[curious0610]

I need help typing someone -- he is definitely a "T" but I really can't figure out the other cognitive functions. This is strange for me, because i usually have a good knack at figuring out people's types. I think I've almost ruled out him being an ISTJ, because two of my closest friends are ISTJ, and I don't see the parallels. At the same time, I haven't completely ruled this out, because I'm leaving into consideration the fact that I don't know him that well enough yet, there are some parallels, and he is older than the other ISTJs I know. So right now, it's a toss up for ENTx, xSTP and ISTJ. I listed some observations below. Thanks in advance for your help!

- Maverick
- Ivory tower
- Hedonistic (life is short and happiness is what we are pursuing).
- Thrill-seeking, adventure-seeking
- Not necessary "traditional" in the sense of family

- Believes in hard work, rewarding good, punishing bad behavior
- "Rigid" when it comes to protocol or other types of established criteria. Will take the time to explain why something doesn't meet protocol or criteria, but won't sugarcoat it or make exceptions
- Some say he's arrogant (I disagree)
- Very guarded, cautious… takes a while to warm up, but doesn't ever seem to open up

- loves to discuss theoretical and conceptual issues
- often ponders about the meaning and complexity of life
- often draws connections to the meaning of life in seemingly insignificant details (example: someone stepped on gum on the street, had to pause to remove the gum from shoe, and missed the crossing signal. He'd relate this to some aspect of his life where he was once inhibited from doing something because something got in the way, and will draw on how we can all relate to this in our lives).
- Likes to relate things back to him -- in conversations, likes to relate everything to his own experiences, friends' experiences, etc. Likes to relate the meaning of songs to his life. Without being able to relate to these things, he loses interest in that someone/something.
- Has strong moments of nostalgia, wistfulness, melancholy
-bouts of insomnia

- Likes to talk endlessly once on a topic of interest
- Gets side tracked easily when talking (goes off at a tangent and can't remember what he was saying)

- Confident around people but doesn't seem to seek out people
- Confident when talking to large groups (example: conference), but little rapport in one-on-one conversations; almost seems he isn't paying attention, but is.
- Has a good relationship with parents, but doesn't really keep in touch; will often joke about things they made him do manyyyy years later, but no hard feelings involved.
- Little or no concern in people's lives beyond basics (at least it seems that way, though once I figure out his type, I could figure out how he expresses his concern)

[cyamitide]

sounds like a well-adjusted INTJ to me

[curious0610]

cyamatide... in what ways could this person be an INTJ? I have some close INTJ friends who are very family-oriented (live nearby parents), and are unlikely to explore, seek adventures, or move far away. And this goes for INTJs that are my peers as well as for a ~40 year old INTJ family friend. For the most part, the INTJs I know seem uninterested in discussing theoretical/conceptual concepts, the meaning/complexity of life. Thanks for your post byt he way :)

[cyamitide]

may be an ENTP as well

INTJs can come off as extraverts especially if they have high confidence and are engaged in talking about subjects that interest them as you can see at conferences sometimes, they can talk a lot and draw groups of people around themselves

ENTPs can present themselves as introverts, in fact I read it is common for them to test as INTPs

does this guy seem to like planning things or prefer spontaneity? how is his sense of humor like? does he blurt out absurd things sometimes, play with words, highly value creativity in people? or does he value depth of knowledge, judge people negatively for being too stupid and illogical at times, and has no issues with adhering to schedule?

[curious0610]

A little bit of both (sorry for the vagueness!) His sense of humor is misunderstood -- he says things, but doesn't expect people to laugh at them and thinks his sense of humor is pretty much non-existing. However his type of humor makes the INFJ smile and chuckle. He seems to prefer spontaneity to a certain degree... in that he's very open minded about changing major things in life - job, career, location. He definitely does not value creativity in people and doesn't play with words. He doesn't blurt out absurd things, but he blurts out random facts that he finds amusing. He values depth of knowledge. He judges people for being stupid, but kind of smiles in that it amuses him. He doesn't judge people for being illogical, only if those illogical thoughts lead to stupid actions, and then it of course amuses him. Picture someone smiling back, grining, amused by someone doing stupid. When it comes to every day life, he strongly adheres to a strict schedule and does things as planned. I think that answered everything?

[backwards]

I need help typing someone -- he is definitely a "T" but I really can't figure out the other cognitive functions. This is strange for me, because i usually have a good knack at figuring out people's types. I think I've almost ruled out him being an ISTJ, because two of my closest friends are ISTJ, and I don't see the parallels. At the same time, I haven't completely ruled this out, because I'm leaving into consideration the fact that I don't know him that well enough yet, there are some parallels, and he is older than the other ISTJs I know. So right now, it's a toss up for ENTx, xSTP and ISTJ. I listed some observations below. Thanks in advance for your help!

