16 INTPs Explain The One Thing They Wish Others Understood About Their Personality
INTPs are the skeptical, ceaselessly curious rationals of the MBTI world. With this heavily introverted type, what you see is almost always just the tip of the iceberg. This week on my MBTI Facebook page, I asked INTPs what they wished other personalities understood about them. Here’s what they had to say.
1. “We’re not all science geeks!”
2. “A lot of people assume that I question/debate to win or because I always think I am right, but it is part of my learning process. Questioning is how you determine whether the new information stands up to logic and whether I should change what I know/believe. As an introvert, I then sit on my own and examine the discussion before actually changing my mind. Unfortunately, explaining that to people never really works.”
3. “Quietness is not arrogance or a lack of intelligence it is simply thoughtfulness. Silence is OK!”
4. “We are FAR richer/broader in humanity and depth than the MBTI type descriptions ever tell.”
5. “We aren’t as emotionally inept as you think we are. We’re just indifferent to the day-to-day drama going on around us.”
6. “We would so love to have the world our own way for a while without it being unthinkable to most people around. We are far more tolerant and adaptable than you might think, and we learn it the hard way. Fitting in can be exhausting so don’t look down on us when we are not doing it flawlessly.”
7. “We’re criticizing solely what you’re talking about, not you. Even if we’re saying your idea is stupid, it’s going to take more than one bad idea for us to pronounce you stupid; we’re not INTJs, you know (kidding…).”
8. “We do not ‘think about things too much.’ What can appear as ‘deep thinking’ to others is simple and obvious to us.”
9. “Ignorance of any kind annoys us. People who are constantly judging other people are frustrating because that’s a form of emotion-based ignorance. You’re assuming you know all the facts about someone’s situation when you usually know none of them.”
10. “Sharing insight and observations are NOT criticism.”
11. “Just because we aren’t as emotional as other types doesn’t mean we’re heartless. We can be very loyal and devoted to the people we love.”
12. “INTPs in fact, can be very emotional, and not just for people violating principles or not following our system of logic. We have empathy too. We cry too. We get frustrated too.”
13. “We’re not lazy. We just don’t care about the same things that you do. When we’re interested in something, we’ll work tirelessly on it. If we’ve been in our apartments for a week straight it doesn’t mean we’ve only been sleeping and eating Doritos… though we’ve probably also been sleeping and eating Doritos.”
14. “We actually are capable of showering and feeding ourselves, contrary to popular belief. Just doesn’t mean we always do it…”
15. “We need feelers in our lives to help us recognize our feelings but we also need our space. We like to leave most of our plans loose and open. The mundane is painfully boring.”
16. “We aren’t as stubborn as you think. When we have a strong opinion on something it’s because we’ve read everything – and I mean EVERYTHING about that topic and looked at it from every different angle. But if you know more than we do, we’ll listen to you. At the end of the day, we just want the most accurate information available.” 
