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[MBTI General] NFs and Intelligence

nolla

Senor Membrane
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
3,166
MBTI Type
INFP
It's not that I think I'm UNintelligent, it's just that I don't really base my self image or esteem on my intelligence level. I don't think about it much one way or the other.

Could it be that many NFs have this approach to their own intelligence, and could this be partly causing the stereotype?

I'm with you on this one. I'd rather be called "nice" than "intelligent"... I respect the "wise", though, but that's a different case.
 
S

Sniffles

Guest
I tend to respect wisdom over intelligence.

As for me, I'm constantly beating myself up for supposedly not being intelligent enough. I remember thinking myself stupid at age 12 because I couldn't grasp much of the tactical formulas outlined in On War by Karl von Clausewitz. Or at 17 because I didn't understand much of the postmodern theory on the nature of hyper-reality.

Looking back, I just can't help but laugh at the absurdity. :blushing:
 

sketcheasy

New member
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
101
MBTI Type
ENFP
i'm the opposite. sometimes i find being an enfp inconvenient cause i'd rather be more intelligent than nice.

actually, when i compared my actual self with my ideal self, it turned out my ideal me was intj. hahaha, ironic and yet so fitting cause i love intj's. wish there were more intj girls in the world...
 

wedekit

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
694
MBTI Type
INFJ
I guess this goes back to the INTJ hate thread, where it was mentioned that INTJs tend to focus on facts while INFJs tend to focus on principles. I can see how that is, and would explain why I find INTJ arguments relatively "shallow" at times.

Could you elaborate on this a little more, please? I haven't heard this before and it interests me.
 

vince

New member
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Messages
320
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
6w
I kind of relate to what Peguy said.

I suspect the following regarding intelligence :
Intelligence for an INFJ = Reason + Heart
Intelligence for an INTJ = Reason

I suspect INTJs don't take in account matters of the heart when it comes to defining intelligence. Perhaps they just distrust it for decisionmaking. having said that, I don't mean they're necessarily heart-less.
 

sketcheasy

New member
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
101
MBTI Type
ENFP
Been there, done that.

you're an infj. you're one letter away but miles apart....

intj's usually amuse enfp's. i'm telling you, it's the dry, crass, and sarcastic humor that just kills me.
 

Kasper

Diabolical
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
11,590
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
I kind of relate to what Peguy said.

I suspect the following regarding intelligence :
Intelligence for an INFJ = Reason + Heart
Intelligence for an INTJ = Reason

I suspect INTJs don't take in account matters of the heart when it comes to defining intelligence. Perhaps they just distrust it for decisionmaking. having said that, I don't mean they're necessarily heart-less.

Not so, I consider EQ more important in terms of intelligence than IQ ;)
 

nomadic

mountain surfing
Joined
Jul 15, 2008
Messages
1,709
MBTI Type
enfp
im pretty good at math.

i was ranked 2nd in mental arithmetic for my grade in Los Angeles County when I was a kid. Yeah, it was a county wide contest that included all schools in LA county. Mind you, LA county is the most populated county in the US, with 10 million people. umm... yeah i just bragged about myself like... wayyyyyyyyyyy too much. lol

when i think of numbers, i see relationships between them, and how to bend them into something u didn't see before.

I think pattern recognition is something that is not logical or emotional. But in a way, i do "feel" out a problem and solve it instinctively in general. of course, sometimes my instinct tells me i have to approach it methodologically.

I think the best analogy is like say golf or hitting a baseball.

Some people calculate everything in their minds, and fix their swings almost programmatically. Some people just kind of do it without thinking, and let instinct and gliding feelings take over. Kind of exaggerrating, but i kind of see it that way...

but yeah, either way, its the results that matter right? i mean, a golf score doesn't depend on type for sure.

like my best friend, he is calculating. if he doesn't play golf for a while, he forgets his golf swing easily, but with practice practice practice, it improves dramatically back to his old form. my golf swing, i don't play for a long time, but when i do, the swing comes back immediately. but my swing doesn't get better with practice. unless i practice more than my friend does. overall though, we're the same level.

i dunno if that makes sense. lol
 

Little Linguist

Striving for balance
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
6,880
MBTI Type
xNFP
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
People definitely have a problem coming to terms with the fact another person (that would be me) can be silly and extremely down-to-earth one second, and talk about hardcore philosophical/political/whatever stuff the next.

EXACTLY!

By the way, Wedekind, I agree with you 100%. I hate these so-called rationals that goof off in school. I mean: Is that RATIONAL to goof off when you are really smart, not make good grades, and not be able to get into the best schools? Uh, no. Sorry. No go, Jack. That's just plain stupid. And then they always have these so-called EXCUSES like "PFft, I do not need to show off how smart I am. Pffft, society just shits on people who are smart. Pfft, people hate intelligent people. Pfft, I was intelligent but my teacher hated me. Pffft, this person was not worth it. Pffft no one cares about grades anyway." Pfft this and pffft that. Well Pfffffffffffffffft, stop trying to pass gas with your mouth.

