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INTP: A Jungian Cognitive Function Analysis

[INTP] 
100K views 36 replies 20 participants last post by  Alea jacta est 
#1 ·
Stolen from Personality Nation by @simulatedworld
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INTP, or Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiver, is a label borrowed from MBTI nomenclature and now applied to the Jungian Cognitive Function set {Ti, Ne, Si, Fe}.


Dominant: Introverted Thinking (Ti)


"I guess more than anything I just want things to make sense. I frequently feel like most people around me make decisions based on totally irrational criteria and it's hard to see how they can miss the basic building blocks of common sense logical reasoning and decision-making. I like to work with systems, especially theoretical systems of ideas that represent concepts that interest me--the more complex and interrelated, the better. There's something aesthetically appealing about designing and reworking systems; creating symmetry that suggests a sense of total systemic completeness is something that brings me a lot of enjoyment. It's really important that things remain fair and consistent--if I don't feel I'm being treated fairly or reasonably, I will speak up and explain in detail exactly what's wrong with the flawed reasoning that's being used against me. I go to great pains to maximize clarity and conceptual precision when I'm dealing with others, and I expect them to do the same. If I can't establish a clear definition of an idea, then how can I connect it meaningfully to anything else?"

INTPs firmly believe that conceptual analysis and evaluation is not for the faint of heart. What they're after is no less than absolute correctness, definitional precision, and universal truth. Almost quixotic in this idealistic search to grasp the nature of everything, INTPs believe everything can ultimately be defined, categorized, and succinctly systematized into a single unified conceptual picture--even if that degree of completeness is not something humankind can ever expect to achieve.

Unlike INTJs, who resist strict conceptual definition until empirical evidence renders it indisputable, INTPs must categorize and define their ideas into clearly distinct blocks before they can even begin a discourse or exchange of information. Dominant Ti creates such a keen awareness of definitional specificity that INTPs often garner a reputation for nitpicking that borders on neurotic and may drive other types up the wall. (After all, you can't spell "nitpick" without "INTP".) And while they may sometimes abuse this ability in order to play games with others or establish their own intellectual superiority, more often than not, they simply recognize definitional differences to a much finer degree of detail than most other types are even capable of discerning. Until we know precisely what our words denote and connote, we can't even make any meaningful differentiations--which are, of course, the foundation for everything.

INTPs most often find work in areas where they can apply their sense of internal structural identity to complex systems of ideas where they can broaden the scope of a problem and discover a new area in which to work out all of the intricate relationships that make up the defining characteristics and total framework thereof. For Ti, practical application is rarely much of a concern; INTPs are in the business of idea development for the sake of learning and cerebral expansion. If they can map out an area of reality that as of yet lacks definition, INTPs may find a sense of purpose by feeling they've contributed to the development or clarification of humankind's understanding, demystifying something previously not understood.

It's hard to overstate the importance of fitting everything in the universe and the entire realm of existence into Ti's overarching sense of the total causality of all the relationships, properties, and axioms that make up the definition of everything involved in life as we know it. When a new piece of information contradicts Ti's previously understood rule set, there is no choice but to retreat into private introspection until the inevitable error in reasoning is discovered and the causal chain of deduction repaired, checked, and double checked for consistent flow of rhetorical integrity. Each piece of a system implies the necessity of other pieces filling counterbalancing but symmetrical roles: with enough If/Then statements and explanations of possible conditions and situational exceptions to them, literally everything can ultimately be mapped out and explained and shown to adhere to a global sense of logical predictability. The universe cannot function any other way. If we're still running into wrong conclusions, it's either because we started with bad premises or we haven't created enough subsections of systemic explanation yet: either way, the answer always lies in further analysis and reevaluation.

Like all Ji dominant (IxxP) types, INTPs are, above all, people of principle, and they will defend those principles to the death (especially if you try to debate them!) The search for truth outweighs any transient cultural values, transcends any perceptual bias or interpretive difference, renders irrelevant any lesser or arbitrarily chosen values, and represents the ultimate ideal to which all should feel privileged to have even the most fleeting encounter with. It is of vital importance to the INTP to seek knowledge purely for the sake of understanding, and to uphold his sense of logical integrity in the process. Anything less would be, well, illogical.



