ENTP vs INTP

[MalDuck]

Alright, so, my issue is with people who insist or offhandedly remark that I'm more of an INTP than an ENTP.

But I also want to make it very clear that I am fairly new to the whole typing system with this, so anything I say is subject to just my lesser (for now) knowledge in the matter.

As far as I can tell, from what I've read and researched, I align more with ENTP than I do with INTP, and I think I know why some of those who know me and are familiar with this system try to toss me in with the other type.

It all boils down to, I think, my sometimes unwillingness to get out of my house to go out and do things with friends. I firmly don't believe that is because I'm introverted. If what they're offering isn't interesting or exciting enough to me at the time, I'll always turn it down in favor of staying in. At least at home I can do whatever I want. I can jump from one project to the next, or from video game to video game, book to book, whatever. That always beats out having to sit around in the same place for several hours and trying to encourage the others to have some more fun with it or that we should totally go steal a port-o-potty (portable toilet; also, true story. It seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. We had a truck, enough people to push it into the back of the truck, and enough know-how to get rid of the evidence. Two of the friends with me at the time were INTP though, so I lost the round of voting. It was probably for the better. It wasn't my best idea.). As an addition to what I've said here, I'd like to also say that the larger the group is the better it is. Ideally, a group of 4-8 people is what I prefer to go out with. There are more people to listen to what I'm saying and to be entertained by me. In other words, there are more people around to stroke my ego for me with their laughter and compliments (if I were to be really honest as to why this is my preference). I'm not against smaller groups, per se, but I just am not fond of them as much. They tend to, in my experience, lean more towards emotions or closeness... and I'm not too crazy about that.

I'm also pretty crazily in love with starting projects with no hopes of finishing them. I couldn't begin to list the number of novels I've written halfway, three quarters of the way, and then dropped because I was bored of it or thought of something better. At the moment, I've been involved with one of my INTP friend's projects as their lead writer, and it is pretty difficult to try to stay on task. I just can't. I'll write solidly for a day or two, and then take two or three weeks for myself to explore other things or just avoid finishing the project.

I am wildly more of a "people person" than I am shy or quiet. I can't get enough of talking--about anything, to anyone, and especially if I've got a new idea or have thought of a question that I need to have an answer to immediately (the one instance that comes to mind is when I was trying to figure out if I could kill a person by forcing them to swallow those little capsules that when dropped into water become foam animals, or if their stomach acids were dissolve it before the water in their stomachs expanded it. It was an interesting train of thought). I also love to entertain any group I'm around, because it's gratifying to me. Laughter is nice. But then there come the debates... Oh, the debates. I could debate for hours over anything for the fun of it. I don't even care what side I'm on. What I mean is I always know what side I believe in, but I'm not restricted to defending just that side. I can't understand the whole situation if I only argue from one set of shoes.

And now I've found the "questionnaires" on the site, so I'll fill out a couple of those for you lot as well.

