INTP shit you did as a child

[Dimensional Transition]

When I was about 7 or 8 my battle with insomnia began as tried to figure out why at night there were always weird floating colors that were not there during the day, or how incredibly dangerous the assumption of infinity was. I could not fathom why infinity was a concept that people seemed to believe in unquestionably. So I would just lay in bed every night trying to figure out the above questions(and others).

Me too. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. I got my first panic attacks somewhere between 5-7 because I was trying to imagine what being dead and non-existent was like, and it freaked me out so bad...

Oh and Lullaby, again... I recognize everything.

I'm starting to wonder if all INTP kids are the same.

 

[Awaken]

Me too. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. I got my first panic attacks somewhere between 5-7 because I was trying to imagine what being dead and non-existent was like, and it freaked me out so bad...

Oh and Lullaby, again... I recognize everything.

I'm starting to wonder if all INTP kids are the same.

Yea, death was a common topic I would ponder as well. I was not afraid of cessation of life, but at the possibility that people were right about infinity and I may have to be cognizant for an infinite amount of time. Talk about a nightmare. Luckily I never had panic attacks as I just learned to not care much about things in general.

 

[drömmaren]

At camp I spent most of my time sitting alone playing with spiders or crocheting

I once kept a gummy bear in the pocket of my jeans for 2 months just to see what would happen to it

I tried to create a new strain of bacteria for an extra credit project in 3rd grade...yea that didn't work out too well

When I was 13 I watched a show called American Juniors, which was like American Idol for kids. I wrote fanfics based on the premise that all the contestants were actually psychopathic serial killers

I taught myself how to use a graphic design program so that I could blend pictures of my family members together and see what babies who resulted from incest would look like. my parents were sufficiently creeped out

I remember being obsessed with the concept of "objective truth" and made my AOL away message "anyone who has any information on objective reality...IM me ASAP!"

I told dead baby jokes all the time

I beat up a mentally retarded kid at school. Looking back, I feel pretty bad about that...

I became obsessed with new age piano music when I was 5 and would go to concerts with my mom. We were the only people not eligible for the senior citizen discount

At kindergarten orientation, I was terrified of all the other kids. They all did this strange thing called talking. I had no idea what that was or how I was supposed to respond to it

My best friend would always get upset at me for not giving hugs or wearing dresses

I couldn't sleep at night because I thought aliens were going to come abduct me, or at least put a microchip in the back of my neck

 

[Mota]

In my younger days, Sub 12 years old. I would spend hours playing in the sand box in the summer by myself, talking to my self. and do essentially the same thing in the winter time in the snow. As I reflect back I'm still currently doing the same thing, but instead of the sand box. I'm doing it online through forums and games. It seems I get the same enjoyment reading whatever on the net as i did playing the in the sand box . It involves alot of thinking. And instead of talking to myself, I now write random ramblings on text documents. To get my thoughts out of my head. at my age, talking to your self might seem kinda wierd :')

 

[onthewindowstand]

I remember that when I was young I was very interested in chess and games like starcraft and warcraft 3. I could always beat most of the adults that I played. I would imagine that games of this nature are a common interest among INTPs?

 

[Dimensional Transition]

I remember that when I was young I was very interested in chess and games like starcraft and warcraft 3. I could always beat most of the adults that I played. I would imagine that games of this nature are a common interest among INTPs?

Not for me at least, they get me really nervous and bore me quite easily. I enjoy mindless shooters more, not as fast-paced as Unreal, but games like Call of Duty.

 

[Architect]

Games of all type bore me.

 

[Solitaire U.]

I remember that when I was young I was very interested in chess and games like starcraft and warcraft 3. I could always beat most of the adults that I played. I would imagine that games of this nature are a common interest among INTPs?

Command and Conquer, the X-COM games, Warcraft (excluding WOW), Panzer General and it's derivatives, and hybrids like Battlezone...played 'em all.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Games of all type bore me.

Jump / Vault / Climb
Duck / Prone / Roll
Run / Sprint
Shoot / Throw
Activate
Strafe / Forward / Backward
Camera
+
GUI
+
Sound effects

All games basically use the same format. Older games even use less than this.

 

[gruesomebrat]

Command and Conquer, the X-COM games, Warcraft (excluding WOW), Panzer General and it's derivatives, and hybrids like Battlezone...played 'em all.

I was a huge fan of C&C. The original Red Alert, then Generals, then Tiberium War. Not such a fan of Tiberium Twilight, the latest in the Tiberium series. I find it to be far too cartoony, rather than the semi-realistic graphics I've grown used to since Generals.

I was also the only kid in my circle of friends who was interested in Risk, Monopoly, etc... still am, actually. The strategy that's required in that type of game (more in Risk than Monopoly) was always a big draw for me, but for some reason, normal people under the age of 30 don't have the patience to set their strategy and watch it bloom. They all want a game with instant gratification instead.

 

[cheese]

Yea, death was a common topic I would ponder as well. I was not afraid of cessation of life, but at the possibility that people were right about infinity and I may have to be cognizant for an infinite amount of time. Talk about a nightmare. Luckily I never had panic attacks as I just learned to not care much about things in general.

Oh man, I thought it was just me (dumb thought at this point). I used to pray to god that he'd allow me to end my life in heaven when I didn't want to be alive anymore, and then I'd pray extra hard that he'd forgive me for any offence caused. The thought of infinity gave me this horrible sick feeling and made my head spin. I used to obsess over it to try and get over that feeling, but I never could. It was a blanked-out spot of horror in the back of my mind throughout my time of faith.

