“Philosophers”, “architects”, “dreamy professors”… These epithets are most often used to describe the INTP personality type. INTPs love theories and believe that everything can be analyzed and improved. They are not that concerned about the real world and practical things – from the INTPs’ perspective, it is often less exciting than ideas and intellectual pursuits. People with this personality type have no difficulties noticing patterns where others cannot – this makes them brilliant theorists and analysts.
The accumulated knowledge is the most valued asset of any INTP. Imagine an immensely complicated clockwork which is constantly absorbing, processing and generating all kinds of theories – this is how the INTP mind works. People with the INTP personality type possess the most logically precise mind of all personality types – they can easily notice even the tiniest discrepancies between two statements, no matter how much time would have passed in between. It is a bad idea to lie to an INTP. They may appear dreamy sometimes, but this is not because their mind is resting – quite the opposite.
INTPs are enthusiastic and impartial when it comes to dealing with problems – they drill through the details and then develop a unique approach and ultimately a viable solution. INTPs are usually very intelligent and insightful people, able to remain unbiased in any situation. They absolutely love new ideas and theories and would never miss an opportunity to discuss them with other people – however, this never-ending thinking process also makes them look somewhat pensive and detached, as INTPs are perfectly able to conduct full-fledged debates in their own heads.
People with this personality type may also find it quite difficult to explain their thoughts to others, even when it becomes obvious that their theories are not easily graspable. INTPs may also move on to another topic before their co-workers or partners have figured out what the INTP wanted to say.
INTPs cannot stand routine work – they would much rather tackle a difficult theoretical problem. INTP personalities really have no limits when it comes to theoretical riddles – if there is no easy solution and the topic is interesting enough, an INTP can spend ages trying to come up with a solution.
INTP personalities are usually very shy and reluctant when it comes to meeting other people. However, INTPs can also be very friendly and confident when they interact with people they know well or talk about things that interest them. INTPs are flexible and relaxed in nearly all situations, except when their beliefs or logical conclusions are being criticized. In those cases, the INTP is likely to become very defensive and argue tirelessly.
Sharing many personality traits with other T types, INTPs do not really understand or value decisions based on feelings or subjective opinions. In their opinion, the only good solution is the logical solution – INTPs do not see a point in using emotional arguments. Such an approach preserves the “sanctity” of their intellectual method; however, this also makes it difficult for INTP personalities to understand other people’s feelings or satisfy their emotional needs.
Individuals with the INTP personality type are likely to be very open-minded and even eccentric. These traits, combined with their capacity for inventiveness and original thought, make up a very
Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends on your frame of reference.
powerful mix – it is not surprising that INTPs are responsible for many scientific discoveries. An INTP is unlikely to care much about social expectations and the “usual” goals such as job security – however, they will do their best to find an environment where their creative genius and potential can be expressed.
One of the few bottlenecks that INTPs impose upon themselves is their restless fear of possible failure. No other personality type worries that much about missing a piece of the mental puzzle or overlooking some crucial fact that might lead to a better solution. Unlike their more confident INTJ or ENTJ cousins, INTPs could spend ages reflecting on their actions. Even when an INTP is arguing with someone, this should be taken with a grain of salt – they might as well be arguing with their own mind.
Keep reading:
Some famous INTPs:
Socrates, philosopher
Rene Descartes, philosopher
Blaise Pascal, mathematician, philosopher
Isaac Newton, physicist
Carl Jung, psychologist
Albert Einstein, physicist
James Madison, the former U.S. president
Dwight D. Eisenhower, a former U.S. president
Gerald Ford, former U.S. president
Tiger Woods, professional golfer
i came to realise i was an intp, from reading about enfp’s.. I found myself to be quite similar to an enfp, but my anxiety and continual questioning of whether or not I am intelligent, has reduced me to a state or continual state of thinking analysing and logically putting this together:
either I’m intelligent enough to call myself stupid, or not stupid enough to call myself intelligent.
and also, isn’t intelligence a part of problem-solving? therefore I am stupid because I can’t problem solve – or find any solutions to problems, but realise I think and have abstraction and inisght into things… – which I guess is also intelligence..
so do the two differ?
and yes, relationships are very powerful things for me!
