Today I decided I'm an INTP.

[ckm]

Tests always, always, always show me as INFP but I'm not much of a feeler as far as I can figure - the result is "feeling" because I don't usually criticise aloud or state the facts before me like many thinkers would, and answer accordingly. That's down to (1) I'm not confident enough to handle disapproval from others, and (2) I've developed a form of logical objectivity to the point that I can't really make opinions of my own.

Anyway, about me. I'm sixteen and I live in Ireland. I'm experiencing what some may call an existential crisis at the moment. I'm enjoying it though. It's like having an epiphany every few moments (although a conflicting one may appear moments afterwards, just to confuse me).

Naturally, I'm a student. I don't like school. I don't like the competition - I squirm at the prospect of failure, even if it's only failure when put beside the best of the best. My fellow students confuse and upset me too. I'm a boy, by the way, and I go to a single-sex school.

Also, I'm gay. I spent a few minutes debating whether to mention this here or not, but I concluded that if I get a lot of hate for it I can just leave, although it would leave a dent no doubt. I'm not "typical", mind you, unless sensitive is your idea of typical.

What do I enjoy? Psychology. I'm just fascinated by people. Simple as that. I enjoy music; Radiohead are my favourite band. I like to journal, and write stories and even poems but once I write one I'm reasonably satisfied with I stop. I know the whole "creative" thing isn't an INTP trait but trust me, I go about this stuff in a thinking way. For example, my sister and I started playing the piano at the same time. She dived in head-first and hit whatever keys she felt like hitting and somehow they matched. That was beyond me. Instead I picked up a book and taught myself to read music. I saw patterns in the notes. It was all terribly logical.

I realise I've ranted a bit... But if I don't rant I don't really say anything.

 

[Scourgexlvii]

You sound pretty INTPish to me, and creativity is no excluding factor, as many on this forum are creative (myself being one of them), and going about writing in a thinking way strikes a chord with me.... Erm... Welcome, since I didn't say that before... Um... yeah... people after me will be able to welcome you better

 

[Ashenstar]

I wouldn't be so sure about that Scourgexlvii since I'm about to say "Welcome" and I am not known to be eloquent.

Welcome ckm. Being INTP is superior.. but I am slightly biased (and totally joking). lol

 

[ckm]

Being INTP is superior.. but I am slightly biased (and totally joking). lol

Haha. In reality I wish I was feeling.

Thanks for the welcomes.

 

[Scourgexlvii]

Haha. In reality I wish I was feeling.

Thanks for the welcomes.

I think all of us do at some point, or at least wish that they had some type of change in their personality, but pretty much everyone eventually comes to love (or at least tolerate) being a INTP

 

[fullerene]

cool cool, welcome . I'm a big radiohead fan too. I love the video (it's somewhere on youtube, but I can never find it when I go looking) where they're performing Myxamatosis, and Thom Yorke pauses the song to tell the guards that some guy is having a seizure in the front row, and needs to be gotten out of there. He then gives a brief measure where he wants them to start, a short countdown, and they immediately start back up at the right spot (it's so fast that you barely even realize he's counting down to restart again, the first time you hear it). The lights are dead on and everything .

Welcome, whatever you are. We have a few INFPs, INTJs, ENTPs, and one INFJ floating around here, so it doesn't matter a whole lot.

 

[Deleted member 1424]

Welcome, whatever you are. We have a few INFPs, INTJs, ENTPs, and one INFJ floating around here, so it doesn't matter a whole lot.

We have an ENTP here?

*looks around*
Well they're not very demonstrative for an ENTP.

Welcome ckm, does you name have any special significance?

 

[Da Blob]

Welcome,
Despite our similarities we are all quite different on this forum. I am a Christian and I sincerely hope that you do not see anyone's comments as being hateful. I think that most INTPs are fairly mellow people and are not quick to judge - that is what makes us Ps and not Js...