 

[Architect]

Jump / Vault / Climb
Duck / Prone / Roll
Run / Sprint
Shoot / Throw
Activate
Strafe / Forward / Backward
Camera
+
GUI
+
Sound effects

All games basically use the same format. Older games even use less than this.

Back in the day I played a text game (Commodore 64?) called Dr Livingston. Cool stuff, you would type in commands ("look around", "walk forward") and the game would respond. Got obsessed and spent a weekend playing, got to the end where I finally found Dr Livingston but couldn't get him to go with me, despite all my efforts. Finally hacked the source code and found out I was supposed to say, "Dr Livingston, I presume?" and he would walk along and I could finish the game. Other than a few very brief forays into games (Doom, tried WoW a little bit) I never spend any time doing it.

For bored games I tried becoming proficient at Chess and Go but got bored after a while. Just seems pointless. My INTP kid likes playing LEGO computer games. Beats watching The Three Stooges which is what I was obsessed with at his age.

 

[sm34g0l]

Such interesting stuff to read..

I was certainly no trouble-maker though. I was really reserved and not very interested in class participation. I think that was the staple of my schooling years.. "Needs to participate in class and interact with other students." Other than that I liked school and did very well (with the exception of math which was never my favorite past time).

As far as noticeable INTP stuff, my best friend in 7th grade (who is now an aeronautical engineer) and I taught ourselves Quick Basic and wrote little programs during class. also in middle school and into high school I was very interested in everything WWII and the Holocaust. I remember spending hours in the library after school reading books on the matter and picking through primary source documents for the real deal. Apparently my elementary and high schools offered a lot of freedom of study, as we were often allowed to choose our own subject matter for research papers, presentations, etc.. if it had to be history, i always did the Holocaust. If it was literature, light and dark imagery (never failed!). Turns out I only really studied two things! :P But could never be torn away from either.

 

[speiss]

When I was fifth grade I had no friends to run to during recess, so I walked the perimeter of the playground each and every single day. I wasn't allowed to just sit on the bench-- the monitors would kick me off it.

 

[dark]

As an ENTP I was quite a horrible little anti-christ, at least that is what I was called.

My first memory is from 2 years old. Before that, at the age of 18 months apparently I ran away from home, my mom said I packed up a bag of my little clothes and packed it down the road.

I learned to read and write at around 2, before 3. I was doing high school level algebra around before my 4th birthday. MY dad was going to college and taking college algebra so I learned it from watching him, it took him about a year, but he realized I was learning it from watching so he started testing me.

I was always half the size of the other kids my age. I have pictures to prove it if need be. So because of this I was picked on my 2nd year of school, in kindergarten I was being chased by this kid named Randy, I don't know why I remember his name and face, and well we had just gotten this new play ground equipment, so I being the quickest and smallest kid I quickly made it to the ladder of this thing and waited at the top. As soon as he showed his ugly face I stomped down as hard as I could on his face, I saw blood everywhere gushing out of his nose. And as he fell I knew I had to make it look like an accident so I threw myself down and landed on his chest. All I remember after that is the teachers running over and me lying to them that I had fallen down. Personally I hope that fucker died.

I could go on forever of the odd things I did as a child.

"Dark stop throwing stuff at the other kids."

I would always have to write these things called "themes."

- I will not lie.
- I will not manipulate the other kids.
- I will not rebel against the teacher.
- I will not use more than one pencil to write a theme. (fuck that I could use 6)
- I will not trade my food for extra milk.
- I will turn in my homework on time.
- I will pay attention in class.
- I will not draw in the blackboard when the teacher is out of the room.
- I will write about what I am asked to write about.
- I will follow instructions.
- I will not cause fights between other children at recess.
- I will wait in line.
- I will not talk back.
- I will not hand in homework done in crayons.
- I will not read any other book than what I am told to read.
- I will not run in circles.
- I will not ask to use the restroom.
- I will not challenge the teacher to a fight.
- I will respect my elders.
- I will not correct the teacher.
- I will not day dream in class.
- I will not forget my books at home.
- I will... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK!

I have a permanent callus on my hand from all those themes. So many of them that I can't even remember them all, these are close enough.

I remember being tested in kindergarten over and over again, I think it is those IQ tests they do to children when we enter school to see if we belong in a special ed. class. I kept getting these tests where I had to go to the library and was essentially psycho-analyzed. This happened for about a year until I got toxoplasmosis and they eventually stopped. The toxoplasmosis is what caused me to be blind, and it could also be part of my memory problems.

I failed 1st grade. Who the fuck fails 1st grade?

Well Dark never turns in his homework. He is always drawing when we are going over addition. (Well that is because Dark knows more math than you do you lousy ass teacher.) Dark always argues why he shouldn't have to read when asked to.

Dark always turns around in the opposite direction of everyone else and puts his hand on his back when everyone else says the pledge of allegiance.

Dark finds it funny to write assassination on the blackboard and cover up assassination with his hands.

Dark refuses to stop questioning.

Dark doesn't really make friends, he is... different than the rest of the kids.

I was essentially late for everything other than intellectual things. The best description of me would be Bean from Ender's Shadow, just dumb Bean down A LOT, and put him on Earth. That's me. I just never really got extremely tall. I am just 5'10".

I spend my nights contemplating death. Constantly rebelling against God, and trying to understand the concepts of god. I lived in constant illness essentially.

Dark was always alone. When Dark moved in 3rd grade all the teachers though he was a genius, but quickly started to hate him like the other teachers did. Eventually they ignored him.

I spent 6 weeks in the principles office.

