[NT] Top Three Reasons For Why INTs Suck

[Haight]

Give your top three reasons for why it does, or would, suck to be an INT.


My three reasons:

1/ There aren't enough of us. Hence, the feeling of "not fitting in" or "being an outcast" carries a heavy burden through our entire lives.

2/ Over-thinking and under-doing is a major source of conflict.

3/ Our genius is severely underrated by the society at large.


(I'm glad I limited myself. I could probably come up with a thousand reasons if I thought about it long enough. I guess this is an example of reason #2.)

 

[Natrushka]

1. Being misunderstood.
2. Being misunderstood.
3. Have I mentioned how I hate being misunderstood?

 

[rivercrow]

INTx women have few role models.

INTxs are viewed as wild-hairs and treated as such, although they provide the technical backbone for corporate enterprises.

.....

 

[Totenkindly]

1. Can't do something just to be nice or just to fit in or just to get it done -- it always has to be LOGICAL at some level. (@#@&^!!!)

2. Over-thinking, under-doing. (More an INTP thing, but still...)

3. Constantly needing to critique/improve something, rather than easily enjoying it.


Many more exist... MANY more.

 

[ptgatsby]

1) For every good theory that NTs seem to come up with, you have to wade through hundreds of crack brains ideas and concepts. This gets progressively irritating for myself, for others and in groups.

2) Arrogance. I never realised how annoying it was before.

3) Some real social issues... for myself, for others and in groups.

 

[Nighthawk]

Definitely over-thinking and under-doing. My lack of follow through is one of my greatest liabilities.

Being a misunderstood minority ... without having minority status. For us, being different is often seen as being wrong.

Lack of smooth people skills to network and bring our ideas to light.

 

[The Ü™]

I think ENTJs and ENTPs might feel the same way and might even be perceived as weirder than the INTPs and INTJs, because their off-the-wall ideas are expressed openly, which leads to alienation.

But anyway:

1. People think I have an inflated ego.
2. People think I have my head stuck up my ass and don't know how to have fun.
3. I get fired from jobs and expelled from schools for expressing my alternative perspectives on things.

 

[Randomnity]

1. Overthinking/approaching everything in life as a problem to solve
2. Thinking that other people overthink/that others think the same way
3. Tendency towards poor social skills (which some overcome)

 

[Nighthawk]

I get fired from jobs and expelled from schools for expressing my alternative perspectives on things.

The alternative ... for me ... is to bottle up my alternative perspectives inside until I explode by either acting out (i.e. absenteeism, sneaking out of work to drink, hacking, sabotage, etc.), or just leave when I've had enough. I'm not sure which way is better. At least you resolve your issue quickly.

 

[The Ü™]

The alternative ... for me ... is to bottle up my alternative perspectives inside until I explode by either acting out (i.e. absenteeism, sneaking out of work to drink, hacking, sabotage, etc.), or just leave when I've had enough. I'm not sure which way is better. At least you resolve your issue quickly.

Hmmm...I actually bottle up anger and then lash out (Hulk style). Needless to say, that has also gotten me fired or at least written up...though my jobs were as a crewmember at McDonald's and a stock boy at JCPenney's. Still, at Penney's, I had to bring down heavy merchandise down and load up the cars of cranky old people -- who routinely cursed me out. Eventually, though, I couldn't hold my desires to lash out in.

And absenteeism isn't a very easy way to keep your job either!

 

[Shimpei]

1. over-theorizing and over-analysing instead of making decisions and act upon them

2. basically no or little practicality

3. inertia, tendency to procrastinate away your life

+1: arrogance


Otherwise, you're a charming bunch of people and I like you a lot.

 

[Metamorphosis]

2. basically no or little practicality

 

[FemMecha]

+1: arrogance

These references are common, and I've seen the NT behavior conceived of as arrogance, and the response to it. What's strange is that my concept of arrogance is profoundly different and has nothing to do with INTness. I do get they can express very direct, even harshly, with frustration, as though the person they are talking to is an 'idiot'. The difference is that INTs are unlikely to behave that way unless they have invested a great deal into arriving at their conclusion. When the other person rejects it on a whim, the result is frustration, but justifiably so imo. If it's true that I'm wrong, or careless and someone tells me without cushioning it, it isn't arrogance. If someone assumes they know what I know simply because they like the way that assumption feels, that is arrogance. To me arrogance is cheap, invested in social dominance for the sake of it, a sham, an overestimation of self for gratuitous reasons, inflated entitlement and a complete disregard for others and for what is true.

For example Beethoven (who was absolutely an INT) said "There will be thousands of princes, but one Beethoven." That isn't arrogance because it is the truth.

 

[Shimpei]

I admit I was thinking of INTPs, first of all.

 

[Shimpei]

For example Beethoven (who was absolutely an INT) said "There will be thousands of princes, but one Beethoven." That isn't arrogance because it is the truth.

It's a hidden arrogance.

 

[ptgatsby]

It's a hidden arrogance.

I'm an NT and have come to realise that the vast majority of us are overly secure in our own ways/views. We mostly deal with the outer world being so 'harsh' by separating and elevating ourselves above others - the literal definition of arrogance. We seek reassurance in our own superiority. Those that get unhealthy begin to take it out on others... the rest keep it inside. It still leaks out.

 

[Natrushka]

It's a hidden arrogance.

Disagree. There's nothing presumptuous or overbearing about it. It is a fact. You also have no context.

3. inertia, tendency to procrastinate away your life

I don't think this is INT but INTP. I know it's certainly not INTJ.

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm an NT and have come to realise that the vast majority of us are overly secure in our own ways/views. We mostly deal with the outer world being so 'harsh' by separating and elevating ourselves above others - the literal definition of arrogance. We seek reassurance in our own superiority. Those that get unhealthy begin to take it out on others... the rest keep it inside. It still leaks out.

You're so wrong!!!!!



Actually, can we explore the notion of simultaneously being secure and insecure in one's views?

As I type this, I think the best way to clarify it is this:

1. My faith in my conclusions is shaky.
2. My faith in my reasoning process is absolute.

Are those two things compatible?

Arrogance I think is related to #2 but not to #1.

If I trust my reasoning process, how can I not trust my conclusions? Because I am aware that all data is faulty and/or incomplete... leading to ambiguous conclusions at some level.

I don't think this is INT but INTP. I know it's certainly not INTJ.

I'll get back to you once I finish surfing the rest of the forum/Internet/checking my e-mail for the fortieth time today.

The difference is that INTs are unlikely to behave that way unless they have invested a great deal into arriving at their conclusion. When the other person rejects it on a whim, the result is frustration, but justifiably so imo.

I very much identify with that. Few things make me more annoyed than people rejecting my ideas or even criticizing my intelligence or motives, when it's clear that they haven't bothered to really look at all the angles (if any of them) and I know I spent a lot of time thoroughly going through things beforehand.

And so the reaction sometimes has been an overblown "door slam in the face" or something else that comes off as "Smarter than Thou."

 

[Shimpei]

Disagree. There's nothing presumptuous or overbearing about it.

That's why it's a hidden arrogance.

 

[Natrushka]

This post contains hidden irony. Can you see it?