Auxiliary: Extroverted iNtuition (Ne)

"Overthinking, overanalyzing separates the body from the mind / Withering my intuition, leaving opportunities behind."
--Tool, "Lateralus" (lyrics by Maynard James Keenan, INTP)


Unfortunately, the INTP's primary interests and skill sets are often esoteric at best, frequently not lending themselves to much use in terms of connection and interaction with other human beings. While the INTP may spend tremendous time and effort developing incredibly thorough understanding of numerous multi-faceted concepts and ideas, he may find himself woefully unable to articulate their meaning or significance to others without some method by which to connect abstract concepts to that which his fellow man already understands.

When developed well, Ne will bestow the INTP with a number of positive balancing characteristics, ranging from awareness of and desire to play to the expectations and interests of her audience to cross-contextual perception of conceptual similarity and an accompanying (and somewhat unexpected) ability to teach these concepts to others who lack understanding. For many INTPs, this becomes one of the most valuable and far-reaching gifts that Ne has to offer--she may find, much to her surprise, that her natural talent for noting structural similarities between the seemingly unrelated allows her to rephrase the most abstruse hierarchies of ideas into surprisingly understandable unifying explanations with which her audience can readily identify. This ability marks one of the more substantial and notable differences between INTPs and INTJs: while Ni intuitively grasps conceptual symbolism quite readily, the INTJ's comparative inability (or simple disinterest in trying) to "translate" such abstractions results in a peculiar communicative disconnect which INTPs are frequently much more able to mitigate through Ne.

Perhaps most importantly of all, Ne grants the INTP not only a broader understanding of the vast interconnectedness of his various intellectual pursuits, but a sense of playful creativity and an excited enthusiasm for new possibilities for the future. When Ne is developed poorly, and the INTP is left with TiSi, his ever-looming sense of self-doubt and imminent awareness of the incompleteness of his own understanding may lead to extreme social isolation and dejected burnout from repeated failures at attempts to navigate the confusing and illogical world of external interaction. Ne encourages the INTP to remember that, no matter what the failures and inadequacies of today have wrought, tomorrow will be a new day full of new possibilities for different approaches, connections, and changes. If the current model doesn't feel consistent, we can always adjust it, rework it, or tweak its variables and turn it into something else tomorrow. The possibilities are endless--they're already out there, waiting to be found, and it's up to us to rearrange the pieces until we find them.

Ne, ideally, should serve to balance out Ti's insistence on deductive perfection through complete information by allowing the INTP to "fill in the blanks" and make rougher, more intuitive guesses at information he may not yet possess or fully understand. As Ti would prefer to work with If/Then statements which provide unifying explanations of wide ranges of theoretically absolute data, the failure to consult Ne may often result in an uncomfortable unwillingness to take action or make any attempt at something until the INTP feels he has complete enough information to solve for the entire causality of the system in his mind. Properly developed Ne leads the INTP to accept the reality that life is full of uncertainties, and that if we refuse to act without knowing all the variables, we never really learn or progress. When he gets stuck at a critical juncture, Ne reminds him to just veer off and try something different--even if it may not work every time or provide a complete explanation, it might lead him to just what he needs to see in order to discover the next step in the process. It allows him to break out of his shell and try new things just in case something unexpected happens, and it's this sort of vibrant curiosity that combines best with Ti's tireless thirst for truth and knowledge to produce a well-rounded and psychologically balanced INTP.



Tertiary: Introverted Sensation (Si)


As a tertiary function, Si can have a variety of balancing effects on the INTP's total cognition. It tends to work best when Ne has already been allowed to grow and develop as Ti's natural assistant and counterpart; however, it's worth noting that, like all tertiary functions, its effects can be potentially damaging if overused or interpreted out of context.

The most essential purpose of Si is to provide a sense of comfort in familiarity, in the idea that our internal maps of undifferentiated information work best when we're able to sustain them with a consistent flow of concrete sensory data, and that we should be wary of people, places, and situations that the map has not yet charted. For INTPs under the influence of tertiary Si, this can generate a certain degree of cynicism and potentially even irrational distrust of situations they've experienced before and associated a negative connotation with. INTPs may develop curious suspicions about the adverse effects of their surroundings on their physical health; they may select insignificant sensory details to use as scapegoats for their inability to produce consistent work. ("I'd be churning out fantastic material here if only these morons could get me some half decent coffee!")

