OrangeAppled
Sugar Hiccup
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2009
- Messages
- 7,626
- MBTI Type
- INFP
- Enneagram
- 4w5
- Instinctual Variant
- sp/sx
My ISFP BFF and I are sort of similar. He is far more optimistic than me, and far more present in his immediate environment than I am. He loves dancing, and all that stuff, and is a much more tactile person than me. He teases me about my conspiracy theories, and ridiculous theories, and how at parties I always end up where the brainy people are, shooting off one of my mad cap theories.
He's much more down to earth, but we are both really silly. God, he makes me laugh. We are both really "arty" though. He's more tolerant and mellow than I am, but when he cracks he really goes to town, where as I just fizz and fume, then it's over. He's kinda naive some times about people (that's an age thing I think), and some times gets take advantage of, because he's so mellow and easy going. It annoys me, that people mistake him for an easy target. He's a bit more lovable than me too. Every one loves him. He can some times be less driven than I am (and whine more), then he'll decide to do some thing and it's like some one lit a fire up his ass.
I can see the contrasts made here between my ISFP step-dad and some ISFP friends I have with myself.
I have to say that ISFPs appear much more docile, but can have grotesquely ugly tempers. And man, they can get on a moral high horse also. I know a few who have that "self-denying" attitude sometimes mentioned for Fi-doms - it's like the reverse of the stereotypical SP hedonism. They've become so aware of that tendency in themselves that they go overboard in keeping it in check.
While I am quiet and sometimes seen as "sweet" or just timid, I am more often accused of being aloof than the ISFPs I know. Maybe it's because I am less "present" in the moment, so the ISFPs are literally less detached. I also get accused of being argumentative because I'll take an analytical approach - I want to explore a perspective and the other person sees it as slightly antagonistic. It's not on the NTP level, but there's still that Ne occasional tendency to open up cans of worms inadvertently because you want to explore an issue from many angles. I've seen ISFPs become antagonistic, but it's more a facet of anger than a discussion style taken the wrong way.
I find ISFPs more realistic in an almost yielding to reality sort of way; but I'm not sure that is truly optimistic either. They either have accepted reality and are making the best of it, or they are painfully aware of how far removed it is from their Fi ideals and they are quite depressed or even angry about it. INFPs have cynical moments and moods, but the idealistic aspect is more apparent. It's not optimism either - just a refusal to give up hope for the future; the status quo is not so easily accepted. As a consequence, the ISFP may seem more content with the present, as they focus on working with what exists, and the INFP may be more discontent with the present, focusing on creating ways to change what exists.