INTP Personality

NTP is the rarest personality type in the 16 personality types in the Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator. The Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator is used to make the theory of psychological types described by C G Jung understandable and actually useful in an average person’s life. The whole point of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and very consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and their own personal judgment.

INTP’s are only about one percent of the general population in the world, which makes it the rarest personality type. The dominant function is thinking, the secondary being intuition, tertiary being sensing, and the inferior function being feeling.

INTP is known for being such an above all thinker and this person’s inner and most private world is a place that is governed by a very strong sense of logical structure. They rigorously analyze every experience, every action, etc. The task of the INTP’s mind is to fit each encountered experience and/or idea into a much larger structure defined by logic. The main and central goal of an INTP is to fully understand and seek truth. INTP’s are entirely global thinkers. They seek the truth and respect those who give them the absolute truth. These people also are very pensive and they venture so very deeply into their own thoughts and their own private world, that they will sometimes seem very detached to the rest of the world and are often oblivious to the world around them and what is actually going on. They over analyze every single thing around them and once it has been analyzed and they have figured it all out, then they become quickly bored and there is nothing left to offer. The most primary interests of INTP’s are things that they cannot fully understand, because they loved to analyze things that some mystical, exotic type of element that does not yield to analysis. Anything simple that is much too quickly understood and can’t hold the fascination for long is boring and does not interest INTP’s.

INTP’s are quite easy going over all and they only become outspoken and inflexible when their principles have been violated, but since they do not like to make themselves spectacles and the center of attention, they alway return back to being easy-going and more to themselves.

Mathematics and logic are things that INTP’s enjoy so very much. They also love languages and computer systems. They love to understand, explore, master, and manipulate systems in every way that they can. Games that INTP’s usually enjoy the most are games such as Strategy, Chess, Risk, Bridge and many different types of word games. Boggle is a word game that is usually played in ann INTP’s mind all day. They will choose a word off of a menu or a sign and then try to make the most words from those letter in certain amount of time.

Intuition socializes and softens the thinking of an INTP. If the thinking can desist some the the INTP is free to brainstorm and call up the perceptions of the unconscious which are mirrored in certain patterns in the realm of time, matter, and space. An INTP usually analyzes their own thoughts and thought processes as if their mind and their body were separate somehow from their own conscious self. They want to understand and observe their very own reaction to things and they may even treat themselves as their own subjects of experiment. To be able to observe and to achieve their one main goal of being to understand everything in the world around them, they must detach themselves from everything.

Some may confuse observing and analyzing others with wanting to dominate. INTP’s do not wish to dominate anyone else and they prefer to remain out of he limelight unless it is absolutely necessary to get the attention of everyone around them.

INTP’s like to choose to learn particular skill and then it is very important for them to get to a certain level that requires all basic errors to be non-existent. They do not like making mistakes themselves, but they always expect other around them to always make errors and that they are to criticize them. Errors that are made by an INTP themselves make them feel inadequate in any areas that are somewhat important to them. It is not rare to see INTP’s trying to achieve competency in many areas and prove to themselves that they could very well become much more proficient if they wished, but they rarely bother to actually refine their skills any further. They just prove enough to themselves that if they wanted to,they could.

Independence is a huge part of being an INTP. They have great sense of wanting to be an individual and essentially being so very different from all other people around them. They usually tend to see all other humans around them as being too much alike and too interdependent. When an INTP is interested in something, then they must be very competent in it, but when they are incompetent in any field of area, they like to say that it is ‘irrelevant’ . If they had originally wished to achieve a certain level or a certain particular thing and ended up failing for some reason, then they would say that it was irrelevant, that it is not needed to be successful in that area of life and that life will go on without it. The opinions of others around an INTP are actually rarely given any weight in an INTP’s mind. All opinions have to be filtered properly through an analysis procedure to test for any type of viability. No title or claim of being any type of an ‘expert’ carries any kind of weight with an INTP. Since intelligence is prized very, very highly with INTP’s, then those resected above all others are those who are not only sensible but also very much innovative.

