Edward Snowden

[Anew Leaf]

To be fair, focusing intensely on many areas of interests has its own problems.

I have an ENTP friend who's major was in Physics.... with 9 minors ranging from chemistry to astrophysics to, of all things, German. When he began looking for a job he was astonished to find that no one was impressed with how many degrees he had.

Then when he got bored with working in a lab he went to New Zealand to get his teaching degree and now he's a high school teacher.

This is why Ne needs to be reigned in like the ocean by land and sand and mountains that rise up but then fall again.

 

[Cellmold]

I have an ENTP friend who's major was in Physics.... with 9 minors ranging from chemistry to astrophysics to, of all things, German. When he began looking for a job he was astonished to find that no one was impressed with how many degrees he had.

Then when he got bored with working in a lab he went to New Zealand to get his teaching degree and now he's a high school teacher.

This is why Ne needs to be reigned in like the ocean by land and sand and mountains that rise up but then fall again.

I think one of my favourite quotes that I attribute to Ne, (and since I got onto a discussion about someone who is a chess player I find this somewhat apt), is from Mikhail Tal:

Journalist: It might be inconvenient to interrupt our profound discussion and change the subject slightly, but I would like to know whether extraneous, abstract thoughts ever enter your head while playing a game?

Tal: Yes. For example, I will never forget my game with GM Vasiukov on a USSR Championship. We reached a very complicated position where I was intending to sacrifice a knight. The sacrifice was not obvious; there was a large number of possible variations; but when I began to study hard and work through them, I found to my horror that nothing would come of it. Ideas piled up one after another. I would transport a subtle reply by my opponent, which worked in one case, to another situation where it would naturally prove to be quite useless. As a result my head became filled with a completely chaotic pile of all sorts of moves, and the infamous "tree of variations", from which the chess trainers recommend that you cut off the small branches, in this case spread with unbelievable rapidity.
And then suddenly, for some reason, I remembered the classic couplet by Korney Ivanović Chukovsky: "Oh, what a difficult job it was. To drag out of the marsh the hippopotamus".

I do not know from what associations the hippopotamus got into the chess board, but although the spectators were convinced that I was continuing to study the position, I, despite my humanitarian education, was trying at this time to work out: just how WOULD you drag a hippopotamus out of the marsh? I remember how jacks figured in my thoughts, as well as levers, helicopters, and even a rope ladder.
After a lengthy consideration I admitted defeat as an engineer, and thought spitefully to myself: "Well, just let it drown!" And suddenly the hippopotamus disappeared. Went right off the chessboard just as he had come on ... of his own accord! And straightaway the position did not appear to be so complicated. Now I somehow realized that it was not possible to calculate all the variations, and that the knight sacrifice was, by its very nature, purely intuitive. And since it promised an interesting game, I could not refrain from making it.

And the following day, it was with pleasure that I read in the paper how Mikhail Tal, after carefully thinking over the position for 40 minutes, made an accurately calculated piece sacrifice.

 

[Jaguar]

Bobby Fischer's face looks so temptingly slappable.

I don't have a problem with Fischer's face, but Breivik looks like he's getting an enema.

 

[Salomé]

All INTJs look like that. It's that damned rod they have rammed up their ass.
/true stories from the science of VI

 

[Cellmold]

All INTJs look like that. It's that damned rod they have rammed up their ass.
/true stories from the science of VI

You know Salome sometimes you really are quite charming. But still hahaha.

 

[Coriolis]

Then again it depends on what someone thinks a sin actually is. More than anything though I think his life was tragic. Like any person who find themselves both highly intelligent and focused intensely on one area of interest.

If that area of interest were something like finding a cure for cancer, or development of renewable energy sources, I would think both the individual and everyone else would stand to benefit.

 

[Cellmold]

If that area of interest were something like finding a cure for cancer, or development of renewable energy sources, I would think both the individual and everyone else would stand to benefit.

Of course, they would stand to benefit, but it would not necessarily mean that the individual would enjoy an easy life free of tragedy, there is always a sacrifice for such focus. Not that I am saying this is a good or bad thing, just that it is often the case.

 

[Coriolis]

Of course, they would stand to benefit, but it would not necessarily mean that the individual would enjoy an easy life free of tragedy, there is always a sacrifice for such focus. Not that I am saying this is a good or bad thing, just that it is often the case.

What is sacrificed, and why would such a person be condemned to tragedy? That doesn't follow. Devoting oneself to such a pursuit would lead to individual fulfillment, accomplishment, and the satisfaction of having contributed to society.

 

[Cellmold]

What is sacrificed, and why would such a person be condemned to tragedy? That doesn't follow. Devoting oneself to such a pursuit would lead to individual fulfillment, accomplishment, and the satisfaction of having contributed to society.

I suppose in my original post I should have used the word could, rather than any. I always forget on these forums that I should fill in the gaps and that literalism goes a long way.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

All INTJs look like that. It's that damned rod they have rammed up their ass.
/true stories from the science of VI

You have too much black bile.

 

[Salomé]

*pukes it all over you*

You have too many opinions that interest no one.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

*pukes it all over you*

You have too many opinions that interest no one.

They interest the one person who counts, which is enough.

 

[Salomé]

If you don't stop trolling me in every thread. They'll interest the mods, too.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Then you shouldn't troll other people, I think. Put a curb on that, and I'll leave you alone.

 

[Salomé]

Get over yourself, Moby Dick.
That won't wash.

 

[jcloudz]

infj that infiltrated the sj and nt house.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

No.

Confirmed INTP. Case closed.

 

[violet_crown]

No.

Confirmed INTP. Case closed.

*shrugs*

Frankly, I agree with Jag that "confirmed" is kind of a strong word. He may or may not be INTP. It's my instinct that he is, but absent the man's actual input all we've got is speculation. Most of us wish we had the courage of our convictions, and there's the desire to see that possibility reflected in the actions of another we deem to be "like us".

I came across this quote from Putin on Snowden a little bit earlier, and it pretty well sums up some of my own feelings about the whole affair:

"You know, I sometimes thought about him, he is a strange guy. How is he going to build his life? In effect, he condemned himself to a rather difficult life. I do not have the faintest idea about what he will do next.

and also...

Putin said while US special services consider Snowden a traitor "he is someone with a completely different frame of mind and considers himself to be a fighter for human rights."

 

[jcloudz]

nope. infj. rationals are mytrs? bullshit on that one.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

*shrugs*

Frankly, I agree with Jag that "confirmed" is kind of a strong word. He may or may not be INTP. It's my instinct that he is, but absent the man's actual input all we've got is speculation. Most of us wish we had the courage of our convictions, and there's the desire to see that possibility reflected in the actions of another we deem to be "like us".

Truth. I was engaging in hyperbole to be sure. I would buy INFJ, also, but I consider the grounds for INTJ and ISTP that have been stated to be pretty shaky. (No INTP would have actually done something, so therefore, he CANNOT be INTP. Ok. )

I see a quixotic Ti/Fe obsession with truth all over his actions. The quotes you mentioned also speak to a lack of planning for the future that is not INTJ like at all. ISTP is more plausible, but the person claiming that put forth no explanation as to why he would use Extraverted Sensing rather than Extraverted Intuition. His statements suggest that this is someone who sees patterns, not hyperfocused details.