[ISFP] Ask an ISFP!

[goodgrief]

BECAUSE it baffles you!

I thought you guys were supposed to be sympathetic and nice.

 

[KDude]

I definitely complain about things..


I may be irrational at times, but I'm trying to work on it.

Honestly, there are many descriptions in Jeffster's thread that i do not agree with.. many things about Keirsey's SFP is "not me". Also, I'm not optimistic. And even funnier (or sadder, depending on how you look at it), I don't want to be.

[edit] actually a better way to put it is that too many surprises doesn't appeal to me. i'm a little investigative, and deliberating before i get my feet wet. not a pessimist per se. i prefer to be spontaneous and optimistic only with what i know and find useful...which happens to be enough to appear spontaneous in many cases.

 

[Jeffster]

I already said that in another way, before you, using less words, and even better. Hah!

Well, when I'm as old as you, I'll be better at being succinct, too.

I thought you guys were supposed to be sympathetic and nice.

We are. I'm very sympathetic, and also the nicest guy in the Universe.

That doesn't mean I don't still enjoy baffling people.

Honestly, there are many descriptions in Jeffster's thread that i do not agree with.. many things about Keirsey's SFP is "not me".

Well, good! That means you're an individual and not a clone! No one should match 100% of a type description, or I'd start to worry about them a bit.

And part of the character of Artisans in particular is to strive to be different, as I (and wolfy more succinctly) have pointed out. So, the paradox is that even as I talk about how much a description accurately fits me, I am trying to defy it and be something different. But in so doing, I am fitting exactly what it describes!

Also, I'm not optimistic. And even funnier (or sadder, depending on how you look at it), I don't want to be.

[edit] actually a better way to put it is that too many surprises doesn't appeal to me. i'm a little investigative, and deliberating before i get my feet wet. not a pessimist per se. i prefer to be spontaneous and optimistic only with what i know and find useful...which happens to be enough to appear spontaneous in many cases.

Very few people want EVERYTHING in life to be a surprise. Again, it seems like you are taking things to extremes. If there's one thing that I repeat more than anything on this forum, (other than "I like boobs") it's that type/temperament stuff describes tendencies, not absolutes. When you're talking about millions (or billions) of people, you'd have to come up with some pretty vague things to apply to everybody. But the point is that general tendencies come out, even if they are in very different ways.

I'm very similar to what you describe in your "edit." I don't like strangers knocking on my door. I don't like restaurant waitstaffs singing happy birthday to me. Those are just a couple examples, but there's plenty of surprises that I don't like. And plenty of times that my cynicism overpowers my optimism.

Again I've used a lot more words than wolfy would, but darn it, I'm just not as good at being pithy when I'm excited about something.

 

[Quinlan]

I like you ISFPs generally, but I'm sorry to say I'm totally baffled as to why anyone would be porud to be irrational.

From wikipedia:

It is believed by some philosophers (notably A.C. Grayling) and experts, that a good rationale must be independent of emotions, personal feelings or any kind of instincts.

In theory rationality takes out all the fun stuff (for ISFPs).

 

[KDude]

Even though I like a little rationality in my cereal, that is not the only way to eat it.

[edit] i'd love to know just how far the "irrationality" goes though.

do you dig Sun Ra or Jackson Pollock?

[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SsBtfuSDxw"]Sun Ra[/youtube]
[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bICqvmKL5s"]Pollock[/youtube]

they're both too much for me.

 

[wolfy]

Again I've used a lot more words than wolfy would, but darn it, I'm just not as good at being pithy when I'm excited about something.

You do good. The real secret to my pithy nature is laziness and slow typing skills. I type pretty quick now but am stuck in my ways.

I like you ISFPs generally, but I'm sorry to say I'm totally baffled as to why anyone would be porud to be irrational.

The reason isfp are irrational is rational. That is to say there is a rational reason for their irrationality. Get my rationale?

 

[countrygirl]

And I don't even see how we are irrational.

 

[KDude]

seriously.. it's strange enough to not consider myself isfp anymore. i mean, to each their own and all that though. not hatin'

 

[LeafAndSky]

INFJ!

No, not INFJ.

More likely COOL.

Seriously, though, KDude, the most useful thing about the Myers-Briggs system is, in my opinion, the fact that it helps some people take a step back from (a) a rather common assumption that Everyone Thinks Like Me, and (b) an interaction style of Everyone Should/Must Think And Act Like Me.

But if you're not easily typeable, well, join the club. Maybe the problem isn't with you; maybe there's some problem with the system.

 

[sLiPpY]

INFJ's are cool. They're supposedly the rarest type for males. They also exhibit certain attributes that are more likely to test out as P when assessing.

KDude's ennegram is more commonly NF. After PM'ing back and forth, he started to remind me of an old friend. The guy was one of the most incredibly intuitive people I had ever seen in getting a sound out of an instrument. He'd move across the country just to be with a chick he cared about, without any concern for practical matters at all.

Just thought of it as a possibility to explore, but do agree that there's still a lot of variety in any give spectrum. Yeah, the systems not perfect...but the process of sorting it out...seems to help in accepting certain aspects of oneself, and knowing best how to work with them in daily living.

 

[KDude]

what's the difference between an ISFP's and ISTP's "impulse" to do "what they want"?

say you were ready to just walk off on a bullshit task/ job. could an ISTP justify why it sucks rationally or something (if they were inclined)?

 

[Heinel]

what's the difference between an ISFP's and ISTP's "impulse" to do "what they want"?

say you were ready to just walk off on a bullshit task/ job. could an ISTP justify why it sucks rationally or something (if they were inclined)?

This could be kinda random but there shouldn't be a difference. If it sucks, then it sucks. Justifying the decision rationally really just means that you needed a reason. The difference between T and F is not that one required a reason and the other didn't, but the kind of reasons each type puts more weight in.

