[NT] NTJs: more 'Practical' or 'Theoretical'?

[RaptorWizard]

Each NTJ type seems to do a lot of both, though there seem to be extremes on the E/I ends. ENTJs in general seem more into the 'practice', whereas INTJs seem more into the 'theory'. But obviously, they all like to use practice and theory together, even if one is preferred. However, there seem to be little exceptions here and there, where they will both very strongly either be pragmatists or theoreticians (which I will outline).

The case for 'Pragmatism':
1. Many NTJ atheists (and there seem to be a lot of them) don't believe anything without evidence or experimental proof (like the existence of God).
2. Even if God or whatever were true, some NTJs would still would find exploring this topic useless (unless it gives results in a working procedure).
3. They want useful predictions for all processes and will only implement (in their blueprints for the future) productions that can be controlled.

The case for 'Theoreticism':
1. NTJ thinkers and sages can have a hyper-focused mental connection (like when they meditate) to a world that's very metaphysical in nature.
2. The 'systems-builders' will refine completely unprecedented revolutions in understanding the architecture of everything and what can be altered.
3. NTJ visionaries have powerfully prophetic or perhaps even 'psychic' revelations into a destiny that (within the intuitive 'flow' of events) is immanent.

I'm adding a poll in this thread (for NTJs) on whether they prefer practice or theory. Also, I could be wrong in parts of my above analysis on the NTJ philosophies, so I can be corrected.

 

[INTP]

theoretical about practicality, ENTJ leaning more to practicality side and INTJ to theoretical

 

[violet_crown]

This is actually not bad. This in particular:

3. NTJ visionaries have powerfully prophetic or perhaps even 'psychic' revelations into a destiny that (within the intuitive 'flow' of events) is immanent.

I've always had a definite sense of the contours of my own life. It's more than just planning for the future, it's like a sense of knowing how the future is meant to unfold.

I like your choice of the word "flow" simply because it really strikes on something true to my experience. I feel I'm most successful as a creator when my work is inspired by more than my own logical capacities. I rarely "think" so much as wait for something to emerge from that quiet, connected space, and then develop what needs to be in order to actualize it. There's a definite flow to it. If you're not open to these intuitions then you have to work so much harder. It's like the wind is never with you. When it is, though, the idea has it's own force and gravity: it possesses the elemental quality that enables true transformation.

 

[RaptorWizard]

This is actually not bad. This in particular:

Time for inspection! :cop:

I've always had a definite sense of the contours of my own life. It's more than just planning for the future, it's like a sense of knowing how the future is meant to unfold.

This must mean that God is watching, can give us glimpes of his omega vision!

I like your choice of the word "flow" simply because it really strikes on something true to my experience. I feel I'm most successful as a creator when my work is inspired by more than my own logical capacities. I rarely "think" so much as wait for something to emerge from that quiet, connected space, and then develop what needs to be in order to actualize it. There's a definite flow to it. If you're not open to these intuitions then you have to work so much harder. It's like the wind is never with you. When it is, though, the idea has it's own force and gravity: it possesses the elemental quality that enables true transformation.

A flow is going somewhere, and it also can be focused onto a different course. This fluididity to things doesn't need to have tracible chain to it, so much as it is a "quantum generator" of sorts. It's much easier to climb up the stairs towards what must be done when we can actually see the path. It's a bridge. We have to unleash the gates to the way. The "Force" gives us the power to navigate what's ahead. It can change things, make them become what we mentally "will".

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

NTJs aren't as practical as STJs or STPs.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

INTJs would seem to be more theoretical, being Ni-doms. ENTJs might be a little harder to identify as purely theoretical, and I suspect that the INTJs that seem really applied could actually be ISTJs or ENTJs. Ni is pretty dang floaty.

 

[OrangeAppled]

I've always had a definite sense of the contours of my own life. It's more than just planning for the future, it's like a sense of knowing how the future is meant to unfold.