My favorite moments in grade school was when the bookmobile came to the school once a month. I would always get a book. I would always read it. We didn't have a library that had books in that grade school so the bookmobile brought us books.

I notice I am ranting for too long so sorry for wasting your time.

 

[joser1978]

Dude, I was a troublemaker also. I used to pull fire alarms at school, I would also throw spit balls across the class room, daydream (excessively), Blow up my toys with fire crackers. I also started fires, specifically forts that were built by other kids, which never invited me in. I also set booby traps. I failed twice,and subsequently had to attend scummer school....that was due to my daydreaming, and constant absenteeism. I was also constantly involved in fights; and I never figured out why i would always fight "the big men on campus". Perhaps I hated everyone that was popular. I never like the shows or cartoons that everyone thought was cool.

 

[Névtelen]

I've never really acted out for fear of becoming too noticed. Compared to what I've read about a number of you I'm usually far more introverted than could ever benefit me. I've always had trouble verbally expressing my thoughts and, as a result, I lose most arguments due to just the degree of intimidation to which I'm susceptible.


I don't remember much of elementary school, except that I passed the time drawing speaking dragons and writing letters supposedly from certain historical and religious figures to my classmates.

I used to try to stack pidgeons in local parks while they were all-absorbed with the process of eating food from my hand.

I get onto random forums and miscellaneous discussion sights and post paragraphs of stream-of-conciousness ideas and thoughts, some of which I develop, some of which I find out are useless. I suppose an apt description could be "thought-dumping."

I used to be a fairly avid chess, risk, monopoly, and "Viking Game" (a game that's supposedly descended from an earlier Medieval game from Scandinavia) player, but unfortunately I've run out of people to play. I always liked to come up with new strategies and adapt them to fit each person I'd play against regularly, if it was possible to do so.

In my early childhood I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I used to have my parents check out what I remember as "dinosaur encyclopedias" so that I could learn absolutely everything that my four year old brain could.


(Since I am still a kid, after all...)

In mroe recent years:
I've been very interested in religion, or at least the psychology and required assumptions behind religious experiences. I could go on discussing such subjects for hours, although I've never had the opportunity.

I title my lab reports and papers for school in the style of antique scientific texts.

I spend my time researching what actually interests me instead of completing my English assignments. Such as now...

 

[EyeSeeCold]

As an ENTP I was quite a horrible little anti-christ, at least that is what I was called.

Spoiler

My first memory is from 2 years old. Before that, at the age of 18 months apparently I ran away from home, my mom said I packed up a bag of my little clothes and packed it down the road.

I learned to read and write at around 2, before 3. I was doing high school level algebra around before my 4th birthday. MY dad was going to college and taking college algebra so I learned it from watching him, it took him about a year, but he realized I was learning it from watching so he started testing me.

I was always half the size of the other kids my age. I have pictures to prove it if need be. So because of this I was picked on my 2nd year of school, in kindergarten I was being chased by this kid named Randy, I don't know why I remember his name and face, and well we had just gotten this new play ground equipment, so I being the quickest and smallest kid I quickly made it to the ladder of this thing and waited at the top. As soon as he showed his ugly face I stomped down as hard as I could on his face, I saw blood everywhere gushing out of his nose. And as he fell I knew I had to make it look like an accident so I threw myself down and landed on his chest. All I remember after that is the teachers running over and me lying to them that I had fallen down. Personally I hope that fucker died.

I could go on forever of the odd things I did as a child.

"Dark stop throwing stuff at the other kids."

I would always have to write these things called "themes."

- I will not lie.
- I will not manipulate the other kids.
- I will not rebel against the teacher.
- I will not use more than one pencil to write a theme. (fuck that I could use 6)
- I will not trade my food for extra milk.
- I will turn in my homework on time.
- I will pay attention in class.
- I will not draw in the blackboard when the teacher is out of the room.
- I will write about what I am asked to write about.
- I will follow instructions.
- I will not cause fights between other children at recess.
- I will wait in line.
- I will not talk back.
- I will not hand in homework done in crayons.
- I will not read any other book than what I am told to read.
- I will not run in circles.
- I will not ask to use the restroom.
- I will not challenge the teacher to a fight.
- I will respect my elders.
- I will not correct the teacher.
- I will not day dream in class.
- I will not forget my books at home.
- I will... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK!

I have a permanent callus on my hand from all those themes. So many of them that I can't even remember them all, these are close enough.

I remember being tested in kindergarten over and over again, I think it is those IQ tests they do to children when we enter school to see if we belong in a special ed. class. I kept getting these tests where I had to go to the library and was essentially psycho-analyzed. This happened for about a year until I got toxoplasmosis and they eventually stopped. The toxoplasmosis is what caused me to be blind, and it could also be part of my memory problems.

I failed 1st grade. Who the fuck fails 1st grade?

Well Dark never turns in his homework. He is always drawing when we are going over addition. (Well that is because Dark knows more math than you do you lousy ass teacher.) Dark always argues why he shouldn't have to read when asked to.

Dark always turns around in the opposite direction of everyone else and puts his hand on his back when everyone else says the pledge of allegiance.

Dark finds it funny to write assassination on the blackboard and cover up assassination with his hands.

Dark refuses to stop questioning.

Dark doesn't really make friends, he is... different than the rest of the kids.

I was essentially late for everything other than intellectual things. The best description of me would be Bean from Ender's Shadow, just dumb Bean down A LOT, and put him on Earth. That's me. I just never really got extremely tall. I am just 5'10".