That line, “either I’m intelligent enough to call myself stupid, or not stupid enough to call myself intelligent.” has officially become my motto for life! I too am an INTP (But hey, so is Sherlock Holmes). Anyway, thanks for those great lines.
Carly –
I’m an INTP and I can be very sociable too; people seem to enjoy my company and attempts at wit. However, while I can be quite amusing at parties, I find it tiring, and I never reveal anything about -me. They don’t need to know who I really am, and so I give the public a lot of misinformation even playing the excentric for my own amusement. Still, I find it tiring. As an example of this, I found myself thinking about giving up my favorite coffee shop the other day because too many people there know me and talk to me.
When I want to relax, I want my coffee and my book, and my peace.
May I say, I agree wholeheartedly with your statement! As I’m still in school, I find it – people – aggravating. The only thing that DOESN’T annoy me, to be frank, is the library, with all it’s plentiful books! … Honestly? You’d think my fellow teenagers had never cracked open a book in they’re life, and they say, and allow my rather cliché statement, but they say the most mundane and illogical of statements(I.E., “Aw, look at my butt sparkle!”) And I’ve a friend who brags, has the true audacity to brag, that she has only read three books from class assignments! Honestly, if that’s not bad enough, I’m stuck in a room where I have these dictionary-sized books, and everyone stares! And – huh, I suppose ‘and’ is my new favorite word – , my vocabulary is far more inhabited then the average adults!
Honestly. I blame superior intelligence.
But all-in-all, I recommend Art, or maybe the Violin(As I aim to begin this summer!), Music, Dance, Books, or even just doodling!
Of course, this is mainly for someone who can’t process pall of her or his thoughts at once, but learn from my mistake, don’t get addicted to it!
I love the library! I go for fun and the hardest part is picking out only one or two books because I know I only have time for that many.
I have often said I would like to be able to stay healthy while not sleeping. There is so much I want to read and learn.
I wonder if anyone else is an artist and an INTP and finds the combination difficult. The “fear of failure” thing is true and can lead to a goal of perfectionism — the nemesis of creativity. I’m trying to get over myself, though.
Same here.
Same here, I am an INTP musician and it does not work well together! lol
I think I have an Idea that may help you “get over yourself” while also helping you use the goal of perfectionism to motavate you on your next project.
I am just starting out as an INTP artist, looking to major in 3-D animation. Its not so much that I fear other people won’t like my work, because most people don’t ever thing more in debth on artwork than looks good/bad, but I fear wether or not I will like my work. I’ve had this problem of perfectionism when it comes to my art for a while, and although I would love my most recently finished art peice when it was done and everything was as near-perfect as possible, over time, say a month, I would start to see more flaws, have more criticism for it and eventually hate my past work. You need to remember that you are your biggest critique and likely noone else will ever look more deeply into your own artwork with an extream bias than you.
What I do to avoid this is remind myself how much I loved it upon completion by immediately critiquing it, with a small paragraph. When I look back I see how I felt, and although I do not feel this any longer, I say that this was the best possible peice of art I could do at that time, and since then I have learned more, and critiqued more, not for worse but for the better because now I can go on to one-up an art peice of mine I once thought, at the time of completion, was perfect.
Needing perfection and trying to teach oneself how to play piano do NOT go together. Just as being a writer who publishes over the internet (fanfiction.net) and needing the wording to be just perfect make writing a decent story impossible. I agree; perfectionism is the arch nemesis of creativity, but it can’t be helped. Good luck getting over it!
INTP Here, and I am confused by the Richard Dawkins picture. He doesn’t come across as an INTP, he’s an ISTP.
Hi Laura. Have you really spend some time with that? I would agree on Dawkins being INTP and it seems most people place him as being one (not that a majority makes something true of course). But I have been giving it quite some time and thought after countless hours video/books and understanding the system quite well.
Art: illusions of senses, seeing with your eyes closed, allocation of creation/destruction
My friend introduced me into this personality type test much to my chagrin. I always felt I was a bit over the top when it came to talking about ideas with people, especially when they finish talking about what they believe and i am “uh thats it?”. Though I feel trapped in some sense by this analysis of myself because i dont want to admit that I’m a “type” of anything.
