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[NT] P Perfectionism

sofmarhof

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I was going to call this "INTP Perfectionism", but hey, all Ps are welcome. But, eh, mostly NTPs I expect. Hence, NT forum. Whatever.

Story time! I'll bold the important parts because this is really long.

Once, I had a school project to make a board game based on medieval life. Pretty much the only instruction we had was that it had to include questions for the players to answer. Well, I spent all night making a very elaborate game board--shaped like a cross, very detailed, beautiful Gothic lettering, hand-drawn pieces that looked like little pilgrims. It was called Pious Pious Pilgrims, and it was based on Pretty Pretty Princess. Instead of jewelry, there were capes and hats for you to collect and wear. But? I didn't make any questions. I didn't forget, I just didn't feel like it. When I finished the board around 3 am, I said, "Screw the questions, my awesome board makes up for it," and went to bed. Of course, people who followed directions but put in a lot less effort than me got a higher grade. I still got a B or something though, so no regrets.

The topic of my college admission essay was a project I did at summer camp when I took a fashion design class, something I stayed up all night doing just because, when I could have finished it in an hour--or not done at all, considering it was a summer class that didn't matter at all. Again, something I made ridiculously elaborate when I didn't stand to gain anything from it.

There were a lot of things my teacher and admission counselor took issue with when I wrote that essay--for example, I made a point to write that I had never put that amount of effort into a school project that was actually required of me. When I was talking to my teacher, and she tried to help me temper it into something more attractive to the people who were going to read my applications--she kept making suggestions like, "Say how you thrive under pressure. You like working against a deadline," while I would answer, "But... that's not true." I wish I'd saved a copy of the original draft, not the edited one I turned in, because that first one was much better and truer, I think.

It ended up working out fine--she still thought I was sending out a "dangerous" essay, while I was regarding the essay as more of a way for me to weed out colleges I didn't want to go to (since my SATs were far above the range for any of the schools I was applying to and my grades were fine). For example, UCLA rejected me, and thank god, because I would have hated it there. (But, uh, I don't like the institution I did end up in so much so maybe it wasn't a perfect strategy.)

A recent project I had was to design a church, pretending to be Borromini, designing something he would have made. Well, I hated this. Now, this is partially because I am just really, really lazy, and the only way to do it right was to do a lot of research. Partially because I am really, really resistant to extrinsic motivators, and therefore can never enjoy any school project. So you can call this rationalization for my laziness, but part of what made me have such a hard time was that the project was sort of doomed to failure--of course I couldn't make anything that was really Borromini, no matter how much research I did, because I'm not him. Similar to my issue with when I had to write a paper on the synoptic gospels last year--how many times in the past 2000 years has this been done before, much better than I will be able to? Or any paper lately--I have to pretend to be an expert, when I'm not, and don't tell me I just need to do more research, because I could live in the library for the next two months and not be an expert--people have dedicated lifetimes to this topic!

Okay. Less of me whining. Tell me your stories about weird NTP perfectionism.
 

tinkerbell

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I guess mine would be cooking,

As a kid I was fanatical about cooking ad getting recipies right. I would practice if I had to make something i was unsure about.

Now-a-days I practice small quantitites if I'm making something for a big party of the equivelent. I made Chocolate Nemisis for a bring and share party, and I practiced it about 4 time sin order to ensure it came out right.

After that there is little I recognise to be perfectionisim, but in reality there are LOADS of things I am really fusy about the standard off.

I find buying bad quality offends me, and spending money on things I don't think are up to scratch, which I sometimes have to do at work... it bugs me
 

Matthew_Z

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This is where the skill of "bullshitting" comes in handy. I never did school projects beyond what I needed to do. Sure, I never got a single bonus point for creativity/style, but I saved a fair deal of time. I had friends with roughly my same coursework, but I slept an average 2 hours more per night than they did. I'm not enough of a masochist to think that the only justification for my existence is suffering by overdoing everything.

I shall admit that there was a period of time in which I fell into some sort of perfectionism trap. However, after I came to the conclusion that output, not input, was the key to any sort of "success," I got out of that trap.

and therefore can never enjoy any school project.
Wait, those were designed to be enjoyed?:huh:
 

teslashock

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I get really perfectionistic (I'm coining that word for the time being) when writing papers. I want to make sure I find the best words to accurately express my thoughts on the matter.

Also, I tend to get perfectionistic with video games. I always want to uncover all the little secrets and tricks, and this requires the utmost attention to detail.

Honestly, I invest a lot of my time in any tasks that I really care about and find enjoyable, and usually these warrant a self-desired stellar performance from me.
 

Matthew_Z

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Also, I tend to get perfectionistic with video games. I always want to uncover all the little secrets and tricks, and this requires the utmost attention to detail.

Ah yes, video game perfectionism. Unlocking every little nuance, complete every small task. I'd guess that for this reason video game designers started allowing one to continue playing AFTER the final boss and/or level was defeated. (to the makers of Zelda, please take note)
 

fill

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Hm. I don't know if I aim for perfectionism, but just doing a good job in general. I have to throw these "life is a game" tricks in my head to get things done some times, and when I see something as a challenge, I don't want to beat it, I want to dominate it.

Maybe dominate is a bad word. I like to put in a lot of creativity into the project. I remember working on a presentation for my English class with a bunch of SJs, and when I proposed these crazy ideas that would have our teacher's jaw on the floor (which I was willing to do), my group looked at me funny and asked, "what? Why?" I was tempted to answer, "why the hell not?"
 

tango

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I'm a mess with this. Take all of those perfectionist qualities, and then add them to a person who's a complete and utter procrastinator.

