[Signify]

Alright ENTPs...as many of you know, I am on some weird border between INTP and ENTP, and my biggest issue is deciding whether I am dominant in Ti or Ne. I find myself weak in both on occasion, but I can't find another function I am actually strong in. Anyhow, I'm usually rather soft-spoken until you get to know me and I then proceed to talk your ear off about any and everything (usually involving computers).



My last semester of high school a few months ago started changing me, however, and I am not sure how to take it exactly. I stopped being so afraid to talk to girls, I started socializing a bit more, and a bit of social anxiety just started chipping away. As time has progressed, I am realizing this is not a short-term thing. I keep seeing it happen.

I went from having every girl in any given area ignore me, to talking to them occasionally, to going with a few on dates, and now, I am prancing up to girls I haven't talked to in a long time, asking them when they get off work, and when they do, if they want to come hang out...and being successful. Ok, I keep hearing the horror stories of INTPs stating they never got a date until they were 30. I'm almost 19 and I can no longer count with my fingers (FINALLY).

I mean, I even highfive random dudes at Starbucks for being the only guy with enough balls to NOT bring in a Mac, but a Windows computer instead. And hell, it feels awesome.

ENTPs....am I turning to the dark side?

[chaos theory]

This happened to me around the end of high school/ beginning of college too. It's been progressive for me. Welcome to the dark side! I actually like it better here.

[Jawz]

Type 4 xNTP's seem more Fi and Fe than Ti. They tend to think through their feelings because they're motivated to engage/act once the mood is right.

I made a long post about this in another thread, the relevant parts of which I'm reproducing here for your benefit:

In my case since I'm a 4 that disintegrates to an unhealthy 2, and integrates to healthy 1, I'm more likely to display both the healthy and unhealthy sides of Fe as well as Si. When I integrate to the 1, I definitely become a lot more principled, moralistic, traditional and secure in how I interact with the world [Development of Fe/Si] and my Ne is at its peak considering all positive possibilities and perspectives. I'm slightly more judgemental and less forgiving but it's during this time of integration when I establish my moral code and stick to it till it stops working for me [Inferior Si explosion].


I'm still always open to new possibilities regardless of which stage of development I'm in. I think the 4 aspect of engaging only when the mood is right keeps me from sticking to things that are bad for me for too long and reduces the perceiving impulsiveness of Ne.


However, I was disintegrated for literally several years during which I experienced the negative sides of Fe and Type 4 disintegration [overly giving, self-sacrificial door-mat - ]. However, once I was pulled out of it, I understood myself better and realized that I'm much more dominant, free-spirited than I had allowed myself to be and seeing a much broader range of possibilities for myself once again.


My Ti rarely shows up however because of being a 4, as I think through how I feel about things [which seems more Ne-Fe than Ne-Ti]. This was actually a cause for being mistyped as an INFJ and ENFJ for a very long time [Ironically, when I was mistyped as INFJ and ENFJ, I was told my Ti far too developed for that grouping - but when I typed as ENTP, there were rumblings that it's too under-developed]. I realized at that point that people rarely know what they're talking about when it comes to personality theory and that I know myself best and finally stuck to research instead of leaving it mid-way like I had done before


When I'm around the average levels of the 4, my focus shifts to an unhealthy manifestation of Fi where I become self-absorbed, masochistic - but still able to fully rationalize exactly why - however, I can't pull myself out of it as I actively start seeking someone to pull me out [4 need to be rescued].


All of this combines to make me look much more Fe-driven than the typical 7 or 3 ENTP.


Extending to tritype theory, I'm also an 8 fixated 4 which makes me seem more like a cp6 than a 4, or an 8. My 8 side manifests itself in self-preservation and requirement of control over certain things in my life. I don't like to be controlled, challenged or made to feel vulnerable. It's always a strange dichotomy which creates a lot of contradictions coming across as cp 6.


Having the 8 and 5 in my tritype contributes to the development of my Ti [which I believe was my late blooming function].


As a 4, however, I have been known to make several leaps of logic based on flawed reasoning because my emotions get in the way.


However, when I'm at peace with myself, I have been told that I can convince anyone of anything and there isn't any problem that's too big to fix as far as I'm concerned.

[Signify]

Type 4 xNTP's seem more Fi and Fe than Ti. They tend to think through their feelings because they're motivated to engage/act once the mood is right.

I made a long post about this in another thread, the relevant parts of which I'm reproducing here for your benefit:

I know that I do think through my feelings, but it isn't quite as much as you've described. Mine is more along the lines of if I am feeling really happy, I always tend to question, "Wait...is this real or am I faking it subconsciously? If legitimate, can I measure how I am currently feeling? Why do other people act in a way that displays they feel GREAT when if this is supposedly the peak of my happiness....why does it realistically just feel...meh? I know I should be REALLY happy here....and I guess I am..but I'm not as happy as I think I SHOULD be. "

If I got angry and acted on that anger, my thinking occurs afterwords...usually in the form of: "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?"

My thought processes have jumped there before, but I certainly would not say it is a daily occurrence. Half the time, I am imagining up some false scenario, building a computer in my head (I really will build one soon), or trying to figure out how I want to build a website, realize it is a ton of work, and procrastinate it to another time.

