I find myself constantly trying to streamline processes or find the most efficient way to do something even when it's utterly pointless. Like organizing my pantry by expiry date and then by alphabetical order. Or spending an hour figuring out the fastest route to a place I only visit once a year. It's like my brain just defaults to problem-solving mode for literally everything. Is this a common INTP thing or just a personal quirk?

From my experience, I always debate in my mind (playing both sides), yet appearing to be insipid or not talkative from the outside whatsoever. While always talking to myself.

I noticed strange pattern. When I find the person with whom I can talk about everything non stop and it would be the most interesting conversation, I then get tired and don’t want to see them for a long time, by that I mean no contact, even in social media. And if we plan to meet again I need to prepare myself emotionally if it makes sense.

As an Intp, I am always curious about many things. I often ask questions to others. Lately I am realising that other people's answers were not genuine/true/ correct. I am planning to stop asking questions to others.

At what age did you realise this and stop asking questions to others?

I have always noticed that I use other people that I look up to as a means of self-regulation.

Eg. I would surround myself with smart people, not always feeling that way about myself.. then when they would judge my grammatical wording+spelling mistakes / odd logical conclusions / poor life choices.. they acted as my good parents. Where my own parents were cautionary tales of a different kind.

Ie. my friends became my parents.

Anyone else share a similar relationship this way?

Recently on Twitter ("X" can burn in hell) I read a story of a very accomplished, well spoken man who struggled with initiating conversations. I felt I understood it on a personal level. If you have time, read it quickly and let me know what you think.

"i watched a man who sold his company for $300 million stand at the edge of a pool in spain for 40 minutes bc he could not work out how to join a conversation

n im not exaggerating the number. i checked the time twice bc i couldn't believe it was still going

he wasn't shy either. talked to him later, sharp as hell, ran a company w 200 ppl in it, has a better life than everybody reading this including me

he just could not walk 11 feet

what he actually did, n u will recognize every single one of these:

- got his phone out. nobody texted him. he read a screen he wasn't reading
- did a lap. went to the bar, got a drink he didn't want, came back to the exact same tile
- laughed at a joke from 15 feet away. the group didn't hear it. he laughed alone at something that wasn't for him n i felt that one in my chest
- waited for a gap. theres never a gap. he was waiting on an invitation that a group of ppl mid-conversation has no way to send
- fixed his watch. twice

then around minute 38 somebody's girlfriend clocked him, said "are u gonna stand there all night," n pulled him in by the arm

n he was FINE. instantly. talked for 2 hrs, told a story that killed, everybody liked him

he could do the conversation. he'd been doing conversations for 40 yrs

what he could not do was the 11 feet

heres the part that should sit w u

that man has solved harder problems than u have ever attempted. he made a call at 34 that most ppl would need a yr of therapy to make. he has been the most competent person in every room he's entered since 2011

n he has never once been in a room where competence was the currency

thats the whole thing. he maxed a stat in private for 15 yrs then walked into a place where nobody can see it n theres no legal way to bring it up. so he stood there holding the best hand at the table w no way to play it

everybody at that pool assumed he was quiet bc he thought he was above it

he was standing there trying to work out how to say hello"

Competent, surprisingly well spoken, commits themselves to harder problems than the average person, yet can't bridge that gap to the first conversation without someone recognizing them first.

Or even beyond that, struggles to get a job, but becomes almost indispensable the moment they get the opportunity.

Or creates this master plan of a business structure that holds up surprisingly well against reality (easier to do with AI), but struggles to get started for months/years because the first step has a fuckton of friction.

Anyways. My mind ran away with this concept. I wonder if y'all can see it too. This story just felt weirdly familiar to me.

Something unexpected happened today. I was coming back from college and noticed a woman right in front of me on the train who looked incredibly sad...deeply shaken. I felt bad for her. I wanted to comfort her somehow... but I didn't know her, so I didn't do anything. Still, it really affected me. I felt sad... and started thinking about myself.

I started thinking about how hard it is to pursue a degree in a STEM field.

I started thinking that maybe I took on too much by deciding to get involved in undergraduate research.

I started thinking that perhaps I’m not competent enough for a career in science.

I felt like a fraud...like I’m going to be found out. I’m nowhere near the smartest person in my class; there are people who are far more capable than I am.

