itspretentious:

Sometimes my mother really confuses me. For the past several months I’ve been certain she was ESFJ. Then she goes and does something to throw me again.

Me, mum, and dad were talking about our methods for solving sudoku. Me and dad both said that we start at 1, find any we can, then move onto 2 and so on. Then go back to the start and go round again. Mum said that she didn’t understand that mentality at all, and would just pick any number which looked like there were a lot, then pick any other easy-looking one after that, and so on.

But surely, ‘our’ method is what you would expect of S-types? And mum’s is what Ns would be expected to do. But as far as I can tell, I’m Ne my dad is almost certainly Ni or possibly Ne, and my mum is almost certainly an SJ with Si. What is going on? Advice welcome.

Well, Ti is a very logical function so it would actually make sense for you to solve sudoku in a methodical manner. Whereas maybe an ESFJ, who has inferior Ti, just goes with whatever feels right?

Or maybe you’re both being logical, but you prioritize differently—you and your father move in numerical sequence (which has the advantage of making sure you don’t skip any numbers) whereas your mother goes by whatever seems to have the most information available (which might help her solve the puzzle faster)?

I use the same method as you when I solve sudoku puzzles—though if I see some really obvious answers then I do break the sequence. My mother, who is an ISFP, doesn’t seem to work in any particular order. She just stares at the puzzle and then fills in whatever strikes her, though I think she does work in some order mentally. We used to do puzzles together over breakfast on lazy weekend mornings, but it got really irritating after a while because I wanted to keep filling answers and I couldn’t if she was hogging the computer (we do puzzles online). It always felt like she was taking forever to fill things in. (I’m also kind of a bitchy backseat sudoku-er, I guess.) I’m not sure if the apparent disparity in our puzzle solving abilities is because Ti-Ne is more optimal for that sort of problem than Fi-Se, or because I just do more sudoku than her. (Probably both—she’s way better than me at solitaire, though.)

going through the INTP tag

scrolling past the 91398741238947 people that claim to be “between types” or “two types omggg guyz”

i wish i could mass-message anyone who says that an introduction to cognitive functions but replying to everyone individually is exhausting (and they’ll probably just think i’m creepy because i’m a stranger who pops up all of a sudden to educate them about MBTI)

but it’s just so frustrating when other people talk about something and i know what they’re saying is WRONG

posedeia:

my ENTJ boyfriend asked me the other day, and I’ve been wondering ever since.

Honestly, ENTJ seems like the most optimal arrangement of personality strengths to me, so it makes sense to me that he would like his type.

And although I do think having more dominant thinking and being extroverted could be nice, I like my personality type(INFJ), too. I’m aware of my shortcomings, especially after learning about MBTI, and I’m working toward fixing them, but unlike most other areas of my life where I’m a bit of a perfectionist I find these MBTI related “flaws” to be almost endearing, if that makes any sense? Could it be because I value my personality strengths so highly that it overshadows my feeling for the weak functions? For instance, I know having strong Fe can make me a little irrational and emotional, and I do try to stay rational but when I’m overcome with emotion I accept it as a beautiful and uncontrollable part of life, whereas a Thinker might just think it’s silly.

So what are your experiences, how do you feel about your personality type?

I’m an INTP, and I’d say I like my personality type, though I don’t think it’s perfect. (To be honest, I’m not sure I want to try and fix my flaws. Mainly what people talk about is getting more in touch with emotions, which doesn’t seem necessary to me.)

As for what types I get along with…certainly other NTs are the people click with the fastest. (A good example is one of the only INTPs I’ve met in person. We were playing Apples to Apples at a club meeting—though it was a homemade version that was really more like Cards Against Humanity—and she and I ended up playing as a team. We always gravitated towards the same card each time without even thinking about it.) I think a lot of my friends are NTs.

That doesn’t mean I don’t get along with other types, though. I have NF friends, and maybe even a couple ST friends. SF is the problem category, because then we have no dominant functions in common. (My mom is an ISFP. Sharing a house with her was not fun, and even though our relationship is much better now we still argue over the phone a lot.) That’s not to say that I couldn’t get along with an SF…it just wouldn’t be as comfortable as hanging out with an NT.

I’m not sure what personality type I’m most attracted to (though when I tried a test on similarminds it said ENTP) but it’s definitely easier to get to know someone who is just slightly more extroverted than I am. The INTP chameleon thing means that I naturally clam up around other introverts (unless I know we have something in common, like fandom or music). If we’re judging by fictional characters then the trend is mostly NTs, with the odd NF thrown in. (Generally it’s the type of NF that often gets mistaken for an NT, since they’re very rational.)