@Nick, I really understand what you are saying about not knowing if you are intelligent or not. There are many times i find myself wishing i were much more simple because getting along while trying to be yourself is a rather stressful task.
I wish the author had proofread this. One spelling mistake: “though” should be “thought”.
Oops… Thank you for flagging this up!
I have been with a hard core INTP since uni. He got kicked out of two high schools growing up, did no work, but would ace the maths C exam with little effort. He used to shut the door on people if they visited his house to play as a kid. He did his entire computing science degree without owning a computer, and one night sat there and unknowingly derived Plank’s constant from first principles coz he had an idea (ah, he didn’t do physics at school and didn’t know who Plank was – see previous comment regarding expulsion in high school!!). I did physics at uni, so recognised what he was deriving, and that was my first clue to being with, well… let’s face it, a genius!
This type should not be underestimated because they are quiet and “zoning out” – they will be responsible for ground breaking discoveries, just don’t expect a big “woo har’ when they do, they are celebrating on the inside : )
. SURPRISINGLY, i am a hard core ESFP! Its an interesting combination, but i “apparently” am not fussy and can cope with any type !? SO, i feel privileged to be friends and be with an INTP. (this long comment would be driving him nuts right now …. “dot points” is what he’s thinking…!!)
Embrace your inner nerd, and change the world INTP’s! We need you
I am INTP and my husband ESFP, Sometimes I wonder how it works but it just does. The only letter we have in common is P which makes us both easygoing, we love dreaming and scheming and making it up as we go along. Other than that we have totally different ways of trying to convince the other, me being rational and him emotional, and he is obviously much more outgoing than I. I like being with people who are the opposite of me, that way I am always learning and benefiting from their different perspective.
That was awesome. What a good friend you are, and I have to say I’m glad we’re all rooting for INTP’s. We all need to work together and do our parts with righteousness’.
Congratulations on upgrading the website, awesome user interface!
Just found out I was an INTP, which makes a lot of sense. I’ve always found it weird that nobody understood anything I said, or why others would just stare at me when I somehow am able to create links between two things which are most unusual. However, I don’t get it with the lack of emotions stuff… Therefore, I think it’s very hard for me to tell whether I’m INTP or INFJ- I don’t rely on feelings nor thoughts predominantly, as with judgement or perceiving, and everything changes according to the situation. Rather, I have a combination of both – making lists and bringing closure, but postponing and acting to the last minute at the same time. So, after this, I’m still not too sure ._. I might be leaning towards INTP predominantly, though…
To Celeste (Mar 6th, 2012)
but I’ve a tendecy to control my emotions by thoughts, so I never experience strong emotions, nor outbursts. This however, has caused severe problems on my emotional system, that I no longer know what I’m really feel about things cause ALL my feelings are corrupted by my own thoughts!! Turning backward though, experiencing more “true” emotions recently, leading to better compassion & much stronger intuition. Please reply whether or not u experienced these things, or it is just me!
I’m also not quite sure if I’m an INTP or INFJ. Fit better with INFJ though, great intuition
Whelp! Late reply O_O;; I sometimes experience outbursts of emotion (usually they’re positive and purposefully dramatic, but they can sometimes be negative if I’m practically losing it) I try to control emotions using my thoughts (sometimes I have an open book of a personality) so my problem here is too much emotion. Sometimes, though, I alternate between periods of feeling emotionless to being filled to the brim with random emotions. I tend to dissociate myself from reality at times, so, yes, it can be said I experience similar things. However, just wondering, have you ever had something like this before? (ie, rapid swings between emotion and lack of emotion)
I made a response below which might be helpful on the subject of INTPs and emotions (dated 17/05/2013). My initial feeling is that you are a INFJ who has been told to value logic more. Having said that I don’t know how INTPs deal with emotion outside of myself, and it may very well be different according to gender (I am male)- gender and culture are things which are always missing in these discussions.
p.s. its unhelpful the way they speak here about INTPs and emotions, we are human and we can relate to other human beings!!