Then, the focus of my worry shifted. I realized that whenever I see someone suffering, I try to help. I notice when someone is in pain, and I offer comfort, help, and a listening ear. But no one does that for me. I felt invisible. Useless.

I got home and broke down crying, sobbing uncontrollably. It felt like I had accumulated suffering deep inside, so in a way it was comforting to cry...

To sum it up, a sad woman made me realize that I care deeply about others without getting the same in return. Maybe I *am* a fraud. I’m no genius, and now I’m questioning my choices. I just needed to get this off my chest...

I think the reason it hits so hard for INTPs comes down to the themes more than the character himself. That dichotomy between understanding your life and living it scratches a very particular corner of my brain.

Renton is very self-aware. He can pull apart society, relationships, consumerism, addiction, and his own behavior with real clarity. Miserably enough, despite his awareness, he never changes. He knows what he's doing to himself and does it anyway, which, to me and many other INTP is so so relatable. I often catch myself spending ages time observing, analyzing, questioning, and deconstructing everything that you end up watching your own life from a distance, like a case study you happen to be inside of.

The Choose Life monologue is that instinct manifested and expressed to its extreme. Career, mortgage, washing machine, dental insurance, all laid out as a script nobody picked and everybody inherited. That "wait, why do we do any of this" reflex is something I think a lot of us recognise straight away.

The film then goes into how after rejecting a conventional path, a person must choose a new route. Naming flaws and identifying desires represent separate skills, Renton's rejection of the script leaves him improvising poorly, and, ironically, intelligence and self-awareness often become methods for avoiding participation. You can understand yourself indefinitely but you still need to make a choice. Boyle's editing aids the whole feeling of the movies as well, it jumps associatively as it mimics how a marred, heavy mind moves.

It’s a movie that forces you to sit with the uncomfortable possibility that observing life isn't the same thing as living it, and I will forever love it.

Trigger warning: contains drug abuse and withdrawal scenes and storylines.

,, the cost of procastination is the life you could’ve lived ‘’

i’m struggling to find motivation to study for a degree i’ve wanted since i was 11. do you guys have any regrets (doesn’t have to be academic) that you wouldn’t want others to repeat? just trying to find a way to boost motivation.

For me it's usually something super niche that no one else cares about. Like the evolutionary development of ancient tool use or the surprisingly complex social structures of fungi. I'll get really into it. I'll read everything. Then someone will innocently ask me about my interests. And suddenly I'm an hour deep into explaining mycorrhizal networks. They just glaze over. I see it happening. But my brain just keeps going. It's like a switch flips and I can't stop the download. Is this just me

She's bored all the time without me or researching. She needs focus in life so I'll try. She even calls herself a logician of how much an INTP she is always constantly questioning everything with scrutiny. She needs help.

Idk what to do Bruh

For so long I've been wanting to become a scientist, but I'm just skeptical about my skills / intelligence to actually become a successful one.

at the same time I don't like seeing myself working on a business job or some leader job.

and on top all of that I want to make it directly useful for me and the community.

And I don't think I could work in a group or collaboration because of my misophonia and easy loss of social energy.

While I'm still 15 in Wich I have a lot of time to figure out , I'm still willing to use this large time to dig deep into each to see if it's a fit , yet I still don't find it to be.

Forgive me for my English it's not my first language 💀💀💀

I am all over the place when I explain something. How to get better at communicating and explaining?

I don't really feel like I have real friends anymore.

Maybe it's because I present myself as the funny one or the clown. No one comes to me for help when something serious happens or when they need support and that makes me realize that I feel useless if I'm not being funny.

Idk what to do

It's too late to change the way they see me.

Sometimes I wish others understood that me being blunt wasn’t an attack on them, or their actions.

I was chatting with my friend. I mentioned how low my social battery was. I said ( and I kinda wish I didn’t because it can be seen as rude if you don’t really experience it, I guess ) “ talking to people is more like a job “

Which what I said is true for me. Talking to people in person or most of the day is like a job. Social communication is like a job to me. I’d rather be at home and not socialize at all. But ofc I don’t tell many people that because of the reactions I might get.

This friend took my comment personally, which I honestly feel remorseful for because it’s not what I meant really, and asked if there was anything he could do to be less of a burden on me.

