INTP v. ENTP

[Jonny]

So I pretty much type as an INTP, although I have a drive to change the world through my ideas. I love to be alone, but I am very friendly with people I meet. I have an obsession with logic and love making people laugh. Some people think I talk too loudly and too much while others believe I am an extremely quiet person. I am not shy in the slightest. I sometimes skip school because I dread social contact. The MBTIkid description ENP on personalitypage.com fits my childhood self much more accurately than ITP. Yet the INTP description fits me MUCH more than the ENTP description.

How can one distinguish between an ENTP and an INTP?

 

[poppy]

INTPs kind of weird me out, but I can't get enough of ENTPs (at least in real life, the INTPs on this site are hilariously awesome).

Extroversion is usually identified by gaining energy from being around people, and introversion is gaining energy from being by one's self. It has nothing to do with shyness, but more to do with how one recharges.

 

[Matthew_Z]

Your description reminds me a lot of myself.

Let's go with INTP, shall we?

 

[INTPness]

Why do you dread social contact? Does it wear you out mentally? Does it drain you and make you feel fatigued/tired? If so, you are probably an introvert.

By the way, you sound a lot like me. My problem has always been "how do I implement the things I want to do into the real world?".

ENTP's tend to naturally get results in the real world by implementing their ideas, whereas INTP's usually just have a lot of "ideas" and aren't overly concerned with actually realizing those ideas/plans. A buddy of mine calls me "the idea guy".

This doesn't mean that INTP's are incapable of making things happen in the real world, we just have to learn to properly and effectively deal with people and the outside world (i.e., get out of our own heads), while still being true to ourselves and not trying to "be like another type".

 

[INTPness]

INTPs kind of weird me out.

Out of curiosity, can you explain what weirds you out? It's really interesting to me to hear others' perceptions of us - especially the opinions of our fellow NT's.

 

[paperoceans]

I'm one of those people who are a mixture of E & I. Sometimes people drain me out, sometimes they energize me. If you're like me, then that'll make you an ambivert.

My test results vary depending on my mood. Sometimes I get INTP and sometimes I get ENTP. There should be an option of ANTP (haha), because not everything is black & white if you get what I am saying...

 

[poppy]

Out of curiosity, can you explain what weirds you out? It's really interesting to me to hear others' perceptions of us - especially the opinions of our fellow NT's.

I know a few INTPs in real life who seem to have less inhibition than I do in conversation. Someone will make a dirty or chauvinistic joke or double entendre, and the INTP will just run with it in incredible detail, sans any kind of qualms about saying bizarre (as in...how am I supposed to respond to that?) or inappropriate things, and without apparently caring how others are going to react. Although I suspect that other people would accuse me of the same thing. I guess it's unusual for me to meet someone stranger than me.

I only mentioned it because I think it's interesting that ENTPs and INTPs give off such different vibes. INTPs being the quintessential NT, and ENTPs verging on being SPs.

Ah, but I just realized, it's probably because the ones I know are also 17-19 year old boys.

 

[paintmuffin]

I just posted this somewhere else, but I think the "E" in ENTP has less to do with people than it does in other types. It's more to do with the Ne dominance over Ti.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Ah, but I just realized, it's probably because the ones I know are also 17-19 year old boys.

That'll do it

Although, taking a joke too far is definitely a problem, for me at least...

 

[Nizy]

Sometimes I feel extroverted, but then when it actually comes down to the social interactions I clam up again. I'm not sure what that is called...

I think in dealing with people I know fairly well I might be called an extrovert.

 

[Matthew_Z]

I know a few INTPs in real life who seem to have less inhibition than I do in conversation. Someone will make a dirty or chauvinistic joke or double entendre, and the INTP will just run with it in incredible detail

Many blossoming friendships of mine have been soiled because of this.

However, for the few people that catch onto that humor and continue it... it's a state of Nirvana; high up on cloud nine.

 

[poppy]

Many blossoming friendships of mine have been soiled because of this.

However, for the few people that catch onto that humor and continue it... it's a state of Nirvana; high up on cloud nine.

Sometimes it's pretty funny. I was at a music festival with one of my INTPs, and we must have talked about cannibalism for a half hour ("So if we were trapped here, who would you eat firs--" "That girl!" "Good choice, and if it got cold we cut open that guy and crawl inside him..")

 

[INTPness]

I know a few INTPs in real life who seem to have less inhibition than I do in conversation. Someone will make a dirty or chauvinistic joke or double entendre, and the INTP will just run with it in incredible detail, sans any kind of qualms about saying bizarre (as in...how am I supposed to respond to that?) or inappropriate things, and without apparently caring how others are going to react. Although I suspect that other people would accuse me of the same thing. I guess it's unusual for me to meet someone stranger than me.

