The evolution of the INTP

[Ostriker]

I was reading this very long, detailed description of the INTP personality type. It has very in-depth explanations of each of the four functions and the influence they hold, found here:

http://www.intp.org/intprofile.html

In the section about Si it mentions the need for appropriate mood/atmosphere that the INTP feels in whatever setting they are in. There was one particular sentence that got me thinking.

"The homeland of the INTP's psyche is a small and cosy community, isolated in the middle of a vast expanse of wilderness."

You can go read it and decide for yourself what the author was communicating here (In fact I encourage you, because context is everything and I don't want this to turn into an argument about how I've misinterpreted the quote and all that hoo-ha), but personally I chose to take his words in a literal fashion, and the thoughts that followed have been really intriguing. If he is in fact referring to a physical "homeland" then the implications of such an idea are fascinating.

Was there perhaps an ideal environment, be it a certain time period or geographical location, at some point in human history where the INTPs once thrived and multiplied? And what about the other MBTI types for that matter? Could we discover how each type may have evolved if we examine ancient cultures and the conditions in which the sixteen types might have come about? I remember reading somewhere that the reason there are so few INTPs in western civilization could be that many were killed at the hands of the church during the enlightenment era in Europe. I'm not sure about how much truth there is to that, but the idea makes sense. It is quite possible that different personality types thrived (or suffered) during different periods of human history.

This is all incredibly fascinating to me and stumbling upon this idea has seriously made my day. Please share some thoughts on the matter. I'd love to hear them!

 

[Czech Yes or No]

Yes, that is a kind of place where INTP's would thrive, though I doubt that such a thing ever existed, especially when you consider how lax INTP's are at rules, etc. needed for a project as suggested. However, probably the most similar thing to this is what happened during the Manhattan Project during WWII. Although the scientists were forced to be where they were, there is no doubt that most of the scientists were at least INTx's at the very least. The location of the project was most certainly out of the way and was very small and somewhat cozy, despite the subject matter and military oversight involved. Possibly some continuations of this exist in scientific communities today, such as in Los Alamos or as shown in the show, Eureka, on SciFi.

 

[Architect]

"The homeland of the INTP's psyche is a small and cosy community, isolated in the middle of a vast expanse of wilderness."

That phrase has always resonated with me and played out in my life, in many contexts. For example

• My ideal house is one out on the coast by itself or with just a few neighbors, and the house itself is not at all rustic but completly modern and comfortable.
• My present work situation is near ideal - I have a home office that is fully stocked, with loads of high end equipment, desks, chair and computers. My coworkers are comfortably far away and I'm in touch with them constantly, but I prefer not to sit in the thick of them.
• I keep a clear space around me of people except my closest friend and family, but I connect with people frequently throughout the day.

And so on ... the theme of living comfortably at the edge, on the periphery, while keeping contact (i.e. not living in a cave) is one I naturally seek.

Einstein, our prototypical INTP, did the same. I understand he attended no parties and didn't let anybody in close, but he had contact and correspondence with people all over the globe. He created his own little intellectual nest at the Institute for Advanced Study. I think the need for this comes from needing plenty of time for contemplation.

 

[Pistoli]

"The homeland of the INTP's psyche is a small and cosy community, isolated in the middle of a vast expanse of wilderness."
If he is in fact referring to a physical "homeland" then the implications of such an idea are fascinating.

Makes sense over here.

I live in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Ga. It's a madhouse of suburbs, big box retailers and mixed with rural wooded areas. The biggest city in my county has 30k population but, but the county itself is 200k. I am from a small city in the midwest. When I turned 18, I moved there to get away from Georgia and to attend a community college there. Wow!, living in a city that only has 34k people and surrounded by vast areas of farm land was my ideal world. Such a sense of community. I could wrap my mind around it. It's comforting to know every street and see familiar faces everyday. It tends to free up your mind.., by not having to ingest and process the images of thousands of cars, subdivisions, shopping centers, sounds, cops, traffic,,all of the clusterf**k of metropolitan areas.

 

[kora]

That article was the awesome.

 

[Darby]

Trying to decide whether or not to email this article to a friend of mine.

Also, I am currently about to move, I want to move to a specific neighborhood in my town which many refer to as "it's own little town." within that, I'm moving in with someone I already know who is relatively quiet (basically providing a safe mellow environment). This is the person I'm thinking of sending the article to. Outside of this little neighborhood, it's all city, not that my city is very big, but I see it as a kind of "wilderness" in the way that it is an unknown space, which potentially threatens my comfort by providing mysteries/unknowns.

 

[DetachedRetina]

This article was great. They even said "detachment" a handful of times. I think this sums me up pretty well, though maybe that's the confirmation bias or something speaking.

 

[nedenom]

"The homeland of the INTP's psyche is a small and cosy community, isolated in the middle of a vast expanse of wilderness."

Sounds very compelling. But additionally, the majority of inhabitants would have to be somewhat like minded (not all INTPs though).

Closest thing for me was in my youth when I attended a non-academic type of boarding school. We were a small community of our own of maybe 60 people, isolated from the nearest town. No one watched television or read any newspapers. Only expeditions outside was to the local bar occasionally. I thrived, maybe one of the happiest years of my life.

I think evolution is intelligent, so every personality type serves a purpose. At least I need to believe that. Hell, INTPs are the spearhead of evolution!

Another theory is that we descend from aliens.

 

[scorpiomover]

Was there perhaps an ideal environment, be it a certain time period or geographical location, at some point in human history where the INTPs once thrived and multiplied?

Look at your quote about "The homeland of the INTP's psyche is a small and cosy community, isolated in the middle of a vast expanse of wilderness." Just about any small village or hamlet in the Dark Ages, would have qualified. 1-2 INTPs probably sprang up in every such village, across Europe.

The Dark Ages in particular, would have been a great breeding ground for INTPs. Rationalism was the height of intellect at that time, and with not much empirical evidence around, endless speculation on odd subjects like "How many angels could fit on the head of a pin", was common.

I remember reading somewhere that the reason there are so few INTPs in western civilization could be that many were killed at the hands of the church during the enlightenment era in Europe.

The Island of Rhodes was the epicentre of Greek knowledge. It was where the top Greek scholars went, or wanted to go. It was sacked by Cassius. The Romans were always big on practical things. Didn't care much for theoretical speculations.