[INTP] INTP Survival Tips

[Hypatia]

Dear Fellow INTPS,
(and anyone who can relate to the INTP persuasion, including INTP admirers )

Let's share our survival strategies in order to make life better for all of us. What strategies have helped you deal with life and thrive as a happier, healthier, more fulfilled INTP?

In the category "Obtaining Sustenance," I often eat made-to-order food, and rely mainly on restaurant delivery services (which I select with an eye to getting a good deal). I enjoy food, but not the time it takes to prepare it, and this frees up my time to devote to more interesting pursuits.

 

[Anew Leaf]

Befriend someone who makes good cookies and is willing to share them.

 

[Standuble]

- Remember that your laptop or new Playstation/Xbox is an effective weapon against burglars or people you don't want to speak to. You may use it however you wish: A blow to the head works for the former and playing whilst pretending you can't see or hear them works for the latter.

- Don't forget that being overweight is a vicious cycle. Not only do the thoughts of food invade your inner world but weighing twenty stone makes it harder to actually get up and actually do anything (even when you aren't a lazy bastard). In the end you'll need someone to feed you and when you cannot get up or move you will just continue to grow larger and larger until your belly is larger than your brain.

- Don't overlook the importance of Fe. A nice touch of the old chameleon personality and social grace can convince people you actually care about them. This is a helpful social engineering tactic for dealing with people you don't like and even to deal with tasks you can't stand the thought of. In the end you can get them to come over and paint your house/fix your car/replace your windows and as they are a "buddy" of yours you can likely manipulate them into doing these things at a much cheaper rate than a business would (even if they are themselves skilled labourers.) If you're lucky they will do these tasks for free! More importantly remember to thank them for their work even if you don't care. They will feel needed and appreciated and will be open to doing further work for you in the future with the added benefit of requiring little further investment on your part.

- Don't forget that the world is irrational and people are stupid. I'm sure though that if you're at least fifteen or sixteen this has repeatedly been learnt the hard way by now.

 

[Hypatia]

[MENTION=14363]Standuble[/MENTION]

Excellent points. I just have to remember to get everything backed up on my laptop in order to convert it successfully into a weapon.

 

[greenfairy]

Get out of your comfort zone at least once a month. Preferably once a week. This should involve getting out of the house and not involve the use of technology.

Allow yourself to be hugged.

Develop your functions.

 

[anticlimatic]

-Stockpile a list of classic lit or high quality reading to use in the treatment of languor and depression should it ever creep in.

-Legos work well in a pinch if you're itching for a project, or are bored. Ask someone what they'd like to see a model of. Tell them to name anything.

-Try to find a job that lets you work alone, unsupervised, or just doesn't require you to think about anything in particular for long durations of time.

-Keep your tools in the trunk of your car, along with a baseball bat, some bolt cutters, and anything else you might ever need in case apocalypse/disaster strikes while you're on the road.

-Learn the fine art of leaving a room, or a group: butt in there, grab a hand or two to shake, nod a couple goodbyes, steel yourself, and walk out the door. JUST WALK AWAY. Eventually people will come to expect it, and you won't feel bad for doing it. It helps not to think about it too much.

-Avoid dating introverted feelers if you can help it, unless you kind of like a subtle form of perma-heartache.

 

[ygolo]

-Keep a blog or a journal or both. This allowed me expression of thoughts and feelings that people may not understand, relate to, or may even react badly to without major consequences to my real life

-Learn to dance, especially to fast and or wild music. It is a good way to get out of my head, and it felt like I'd been waiting to this my whole life, even though (perhaps especially because) I suck at dancing.

-Talk to new people. There is a whole wide world I don't know about. I find it very interesting to find out about the world of a very different person. It feels like being a detective or journalist. Be careful, however. People don't like being interrogated. I try to be prepared to intersperse my own experiences and reflection of my impressions of peoples reactions between the stream of questions I want to ask. I have to slow down my brain a lot to do this. I don't always succeed in doing this.

-Volunteer to help people. I mentor high school engineering students navigate the college application process, tutor for free, and sponsor a child through save the children. It feels good to help others in concrete ways. I've also done habitat for humanity, and dream street. My carpentry skills are mediocre at best, however.

-Test beliefs and assumptions. I kind of naturally do this. This can save me from irrational fears and doubts. Be warned, however. Sometimes negative beliefs are supported with evidence instead of disputed. I haven't figured out how to deal with that case yet. But I value the truth--whether or not it is pleasant.

-Realize that there are a great many things to be grateful for. I am just amazed at how much I see each day I am grateful for.