Always wondered why everyone around me enjoys small talk and I only want to discuss the most complex things as in depth as possible…and of course I love debating, I will even debate a point I don’t necessarily agree with just to prove I’m the better debater…or just have a million intriguing conversations in my head and not understand why people say I’m quiet ^^, I love being an INTP and I’m in an amazing relationship with an ENTP guy <3 the art thing I totally get, I do graphic design as a hobby and work on something for months only to totally scrap it if someone doesn't think its amazing..the need to be perfect is extremely tiring!
Why cant the world be filled with INTP. Then I wouldn’t have to argue with people that can’t seem to get past their own feelings, and i wouldn’t get interupted when people think I’m zoning off like today.
No I’m not zoning out, I’m thinking about the universe and the possibility that it is nothing more than a singular consciousness and that God is merely a peg on the evolutionary heirarchy of said consciousness, based on a more logical form of free will.
People need to not interupt intps that are lost in thought as our thoughts are so much more important than what happened to them today. Good info on here though. Now I can show my gf so she stops saying ‘I know’ when I’m explaining things because sometimes I’m not really talking to her, I’m trying to figure somthing else out and what I’m saying is just a part of it. lol
Yep, a super-consciousness is probably true!! But I also think that may be, the world are formed by basic logic links (u cannot NOT eating in the exact moment when u’re eating;…) & we cannot go against those basic building blocks, meaning we have limits that are unpassable. Lead to some good consequences, still checking them out!there is the chance that an ultimate principle exist, too! Seeking for it!
You guys should all be my friends, I have so much stuff I need to express…. I could burst…., I’m currently in the process at my attempt at writing a book. I need more time, and knowledge to pack into it though, besides that I dedicate most of my time to my family; one of whom is a toddler, and a job. It’d be so great to take over a coffee shop for a few hours and meet up with people like you folks though, I’m almost sure some of us could start up a network of ever flowing information’s to share. The world does need some push in a better direction for the overall good for humanity and the circle of life. Thanks for letting me say that.
This INTP summary is so right about zoning out and coming up with theories. Sometimes in the middle of a conversation ill just zone out at the slightest mention of something and just start analysing it. I’ve always been shy and read a lot, people will tell me that i’m so quiet, that I should talk more. During small talk I will become irritated and bored because I find it tedious, and tiring. But when it comes to a subject I love or am extremely fascinated by I can talk all day about it becoming absorbed in the conversation and relishing the vast knowledge on it.
I understand about the art thing to I love to draw it’s one of my hobbies, but im always worring woring if other people will like and second guessing myself. But no matter what I love being a INTP
There are so many things here that I connect with… especially the part about whenever there’s an extremely hard problem, socially or intellectually, I need to find an ANSWER. In fifth grade I spoiled my own surprise party by interrogating my friends about what they were whispering about. And not too long ago I ruined a close-relationship between a friend and I because of this.
At least I got an answer from him in the end though… and I turned out to be right all along, even though what I thought seemed to be impossible in the eyes of others. ^^ (Long story, moral is: never lie to an INTP.)
Although… I don’t think I’m completely an INTP. I am a very weak T, and a lot of the things that classify INFP apply to me as well. I am interested in music and writing, and I also feel some urge to try to change society in some enormous way. (Just haven’t found out in what way yet.) Also, socially I’m becoming less of what I said in the paragraph above, because I have found that has had consequences for me. (One of my friends is a chronic liar and it seems to be completely obvious to me and no one else, but I just stick a sock in my mouth and say nothing. One time she said her mom was arrested and jailed for something and then I see her mom LATER THAT NIGHT. I mean, she could at least be a good liar…)
But besides those things I feel like an INTP. I’m as shy as hell, and spaced out all the time. One time I spaced out while looking directly at a guy I didn’t even know, and he thought I had a crush on him after class. It sucked. I love debating though, even though I’m consciously aware of people’s feelings while I debate, which holds me back. (Like I said, I’m a weak T.) And I’m constantly thinking about things, like potential situations that could occur or some form of philosophy or something. I feel like my head is a constant conversation.