 

[fullerene]

*nods*, isn't Enne an ENTP? I thought Cheese was as well. Those are the two that come to mind, at least.

 

[ckm]

I think all of us do at some point, or at least wish that they had some type of change in their personality, but pretty much everyone eventually comes to love (or at least tolerate) being a INTP

I hope to balance out my personality over time, by working with my shadow. It involves a lot of squirming and uncomfortable situations though. It's not that I'm dissatisfied with being INTP - I would want to evolve as a person anyway (but maybe I would never have figured that out if I wasn't INTP? Who knows).

cool cool, welcome . I'm a big radiohead fan too. I love the video (it's somewhere on youtube, but I can never find it when I go looking) where they're performing Myxamatosis, and Thom Yorke pauses the song to tell the guards that some guy is having a seizure in the front row, and needs to be gotten out of there. He then gives a brief measure where he wants them to start, a short countdown, and they immediately start back up at the right spot (it's so fast that you barely even realize he's counting down to restart again, the first time you hear it). The lights are dead on and everything .

Welcome, whatever you are. We have a few INFPs, INTJs, ENTPs, and one INFJ floating around here, so it doesn't matter a whole lot.

I've never seen it, but I love Myxomatosis! Hail to the Thief was my first Radiohead album (strange place to start, I know) and Myxomatosis was my favourite song on it (I didn't like the album at first though, Radiohead are an acquired taste in my case).

Oh cool, so it isn't strictly INTP here. I do feel (omigosh, a feeling? Implications? Analysis follows) an intense need to categorise (so much for feeling) myself into one of them, and I know why but I can't explain it. I'm 100% sure I'm IN though.

Welcome ckm, does you name have any special significance?

Nope, ckm is three (reasonably) random letters I picked while applying for some forum or other ages ago. On googling it, however, I discovered that there is a Polish equivalent of Playboy magazine called CKM. Ouch.

Welcome,
Despite our similarities we are all quite different on this forum. I am a Christian and I sincerely hope that you do not see anyone's comments as being hateful. I think that most INTPs are fairly mellow people and are not quick to judge - that is what makes us Ps and not Js...

Thanks for your reply. I sure don't see any hateful comments yet anyway. I definitely value the P trait in people I meet, it gives me a sense of ease.

 

[Adymus]

Fuck yeah, that's how we do it. A test can't tell you who you are, you just gotta feel it.

Welcome to the boards!

Also, gay and lesbian INTPs are super rare, I really don't know why. I'm noticing a correlation between homosexuality/bisexuality, and Dominant Perceiving types, like INTJs, INFJs, ENFPs, and ENTPs or the sensing counter parts.

 

[fullerene]

eh? ENFPs you mean? ENFJs aren't perception-dominant.

I've never seen it, but I love Myxomatosis! Hail to the Thief was my first Radiohead album (strange place to start, I know) and Myxomatosis was my favourite song on it (I didn't like the album at first though, Radiohead are an acquired taste in my case).

I actually started with Myxamatosis too! And agree with the "acquired taste" bit. I had(/have? We see each other sporadically still) a friend since I was 3, and he was 4 (I'm 21 now), who listened to various Radiohead cds every night before bed, to fall asleep. He tried to make me like them for a decade or so, but I couldn't stand how much downtime there was in the beginning/end of their songs (same with Tool). I was learning Bass one day, though (he's a killer bass player, so he was teaching me), and that sounded like as good a song as any. Rhythmically challenging/interesting, but not too fast that you need a lot of actual bass skill to play it.

I think I'm more of an OK Computer fan now, but I like just about anything they do... minus most of Pablo Honey. That cd sorta gives me headaches, except for You and Creep. What band makes the first song on their first cd in 22/8 time!?

 

[ckm]

Fuck yeah, that's how we do it. A test can't tell you who you are, you just gotta feel it.

Welcome to the boards!

