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[NT] INTJ vs INTP: A Guide

StoryToTell

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VagrantFarce said:
These are the left-brain thinkers who might find the directionless, armchair discussions of an INTP almost insufferable.

To expand on this, how does this affect INTJs' style of abstract conversation? I have a friend whose type I am not entirely sure of, though he did test as INTJ. I try to start discussions with him about different subjects and they never really go anywhere because he can't stay focused on that one subject :p Do INTPs tend to follow tangents more, then, to expand on points? Whereas INTJs need further knowledge into a subject before they start speculating and throwing ideas out?
 

Economica

Dhampyr
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That's always the case.

*rereads exchange* :huh: You sure have a funny way of expressing your enjoyment.

But in that case, let me add that I think you should reply to this point...:

Also, I'm just curious, I assume this is a problem that you have with all type descriptions? Because his isn't particularly different from say, typelogic.com or personalitypage or whatever.

... Or quit derailing threads on your very own Typology Central, thus confounding earnest posters like VagrantFarce. :dry:

---

Actually . . . I was referring to you.

Zing!

:shock: :laugh: :rolleyes:
 

VagrantFarce

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To expand on this, how does this affect INTJs' style of abstract conversation? I have a friend whose type I am not entirely sure of, though he did test as INTJ. I try to start discussions with him about different subjects and they never really go anywhere because he can't stay focused on that one subject :p Do INTPs tend to follow tangents more, then, to expand on points? Whereas INTJs need further knowledge into a subject before they start speculating and throwing ideas out?

I'm probably going to add something about this in the OP at some point, but the INTP and INTJ have different interaction styles as determined by Linda Berens. INTPs are categorised under "behind the scenes", whereas INTJs are "Chart the Course". This is probably the best way of determing the conversational style of the two types. :) There's more info here:

Understanding Berens' Interaction Styles
Interaction Styles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This sentence bothers me because it doesn't take into account the difference between INT's and ENT's. Technology developed by INTJ's usually represents advances in science or entirely new ways of thinking, while ENT's develop technology for its own sake. For example Newton (INTJ) developed the first reflecting telescope to demonstrate his superior knowledge of optics. The first written alphabets were probably created by INTJ's because this represents an entirely new ways of thinking.

On the other hand an internal combustion engine doesn't really represent an advancement of science as much as an advancement of technology. It took several known scientific principals and put them together for an entirely pragmatic purpose. It's the sort of thing that would be interesting to ENT's, much more so than INT's. It was probably developed by an ENTP, with ENTJ being the next most likely type.

I'll see if I can find something more akin to a true paradigm-shift to replace it with. :)
 

Kambro

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INTX
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Just push them to the breaking point. If it start drinking heavily and wants to have sex, its an INTJ. If it starts crying and having a meltdown, its an INTP. *snicker*

(Kidding... it is not recommended to push either type to that breaking point. Results could be disastrous)

I keep seeing this 'INTJ's aren't playful' thing and I find it kind of disturbing. There is more to a person's personality than their MBTI type. What if part of the 'surface conformism' learning happened to include acting like a clown in order to fit in and find a niche within their group? What effect does say, their Enneagram type have on the outward interactions of the type? What personal experiences have they had that maybe taught them that it was simply easier to 'act' in a certain way around others to make their goals simpler. (I learned to be nice for that reason... now its a habit and I don't consider it 'acting'... but for a while it took a lot of effort).

I suppose ultimately it comes down to the fact that no matter what your 'type' is, you should be working toward NOT having a type. (In my humble opinion). I believe that the more balanced a person is; the more comfortable they are with ALL of the functions, the healthier and more productive their life will be.

In other words, try to recognize ALL of them, nurture the ones that you struggle with. Know when to rely on each to reach your goals.


True - most people don't even know I am a INTJ yet test consistently plus 90% indicator this. Only Keirsey showed INTP which is OK because I am a borderline. Fact is most people think I a nice and funny. Few know I have a temper, am introvert etc.
 

highlander

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Good stuff here. A few comments:

INTJs are decisive, creative planners who love to turn bizarre ideas into plans of action.

I would remove the word "bizarre".

These are the left-brain thinkers who might find the directionless, armchair discussions of an INTP almost insufferable.

When we think of how people traditionally perceive what "right brained" means, I think introverted intuition would be considered right brained. Therefore, INTJs would be considered to be more right brained than INTPs since their dominant function is intuition vs. thinking. That being said, I know Lenore Thompson's book explains that in fact introverted intuition is a left brain function. In either case, while perhaps technically this statement is correct, I think it may be a bit misleading.

INTJs intuition is more mysterious and out of their control. This leads some practitioners to playfully stereotype INTJs as having bizaare psychic or premonitionary powers, of which they have no control of and have no recourse but to act as vessels thereof.