Si's influence, in its infancy, may lead INTPs to avoid new experiences or block out possible new approaches or changes in methodology that may very well have improved the development of their ideas or increased the range of options available to them. "I've tried and it didn't work" can become something of a mantra that allows the INTP to both avoid the uncomfortable nature of leaping into the unknown with incomplete information, and build more support for the superiority of his personal convictions and subjective beliefs about the nature of fairness and reason.

Given enough negative reinforcement, as TiSi loop sets in, the INTP may even develop a habit of avoiding the very situations and mindsets that his personal growth requires most in order to move forward. Utterly convinced that the deck is stacked unfairly against him, he may devolve into bitter cynicism about the coldly inconsistent nature of the harsh, stupid, and illogical universe around him. Sensitive about his failures in the social arena, especially, he may convince himself that the only people worth interacting with are those who feel "safe" in that they espouse the same kinds of views with which he is already familiar: locked into a self-serving loop of subjective logic and subjective reinforcement of the kind of experiential data that supports it, he may simply resign himself to the fate of being alone and unappreciated, comforting himself with grandiose and romantic ideals of being "the only one with any real integrity" or "the only one who really cares about The Truth."

The problem with pouring on too much Si too quickly is that it may lead to a tendency to ignore Ne development. The INTP already has plenty of depth, and plenty of subjective perspective; what she needs to do first is develop a sense of the objectively observable effects her ideas have on others so that she can connect their perspectives to her own and learn to communicate the significance of her convictions meaningfully. Blocking this growth process with more encouragement to indulge in more of the same familiar experiences will only cause regressive development.

When granted a more balanced and positive role, Si should serve not as a mere excuse to remain forever entrenched in one's experiential comfort zone, but as a useful counterbalance to Ne's tendency to fly off the rails and become lost in its own excitement. While Ne teaches the INTP to let herself go and reach out to embrace the random, Si reins her back in and reminds her that, sometimes, there's a very good reason we've become familiar with a certain form of experience: it's what's best for us and it keeps us out of trouble. It reminds us to pay attention when things start to push too far out of our comfort zone for our own good, and helps us to avoid repeating mistakes that we've already made and (hopefully) learned from.


Lastly, Si should grant the INTP a sense of real connection to the actual experiences represented by the theoretical ideas he is constantly mulling over in his head, which will contribute to his slow-developing ability to concretely identify with where others are coming from. It's one thing to be able to explain to someone why an idea should work in theory and point out how clearly consistent and logical it is; it's quite another to be able to honestly say, "Because I've been there and I've tried it for myself, and I know from experience that it genuinely works." Being able to offer that kind of backup for their arguments can help INTPs transcend the theoretical basis from which they normally operate, endearing themselves to others in a way that only real world experience with real world issues can.



Inferior: Extroverted Feeling (Fe)


At the bottom of the barrel of the INTP's cognitive makeup lies the oft-unconscious and mostly neglected counterpart to Ti's personalized logic: the collectivized ethics and cultural expectations represented by inferior Fe. Right out of the gate, INTPs are naturally distrustful of extroverted judgment: they feel that decision-making is something that rightfully belongs to them and them alone, and that the idea of letting other people's expectations taint the depth and purity of their primary focus--for such questionable purposes as making people get along, no less--is, at least consciously, seen as a disturbing affront to their right to individualism and free thought.

"Why should I be expected to get along with anyone whose beliefs clearly represent incorrect logic and poor reasoning? It's not my fault people are too stupid to realize their beliefs are ridiculous!" Earlier in life, dominant Ti may have an exceptionally difficult time even understanding why getting along with others is desirable in the first place. If those people can't be trusted to make rational decisions according to the indisputable reality of The Truth, it can't see any value in associating with them at all. The way angry, adolescent INTPs develop social circles around this common belief represents one of the great ironies of the Jungian world.