- Maverick
- Ivory tower
- Hedonistic (life is short and happiness is what we are pursuing).
- Thrill-seeking, adventure-seeking
- Not necessary "traditional" in the sense of family

- Believes in hard work, rewarding good, punishing bad behavior
- "Rigid" when it comes to protocol or other types of established criteria. Will take the time to explain why something doesn't meet protocol or criteria, but won't sugarcoat it or make exceptions
- Some say he's arrogant (I disagree)
- Very guarded, cautious… takes a while to warm up, but doesn't ever seem to open up

- loves to discuss theoretical and conceptual issues
- often ponders about the meaning and complexity of life
- often draws connections to the meaning of life in seemingly insignificant details (example: someone stepped on gum on the street, had to pause to remove the gum from shoe, and missed the crossing signal. He'd relate this to some aspect of his life where he was once inhibited from doing something because something got in the way, and will draw on how we can all relate to this in our lives).
- Likes to relate things back to him -- in conversations, likes to relate everything to his own experiences, friends' experiences, etc. Likes to relate the meaning of songs to his life. Without being able to relate to these things, he loses interest in that someone/something.
- Has strong moments of nostalgia, wistfulness, melancholy
-bouts of insomnia

- Likes to talk endlessly once on a topic of interest
- Gets side tracked easily when talking (goes off at a tangent and can't remember what he was saying)

- Confident around people but doesn't seem to seek out people
- Confident when talking to large groups (example: conference), but little rapport in one-on-one conversations; almost seems he isn't paying attention, but is.
- Has a good relationship with parents, but doesn't really keep in touch; will often joke about things they made him do manyyyy years later, but no hard feelings involved.
- Little or no concern in people's lives beyond basics (at least it seems that way, though once I figure out his type, I could figure out how he expresses his concern)

This could have been written about me by someone who's known me for less than 4 years. At first I got a little bit paranoid. But then again, even if your one in a million there's 7000 people just like you, and the description is not more precise than your average mbti description. So.... This would probably fit a lot of types

Edit: Read what you wrote last. About the humor and schedule. As an ENTP, I know I say a lot of funny things IRL, and it's all about spontaneity. However, I'm aware that most types don't get the extreme Ne-humor I often deliver and because of that I usually tone it down in settings where most people don't understand. That he doesn't play with words or value creativity strikes me as the things that talks most for the stand that he's not an ENTP. The planning and scheduling stuff.. I think most ENTPs love doing this but have a harder time to follow. (Any ENTP agree?) It might be that he actually just puts up a facade that he is following schedules, to not appear all talk.

I think that it would help if you say in what situations you meet this fellow. Work, through friends or studies maybe. The ENTP often show different sides in different types of relationships. Maybe he wants to appear more professional if your relationship is workrelated.

[LQ9]

cyamatide... in what ways could this person be an INTJ? I have some close INTJ friends who are very family-oriented (live nearby parents), and are unlikely to explore, seek adventures, or move far away. And this goes for INTJs that are my peers as well as for a ~40 year old INTJ family friend. For the most part, the INTJs I know seem uninterested in discussing theoretical/conceptual concepts, the meaning/complexity of life. Thanks for your post byt he way :)

I agree with Cyamatide - he sounds like an INTJ to me.
I think it might be better to compare him to INTJ descriptions and descriptions of each individual trait than to other INTJs you know. People of the same type can be quite different from one another.

I:

- Ivory tower
- Very guarded, cautious… takes a while to warm up, but doesn't ever seem to open up
- Confident around people but doesn't seem to seek out people
- Confident when talking to large groups (example: conference), but little rapport in one-on-one conversations; almost seems he isn't paying attention, but is.

Sounds like a well-adjusted/moderate I to me.

N:

- loves to discuss theoretical and conceptual issues
- often ponders about the meaning and complexity of life
- often draws connections to the meaning of life in seemingly insignificant details (example: someone stepped on gum on the street, had to pause to remove the gum from shoe, and missed the crossing signal. He'd relate this to some aspect of his life where he was once inhibited from doing something because something got in the way, and will draw on how we can all relate to this in our lives).
- Likes to relate things back to him -- in conversations, likes to relate everything to his own experiences, friends' experiences, etc. Likes to relate the meaning of songs to his life. Without being able to relate to these things, he loses interest in that someone/something.
- Has strong moments of nostalgia, wistfulness, melancholy.

I think N because E is more focused on the here-and-now, the basics, the facts. They're sometimes less introspective, abstract, or likely to make connections (i.e. the gum story) than an N.

