Sunday, February 25, 2018

80 Signs You're An INTJ: A Response to Buzzfeed, Part I



Hey, everyone.

As you know, one of my favorite things to do is to read articles where people claim things about INTJs, and then I bring them here to either refute or support them. This time around, I found a rather lengthy article from Buzzfeed called "80 Signs You're an INTJ." What else could I do but pick up the challenge? But because it is 80 signs, I'm going to split this bad boy up into four parts. It's easier to digest that way and it helps increase my blog views. But I would say that the original article is worth a look as it contains a gif or picture for every sign as well as further commentary on some of the signs.

So, let's take a look at this bad boy, but before we do that I want to remind you all that you can support my blog through Patreon. One dollar a month goes a long way to supporting it, and five dollars goes even further. That's just 17 cents a day. Also, I just reworked my Patreon so it's more appealing to readers of my blog.

Anywhoozies...

1. You feel like an alien visiting a distant planet. (It's equal parts amusing and disenchanting.)

I really don't know what to say to this one. It isn't unusual for me to feel like the people around me are either stupid or beneath me in some way, but I never feel like an alien. Unless this sign is from the perspective of others, in which case I can't comment because I'm not other people. But as for the amusing and disenchanting part, that seems to be true enough. People either find my company and brutal honesty entertaining or weird.

2. You didn't have to look up disenchanting just now.

Seriously? People need to look up the word "disenchanting?" (You get a pass if you're younger than 11.)

3. Meta-judging.

I don't know what this is. I had to look up the word "meta" just to make sure I knew and understood what it meant. We really don't question it anymore now that people can master in metaphysics. But according to Wikipedia, meta indicates "a concept which is an abstraction behind another concept, used to complete or add to the latter." So, is meta-judging judging beyond judging? Or is it the practice in trying to figure out the concept of judging? Is what I'm doing right now meta-judging? I can't freaking tell. Who came up with this concept? My brain is starting to hurt.

4. The prospect of research gets you excited.

I wouldn't say it gets us excited. We do enjoy doing it so long as we're interested in whatever we're researching and so long as we're doing it of our own accord. I never really enjoyed doing research for my college papers, but I do like researching MBTI, archery, and sex techniques. But I don't get excited.

5. Delusional people bring out your misanthropy.

There's a lot of different kinds of people who bring out our misanthropy.

And that's another word I didn't need to look up.



6. You come across as aloof on first meeting.

First meeting? I thought we were always aloof unless we liked you or you somehow found a way to tap into our passions.

7. Since appeals to emotion leave you cold.

I wouldn't say it leaves us cold so much as we don't allow emotional appeals to affect us. We're not necessarily cold, we just stay rational.

8. You have a secret rebellious streak.

It's obviously not that secret. INTJs are kind of like assassins from Assassin's Creed. Everyone knows who and what we are and what we're about, but we don't go around broadcasting our presence or announcing our arrival, ergo our rebellious streak always seems like a surprise when it shows up.

9. You have immutable principles.

This is very true. As I found out recently, this is due to our tertiary cognitive function, introverted feeling (Fi), which is hilarious. It's actually extremely ironic that we have an Fi as it is also the cognitive function that allows for a strong sense of empathy and types with it are supposed to be very in touch with their feelings. So, how is it that we have one aspect of Fi, but not the other? Or is it that most INTJs, those with an underdeveloped Fi, have moralities based off logic rather than a sense of right and wrong? I'll be speculating further on this in a later post.

10. You're blunt when you respect someone.

That's sort of true. I mean, some of us try not to hurt a person's feelings when it's a person we like, but we do always try to be honest. And we are more likely to be honest with someone we respect. Whereas with someone we don't respect...

11. You habitually converse in layers of sarcasm, lofty reference, and riddle.

Hoo-boy. Ain't that the truth? The only difference between the sarcasm, lofty reference, and riddle we give to a person we respect versus a person we don't respect is that the sarcasm, lofty reference, and riddle isn't laced with insults. Or at least, insults that are actually meant to insult rather than just tease. But either way, it's a very fun way of conversing. This might be one of the reasons why I became an English major. I love speaking in Shakespearean and other poetical dialogues.



12. Your pet peeve in others is incompetency.

I wouldn't call it a "pet peeve." More like "something that pisses us right the f*ck off." And there are a lot of things about others besides incompetency that has that effect. Not to mention, we loathe incompetency in ourselves just as much as in others. Possibly more so.

13. You keep expectations low and downgrade accordingly.

I don't know about this one. Maybe that's true about events, but I don't think it is about people. After all, would we not be so disappointed in the human race if we didn't think it could to do better? 'Course though, nothing really surprises us, but I think that has more to do with us being so open-minded.

14. Your pragmatism can be scary to sensualists.

What the hell is a sensualist? Is that like one of those capital offenders in Equilibrium or 1984?



 

(After looking up sensualist.)

No wonder this one confuses me. What the hell does pragmatism have to do with a person who excessively pursues sensual pleasures and interests?

(After looking up pragmatism to make sure I knew what it meant.)

I'm still f*cking confused. Are you telling me pleasure seekers aren't pragmatic in their pursuit of pleasure? Or that they're willing to go beyond what is practical just for the sake of pleasure? ...Okay, that makes some sense. In which case, yeah, f*ck those people.

15. When you decide on a course you are unwavering.

This is mostly true, but as unwavering as we can be, while that might be admirable in the face of certain adversity, there are times when it is just plain stubborn, especially when your intuition is telling you that you're making the wrong decision.

16. You are hasty in doling out consequences.

At first we are. Hell hath no fury like an INTJ who is made a fool of. But, if we take a step back and allow our brains to work for a while, we can usually come up with better and fairer consequences. However, there will always be consequences.



17. You have a low tolerance for the norm.

Not quite. We have a low tolerance for the mundane. The norm doesn't really bother us unless we really don't like it and it's being thrust upon us. But some of us deal with the norm quite well. That of course depends on what norm we're speaking of, like the norm of having a regular career versus wanting to do something that will actually make an impact even if it doesn't really pay.

18. You experiment with social taboos to see what will happen.

To some extent, yes. I have posted several Craigslist personals that weren't exactly kosher, or normal, or even what you would expect from someone who grew up in a conservative, Christian household. Unfortunately, they've all be fruitless.

19. At least, try to be less smug about the fallout.

Fallout of what? My social taboo experiments? There really hasn't been much fallout from those. I mean, there is occasionally fallout when I choose to go against the social norm, but I don't really do these just to see what will happen. I generally believe I'm in the right when I do these things, so what you're mistaking for smugness is actually validation.

20. Disrupting formal groups for personal amusement isn't good for your career.

Well, that sort of depends. Number one, what's your career, and two, are you the sort of INTJ who believes in professionalism in formal career settings? If that's the case, then no, the disruption is not good for our careers. We do try to maintain a professional attitude and keep a dignified reputation out in public, but if I end up getting somewhere in life due to my writing or blogging, I don't think dropping an F-bomb on Oprah will be all that damaging.





Well, you guys, that was the first twenty. That actually went quite quickly. I was expecting something much more intense to respond to. Anyway, that'll do it for now. I'll catch you all next time.

Keep writing, my friends.

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