Insistent that emotion is, by nature, a fundamentally invalid form of reasoning, INTPs may actually become emotionally attached to the idea that their decision-making is unemotional and therefore perfectly rational and "objectively superior" to other competing value systems. By asserting that Ti's subjective logic represents absolute or objective truth, they conveniently avoid both having to confront their own emotional needs and having to accept that their preferred method of reasoning does not represent absolute dogmatic truth. They will continue to cite "facts" and "scientific evidence" based on their own subjective sense of truth, using Ti's own axioms as proof of its ultimate correctness, never realizing the ultimately circular nature of their own declarations of self-superiority. When they meet other INTPs who feel the same way they do, the fact that someone else identifies both feeds Ti's conscious desire to be The Most Correct and Fe's subconscious desire to share a collectively derived ethical viewpoint with a larger group.

Try as they might to deny it, beneath the surface of the unconscious, inferior Fe (aided by auxiliary Ne) does drive INTPs to seek social acceptance and emotional connection; however, they often find themselves so hopelessly clueless at understanding and adjusting to social cues that they quickly develop intensely negative associations with the whole process of attempting to share themselves with others, content to interact only with those whose beliefs are consistent with their own, and thus non-threatening. In this way, INTPs may actually act out inferior Fe by seeking out like-minded friends and acquaintances who dislike the idea of having Fe standards forced on them, thus forming Fe-oriented bonds based, ironically, around the idea of disliking the very social expectations that end up creating the common ground on which they identify. "Don't conform to society--be a nonconformist like us!"

By attacking the systems of collective ethical expectations they so despise on a conscious level, they fulfill their own subconscious needs for cultural and familial camaraderie by replacing "I'm right" with "We're right"--but good luck to any member of that group who disagrees with the precepts of correctness by which it defines its membership!

Eventually, once Ne and Si have fallen into their rightful places and developed properly, inferior Fe should grant the INTP the much-needed realization that sometimes family and friends should come before theoretical correctness. Even if it's wrong or illogical or unfounded in science, if he wants to keep friends and family around, or hold a consistent job, or participate in social situations with any degree of discernible success, he must develop a desire to adjust to their emotional and ethical needs and preferences, even if he cannot see an imminently "logical" reason to agree with them.

This duality of thought ("I think it's illogical" + "I can still see the value in it and respect it as an equally valid form of reasoning") is something that takes many INTPs a long time and a lot of soul-searching to grow into. It requires, above all, the realization that even if absolute truth exists, it's not really possible or logically plausible to believe any single human being can access or understand it directly--the addition of competent Fe into his cognitive hierarchy will allow the INTP to admit that yes, even he is subject to emotional bias, and even he has practical reasons to adjust his ethical outlook according to the feelings and needs of those he holds dear.

Once the INTP is able to simultaneously value the idea of truth and admit to himself that his own opinion cannot constitute the entirety of it, he will begin to realize that balancing his personal convictions against collective moral evaluations can actually move him even closer to the transcendent vision of universal truth and integrity around which his entire life is centered--and who knows? He may even develop some deeply meaningful personal connections along the way!
 
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#2 ·
I've been dealing with this stuff my whole life. It's taken me almost 30 years to get decent at realizing that nobody sits in the rational center and that even with all of our best instruments the absolute truth is probably inaccessible to us.

What you see is relative to where you're observing from.
 
#21 ·
This is an older post but I registered to the Forum just to say this is completely wrong. And to anyone who disagrees with *me* saying that I suggest that they study the philosophy of Objectivism if they have not already. Not only is it true for all men at all times but I think any INTP will see that it is quicker than the general population.
 
#3 ·
To be honest, Jungian descriptions always make me question my type because the Ni-Te seems to fit better. The process of turning something over in my mind and finding the right angle to look at it from is very consistent with how I actually think. I am, however, suspicious that, even if Jung's idea is correct, it may not correlate well with MBTI or Keirsey's and Berens' theories.
 
#5 ·
Unlike INTJs, who resist strict conceptual definition until empirical evidence renders it indisputable, INTPs must categorize and define their ideas into clearly distinct blocks before they can even begin a discourse or exchange of information... Until we know precisely what our words denote and connote, we can't even make any meaningful differentiations--which are, of course, the foundation for everything.
This is totally me. I've stopped conversations before to make sure our definitions of what we're discussing match up.

For many INTPs, this becomes one of the most valuable and far-reaching gifts that Ne has to offer--she may find, much to her surprise, that her natural talent for noting structural similarities between the seemingly unrelated allows her to rephrase the most abstruse hierarchies of ideas into surprisingly understandable unifying explanations with which her audience can readily identify.
I've had people comment on my seemingly instant ability to come up with endless metaphors. It's all wordplay to me.