Also, gay and lesbian INTPs are super rare, I really don't know why. I'm noticing a correlation between homosexuality/bisexuality, and Dominant Perceiving types, like INTJs, INFJs, ENFJs, and ENTPs or the sensing counter parts.

Really? I take a hidden pleasure in being a minority, but I suppose that's some search for visibility/recognition. By "Dominant Perceiving types", do you mean types with a primary function of S or N? So... INFJ - IN, ENFJ - EF (did you mean ENFP?), ENTP - EN.

I actually started with Myxamatosis too! And agree with the "acquired taste" bit. I had(/have? We see each other sporadically still) a friend since I was 3, and he was 4 (I'm 21 now), who listened to various Radiohead cds every night before bed, to fall asleep. He tried to make me like them for a decade or so, but I couldn't stand how much downtime there was in the beginning/end of their songs (same with Tool). I was learning Bass one day, though (he's a killer bass player, so he was teaching me), and that sounded like as good a song as any. Rhythmically challenging/interesting, but not too fast that you need a lot of actual bass skill to play it.

I think I'm more of an OK Computer fan now, but I like just about anything they do... minus most of Pablo Honey. That cd sorta gives me headaches, except for You and Creep. What band makes the first song on their first cd in 22/8 time!?

Haha, I really relate there. My desperately opinionated friend introduced me to them and called me all sorts of names when I didn't like them from the word go, and he positively flipped when I told him that I didn't like Pablo Honey anywhere near as much as their other albums (like you said, Creep and You are exceptions) when I did finally start to appreciate them.

My relationship with Radiohead changes all the time - the first album I could really appreciate was The Bends, then In Rainbows, and later OK Computer (I spent my entire holiday in Portugal over the summer listening to Exit Music). It took me a long time to "get" Kid A and Amnesiac, but now I adore them.

 

[cheese]

Radiohead's awesome. Pyramid Song is great for rhythm as well. It's just a great song in general.

 

[Firehazard159]

We have an ENTP here?

*looks around*
Well they're not very demonstrative for an ENTP.

Welcome ckm, does you name have any special significance?

That's because they're *outside* being *social.*

Scourge, IMO, your kind of welcome was the best kind. Skip the small talk and formalities, get down to the meat of the discussion, so much less pointless!
<33333333333






Welcome... XD

 

[Adymus]

Really? I take a hidden pleasure in being a minority, but I suppose that's some search for visibility/recognition. By "Dominant Perceiving types", do you mean types with a primary function of S or N? So... INFJ - IN, ENFJ - EF (did you mean ENFP?), ENTP - EN.

No I kind of fucked up there, I meant ENFP not ENFJ. So yeah, essentially any type with ExxP or IxxJ.

 

[echoplex]

It took me a long time to "get" Kid A and Amnesiac, but now I adore them.

hmmm, that's funny, because those are the only albums from them I've ever really been able to appreciate. And I absolutely hate "Creep", although that's probably partly due to it being overplayed (I once had a job where the radio was always on and I had to hear that song way too much, lol).

Anyway, welcome to the forum. People here are very accepting of just about anything. The only way to get alot of hate here is to repeatedly piss people off, which is admittedly quite fun, but ultimately something to avoid.

 

[Anthile]

Welcome. Nice to meet you. I am the local villain. As long as you stay away from me, you will be fine.


Do you wear a beard?

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Welcome....I'm not a villian but I do enable villainy.

 

[Kuu]

Radiohead <3


Yes, sometimes we seem to express very strong opinions that are in fact filled with doubt and skepticism.

And don't you worry. Some of us rant all the time. Not me though.

 

[Anthile]

Radiohead <3


Yes, sometimes we seem to express very strong opinions that are in fact filled with doubt and skepticism.

And don't you worry. Some of us rant all the time. Not me though.

I suspect your skepticism.

 

[Adymus]

Radiohead <3


Yes, sometimes we seem to express very strong opinions that are in fact filled with doubt and skepticism.