Of course, that is not to say that someone should stick his/her head in a BOOK all day, either. That is just as irrational as getting drunk with your friends all the time. A truly rational person, I think, would see the value of knowledge, the value of showing that knowledge, the value of friends, and the value of spending time with those friends in a way that lifts you up, and does not tear you down.

That is just my opinion, though.
 

nolla

Senor Membrane
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
3,166
MBTI Type
INFP
Of course, that is not to say that someone should stick his/her head in a BOOK all day, either. That is just as irrational as getting drunk with your friends all the time. A truly rational person, I think, would see the value of knowledge, the value of showing that knowledge, the value of friends, and the value of spending time with those friends in a way that lifts you up, and does not tear you down.

For me the data just went in and stayed there. I never needed to study... Except for math.
 

Usehername

On a mission
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,794
My little 17-year-old INFP bro won some award for his math contest ranking in the country this past June; he never studies. He just gets calculus and theoretical math really well.

It made me feel better to know he was absurdly gifted at math, actually, because I had bought this "Speed Mathematics" book and began to trudge through it with great effort for about three weeks. He borrowed it for 45 minutes and got to the point where he could use the tips and tricks better than me.:doh:
 

Domino

ENFJ In Chains
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
11,429
MBTI Type
eNFJ
Enneagram
4w3
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Well, I guess after reading a few posts around here, I was kind of annoyed by some stereotypes. I hate how I can easily be categorized by my NF-ness sometimes, and people only think about how "emotionally" based I am. Sometimes I feel like people forget that NFs (or any other type, really) can be just as intelligent as, say, an NT.

I was in direct competition with two male NTPs in school and I frequently blew their doors off, with the open invitation to take the lead away if they wanted to try it (knowing full well that I would be bulldogging them the whole way lol :D).

I'm very competitive sometimes (not ridiculously so, just like a good challenge - it's nice when someone surprises you by running you legless...). You get sharper that way. As long as it's not mean-spirited, I'm hip to it.

Besides, it was fun to trade paint. ;)

I remember eating lunch with an ISFJ hellion friend of mine. We were both astonished to realize we were reading "Hyperspace" at the same time. haha! He was a cunning guy.
 

Domino

ENFJ In Chains
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
11,429
MBTI Type
eNFJ
Enneagram
4w3
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
My little 17-year-old INFP bro won some award for his math contest ranking in the country this past June; he never studies. He just gets calculus and theoretical math really well.

It made me feel better to know he was absurdly gifted at math, actually, because I had bought this "Speed Mathematics" book and began to trudge through it with great effort for about three weeks. He borrowed it for 45 minutes and got to the point where he could use the tips and tricks better than me.:doh:

So that's where all my number-smarts went. Fiddle dee dee! :doh:
 

Little Linguist

Striving for balance
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
6,880
MBTI Type
xNFP
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
For me the data just went in and stayed there. I never needed to study... Except for math.

If you use your intelligence, no problem. There is no need to study. But for people who get average grades and are super intelligent and THEN make excuses.....Gahhhhh!

btw, can you teach me how to do that?!
 

SillyGoose

New member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
243
MBTI Type
EXXP
If you use your intelligence, no problem. There is no need to study. But for people who get average grades and are super intelligent and THEN make excuses.....Gahhhhh!

btw, can you teach me how to do that?!


I did that. But my excuses were valid in my own special way.

I absolutely could not pay attention in class. NOT.AT.ALL. It felt like some kind of medieval torture sitting through these lectures, teachers talking, taking way too long to go over something. Ay yay yay.

Bribes, threats, punishments from my parents wouldn't even work.

It was torture.

I never went back to school and it is highly likely that I never will.
 

Little Linguist

Striving for balance
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
6,880
MBTI Type
xNFP
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
I did that. But my excuses were valid in my own special way.

I absolutely could not pay attention in class. NOT.AT.ALL. It felt like some kind of medieval torture sitting through these lectures, teachers talking, taking way too long to go over something. Ay yay yay.

Bribes, threats, punishments from my parents wouldn't even work.

It was torture.

I never went back to school and it is highly likely that I never will.

Please do not take this the wrong way - I do not mean it as an attack - but I just do not GET that. I mean, maybe this is my SJ talking, but why would you not show your intelligence since you have it? Many people would do anything to have brains like that....And you do not want to waste what you have....
 

SillyGoose

New member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
243
MBTI Type
EXXP
Please do not take this the wrong way - I do not mean it as an attack - but I just do not GET that. I mean, maybe this is my SJ talking, but why would you not show your intelligence since you have it? Many people would do anything to have brains like that....And you do not want to waste what you have....


LL, I honestly couldn't help it. As soon as I got out of school it was like being released from prison.

I also couldn't pay attention enough to remember assignments, bring the right books home to do homework or whatever else was needed.

My grades solely rested on classwork, tests and the quartlerly/yearly exams.
 
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