It's as if they think my endgame is to completely disillusion them or disprove their whole belief system or something. Either that or they can't sympathize with my frantic thought processes when I'm indecisive about something. Always one of the two.
 

ddspada

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I also get called names similar to "cold" or "calculating" or "sharp" or "willing to do anything to get ahead" every now and then, and it becomes a problem (especially because none of this is particularly true). If I verbalize my Ti too much, I'm very easily misunderstood by all but my teachers, and even they often can't see what I'm trying to communicate.
[...]
I have very, very powerful feelings that I bottle up or hide... but at time same time, I don't always realize when I've upset someone. I have had severe problems with my ISXJ teachers. I live in my own head, so it's hard to juggle real-life responsibilities with reading, writing, net-surfing and communicating. I get drop-dead tired from too much contact with others, and sometimes, I have to be around people who do not comprehend or respect the sacredness of my alone time. Too many books and projects started that I will never finish. It's freakishly upsetting when I don't understand a concept, or when I answer something wrong. Wah, wah, wah.

I second this verbatim.

My biggest problem is feeling alone as a product of being nigh-unable to communicate. There are few persons whom I know who can understand my ruminations, only a handful who can understand them at the pace I actually produce them (or rather, at the pace I talk about them; I think much much faster than I talk, as most people do) and only 1-2 who can answer and converse at the same pace.

There are no money problems at home, no addictions, I do well in school, family is very peaceful overall, but I've had several episodes of mild depression.

There is a persistent feeling I get around most people that "being myself" will be met with metaphorical lapidation.
 

ferrumerux741

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My problem is that I think too much about random things, make new theories about random things, and talk about random things. It won't be a problem if I hadn't got an almost traumatic period of not being accepted by my surrounding, but because I've got it and the people around me don't like random things, they sometimes think I'm weird and naive and so on and so on. That makes me afraid to be not accepted again but on the other hand, I just want to be myself. As asocial as you wanna be, being not accepted is not a nice thing, especially when it comes to working in groups or team work.
And talking about friends, they are also often too realistic if I want to imagine things together or don't understand if I want to discuss about some 'big' random thing. I feel limited to small talks and general facts (including events which had just occurred). This makes me feel dumb...
Aaaaand I feel like I'm surrounded by idiots. And the bullies in my class call me alien just because I randomly talked about aliens...
 

D_in_Oz

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It gets better as you get older. Kids in school called me names but not often to my face as I was bigger than most until the 8th grade. Many of my jobs have been where I was the only INTP in the office but my last one had several other NT's . Having others who think like me made work so much more pleasant. If you can find a job with similar type people then you are more likely to feel comfortable at work and enjoy going there. Having at least one INTP friend can make life so much easier. After reading Please Understand Me II, I was able to make allowances for other personality types and it has certainly helped in my marriage and dealing with others. Also I presume most if not all INTP's are above average intelligence, so take pride in knowing you are smarter than most, just don't keep rubbing in others faces. You can't help most of who you are just as other types can't help being the way they are. Life would be boring if we were all the same. The world needs us INTP's (just not too many). I'm left handed as well and to this day people still make comments about it not being normal. Who cares. As Popeye used to say "I am what I am". Be proud of yourself - it might take several years for others to appreciate you, but down the track they will be coming to you for answers.
 

onesteptwostep

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people who i find uninteresting trying to be friends with me. it's just a mental pain, like literally. 'should i be nice? wow isn't this awkward? isn't it somewhat unethical to led him/her on? gosh where's the threshhold for this?"
 

Architect

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Observing myself and other INTP's I think our problems can fall into the following categories.

[fieldset=INTP Issues]
Problems with structure and authority.

These are the "Te" problems, our Opposing Personality. It comes up with school, work, basically any institution or institutional thinking. It grates against our psyche like grit, and it's hard to live without having to deal with a Te system. I'd also classify dealing with S dominants under this. Se/Si users both stick to precedent (a Te system) in their lives, and it's maddening to us to deal with this obstinance. Jobs and a 'normal' life fall into this too as those are Te systems, INTP's chafe against such conventions.

Problems of the Heart

These are "Fe" inferior related problems. We want to get along with people but oftentimes that's impossible. We fall for the wrong opposite sex, we make the wrong decisions (we discover later) because of the inferior call. Like taking the wrong career (one that helps people directly), or we try to help somebody close to us (usually fails), or dealing with the constant nagging feeling that we're inadequate on a basic human level.

