INTP personality type is one of the popular classification of Myers-Briggs types. It is based on one main principle: do you prefer one trait over another?
Many great thinkers with extraordinary minds and eccentric personalities were INTPs, with Albert Einstein being the most outstanding example of this personality type in its pure form.
So what makes INTPs be the way they are? Here are 6 reasons the INTP personality type is one of the quirkiest and most misunderstood:
We INTPs are great analysts, so we are able to “see” through people. It’s not uncommon for us to give advice to our friends or predict the outcome of a relationship just by analyzing people’s personalities and behavioral patterns.
Yet, some other aspects of human relationships are simply beyond our understanding. Thus, the lovey-dovey side of a relationship is incomprehensible for us as we value things like respect, understanding, and deep communication in the first place.
So flowers, gifts, cute names, and promises of eternal love don’t really make sense to us. An INTP can completely seriously say something like:
“It’s not possible that he could fell in love with you so soon. Don’t fool yourself, love at first sight exists only in the movies!”
Similarly, we are unable to understand how social relations work. We seek a deep connection with other people and crave meaningful conversations, so we see no point in maintaining relations with someone based only on social necessity.
It just doesn’t make sense to us why we should ask a neighbor how he or she is doing and how their weekend was if we have nothing in common except for living in the same street.
Our way of thinking is simple: Why would I talk to someone if we don’t have anything interesting to discuss? It would be a waste of time.
No need to say that this kind of behavior may be mistaken for disrespect and arrogance. But the truth is that we don’t hate or disrespect other people – we just don’t like having pointless, superficial conversations.
For the reasons described above, we don’t simply hate small talk – I would say, we are physically unable to participate in it. Our brain seems to have a switch button that automatically sets our mind into ignore mode when someone talks about insignificant stuff.
So when we hear conversations about food, clothes, homemaking, etc, we just slip into our inner realm of thought, paying no attention to what is being discussed.
At the same time, when someone is trying to have small talk with us, asking something like “What did you eat for dinner?” or “How was your weekend?” we give a one- or two-word answer and change the subject. This is another reason why a person with an INTP personality type may seem weird and even rude to others.
INTP personality type has a strong inclination towards deep thought. We love to reflect on the essence of being, life after death, the nature of reality, and other thought-provoking things. That’s why we can often be found immersed in our thoughts and detached from reality.
For this reason, we tend to be scatterbrained – to those around us, it may seem that we just live inside our heads and are not conscious of what is going on in the world around us.
It’s especially evident when we are too captivated by an idea or a project. We just keep thinking it over all day long, losing the sense of time, forgetting to eat, and putting on clothes inside out.
INTPs are true masters of theoretical, abstract thought. This, in turn, results in the fact that we are ridiculously impractical. INTPs can come up with the most brilliant ideas and incredibly complex theories; yet, we are useless when it comes to facing the mundane challenges of life.
Sometimes, a simple task like going to a public office for some paperwork or buying a washing machine can make us feel completely helpless. We INTPs lack practical thinking, that’s why we rarely become good entrepreneurs.
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
– Albert Einstein
While INTPs think logically and rationally in the first place, this type is also a true example of a chaotic creative mind. We are disorganized, messy, and hate the rules. We perceive them as a limitation of our creative energy and freedom of thought.
INTP personality type also tends to value independence and freedom most of all, so there is no way we can work under control and be effective members of a team.
So INTPs rarely choose public service or office jobs as a career path. For the same reason, people with the INTP personality type may have a difficult time at school even if they may be some of the most brilliant students in the class.
Are you an INTP? Do you relate to the traits described in the article? Share your opinion with us.
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Hi... I'm an INTP student, and i currently have some problems in school. so i would like you to elaborate on INTP having trouble in school and how to deal with such problems. thank you
I'm an INTP and did VERY well in school.
My advantage was:
1. In class, I was very focused (thanks to my INTP curiosity). I did go to a good school, which I suppose kept things challenging/interesting. The harder the class/year, the more I excelled.