I like your choice of the word "flow" simply because it really strikes on something true to my experience. I feel I'm most successful as a creator when my work is inspired by more than my own logical capacities. I rarely "think" so much as wait for something to emerge from that quiet, connected space, and then develop what needs to be in order to actualize it. There's a definite flow to it. If you're not open to these intuitions then you have to work so much harder. It's like the wind is never with you. When it is, though, the idea has it's own force and gravity: it possesses the elemental quality that enables true transformation.

That's one of the most articulate ways I've heard anyone describe what it "feels" like to use Ni. Thanks. It's hard to get something that clear about Ni from an NJ....

 

[highlander]

The case for 'Pragmatism':
1. Many NTJ atheists (and there seem to be a lot of them) don't believe anything without evidence or experimental proof (like the existence of God).
2. Even if God or whatever were true, some NTJs would still would find exploring this topic useless (unless it gives results in a working procedure).
3. They want useful predictions for all processes and will only implement (in their blueprints for the future) productions that can be controlled.

The case for 'Theoreticism':
1. NTJ thinkers and sages can have a hyper-focused mental connection (like when they meditate) to a world that's very metaphysical in nature.
2. The 'systems-builders' will refine completely unprecedented revolutions in understanding the architecture of everything and what can be altered.
3. NTJ visionaries have powerfully prophetic or perhaps even 'psychic' revelations into a destiny that (within the intuitive 'flow' of events) is immanent.

For me, it's not so absolute. I believe in God without evidence (that's what faith is). I don't want predictions so that things can be controlled so precisely. I actually like what you put down under Theoreticism more. I like ideas, innovation, new ways of doing things, constantly improving things. I'm open to a lot of perspectives and do spend a fair bit of time thinking what might be likely to happen in the future, with the occasional "inspiration" in that regard. However, all of this in service of practical implementation.

So for example, while I enjoy learning about about MBTI or Enneagram theory, it is for naught if that knowledge can't be applied in some way. So in that vein, practical examples are always a good way to connect the theory to reality.

 

[violet_crown]

That's one of the most articulate ways I've heard anyone describe what it "feels" like to use Ni. Thanks. It's hard to get something that clear about Ni from an NJ....

Thanks.

I think it's perhaps because I'm an Ni-aux. Introverted intuition is more of a tool--something I can choose to tap into or not--than a way of life. I think for the Ni-doms that really walk those paths, asking them what it's like is akin to being made to articulate what's distinctive to the experience of being in their own skin. Everything? Nothing? What the hell are you even asking me to explain?

Te's pretty skeptical of the most magical parts of Ni, so it will typically yank down the wall to see what are the facts the intuitive wiring's connecting. Understanding the assumptions allows greater manipulation of the system, which in turn permits more efficient execution. Otoh, Te as a tool of dominant Ni seems to be more of a navigational tool, discerning and discriminating the most relevant path in a place where all are interlocked and intersected without time or direction. It's an intimate space, and the less mature ones that navigate more with Fi seem to be the ones that mistake that intimacy as denoting something uniquely theirs and get all hot and bothered about how it's this INCREDIBLE, INFALLIBLE THING THAT NO MERE MORTAL CAN POSSIBLY HOPE TO RELATE TO.

Between that and the ENTJs who'd deny that space altogether, some of the obscurity around Ni is to an extent deliberate, so I'm kind of going rogue right now.

(They call it going full Snowden in the hood.)

 

[CRC]

As an INTJ, I definitely find myself taking a more 'theoretical' approach to issues - when a problem arises, my default response is to think through every possible action/outcome before choosing the solution that I find most appropriate or beneficial.

 

[Coriolis]

I've always had a definite sense of the contours of my own life. It's more than just planning for the future, it's like a sense of knowing how the future is meant to unfold.