J:

- Believes in hard work, rewarding good, punishing bad behavior
- "Rigid" when it comes to protocol or other types of established criteria. Will take the time to explain why something doesn't meet protocol or criteria, but won't sugarcoat it or make exceptions

"There's an exception to every rule" tends to be a motto for the P. Doesn't sound as much like your friend.

Hope that was somewhat helpful...

[curious0610]

Wow, thanks for all the help guys! I'm feeling really exhausted right now (going through a bout of insomnia...) and am feeling sleepy + feeling my eyes droop for the first time in a few days, so I'll come back and post a more thorough reply tomorrow. All of your responses are very, very insightful and I'm going to have to do a more in-depth examination of this (when I get some sleep)

I guess it is difficult for me to type him because of four main reasons: I tend to rely on my past experiences and compare and contrast things. hard to explain, but i have a hard time just viewing things "as is" but i'm constantly drawing on a pst experience with other people to gauge the nuances; but given the complexity of every person, things get complicated when individuals vary. Second reason: he's about 10 years older than most INTJs I know. Third somewhat minor reason: he's the only INTJ male I know. The other INTJs I know are female. Fourth biggie: I know him through academic studies/professional setting. I find it's always harder to find out about people this way, especially if it's also with limited contact. In an office/work setting, it's easier because you spend essentially all your time with these people/see how these people interact on break/during peak times/low times/etc, but in the acdemic studies setting, contact is usually limited to class/conference/discussions (and facebook/blog stalking lol)(

He seems like an ISTJ when giving presentations at conferences, etc... his mannerisms remind me very much of my ISTJ friends, but in person (one-on-one), he's very "N" ish. He seems pretty much an I, especially given that he gets drained after long talks (typical I behavior), but at the same time, he has a lot of E tendencies -- asssertiveness; someone from another thread actually said he could even be an ENFP, and I can definitely draw the connections between him and my ENFP friend.

Last question/thought before I KO: Does it mean that a "well-adjusted" INTJ is capable of balancing his cognitive functions, so that he's equally using them (hence making it difficult to label)? I went through individual profiles of all the T types and damn. He fits a little bit of each.....

[cyamitide]

A little bit of both (sorry for the vagueness!) His sense of humor is misunderstood -- he says things, but doesn't expect people to laugh at them and thinks his sense of humor is pretty much non-existing. However his type of humor makes the INFJ smile and chuckle. He seems to prefer spontaneity to a certain degree... in that he's very open minded about changing major things in life - job, career, location. He definitely does not value creativity in people and doesn't play with words. He doesn't blurt out absurd things, but he blurts out random facts that he finds amusing. He values depth of knowledge. He judges people for being stupid, but kind of smiles in that it amuses him. He doesn't judge people for being illogical, only if those illogical thoughts lead to stupid actions, and then it of course amuses him. Picture someone smiling back, grining, amused by someone doing stupid. When it comes to every day life, he strongly adheres to a strict schedule and does things as planned. I think that answered everything?

Well-adjusted confident INTJs can adopt ESTP/ENTP-like behavior at times (and vice versa). I know one INTJ and he often makes jokes that make me chuckle a bit or at least smile. ENTP jokes are more like spontaneous breaks in a pattern, sudden change of direction, unexpected ending or absurdity. INTJ jokes can be like that but they are usually more complexly structured and less absurd. Even there they manage to demonstrate their preference for depth of knowledge. INTJs however tend to repeat more of same joke over and over again for years, while ENTPs be switching to the next catchy one.

The INTJ I know played quite a bit of sports when he was young and likes traveling, going on conferences, and generally taking trips. I have no doubt that this guy I know is an INTJ though because he often does this long term strategic planning in all areas of his life and I feel like the plans he describes make a lot of sense to me. Talking with sensors to the contrary I get slightly turned off. INTJs tend to be more confident than INFJs and thus more daring with their careers and physical activities as well.

[curious0610]

Hm... thanks for the insight (still trying to fall asleep, but this was on my mind). Strangely, sometimes, it feels like I am almost looking at a mirror (personality-wise), but not really. For example, mirror images are flipped horizontally, so it's the same image, but flipped... I realize that many of my tendencies are like what he does, and it just took me a while to step back and realize this. He's definitely not an F though, he's a solid T for sure, and like you said more confident and daring. As for ENTP, I went through the ENTP threads - "you know you're ENTP if..." and it sounds very much like him. At the same time, I'm pretty sure he's "J" material. I guess the main thing that throws me off (from thinking he's an INTJ) is that he's very "in the moment" and hates the feeling when life feels dead or unlived.