Intp... Whaaaaa? I don't think so!

[Gordy]

Hey all,
I have taken many mbti tests, starting at age 14 up to 18, and the results have changed rapidly, probably due to the fact that I've done too much research about the test and formed far too much bias. Ive been trying to get a good read on myself by using functions, alternative tests and even *gasp* socionics, but alas, no good results. Thr most common two results for me to get are istp and intp, so let's see if you guys can solve this.

Some things about me:

- I'm called lazy a lot, but I'm not lazy on purpose, I'm just really bad at remembering my commitments, so things have a tendency to not get done.
- I'm typically serious, but when I'm win my close friends, I can get fairly silly.
- My two best friends are an entj and an intj, I love them both but they are too judging.
- I am very sensitive to criticism
- I have innate talent at lots of things physically constructive eg. Ceramics, metalwork, woodwork, but only until my interest is gone, or I have made the project that got me interested in the medium, then even if I'm trying hard, I start to suck at whatever I was doing (in other words, people around me tend to look at me like the epitemy of beginners luck)
- I am addicted to mbti typing, and my friends often have to tell me to shut up when they are not interested. I have trouble figuring out what people around me want.
- I'm the guy in the conversation who is t paying any attention then pops in and blows every ones mind about something we were talking about 10 minutes ago.
- I love art, but only art with a function (pottery, jewelry, blacksmithing) or art with a theme I like (steam punk, nature, etc...)
- people tell me I always look sad, I'm not
- I hate engineering, but I love to build things
- being alone bothers me if I have nobody to interface with, I typically spend my time on Skype while playing video games, because I get bored of the lack of interaction, but I have terrible social skills and people tend to think of me as bordering on inconsiderate, mainly because I can never figure out what people want
-I tend to hate people I'm not close with, I have trouble meeting new people
- when I'm in a group, somebody else WILL make the decisions for me


Anyways, since their is plenty of mbti knowledge floatin around here, hopefully someone can help me with some direction. If you need any more info to answer properly, don't hesitate to ask more questions, I'm an open person to pretty much anybody I'm close with or any key on the Internet (because that makes sense)
Thanks all,
Gordy

Ps, the only thing I'm absolutely sure about is that I am xxxP. I know because I can't stand Js grating on me by telling to to write down lists or plans, I much prefer to have an idea of what I'm going to do then make it up on the spot

 

[snafupants]

Understand the hierarchy of cognitive functions for each type first. Hope that helps Gordy.

 

[Gordy]

Actually, on another note, I just read an entp description, and it sounded pretty good, maybe I'm just a stereotypical awkward high schooler entp

 

[MissQuote]

But you just made a list... Was it difficult to make the list about yourself? Did it flow right out or did you think about it and second guess?

 

[Gordy]

Well, I just sorta thought of stuff that had happened over the past while and wrote it down, it took me almost 40 minutes to get it all in, because I got distracted so many times

Edit: basically everything on that list has an accompanying memory that comes from the past week or two

 

[snafupants]

But you just made a list... Was it difficult to make the list about yourself? Did it flow right out or did you think about it and second guess?

Good questions.

 

[Gordy]

Ok, after more research, I found that the reason hat the istp doesn't quite click with me is because I have much more extraverted intuition than extraverted sensing. Every other function lines up better for istp though. I think that this might be a result of my lifestyle, by which I mean I used to be a pole vaulter, a wrestler, and a martial arts practitioner, but I received a heavy spinal and head injury that severely reduced my ability to see clearly. It's complicated, but basically since my injury I have not been able to be physically active or adventurous. So, I'm considering mysf an istp with a situational highly developed extraverted intuition.

Still curios to hear any insight you folk might have into this situation.

 

[DetachedRetina]

INTPs can be athletic. You could just be INTP

"I hate engineering but I love to build things" screams ISTP to me though.

Are you sure it's Ne and not Ni? could be ISTP with highly developed introverted intuition which would make more sense to me.

