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[INTP] Are INTPs competitive? ambitious?

knight

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For some reason, I have an image in my head of INTPs as sloth like, moving when necessary, slow sometimes. their diet may be mostly of plants, occasionally some meat but mainly plants, sort bordering on vegan or vegan. how off am I? are Intps competitive? what does INTP competitiveness look like?
 

Thalassa

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I think INTPs can be very competitive about who knows it all. :cheese:

But they're probably not going to be extremely competitive in the Te sense of the word.
 

Emectar

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I definitely wouldn't say INTPs have a competitive nature, but i have seen a sort of competitive mode which they will briefly go into, (and it looks to me like some kind of shadow function thing or something), but they get very very quiet and intense, and seem volatile, as if on the edge of tears, and go after what ever theyre going after hard.

This is a really rare thing though. My best friend is an INTP and ive known him for a long time, and ive still only see this happen 6 or 7 times in my life.
 

Such Irony

Honor Thy Inferior
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I'm competitive mainly with myself. It bothers me when I feel like I'm not improving in some area important to me. I don't like competing with others much but I see it as a necessary evil. The reality is, you have to compete some. You have to compete for jobs. You have to compete to get into a good college. Companies compete against each other. If your company falls too far behind another company, the company goes out of business and there goes your job.

Although I'm not the sort to deliberately enter competitions, I do find myself comparing myself to others too much. I can't stand it when others get ahead of me when they've seemingly put in less effort. This is especially true in areas of importance to me. I don't have the competitive drive to reach the very top but I guess you could say I'll compete just enough to reach a decent position.
 

Beargryllz

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I know I am competitive. I do not know if INTPs are competitive...
 

Oeufa

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I'm too lazy to be competitive. I like feeling superior to others though :tongue:
 

mrcockburn

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Oh god no. Not the ones I know. lol

Of all T's, they seem to abhor competition the most. It's something I don't relate to or understand, but they're really happier without the sort of presure I'd put on myself, for instance.
 

Stigmata

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I'm not very competitive with others, but I am quite competitive with myself. I hate the thought of being incompetent or incapable at something.

With others I'm either too lazy or don't care enough to be competitive.
 

guesswho

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We're all programmed to be competitive. Educated to be competitive. Trained to be competitive. We watch movies and commercial that promote competitive behavior.

Winning is everything.

No matter what the type.

Or maybe I'm wrong :laugh:

Ok...this is a generalization...not everybody is competitive...obviously...
 

Stigmata

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We're all programmed to be competitive. Educated to be competitive. Trained to be competitive. We watch movies and commercial that promote competitive behavior.

Winning is everything.

No matter what the type.

Or maybe I'm wrong :laugh:

Ok...this is a generalization...not everybody is competitive...obviously...

Winning is only as important or meaningful as your personal investment in the competition. The futility of it all shines through when you analyze just how temporal that feeling of being a "winner" is.
 

Rasofy

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For some reason, I have an image in my head of INTPs as sloth like, moving when necessary, slow sometimes.
Well, we tend to spend a lot of time contemplating all the possibilities and probabilities on those before taking action.
their diet may be mostly of plants, occasionally some meat but mainly plants, sort bordering on vegan or vega
I'm almost carnivore and I don't like anything green.
are Intps competitive?
I like feeling superior :blush:
what does INTP competitiveness look like?
I will readily recognize someone's superiority in a given field but usually having in my mind that if i put enough effort i could become even better. I usually won't tough. :coffee:
 

INTPness

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Extremely competitive when it comes to sports, games, trivia, anything of that nature. If the other person isn't competitive, then I tend to care less. But, if they are willing to challenge me to a good battle, then I'm always up for it. It's all in fun, but it's also very serious - especially if the other person gets into it.

I had 2 women co-workers who were talking about a local basketball team that lost a big game. One of the women played basketball in college and is very competitive (we always talk about sports) - I think she's xNTP actually. The other woman is not competitive at all and said something like, "So they lost. Not that big of a deal. At least they had fun. I mean, really, what's the big deal?" Me and the other woman looked at each other like, "What?" And then I said, "Yeah, winning sucks. Who wants to win? I mean, personally, I'd rather lose. Losing is where it's at these days."

I mean, if you lose a game, life definitely goes on. It's not the end of the world. But, if you're going to put your time into something (your blood, your sweat, your tears, your effort), why not go all out? I mean, really go for it! I don't get too caught up in the corporate rat race and I'm very laid back most of the time - a true P. But, if I decide to go for something, I really go for it. All out. Nothing that irritates me more than people who "half-ass" their way through life and then have the balls to complain about the state of affairs. If you're going to do something, do it well. Do it with excellence.
 

knight

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Well, we tend to spend a lot of time contemplating all the possibilities and probabilities on those before taking action.

I'm almost carnivore and I don't like anything green.