I spend my nights contemplating death. Constantly rebelling against God, and trying to understand the concepts of god. I lived in constant illness essentially.

Dark was always alone. When Dark moved in 3rd grade all the teachers though he was a genius, but quickly started to hate him like the other teachers did. Eventually they ignored him.

I spent 6 weeks in the principles office.

My favorite moments in grade school was when the bookmobile came to the school once a month. I would always get a book. I would always read it. We didn't have a library that had books in that grade school so the bookmobile brought us books.

I notice I am ranting for too long so sorry for wasting your time.

Lol
You should write a book or make a movie.

There are so many good parts it's better to leave everything in context.

 

[Dr. Manhattan]

I would break rules and not get caught. I was a pretty sneaky kid. I however did not do anything that put me in the spotlight (mostly).

Command and Conquer, the X-COM games, Warcraft (excluding WOW), Panzer General and it's derivatives, and hybrids like Battlezone...played 'em all.

Yes indeed although I would def add Diablo 2 & age of emprires.

 

[notrightnow]

Getting busted sneaking out of my room after bed time to read the encyclopedias.

Explained to my teacher that it's silly to require daily work if I can pass the test and prove mastery of the subject matter. Then being shocked that she didn't appreciate my input.

Having conferences with my parents & the principal because I "argue" with the teacher. I thought we were having a nice intelligent debate.

Report card note once saying that I'm belligerent and intentionally try to make the teacher "look stupid" (gee that made me feel very misunderstood).

Mom constantly telling me to use "normal" words.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Getting busted sneaking out of my room after bed time to read the encyclopedias.

Explained to my teacher that it's silly to require daily work if I can pass the test and prove mastery of the subject matter. Then being shocked that she didn't appreciate my input.

Having conferences with my parents & the principal because I "argue" with the teacher. I thought we were having a nice intelligent debate.

Report card note once saying that I'm belligerent and intentionally try to make the teacher "look stupid" (gee that made me feel very misunderstood).

Mom constantly telling me to use "normal" words.

Yeah, most people think that when you challenge a set of facts that they put out, you're challenging them. It's a feeler thing, I think.

 

[IzlaRoza]

I have a few things i would like to add lol:
1) I dont remember this one but my mom (who is an esfj) always reminds me of how antisocial i was a child. one memory in particular was when my mom introduced me to one of her friends for the first time. I think she said i was 3 yrs old. She asked me was i going to say hi to the lady and i told her no and kept playing with my toys.

2) (age 3) my mom and i were in the car picking up one of her friends, who ended up sitting in the back with me, when there was CLEARLY a free front seat, and i didnt say hi, i moved as far away from the lady as i could (smashing myself up against the door) and asked her if she could get out the car. lol

3) I also was one who would NOT pledge allegiance to the flag. I refused simply because i was always taught not to talk to inanimate objects and that went against what i was told. (to this day i still will NOT)

4) I also would not play follow the leader because i was told not to follow the crowd.

5) I would get into trouble often for "being a smartass" as they called it. I all i did was question people for better understanding, especially when there was something being presented to me that conflicted with my beliefs.

6) i started kindergarten at 4, and they only let me because i had to prove to them i was ready 4 school. I had to tie my shoes, count to ten, sing my abc's and point out 5 different colors. I tied my shoes, counted to 25 (would have gone further but the lady cut me off) sang my abc's frontward and backwards, and pointed out all the colors and shapes, effortlessly. i also wanted the show the lady that i knew how to add without using my fingers so i told her a few things i knew how to add.

 

[Zionoxis]

Ummm, at the age of two, I did not want to be with my mom shopping so I shoved both fingers up my throat and puked all over the floor of that store. My mom being as stubborn as a mule cleaned it up and still continued shopping...

At the age of 3 or so, I started randomly hiding for the sake of it. Got security looking for me a few times.

PreK.... I organized a group of children (around 5) and set up times where we would lie to the teachers and ask to go to the bathroom. Instead, we would sneak into her room, open up her desk and steal candy. We would then return back to wherever the rest of the group was and share. It was usually nap time or recess. I never really was a normal kid. XD

I was a demon child in first grade. Everything from drawing in my composition notebook due to my thoughts of "Why?", to being a hyperactive spaztastic child.

I mellowed out in middle school...in fact, I lost most of my extroversion....that's lame.

 

[The Habitat Doctor]

Oh boy...

In first grade as soon as the teacher would pass out worksheets, I'd have them finished before the rest of them got around the room. While she left the room assuming we were all working, I colored the blocks on the floor and the cinder blocks on the wall in a checkerboard pattern for several weeks, at which point my mom had to come to school so that I'd behave.

Second grade I evacuated the school with my first science fair project, a random mixture of household products, medical sulphur, and kitchen ingredients, affectionately stuffed into a tupperware container and called "goop". I brought it in on a Friday and it set in the classroom until the following Monday and basically exploded. The fire department was called in Monday morning to dispose of it due to the smell which prevented anyone from entering the room.

4th grade I got expelled for "behavioral problems" and sent to the "special school" with the likes of the anger management kids and crack babies.

5th grade I made this awesome replica of a DNA double helix from marshmallows, and a week later got expelled for terroristic threats (I knew WAY too much about chemistry and contact explosives lol).

7th grade I got expelled for stealing a treasure trove of random objects from school, ranging from staplers and textbooks to 83 spoons from the cafeteria.

Can't forget: many random acts of pyromania and routinely running away to my grandma's house (she was our neighbor) at sunrise when I was 2, wearing nothing but my underwear and my dads work boots.

