To those who are good at analyzing!

[Vmission]

Can someone change his/her preference?

I am intuitive by nature, and approach life theoretically by reading and reading. More knowledge is more power, but I am beginning to feel that this knowledge is useless unless practically applied.

I have recently (first time 6 years ago) tried different psychoactive drugs: LSD and magic mushrooms and have reached the conclusion that true happiness lies in the present moment!

The process of gaining knowledge is divided in stages: Information gathering (effective filters are useful), Processing information to add knowledge (making all kinds of connections), then applying this knowledge to become more skillful.

For intuitives, they have a weakness in the first stage because their filter scope is limited due to their more demanding need of seeing new possibilities and focusing on the future. So its more important to project thoughts onto reality than it is t absorb it as it is. This abstract nature is useful and limiting at the same time. It is useful because through imagination, which is the household of creativity, people can create their own reality by projecting visions into the future. They are in essence game designers as well as players because they can adapt and through their metacognitive skills can self-regulate and re-align themselves for optimum performance. Strategy and game design in more focused on the future while tactics and role playing is more focused on the now. Sensory driven people are more focused on the details of life, through observation and action. Intuitives think of new possibilities through envisioning different realities. Both types are essential in life, because designers need people to actualize their ideas. But why should life force one person to become an intuition or a sensing dominant? Can the designer become a player?What benefits can change have on both individuals if suddenly their roles were exchanged?

People with an intuitive preference definitely are are endowed with gifts that are not present in their fellow sensing driven people, and vice versa. However, I believe it is the intuitive type that understands the two sides better. What if the intuitive type can change himself and break all the rules to become sensory oriented instead.

Can someone "theoretically speaking" who has the will-power, and flexibility, change his preference from an N to an S?

 

[Architect]

Can someone change his/her preference?

No

People with an intuitive preference definitely are are endowed with gifts that are not present in their fellow sensing driven people, and vice versa. However, I believe it is the intuitive type that understands the two sides better. What if the intuitive type can change himself and break all the rules to become sensory oriented instead.

Intuitives have Sensing in their functional stack already, INTP's are tertiary Si for example. Sensors likewise have intuition in their inferior function, which is probably why they are drawn to religion so much.

Can someone "theoretically speaking" who has the will-power, and flexibility, change his preference from an N to an S?

Only at great psychological cost (manifests as mental exhaustion at the end of the day, for instance by extroverting for an INTP), and temporarily. Build on your strengths, not your weaknesses.

Can Personality Type Change over Time?

 

[Vmission]

Thank you for your reply, you have highlighted two important points and they are:

1. The mental exhaustion associated with such change

2. It is wiser to build on strengths

Do you have a suggestion on how to make more friends? One of the problems with having few friends is that of stability problems. I tend to be very critical of people and judge according to high standards, which makes it difficult for most people to meet my criteria. I have a few friends, deeper relationships of course but less reliable. I think that if i have more friends, then relationships will be less deep and my life will become more stable since it will be less prone to people's mood swings?

As a conscious INTP, the only thing that came on my mind, probably due to laziness in thinking creatively for more solutions is that to E-S my I-N, but seems like a tiresome strategy.

For example, I have just started my Facebook account that has been neglected for years. How can I attain the social life I dream about?

 

[pjoa09]

Strange.

I have few and reliable friends.

I think you are an odd case.

You can definitely make more friends by just being a bit more optimistic and approaching. I've noticed that extroverts never hesitate to contact another person.

We on the other hand (okay, not 'we'), really spend sometime thinking if it's really worth 'bothering' to say anything to a stranger.

It really takes a sense of urgency or true desire for me to even dial a number.

 

[Jennywocky]

Can someone "theoretically speaking" who has the will-power, and flexibility, change his preference from an N to an S?

A preference is a preference. One can behave and/or change behavior regardless of one's "preference." The two things aren't really the same.

For me, I've developed a lot of social skill and ability to understand and operate relationally, moreso than many of the T's that I meet online; but it never changed my preference, and I find I still don't operate in that sphere as intuitively or naturally as someone for whom it is a "preference" ... and the feeling and/or relationally minded people I meet would likely agree. I find at core that I still need some kind of detached objective truths to be honored primarily, or I'm not happy regardless. Same thing with sensory input; I force myself to get out of my head much more nowadays than in the past, and also accomplish things in tangible reality because it's important to success, but the reality is that I can still absorb myself in abstracted things all day and feel content, where if I do that too long with sensory stuff to the neglected of my intuitive interests, I quickly become unhappy. I doesn't satisfy long term.