I like feeling superior :blush:

I will readily recognize someone's superiority in a given field but usually having in my mind that if i put enough effort i could become even better. I usually won't tough. :coffee:

what if you met someone with much more superior intellect then you and was more successful? only then would you get competitive? it would be more intellectual right? rather then having material things?
 

knight

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Extremely competitive when it comes to sports, games, trivia, anything of that nature. If the other person isn't competitive, then I tend to care less. But, if they are willing to challenge me to a good battle, then I'm always up for it. It's all in fun, but it's also very serious - especially if the other person gets into it.

I had 2 women co-workers who were talking about a local basketball team that lost a big game. One of the women played basketball in college and is very competitive (we always talk about sports) - I think she's xNTP actually. The other woman is not competitive at all and said something like, "So they lost. Not that big of a deal. At least they had fun. I mean, really, what's the big deal?" Me and the other woman looked at each other like, "What?" And then I said, "Yeah, winning sucks. Who wants to win? I mean, personally, I'd rather lose. Losing is where it's at these days."

I mean, if you lose a game, life definitely goes on. It's not the end of the world. But, if you're going to put your time into something (your blood, your sweat, your tears, your effort), why not go all out? I mean, really go for it! I don't get too caught up in the corporate rat race and I'm very laid back most of the time - a true P. But, if I decide to go for something, I really go for it. All out. Nothing that irritates me more than people who "half-ass" their way through life and then have the balls to complain about the state of affairs. If you're going to do something, do it well. Do it with excellence.
would you squish people in the process of world domination? Dirty tactics?( I dont think so)
 

slowriot

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i do like competition even with others. Unless when its only for show, then I dont want to compete with you, I find it childish when people brag. It can be very satisfactory when I excel at something, but I dont put value in it externally. I do it for my own satisfaction. That doesnt mean I wont tell you Im good at something. Or that Im some sort of slug. I really do like to excel and master something. The idea that INTPs dont want to master things, is wrong. If I see a good reason for mastering a skill, I will strive for being better at this skill. But I also am a sucker for novelty.

Ambitious, yes. I like to excel, my motivation is based on my own perception of the value in the pursuit.

Extremely competitive when it comes to sports, games, trivia, anything of that nature. If the other person isn't competitive, then I tend to care less. But, if they are willing to challenge me to a good battle, then I'm always up for it. It's all in fun, but it's also very serious - especially if the other person gets into it.

I had 2 women co-workers who were talking about a local basketball team that lost a big game. One of the women played basketball in college and is very competitive (we always talk about sports) - I think she's xNTP actually. The other woman is not competitive at all and said something like, "So they lost. Not that big of a deal. At least they had fun. I mean, really, what's the big deal?" Me and the other woman looked at each other like, "What?" And then I said, "Yeah, winning sucks. Who wants to win? I mean, personally, I'd rather lose. Losing is where it's at these days."

I mean, if you lose a game, life definitely goes on. It's not the end of the world. But, if you're going to put your time into something (your blood, your sweat, your tears, your effort), why not go all out? I mean, really go for it! I don't get too caught up in the corporate rat race and I'm very laid back most of the time - a true P. But, if I decide to go for something, I really go for it. All out. Nothing that irritates me more than people who "half-ass" their way through life and then have the balls to complain about the state of affairs. If you're going to do something, do it well. Do it with excellence.

@bolded, :yes:
 

INTPness

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would you squish people in the process of world domination? Dirty tactics?( I dont think so)

No, but you didn't ask if I was ethical. You asked if I was competitive. You can be competitive and still be ethical at the same time. If I'm playing a heated game of basketball amongst friends and I step on the out-of-bounds line (and nobody sees me), I tell everyone that I stepped on the line. Simply because I want to win the right way. I'd rather lose than to win by cheating. There's no satisfaction in that.

BTW, I'm not saying I've never cheated in my life. But, you know what I'm saying.
 

slowriot

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No, but you didn't ask if I was ethical. You asked if I was competitive. You can be competitive and still be ethical at the same time. If I'm playing a heated game of basketball amongst friends and I step on the out-of-bounds line (and nobody sees me), I tell everyone that I stepped on the line. Simply because I want to win the right way. I'd rather lose than to win by cheating. There's no satisfaction in that.

I concur
 

funkadelik

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I mean, if you lose a game, life definitely goes on. It's not the end of the world. But, if you're going to put your time into something (your blood, your sweat, your tears, your effort), why not go all out? I mean, really go for it! I don't get too caught up in the corporate rat race and I'm very laid back most of the time - a true P. But, if I decide to go for something, I really go for it. All out. Nothing that irritates me more than people who "half-ass" their way through life and then have the balls to complain about the state of affairs. If you're going to do something, do it well. Do it with excellence.

I couldn't agree with this more.

-----------------------

And I wonder if competition in NTP types has more to do with play? Like chess, poker, other strategy games, debate, etc. It's all competition, but it's all in good fun.

But when it comes down to being competition in, say, the corporate world or with grades/money/etc. there's not much of a drive.

Least I can see how that applies to me.
 
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