 

[The Habitat Doctor]

Getting busted sneaking out of my room after bed time to read the encyclopedias.

I did the same thing to watch the National Geographic channel (when it had decent programming) and walked in on my parents on the couch. That was...fun.

 

[etjusticepourtous]

When I was six I tried to burn my grand mother's house because she didn't give me part of the curtains to build an armor.

 

[Yet]

I think I was every teachers wet dream... I was very quiet and did what needed to be done to get through school.

Besides that I had some little issues that could have been a bit annoying for them: I was usually in my own little world, did not do my homework but it did not matter that much (whatever I did was good enough to pass) and I had issues with being on time. (how people manage to be on time goes beyond me...)

At home I was also quiet and always in my little world... I connected with people older than me, loved to play on my own.
My mums biggest problem with me is that I would NOT do anything I did not agree with. That used to drive her mad. She is the kind of person who wants control and respect. The latter is never something that comes with a title or position in my book.

With other children I usually felt a strange sort of distance or disconnection. We did not seem to live in the same space-time continuüm. But I used to try to be 'normal' and try to make contact. Sometimes I 'clicked'.

I do not recall any other mischief than 'extreme stubbornness'.

As a one-and-half year old I burned myself ones trying to serve myself soup out of a pan that was boiling on the stove. I think that was about it.
Ow yeah ... I did not turn up a lot at university and left because I got pregnant... I have a lovely daughter and later on I picked my studies up because I did not want to do extreme stupid uneducated work.
Now I am oké.

 

[jantling]

Kindergarten, there was a firedrill. Everyone paniced, I hid under a desk and cut my hair. I was bored I guess.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

At home I was also quiet and always in my little world... I connected with people older than me, loved to play on my own.
My mums biggest problem with me is that I would NOT do anything I did not agree with. That used to drive her mad. She is the kind of person who wants control and respect. The latter is never something that comes with a title or position in my book.

With other children I usually felt a strange sort of distance or disconnection. We did not seem to live in the same space-time continuüm. But I used to try to be 'normal' and try to make contact. Sometimes I 'clicked'.

I recognize this.
I'm also always late, it's just that I don't care about being two minutes too late... I mean, it's just two minutes, and I'm always wasting my time at school anyways, being forced to go there...

 

[James Black]

A teacher used to sell candy--blowpops--and made decent money... So I went to the store, borrowed some money from my mom to buy a ton of blowpops, and started selling them. I made just over what I spent on them before being called to the office and told I couldn't continue. In the end, however, I had about 50 free blowpops out of the deal and a dollar or two.

Edit: Also! Once, while living in a large apartment complex, I got off my bus, and some kid I never talked to before, who happened to live in the same apartment complex (and therefore get off at the same bus stop) got a new gaming system. And invited me to come play with him. So I went to his house, played with him for hours. It got pretty late and dark outside, and I eventually left to go home... At which point tons of cops were at my apartment... As well as some relatives from across town... Looking for me... Since everyone was completely unaware I had decided to go hang out with a "friend" after school.

 

[Abraxas]

At 4th grade our class got an assignment to sell pedestrian safety reflectors in order to raise money to charity. I didn't see the point in selling something without making any profit, so I added into the (already expencive) price ~25% and made a killing (in terms of a 10-year old).

I had enough money to borrow to few of my friends, because they wanted some toys, but their parents wouldn't buy them. So I though it was a good idea to lend them the money and make a written bond with them. The terms of the loan were pretty strict: e.g. ~20% interest, not paying in time would result in the confiscation of (a) toy(s), during the time of the debt the borrower would have to take orders from the lender during playtime etc...

This was all written on paper, including dates, full names and it looked pretty official. Can you imagine how pissed off this one kid's parents were when they found out, they still paid the whole sum (interest included) though.

 

[Jean Paul]

Ok ok here's mine, 4th grade, girl brought something that isn't allowed to class.
So I told on her........... next time in 5th, I tricked her into thinking it was someone else and telling on them when they brought something. P.S I love the one above me through. Abarxas

 

[Geminii]

With other children I usually felt a strange sort of distance or disconnection. We did not seem to live in the same space-time continuüm.

So very much this. Friends happened to other kids. It was just never an issue which came up on my radar. Similarly, school was for learning. The idea that there might even *be* a social structure amongst the student body simply never occurred to me.

Let's see, what else...

Pre-K. Took the dog for a walk to the beach. Across several major roads. Without informing anyone I was going. Read voraciously.

Kindergarten. The teacher used me as a distraction when she wanted five minutes' peace. I'd sit on a chair at the front of a pool of kids and read one of the storybooks to them. Only in order to show them the pictures, I'd have it facing outwards, meaning I had to read the text upside-down. This was supposed to be a problem?

Local library. Pretty much read them out of material. Polished off most of the kids' section and reference material over a couple of years, anyway.

Primary school. Tended to walk out of the classroom and go home if bored or frustrated. One teacher didn't believe how many books I read unless I kept a diary, so I did so. Read about 300 books that year and was able to give synopses when asked.

Third grade. Took self-paced spelling/grammar skill tests that were supplied to each school at the time. A few weeks in, had to walk next door to the fourth-grade classroom to ask for their tests, as I'd blown through my own year's. Passed the advanced seventh-grade level the following year before they ran out of tests. Pegged a ninth-grade reading level.

Fourth grade. So bored I sneaked into the local (active and operational) flour mill on my way home from school every so often. Climbed around the machinery, fell into the hopper bins. No idea how I wasn't crushed or shredded multiple times that year.