INTP’s also value knowledge above most other things in the world. Their own minds are constantly working to generate new types of theories, or to prove or even disprove existing theories that were made by others. They tend to approach problems and theories with enthusiasm and skepticism and ignoring existing rules and opinions. They also tend to define their own patterns to approach to the resolution. They usually seek patterns and very logical explanations for any and everything that interests them. They are usually very bright theories and are able to be objectively critical in their own analysis. They love their new ideas and become very much excited over theories and all types of abstractions. They sometimes are seem very distant to the outside world since they tend to spend so much time inside of their own heads. This may seem odd and crazy to other people, but to INTP’s, their own world inside of their minds makes sense and seems more realistic than the actual outside world around them.

To INTP’s, knowledge is everything and they usually tend to believe that information i the absolute key to life. Every mistake can be entirely avoided by having the right information at the exact right time. This has at least some certain logic about it. To know is everything, but to do is a much lower order of necessity, it it is even an actual necessary thing at all. An INTP is usually quite satisfied just by knowing that they could do something if they wished. This can cause INTP’s to lose their grip on their sense of reality and overestimating one’s own capabilities.

INTP’s do not tend to enjoy leading others or controlling other people at all. They are very much tolerant and flexible inn most situation, but unless one of their firmly held beliefs has been violated or challenged, in which case they might take a very rigid stance. An INTP tends to be and act very shy when it comes to meeting brand new people. On the other hand, the INTP is very self-confident and outgoing around people that they know very well or when they are even discussing theories which they fully understand and have analyzed for a long time.

Independence, which is primarily derives from a very strongly introverted thinking, tend to lead to one of the most difficult aspects for others of the INTP, which is stubbornness. If an INTP is somehow pushed or lead into something, than they will automatically resist it. The person must be given the actual chance to reach their very own, independent decision, approving or rejecting the action on their own. INTP’s are not always seen as excessively stubborn, since the decision making process can sometimes be rapidly accelerated when intuition takes the upper hand. The very best way to convince an INTP to do something is by suggesting the idea only as an option ad then let them sleep on it. You must always allow the INTP to believe that it is their own decision and not someone else’s. Once they are satisfied with the decision and believe that it was independently reached, then they are content and happy with the outcome.

Another key of being an INTP is by taking their own interests and beliefs very, very seriously. Honest and directness when explaining these certain interests are usually displayed. INTP’s serious nature also makes them almost immune to any mockery and being made of fun by others. If someone ever attempts to make a sarcastic or mocking comment about any type of interest of an INTP, the person will find themselves with pure, almost naive seriousness, and explaining their position with a very severe exactness, wielding their words almost like swords. This usually disarms the mocker who does not expect such a penetrating defense. An INTP’s defense usually contains a very subtle but biting attack thrown back in the mocker’s face and it is obvious that the INTP believes that their opponent is stupid and arrogant.

Intuition is a certain mode of perception which focuses on the entirely larger picture, the connections between objects and on the possibilities rather than the actual facts. INTP’s are sometimes referred to as an architect because the world is an objects of possibilities and study for shaping and changing it according to the schemes assessed by the thinking core are derived strictly from intuition. If the INTP’s intuition is strong, how ever, than their schemes and thoughts tend to be entirely private and speculative: the world remains an intellectual object of study but their architectural plans might not actually be put into practice at all.

Extraverted intuition has a very strong influence on how an INTP views their own interaction with other people and it is the intuition that above all other traits that the INTP’s love to show others. They like to be seen as somewhat innovative, eccentric, and perceptive. When dreaming and imagining about what they would like to achieve or become, their goals are invariably highly individualistic and very unique compared to others goals and dreams. The INTP must become the solo performer, to composer, the very genius scientist who make the unique discoveries all by themselves and get all the credit for their discoveries. If an INTP is to be noticed at all for these such things, then they must entirely be the center stage and share none of the credit with others. If they cannot be center stage in an area of their own interest, then they must withdraw and completely resort to vitriolic criticism. But in all of the areas that interests the INTP less, they happily leave to others and observe them. With an INTP it is either all or nothing, no in between, no kind of, no sort of. All or nothing. Half-efforts are disliked, just as much as they dislike the restrictions of co-operations and teamwork. INTP’s are usually very restless and tempormentals. They are strongly ingenious and have unconventional thought patterns which allows them to analyze ideas in completely new ways. The INTP is always at their best when they can work on their theories and thoughts completely independently. When given an environment which supports his creative genius and possible eccentricity, the INTP can always accomplish very truly remarkable things.

