The Great Big INTJ/INTP Post
Sweet Jesus! Okay, you win! I will talk about INTJs and INTPs!
But, once again, I have to start by stressing that any type can have a successful and fulfilling relationship with any other type. This is just a broad generalization of how these two types tend to differ and interact. With that in mind, let’s get on with the post.
This is by far the best INTP vs INTJ post I’ve ever read. Very well written and extremely detailed.
Indeed. I have researched it a bit but this was a very interesting read. Man, it’s weird being able to kind of see what the INTJ side is going on about, but at the same time relating to the INTP side and wondering why the INTJ doesn’t hold INTP values. That might sound convoluted and weird. I suppose it’s that every type has values they hold paramount so it’s difficult to see why others don’t hold them, or at least see them as they should be seen. This impulse is strong enough that one ends up almost with dual mind-sets when reading an article such as the one located above. I do want to understand the INTJ perspective. Hm… I don’t like to make decisions because they exclude other possibilities which should be seen in their own multiple lights and may be of similar or greater value. Also, it’s… difficult to think in terms of what to actually do with something once a conclusion is reached. Being an INTP, I just don’t think that way. It’s like… I was doing an extended project recently (which I didn’t finish in the end, because I chose something with too much to research) and I could not focus on dealing with my concluded information to write the damn thing because I was too busy researching other points. In my head, I want to research until I understand every point and then write it all myself with minimum referencing. My english coursework essay, though well-researched, probably had the least referencing of any essay or project I saw, and yet I was over the word limit and had to cut it down. I suppose…. I don’t like letting go of equally valued and valid conclusions. The INTJ style of doing things makes me feel as though things haven’t been sufficiently analysed. If they haven’t been sufficiently analysed, then something could happen that was not foreseen and one would be unprepared! *sigh* Nonetheless, despite the difficulty I have in truly understanding and relating to an INTJ’s functions (and therefore how they work) I still enjoy INTJs immensely. They are extremely interesting people who have many similar interests, habits and tendencies to myself. I let my INTJ take charge most of the time so maybe that’s why we’ve worked out to such an extent as this. Heh, recently she’s been trying to make me make decisions for once. Actually, we both don’t like making decisions. Um, I can do decision-making for more minor things, like which movie to watch, which show to see, which food to eat, etc. These can be analysed quickly and compared with my mood-state and preferences, and others’ involved, to determine which would be best.
I’m rambling. This was certainly interesting, though.
That problem you describe of how to do future planning if everything’s left open is exactly the problem I deal with, except for me it’s from the INTP perspective. I find it difficult to make big life decisions precisely because I see so many options and analyse them all. I suppose I just put understanding everything first, rather than the future planning. I can see possibilities and how things interconnect, but I don’t like to get rid of most of them just for the sake of planning out the next set of possibilities.
I like seeing what INTJs do with what I think of, and I just like how they work. I enjoy observing them. Also, because the INTJs figure things out and move them along, that means I have more things to analyse! Excellent. I can also trust what they say more because they have a similar way of thinking to an INTP, in that they are rational and will think things through properly (this is disregarding the open-endedness/conclusion point, of course). One of the nice things about being in conversation with an INTJ is that they prevent things getting too much. I tend to think of several more things to say for every one starting point and INTJs help to condense and conclude upon what I say. It keeps things in a nice balance. I enjoy conversations with other INTPs but the downside is that the messages turn into essays.
That’s so interesting! I hate thinking about big life decisions for that reason too! I see soooo many options/contingencies that need to be accounted for I usually end up with an excruciating headache so 9 times out of 10, to solve this I just decide to go with the plan that seems easiest to implement at that time.
But, something I do is I revisit these plans incessantly until I feel like it’s perfect. So this can mean being in a state of inertia while I think about an issue and refining my great plan until each step makes absolute logical sense. This is very frustrating, because I would much prefer to just get on with it.
Also, just like you love what INTJ’s do with what you think, we love how you think. Having said that, I can understand why INTPs annoy the heck out of stronger J’s, because your reluctance to want to close a topic even if you can see a natural closing to the issue is at the very least annoying. I have come to love this though; I think over time I just embraced the notion the best ideas are forever evolving, and INTPs are usually very good for this.
Morevover, I always trust INTPs because I know deep down they always search for absolute truth and nothing else…so why wouldn’t I trust an INTP? lol. But I’ll let you in on a little secret, INTJs love to move things along because infinite tangents just means nothing ever gets done and we get headaches, afterall we are system builders; the doers, not the thinkers. We get shit done.
But just as an aside, it’s also nice to know, we’re both incredibly socially retarded types. Ha!
This conversation makes me happy - positive views on INTP/INTJ interactions and relationships from both sides of the picture. And between dismalflux and thelithiumcat, they’ve described much of what I love about the INTJs in my life and my friendships/relationships with INTJs. ♥