Sixth grade. Shipped off to advanced classes at another school. Still bored, although admittedly not quite to the same degree.

Seventh grade. Teacher implemented class point system which could be used to bid on the assorted contents of a box of chocolate she hauled in once a month or so. Unfortunately for her, the point system was in the form of monopoly-style money we designed and she then replicated as needed. And it was monochrome, on standard paper. And the school photocopier was occasionally left untended. I think I was responsible for the first counterfeiting ring at that school. Never got caught.

Eighth grade. New school. Hated not having any choice in subjects whatsoever. Became something of an ace at the local recess variation of handball, which involved various walls with protruding bricks, sets of concrete stairs etc. Not because of any great physical ability, but simply being able to see all possibilities of which way the ball was going to bounce.

Ninth grade. First day in physics class, the teacher asked us all to write down everything we knew about the structure of the atom. Had to ask me to stop writing, eventually. This was the year I looked forward to the local annual math competition, as the top 1% (or whatever it was) got cash prizes, and was annoyed that I only ended up with one of the lesser prizes, as I'd been planning on receiving a higher amount.

Skipped the latter half of the year (traveling. Parents were teachers, they made us kids keep travel diaries. I hated it.) and the tenth grade entirely, as the entire class was on an accelerated educational track.

Eleventh grade. Played catch-up for a month or three, filling in everything I'd missed in the last six months. Started devising mathematical conjectures based on things I'd intuited about geometric structures and integers and asking the mathematics teacher to help prove them.

Twelfth grade. Crammed for the wrong mathematics exam in finals and only discovered it ten minutes before the exam started. Condensed entire math book for the year onto two sides of A4 in that ten minutes, memorized the layout, ditched the paper walking into the exam (no reference materials allowed), and then replicated the entire layout onto a fresh sheet of paper once inside. Got an A-minus.

I haunted libraries. School libraries, public libraries... I went into hospital for a week or two as a teenager for a inflamed appendix, and was hooked to an IV. When Dad visited one day and discovered I was missing from the ward, his first question to the nurse was "Do you have a library on site?" I'd slipped past the nurse's station and navigated over a mile of corridors, dragging an IV stand, just to get fresh reading material.

 

[MissQuote]

This topic is all kinds of fun. I want to quote a good half of you.

I don't really know if any of these things were INTP specifically, but just my own quirks.

When I was rather little, between 3 to 5, (those are the years I lived with him) my grandpa used to keep the bottom drawer of his desk at work stocked with tubes and wires and pipes and mesh and nuts and bolts et cetera for me, I would go to work with him and spend the day quite often and the drawer of stuff was for all the "inventions" I liked to make while we hung out. He worked at an airplane battery plant and later at his own company making batteries for government and science stuff (I'll leave it at that because I don't feel like ten paragraphs of explaination). My whole childhood going to work and just hanging out at the plant with solitude was one of my favorite things.

I guess it was in sixth grade that I started skipping class at school to go hang out in the field or behind the gym by this little brook and read for hours during the boring classes.

One thing I've always laughed at myself for doing was when I was sixteen and I was starting at a new high school, at the time I had a ton of clothing of all different styles, all the phases I'd been going through the past couple years, plus all the clothing family members thougfht wold "look nice" on me and of course all my sister and moms stuff, I decided to just dress full blown cliche in a different look every day of my first two weeks , but keep my attitude exactly the same, just to see how people reacted to me. Something like day one full out hippy, day two goth, day three gang banger wannabe, day four conservative prep, day five you get the idea. No one really talked to me much, including the teachers, but I ended up accepted by everyone while still being in no ones group. I still laugh thinking back about it.

 

[Causeless]

Something like day one full out hippy, day two goth, day three gang banger wannabe, day four conservative prep, day five...

Pfffahahahahaaaa!

I like you newbie.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

I decided to just dress full blown cliche in a different look every day of my first two weeks , but keep my attitude exactly the same, just to see how people reacted to me. Something like day one full out hippy, day two goth, day three gang banger wannabe, day four conservative prep, day five you get the idea. No one really talked to me much, including the teachers, but I ended up accepted by everyone while still being in no ones group. I still laugh thinking back about it.

I've always wanted to do something like that.

I just feel "fake" when I try to get out of my conservative clothing style. Even a different color shirt or new shoes feels weird.

My solution is to one day buy tons of clothes at one time, so I don't fall into the conservative habits, adding one new thing over time.

 

[The Gopher]

One thing I've always laughed at myself for doing was when I was sixteen and I was starting at a new high school, at the time I had a ton of clothing of all different styles, all the phases I'd been going through the past couple years, plus all the clothing family members thougfht wold "look nice" on me and of course all my sister and moms stuff, I decided to just dress full blown cliche in a different look every day of my first two weeks , but keep my attitude exactly the same, just to see how people reacted to me. Something like day one full out hippy, day two goth, day three gang banger wannabe, day four conservative prep, day five you get the idea. No one really talked to me much, including the teachers, but I ended up accepted by everyone while still being in no ones group. I still laugh thinking back about it.

Ha! I don't have lots of random clothes but I have always had the same conservative hair style so just recently I have started spiking it or drastically changing it at inappropriate times. Not that impressive but I have always wanted to do what you did.

 

[MissQuote]

Well I suspect I've found a place were the people have always been as strange as I, apparently, am, without it ever have been a purposful strangeness. More a wondering why everyone else thinks it is so strange strangness.

