#inrovert

MBTI is a wonderful and sad tool. On the one hand, there’s no surefire way to know someone’s type. On the other hand, there are countless thousands of little ways that type presents itself. I owe my success at typing others to my experience cataloging these quirks, and that’s what I’ll now impart.

Speaking Style

INTPs have a very unique and telltale manner of speech. When an INTP talks, there is an awkwardness. A slowness. Every few words there will be a tiny pause, only milliseconds long, but a trained ear can hear it. The reason they speak this way is that they are constantly reevaluating what they’re going to say. Constantly checking their words against what they believe, and deciding how best to adjust what they’re saying to more adequately express that belief. Because of the depth of Ti and the breadth of Ne, this process takes far longer than it does for other types. And despite years of searching, I have yet to find a non-INTP exhibit this nor an INTP who does not.

I should point out that everybody takes pauses, especially introverts. It’s the nature of the pauses that matters. Other people will speak fluidly, then take long pauses. INTPs will speak in a choppy manner punctuated by a pause every few seconds.

Problem Solving

When an ENTP solves problems, their approach is to find patterns and connections. Some of these are internal patterns. As soon as they find one truth, they will try to populate any similar things with the same truth, often without checking to make sure that’s actually valid. Some of these are external patterns. ENTPs will recall other problems they’re familiar with that are related in some way to the problem they’re currently addressing, and they will try to map the solution to the problem they recalled onto the problem they’re addressing. Often without checking to make sure that’s actually valid.

When an INTP solves problems, there is no such thing. The INTP will dive directly into the logic of the problem, looking for as many ways as they can to prove simple declarative statements about the solution that they can use to narrow it down. This is this way, and that is this way, so this must be this way, which means that can’t be this. The INTP will do this exhaustively and meticulously until they have an impenetrable argument for the solution they eventually find. Now, often this solution is not as impenetrable as they believe because INTPs can often fail to see the “bigger picture” dynamics of what’s going on, inadvertently limiting the problems by making assumptions they aren’t aware of. However, within these potentially erroneous assumptions, their solution is invulnerable.

I have seen this crop up many times between my best friend (INTP) and me when we solve riddles or explore mathematics together. He will dive right into the meat, and I will say “no, there’s gotta be some clever way to approach this”. I will try to sum up the problem in simpler terms and generalize it, while he will try to wield the specifics of the problem to destroy it. He doesn’t care how the solution is reached, or whether it is elegant. He cares that it is true. And I care that it is pretty. Even if it isn’t true; if I find a pretty idea, and it isn’t the solution, I’ll just find a problem to which my idea is the solution so I can enjoy how pretty it is. And then I’ll argue with him about how my problem is superior.

Extraversion

Obviously, a lot of the differences between INTPs and ENTPs boil down to introversion and extraversion. What confuses people is that the everyday meaning of the word “introvert” has almost nothing to do with the Jungian definition. In typology, an introvert is a person who is primarily absorbed by their subjective interpretation of the world rather than the objective nature of the situation at hand. An extravert is the opposite, concerned with the situation more than their interpretation. The easiest way I’ve found to determine who is a Jungian introvert and who is a Jungian extravert is this:

An ENTP, when involved in a conversation, will take on a dominant role. They will actively contribute and often be a controlling force in the direction the conversation takes. When the ENTP is bored, they will leave altogether.An INTP, when involved in a conversation, will take on a submissive role. They will frequently recede back into their minds, absorbing the ideas, only contributing when they want to steer the conversation in a more interesting direction or away from an impending calamity they see.An ENTP, when having a deep one-on-one conversation, will be actively interested in you. They will want to discover a new connection they share with you, or explore a new idea with you, or learn about you, or show you something you didn’t know before about yourself. They take pleasure in novelty, enlightenment, and learning, and it’s all about you.An INTP, when having a deep one-on-one conversation, will be actively interested in talking about themselves. They will want to share all of their memories, experiences, convictions, beliefs, personal projects, and even emotions (yes, emotions). It’ll be fun for them to finally be able to share themselves with somebody else. And as some of you have come to know, when you get an INTP talking, they never, ever stop. Which to me is more endearing than it is annoying, though it is both.

Summary

Look for cases where Ne and Ti conflict. Does the person love finding connections and new ideas more than they love truth? ENTP. Does the person love logic and deduction and truth more than the elegance of the solution? INTP.