[ISTP] "Nerdy" ISTPs

[Domino]

 

[millerm277]

I'm both.

I'm a nerd in that I'm: A computer science major, I spend a lot of my time playing with computers/playing games, I'm pretty anti-social/socially anxious, and I don't actually hate math. I also have a habit of having random electrical projects/fixing electronics, like how I currently have a half-built solar panel on my desk and just replaced the LCD screen in my blackberry tonight. I also have no interest in any type of substance that affects my state of mind (Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol included).

I'm not in that I'm: Someone who thinks jumping off cliffs on skis is a good idea, hikes to insanity, enjoys motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATV's, Jetskis, and anything else that has the potential for being interesting to ride/drive. (Like mountain bikes), am a good enough machinist that I can pretty much do anything in a metal shop.

Basically, it comes down to: I like pushing my body and abilities to see what is possible in whatever it is I want to do. Whether it's seeing if I actually CAN hike 14 miles with 9300ft of elevation change in a day, or if I can learn Russian quickly, I put a lot into what I do.

No one is really all that perfect nerd or "cool" guy, although in their public image, they sometimes might be.

 

[ayoitsStepho]

Let's face it: In the grand scheme of things, if you polled 10,000 random people, being a "member of a psychology website which classes people based on 16 archetypes" is, well, pretty nerdy.

You mean... I'm a... nerd?

 

[Bamboo]

The thing is, the same skill set that is used in nerd activity can be just as easily be used in cool or macho activities.

For instance, take the following step by step run through of solving a problem.:

- there's a problem!
- observe
- analyze (mull over observations)
- form a conceptual understanding or refer back to prior knowledge

at this point you have a choice between:

1.
- form plan of action, or just start tinkering
- work through problem

and

2.
- gain insight and understanding.


That same skill set could be applied to finding a way to cook dinner, figure out how to climb a rock wall, defending yourself in a fight, drift through a turn, build electronics, do chemistry problems, and figuring out how to beat an opponent in dungeons and dragons, or in a war.



Maybe this whole concept is too broad to really be useful. I mean, that's how everyone solves problems. Meh. I'm thinking out loud and not editing it.


I guess I'll add that the difference between "nerd" and "macho" activities is generally related to how much stress or anxiety the person doing the activity has to endure (or face off) to complete it, but I'm sure there are exceptions.

EDIT: And nerd activities are generally defined by the level of abstraction required to relate to it.

 

[Poki]

I'm both.

I'm a nerd in that I'm: A computer science major, I spend a lot of my time playing with computers/playing games, I'm pretty anti-social/socially anxious, and I don't actually hate math. I also have a habit of having random electrical projects/fixing electronics, like how I currently have a half-built solar panel on my desk and just replaced the LCD screen in my blackberry tonight. I also have no interest in any type of substance that affects my state of mind (Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol included).

I'm not in that I'm: Someone who thinks jumping off cliffs on skis is a good idea, hikes to insanity, enjoys motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATV's, Jetskis, and anything else that has the potential for being interesting to ride/drive. (Like mountain bikes), am a good enough machinist that I can pretty much do anything in a metal shop.

Basically, it comes down to: I like pushing my body and abilities to see what is possible in whatever it is I want to do. Whether it's seeing if I actually CAN hike 14 miles with 9300ft of elevation change in a day, or if I can learn Russian quickly, I put a lot into what I do.

No one is really all that perfect nerd or "cool" guy, although in their public image, they sometimes might be.

Makes it really hard to connect with "NERDS" on every level. Ever ask a nerd if he wants to help you swap out a turbocharger. Or replace shingles on a 2 story house in the dark with a thunder storm rolling in and look forward to it. Lay in the mud on the side of a road changing an oil filter the dealership put on wrong for someone else and enjoy it just because you get to lay on the side of the road changing something in the mud while cars fly past you.

 

[You]

You mean... I'm a... nerd?

Yep. And a cute one too.

 

[StrappingYoungLad]

Yep my dad is one of them. His favorite pastime is trolling computer hardware/software forums.

 

[Craft]

Let's face it: In the grand scheme of things, if you polled 10,000 random people, being a "member of a psychology website which classes people based on 16 archetypes" is, well, pretty nerdy.

Well, I never... So you define "nerd" based on fallacy of argumentum ad populum? Democracy is not your friend, my dear.

I know I'm partly nerd but that does not qualify me for the grand honor of "Nerd" worthiness.

I consider "nerd"'s definition dependent on it being a subtrait of being "special". You look at a hundred samples of the world, you notice a slight variance. These digressions forms our several popular but subconsciously derived patterned simplifications of "freak", "nerd", "geek" etc.

When one is noticeably different, in an extreme form centered on one theme(intellect, novelty, obsession etc), one can be considered as fitting for such grand titles. Thus, via the fact that titles originate from intelligent evolutionary innate decision, "Nerd" must cooperatively be defined as so.

The definition of 'extreme', on the other hand, is based on the common denominator of all humans.

 

[Garivande]

My husband is a truly nerdy ISTP (I initially judged him INTP - like me - but when I thought of how it annoys me that he always refers to article numbers instead of product names/descriptions I finally realized what was "wrong" with him...!). His favorite hobby is to work - with computers, both software and hardware (me, I hate the hardware stuff...).