I wish I knew more ISTPs in real life. Every one I've met I've had great fun with. I'm not sure I like being around other INTPs that's the niche I'm supposed to fill

 

[Gordy]

I have yet to find a well differentiated description of iN and eN functions. All I can say about the N I do have is that I'm thr guy in hr group who does everything spontaneously, and thinks of the crazy solution to the problem that seems impossible but works (usually). I don't know how these solutions come to me, they spawn of of specific ideas that catch hold in my mind, that I apply to the situation. Like for example, a person challenged me to find a way to throw a bag upwards into the air so that as much of he contents of the bag as possible would fall out. I thought about just throwing it, then I considered throwing it in a spin so the things inside would be forced out, then I came up with my final solution of using a rope to the bottom of the bag that I could yank on when he bag reached its maximum height in order to use inertia to pull the bag away and leave thr items inside to keep moving up. I won. The ideas came to me spontaneously, in he sense that their origins were a mystery to me, I had no specific memory of where or when I had used the other solutions before, but I knew that I had, and I had a concept of the results to base my final decision off of. Don't know what that means about my N function, but hey, it's got something to do with it

 

[DetachedRetina]

I don't think there is a clear difference between Ne and Ni. It seems like the dichotomy is just arbitrarily imposed because all of the other functions have an introverted and extroverted version.

We are what we are I guess, we won't all fit into the categories quite perfectly. From what you've given me so far though it sounds most similar to ISTP with well developed intuition. (The throwing the bag example also says istp to me, as mechanical genius is supposed to be common to this type. To describe it in cognitive function terms, I'd say the interplay between Se and Ti over time feed your Ni worldview a lot of information about how objects behave in the real world, to the point where Ni simply "knows" out of nowhere what types of things would pull the contents out of the bag the best.)

 

[Gordy]

Huh, yeah that sounds pretty good. Alright, I'll try to patch up my broken istp self and get backto all the adventures I've been missing I suppose. That's for the info guys.

 

[Dapper Dan]

Something to keep in mind: your type is determined by your PREFERENCE for certain functions, not by your ability. In other words, being good with your hands doesn't automatically make you an Se. It's entirely possible you've just had a lot of practice at that stuff and have gotten good at it.

I do think you sound like an ISTP, but it's stupid for me to think I can type you based on a few forum posts. Try to figure out which functions you use when you're free of outside influences or with close friends.

 

[ElvenVeil]

Strange. How is one addicted to typing, when you can't type yourself? Not a critique at all though, I just found it curious.

I don't like the ISTP typing though, with what little data we have to work with. I think there is a reason why you feel that Ne is most like you; because Ne is likely one of the functions you use the most. Given this line of reasoning, I think ENTP matches very well, the way you describe how you think of crazy solutions. This would also say ENTP to me: I hate engineering, but I love to build things.

I read it as you just really like to create things, let your imagination run freely and from there construct/build things just like you contruct these many crazy scenario solutions in your head. If you rely heavily on Ne, as you say yourself, then look at types with Ne in their function tree(such as Ne dominant types).
So as a result, like Dapper Dan and Snaffupants, I think you should understand and learn about functions, and do your typing based on functions. Still, my guess is ENTP

 

[Gordy]

Took another look at entp, really, that set of functions looks entirely more accurate than istp. Having inution over thinking makes so much sense to me now, because I am always the guy in the group who figures thr problem ot but then has no idea where the solution came from, and sometimes I can't Even explain my thought processes to other people. Also, my friends are used to it now, but it used to bother them that I took such big leaps in a conversation topic. The only friend this does t bother is my best friend, and intj, which makes a lot of sense. Still considering all options open, but for the next few hours I'll look at the world through he lens of an entp and see how that fits me.

 

[Gordy]

Strange. How is one addicted to typing, when you can't type yourself? Not a critique at all though, I just found it curious.

I've been doing type research for so long that all of my friends have been typed by me, and I've been trying to type myself for years. I'm always sure that I either have the solution or it is just around the corner, but I always prove myself wrong. All I've really figured out over the past month or two is that I am a definite XXTP, and a likely N.