 

[Frett]

After weeks of watching classical art videos in elementary school we were asked to draw our own classic style art that would be hung around the walls of the class room. To their surprise, and i don't know why, after being presented with dozens and dozens of naked people, cupids, and angels in paintings, one of their kid students (me) made the best naked lady drawing ever!!! And also got in trouble. luckily my parents understood that if your gonna show a kid like me that art then ask him to reproduce it he won't disappoint, lol.

 

[trevo4311]

Dropping a cat 1 inch from the ground to see if it lands on its feet. It didn't.

 

[PapyrusAirplanes]

Reading all these awful school stories, I'm really glad I was home schooled. No stupid teachers, no boring lectures, but plenty of friends and all the time I wanted to research.... Man. That was the life.

Anyway. Childhood:

--My "first word" was "oualang tubig," the Tagalog phrase for, "The water's stopped!"

--By 4, I was that obnoxious kid at the natural history museum who would inform you of the animals' habitats, eating habits, lifespans, and (by 7) Latin names.

--At 5, I had a one-eyed frog named "Slicky." Slicky was a wild frog, but would literally jump up to me every time I went to the pond. I told Slicky, "I'll love you forever and always, because you are my dear one. I'm your mama now!" (It's a quote from one of my favorite books. We have this on video.)

--When I was 6, my favorite movie was The Lion King. My 3-year-old sister was Nala, and I was Sarabi, and I decided that Nala needed to be carried to safety. So I tried to carry Nala like a lion carries its baby, and in doing so took a 1-inch bloody chunk from her upper back. With my teeth.

--Also at 6, I got married. My husband and I were then found making out under a tractor at the children's museum and in a closet in his sister's room.

--At 7, I decided I was going to marry Steve Irwin and move to Australia to study herpetology and catch snakes, crocodiles, lizards, and tarantulas.

--All throughout my childhood, I loved the book A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I tried to tesser on multiple occasions.

--Also tried to fly by jumping off the deck with a throw blanket spread like wings. It's a miracle I didn't break anything.

--When bored, I asked my mom to write me algebra problems.

--In high school, my Lit teacher assigned us to write a common fairy tale from the perspective of an inanimate object. I wrote Little Red Riding Hood from the perspective of Granny's dentures. I'm really proud of that essay.


Thanks for telling your stories, everyone. I was laughing out loud on multiple occasions.

 

[tonbomon]

My mother and wife use this as an example of how literal you have to be with me/ how dumb I can be. When I was in middle school, I was told to put clothes from the clothes-washer and put them into the drier. I got yelled at for not turning the drier on. I keep telling them that my mom said nothing about turning it on, but that's where they say I was wrong. They say if something goes in the drier, you turn it on. But mom said nothing about turning it on! Come on!

I am so like this, things have to be completely literal otherwise it doesn't compute. A constant source of frustration for my partner!

 

[xbox]

According to my mom, I was a demon child, and a brat. I feel safe to post now after reading everyone else's.
----

I don't remember very well but when I was a toddler, mom told me that I attempted to run away from home many times, which was hiding in the neighbors backyard to avoid my parents.

I often got lost in public places, and strangers always brought me back to my parents. I never seemed disturbed at the fact that I lost them.

During naptime in kindergarten, I would never sleep, instead I snuck off into the toy house to play 'chef' by myself, and then would return to my mat and pretend to sleep, just so I could get my candy.

Unlike my younger siblings who hated going to school and ran to mom when she picked them up, I loved going to school and never wanted to go home. I hid in the playground.

When I was about 5, I punched a little boy in the face, and then when I saw that his nose was bleeding, I ran home crying and hid there.

I was apparently very good at hide and seek.

At 6, I saw a kid in the act of stealing my bike. I ran after him, pushed him off the bike, and brought it home.

I used to "pet" my goldfish, and when it died, I gave it a proper burial which involved shaving cream and toilet paper, and burying it in mom's rose garden.

At the beach, I once put a tiny crab in my pocket to keep it as a pet, it didn't survive my pocket.

I raced snails.

The lady who lived directly below us was a really mean lady, and hit the ceiling whenever my baby sister would run across the floor. For revenge, I stuck hundreds of giant garden snails all over her front door and windows, I let the snails do all the dirty work too.

At age 6, I decided I wanted a pet chicken, so I took an egg out of the refrigerator and waited for it to hatch. Mom took me to the petting zoo later on.

At the petting zoo, they accidently locked me into a turkey pen, those freaks were as big as me. This explains why enjoy thanksgiving dinners so much. Throughout my life I was chased by dogs, cows, and geese, bitten by squirrels, ducks, and rabbits. I don't find small furry things cute anymore, and the world is better off without these misleading fuzzballs

I apparently would stare blankly at the teacher's face who would be creeped out by me.

As a toddler, I was terrified of costumed characters at theme parks. Not so much when I got older.

At chucky cheese, I lifted chuck's shirt from behind and said "Mom, He has human skin!!" Then I demanded him to take his mask off.

I also haunted the tubed slides, and never let the other kids go through. Mom didn't allow me to play the arcade games, because I would walk up the thing, and directly put the balls into the highest scoring thing, rather than throwing them in.

I actually don't know why my name was ALWAYS on the detention list to the side of the board in 2nd grade. Probably because I never payed attention since everything was so boring to me.

One time I was so angry, that I locked myself inside my room for days and painted about 3 giant masterpieces. They are the best paintings I have ever done.

I had a person tell me "its quiet people like you who shoot down schools". For some reason I have his name written down on some kind of "list" somewhere.
Kidding.. .... or am I?

I feel disturbed when watching romance movies, and more at home with horror movies.

I find it funny when something cute suffers in movies.

Watched Jurassic Park like a million times.