 

[Milo]

To be honest, I have changed myself, but it could just be that I have gone through the stages that each personality experiences depending on their realizations.

You can change yourself depending on how you can justify your behavior. I have realized that nothing intrinsically matters which brought me to the conclusion that only "good feelings" matter. Now what you consider a good feeling is subjective and depends on how you see the world. With this justification I am now able to communicate just like an extrovert and not feel exhausted afterwards. I actually feel better. I am also completely fine with being alone. It is almost like I have the best of both worlds because of the realization that you are what you have justified yourself to be. Use this tool wisely because it could be the difference between living a decent life or going around murdering people.

 

[Vmission]

I force myself to get out of my head much more nowadays than in the past, and also accomplish things in tangible reality because it's important to success, but the reality is that I can still absorb myself in abstracted things all day and feel content, where if I do that too long with sensory stuff to the neglected of my intuitive interests, I quickly become unhappy. I doesn't satisfy long term.

Very true, one has to maintain balance in his/her preference to feel content. It is a natural tendency to be dragged out of the sensory world as an intuitive. I found that the main problem is that one looses touch with reality, and that was the primary drive for me to take conscious control of the process instead of being on automatic mode (even if is against my nature).

 

[Vmission]

To be honest, I have changed myself, but it could just be that I have gone through the stages that each personality experiences depending on their realizations.

If you can illustrate more I will be thankful, I have passed through similar experience: I have changed myself too, and am eager to hear from someone who has travelled the same road... that is entirely up to you!

You can change yourself depending on how you can justify your behavior.

Very true, you align your psyche with your desired perception and exercise self control to direct yourself towards that goal. (it only takes some intra-personal intelligence, which I think is a common denominator among INTPs)

It is almost like I have the best of both worlds because of the realization that you are what you have justified yourself to be. Use this tool wisely because it could be the difference between living a decent life or going around murdering people.

Excellent strategy, it took me some time (more time perhaps) to master this art. The difficulty I encountered was mainly in reintegrated a new belief system that combines the two worlds, instead of being dominant by just one end!

 

[Milo]

If you can illustrate more I will be thankful, I have passed through similar experience: I have changed myself too, and am eager to hear from someone who has travelled the same road... that is entirely up to you!

For me, the realizations just started coming one after another. I would deductively make a conclusion from premises that I have learned to be true. It is like doing math, but with justifications. Adding this fact with this fact and this fact equals a conclusion which then allows me to take that perspective. It only works if I can believe it though. My most recent one was actually today. (I have taken other conclusions and used them as premises for a new conclusion).

There is no objective meaning to life
That means there is no objective right or wrong
This inherently makes it logical to enjoy life as much as possible

From that I realized that having a perspective that allows me to enjoy life as much as possible is the most logical

When I bring these all together, I lose all fear of doing something wrong which eliminates my worry. It skyrockets my confidence since I can't possibly do anything wrong, and it inherently allows me to live fully in the present moment (not worrying about anything too far in the future which I can't control anyways).

I always sum up my conclusions into a single work or phrase to better remind me of it and to condition it with the memory of that phrase/word. For this one, I chose to to label the perspective as "Just experience life." I feel this captures the just of it for me.

EDIT: I am afraid that this is a logical way to end my thoughts if it is correct. If I can hold this last perspective, that means I should be free from my own thoughts on the matters of life for good. Peace at last?

 

[Da Blob]

Thank you for your reply, you have highlighted two important points and they are:

1. The mental exhaustion associated with such change

2. It is wiser to build on strengths

Do you have a suggestion on how to make more friends? One of the problems with having few friends is that of stability problems. I tend to be very critical of people and judge according to high standards, which makes it difficult for most people to meet my criteria. I have a few friends, deeper relationships of course but less reliable. I think that if i have more friends, then relationships will be less deep and my life will become more stable since it will be less prone to people's mood swings?

As a conscious INTP, the only thing that came on my mind, probably due to laziness in thinking creatively for more solutions is that to E-S my I-N, but seems like a tiresome strategy.

For example, I have just started my Facebook account that has been neglected for years. How can I attain the social life I dream about?

Alas, I am afraid that social lives are terribly over-rated. True friendship is very rare for it involves considering an intimate as family, a very deep bond that is. If one is to have friends one must first be a friend. The rich and beautiful in this world have no need for friends, so one must seek among the poor and ugly to find those who are desperately in need of a true friend. I am saddened by the number of children in this world that can not count a single adult as a friend. Drug addicts also have no friends, they've used them all up. There are many people that really could use a friend. Friendship can be measured in terms of use.