Humor is an aspect that INTP’s tend to have. They can usually conjure up a joke about pretty much any situation and taking things out of context is the very chief source of humor. Their intuition is their own engine and source of their own joke-generator. To others, the humor and jokes of INTP’s may seem pretty out there and warped, INTP’s rarely put feeling into the jokes, making them hard to understand or to be found at all funny by others. When you find someone who is smiling to themselves or laughing at their own private thought, it is probably an INTP. INTP’s usually make very great comedy writers, when they are able to sit down and think about what is going to be said, not when they have to speak spontaneously.

INTP’s tend to be very mistrusting of other people and are very much skeptical of the world around them. The trust that they have is always based on what their intuition tells them about someone. This judging often leads to naivety and sometimes to prejudices based on intuitive perceptions of appearance and style. Some people are problems for INTP’s, while others can be completely fascinating to INTP’s. Friendship with INTP’s develop usually at pace which solely depends on the temperament of the other person. A fairly happy and jolly person can quickly bring the INTP out of their shell, and as much as that is possible, while a serious person may find a serious INTP talking back. INTP’s resemble a chameleon sorts. An INTP is friendly and approachable until their intuition tells them that the other person is a type of person that the do not like and will not get along with, in which case the reserved attitude may become too obvious to hide. The chameleon like behavior can be very strong when discussing something. Sometime its for the intellectual stimulation that coms with the challenge of arguing from a different variety of standpoints. Otherwise, it might actually be to avoid an easily conflict before the situation has been fully assessed. Chameleons hide their true selves very easily. They do not do this all the time, but it is to make sure that they can remain detached from the world and be able to just observe others and their surroundings.

A friendship can happen very easily and quickly when one INTP finds and meets another fellow INTP. The ways that two INTP’s communicate can become very intense and can sometimes leave any outsider baffled and quite confused when listening in. They will want to share concepts, interests, and absorb the intellectual stimulation of the other. Interruption of this process due to social necessity is seen as undesired and very annoying. The two INTP’s will find everything else around them boring and unimportant, and this may seem almost comical to any outsider. The two will not greet each other like most others will, but with their concepts and only another INTP will fully understand what they are speaking about. Favorite topics for INTP’s are things such as science-fiction, science, computers, music, and any abstract concept with which one is currently fascinated with. INTP’s also prefer one-to-one conversation is preferred in just about every single situation. In a group situation, INTP’s are always worried about whether or not they will be listened to. If a very loud and dominate person is present, then the INTP will withdraw and sulk because they will believe that the dominate person is a brute. When an INTP speaks, they have the need to be listened to, for they believe that their opinions are very important. If not, they withdraw and assume that the people who will not listen to them are arrogant and lack intelligence. INTP’s make very poor leaders for these reasons and thy depend entirely too much on the attitudes of others. This is one of the very negative sides of the intuition characteristic. They make as great assistants to leaders, though, since they are of one mind and for their perceptive analysis can give the leadership useful insights which they may overlook, being too busy with leading. Of course, INTP’s are very glad when someone else takes over the lead, again providing the leader is of the same mind, really. An INTP’s ideal is to provide all of the great ideas for a project have a very charismatic leader to carry them out. INTP’s also tend to trust machines more than they trust people and may feel very at home in the realm of cybernetics. Many of the worlds dedicated computer geeks are INTP’s.

For the INTP, it is very important that ideas and facts are expressed precisely and correctly. They are very likely to express themselves in what they believe to be absolute truths. Sometimes, their well thought-out understanding of an idea is not easily understandable by others, but the INTP is not naturally likely to tailor the truth so as to explain it in an understandable way to other people. The INTP might be pone to abandoning a project once they have figured it completely out and are done analyzing it, and then they will move onto the next thing. It is very important that the INTP place importance on expressing their developed theories in understandable ways. In the end, an amazing discovery means absolutely nothing if you are the only person on earth that can ever understand it.

Good role models for INTP’s are individualistic, creative, and usually enigmatic people who are innovative free-thinkers who will follow their own paths. These type of people are very much respected by INTP’s.