1-what makes you angry?
It depends on many factors. If you want a specific example I could name one, but it's too variable and subjective (I like to try to stay objective) for my tastes. Inequality, though, if an answer must be had. It really grinds my gears when someone isn't treated as an equal for their beliefs, gender, orientation, etc., because we're all humans. I don't see why certain things matter so much.
2-what do you like/dislike most about people?
I like humans because they are humans, and that response is worded strangely so I'll elaborate. Humans are amazing, wonderful creatures who are capable of so much. We can be compassionate, adventurous, mysterious... on the contrary, humans can also be destructive, cruel, and depressed. Humans are a conundrum at times, because emotions vary so much from one to the next, but in general they're okay. I would say they're my third or fourth favorite species.
3-do you like animals? why?
They're typically doing whatever it is they're meant to do, and would rather we leave them alone. That's pretty nice. For house animals/pets, I like them because they're companions. I've had my dog for 11 years, and I couldn't imagine being without him. He's helped me through a lot, even though he's been unable to speak to me as a human would. Animals are nice.
4-what do you like most about the favorite people in your life?
I like them because they like me. They like me enough to put up with me, laugh at my jokes... and most recently, I've acquired some who are invested enough with me to actually text me when I've not spoken to any of them for a few days. I tend to get lost in my own world and ideas, so not speaking to them for so long was something I hadn't even noticed. It was a pleasant surprise when I received a text that very blatantly asked "are you dead?".
5-what do you like/dislike most about yourself?
This one is tough, because I like me a lot. Of course, I have flaws, but that doesn't mean I'm going to make a list of them. I'd rather pretend they didn't exist.
6-do you care about being fashionable? why/why not?
I care about being comfortable in a fashionable way. I like to look good and feel good. Best of both worlds.
7-do you prefer to fit in or stand out?
I'd prefer to stand out if only to be a role model or example for those who are too afraid to stand up for themselves.
8-what activities do you enjoy?
Writing, gaming, talking, telling stories or jokes... the usual lineup.
9-what makes you feel secure?
I'm not entirely sure. Being in bed is pretty secure.
10-do you like being in a relationship? why/why not?
It has its perks and its downsides. I like it for intimacy and the ability to have someone at my disposal all the time for talking, running ideas by, or asking to do things I don't want to be bothered with. I dislike it because a lot of times I won't be given space I want to think about ideas or things, or they'll expect too much out of me. I like to be free to do things as I please. I'm a fan of things on the fly or on a whim.
11-what do you love and why? Could be people, things, places, etc...
I love making other people happy, because that improves my own mood. That sounds a bit selfish though.
12-what do you spend the most time thinking about?
The "could be" and "maybe one day" scenarios.
13-How much have you changed over the years? Who were you as a child?
I would say I was much quieter and reserved as a child. I had to take time to blossom.


And that is all I will do for now, because I've already written too much and it's gotten pretty late considering I have to work early in the morning. I probably won't be back online until the morning as well, so if anything is confusing I won't be able to explain myself until then.

Thanks in advance though to those who reply to this. I'll forget to thank you later.

 

[Yama]

You sound more like an ENTP to me.

 

[MalDuck]

You sound more like an ENTP to me.

Yeah, I obviously agree. I figured if enough people were of a similar mindset I could convince the aforementioned friends to stop over-exaggerating when I don't go out.

 

[KitchenFly]

I have no problem thinking of you as being predominately ENTP and also some INTP and I can see some ISTJ.

Would like to hear more about question 13 you seem to be quite well adjusted to life and seem to have an agreeable disposition towards it your-sense of self preservation...is that something you have invested energy into, being capable, effective, having an understanding of selfs role, what is real and the rules ?
Also you write very cleanly. I have enjoyed reading your post and have realised a few common errors I consistently reproduce both in grammar and spelling. Cheers.

 

[RandomINTP]

I personally think the ENTP is the most like the INTP.

Other types:

ISTJ= ISFJ (both workahokics)
ISTP= ESTP (both Se-s)
ESFP= ENFP (only the latter is smarter)
ESFJ= ESTJ (all good I can say is that they're really much alike.)
INTJ= ENTJ (The strategist types)
INFP= ISFP
ENFJ= INFJ

 

[MalDuck]

I have no problem thinking of you as being predominately ENTP and also some INTP and I can see some ISTJ.

Would like to hear more about question 13 you seem to be quite well adjusted to life and seem to have an agreeable disposition towards it your-sense of self preservation...is that something you have invested energy into, being capable, effective, having an understanding of selfs role, what is real and the rules ?
Also you write very cleanly. I have enjoyed reading your post and have realised a few common errors I consistently reproduce both in grammar and spelling. Cheers.

EDIT: If you would explain what you meant by what I've bolded above, I'll do my best to answer those questions... I'm just confused by the way they're worded.

I'm curious about the ISTJ parts you see! You should elaborate.

As for your questions...

