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[INTP] INTP's and fear

chippinchunk

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Nov 10, 2007
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112
MBTI Type
INFJ
My friend, the INTP she is, always seems to get scared easily. Sometimes when we watch movies she starts to make fun of them because she doesnt want to think of them later. She hates the aftermath effect of the scary movies and tries her best to just laugh them off.

IE: durring the GRUDGE she started complaining about the wild amount of hair the woman just seemed to have -Hinting at pubic hair- And of course it seemed to work. :rolleyes:

Do any other INTP's or INTJ's (for the hell of it) get scared too easliy and try to deny it?

:party2:
 

God Of Emptiness

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Dec 24, 2007
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24
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I'm scared of two things: Spiders and unwanted pregnancy.

Upon inspection in my cupboard you'll find vast amounts of condoms and bug spray.
 

mippus

you are right
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Jan 15, 2008
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5w6
I have to admit that I avoid scary movies. I am especially afraid of nasty surprises. Ironically, my imagination is always worse than what is probably shown.
Yesterday I watched "The Blairwitch Project" and lived. Very proud of that. :)

Why do you think that is an INTx-thing?
 

Priam

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Dec 20, 2007
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272
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I have to admit that I avoid scary movies. I am especially afraid of nasty surprises. Ironically, my imagination is always worse than what is probably shown.
Yesterday I watched "The Blairwitch Project" and lived. Very proud of that. :)

Why do you think that is an INTx-thing?

Adding another anecdote, I can't watch slasher flicks without them lingering for years! It seems to feed certain paranoid tendencies, I suppose, created by an active imagination.
 

chippinchunk

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Nov 10, 2007
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112
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I have to admit that I avoid scary movies. I am especially afraid of nasty surprises. Ironically, my imagination is always worse than what is probably shown.
Yesterday I watched "The Blairwitch Project" and lived. Very proud of that. :)

Why do you think that is an INTx-thing?

I'm not sure actually. My friend had asked me this question and before I could answer, the only thing that came to mind was the MBTI NT forum. :)

I wanted to see if it were only her, but it seems some are similar. (she'll be glad to know this.)

I actually made her watch the blair witch project with me, and we only got through half the movie when i started freaking out. (LOL, go figure) But in the end, not watching the movie only made it seem worse. You guys' have wicked imaginations, and sometimes it just bites you in the ass.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
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Apr 19, 2007
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I love truly scary movies. I need that level of sensation in order to feel keyed up. I really get a lot out of it.

Many things don't scare me, because I understand them and can explain them. So when I can find things that I can let my imagination run wild with, I go with it.

The Grudge scared the hell out of me. I watched it alone, at midnight, in the dark. Just a terrifying movie, from the opening scene, to the ghost in the hall, to the ghost in the bed, to the little boy on the elevator, to even the ghost slithering down the steps at the end. Just awful... and I just loved it. I love being that scared. (The Ring was another good one.)

Blair Witch was good too, except I got sick in the theater from all the bounciness.

Anyway, I just love the horrific -- not gruesome per se, or bloody and gross, but truly horrific. My intensely favorite spots in Lord of the Rings when I read it as a ten year old were Moria and Shelob, and then I graduated to Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant" series... which I loved even more because the fantasy had a great deal of psychological horror mixed into the story. Ravers, possession, the dead coming back, the trip through Sarangrave Flats, the destruction of the giants, oh, it goes on and on. But Donaldson just added a large amount of horror to a fantasy story.
 

lazyhappy

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Nov 5, 2007
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i hate scary movies and all that i think is scary. comedy is my only choice when picking a movie. and yeah... whenever i'm forced to watch a scary movie i make fun of it to the best of my ability, so i can think about how much pubic hair the chick has, or how one of the grudges has a retarded voice, or how it looks as if the grudge is sticking her butt through the main girls head instead of the actual serious plot later. people hate watching scary movies with me... i ruin the momment

And i think fear and paranoia could be more of a N' thing, i mean, fantasy is where we play, and that is a big thing to intjs... and those with the Ti function as thier first functuion seem to develop paranoia more easily for they are the ones that are more prone to think into it. (of course this is just a theory tho)
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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May 11, 2007
Messages
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My friend, the INTP she is, always seems to get scared easily. Sometimes when we watch movies she starts to make fun of them because she doesnt want to think of them later. She hates the aftermath effect of the scary movies and tries her best to just laugh them off.

IE: durring the GRUDGE she started complaining about the wild amount of hair the woman just seemed to have -Hinting at pubic hair- And of course it seemed to work. :rolleyes:

Do any other INTP's or INTJ's (for the hell of it) get scared too easliy and try to deny it?

:party2:

Yes. I hate scary movies. I'm easily frightened. I think part of it is genetic. It's not BECAUSE she's INTP, but rather that she might be INTP because she's shy. I've noticed a pretty high incidence of shyness over at INTPcentral; although it's certainly not a random sample, I think it's telling.

I have a feeling that the NT machine builds itself around anxiety as a method of reducing and controlling it. Not in everyone, but in a bunch of people.
 

chippinchunk

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Yes. I hate scary movies. I'm easily frightened. I think part of it is genetic. It's not BECAUSE she's INTP, but rather that she might be INTP because she's shy. I've noticed a pretty high incidence of shyness over at INTPcentral; although it's certainly not a random sample, I think it's telling.

I have a feeling that the NT machine builds itself around anxiety as a method of reducing and controlling it. Not in everyone, but in a bunch of people.

You think it's because of their shyness?? I want to doubt that.