Try as they might to deny it, beneath the surface of the unconscious, inferior Fe (aided by auxiliary Ne) does drive INTPs to seek social acceptance and emotional connection; however, they often find themselves so hopelessly clueless at understanding and adjusting to social cues that they quickly develop intensely negative associations with the whole process of attempting to share themselves with others, content to interact only with those whose beliefs are consistent with their own, and thus non-threatening.
I would add here that it's not just the problem of social cues, but that human behavior itself is inherently illogical. While we may view our own behavior as logically-based (though, as previously mentioned, that is entirely subjective), we cannot easily understand other people's motivations and behaviors until we develop a greater understanding of human psychology. In fact, the INTP desire to understand typology/psychology/sociology/etc. is most likely driven out of a need to categorize and understand illogical processing. Young INTPs who don't have as much experience doing that research may not have any framework for understanding and accepting seemingly illogical behavior, and thus reject people who behave in a way that doesn't make sense to them.

Overall a very well-written article. Thanks for posting it.
 
#11 ·
Man I feel like I get stuck between Ti and Si a lot in the past. However throughout these past years I've realized my Ti-Ne connection. In the past I didn't open up very easily as I was stuck in a Ti-Si loop I guess. I needed to open up more to my ideas, exploring possibilities, theories, brainstorming aloud, and express my imagination more in an open minded way. This is how I was able to conclude I was an INTP. I would read personality type descriptions along with all their functions and came to conclusion that I am and always was an INTP. Currently I'm into reading Jung's work and some of his books. I've discovered myself more as I read his books.

Note: I was somewhat depressed and paranoid in the past to so I guess I felt "restricted" to developing my Ne. I realize throughout my whole life I've never been past or experience orientated. I've always been living in my thoughts pulling out ideas in the present moment.
 
#12 ·
Personally I have come to be skeptical of overuse of the loop theory, without questioning what else could be going on.

Not looking for new stuff frankly sounds less like a loop and more like Ti is in dangerous control, meaning all you care to do is reconfirm what it already finds to make sense.

I don't mean to nitpick at all, I used to try to explain stuff with loop theory. But push comes to shove, I think it's misleading to think the tertiary can ever exert such a strong influence as to circle with the dominant back and forth.

The standard theory in the books at least that seems to essentially correspond most nearly to loop theory is called that of tertiary temptation, meaning since these are two introverted functions, there's a natural tendency supposedly to turn to the tertiary in childlike obstinacy to reconfirm the dominant's perspective on things.
 
#13 ·
Hmm I'm somewhat approve of the loop theory, because I think I may have experienced it. What do you think could cause paranoia in an INTP in my case? I thought it was because I felt restricted with my Ne and I didn't open up about myself, but now that I open up instead of being paranoid to myself I can clarify what character type I have, which is INTP. I used to be depressed somewhat and I was even diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic (which I am not, I don't have hallucinations at all) Regardless I WAS paranoid in the past somewhat highly at that.
 
#14 ·
FightingSpirit007 said:
Hmm I'm somewhat approve of the loop theory, because I think I may have experienced it.
That was my stance as well - I felt I'd "experienced" a loop.
And I mean, yes I had experienced two functions roughly in the sense described.

The thing is over time one starts finding more and more nuanced explanations, and also having some simple common sense checks.

Why paranoid? I seriously doubt it's caused by typological phenomena. I'd guess typological phenomena could provide a perspective on your experience at a time of paranoia, rather than actually explaining it. I like to think of type as the skeleton, describing how things are filtered as they pass into your world (after all, it starts and ends at describing what patterns of cognition are central to you), and that filter represents you in some sense, but your psychology is ultimately not equivalent to that filter, even if it is reflected in it. At least in what I call the overarching cases.

During a period of paranoia, I'd guess someone with a dominant function would be stuck in that dominant function more likely than they'd truly circle in and out of a tertiary.

That said, this requires having a correctly typed dominant, and after being "certain" a lot of people circle through and try to find what it really is.
 