I only mentioned it because I think it's interesting that ENTPs and INTPs give off such different vibes. INTPs being the quintessential NT, and ENTPs verging on being SPs.

Ah, but I just realized, it's probably because the ones I know are also 17-19 year old boys.

Hmm. Interesting. I'm pretty introverted, so I don't see myself as having less inhibitions than anyone. However, if I'm around people who are cracking jokes left and right and everyone seems comfortable in hearing those jokes (I'm always aware if there is one person in the group who may not be enjoying the joking), then it's almost like I feel like I have an opportunity to let loose. Those opportunities are fairly rare, but when everything checks out (i.e., I feel I'm OK to go ahead and fairly certain nobody will get offended), then it can turn into a free-for-all. If people are laughing at my jokes, it just gets worse from there. I'll keep going as you mention. But, if people are not laughing/don't find my jokes funny, the walls go back up, the party is over, and it's time to go back home and engage the Ti again :steam:

 

[Matthew_Z]

Sometimes it's pretty funny. I was at a music festival with one of my INTPs, and we must have talked about cannibalism for a half hour ("So if we were trapped here, who would you eat firs--" "That girl!" "Good choice, and if it got cold we cut open that guy and crawl inside him..")

Do either of you have an acquired taste for liver? When you divide up the body, taste preferences could make things easier. I always found the small intestines rather delectable myself.

 

[poppy]

But, if people are not laughing/don't find my jokes funny, the walls go back up, the party is over, and it's time to go back home and engage the Ti again :steam:

And that is exactly the kind of restraint that it would seem that not all INTPs have mastered Although it is a shame to see them clam up again.

Do either of you have an acquired taste for liver? When you divide up the body, taste preferences could make things easier. I always found the small intestines rather delectable myself.

You know we didn't even discuss which body parts we wanted. I guess we just assumed we'd tear into the corpse like wild animals, gobbling up random giblets and bits of muscle. How barbaric! Next time I will be sure to clarify that.


EDIT: Ah, yes, and to make this kind-of on topic, I think extroversion necessitates that the NTP develop better communication skills. Well-developed Fe in ENTPs also aids in that. Not that INTPs cannot be expressive and energetic in some situations, as has been said before.

 

[Willfrey]

Sometimes I feel extroverted, but then when it actually comes down to the social interactions I clam up again. I'm not sure what that is called...

I think in dealing with people I know fairly well I might be called an extrovert.

I think it's been said many times before that INTP's can be quite open and personable around people they know, or if they are speaking on topics that they are confident on and know a lot about.

I'll have no problem talking on subjects I enjoy, I could babble about astronomy, etc, but if the conversation switches gears I have a tendancy to be.. uh... a good listener

 

[VagrantFarce]

In my opinion, the best way of determing your type from a narrowed down list is still this page: Tertiary Temptation

Tertiary Fe (ExTP): "I'll lay a guilt trip on this guy, tell him all I've done for him and suggest that the next time he's in a tough spot, he might need my help. Well, hmm, ok, I'll be all friendly. I'll smile, tell him I like him, what a great guy he is. Well, hmm, that's not working, either. Ok, I'll make him look bad in the eyes of his friends." The Secondary Function (Ti) would say: "What is the truth? Not what people would agree is true, not an angle on the truth for making it palatable to someone, but the whole, honest truth?"

Tertiary Si (INxP): "I can't possibly go along with this, I don't have any reliable concepts or map to anchor myself with: it's all arbitrary and untrustworthy and meaningless. I'd be diving in without any orientation; I'd be tripped up or harmed from any random direction, and my efforts wouldn't be cumulative. I just won't budge. I'll build myself some barricades and wait for the storm to blow over." The Secondary Function (Ne) would say: "Look around, shake up the pot, see what new arises, and deal with it imaginatively; there must be better alternatives available than being stuck here." (My secondary Ne says something more in the lines of "Pay attention to your surroundings and do the thing that will have the most interesting results. Don't be dumb just because you don't have any experience.")

 

[Jonny]

Speaking of Ti and Ne, isn't there a test that ranks all one's funcitons (Te, Ti, Ne, Ni, Se, Si, Fe, Fi) in an attempt to type him/her? Perhaps something like that would be helpful.

 

[Nizy]

I think there is, but honestly it would probably be best if you could try to pinpoint your function order yourself.

 

[poppy]

I think there is, but honestly it would probably be best if you could try to pinpoint your function order yourself.

Seconded. I very rarely test INTJ on function tests, even though my function order is standard Ni-Te-Fi. Self assessment is usually more accurate.