INTPs: School and Work

[Architect]

I've seen a lot of articles purported to help INTP's in their quest for meaningful work; most of them fall short. Try this one

Personality Junkie
Part 1

Part 2

 

[Architect]

Bump. I don't think this link is getting the attention it deserves, given the degree of difficulty INTP's have with school and work.

Additional Suggestions for INTP Career-Seekers

1. Resist the temptation of grandiosity. Because of their individualism, as well as their Fe desire for public affirmation, INTPs are often driven to produce an original theory of their own. They may feel that this is the only way for them to make their mark on the world, the only way they can prove their worth. But INTPs need to realize that this is a grandiose lie of their inferior function. Feverishly pursuing such grandiose expectations only worsens INTPs’ tendency to act hurriedly and impulsively, burdening them with the sense that time is working against them.

2. Patience, mastery, and quality. All of this speaks to the value of patience and humility in INTPs’ worklife. INTPs who are in a mad rush to prove their worth or intelligence will invariably produce work of questionable quality and are unlikely to receive the validation they are seeking. INTPs are far better off taking their time rather than feverishly striving toward some imagined glorious endpoint. They should be focusing on mastery, strategy, and precision (Ti), as well as exploration (Ne), rather than trying to indulge their inferior’s push for quick fame or recognition. Both Darwin and Kant are good examples of theorists who displayed great patience and did not publish their best work until later in life.

3. The importance of lifestyle. To allow themselves the time necessary to perform quality work, INTPs must think carefully about their lifestyle, ideally from the time they graduate high school. They should carefully consider whether they want others to be financially dependent on them (or demanding of their time), which may only exacerbate their sense of urgency. In some regard, those who opt for family life may, in effect, be sacrificing their ability to function optimally as INTPs. It can be very difficult for INTPs to work in they way that is best suited to them and to simultaneously support a family. This is especially true in their twenties and thirties, when INTPs are still working to find themselves and their niche. Of course, forgoing or refusing long-term commitment in relationships can be quite difficult for INTPs because of issues related to their inferior Fe (see this post on INTP relationships). But INTPs who want both career and relational satisfaction are often wise to wait until later in life before making permanent commitments.

4. Don’t force things. INTPs can be slow to accept the possibility that there may not be an ideal pre-existing career path or college major for them, especially early in life. Their interests may simply be too broad or idiosyncratic to fit squarely into any predefined mold. So rather than force-fitting themselves into a particular career or college major, some may opt for a low-stress day job while working to identify or develop their passion on the side. Again, this points to the importance of lifestyle, since single INTPs can subsist on poverty level incomes.

 

[Turniphead]

Yup... those four points have been something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I tend to have problems with 1. 2. and 4.

I keep looking and looking and wondering if I'm doing the right thing. But maybe there just isn't the right career out there(or maybe there is... nooo the looping thoughts).

 

[intpz]

Gonna read the links, commenting on your bump in the meantime from personal perspective.

1. I don't need public affirmation. I see money to be able to enjoy everything that the life has to offer. I also seek to get my ideas "out there," as I want to show the "me." I don't really care if people will like it or not.

2. I realized this when I've started developing a game, was two or so years ago. Actually I did have this in mind earlier, but I've adopted it to the big picture.

3. Good thing I'm okay with being alone as long as I have interesting stuff to do.

4. I didn't have any difficulty identifying that any school cannot offer most of what interests me, in fact what schools offer here disinterests me. Only around 10-20% MAY interest me. I do disagree with the low-stress job, unless it pays good though. No money means no fun. Fun being interesting stuff, as most of the interesting stuff requires money: new technologies for example. A server room at home - dream room?

 

[intpz]

Not bad, I can relate to ~50-60% of what's written there. Some things are complete opposite of me, some are simply not me. Some are incomplete, if we'd exclude the incomplete, we'd get 30-40% of relation.

Gonna read ENTP and INTJ now, see how much I can relate to those.

 

[Architect]

1. I don't need public affirmation. I see money to be able to enjoy everything that the life has to offer.

INTP's typically have a touch of the messianic. Look at the INTP profile on that page, it explains the INTP functional stack and how the elusive she-bitch Fe tempts us to this.

I also seek to get my ideas "out there," as I want to show the "me." I don't really care if people will like it or not.

Isn't that the public affirmation we are discussing here?

 

[intpz]

INTP's typically have a touch of the messianic. Look at the INTP profile on that page, it explains the INTP functional stack and how the elusive she-bitch Fe tempts us to this.

I will tomorrow.

Isn't that the public affirmation we are discussing here?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but public affirmation is this: "I want to show the public what I can because I want to be thought of as smart/respected/rich/whatever."

Me: "I want to show the public what I can (only my ideas though) because I want to express myself and I don't care if they'll approve of it or not."

About the same for INTJ career description as well, except less incomplete relations.

Gonna read ENTP tomorrow.