Never seen this before, but it definitely resonates. It does not appear to be consistent with the left brained comment however.

I work with a lot of INTPs and the easiest way to tell the difference is that one will be more decisive than the other. INTJs will be more forceful in stating opinions.
 
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chasingAJ

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This is fascinating, I think I am an INTP when I am off of my ADHD medications and an INTJ when I am taking them.

:smile:

Seriously though, I get lost in myself and end up wondering if I am just imagining certain traits in myself. I ask my friends and family but they aren't privy to most of the goings on in my head so they have no clue and my imagination runs away with me, but not into this land of complete fantasy... just what ifs...

I'm not especially decisive though but once I have made a decision there has to be some solid reasoning to get me to change my mind. If you had a whim, you should have expressed it BEFORE I set a destination, I'm not turning the car around now.

The most striking thing about this thread was the thing about conversations that bounce ideas around. THAT IS SO ME! My favorite thing to do is have a 3 hours off-the-wall conversation with someone and walk away with an internal list of things to google. But I have to be 'on' for this to happen, if someone else tries to initiate it when I'm not in the mood I can be cold and seem kinda mean. I see a future of "get off my lawn!" ya know? And I didn't read the back and forth of most of this thread either, I was excited about reading the start and found the back and forth to be a buzz kill.

Anyone else?
 

Kalach

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I decided last night to commence creating a taxonomy of all the types because I came up with what I think is a nifty part classification for INTs:

If we understand there to exist a spectrum of analytical focus, at the one end the seeking for the truth of all things and at the other the seeking for the connection between all things, then INTPs and INTJs are both analysts. Ji/Pe seeks for the truth of all things in their area of interest while Pi/Je seeks for the connections between all things in their area of interest.

Given time and the same area of interest both kinds of analysts will end up overlapping. They won't write the same kind of research paper but in due course they will discover the same content. (They will also as they near the end of exhaustive discussion be exhausted because they'll be moving into each others field of cognitive expertise and exiting their own.)

(Possibly this kind of description lets all IPs and IJs be considered analysts, naturally with significantly differing fields of interest.)

(And I don't know what to call the extroverts on this scheme. Perhaps "creators", with Pe/Ji inventing and Je/Pi constructing.)


Anyhoo, it's worth observing that the judgment function needs its perception buddy and vice versa. One or the other, the perception function or the judgment, will be (technically) shallow and the other will be deep. Particularly for the introverts, it's the e function that's (technically) shallow and the i deep. Which is okay, I think, because the i function lends depth to the e, and the e lends reality to the i. The e function is relatively shallow inasmuch as it accepts what's out there!

This is interesting to me, this idea that there are relatively shallow functions, and that they are needed mostly to avoid insanity. There has to be a function that takes the world as real and doesn't question it that much, or else none of us would be a part of this world. We'd all be so out of touch we would never have been born.

Rock on shallow attachment!


(For the extroverts, they use that e function much more, so it gains some depth, there being so much "out there" that focusing out there can't help but become deeper(?). Sorry guys.)
 

NTufnel

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If you still want to discuss childhood psychological formation for nature vs nurture, then set an arbitrary minimum age to typology theory and the problem is circumvented. The idea of nature is a basic assumption for typology in general, and none of you would be here if you didn't think it was true to at least some degree. This argument seems to be largely semantics and very little actual examples of disagreement. At least it was, until everyone considered their arguments self evident and refused to respond to any further requests for elaboration.

Moral of the story: INTJs do NOT like an INTP to interpret their functions! It should be apparent that you cannot capture the essence of Ti vs Te through the perspective of Ti, and so on.

Perhaps an INTJ would like to write a separate INTJ vs INTP explanation and see how INTPs pick it apart? Ironically, the disagreements we have on this topic are our least biased insight into the real information the OP is trying to convey! Since the goal here is clearly not to convince, but rather to inform, perhaps we could take a bit more time to elaborate the seemingly obvious positions instead of just accusing others of general stupidity?
 
G

Glycerine

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Which type is more like to go personal tangential semi rants that make you go "well, now we know how you feel about that...".
Other qualities include:
being fairly blunt
having a very definite/confident demeanor but I wouldn't say cocky
semi laid-back
serious more of the time but still silly
abstract, vague
does things at the last minute and kind of forgetful sometimes
reserved but random bursts of personal anecdotes

I kind of wanted to know this person's type because he (INTX) and I (ENFJ) pretty much end up saying the exact same thing but we say it in completely different ways so I come off sounding like an argumentative ass when I am just trying to add on to what he's saying. I wanted to fix this communication gap...eek.
 