#15 ·
Yes my paranoia has provided me with a perspective, I couldn't explain why I was paranoid. I've read some of Jung's work and in one book I've read that in EXTREME cases Ti could be paranoia (breaking ties of reality) and Ne (loosing interest easily, jumping from one thing to the next, and searching for new possibilities of the external world.) I don't know what book I read that from exactly, but I've read it from one before and it was a Jung book.

I do seem aimless a lot (which I assume is my Ne.) However my Si keeps me in check somewhat of what has actually worked before. I guess based off what you said seems to hold truth, but in the end perspective can mean a lot as well.

I think paranoia and depression can throw a lot of people off. I've been doing a lot better lately this past year though, I've just been educating myself and opening up more which allows me to have more of a "clarity".
 
#16 ·
FightingSpirit007 said:
I think paranoia and depression can throw a lot of people off. I've been doing a lot better lately this past year though
Always great if something's working. It's one of the reasons I've grown stickler about really nailing how much can be said about the inter-relations between typological phenomena and other psychological ones -- I'd prefer for people like you to continue finding things that work, and get a really quick reality check on what typology might and might not be able to say for you (or at least I wish someone told me that sort of thing when I first started learning this stuff).

I think an extreme leaning to almost any function can lead to some level of psychological breakdown, yes. But one thing which typology won't always hit clearly is what led to that extreme leaning?

As a simple example, when someone enters intuitive reality, and essentially loses sensory reality (some blatant N>>>>>>>>>>>>>S), undoubtedly some psychological break might happen, and nearly without question this is the sort of thing you probably read about when you read extreme over-reliance on Ti-dominance can lead to some break. But why are they doing that? Not all intuitive doms reach such a point, so obviously something non-basic stuff, not entirely native to typology necessarily, is going on.

Hope this helps throw a little perspective! I see people vastly overstep the bounds of what typology does and doesn't say, and half of what I find myself posting is just in the hopes that this can be curtailed.

Do feel free to engage me further on this. I understand it can be confusing to digest exactly what I'm saying when newly processing the loop theory etc (assuming you are). At least it sounded very ripe and convincing to me, and hey there is something to it, but I think there's also something to clarifying precisely what it is and isn't, as well as distinguishing the existence of a typological imbalance from its causes.
 
#17 ·
Haha I think it would be a wild and scary experience to enter such an intuitive reality (maybe not). I don't think I could enter that, because of my Si keeping me in check, thank god for that! I can't imagine myself in such an N mode of losing sensory reality, I guess I have experienced being absent minded a lot (forgetful), I have entered a state of not paying attention to what's around me AT ALL once with my girlfriend (which made me give her a demeaning look when I became paranoid) which was a scary experience. I guess I have to become more of a stickler about nailing down how typology and psychological ones differ.

I suppose that people can overstep the boundaries, I have so in the past and I still do. I only understood the functions of being an INTP by a lot of reading and introspecting. I only recently joined this forum recently actually.

Off topic, what do you think of Keirsey's work? I don't favor him really, I am more fond Jung's work a lot more. However what I found interesting was that he claimed that introspecting signified the Intuitors and observing signified the Sensors. I for myself have always introspected, however I don't see a connection between the Sensing and Intuiting functions when it comes between observing and introspecting. I mean is it because Intuitors think abstractly? (deeply and theoretical)?

I did slowly digest it by the way...haha.

Random note: I don't smoke weed, because I become paranoid pretty bad if I do. Do you think it's because I over-think?
 
#20 ·
I'm pretty sure I've developed my Si and Fe more than most other INTPs I've met, or at least I don't deny their existence and value, but really, those of us who have only developed our Ti and Ne can be SO annoying! I mean talk about immature, circular logic.*
*Not to say that I'm not prone to this, just that I notice it. It's probably worst when surrounded by fellow NT's, especially when they are cynical.**
**Fe strikes again!
 
#23 ·
The philosophy. It teaches you the principals on how to correctly discover and completely validate knowledge about reality starting from the Law of Identity on up in an increasing complex hierarchy of abstract conceptual development.
 
#24 ·
A bit off-topic, maybe, but am I correct in thinking that:

Ne (or Ne-Si) = Abstract Random
Ni (or Ni-Se) = Abstract Sequential
Se (or Se-Ni) = Concrete Random
Si (or Si-Ne) = Concrete Sequential

and that people with the Ne-Si/Si-Ne pairings are more deductive, whereas people with the Ni-Se/Se-Ni pairings are more inductive?