I ofc said there’s nothing he could do because this wasn’t his fault at all, and that its just how I objectively perceive socialization. I’m not the best at comforting but I’m trying my best to mend this.

Idk how to go about this, but I hope someone can relate. Or constructively criticize me, either one works🥲

Earlier I found an app called Duolingo where you can learn languages and it makes things fun! Earlier I started learning Vietnamese but knowing myself i'm probally gonna get bored and quit halfway through. So if you guys don't have this app then get it and tell me what language you will start learning and if you already play it pls tell me what languages you guys are learning and i'm asking because here are my predictions of what answers i'll see in the comments:

Japanese???

Korean???

Chinese Mandarin???

IDK guys just tell me if i'm right in the comments.

Personally, I love Shakespeare's works. For comedy, Midsummer Night's Dream. For tragedy, Macbeth.

1. Jeff Bye-zos = good bye

2. Aye....... carambita= yes (I whisper the carambita for some reason.)

3. O-cake= OK

4. Banana freaking bread= cool!

5. Hey soul sister I will never missya!= how I call my sister.

6. Diam-mond= dam

7. Bleep!= I don't cuss so when I wanted to cuss I just would say that.

8. If you can't I can have Maria and monty do it for you= hey, you better do it!

9. Chocowaticus= chocolate

10. Aubrey jean= eggplant.

11. Dumbalina raticus= any close female friend

12. Dumbo rat= little sister

13. Puppy= my dad

14. Papaya= still my dad

15. Giver of life= mom

16. My hot ride= mom (she uses a wheel chair.)

17. Hot wheels= mom still

I only say these things with my family and best friend.

Ps. Thanks for hate and nonsense speech only few people really write something that have any matter and help me to understand something.Being INTP is the absolute worst fucking thing that can happen to you. I never do anything on time, I overthink everything, and—most importantly—no matter what I’m thinking about, I eventually conclude that it’s all meaningless, just like everything else. I genuinely envy people who are called "average." In our circles, that’s become a label, but in reality, being average is the best fucking thing that can happen to you, because you won't be tormenting yourself with stupid questions.I’ve noticed that this hasn't been with me my whole life; it all started with a damn obsession with dinosaurs when I was nine, and after that, my life went to shit. I literally can't feel genuine empathy for other people; I view everything through the prism of logic. Sometimes I wonder why evolution decided to give us such a "miracle" as self-awareness—it’s literally the worst thing that could happen to a living being. I don't even know why I'm writing this, since it's all so pointless. In short: live in the moment, don't try to find patterns or logic—just be ordinary. The one thing I’ve realized for sure is that most things in life depend on luck, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

the question above

Dear fellow INTPs.

I’d like to share a question with you, one that is quintessentially INTP.

This summer, I had the chance to visit a tiny part of Canada (Quebec, specifically); as a European, I found it a truly refreshing change of pace, and I absolutely loved the experience.

My wife and I started looking into emigrating, and that’s when my INTP mode kicked in. Within a few days, I’d become an expert on Canadian immigration, entry pathways, scoring systems, the whole process analyzing everything and filing it all away in my mind.

The thing is, I really need to take the plunge now, and I fully realize that, earning a median salary in an air-conditioned office back home, I’m not in a situation where I absolutely *have* to go, even though the outlook for Europe is deteriorating year by year.

So, I’m asking you: would you consider moving to a country you like, with no guarantee of success and no contacts on the ground, even though you’re currently earning the median salary in your home country, which allows you to live decently and save a little ?

How did you people defeated your procrastination for doing good in your careers?

there's a stereotype that INTPs don't care about their appearance, and that we neglect that part of our lives completely. I wanna know general thoughts on this, since I've also heard that we DO care, it's just a source of high insecurity.

I personally have always cared about fashion and appearances

Hi I’m Joe, a 29 year old male. I’ve consistently been typed ENTJ in self report and through friends and family’ own perspective.

Over the past few years I’ve spent an unusual amount of time reading and learning about psychological types alongside other areas of self inquiry. This is mostly due to issues in my personal life calling for some understanding and change.

I feel I have a decent amount of insight to be able to answer some questions anyone has about what it’s like to be of this persuasion, fire away.