Problems of Purpose

These are "Ti-Ne" related issues. Basically finding our purpose and life goals. Other types don't generally have this issue. ENTJ's for example are born into a world tailor made for them. Grow up, get responsibility, boss other people around and get personal power of some form. For INTP's it's more difficult, we listen too much to the inferior call, and our Ne leads us astray into too many possibilities too.
[/fieldset]
I'd say these are the main ones, the rest are relatively minor.
 

nanook

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perhaps the heart section is most specific to intp, although it would require only minor adjustments to make it fit for infp. we fail to be ourselves in relationships, to demand our rights for agency. we sacrifice our services with seemingly endless patience to people who can't fully appreciate or utilize them.

the other two sections are a good match for infp too.

maybe to flesh out the difference between Fi and Ti in regards to how it relates to Te.

Fi is afraid of Te and tries to escape it as much as possible, if this is not possible it will try to obey, usually with a big grudge and it will still fail to live up to expectations, accidentally. Ti will disobey Te overtly and has better chances of earning respect for that too, because it's just clashing about the methodology, not about the whole value of business/structure.

problem of purpose comes from abandoning reality in favor of utopian fantasies. once you quit being dedicated to contributing to the world as it is, you begin to feel useless. perhaps Fi is even more likely to end up in this misery.


something i would add is the shadow issues of Fe for intp and Te for infp.

intp are like femnazis, they can become really obsessed with pushing the public moods of archaic violent ethno-centric ideology, having no other subject on their mind but to comment on and attack any instance of outrageous free speech committed by their political enemy. butt hurt atheist zealots, vegan nazis, etc. they suffocate free speech and try to dictate their own brand of thinking about everything. suddenly opening a door is considered to be solid proof of sexism. lets outlaw religion once and for all and why not kill all muslim or replace humanity with A.I. unlike infp they rarely boycott/avoid culture completely, they usually manage to find and join a subculture of like minded zealots and attack culture.

infp are like Vulcans, we can really begin to suffocate all human life and variety in favor of a systematic obedience to what appears to be the foundation of harmony. It becomes like a Te law, except it does not regulate action but regulates emotional expression of desires and dictates dedication. It's like a memory of all the attitudes that once contributed to harmony, but they fail to create the same authentic harmony in the present moment. we suffocate free enthusiasm and try to dictate our own sincerity and concern for our favorite subjects. you can't just play a computer game, you have to solve world hunger/attain enlightenment/understand typology/etc first.
 

Ex-User (11125)

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-absolutely no ambitions in life. lol. i have no will power, no volition.
-i find it insanely difficult to express myself or form coherent arguments.

its like theres an exponentially expanding world inside of me and i cant express it properly. so in addition to feeling inarticulate, i also feel artistically stifled and creatively paralyzed most of the time. :(
 

SpaceYeti

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People say I have no feelings and do not support their feelings enough. Well, I do have feelings, they're just mine. I won't burden others with them, and how am I supposed to support your feelings? If you can't do it, what makes you think someone else can?
 

peoplesuck

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Everything is better in thought, compared to reality :ahh:
 

Olivia

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Whenever someone is in pain (emotional or physical) I have no clue what to say or what kind of facial or body language to use. Everyone else is like "Don't worry, it all gets better," "do you need anything?", and "I'm here for you", and I'm just sitting there like, "so...what's up...?" and awkwardly trying to be comforting XD
 

Bock

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Everything is better in thought, compared to reality :ahh:

Agree to some extent, i believe it's mostly about our tendency for imaginary constructs/"dreaming", perfectionism and naive/raw emotions and so on. Makes it very hard to not end up with high/unrealistic expectations.

I guess most INTP:s are bad at manipulating their surroundings which produces less than stellar "real" results (shitty job/shitty partners/shitty social life/shitty mood/shitty shit etc).
 

Olivia

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Ahahaha also forgetting to eat XD and do laundry
 

z12

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Well, every type have some problems
As for me, I seem to be really missing out on some rather obvious details. Especially when it comes to people.
For example, It wasn't until this post that i realized the new very knowledgeable guy was actually good ole' Architect with a new avatar...
I feel so retarded now :confused:
 

ActiveMind

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For me it's the ability to be heard. I have all these ideas on ways to improve life (in my mind) for myself and others but trying to explain it all to others while being labeled and dismissed is frustrating to no end. Motivation and focus is in a state of ebb and flow when it could be in constant flow by having like-minds help flesh it out rather than outright dismissing and ridiculing.
 
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