I was intrigued by Hannibal Lecter.. and the Exorcist.

I hated all the idiots in highschool, I never ate once in the cafeteria, Instead I found some outdoor spot away from the crowds. That was my only time of peace in that hell-hole.

I had an IQ test when I was in elementary school, and they said I was a gifted child, but didnt get the "education required of me", whatever that means, therefore I found everything boring and was a first class brat.


sorry for the long list.

 

[deadcaribou]

> Drawing elaborate plans for diverse contraptions and vehicles (submarine, cars etc)

> At preschool I was also a gang leader ; members would do whatever I told them

> Had them dig a hole under the fence in elementary school and planned to breakout (got caught unfortunately)

> I used to collect random stuff in a "treasure" drawer containing a drop of mercury, various magnets, lenses, electronic components, firecrackers, etc.

> Later on (around 10) developped obsessive–compulsive personality disorder, it was pretty bad:
- for a moment, thought my 'soul' would escape my body if I opened my mouth (was quite silent for a while)
- thought bad thoughts about people could *actually* hurt them (had to 'cancel' the bad thoughts through crazy rituals involving numbers etc)

I'm a pretty normal person now.
It's just the tiles that make the wrong pattern.

 

[Sosekopp]

Me as a kid (about 6-12 years):
- I was very paranoid.
- I memorized pretty much all motorcycle, tractor and automobile brands.
- I memorized the names and capitol cities of all the countries in the world.
- I read anything I could get my hands on, from Väinö Linna's The Unknown Soldier to t Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Eye and Mind.
- I trolled the internet without being aware of it.
- I sent very angry e-mails to corporations who polluted the environment and did business in dictatorships.
- I was a very naïve little eco-socialist.
- I had 3-4 friends.
- I played soccer, but I was not very good at it.
- I installed Linux on every computer I could find (they had to be saved from the evil capitalist Microsoft conspiracy).
- I wasted a lot of time playing Civilization (II and III), Populous: the Beginning, The Sims, Sim City (2000, 3000 and 4), Warcraft II and Constructor.

 

[The Gopher]

> At preschool I was also a gang leader ; members would do whatever I told them

I was never a gang leader, my sister was just older and an INTJ, ahh well I can dream.

 

[natg989]

I remember this because my aunt freaked out about it and told me years later how she used to worry about me. She thought I was going to grow up to be a serial killer or worse, non-christian. Well it was just a typical day for me in my imagination. All I did was play out a story in my head, something dark and twisted where 5-8 people were hung on the gallows in a climactic ending of an Old Western tale. I probably got the idea from TV or some book I read, who knows. But I remember going into my grandma's closet and untying all her and gramp's shoe strings, then using the string to tie my barbies to the treadmill bar and hang them by their necks in a straight row. I left them when my TV show came on and my aunt walked in the house to find 5-8 naked barbies, hanging by shoe strings from the treadmill bar.

 

[Frett]

When i was around four or five i though i'd take off on my plastic tricycle to the nearest grocery store that my dad managed when i was a kid. The store was about five blocks a way or so and no one seemed to notice i was gone for quite a while. I even passed my much older cousins who were at my grandparents house. I even waved and everything. I wonder what went on in there heads. Did they think it was normal to see a small kid on a plastic trycycle blocks away from home riding in the street? I'll never know. Anyways i got to the store and made my way to the sugar and flour isle and hide inbetween the isles. back then the store had open like shelves, kinda like the big ones ya see at costco, where the flour bags and sugar bags were just stacked. I found a pen and quickly began working, and by working i mean i began to write stuff all over the bags. after a few hours of that i knew the store was gonna close soon so i peddled home. As i approached my home i could see people running around the house calling out my name so what did i do? I used my INTP Ninja-like skills and evaded them working my way through the crowded house to the main bathroom and fell asleep under the sink so no one would find me.

 

[Frett]

I feel disturbed when watching romance movies, and more at home with horror movies.

Same. I can't stand cheezy music or movies. I do like classical music and what not but sappy stuff makes me far more uncomfortable than gory or horror type stuff. This is one of the reasons going to church is such a hard thing for me. It makes me wanna vomit how everyone is so emotional for no apparent reason. Its something i dont quite get but have learned to live with but i still avoid if i can.

 

[scorpiomover]

My dad used to ask us puzzles at the dinner table. Everyone else would answer. Then, if no-one got it right, and everyone else had given up, I'd put my hand up and give the right answer.

Apparently, I had the same problem when I was in HS. My mum got me maths tuition for a year, when it was my best subject, but I didn't get tuition for any other subjects. My maths teacher had said that my answers were nearly always spot on, but that I never wrote down my working out, and without my working out, I'd lose most of my marks. So I spent a year in private tuition, not to actually learn how to do maths well, but learning how to explain to everyone else why I was right.

I remember that when I was 6, my parents actually got me what I wanted for my birthday. It was a book called "How the bomb was built". It was a detailed history of the science of the atomic bomb. It dealt with all the major chemistry and physics, starting from the ancient Greeks, all the way to the modern day. It had 5 different theories of the origins of the universe, and a description of how nuclear fusion reactors worked. I read that book every day, all day, from 6 to 7.

Then, when I was 15, I used to be part of a youth group. One day, they were all making skits of everyone. They did a skit about me, with someone imitating me saying "I'm going to make an atom bomb and blow you all up". Apparently, that's what I would say to people when I was annoyed.

The rest of my life was pretty similar.

I'm also very, very pleased that I wasn't the only person here to be sent to a psychiatrist when I was young.