-Don't confuse mood with happiness. I have mood swings that take me into extremely low states. This is an unfortunate fact of my life. I have yet to come up with a way to avoid these. I am convinced it is mainly a biological phenomenon. I have to find a way to avoid its detrimental effects to survive. But mood is not happiness. I am significantly more satisfied with my life than I was 5 years ago. I anticipate this trend to continue.

-Also, realize that MBTI, enneagram, socionics, or whatever other typology you learn is mostly b.s. Don't let any of them be a cage for your world of possibilities.

 

[cafe]

It suddenly occurs to me that I'm an INTP's survival tool.

 

[ygolo]

It suddenly occurs to me that I'm an INTP's survival tool.

Perhaps you're essential for his survival. But I doubt he thinks of you as a "tool". Haha.

 

[cafe]

Perhaps you're essential for his survival. But I doubt he thinks of you as a "tool". Haha.

But it will be fun to tease him about. The symbiotic nature of the relationship makes us both more functional than either of us would be without the other. Which isn't to say we're particularly functional, but the offspring still live . . .

 

[Hypatia]

Don't confuse mood with happiness.

If I did I'd never be happy.

 

[baccheion]

Some of the survival tips suggested in this thread sound like a repetition of the BS others suggest while trying to change an INTP into something else. Most of them aren't relevant. Shake them off!

Tips I use:

- Avoid guardians.
- Avoid jealousy.
- Avoid people that don't think you're human.

Avoid them, get away from them, or get rid of them.

More generalizable:

- Find a good judger friend to help keep you off the streets.
- Constantly remind yourself to think for yourself.
- Don't just go with what someone else says just to be nice or to keep the peace; it doesn't work.
- Constantly remind yourself to be yourself and no one else. Unless it makes sense.
- Stop going out of your way to be nice; it's usually not usually worth it.
- Never let go of momentum.
- Don't start over planning things and lose your spontaneity.
- Screw "growing up," (you're already grown, just by different standards) that's just a prison for those who are over the hill, or who have failed.
- Love is good, unless it's with the wrong person. Find the right one.
- Don't settle, but don't sit idly either. Find a way.

You don't really have to be grateful for things to be happy. It's usually an exercise in stupidity. Or, more accurately, you already know what you're grateful for, don't try to kill yourself spouting it off to others if you don't want to, because it's really about them, not you. It doesn't help you past them possibly backing off for a little while, because they got you to do what they thought was oh so appropriate, even though it means nothing to you and does nothing for you.

If you don't want to be hugged, then don't let anyone do it. It's not going to make you feel better, it's about them trying to make themselves feel better. They aren't really trying to do something nice for you, if they were, then when you told them to back off, they would.

 

[Hypatia]

If you don't want to be hugged, then don't let anyone do it. It's not going to make you feel better, it's about them trying to make themselves feel better. They aren't really trying to do something nice for you, if they were, then when you told them to back off, they would.

That's why I always carry pepper spray.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Whenever you feel like bailing on something new, remind yourself how much you will learn from direct experience and how pure the data will be.

2 beers/glasses of wine/shots before any and all social functions so your smile works properly. The exception being funerals; your spaced expression and dead eyes are perfectly appropriate.

Si is not your friend. It feels great, and it's good every once in a while, but it's holding you back if you stay in the kiddie pool too long.

 

[Stigmata]

Don't get discouraged when despite coming up with what seems like the most effective/efficient solution to a shared problem within a group, no one jumps on board despite not being able to explain the logistical flaws of said solution; Chances are you are technically right, but you're also being an asshole without even realizing it.

 

[tralala]

Find an ENTJ to befriend.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Find an ENTJ to befriend.

And if you really want your timbers to be shivered, to date.

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You don't need to "develop" Fe so much as develop ways to reconcile the dissonance so it doesn't lead to stress. Ne is your savior here. Don't change, integrate.

 

[Aoi]

Maybe it's just me, but I would tell my younger self that it's okay to feel rejected once in a while.

 

[1010830]

In terms of survival, your first priority should always find shelter. From there, you must look for a clean source of water and decent source of calories.
Avoid exploring at night, make your provisory shelter safe from wild predators (ie, make it high in a tree or organize some sort of barricade arround your sleep place). Fire is also fundamental to keep yourself heated and scare off smaller animals and bugs.

Last but not least, in a survival situation your endgoal should to be able to reach the nearest place where there are other humans who can take care of you, be it in a small African village or in a North Korean military camp. Stick to the coastline, and, if there isn't one, keep marching on a single direction until you find other people from who you'll receive medical assistance.

I recommend the SAS's Survival Guide in case you're really into the subject.

 

[Such Irony]

Learn where all of the nearest Wi-Fi hotspots are.