Malcontent

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Which type is more like to go personal tangential semi rants that make you go "well, now we know how you feel about that...".
Other qualities include:
being fairly blunt
having a very definite/confident demeanor but I wouldn't say cocky
semi laid-back
serious more of the time but still silly
abstract, vague
does things at the last minute and kind of forgetful sometimes
reserved but random bursts of personal anecdotes

INTP, absolutely.
 
G

Glycerine

Guest
INTP, absolutely.
haha, thanks. For the longest time, I kept pegging him as an INTJ because he's not like most INTPs I know. However, INTP makes a lot more sense with the rampant miscommunication. :D
 

Tallulah

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INTP, absolutely.

Absolutely agree. And I have found that same phenomenon with my ENFJ friends. I feel like we agree, and have a lot of the same ideas and philosophies, but we got there in different ways. I think that's kinda fascinating.
 
G

Glycerine

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Absolutely agree. And I have found that same phenomenon with my ENFJ friends. I feel like we agree, and have a lot of the same ideas and philosophies, but we got there in different ways. I think that's kinda fascinating.

So do you have any suggestions for improving the communication gap that seems to occur? :)
 

JocktheMotie

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So do you have any suggestions for improving the communication gap that seems to occur? :)

Could you explain a little more about the gap? For example, where misunderstandings seem to occur and where you end up diverging?

One thing that helps me get on the same page with others is if they make it a point to clearly explain the terms they are using. INTPs will do this probably too much, but it's necessary for us to feel like we're looking at a situation clearly.
 
G

Glycerine

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Could you explain a little more about the gap? For example, where misunderstandings seem to occur and where you end up diverging?

One thing that helps me get on the same page with others is if they make it a point to clearly explain the terms they are using. INTPs will do this probably too much, but it's necessary for us to feel like we're looking at a situation clearly.
I think what you said makes a lot of sense. I think part of the misunderstandings occur when I say or ask anything with a subtle nuance in it. If I tried to explain everything to somebody, it would take forever. As a result, I condense my ideas down to 1-2 sentences and expect the person to pick up on the subtleties. So I'm guessing Ti-doms does not care for that? :doh:
 

JocktheMotie

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I think what you said makes a lot of sense. I think part of the misunderstandings occur when I say or ask anything with a subtle nuance in it. If I tried to explain everything to somebody, it would take forever. As a result, I condense my ideas down to 1-2 sentences and expect the person to pick up on the subtleties. So I'm guessing Ti-doms don't care for that? :doh:

I can understand what you mean :) Typically a Ti-dom will need to be able to properly frame problems or perspectives if they're going to be comfortable concluding anything about them at all, the detection of any ambiguity and nuance will somewhat delay that process.. In a way, it's very anti-p in the sense that they need things properly defined and can get hung up on certain points.
 

CuriousFeeling

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Someone I know has scored either INTP or INTJ for his MBTI type. I'd describe him as very intelligent, highly competitive in the classroom, thinks that meaning is arbitrary, is calm, confident, and likes to organize things. He's strong in naturalistic, logical/mathematical, and musical abilities. NTs, do you think he's an INTP or INTJ?
 

highlander

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I decided last night to commence creating a taxonomy of all the types because I came up with what I think is a nifty part classification for INTs:

Kalach - can you share the taxonomy you came up with for INTs?
 

INTPness

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Someone I know has scored either INTP or INTJ for his MBTI type. I'd describe him as very intelligent, highly competitive in the classroom, thinks that meaning is arbitrary, is calm, confident, and likes to organize things. He's strong in naturalistic, logical/mathematical, and musical abilities. NTs, do you think he's an INTP or INTJ?

-Intelligence: common for both types
-highly competitive in classroom: I've seen it in both types
-meaning is arbitrary: not sure
-calm: seen it in both types
-confident: an appearance of outward confidence is probably more common for INTJ's, generally speaking
-likes to organize things: seen it in both types, but probably more common for INTJ's. INTP's are very good at it, but only when and if they want to be, which may not be that often. It's more of a chore for us, I think, rather than a preferred mode of operation. But, like I said, we are very capable of being highly organized if we choose to.
-naturalistic, logical/mathematical/musical ability: I don't want to sell INTJ's short in these categories, but this seems more INTP-ish to me. I know INTJ's that are highly talented in logic/math, but I'm not sure about musical and naturalistic type stuff. These definitely seem more INTP, and we're usually very capable in math as well.

I wouldn't be able to tell whether the person is INTJ or INTP based on the limited information in your post.

Does he exhibit Te or Ne? Is he "play first, work later" or "work first, play later"? Is he more geared to "get things done/make decisions" or "play it by ear/ask me later"?
 
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