My skepticism against my Ti lies in the fact that I often fail to reach conclusions that should be obvious to anyone who uses deductive reasoning. And even if I do, why does it take me so long? I should be GREAT at it, right?

I question Ne because it should be fast and overflowing with ideas. I often find myself at a loss for words or ideas, so I just sort of stand there, paralyzed by emotion (especially when put on the spot in front of others). It's annoying.

[Jawz]

I hope you don't mind the psychoanalysis as I'll try to elaborate using what I've picked up on what it means to be 4.

I know that I do think through my feelings, but it isn't quite as much as you've described. Mine is more along the lines of if I am feeling really happy, I always tend to question, "Wait...is this real or am I faking it subconsciously? If legitimate, can I measure how I am currently feeling? Why do other people act in a way that displays they feel GREAT when if this is supposedly the peak of my happiness....why does it realistically just feel...meh? I know I should be REALLY happy here....and I guess I am..but I'm not as happy as I think I SHOULD be. "

So in other words, you try to intellectualize your emotions and try to get from a subjective place to an objective place. I'm not sure exactly how feelings are quantifiable, but what I've learnt to do is keep the past as a frame of reference when trying to gauge the quantifiable strength of my feelings when they start to take over. How I try to rationalize is through asking myself a series of questions:

What put me in this state? Is it worth demonstrating/indulging in my feeling state at this moment, or should I try to over-come it? If I allow my emotions to take over at this point, what sort of consequences would my continued indulgence have on my relationships, or the tasks that I'm currently, or going to be involved in? I try to answer these questions internally and rationalize through giving more weightage to the positive scenarios by default regardless of how I actually feel about the negative consequences.

The part you're describing about other people's feelings coming across as greater than yours is easily relatable back to the core Type 4 vice of envy and longing [which I'm guessing you already know]. Some type 4's [especially 4w3's] suppress their envy and do a better job of not comparing themselves to others - but typically the strain of comparison and longing comes out in a similar expression of yours. This also contrasts with the 4 need to display and establish their uniqueness. This is much more prominent in social 4's where they have this need to fit in but also feel isolated. There's always something missing - and unfortunately it's an aspect of the 4 that never really goes away.

If I got angry and acted on that anger, my thinking occurs afterwords...usually in the form of: "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?"

Heh. I can relate. There's a lot of talk about how Ti is supposed to make xNTP's less likely to be emotional in an emotionally charged situation, but that rule doesn't apply to Type 4 NT's. Type 4's are the exception to the rule of the typical logical and optimistic NT. I've blown up a lot of things and relationships in fits of anger in the past myself - and usually after I've blown up is when my Ti finally kicks in and I realize that I was the one in the wrong and then there's the guilt. However, I continue to think and re-think the situation - playing over the conversation in my head over and over again trying to find fault. If I determine that I was wrong and over-reacted, I apologize and try to make up for what I did wrong. If I realize that if the responsibility was equally shared, I withdraw from the relationship and wallow in my guilt for a while before moving on to something else and forgetting that the anger ever happened.

My thought processes have jumped there before, but I certainly would not say it is a daily occurrence. Half the time, I am imagining up some false scenario, building a computer in my head (I really will build one soon), or trying to figure out how I want to build a website, realize it is a ton of work, and procrastinate it to another time.

This is again related to the overall melancholy of the Type 4. It's not the most optimistic type - but it is an image type that's built around hope - especially if it has strong double image influence [4w3]. Procrastination is one of my biggest problems. Sometimes I find myself in a situation where I have to be in the right mood to do something as simple as pick up the telephone to make a call.

What someone once suggested to me is to really grow as a 4, one has to stop worrying about being in the right mood and at times force the mood. I think this is more of an RH view on this ----- but for a 4 to really be functional, they have to work against the mood in order to change the mood and be functional. I still haven't perfected it. It's not as easy as it sounds. Not when you're a 4.

[Faust]

I had a very similar experience during the last two years of what the Americans call high school. Sounds like you're using some Fe, which is decidedly more ENTP than it is INTP...

[gingertonic]

Level Up! Congrats, you are now a young adult ENTP!

+10 Confidence
+10 Smarts
+25 Allure
+15 Empathy

*You gained the ability "Irresistable!" This ability is passive and does not require activation.

[Joey Couturier]

A wild female appear.
Young INTP used Flirt
Its super effective
You caught A wild Female!

Wait what? INTP is evolving?
...In ENTP.
Congradulation! :D

[OMG WTF BRO]

Bwaha. l wasn't aware of the Mac rule at Starbuck's. i mean, aside from noticing l may have been the only person there without one, never occurred to me to give a shit xD

But yeah, yeah. A lot of development is still taking place in the teen years and really up until around 25.

l wouldn't shrug of the possibility that you might be an ENTP at all.

[Signify]

A wild female appear.
Young INTP used Flirt
Its super effective
You caught A wild Female!

Wait what? INTP is evolving?
...In ENTP.
Congradulation! :D

What level do I get to learn Manipulate?