Volunteering one's time to a charity is a good way to begin to accumulate friends, both within the group of fellow volunteers, but also within the community that is served by that group.

Such an activity can also allow one to exercise those functions of one's personality that have laid dormant and unused...

 

[kamari rised]

Can someone change his/her preference?

I am intuitive by nature, and approach life theoretically by reading and reading. More knowledge is more power, but I am beginning to feel that this knowledge is useless unless practically applied.

I have recently (first time 6 years ago) tried different psychoactive drugs: LSD and magic mushrooms and have reached the conclusion that true happiness lies in the present moment!

The process of gaining knowledge is divided in stages: Information gathering (effective filters are useful), Processing information to add knowledge (making all kinds of connections), then applying this knowledge to become more skillful.

For intuitives, they have a weakness in the first stage because their filter scope is limited due to their more demanding need of seeing new possibilities and focusing on the future. So its more important to project thoughts onto reality than it is t absorb it as it is. This abstract nature is useful and limiting at the same time. It is useful because through imagination, which is the household of creativity, people can create their own reality by projecting visions into the future. They are in essence game designers as well as players because they can adapt and through their metacognitive skills can self-regulate and re-align themselves for optimum performance. Strategy and game design in more focused on the future while tactics and role playing is more focused on the now. Sensory driven people are more focused on the details of life, through observation and action. Intuitives think of new possibilities through envisioning different realities. Both types are essential in life, because designers need people to actualize their ideas. But why should life force one person to become an intuition or a sensing dominant? Can the designer become a player?What benefits can change have on both individuals if suddenly their roles were exchanged?

People with an intuitive preference definitely are are endowed with gifts that are not present in their fellow sensing driven people, and vice versa. However, I believe it is the intuitive type that understands the two sides better. What if the intuitive type can change himself and break all the rules to become sensory oriented instead.

Can someone "theoretically speaking" who has the will-power, and flexibility, change his preference from an N to an S?

Your on the right track!

Think abou this. Intuition that is really deep you grasp and understand easy because your not thinking, it just comes to you from your unconscious thoughts. Trying to explain something that deep that just comes to you, is hard to bring back from an unconscious level towards a conscious level. (Explaining it so others can understand).

So your constantly and constantly analyzing trying to explain it. The more you try to explain it the more deeper it actually gets from how I view it.

So the more you analyze it. You connect to other Intuitions and they all relate in such ways.

Recently I've been thinking; what does it mean to view the "big picture". Well you can view big picture concepts with ease based on your intuitions. But when going to explain it to others you have to go through levels of explaining. like if "this" = "this" = based on "this" than "this" must = "this" etc. It's like theoretical logic.

Also you can change your preferances. You have all the preferances allready. To improve a preferance just constantly focus on it. "repitition impresses the unconscious" Than it comes to you by nature. The more you focus, the more it'll come to you when your not focused.

A good way to view preferances is just through analyzing/observing other people. The inside of other people, be dissociated while being their.

Focusing on all your preferances raises your perception.

Oh yeah another thing on intuition by nature. I think it's hard to explain mostly because it's not fact oriented. Or by the traditional word "fact".

look up Autonomy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomy

Don't read stuff just for knowledge but to create ideas.
When you read it, compare it to everything. And usually when reading you get bombarded with FLOWS of information at once that your mind just automatically fits in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_(psychology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_(philosophy)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insight

Check those link's out.

Remember if the fact's the fit the theory, change the facts.

 

[Vmission]

There is no objective meaning to life
That means there is no objective right or wrong
This inherently makes it logical to enjoy life as much as possible

Life is very complex, the meaning of life is an integral part of each individual's perspective. This fact, makes it almost impossible to attain an objective meaning to life. Thus a smart strategy is to make assumptions that will maximize one's living experience!

From that I realized that having a perspective that allows me to enjoy life as much as possible is the most logical

It definitely is the most logical, since life is limited. I had the same experience in fighting the tendency to interpret more than actually living. "Life is a struggle, living is an art"

live fully in the present moment (not worrying about anything too far in the future which I can't control anyways).

If there is a truth in life, it definitely is in the present moment. Or as you said maybe the truth is that there is no truth or that it is beyond the limits of our consciousness.

I always sum up my conclusions into a single work or phrase to better remind me of it and to condition it with the memory of that phrase/word. For this one, I chose to to label the perspective as "Just experience life." I feel this captures the just of it for me.

That is an approach that I have been using throughout my life, reflecting upon one's thoughts is the essence of proactivity.

The part of my life that involves complexity resides in the number of unlimited possibilities and paths to take in life. I think that people who are endowed with the ability to self-regulate themselves in any dimension you can think of, share the same complex.