Not a bad site!

 

[Architect]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but public affirmation is this: "I want to show the public what I can because I want to be thought of as smart/respected/rich/whatever."

Me: "I want to show the public what I can (only my ideas though) because I want to express myself and I don't care if they'll approve of it or not."

They don't look qualitatively different to me. If you really didn't care you wouldn't want to show the public your ideas at all. Look at other types and their ideas, most people have no interest in getting them out in any form.

Not caring what people think is very INTP also - part of the rugged individualism, as long as they acknowledge how right we are. Fits me to a T too by the way. We're all a bunch of fuckers really.

 

[Analyzer]

Thanks for posting. Very informative and made me understand how our inferior function Fe tries to drive us when dealing with schooling and careers when young.

It's almost seems like what we should be aiming for is letting Fe supply the raw material or foundation, then let go and focus on Ti and strengthen Ne. Don't let Fe drive us.

I don't know about our tertiary function Si.

 

[intpz]

They don't look qualitatively different to me. If you really didn't care you wouldn't want to show the public your ideas at all. Look at other types and their ideas, most people have no interest in getting them out in any form.

Not caring what people think is very INTP also - part of the rugged individualism, as long as they acknowledge how right we are. Fits me to a T too by the way. We're all a bunch of fuckers really.

I thought about it a bit, here's what I came up with: I want to show the world how I think about various things without regards to being liked or not. Most of those things rely on how something is stupid (cash register machine head operating officer? ).

I do want to show my creative ideas as well, but I want to USE them myself. I don't want anybody to know about them, as I don't like seeing someone else doing anything with my ideas, unless I get paid for them accordingly on how good I think they are. I think this part is really selfish and asshole-ish. An example would be beta-testing a game - most people say what they think can be improved, and I just think of many ideas that I think could improve the game immensely, I don't share them, as I wouldn't get anything in return, while someone else would likely be getting more money than he would otherwise.

 

[Architect]

I thought about it a bit, here's what I came up with

Dunno, but I see a lot of analysis for somebody who might not be displaying INTP characteristics

 

[intpz]

That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that the Fe described in a lot of places doesn't seem to fit me that good. I remember it somewhat fitting me 10, 15 years ago, but as the time passed, I can't relate very much to it.

 

[Architect]

INTPs, wittingly or not, are in many ways perfectionists and idealists when it comes to truth. In previous posts, I have argued that seeking convergent truth is extremely important for INTPs. Since the INTP’s primary desire is to discover and articulate truth, those who succumb to absolute relativism or cynicism can easily become disillusioned and depressed. Rather than falling prey to a frustrated idealism, I will suggest that it is in INTPs’ best interest to soften their penchant for logical perfectionism and work toward identifying and committing to a niche career or interest area.

INTPs: Finding a Career Niche or Interest Area

 

[intpz]

I think that speaks about the career choices. If not, I don't agree that one should only seek knowledge in one subject. If you are interested in more subjects, you should continue being interested in them. However, when choosing a career, it is important to make a choice which career you wanna go towards. I've made that choice over 5 years ago, and concretized it maybe 2 or 3 years ago.

Not long ago I've also made a choice of what I would enjoy doing in the meantime without regards to my geographical location and financial possessions. I can't make a choice with regards to those two factors, as there isn't much choice.

 

[Etheri]

I have argued that seeking convergent truth is extremely important for INTPs. Since the INTP’s primary desire is to discover and articulate truth, those who succumb to absolute relativism or cynicism can easily become disillusioned and depressed.

Really?

 

[SpeedAgent]

Holy crap.

 

[pjoa09]

I like Part 2

 

[Architect]

Thanks for posting. Very informative and made me understand how our inferior function Fe tries to drive us when dealing with schooling and careers when young.

It's almost seems like what we should be aiming for is letting Fe supply the raw material or foundation, then let go and focus on Ti and strengthen Ne. Don't let Fe drive us.

@Analyzer
Yes, something like that, see below.

I don't know about our tertiary function Si.

I've noticed Si in the following circumstances

• Si seems to come to me in idle moments, thinking about the past, my life. INTPs lean toward finding personal wisdom and truth rather than working on and developing external truth. Si comes into play in this process, leading to ...
• Analysis. During times when I'm analyzing (most of the time) Si seems to play around the edges of that process. It reminds me of where I've been and what I've tried, reminding me of dead ends I don't need to go down again.

The Maze Metaphor: A New Theory for Understanding INTP and INFP Types

In Schallock’s view, all types function most optimally when they develop and utilize all four functions in their functional stack, which leads to a more balanced and thorough way of processing information. While not ignoring the holistic interplay of the functions, Schallock also envisions the flow of information occurring in a predictable or linear fashion, moving from the top of the stack downward (e.g., from Ti to Ne to Si to Fe) or from the bottom of the stack upward (e.g., from Fe to Si to Ne to Ti).