Anyways, this is a long post. I could go on, but I’m going to stop it here. With these kind of topics I can go on forever. FARK YEAH INTPs Y’ALL!!!!!!
I… I really don’t feel this is right. I answered the questions honestly, and as best as I could, but I honestly do not feel I am an INTP. I’m not smart at all, I fail all my classes. I tend to daydream and not care about the real world, but I am in no way a genius or a philosopher.. I’m just, a person. I don’t see this as who I am at all. I’m actually pretty depressed at this being who I am… And I don’t know why I feel this way. I wish I could be like the rest of you, being proud of my personality, and if this is who I am really, then I’m glad that I’m not something worse, but I don’t feel this is me at all…
No worries mate. You aren’t the only one. While the INTP may be stereotyped as some genius Einstein, keep in mind that he was one of the more exceptional breeds/minds of our type. Not everyone is going to come up with something so radically thought provoking that it will land them in the history books
INTP need something that they hold interest to be motivated with mental stimulation. Otherwise, the repetitiveness will bore the heck out of an otherwise fine INTP student. Unfortunately, schools usually hold to more…. Dry means of learning for our type. If the subject holds no interest for you, then you will naturally drift off into dreamland. It isn’t uncommon for me to do so.
I’m INTP too, i’m an engineer, chess player, and writer.
i love the music and the paints.
the worst things i do: 1. i love the perfection. 2. always i’m late!
my dream is to work as a designer..
“english language isnt my mother language… maybe u find mistakes “
Believe me Newton was INTJ not INTP. I have researched his characters and he is definitely INTJ.
I’m definately an INTP
- I overthink everything, I’m permanently debating in my head but I’m shit at expressing my ideas to others.
-I don’t trust anything people tell me untill I know for sure it’s true
-People think I’m a ‘daydreamer’ and that I’m ‘Slow’ even when I’m clearly cleverer than they are
-I hate people who try to be leaders and tell me what to do, but I’m not much of a leader myself
-I like spending time by myself
-I’m terrified of failure to the point where I refuse to do a lot of things because I don’t want to fail
However I would say that I’m not a prententious douche bag like some of you appear to be.
I love my friends and I enjoy talking to them, often other people have great ideas (although that depends on who you associate with)
And even if people are stubborn in their poorly thought through veiws, I’m still nice to them and forgive them. It can actually be quite funny, it just depends how you look at it.
we have the same qualities of
Sherlock Holmes
i guess we might add him to the list
depends on which sherlock holmes- he is portrayed differently according to the series/production
I see what you mean Holly, but will point out that only a pretentious douche bag would call someone a pretentious douche bag.
I wouldn’t say that INTPs are free from bias. We can have a strong J tendency when we feel our values are threatened or under stress.
I am an example of this myself, sometimes being irrational in bouts of strong emotion. Thus as to why I reserve myself as a thinker, just to triumph over these tidbits of rage.
And sometimes our greatest strength can also be our greatest weakness.
I often find myself hesitating when writing a story to get the wording just the way I like it.
Descriptions are a pain to say the least.
I have been in a long term relationship with my INTP I – 50%, N 30%, T 90%, P 75% for about 2 years. I’m an ENTP E – 64%, N – 34%, T – 52%, P – 44%. We both really love to debate issues and solve puzzles together. We play many board games and have late into the night discussions! I bring out his social side by including him in my circle of really intelligent outgoing friends.
My biggest challenge at first was getting him to show me he cares! I know all you INTP’s are thinking….”he’s with you…of course he cares…why would he waste his time if he didn’t!” But it took quite a bit of research to understand what is going on under the surface. I needed to give him time and be patient, but I was way too inquisitive for that! I prodded him until he admitted that he does not trust people and it did not occur to him to tell me how much I meant to him or show any sort of emotions. His biggest fear was that he would let down the walls of his inner fortress surrounding his delicate crystal heart for me to leave him for someone else on a whim. He thought to himself “what if I commit everything to this person and in 10 years they leave me.”