I like your choice of the word "flow" simply because it really strikes on something true to my experience. I feel I'm most successful as a creator when my work is inspired by more than my own logical capacities. I rarely "think" so much as wait for something to emerge from that quiet, connected space, and then develop what needs to be in order to actualize it. There's a definite flow to it. If you're not open to these intuitions then you have to work so much harder. It's like the wind is never with you. When it is, though, the idea has it's own force and gravity: it possesses the elemental quality that enables true transformation.

This is a decent description. For me, I actually see my future - it is very visual. If I can get it to stay still long enough, I can examine it to confirm whether it is really the future I want, and to get information necessary for making it a reality. Oddly, I can also see the past through the future. I can imagine how the present moment will look 3 or 5 or 10 years from now. Sometimes those moments embed in my memory such that I can remember and cross-check them later. Of course, the actual memory is now influenced by the "pre-memory" in a way that is hopelessly entangled. In any case, it feels almost eerie when I do that.

I like ideas, innovation, new ways of doing things, constantly improving things. I'm open to a lot of perspectives and do spend a fair bit of time thinking what might be likely to happen in the future, with the occasional "inspiration" in that regard. However, all of this in service of practical implementation.

I agree with this also.

I think it's perhaps because I'm an Ni-aux. Introverted intuition is more of a tool--something I can choose to tap into or not--than a way of life. I think for the Ni-doms that really walk those paths, asking them what it's like is akin to being made to articulate what's distinctive to the experience of being in their own skin. Everything? Nothing? What the hell are you even asking me to explain?

Te's pretty skeptical of the most magical parts of Ni, so it will typically yank down the wall to see what are the facts the intuitive wiring's connecting. Understanding the assumptions allows greater manipulation of the system, which in turn permits more efficient execution. Otoh, Te as a tool of dominant Ni seems to be more of a navigational tool, discerning and discriminating the most relevant path in a place where all are interlocked and intersected without time or direction.

Perhaps related to the highlighted, it is often difficult for me to view Ni visions head-on and directly. They lurk in my peripheral vision, while an item of deliberate focus occupies the center of my field of view. If I try to look directly, they can slip away like that fawn in the garden. I have learned this means that they are not ready yet. I go do something else and give them more time. Te must be used gently at this point. Eventually, it is the core of the translator into the public arena, as well as the agent for vetting, measuring, and implementing.

In response to the OP question, I cannot choose. Practice without theory is rudderless. Theory without practice is useless. In my profession, I work at the intersection of theory and practice, which has been an ideal fit.

 

[Zarathustra]

theoretical about practicality, ENTJ leaning more to practicality side and INTJ to theoretical

This

ETA: also, I suppose, practical about theorizing

 

[violet_crown]

Oddly, I can also see the past through the future. I can imagine how the present moment will look 3 or 5 or 10 years from now. Sometimes those moments embed in my memory such that I can remember and cross-check them later. Of course, the actual memory is now influenced by the "pre-memory" in a way that is hopelessly entangled. In any case, it feels almost eerie when I do that.

I now have some inkling as to why my mother was always charmed by the notion that Merlin could remember the future. Thank you for that.

 

[Coriolis]

I now have some inkling as to why my mother was always charmed by the notion that Merlin could remember the future. Thank you for that.

Was your mother INTJ?

 

[violet_crown]

Was your mother INTJ?

Yes, ma'am. She's of the 6w5 sx variety, though.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Continuing with INTP's theme, also practical about theories..

I think I like my theories and practicalities as a never-ending cycle where one uses the other.

Just at this current moment I slighly prefer practice. I feel some need for it.

 

[Bibliophile]

NTJs are practical, yet they are theoretical as well. I personally believe that it depends on the NTJ, but I also believe that most NTJs are more theoretical than practical. As an INTJ, I am more theoretical than practical. I definitely have a practical side, but my theoretical side is stronger.

 

[WhoCares]

Both, one is not useful without the other and no study of one will ever be satisfying until its been tested by practice. Here's me demonstrating my need to have the theory proven.

 

[Amargith]

The perfect mix of both

 

[FireShield98]

Yeah, both.