And don't you worry. Some of us rant all the time. Not me though.

Do you just feel dirty when you are speaking passionately about something you are not even very sure about? It's usually just to win the argument.


Hey Ckm, are you into any post rock at all? Godspeed you! Black emperor, God is an astronaut, Explosions in the sky, mogwai, etc?

 

[Zero]

Welcome.
It seems a lot of us ended up getting other test results, but made the decision that we were INTPs for ourselves. I originally tested as an INTJ and then I tested as several different things, including INFP, ISTP, and INTP. I read through everything, various sites, found the foundation of MBTI and looked up the functions. I finally decided the only type I could fit into was INTP.

A lot of the unofficial sites could have biases. I think they tend to confuse people. I took the "official" MBTI test in college (I'm still in college, it was just a different one. I don't like school either. I hate it.... Well, universities.)

There are a few things I want to make sure are fairly clear about NFs as opposed to NTs though (because I'm meticulous and a little nuts- there I admitted it). NFs aren't necessarily emotional. Emotion is not what is being analyzed with MBTI/Jung's types. The T/F is the decision making function. Both are the rational functions. The difference is whether or not you make decisions objectively (T) or subjectively (F).

I tend to think that F types are the people people. Extroverts are energized by the activity around them and they like to talk, but I think ET types are still idea/theory oriented. Because F types are the subjective decision makers they are also more keenly aware of people and in what way their decisions will affect themselves and others they care about. Supposedly Ts would care more about the beneficial ends.

Also each trait is to a degree, so even Ts have F, they just have F to a lesser degree than T. We also tend to have our named traits at varying degrees to each other, which I think is interesting.

Anyway, N types are the ones who are likely to be creative. I'm not sure why F has been awarded the creativity axis. I guess I tend to think a lot of "well known" ideas are wrong. I think being about to be objective is definitely a way to be able to think for yourself. One person told me they could understand how I could be offensive to 'creative' people, because I suggested that creativity and knowledge were more or less the same thing. This person said they didn't go hand in hand usually. There was another point I made about creative ideas, people don't always recognize them as such, because they want familiarity, anything else is simply abnormal. My way of thinking wasn't creative it was just abnormal. Perhaps that answers the reason as to why F types are often awarded the creativity badge. They will approach something while considering how others will be affected... etc..?

I don't know why exposing disagreement should be a sign of being a T or not . Is are not likely to be that expressive of disagreement in the company of other people. It's a matter of safety and just avoiding a headache. I tend to be argumentative online, but not in RL. I don't like people that much. They tire me out. Only people who are close to me really get to see my true self. That's normal for anyone though. It's buffering. As long as someone is friendly and seems accepting I'll probably open up to them faster, well, I'll start cursing and just saying whatever comes to mind instead of guarding myself all the time.

I don't think you'll have to worry much about being homosexual here. I personally hardly believe in sexualities.

I'm kind of rambling.

I hope you like it here.

 

[shoeless]

welcome, polish porno man! i can play creep on the ukulele. besides that and karma police, i'm not a big radiohead fan. does that make me a freak?

anyway, i wouldn't worry about being gay. i've only ever seen one post that seemed at all biased towards homosexuality, but i didn't pick up on it until after someone else called him out anyway, and as far as i can tell it fizzled. nobody wanted to offend anybody. INTP's just have the tendency to be somewhat tactless in an environment like this.

or maybe that's just me...

did i say welcome already?

 

[ckm]

Welcome. Nice to meet you. I am the local villain. As long as you stay away from me, you will be fine.


Do you wear a beard?

A small one a couple of times a week, it comes back every time I take it off.

Hey Ckm, are you into any post rock at all? Godspeed you! Black emperor, God is an astronaut, Explosions in the sky, mogwai, etc?