We also get along well because I let him unwind and re-charge everyday for a few hours when he gets home from work and then he comes to me ready to talk. This is something I greatly struggled with at first; being super Extraverted I would come home ready to explode with new ideas! I also think he appreciates and understands me better because his best friend growing up was an ENTP guy.
I just wanted you all to know that it is possible to have someone appreciate how amazing and rare you INTPs are.
How good it is to realize that there are others like me!! I am not the only one!
Not that I would be at all uncomfortable being the only one of my kind- instead, I am enthused because I have long daydreamed about people who think like me.
It’s also sort of nice to have some conformation that I’m not going insane. ^_^
I don’t understand! I fit perfectly into this and ISTP! Some tests say INTP, others say ISTP, all with only a tiny percentage on the second letter (the largest I’ve gotten is 14, the smallest is 1)! Is it possible to be both?
Myers Briggs and Kiersey the ones who put the theories forward said that personality is fixed from birth but character can change. If their theory is right you are one or the other. Personally I think the test is limited in its use and would say to look at the descriptions, but also look at other descriptions elsewhere on the internet
I am an INTP male and want to comment on the section on emotions- also might be helpful for those trying to figure out whether they are INTPs or INFJs (above).
First of all the one thing that really annoys me about INTP type descriptions that I read is that we’re made out to be completely insensitive and incapable of relating to others emotionally. This might have been true when I was a kid! but as I grew up I realized that people aren’t like me and I must learn to understand other people. Secondly I don’t appreciate the language in this description which makes it seem that an INTP doesn’t value emotions, again this might have been true when I was young but people grow and mature.
So how do I see emotions?
For me emotions aren’t something I need to suppress or ignore, they are fascinating and I spend huge amounts of time analyzing them and pondering the basis for them; they reveal so much about myself and others and must be studied if I’m going to at least attempt/pretend to make objective decisions. It is natural for me to make decisions by heavily leaning on reasoned arguments which go on in my head, but this does not mean that I don’t consider emotions (a case in point is the deciding who might make a good marital partner- emotions are v. important). Furthermore I understand that others can pick up on someone’s feelings better than myself and are therefore justified to make more use of them in their decision making.
The problem comes in that I am not normally aware of the emotions I am feeling- I am not suppressing or hiding them, I’m just not thinking about them. Sometimes I cry, or am overwhelmingly happy and I don’t know why- so I need to go away and reflect on it. However when I am aware of my emotions and the reasons behind them (unless they are ridiculously personal) I have no problem sharing them with anybody. This I think is quite unlike others who will share emotions with people they trust and know very well.
For myself, I am an INTP female. I was hyper-aware of the emotions of others from an early age; perhaps because I was so different and sought to seem like the ordinaries,
Yet even now in my 50s, I have much finer discrimination for other’s emotions than my own. I know my Anger, my Fear, my Love, but the nuances of feeling remain hidden to me still.
For INTPs who would grasp more of emotion I recommend looking for web lists of emotion words. Hold each word close to your heart and FEEL it. Should it arise naturally (that emotion) you will give the proper label.
I am very grateful for the comments sections on this page. For a while I doubted myself and was convinced that I was not who I was and that I was essentially worthless and would never accomplish anything. I was convinced that I was not creative or imaginative or good at abstract thought and coming up with theories and seeing connections. People would say that I was smart but I just could not really see it. I love science but was, until recently, convinced I would fail at it. Reading these comments helped me realize that I could do a lot of things and that I am in fact an INTP. So I would like to say thank you to you all because for a while I was drifting through space getting farther and farther from myself and you guys sort of brought me back. I was asking so many questions that I knew could never be answered and that scared me and made me feel worthless but this has helped me accept the fact that I will never get the answers but that that is okay because that means there will always be questions to be answered. I now know this is who I am, not all of me just sort of how my mind works. It’s weird because usually I suck at expressing myself, especially my emotions, but maybe because this is writing it is different. Anyway, I have a question. Is this a me thing or an INTP thing where when you have a timer you tend to do a lot worse. On a test for example, if you are given an hour to do it and you just do so much worse because you know you only have an hour and then all of a sudden you cannot process things properly. I don’t know its hard to explain but maybe you’ll understand or something. So yeah.