[NT] Debates

[napo_leon]

I have a question for my fellow ENTPs out there. Have you ever been in a situation where there is a debate between people and you can't intervene and be a part of the debate because you don't have enough arguments? Exempli gratia, two weeks ago I was at a dinner party and everyone was talking about the political situation in my country. They were criticizing the parties, their leaders, etc. But I didn't talk. I didn't know what to say. So I listened to every information that was flowing around the table, absorbing it so I could form standing arguments and a rational opinion over that subject. After that of course, I shifted the debate from our country to a general discussion about politics, where I took part in this debate. So my question is: have you ever faced a situation like this? A situation where you didn't say anything and just sat there absorbing all information?

 

[1487610420]

Most of Mark Twain's more famous works looked back to his childhood (Si) and he's usually typed as ENTP.

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5853&p=213136&viewfull=1#post213136

 

[Chad of the OttomanEmpire]

That's pretty much been my entire life.

 

[lue]

That's pretty much been my entire life.

Same here.

 

[Agnes]

have you ever faced a situation like this? A situation where you didn't say anything and just sat there absorbing all information?

I may be NT so I'll answer to you. YES, I've been in that kind of situations and I don't see what is the problem. You cannot know everything about everything (although I may strive to it), there is no shame in it. And besides there are topics I am not interested at all and I don't care for them, I'm even bored. If I came a cross a conversation about something interesting to me that I know nothing about I'm not gonna talk about something I don't know, hell I'll listen.

 

[theotherdayago]

Awe yes, realizing our humanity.

Seriously though, yeah this happens from time to time. I take one of 3 courses personally. In no particular order.
1. Sit back with popcorn and enjoy the show.
2. Listen/absorb, allow Ne to sift through the data and then change course like you did, but my real goal here is more so to learn info. But there's always a correlation to something so it isn't difficult.
3. Sometimes end up playing mediator. Well more accurately, I get bored of their inane dripple and connect the dots on all sides, bust out some Fe to make sure everyone feels satisfied and just end it. Kinda like devils advocate for both sides.

I would recommend reading up on your own countries politics, and even local ones, at least to a level of being comfortable engaging in debate. It might seem rather Machiavellian, but I've found it worthwhile to keep a basic storehouse of knowledge I don't care for. Just for the sake of being able to engage people.

 

[Such Irony]

I have a question for my fellow ENTPs out there. Have you ever been in a situation where there is a debate between people and you can't intervene and be a part of the debate because you don't have enough arguments? Exempli gratia, two weeks ago I was at a dinner party and everyone was talking about the political situation in my country. They were criticizing the parties, their leaders, etc. But I didn't talk. I didn't know what to say. So I listened to every information that was flowing around the table, absorbing it so I could form standing arguments and a rational opinion over that subject. After that of course, I shifted the debate from our country to a general discussion about politics, where I took part in this debate. So my question is: have you ever faced a situation like this? A situation where you didn't say anything and just sat there absorbing all information?

Yes I have and do I think it's more common in INTPs than ENTPs- not to say that ENTPs can't remain silent in a debate.