I'm probably way off. I really need to learn more about the functions...
 
#26 ·
What test gave you those results? Te goes with Fi, Ti with Fe, Ni with Se, and Ne with Si.

If you scored highest in Ti and Ni, you might be an INFJ. I hear they quite often mistype as INTPs.
 
#30 ·
Hello everyone, I’m basically having a personality meltdown because I have been using the MBTI test now for about two years and I still cannot seem to decide on my personality type. I once tested as an ENFP when I was taking pain killers regularly so that definitely affected some of my answers. I once tested as an INTP at a work function/meting and then tested again at work as an INFJ.

I moved on to trying to take the test at home where I could be alone with my own thoughts and I tested as an ENTP! For some reason, I took the test again about a year later and tested as an ENTJ! Now, I could be an ENFP, an INTP, an ENTP, an ENTJ..and oh yeah I fit some of the descriptions of the INFP, ESTP, and ISTP if that weren’t enough.

I know one fact about me which could explain some part of my dilemma, which is the fact that I’m known as the chameleon. I fluctuate to different types of people depending on what I need in my life at that moment (very much so strategic when it comes to relationships) and have been accused by my own friends of using them to get what I want!

Now, I’m relatively sure that isn’t a Feelers prototypical behavior BUT ENFPs have been known to be a bit manipulative, even when it comes to relationships.

Here are some key facts about me:
- My friends regard me as the Mathematician, I’m always analyzing everything
- I am borderline narcissist, egotistical and the most arrogant Sob you’ll ever meet.
- I can be really gregarious and outgoing when I want to be especially when I am drunk but outside of that I keep a relatively low profile, mainly because I want to figure out my personality type before I venture back out into the world!
- Also, I am obsessed with world domination and taking control of people.
- I have a knack for being fidgety, socially at unease most of the time because people say some of the dumbest shit.
- I have an extremely difficult time opening up to people about anything going on in my life esp about my Father, who passed away last year
- I am very much into Adderral, smoking hookah, smoking weed and overall just messing up my body because I do workout so I know ill be able to remain healthy.
- I am very self aware and hate standing up in front of crowds..they make me uneasy but I have been told I am a brilliant/confident public speaker.
- I feel like a leader on the outside but I suppress those feeling in order to be deemed intelligent and addicting rather than bold and outlandish.
- I hate hate hate asking for help..I’d rather die then ask for help..Id rather figure things out for myself then ask for help later when I need it..mostly I will use people to get what I want out of them.
- I’ve always been borderline..borderline dumbass..borderline genius..I can’t figure out which one is which..am I a genius or a dumbass? Everything I do is halfass..half the time I’m the mad mathematician in my lab cooking up greatness and the other half of the time I’m a borderline loser/sociopath who has nothing to do but masterbate and watch tv.
- I have always been obsessed with two things..genius and leadership..I dunno why but I have.
- I am a brilliant talent evaluator.

Please help!..I’m having an identity crisis and I need to get to the bottom of this..before its too late!

Hopefully this is more than enough information that you all will need in order to assist me with my dilemma because I cannot go on any longer not knowing who I AM!
 
#35 ·
I have been trying my hand at better understanding the INTPs pattern of Cognitive functions.
I was hoping to break it down into something a bit more simpler and understandable.
Some times I find certain descriptions long winded and I seek a practical way to elaborate it to someone who is much more unfamiliar with the material. Not saying the ones available here are long winded by any means. :proud:

Feedback from another INTP well versed in the matter would be greatly appreciated.

So in regards to information.

INTPs

Ti - Analyze and categorizes data. (Acquire)
Ne - Explore a number of alternatives or connections to said data. (Research)
Si - Compares said data to information which has already been acquired for confirmation. (Validate)
Fe - (Not sure how to factor this in) "Pls halp" :bored:

Let me know what any of you may think.
 
#36 ·
So in regards to information.

INTPs

Ti - Analyze and categorizes data. (Acquire)
Ne - Explore a number of alternatives or connections to said data. (Research)
Si - Compares said data to information which has already been acquired for confirmation. (Validate)
Fe - (Not sure how to factor this in) "Pls halp" :bored:

Let me know what any of you may think.

The Fe could be "is this correlated with values and feelings of others?".
 
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