 

[CollisionCourse?]

I have a little question. I don't mean to be offensive to ISFP in any way. I don't even know that many of you guys - at least not closely - and that may be even the reason why this bothers me, so I'd like to know, if this is normal.

I have an ISFP friend (we're both guys). He's a cool pal to hang out with and even though it annoys me occasionally, I don't have that much of a problem with that obnoxious Fi of his in situations when we disagree on something (two of my other friends are INFPs, one of them maybe the closest one, and I just learned to suck it up).

The issue I have is, that even after years of knowing him, I don't get him at all and he seems to me like a complete airhead, even though I know, that he is actually smart in some strange way. For example he managed to get into every university he ever tried and without cheating AND we're talking about free education, so no influence there (but he never finished a single semester though).

What I don't understand is if there is at least some notable substitute of rational thinking going on in that head. He's fairly introverted, so I'd expect that there is some introversion actually taking place, but I very rarely notice some useful outcome. When we're talking about something abstract, I have to tone down everything in order for him to get some grasp of the topic - Ok, I get that, we think differently. But even when we're dealing with some real world problem, he's usually more worthless than me (and don't take this comparsion lightly). This is not about being laidback (which he is) or "going with the flow", since it's observable even when he's trying to do something independently.

He may try and he deals with basic stuff easily more often, than don't, but when there are more than one thinking step necessary, that's like two guys carrying a plexiglas. He is terrible with maps (north-south seems to be just technobabble even on a bright day). He's able to buy a big package of low fat white yoghurt thinking it's a mayonnaise. Once he was trying to "manipulate" me (funny way to call that) into dating a girl that somehow fell for me at the time, then nailed her in the next room (not exactly a soundproof flat) and then it surprised him that it kinda turned me off. Last year, he tried putting an expired Amsterdam three-day tram ticket into a credit card slot of a ticket machine in Rotterdam. And the screen even clearly showed that it takes only change! And he was sober!! And then he got mad when I calmly asked him what the hell is he doing!

Is this normal for an ISFP? Is there something I'm not getting? Did I miss something important?

He's ok to have around and maybe this is making him look worse, than he usually is, but that's just because these things won't come up while sitting in a pub talking about an action movie (well, at least not that often).

thanks, and sorry for possible mistakes.

 

[KDude]

does he do drugs?

umm... sounds like some of these absentminded/inconsiderate esfp horror stories. just quieter.

 

[CollisionCourse?]

He spent most of high school stoned, but he's not smoking weed for several years now. Maybe on some very rare occasions, but he preferes beer.

 

[countrygirl]

I have a little question. I don't mean to be offensive to ISFP in any way. I don't even know that many of you guys - at least not closely - and that may be even the reason why this bothers me, so I'd like to know, if this is normal.

I have an ISFP friend (we're both guys). He's a cool pal to hang out with and even though it annoys me occasionally, I don't have that much of a problem with that obnoxious Fi of his in situations when we disagree on something (two of my other friends are INFPs, one of them maybe the closest one, and I just learned to suck it up).

The issue I have is, that even after years of knowing him, I don't get him at all and he seems to me like a complete airhead, even though I know, that he is actually smart in some strange way. For example he managed to get into every university he ever tried and without cheating AND we're talking about free education, so no influence there (but he never finished a single semester though).

He may not see the value of an education and/or may not know what he wants in life. If this is the case, he may be hard pressed to plan for his future especially when young.

What I don't understand is if there is at least some notable substitute of rational thinking going on in that head. He's fairly introverted, so I'd expect that there is some introversion actually taking place, but I very rarely notice some useful outcome. When we're talking about something abstract, I have to tone down everything in order for him to get some grasp of the topic - Ok, I get that, we think differently. But even when we're dealing with some real world problem, he's usually more worthless than me (and don't take this comparsion lightly). This is not about being laidback (which he is) or "going with the flow", since it's observable even when he's trying to do something independently.

He may try and he deals with basic stuff easily more often, than don't, but when there are more than one thinking step necessary, that's like two guys carrying a plexiglas. He is terrible with maps (north-south seems to be just technobabble even on a bright day). He's able to buy a big package of low fat white yoghurt thinking it's a mayonnaise. Once he was trying to "manipulate" me (funny way to call that) into dating a girl that somehow fell for me at the time, then nailed her in the next room (not exactly a soundproof flat) and then it surprised him that it kinda turned me off. Last year, he tried putting an expired Amsterdam three-day tram ticket into a credit card slot of a ticket machine in Rotterdam. And the screen even clearly showed that it takes only change! And he was sober!! And then he got mad when I calmly asked him what the hell is he doing!

He could be niave in life especially regarding how other people perceive him. So he might need a friend to explain why these things offend people. He might be stuck in his own world therefore not paying attention to what's going on and/or have no practical sense.

Spacial abilities is usually required when reading a map which is not a problem for me (however my INFP sister is directionally challenged).

I'm not good with theories and I enjoy it when someone tones it down especially when it is a topic of no interest. In other words, I enjoy being with the person even if the topic is of no interest.

He might be a poor at communicating his emotions especially when he is overwhelmed by them and therefore vented at you instead. This is not type related but a mark of emotional immaturity.

Consistant drug use during high school suggest to me that he has some self-esteem issues.

 

[KDude]

Oh, for the record, I don't like school either (self education is fine), and it's taken me a long time to finally appreciate it.. I used to do drugs myself, but quit relatively early..

Anyhow, I'd fall in those two categories, but I can't identify with some of the inconsideration, or absented minded behavior.

 

[gromit]

Another question, how do you find yourself using Se?

 

[Quinlan]

Another question, how do you find yourself using Se?

With a mirror.

 

[gromit]

With a mirror.