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[NF] NFs obsessed with knowledge.. just like NTs.

chickpea

perfect person
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
5,729
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
i'm like this but i've always thought it was ne wanting to absorb all different kinds of information so i can understand the world better combined with my 5 wing.
 

wildflower

New member
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Jul 8, 2011
Messages
317
i am also like this but with things that personally interest me. it has made me wonder if i'm more of a T than an F or a 5 more than a 4 but when i look into it i always come back to my core type. i don't really understand what is behind it.
 

Chloe

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May 1, 2009
Messages
2,196
i'm like this but i've always thought it was ne wanting to absorb all different kinds of information so i can understand the world better combined with my 5 wing.

yeah, probably Ne + sp dominance (in my case) + enneagram 3 (ambition to have a significant place in the world.. if i dont follow the trends i cant keep up and can't be successful)
 

PeaceBaby

reborn
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
5,950
MBTI Type
N/A
Enneagram
N/A
I am addicted to knowing ... The more I know, the more connections I can make.
I can be insatiable.
 

Scott N Denver

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Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Messages
2,898
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
i'm like this but i've always thought it was ne wanting to absorb all different kinds of information so i can understand the world better combined with my 5 wing.

I'd agree with this. I don't want to "know everything", but there are LOTS of subjects I wish I knew a moderate amount about, macroeconomics for example. Other topics I wish I knew a ton more about. I feel like math is perhaps the only non-F subject I wish I knew a ton about.
 

highlander

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
26,562
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
379, 397, or 396, or 369.. anyway, I dont relate to type 5 at all, if that's what you were aiming at ?

Just looking a another data point. Not thinking 5.

6 seems to align with being inquisitive and if you combine that with 3 which is the achiever type, it might make some sense. I have both of those in my tri-type and do tend to tend to have a strong desire to understand things and am inquisitive but then I'm an NT as well.

I don't know how instinctual variants would relate.
 

William K

Uniqueorn
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
986
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
I think there are a couple of things at play here.
i) My job in research requires me to absorb large amounts of knowledge, even those that may just be in distantly or tangentially-related fields as you never know where innovative inspiration can come from.
ii) Ne(?) curiosity on the other hand drives the more trivial knowledge-seeking such as Wikipedia-surfing and watching Discovery/Animal Planet.
iii) There is also the part where knowledge in a broad variety of subjects can be used as a communication tool. Talking about sports, movies, music, etc can be a great ice-breaker.
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I do go through periods of being obsessed with knowledge, and these periods lasted longer when I was younger.

But these days, I've found that I enjoy spending time with my online friends on Skype, and sharing jokes more than I enjoy actually learning new things. There are still times I just want to get away from it all and go into a serious period of intense focus and learning, but not nearly as much as I used to.

Also, my areas of focus are now often related to the people I interact with. For instance, I started studying how to play D&D because we're now playing a game of it online in one Skype group. I started studying Japanese briefly because a friend needed something translated and I knew Hiragana. I might watch and research a specific anime that I know my friends are watching, and which sounds interesting. I might study out how IRC works, what clients are available, and how to create servers or channels because everyone just started using an IRC chat.

In other words, my new learning tends to be focused in the areas of whatever the group is involved in, rather than my own personal interests now. However, that might be partly due to the fact that these people have interests that overlap with mine so that it's comfortable to do this.
 

BAJ

New member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
626
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
4w5
I like books. I like libraries.

Sometimes I checked out 50 books at once.

Now I'm more of a dilettante. I dabble. As Francis Bacon said, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested..."

I used to read more.

Nowadays I have the internet, especially forums. I have games.

Reading is pressed back. I still have a thing about getting books, but I rarely finish one. I have a library in the bathroom, and much of my reading is done in there.

I always enjoy reading, but typically do so when I don't have the option of computer activities. I read in restaurants. I read if I have to wait.

I have a numerous amount of unread books now that I'm nibbling on, which I may never finish.

I just read the third book in John Ringo's series, but that sci-fi, not "knowledge"

Others in the nibble pile:

November issue of National Geographic

Japan Made Easy: All you need to know to enjoy Japan

Freakonomics

A New Earth: awakening to your life's purpose (Eckhart Tolle)

India, fourth edition

Predictably Irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions

The Time Paradox: the new psychology of time that will change your life

Hegemony or survival: America's quest for global dominance (Chomsky)

The story of life

The Philosophy of Time

All the Devils are Here: the hidden history of the financial crisis

Introduction to Philosophy: classical and contemporary readings

The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The complete guide to psychological and spiritual Growth for the nine personality types

From Eternity to Here: The quest for the ultimate theory of time.

Stuff: compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things

In search of time: the science of a curious dimension

The black swan: the impact of the highly improbable

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


Of course, I have favorites, books I've read and re-read that I like.

Edit:

Areas of curiosity that I wish to know:

fractal geometry

areas of small events that have big results

why things really happen in society

decision making

what is time?

How can I sow seeds to make results (philosophically, socially)

Perspectives that influence the perception of time (my own experiments)

rocks

Fish, biology and nature...anything. Ants! E.O Wilson! Sex!

Science fiction...like what vision of the future can we make (POSITIVE visions)

Probably there are other things!
 
A

Anew Leaf

Guest
Are there?
There's a stereotype that NTs are obsessed with knowledge.. but i relate to this more and more.. I couldnt care less about some stuff like some exact hystorical data, but I am obsessed with knowing about everything just enough. I couldn't walk on Earth if I didnt know how does the human body functions. It shocks me when people dont care or dont know it. I mean, it's your residence for 80+ years, and you dont know the basics - you dont know what exactly is chromosome, or meiosis?!
Stuff like that. The same with internet stuff, web design etc., it will never be my career but I cant sleep if I dont know what is it all about, how it functions, I feel paralysed. I feel like my knowledge lust is expansive, I want to grab the wide portion to get the big picture and the more you learn the more you see there is never the end.

Can you relate? Could this be SP dom in instinctual variants related ?

I care more about the knowledge, career etc., than about close relationships <- weird?! i mean, i can not live without love, but knowledge is my passion, not only holding in knowledge but putting it to use.

I can definitely relate. I love delving into random subjects and learning about them. My book shelves have lots of different fiction novels on them but an equal amount of astronomy, physics, ancient egyptian history, greek history, geology, etc books. I find there is an endless array of subjects for me to learn about and enrich my life with. So long as I have enough energy to read, I am never bored. :)

I don't think you are weird about the knowledge being more important at all. It could be related to SP. I am strong SX first with a strong SP backup. I sort of waffle between wanting to dedicate my life to some reclusive pursuit and to find others to share life with. Currently I am in the "share life with" mode after about 10 years of the other mode. I think there is a great appeal in creating meaning in one's life by dedicating it to knowledge and using it.
 

TenebrousReflection

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
449
MBTI Type
INFp
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I can sometimes become extremely curious about something (MBTI theory for example) and order lots of books to read on it, but it has more to do with the subject matter being something that pulls me in rather than a pure obsession with knowledge. In general I have a very strong desire to understand how thing work, but a rough conceptual theory is usually enough to satisfy my curiosity most fo the time.
 
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