What INTPs want people to know about them
This is my second article in the ‘Understand Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)’ series, the first one being about INTJs. MBTI is a personality profiling test which classifies people into a total of 16 personality types, based on a 10 minute questionnaire. Each personality type has a characteristic behaviour, and the objective of the profiling is to appreciate the similarities and differences among them.
INTPs are the classic logicians. Most scientists and inventors in fictions are modelled on this personality type.
INTPs are often assumed to be similar to INTJs. Although the difference in these two types is only of a letter, the resultant deviation in personalities is too significant to be ignored.
1. INTPs love new possibilities, ideas and theories. They would prefer brooding on unsolved questions over hard facts and answers. They have a secret imaginative world of their own where they endlessly keep chasing thought-butterflies.
“ We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”- Albert Einstein (INTP)
2. INTPs are insanely curious people. They want to learn everything, but do not have the patience to finish things. They can be easily identified as the ones who always have a dozen tabs open on their laptops, with all the websites having unrelated articles! That is the reason why INTPs are one of the most ‘know-it-all’ personalities and the walking encyclopedias of anything and everything.
“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”- Marie Curie (INTP)
3. INTPs procrastinate a lot! These lazy asses may wear the same clothes for many days, and will not complete their home work until the deadline approaches. But they only postpone the mundane stuff that does not appeal to their interests. If they find something worth working for, they will not even get up from their work table for the next couple of days.
“I always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because he will find an easy way to do it.”- Bill Gates (INTP)
4. They are never completely certain, and always keep second guessing their ideas. “What if” is the guiding principle in their lives. Mostly that is not because they are afraid of failures, but simply because they understand the flaws in making decisions with limited information.
“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”- Rene Descartes (INTP)
5. INTPs generally don’t care about practical things that govern the real world. Often they get lost in their own typical Dexter’s laboratory, and forget about their commitments to the real world. Remember the scientist that forgot to attend his own wedding (Louis Pasteur)? Definitely an INTP.
Molly Weasley: “Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night.”Arthur: “Did you really? How did it go?”[After Molly hits him] “That was very wrong indeed, boys, very wrong of you”- Arthur Weasley, Harry Potter series (INTP)
6. INTPs, just like their -J counterparts, are clueless in reacting to emotional situations. They are friendly and cooperative, but do not expect them to step in your shoes to understand your emotions and show sympathy. They cannot even manage their own emotions, and shy away from pure emotional situations as much as possible.
“Penny’s emotional responses originate from the primitive portion of the brain known as the amygdala, while speech is centered in the much more recently developed neocortex. The former can easily overpower the latter giving scientific credence to the notion of being rendered speechless…Or maybe she just doesn’t want to talk.”- Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory (INTP)
7. They know they are different, and they are very proud of it. The worst thing that you can do to them is treating them as ignorant. They put up a lot of effort to keep themselves smart and informed, and don’t you dare mess up with it!
“Judging people you don’t know for things you don’t understand is just really stupid.”- Ellen Page (INTP)
8. And lastly, INTPs often behave like jackasses, straightforwardly mocking others for their stupidity. Their intention is never to irritate people, although they very much succeed in doing that. But despite that, they are liked a lot by their select group of friends!
“One cries because one is sad. For example, I cry because others are stupid, and that makes me sad.”- Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory (INTP)
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Let’s all embrace these quirky Dexters among us by giving them the support and autonomy they need, and they’ll in turn make us proud!
To find your own personality type, visit here.
To read about other personality types, please follow! :)
Image source: www.16personalities.com