Yes, I love post-rock. How on earth did you guess that? Haha. Sigur Rós is one of my favourite bands, they're Icelandic and unlike most post-rock bands they feature vocals (although it's mostly in a made-up language called Hopelandic, so the vocals are essentially an additional instrument). Do you know them? I also really like GY!BE. I have about 15 of their songs, but as you probably know that's a lot more than it sounds. I've listened to God is an Astronaut (who are Irish by the way), Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai on Youtube a good bit but I haven't got any of their albums.

Welcome.
It seems a lot of us ended up getting other test results, but made the decision that we were INTPs for ourselves. I originally tested as an INTJ and then I tested as several different things, including INFP, ISTP, and INTP. I read through everything, various sites, found the foundation of MBTI and looked up the functions. I finally decided the only type I could fit into was INTP.

A lot of the unofficial sites could have biases. I think they tend to confuse people. I took the "official" MBTI test in college (I'm still in college, it was just a different one. I don't like school either. I hate it.... Well, universities.)

I see where you're coming from. The one I've used is mypersonality.info, and when doing the test I see the potential answers, and the pair it's going to apply to is usually quite obvious - "Do you feel energised in social situations?" "Is your "head in the clouds"?". I think the tests draw borders between the types too much, when in reality there's a lot of common ground. For instance, extraverted people usually focus on the "here and now", as a sensing person might; or seek closure like a judging person. Likewise an N may be detatched because they're stuck in the clouds and be misdiagnosed as a P for being disorganised. That mightn't have made much sense, but for those reasons I think you're right when you said the tests tend to confuse people. And as a P, it's terribly difficult to choose an answer and stick to it.

There are a few things I want to make sure are fairly clear about NFs as opposed to NTs though (because I'm meticulous and a little nuts- there I admitted it). NFs aren't necessarily emotional. Emotion is not what is being analyzed with MBTI/Jung's types. The T/F is the decision making function. Both are the rational functions. The difference is whether or not you make decisions objectively (T) or subjectively (F).

I tend to think that F types are the people people. Extroverts are energized by the activity around them and they like to talk, but I think ET types are still idea/theory oriented. Because F types are the subjective decision makers they are also more keenly aware of people and in what way their decisions will affect themselves and others they care about. Supposedly Ts would care more about the beneficial ends.

Thanks for clarifying emotions there. At first I thought calling Ts objective and Fs subjective is oversimpifying it, but that actually makes a lot of sense. For instance I have an ESFJ (as far as I can figure) friend who is totally opinionated. His opinions are completely subjective - he will say that one thing is amazing and another is shit moments after experiencing them for the first time (there's a lot of J in there, but F is used, surely). On the other hand, he's not conscious of the people around him - he enjoys being surrounded by people, yes, but how his decisions affects others is the last thing on his mind. He's very pragmatic. Does that suggest he's not feeling?

Also, I fit and I don't fit T under that description. I'm definitely objective, but I'm not so interested in "benificial ends" in the Machiavellian sense of the phrase. On the other hand, everything I experience is vauled (much like an INFP might) and perceived important experiences are savoured, which is finding "benificial ends" to something, although certainly not in the conventional sense.

Also each trait is to a degree, so even Ts have F, they just have F to a lesser degree than T. We also tend to have our named traits at varying degrees to each other, which I think is interesting.

Anyway, N types are the ones who are likely to be creative. I'm not sure why F has been awarded the creativity axis. I guess I tend to think a lot of "well known" ideas are wrong. I think being about to be objective is definitely a way to be able to think for yourself. One person told me they could understand how I could be offensive to 'creative' people, because I suggested that creativity and knowledge were more or less the same thing. This person said they didn't go hand in hand usually. There was another point I made about creative ideas, people don't always recognize them as such, because they want familiarity, anything else is simply abnormal. My way of thinking wasn't creative it was just abnormal. Perhaps that answers the reason as to why F types are often awarded the creativity badge. They will approach something while considering how others will be affected... etc..?