I'm not entirely sure I understand all of the points you want me to hit (I'm fairly tired, and words aren't making too much sense to me right now), but I'll try to hit them all.

I do generally have a fairly balanced outlook into life. As a child I was very extroverted. I loved being the center of attention, playing sports, games, participating in plays... When I turned 12 years old, the old cliche happened. My parents split up. Their split lasted about a year and a half before they got back together, and they had many, many violent spats in that time span. It was around this time I began to withdraw, I'd assume the stress of being split between my parents and traveling back and forth between homes. I began to have maladaptive daydreams (which isn't a common term, so I'll define it: daydreaming characterized as excessive; a type of daydream done usually as an escape from a situation), and I was very depressed. The depression stuck with me, and so did the daydreaming. I have yet to be successful in ridding myself of those two ailments.

By the time I turned 15, my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer. She was diagnosed roughly two weeks before my 16th birthday, and I spent that birthday in the hospital with her as she received her first chemotherapy treatment. This trend continued the following year, as I also spent my 17th birthday in a hospital with her. This was an extremely hard time for me. She had been, for my entire life, the building block; the foundation of myself that I could always fall back on for support. Her disease caused the roles to reverse in subtle ways. It started out very small. I would cook us meals, wash clothes and linens, clean the house. I have very few vivid memories (I have a very big problem remembering things, and I'm sure it's important to get it checked out, I simply refuse to do so), but one of my most vivid of this time was when my mother's hair started falling out from her treatments. It had been about six months since she began. One morning, around 7 AM, my mother screamed for me. My father was already gone to work. Of course, I panicked and ran into the room, not knowing what was happening (I was 16). She was sitting upright in bed, her port (the device used for chemotherapy; the therapy is blasted in through an artery in the heart) contrasting starkly against the bare skin of her shoulder/collar bone, with two fists full of hair. On her pillow was even more hair. She was crying. Sobbing. I had never witnessed this before, even when she was depressed and separated from my father. I was at a loss of what to do, and no matter what I said she wasn't calming down. So I sat and held her while she cried. We sat there for a very long time, but I feel like this was a changing moment in my life.

She passed away when I was 17. December 1, 2010. Six months before I graduated high school. I was devastated, obviously, but... so was my family. My mother had always been the strong one. She had kept the family together, held them upright... so with her gone, I felt as though that became my job. I cried for her on my own time, alone, in the shower. I sobbed for an hour. But after that there were no more tears. I had people to take care of, so I did. I took care of my family. My grandmother, aunt, grandfather, brothers, sister, father... I took care of them all, because no one else was able to take care of themselves. Of course, the time of mourning does pass, though grieving does not go as quickly, but life slowly became more normal. However, during the time in which my mother was sick, I withdrew from all other activities. I had never gone out to the movies with friends on a Friday night. I never went shopping, to football games, to school dances... so I continued keeping to myself. It was just how things were.

Moving on from that, I went to college. I had my boyfriend whom I had been with for several years. I didn't start becoming more of myself until I broke up with him though. I had always felt... wrong, I guess, because with him I felt as though I was being suppressed. He had gotten with me in a time that was hard for me, and I was depressed and introverted. As long as I was with him, I was stuck like that. After I broke up with him, things started getting better. I started talking to more people, going out, I got a job and made friends...

And now we're to the present. The year 2015, 21 year old me. I've come into my own now, and I'm very satisfied with myself. I have people who care about me and look out for me, listen to my jokes (good and bad), hang out with me... I'm looking into career paths, deciding what I want to spend my time trying to become (and trust me, the possibilities are endless here). I'm confident, intelligent, affable... I guess you could say I came full circle, since I was such an active and extroverted child. I went from there, to being depressed and introverted, to being me now. And although I am still depressed, and do struggle with it, I know I'm better off now than I ever was. Being depressed is fine. I can handle it. I can handle most anything thrown my way these days. I have no doubt whatsoever that I'm more than capable of holding my own against whatever may come. That would be what is the best change of my life. I'm strong. I'm also not a fool. That helps out.