Project? Throw it together at midnight the night before. Paper? Sleep until two a.m., then wake up, then write the paper until five a.m. Presentation? Make it up. On the spot. What can I say, I'm resourceful.

The thing is, I've done this since before I can remember. I've gotten damn good at improvisation, because everything I make comes out damn good. I can't make myself do things until they have to be done, then I kick some serious project ass.

Some people think that's a good thing, but it stresses the heck out of me.
 

paperoceans

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I thought perfectionism was more of an xNTJ trait.
 

sofmarhof

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Well, there have been threads on this topic before, I started a new one because I was hoping to hear stories.

But... traditional perfectionism is a J trait, but Ps have our own twisted form of perfectionism. I think the usual motivation for extreme procrastination is a form of perfectionism.
 

Thalassa

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Yeah I think there is NP perfectionism in things that we care about. My house could be a wreck, I could be late for work, I could have my hair still damp from the shower and thrown up into a clip, and I could give flying fuck about spelling and grammar...BUT if I'm writing a paper for a class, it must be "just so" and I'll stress myself out sometimes even before I start because I want the paper to be so great...even if it's just for some class and I'm not likely to publish it or anything. I also hate for people to smoke cigarettes in my house. They can wear their shoes in the house, drop their cake crumbs on the carpet, and try on my cosmetics, but if somebody lights up a cig I'm instantly like, "go out on the porch NOW."

From what I understand NP perfectionism always sort of takes that tone - it's only for certain, random things we are strongly interested in or care about.
 

Thalassa

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I'm a mess with this. Take all of those perfectionist qualities, and then add them to a person who's a complete and utter procrastinator.

Project? Throw it together at midnight the night before. Paper? Sleep until two a.m., then wake up, then write the paper until five a.m. Presentation? Make it up. On the spot. What can I say, I'm resourceful.

The thing is, I've done this since before I can remember. I've gotten damn good at improvisation, because everything I make comes out damn good. I can't make myself do things until they have to be done, then I kick some serious project ass.

Some people think that's a good thing, but it stresses the heck out of me.

I'm exactly like this too, and as I mentioned, sometimes it's because I'm afraid to start.
 

realmsghzx

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In school, I always try to do the least effort I possibly can. School is already too much stress, and I'd rather spend 45 minutes to get a B, than to spend 4 hours to possibly get an A, but then instead receive a D. I had a physics class with a teacher that hated everyone...but she liked me and 3 other students who actually found loopholes in her directions and exploited them to save time.

I get really perfectionistic (I'm coining that word for the time being) when writing papers. I want to make sure I find the best words to accurately express my thoughts on the matter.

Also, I tend to get perfectionistic with video games. I always want to uncover all the little secrets and tricks, and this requires the utmost attention to detail.

Honestly, I invest a lot of my time in any tasks that I really care about and find enjoyable, and usually these warrant a self-desired stellar performance from me.

Exactly. I would say for me, it would also come for when I'm trying to articulate my true viewpoint on something, even in speech.
 

paintmuffin

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I get really perfectionistic (I'm coining that word for the time being) when writing papers. I want to make sure I find the best words to accurately express my thoughts on the matter.

Also, I tend to get perfectionistic with video games. I always want to uncover all the little secrets and tricks, and this requires the utmost attention to detail.

Hah, yessss. These would be mine as well.

The vocabulary thing also comes into play in everyday conversation for me sometimes. When someone's not making sense, I like to clarify their ideas for them. Most SJ's get pissed off when I do this.
 

realmsghzx

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Hah, yessss. These would be mine as well.

The vocabulary thing also comes into play in everyday conversation for me sometimes. When someone's not making sense, I like to clarify their ideas for them. Most SJ's get pissed off when I do this.

Yes! This is one thing I do most often.
 

Blank

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In high school botany, we had to make an educational board game, so I designed it as a pseudo-Jeopardy-meets-Chutes-and-Ladders. Basically, you moved forward or back depending on if you got questions right or not...maybe we had a die, but I can't remember.

Anyway, I designed the board in such a way that the game itself was unbeatable, but it was cleverly designed to look as though you could. Ahahaha, we had other kids play our games and I cackled in sadistic glee as they masochistically continued to try to beat my game. In my defense, by having an unbeatable game to work as a study guide, you would eventually learn all the answers to the trivia. :evil:
 

Thalassa

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In high school botany, we had to make an educational board game, so I designed it as a pseudo-Jeopardy-meets-Chutes-and-Ladders. Basically, you moved forward or back depending on if you got questions right or not...maybe we had a die, but I can't remember.

Anyway, I designed the board in such a way that the game itself was unbeatable, but it was cleverly designed to look as though you could. Ahahaha, we had other kids play our games and I cackled in sadistic glee as they masochistically continued to try to beat my game. In my defense, by having an unbeatable game to work as a study guide, you would eventually learn all the answers to the trivia. :evil:

You're smart.
 

sofmarhof

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Anyway, I designed the board in such a way that the game itself was unbeatable, but it was cleverly designed to look as though you could. Ahahaha, we had other kids play our games and I cackled in sadistic glee as they masochistically continued to try to beat my game. In my defense, by having an unbeatable game to work as a study guide, you would eventually learn all the answers to the trivia. :evil:

Hahaha I love you.
 
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