1) We're constantly bitching about our depression. What the hell?! Why are we depressed? Why take the precious time out of our day when we could be having fun and feel depressed? Do something! God am I glad I hung out with other types, who groomed me for social interaction and taking initiative. Without it, would I be like you jerks?
2) Why the hell do we split the fuck out of hairs instead of dealing with the actual point being made? Okay, so the shade of meaning may be off, but correcting the unspecific should be secondary to the actual point being made! If you're going to argue about something, argue about the substance of the post, insofar as you can understand it without slicing apart hairs.
3) We doubt reality just as much, if not more, than we try to understand reality! I won't lie, I went through my "everything I perceive could be an illusion" chain of thoughts just like everyone else eventually does. However, even if the whole world you perceive in fact is an illusion, that's the world you have to deal with by necessity! Even if it's not the real one, until a reason to suspect it's not comes along, it's the one you have! Deal with it.
First of all, LOL @ everyone getting so worked up over this. I thought INTP's took criticism impersonally, wth?
Anyway...
1. It does seem common that INTP's tend to become easily depressed, gloomy, melancholic, and rather sluggish, when it comes to dealing with life. This is either because we're feeling like giant losers who contribute nothing useful, or we haven't experienced life in a favorable fashion. Whatever the case, INTP's do tend to have low interpersonal intelligence (social savvy), on the whole. Given this, and our general lack of emotional IQ, we can easily feel out of place in life, which I would think is a very important part of mental health. Hence, it's good that you found people to pull you out of your cave, and it's good you found creative and constructive ways to use your time. But not everyone comes out of their INTP hermit cave, and not everyone finds ways of spending their time productively. Given all of this, it doesn't seem surprising at all, to me, that INTP's would generally suffer mental problems and feel a little depressed now and then. I say, it comes with being INTP, for the most part.
2. I get what you're saying. Why can't we basically have a normal discussion, like everyone else, without correcting any slight statement which wasn't stated with perfect and accurate logical precision, right? Well, that's true. Hence, we tend to be grammar Nazis. However, even if an INTP may make someone else cringe in a discussion, I think it's a pretty useful thing that we actually care to take the time to split hairs, because a conversation may not really be as substantive without those extra shades of meaning tightened up and brought to the forefront of the discussion. So, while it's annoying, I don't always think it's unnecessary and annoying. Sometimes, it brings more value to a discussion. But yeah, we shouldn't do it when it's entirely unnecessary, and especially when it becomes downright unethical, on the verge of trolling.
3. INTP's do seem to have many metaphysical doubts, being so skeptical and all. Hence, many INTP's probably do inherently doubt the reality of the Objective world, as a growing people. Yet, I don't think most people really give the reality of the objective world a single skeptical thought, in most of their lives, just mostly INTP's (and maybe a few other types). Having said that (as I don't think it's accurate at all to assume that 'everyone' goes through this sort of mega-doubtful phase), I can see where you're coming from, again. Instead of developing a useful and practical set of knowledge which corresponds to 'reality,' we usually just sit back metaphysically doubting everything from our armchairs and ivory towers. If we really want to understand the world and seek truth, we must actually look out into the world; this requires that we avoid the metaphysical inquiry as often as possible. Lately, I've been in a phase where I just want to metaphysically analyze everything. But I think I'm slowly growing out of it (without abandoning it altogether). I do realize that eventually an INTP has to learn to actually take the world for what it is, and that's a very powerful thing to realize, and I hope INTP's do actually learn to develop themselves toward that goal.
Nice post (and it sucks most everyone is bashing you for being honest).
Peace.
- and by the way, people, that emoticon is shamefully abused) that is not supported by logical analysis. Yes, some of us are emo borgs.