So in other words, through the adversity of my life, I've learned a few good lessons. I don't ever let things bother me very deeply. That would only waste time, and time is precious. I live life to the fullest. Also because of how precious time is. I try to laugh often, and I try even more so to make others laugh whenever possible. I want, more than anything, for no one else to have to go through what I did. I know that's unreasonable, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone for the world. Depression is a serious thing, so I do what I can to help those who may be suffering from it. It's probably why I can come off as a goofy trickster. (But in a more self-serving manner, making others feel better and laugh also helps with my depression.)

As an addendum, I'll tell you of the second very vivid memory I have of my mother during her battle with her disease. She was a very charismatic speaker, even though she never realized it. Whenever she was in the ward getting her treatments, and other patients were there, she would speak to them. They would share stories, share details of their fights with their cancers... and no matter what kind of pain she was in, how tired she was, she would tell them everything would turn out okay. They just had to be strong and to keep fighting, no matter what. When she would go out in town with a bandanna or a hat on, people would notice. They would see that she had cancer, through the sickly pallor of her skin, sunken cheeks, and bald head. They would speak to her out of pity... and she would turn them straight around and keep walking. She didn't want their pity. Their pity meant nothing when they did nothing to help. She would inform them of how they could help out; what charities to donate to and other assorted things. Or she would run into someone else suffering from cancer out in a store somewhere, and she would spend her time also reassuring that person that things would work out for the better. She was very motivational. I learned a lot from her. She also liked making people happy and to laugh. She and I have that in common.

 

[KitchenFly]

I don't think you are blocked, the input I extended may not be right for you at this point in time, it relates to the enneagram and if you have an interest in the enneagram then I am happy to speak more about it. You may only at this point in time have an interest in the MBTI so I leave it to your discretion as do you want me to explain it or overlay it on to the enneagram.

But you did ask about the ISTJ so I will provide this input from my model. In my model the ENTP would be your conches mind as like your centre and the INTP would relate to your agenda and the ISTJ would relate to your mood, their is always a positive and a negative and some may say a neutral to each of the three parts conches agenda and mood and they work in unison depending upon circumstances where we are at and the demands upon use.

I am not a qualified teacher of the Enneagram or MBTI I am simply a layman with an interest in the subject that reaches near on thirty years so you have only my works say that it is quality input and of value.

Let me know if you would like me to expand or if you would like to leave it for now and perhaps look at it somewhere down the track at your request. I do not wish to disturb the flow of your own good work in your own Journey of ongoing self discovery.

I finally had a chance to read though your hole post and I thank you for you honesty in shear as you have and I am not shore exactly what to say but I would like to extend my condolences after hearing the story you have sheared of your loss. That is a large amount of responsibility you had to work though.

I at the age of 21 had difficulties with clinical depression for 8-12 mouths from having taken a double course of an artificial vitamin A for cystic acne.

I had to visit a physiatrist for several mouths for talk therapy and it served me well I'm not shore of the technical way to explain the technic but I learnt about the five ways/ strategies people utilise to avoid like exercising response ability in interpersonal relations. The Blamer The Computer The Placater The Distractor Anger ,that's the five and I believe their is a sixth The Victim.

Anyway it worked for me and I got into workshop personal development stuff self love and lots of good processing technics. Lever looked back and by the time I reached 27 I found a strong freedom within my balance.

My mum has stage 4 skin cancer but she seems to be stable on a drug that for 50% of people can give 5 years extra life and some times remission from the cancer if that is the right word.

I am not about to say you should you should but time and quality counsel can work magic or at least it did for me, so best of luck with your ongoing difficulties with depression. You seem strong and positive and I am hoping thing work for you in a positive way.

I am not the best at sensitive conversations but hope I have not up setting you with the content of my post.

Ok well I think I will round of this post and look forward to conversing with you into the future if the chemistry of this topic or other topics draws us both to continued conversation.