Hm...you make me think about this. I just don't think because one is shy they are scared of a movie. People, yes...but a movie?? I don't think so. I mean, I could be wrong thinking it is a INTP thing...not that i'm trying to pinpoint it or anything (though, I did imply it). I'm scared as hell when it comes to movies and I'm an INFJ(that kind of helps you out there in your thought), so...I don't think shyness is the right thing there.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
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Yes. I hate scary movies. I'm easily frightened.

Hee, you're such a girlie man. (bua ha ha)

It's okay, Edahn, I'll protect you.

... I have a feeling that the NT machine builds itself around anxiety as a method of reducing and controlling it. Not in everyone, but in a bunch of people.

I don't know. I still tend to be more biologically based in temperament source, with variations explained mostly by environment. But type in one way of thinking might really be about (1) what causes anxiety and (2) what relieves anxiety.

Horney's work placed anxiety as a central theme, along with some other prominent psychology theorists [who I can't remember right now, but I know I've read them -- Rollo May?].
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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You think it's because of their shyness?? I want to doubt that.

Hm...you make me think about this. I just don't think because one is shy they are scared of a movie. People, yes...but a movie?? I don't think so. I mean, I could be wrong thinking it is a INTP thing...not that i'm trying to pinpoint it or anything (though, I did imply it). I'm scared as hell when it comes to movies and I'm an INFJ(that kind of helps you out there in your thought), so...I don't think shyness is the right thing there.

It's an oversensitivity to stimuli, in general. Shyness has genetic links and it's observable in babies. Babies who are more afraid (showing stronger responses to startling stimuli) have a higher chance of being shy when they're older. No, it's not just movies, but it's a general oversensitivity.

From Why we are shy - Times Online:
"There is growing evidence that these youngsters are oversensitive to sensory stimuli, such as loud noises."
 

chippinchunk

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It's an oversensitivity to stimuli, in general. Shyness has genetic links and it's observable in babies. Babies who are more afraid (showing stronger responses to startling stimuli) have a higher chance of being shy when they're older. No, it's not just movies, but it's a general oversensity.

That's strange and to see how they connect makes me wonder what that makes me.
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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That's strange and to see how they connect makes me wonder what that makes me.

I really don't believe that "type" is a rigid and discrete thing. In fact, I don't even think type is a great way to understand people. Shaking off one's type (and the whole MBTI framework) is a much better way to get to understand someone's thinking and interests, I've found. Still, you can say a few things about people's habits. I've noticed that the "shy" "INTPs" have some similar qualities. They're very introspective. They're into mysticism. They're very curious about the occult. They're very sensitive, and can understand people very well. Maybe that's you, maybe it isn't.
 

Garivande

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Ironically, my imagination is always worse than what is probably shown.

I don't think it ironical - rather the cause. I can't watch scary movies, especially supernatural stuff. And I'm totally convinced that it's because of my vivid imagination... (which also keeps the story and the scary images alive afterwards, while my ever too imaginative mind tries to develop the scary stuff further...).

In my daughters school they have a party every Halloween, where one of the events of the evening is storytelling by candlelight in a dark room. And I've had this assignment for a number of years now. They say I'm very good at dramatizing the story, but the tricky part is not the reading but finding stories that are short enough (for the kids to hold on listening) and scary enough. So one year I decided to write a ghost story on my own. Boy - was I scared those weeks!!
But I was disappointed to find that the kids were not at all that scared. The year after I read stories I found in books. But when I had finished one kid asked about the story I had told last year. I didn't have it on paper but tried to tell it from memory - and this time I swear their hair were standing on ends...! Because I told it from memory, and hesitated sometimes when I couldn't remember a name etc, it must have sounded more like a real memory!
 

chippinchunk

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I've noticed that the "shy" "INTPs" have some similar qualities. They're very introspective. They're into mysticism. They're very curious about the occult. They're very sensitive, and can understand people very well. Maybe that's you, maybe it isn't.

Well, my friend, "INTP" is in that "shy" category, but I dont think she fits some of your descriptions. ---But that's just me sticking to the MBTI realm.
 

MerkW

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Aug 10, 2007
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I usually don't like horror movies, but not out of fear, but rather since I regard most of them to be of rather poor quality. While watching a scary movie, I usually scoff and laugh at it, yet afterwards, I often entertain the notion in my head, often resulting in mild paranoia (especially if the scenario seems likely enough to occur in real life).
One "scary" movie that I do appreciate, however, is Stanley Kubrick's, The Shinning. I enjoy the subtlety and strangeness of it.

Regardless, I am not easily scared in the sense that I don't react very strongly horror movies and the like. However, I do have some relatively noticeable phobias, most prominently, mysophobia.
 

Camelopardalis

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Do any other INTP's or INTJ's (for the hell of it) get scared too easliy and try to deny it?

Haha. I'm never scared when watching a scary movie. In fact, I'm never scared hours after watching it (at night). You know what gets me? One silent night, when I'm alone and whatnot, or when I'm feeling introspective, it all comes back to haunt me and a dark shadow could be seen by me as Sadako... From the Japanese 'Ringu'. That's when I 'really' get scared. I remember doing homework until really late at night and both my parents were on business trip. Sudden, I saw a shadow flit across my room from the reflections in my window and it looked like the girl from Haunted Forest (horrible movie, btw. No real point to it). I was hallucinating, that's for sure, but due to the lateness, I was quite put out by the sight and closed the curtains. Afterwards, I've alway felt this 'prescence' behind my back. It went away in the morning, but it's amazing what the human mind can do.
 

Varelse

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Apr 25, 2007
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Scared too easily? No. About the only thing that ever creeped me out was Harlan Ellison's "I have no mouth, and I must scream." I'm the person laughing at the monsters in the haunted house, pointing out that they got the shade of dried blood wrong, and then singing along to the song obviously intended to scare people.
 
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