INTP’s do not like having their lives planned and they feel a distinct unease before they have a fixed appointment. They cannot fully relax until the scheduled event if over and then they usually realize that their anxiety was far less of a problem than what they had initially perceived it to be. The source of the uneasiness is simply the feeling that a planned schedule inhibits and robs the INTP of the total freedom that they seek to have.

Sensing is the mode of perceiving which gathers information from details, objects, and facts. With INTP’s, it is not about the present, but about how the present evokes memories of the past. INTP’s usually have a very acute awareness of the passage of past times. Sequence of past events can assume a remarkable solidity in their thinking, while most INTP’s have really good memories. Of course, the sensing function is usually very well developed. When an INTP tries and focuses on very specific details, they usually have a very sharp eye for them and will not lose sight of them very easily.

One of the more serious weaknesses of an INTP is that the sensing function makes very little inroad out into the external world. INTP’s are usually very oblivious to external details unless there is something that forces them to take notice. When an INTP goes into a new room or they walk through a city street, they are usually completely blind to much of the detail that other people would see almost immediately. The INTP always tries to get a good feeling for the big picture, and ignores all the details. Of course, objects of interest will be seen as a matter of course and they can choose to concentrate and focus on them, but it’s remarkable about how much the INTP will still overlook.

In an INTP’s home, they usually do not have many decorative objects and they will tend to have lots of electronics and the importance of all objects will be based solely on its usefulness. The style of homes are irrelevant to INTP’s and when an object is put aside, it is not going to be used for a while and will be completely ignored until it is needed once again, or it is in the way of being productive. If something is needed to be moved, it is usually only moved from one corner of a room or table to another corner of a room or table. There is one thing that will make an INTP tidy their home, is only when the clutter starts to hinder other activities. When an INTP eventually lives with a partner or they have their own family, they start to learn to focus on tidiness and the details of their home. This is not a very hard thing to do for INTP’s, since cleaning the house is an activity which can be clearly defined and the INTP can focus on it by treating it as systematic work.

Introverted sensing really plays a very important role in the very private mind and world of an INTP. When they visit a new, unfamiliar place, they start to have an overriding concern for the atmosphere, which is the exact mood of the place. In their own subconscious, they connect their present experiences of their surroundings with memories and experiences of their past. When in a new place, INTP wants to experience above all the ambience of each and every location. The atmosphere of the place will be remembered for a very long time, but the specific details in the present are not going to be remembered very well.

INTP’s are known to tend to hoard items due to the connection that the items may have with the past. They find it very difficult to let go of anything they have collected and which may have a certain meaning that is linked to their own past. INTP’s assume that any object that if of an interest now is bound to continue being an interest for the rest of their lives, even if this is not true. INTP’s also love to keep lists of things of their interests, especially if the lists have a link with their past somehow. Collecting things such as periodical magazines or papers is common for INTP’s and such a collection is often taken very, very seriously.

Music is something that most INTP’s is usually fascinated with and may have deep and wide-ranging tastes. INTP’s love to hear music that they heard when they were younger, so it can remind them of their past and memories. They are also drawn to very complex and intensely structured music. They have an appreciation for music such as contemporary jazz, modern classical music, or Folk music of Eastern Europe and India. Such music genres give INTP’s the need for analyzation. They try to ask themselves and then answer their own questions about the composers and the development of the music by listening to and analyzing the music.

Another habit or hobby that most INTP’s enjoy and like to be a part of is photography. With photography, it is required for someone to have a great attention to detail, to convey a sense of mood or atmosphere in a place, and to view the world as a fascinating varied object that is to be captured in the best possible way. Photos also help that connection that INTP’s feel the need for with the past, they capture the present to evoke a sense of past in the future. When actually involved in portraits, an INTP will also be very concerned with the mood that is conveyed by the person who is looking directly through the lens. Inartistic feel for imagery and quality photographic skills is something that usually comes very naturally to INTP’s. Because of this, becoming a photographer is a great career idea for INTP’s.

Feeling is an INTP’s least developed trait, so the INTP usually has difficulty giving the warmth and support that is sometimes required in an intimate relationship. Sometimes this causes the INTP to become overly sarcastic and critical with others. An INTP has really no understanding or value for decisions made on the sole basis of personal subjectivity or feelings. They will strive constantly to achieve logical conclusions to problems and do not understand the importance or relevance of applying subjective emotional consideration to decisions. For this sole reason, INTP’s are usually not very in-tune with how people are feeling and are not very well equipped to meet the very emotional needs of other humans.