2. At home, I developed a way to be very disciplined and focused, something that does NOT come naturally to my INTP personality. But you observe yourself and work around it. For instance, I noticed I couldn't get myself motivated to study on weekends, so I'd study right after class before my motivation had a chance to diminish. And I set myself a very short challenging time budget, which made the task look less bad, tapped into my competitive instincts and made for amazing focus. In the end, grades in school is nothing but working hard using whatever mind tricks needed to ensure you stay focused on getting more work done.
Hope this helps!
I am a tragically complex and tortured intp which would be no problem on its own but the explanation that most people are not equipped or just don't want to know much less care to put forth the effort to get to know much less care to understand a typical intp personality type....sigh I don't know why I even am expecting even a fellow intp to believe what I have become if you are interested in the full causality and tragic origins and insane and seemingly impossible events that I will never waste my time explaining just to have someone else who refuse my words hard as it is as the truth .... this is all I offer you decide if you will be the first to know me before my time is up and no one will ever know I existed..... ok a few things about me 5 still born children before me I'm an identical twin my brother died in labor and the cord wrapped around my neck and required c-section lonely twin syndrome alcoholic father made me pick my own switch so beat me for years 8 car accidents all totalled ive been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder I am psychonaut or like a shaman using psychoactive substances and hallucinogens for universal truth and introspective discoveries 3 suicide attempts and one success dead for around 4-5 minutes before resuscitation also debilitating insomnia on average 5-7 days awake and 1 maybe 2 nights in between longest without food or sleep or chronic pain meds 14 1/2`days straight now here is where shit gets weird since my death I am in a group of people called sliders meaning my electromagnetic field signature makes most electronic devices malfunction and also I apparently have thro7 traumatic events have awakened several psionic and pychcokinetic abilities that were dormant and it's driving me crazy with no one will ever know or care .... well I'm done for now your move
Exactly.
Interesting. I've also died and been resuscitated a few times. Got PTSD Major Depression and anxiety. Not so big on the ''attempt suicide'' But you obviously had your reasons.. Not claiming anything superpower wise but certainly some type of psychic ability, and things like bizarre coincidences that happen just a little too often. Almost as if merely saying/thinking something makes it happen. Pointing out things before they happen. Hard to explain without sounding like some hippy nut that's surrounded by a room full of crystals and incense. The logic part of my mind can only come to the conclusion that there is a much higher power at play. As Einstein said :''Coincidences are gods way of remaining anonymous''. I'm not big on religion coming from a book written by man, but after the things I've seen and been through It's near impossible to ignore that there's nothing else out there. The transparency of the media and Governments games are hilarious. Almost as if they know what it is. I often look out at the night sky like I've been left behind. Or perhaps someone crashed our ship here, now we're trapped on the planet of the apes. Who ever the bastard was, should be called out.
I'm Sure That I'm also an INTP too, and I May also be a Starseed. Are There Many More People, Who Can also Move Object's in their Own Hand's, With Only Using their Own Mind's too?
And I'm Sure, That I'm an INTP too.
Hi, I'm definitely an INTP. In school I was a total science geek. I had one or two close friends, didn't date at all. I never studied (didn't need to) left everything to the last minute, and graduated with a solid B. Skipped college as I knew I'd slack off and joined the Air Force. To make a long story short, I've always worked alone or as part of a small team. I've managed to work my way into degreed RF Engineering positions without holding a BSEE.
When I was 29 I got tired of the social awkwardness and 12 years later it was mostly gone.
I married an INFJ and she is amazing! If you ever get to meet one, they will scare the crap out of you. They can read you like a book. Don't even bother to lie to them.
My roster of friends is still small, I loathe small talk but will engage in it when needed.
One last thing that really makes being an INTP all the more fun, I have Asperger's syndrome. I didn't find that out until I was 47 (I'm 52) so I had learned to mask most of the more obvious traits by then.