 

[stellar renegade]

My ISTP buddy is a HUGE gamer. When he and the xSTP were at work all they'd talk about was WoW. xSTP eventually quit, though. I did, too. Real life beats games every day, in my opinion. You can get a 1,000,000 gold but that does nothing for you in real life unless you're a cheater.

 

[GetOffMyBiscuits]

My sister could be a nerdy ISTP I think? Would you consider Paul Bunyan nerdy?

 

[INTPness]

Well, I never... So you define "nerd" based on fallacy of argumentum ad populum? Democracy is not your friend, my dear.

I know I'm partly nerd but that does not qualify me for the grand honor of "Nerd" worthiness.

I consider "nerd"'s definition dependent on it being a subtrait of being "special". You look at a hundred samples of the world, you notice a slight variance. These digressions forms our several popular but subconsciously derived patterned simplifications of "freak", "nerd", "geek" etc.

When one is noticeably different, in an extreme form centered on one theme(intellect, novelty, obsession etc), one can be considered as fitting for such grand titles. Thus, via the fact that titles originate from intelligent evolutionary innate decision, "Nerd" must cooperatively be defined as so.

The definition of 'extreme', on the other hand, is based on the common denominator of all humans.

You're overcomplicating it, true to INTP form. Remember when you were on the playground in 3rd grade and certain individuals were just "nerdy" because of the activities they engaged in? They collected worms, or they knew everything about Star Trek at the age of 8, or they sat off to the side talking to themselves while everyone else played sports, etc, etc, etc.

Fast forward to adulthood: those of us on this website are "nerds"! That simple.

*I'm not saying it's bad to be a nerd and I'm not saying the "nerd classification system" is a logical one, but let's be honest, it's pretty freakin' nerdy! Replace "nerdy" with "eccentric" if you want.

 

[You]

My sister could be a nerdy ISTP I think? Would you consider Paul Bunyan nerdy?

Titay?

 

[Orangey]

Titay?

Huh?

 

[Speed Gavroche]

Sometimes I think I'm a little nerdy. But then, when I meet peoples who are ture nerds, I realize that I'am very a little nerdy, lol.

 

[freeeekyyy]

I have always been a nerd in hiding.

An MIT nerd is different then a RPG nerd. One lives in sci-fi fantasy and one lives in reality fantasy. They do mix, but they are not the same type of nerdiness.

Absolutely. The MIT nerd is the good kind of nerd.

 

[freeeekyyy]

My sister could be a nerdy ISTP I think? Would you consider Paul Bunyan nerdy?

Well, he does hike his jeans up pretty high. And likes plaid, a lot of nerds wear plaid.

 

[KDude]

I am a nerd like Quentin Tarantino is a nerd.. a pop culture junkie? And most of my technical know-how is with computers. I can help out in more hands-on things, but I wouldn't call myself a mechanic. I still think I'm probably Se because I share a lot of the action oriented nature and impulsiveness of SPs (among other things), but I could easily be happier talking to an INTP or INFP about a variety of things than some other SPs. In highschool, less so. I went through this phase where I actually did diss some of my nerdier friends, treated them like they barely existed, and played up this too-cool-for-school attitude in general. More than I care to talk about. Hell, I kind of lost dedication to living in my headspace at all.. I had started playing guitar at 13, but I barely gave a crap until later. So I wasn't even that nerdy in an ISP way. Once I wound down, I think I started exploring just a general I**P kind of way of life.

 

[Red Herring]

My little sister is an ISFP and might look like a nerd on the outside to strangers because she has a PhD in molecular biotechnology and works in the lab all day infecting cells of the trachea of chicken and turkey with different strands of influenza. She always was among the top of her class in math and helped her class mates with calculus. Her being among science geeks all day wears off and she could tell you a few jokes of the type " a chemist, a physicist and a mathematitian walk into a bar..." Her hobbies are a bit eccentric as well.

But ...and this is a big but... the reason she loves her lab work is because it is hands on research, she loves slicing and dicing cells, using the centrifuge and juggling petri dishes. The theory is just a way to get there. In fact, it worries her that she has become overqualified for practical lab work and might be forced to do more theoretical/paper work in the future And those eccentric hobbies might be eccentric, but they are physical and concrete in nature.

A talent for and/or interest in geeky stuff does not make a nerd in my opinion. Now, my ENTJ brother (marine biologist, major fantasy, role play, dungeons freak, martial arts lover and not a girlfriend in sight at age 25) that´s a geek. But even he is too practical and physical to be a nerd in my book.

Sorry, but the admission criteria of the club should be a bit stricter than that.

 

[ViCyniC]

I'd say I'm more of a practical nerd. Even though I studied engineering (although I'm taking a break at 4th year), I actually don't like to think analytically much...I'm more interested in the practical things. I build my own computers, and am a long-time member of a video card forum (my most visited forum).

Actually, to be honest, I see myself as a tech geek more than a nerd. Compared to truly analytical MIT nerds that live and breathe algorithms and equations, I am not one at all. Even studying engineering, I still can't relate. Maybe because I actually hate engineering and am studying it for the wrong reasons...