[ISTP] ISTPs: confusingly... simple?

[netzealot]

It seems like, in a world where subtle context and social implication runs rampant, me (an ISTP) is such a simple guy that I am confusing to a lot of people... even people who have known me a very long time.

Perhaps it is this simplicity from which we view things that allows us to grasp many complex inter-workings... and perhaps it is that we are so simple that people would never estimate that our real intentions have not the slightest difference from our admitted, even very apparent ones.

On one hand, the simple life is the best life. I rather enjoy this ability (or maybe it's others' inability?) to keep things so simple. Sometimes, though, it's hard not to feel lonely living in a world where you can understand everything and everyone yet nobody understands you... despite being so easy to understand. What's hardest is not to settle for relationships that lack any substance to them, just cause they don't demand any complexity by nature... and these aren't always good relationships for me.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a lonely guy. People constantly vie for my attention and company. It's just a feeling... despite being surrounded by willing companions, it still feels lonely when you're separated by a seemingly endless expanse of assumption and the misunderstanding that inevitably ensues from it. You're surrounded yet never really seen for who you really are.

...and I can't shake the feeling that I'm trapped by all this. Free because of simplicity, yet trapped by the inability of everyone you meet to just open their eyes and take you for face value. To escape the sense of entrapment, I end up seeking solitude, sometimes to such an extent that others say it is unhealthy and I can't entirely disagree with them. Even they don't understand that to me, it is the lesser evil.

Is this the plight of every ISTP?

 

[KDude]

I like yes and no answers. Usually that's not good enough for some.

 

[KDude]

Kind of weird for any introvert to not be conscious of differences. That's Jung 101.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

He never talked about being different. If he was conscious about it, it wasn't something that meant anything to him.

 

[KDude]

He never talked about being different. If he was conscious about it, it wasn't something that meant anything to him.

I don't mean in some philosophical/existential sense btw. But was he at least rebellious? Some of my earliest memories entailed questioning things people did (rather than blend in with it).

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

Yes. He does his own thing. He doesn't care what others think. Too much. He has reasonably good Fe and a healthy sense of right and wrong (from his upbringing I think). I am probably more rebellious than him because he is able to see consequences quicker versus me having to find much out 'the hard way'. He seems to a large degree like an ISTJ (and can test as one), if that gives you any idea about his nature to not really break a rule or law or whatever. I am much more of the 'it's better to ask forgiveness than permission' mindset than he is, for example.

 

[ChocolateMoose123]

It seems like, in a world where subtle context and social implication runs rampant, me (an ISTP) is such a simple guy that I am confusing to a lot of people... even people who have known me a very long time.

Perhaps it is this simplicity from which we view things that allows us to grasp many complex inter-workings... and perhaps it is that we are so simple that people would never estimate that our real intentions have not the slightest difference from our admitted, even very apparent ones.

On one hand, the simple life is the best life. I rather enjoy this ability (or maybe it's others' inability?) to keep things so simple. Sometimes, though, it's hard not to feel lonely living in a world where you can understand everything and everyone yet nobody understands you... despite being so easy to understand. What's hardest is not to settle for relationships that lack any substance to them, just cause they don't demand any complexity by nature... and these aren't always good relationships for me.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a lonely guy. People constantly vie for my attention and company. It's just a feeling... despite being surrounded by willing companions, it still feels lonely when you're separated by a seemingly endless expanse of assumption and the misunderstanding that inevitably ensues from it. You're surrounded yet never really seen for who you really are.

...and I can't shake the feeling that I'm trapped by all this. Free because of simplicity, yet trapped by the inability of everyone you meet to just open their eyes and take you for face value. To escape the sense of entrapment, I end up seeking solitude, sometimes to such an extent that others say it is unhealthy and I can't entirely disagree with them. Even they don't understand that to me, it is the lesser evil.

Is this the plight of every ISTP?

Yeah. It is.

Very nice post, by the way.
[MENTION=6336]AphroditeGoneAwry[/MENTION] you would be surprised at ISTP's. We do have depth and think about these things. I've known three other ISTP's and we have had similar discussions, although it is not as eloquently put as the OP, and I wouldn't say that any of us would discuss our inner thoughts with ANYONE who wasn't similar to us in some way. Sort of like a secret handshake thing? I don't know. It's something you recognize in others who share your common ground. You can see it but you don't need to say it. Hard to describe. But I wouldn't get into these discussions with my ENFP, ESTP, ENTP, INFJ friends that I've known for years.

 

[Randomnity]

I don't think any human is simple. ISTPs might be more straightforward than other types about our motivations (not necessarily saying we are, but assuming for the sake of argument), but I'm not sure that it makes us any less complex. I don't see dishonesty as complexity, at all.

edit: I would say that I definitely come across as simple to people outside of my inner circle (only a couple people), so that may be relevant. I don't tend to talk much with people I don't know well, so all the complex ideas are hidden - I do have them though, I swear

 

[jixmixfix]

I lived with an ISTP for over 20 years, so I feel like I know the type pretty well. My littlest child is also an ISTP, so I'm getting to see the type as it develops as well, which is very interesting.

My ex would never make a post like that. Perhaps it's some enneagram difference. He never introspected about feelings too much, or about how others perceived him, or about how he was different from others. He was never conscious even, or hardly, about feeling different. It just wasn't a world he lived in.

He is simple. He's the kind that is happy to fuck, sleep, work, eat, and shit in that order. As long as he's got those things, he's probably happy.


I like simple too, but it's likely because I love psychologically complex. I actually found my ISTPs lifestyle of distracted busy confusion and activity to be somewhat annoying because it rocked my peaceful physical and mental world. Because he wouldn't/didn't do feelings, it meant that he'd eventually get overloaded and then dramatically release those pent-up feelings about whatever, which still wouldn't come out about the thing that was really bothering him, but as anger or frustration usually, and usually directed at me (because I was an easier target than figuring out what his original emotion was, see). As much as he wanted to fix anything, he never wanted to look inside to fix feelings, or to find their origination in order to grow or move on from them. So they would just recur.

You sound pretty N in comparison.

Your husband sounds ISTJ, inner structure is very important to an ISTP whether it's emotional or psychological.

 

[Poindexter Arachnid]

Is this the plight of every ISTP?

Probably. We're just...there and people project their crap onto us.
Nowadays, everybody has to be "hip" and buys into this emotional/pussy bullshit.

I guess we would kinda stand out.

Fuck 'em, actually now that I think about it.