Feeling tends to really be all or none for INTP’s. Feelings and emotions are regarded with suspicion and maybe fear even, and the INTP usually will try to hide or ignore all of their feelings or emotions. At the same time, they usually have a fascination for the emotional world since they do not understand it very well. They are desperate to de-personalize any thoughts on that area. They are very compelled to subject their emotions to continual analysis. The INTP resists letting their feelings go, fearing that to do so would be to relinquish control to a completely unknown force. They believe that their emotions are to be of a lesser substance than logic and their natural goal would usually be to conquer their emotions with only pure rationality and absolute logic.

For INTP’s, emotions and feelings are usually seen as something that is very mysterious and uncontrollable. usually, emotional response by INTP’s to media input usually occurs with a certain independence of will, which could appear as being very enigmatic to others.

There is a mystery of emotion to INTP’s that is also evidence in the INTP’s use of music. They tend to choose to listen to music which suits their current mood and emotional state, not listening to music to put themselves into a different type of mood. Emotions seem unable to be changed and so mysterious to them that they find it easier to just listen to music to fit their mood, rather than an opposite mood.

Another important area is sexuality for INTP’s. Sexuality fascinates INTP’s in a similar way to the way music interests them. Sexual feelings often clash with INTP’s desire to control and understand their universe. It also clashes and interferes with their desire to be detached from other humans and their wanting to keep a distance. But sexuality is the one main thing that makes one’s natural power break through and it can play a pretty big role in balancing the INTP’s functionality. An INTP is keen to try and understand and categorize their own sexual responses. In an intimate relationship, the feeling of judgement leads to a beneficial openness and empathetic directness in responding to the partner’s needs, which provides the healthy development of an INTP.

INTP’s usually do not like to be in an atmosphere of emotional disharmony. When they need to say something that is kind of unpleasant to someone else, they like to avoid this task for the fear of disharmony that will arise. This is because the INTP does not have the emotional competence to deal with this type of disharmony. INTP’s never like doing something until they know they can actually do it. The best way to get over this fear is with experience. They need to learn to express their feelings and to live through the disharmony and to come out of the other side with greater experience of their emotional side. This way they can learn to deal with their emotions and others emotions, as well.

INTP’s do not tend to fear things in which they will encounter during their normal day-to-day lives,but rather things or people which threaten their emotional state. Mainly, INTP’s fear that they will be left with a horrible feeling of helplessness. This can leave and INTP cold and very defeated. Their usual response to helplessness is to hate the entire world which has produced their horrible feeling. Usually, the greatest fears of an INTP are generated in their own private mind and may be very far from reality and very much irrational. Possibilities and ideas assume so much importance in the mind of an INTP that they can override a common sense factual grasp on reality. This type of problem can be overcome when more balanced type dynamics result from increasing maturity in an INTP.

There have been several INTP’s in our history. Sir Isaac Newton was an INTP. He was born on January 4, 1963. He wrote what is to believed one of the most influential books in the history of science and he is more widely known for his theory on gravity and the three laws of motion. There have been five United States Presidents so far that were INTP’s. James Madison, John Quincy Adams, John Tyler, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Gerald Ford. Albert Einstein was an INTP, also. Bob Newhart, Midori Ito, who was an Olympic silver medalist, and the very famous Tiger Woods. With all that has recently come out about Tiger Woods, we can take what we have learned here about INTP’s and put it together with the emotional problems and INTP’s problems with realizing and getting a full grasp on their own emotions and feelings. Also, intimate relationships amaze INTP’s beyond comparison and it is the only place where INTP’s feel as though they can really and truly develop fruitfully. These can all help explain his many adventures with different women and all of the affairs that he had. He also felt like he was above everyone else and his thoughts were private and his secret life were easy to hide.

Once we understand INTP’s, you can handle them and their actions are not so predictable or odd. Once you get inside of their mind and realize how they think and feel, you can understand what they do and why they act the way that they do. Being an INTP was thought of as being an odd person and no one could really understand them. Now, we can understand everyone and we can help them meet their full potential and make life much better for everyone. Once they can get a full grasp and realize how to balance their traits, their life can become great and they can use their traits to meet their full potential.