 

[Vmission]

The rich and beautiful in this world have no need for friends, so one must seek among the poor and ugly to find those who are desperately in need of a true friend. I am saddened by the number of children in this world that can not count a single adult as a friend.

Good point, some people did not choose there lives. Looking for such people requires one to step aside from all appearances and superficiality and put him/herself in another person's perspective and feel how it is like to be that individual. Such friendships if found, would be priceless!

Volunteering one's time to a charity is a good way to begin to accumulate friends, both within the group of fellow volunteers, but also within the community that is served by that group.

To be honest I never really thought of that as a way to make friends, but this seems like a place with a higher probability of finding true friends because such people focus more on giving.

Such an activity can also allow one to exercise those functions of one's personality that have laid dormant and unused...

Very insightful advice, thank you!

 

[Vmission]

Intuition that is really deep you grasp and understand easy because your not thinking, it just comes to you from your unconscious thoughts. Trying to explain something that deep that just comes to you, is hard to bring back from an unconscious level towards a conscious level. (Explaining it so others can understand).

It really is, but next to the difficulty in explaining something that deep is the challenge associated with language as a tool to transmit information as precisely as possible so that the other person can give an accurate evaluation in return, as you just did

So your constantly and constantly analyzing trying to explain it. The more you try to explain it the more deeper it actually gets from how I view it.

Well put, but the extra effort is definitely worth it. Gaining another person's perspective on something that is deep, is very insightful. Only people who are aware of the limits of their perspective, relentlessly try to maximize their own by listening deeper to other people. In addition, it feels good to take a break from the constant superficiality that is plaguing our world and find another world of like-minded people.

Recently I've been thinking; what does it mean to view the "big picture". Well you can view big picture concepts with ease based on your intuitions. But when going to explain it to others you have to go through levels of explaining. like if "this" = "this" = based on "this" than "this" must = "this" etc. It's like theoretical logic.

Of course, the logical sequencing in terms of depth is required so that the other person can understand. However, different people operate on different levels of awareness on the consciousness spectrum. I like to picture it as sea levels, some people like to swim on the surface because they have better visibility and it is much easier to navigate. Others, like to sink to deeper levels so that they can return with bigger fish (whether it is a richer life or a life lesson, etc...). How much a person understands depends to a great extent on the level he/she has reached and how far/close it is from the level of communication.

Also you can change your preferances. You have all the preferances allready. To improve a preferance just constantly focus on it. "repitition impresses the unconscious" Than it comes to you by nature. The more you focus, the more it'll come to you when your not focused.

Very true, conscious effort leads to unconscious mastering. So the effort progressively decreases with increasing effort, and eventually becomes second nature.

A good way to view preferances is just through analyzing/observing other people. The inside of other people, be dissociated while being their.

For me to be honest, this is still a struggle. It is in part due to my extremist nature. When I am on observation mode I am completely dissociated to the extent that I'm extremely distant and cold. But the idea is intriguing, I always thought that you can be a participant or an observer but not both at the same time. It is like being more of an "active observer", I like the idea

 

[Irukanji]

Knowledge is interchangeable. Once you know enough about a handful of subjects, you could make an accurate decision on a subject you know very little about and be reasonably correct. The hard bit is seeing that everything humans do follows a more or less set pattern, and that we have a habit of repeating ourselves unless we try exceptionally hard to avoid doing so.

In order to be intuitive, you need to know. I've debated many times over the theory that humans are born with a clear mind, and every time we've came to the same conclusion that humans are all born with certain amounts of information. After all, if a baby knows to go for its mothers tit upon birth, it has to be stored somewhere. And naturally other information can be included. Depending on how you use your brain when you are young will make life easier or harder to make the links between seemingly different sets of information, and along the way your brain can fill in the blanks by cross-referencing more than one lot of information.

However if you are born with information in your head, how can you be truly intuitive and go with your "gut feel"? If your virtual gut is controlled by your head, then it would simply be a subconcious thought process aimed at keeping you alive or permitting you to overcome obstacles. Which would mean intuition is simply a more streamlined version of reasoning with no emotional or rational input from your conscious brain(and thus, much more efficient albeit dangerous). Like jumping off a cliff to escape the angry lion, only to fall into cacti and slowly die over the next few hours/days.

All that means is that your brain is either constantly checking the information in your head(so you'll probably get random thoughts through the day of subjects seemingly unrelated to the one in front of you), or you'll think normal thoughts(whats for dinner, what am I going to wear tomorrow) and only access the data in your head when prompted. It's just a guess, but this is the best I can come up with at 5am.