Interesting! I associated creativity with S mainly, as they can focus on the immediate present, provided there isn't too much J holding them within reason. I think the main thing we can learn from this is that there isn't one type of creativity; it's ambiguous. I think every type has some potential for creativity, but now I'm starting to think that P is very helpful, as the irrational functions are probably more "creative". Then again, maybe there isn't a set outline that a "creative" person fits into. Js could be creative in a very different way I guess. [P.S. I know I didn't reply to your whole post, I just picked out the parts I thought were worth discussing further.] Thanks for the reply.

welcome, polish porno man! i can play creep on the ukulele. besides that and karma police, i'm not a big radiohead fan. does that make me a freak?

anyway, i wouldn't worry about being gay. i've only ever seen one post that seemed at all biased towards homosexuality, but i didn't pick up on it until after someone else called him out anyway, and as far as i can tell it fizzled. nobody wanted to offend anybody. INTP's just have the tendency to be somewhat tactless in an environment like this.

or maybe that's just me...

did i say welcome already?

Ukelele, wow. And yeah I love Karma Police. Don't ask me if you're a freak though, because if you actually want a proper answer I'll look up and compare every definition of "freak" I can find and then I'd need to analyse you endlessly. Thanks for the welcome.

 

[Zero]

You don't have to reply to the whole thing. I wasn't sure if you'd want to reply to it at all, it's pretty long.

I think it's hard to type Sensors. There's a lot of them, so it's kind of a safe guess. Since the functions and all, by description, are pretty damn ambiguous and can be misleading it helps to know people who are those types, to use them as reference or refer to stereotypes (or characters who have those personalities). http://typelogic.com/esfj.html
Typelogic is one of my favorite references for types. It's the one I prefer because I think the descriptions are pretty good, but they also go through the functions. Understanding the functions is probably the most important thing. It's kind of hit or miss with typing other people. I can kind of get a feel for them, BUT some things are introverted and some things are extroverted. It sometimes helps to decided based on what qualities a person supposedly extroverts.

In other places I've read that ESFJs are kind of the mega worriers.
http://soli.inav.net/~catalyst/Humor/mbtihaha.htm
This has a list of "funny" MBTI stereotypes. Sometimes they're helpful though. It's a horrifically bright yellow page... so be prepared...
http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/96q1/msti.html
This is also a joke page, it's type prayers. It's less painful, but I think more funny.

Sensors are "world around me" kind of people. Of course, I think they can be creative, but they tend to be creative in a crafty sense. I think SFs tend to be the craft people though, because they aren't as aggressive. They still have that sense of wanting to do something, produce something. Intuitives are supposedly the idea people. I would say we end up the more abstract and weird artists. I think Picasso, for instance, was probably an N type.

F/T I always think of as Subjective/Objective. I think the simplest answer, especially for that axis, is the best one. It's the most confusing to people, by far. I always make F types or people with slight T types feel like I'm trying to start an argument, when what I want is a discussion. Then again, there are times I come out with an attack on someone, but it clears up as soon as I understand their motive. I've learned how to manipulate conversation so I can have an interesting discussion and the other person doesn't feel attacked. That's buffering in my opinion. Therefore, not manipulation. I prompt people, I don't try to direct their thoughts (unless I'm really pissed, then again I'll do that thing where I just drop it. Man, that use to piss me off, now I use it. Heh Heh). People aren't interesting when they're angry, they're either funny or just annoying. I don't think F types are going to do something like this. I think they'd rather have other people have the same opinion as them, because they take people's opinions personally. But I've found some Ts I think do that too, but I tend to figure they're more "balanced" than I am.

That said, there are variations. Like I said, I think it almost creates a duality. I noticed a new person on the forum had a very slight (the degrees are Slight, Moderate, Clear, Very Clear. Slight is like 1-5 pt out of 30.) N according to the official MBTI. That seems to me like it would be kind of dual. I kind of want to up my Sensing so I have more of a desire to experience things.