INTP personality

Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends
on your frame of reference.
Albert Einstein
The INTP personality type is fairly rare, making up only three percent of the
population, which is definitely a good thing for them, as there's nothing they'd be
more unhappy about than being "common". INTPs pride themselves on their
inventiveness and creativity, their unique perspective and vigorous intellect.
Usually known as the philosopher, the architect, or the dreamy professor, INTPs
have been responsible for many scientific discoveries throughout history.

The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living

INTPs are known for their brilliant theories and unrelenting logic - in fact, they are
considered the most logically precise of all the personality types.
They love patterns, and spotting discrepancies between statements could almost
be described as a hobby, making it a bad idea to lie to an INTP. This makes it
ironic that INTPs' word should always be taken with a grain of salt - it's not that
they are dishonest, but people with the INTP personality type tend to share
thoughts that are not fully developed, using others as a sounding board for ideas
and theories in a debate against themselves rather than as actual conversation
partners.
This may make them appear
unreliable, but in reality no one is
more enthusiastic and capable of
spotting a problem, drilling through
the endless factors and details that
encompass the issue and developing
a unique and viable solution than
INTPs - just don't expect punctual
progress reports. People who share
the INTP personality type aren't
interested in practical, day-to-day
activities and maintenance, but when they find an environment where their
creative genius and potential can be expressed, there is no limit to the time and
energy INTPs will expend in developing an insightful and unbiased solution.

Wisdom Begins in Wonder

They may appear to drift about in an unending daydream, but INTPs' thought
process is unceasing, and their minds buzz with ideas from the moment they
wake up. This constant thinking can have the effect of making them look pensive
and detached, as they are often conducting full-fledged debates in their own
heads, but really INTPs are quite relaxed and friendly when they are with people
they know, or who share their interests. However, this can be replaced by
overwhelming shyness when INTP personalities are among unfamiliar faces, and
friendly banter can quickly become combative if they believe their logical
conclusions or theories are being criticized.
When INTPs are particularly excited, the conversation can border on
incoherence as they try to explain the daisy-chain of logical conclusions that led
to the formation of their latest idea. Oftentimes, INTPs will opt to simply move on
from a topic before it's ever understood what they were trying to say, rather than
try to lay things out in plain terms.
The reverse can also be true when people explain their thought processes to
INTPs in terms of subjectivity and feeling. Imagine an immensely complicated
clockwork, taking in every fact and idea possible, processing them with a heavy
dose of creative reasoning and returning the most logically sound results
available - this is how the INTP mind works, and this type has little tolerance for
an emotional monkey-wrench jamming their machines.

Let Those Who Would Move the World First Move

Themselves
Further, with Thinking (T) as one of their governing traits, INTPs are unlikely to
understand emotional complaints at all, and their friends won't find a bedrock of
emotional support in them. People with the INTP personality type would much
rather make a series of logical suggestions for how to resolve the underlying
issue, a perspective that is not always welcomed by their Feeling (F)
companions. This will likely extend to most social conventions and goals as well,
like planning dinners and getting married, as INTPs are far more concerned with
originality and efficient results.
The one thing that really holds INTPs back is their restless and pervasive fear of
failure. INTP personalities are so prone to reassessing their own thoughts and
theories, worrying that they've missed some critical piece of the puzzle, that they
can stagnate, lost in an intangible world where their thoughts are never truly
applied. Overcoming this self-doubt stands as the greatest challenge INTPs are
likely to face, but the intellectual gifts - big and small - bestowed on the world
when they do makes it worth the fight.

Famous INTPs:
Socrates
Carl Jung
Gerald Ford

Rene Descartes
Albert Einstein

Blaise Pascal
James Madison

Isaac Newton
Dwight D. Eisenhower

INTP strengths and weaknesses

INTP Strengths

Great Analysts and Abstract Thinkers - People with the INTP

personality type view the world as a big, complex machine, and recognize
that as with any machine, all parts are interrelated. INTPs excel in
analyzing these connections, seeing how seemingly unrelated factors tie
in with each other in ways that bewilder most other personality types.
Imaginative and Original - These connections are the product of an
unrelenting imagination - INTPs' ideas may seem counter-intuitive at a
glance, and may never even see the light of day, but they will always
prove remarkable innovations.
Open-Minded - INTPs couldn't make these connections if they thought
they knew it all - they are highly receptive to alternate theories, so long as
they're supported by logic and facts. In more subjective matters like social
norms and traditions, INTPs are usually fairly liberal, with a "none of my
business" sort of attitude - peoples' ideas are what matter.
Enthusiastic - When a new idea piques their interest, INTPs can be very
enthusiastic - they are a reserved personality type, but if another person
shares an interest, they can be downright excited about discussing it.
More likely though, the only outward evidence of this enthusiasm will be
INTPs' silent pacing or their staring into the distance.
Objective - INTPs' analysis, creativity and open-mindedness aren't the
tools of some quest for ideology or emotional validation. Rather, it's as
though people with the INTP personality type are a conduit for the truths
around them, so far as they can be expressed, and they are proud of this
role as theoretical mediator.
Honest and Straightforward - To know one thing and say another would
be terribly disingenuous - INTPs don't often go around intentionally hurting
feelings, but they believe that the truth is the most important factor, and
they expect that to be appreciated and reciprocated.

INTP Weaknesses

Very Private and Withdrawn - While INTPs' intellectualism yields many

insights into their surroundings, their surroundings are ironically
considered an intrusion on their thoughts. This is especially true with
people - INTPs are quite shy in social settings. More complicated
situations such as parties exacerbate this, but even close friends struggle
to get into INTPs' hearts and minds.
Insensitive - Oftentimes INTP personalities get so caught up in their logic
that they forget any kind of emotional consideration - they dismiss
subjectivity as irrational and tradition as an attempt to bar much-needed
progress. Purely emotional situations are often utterly puzzling to INTPs,
and their lack of timely sympathy can easily offend.
Absent-minded - When INTPs' interest is captured, their absence goes
beyond social matters to include the rest of the physical world. INTPs

become forgetful, missing even the obvious if it's unrelated to their current
infatuation, and they can even forget their own health, skipping meals and
sleep as they muse.
Condescending - Attempts at connecting with others are often worse
than INTPs' withdrawal. People with the INTP personality type take pride
in their knowledge and rationale, and enjoy sharing their ideas, but in
trying to explain how they got from A to B to Z, they can get frustrated,
sometimes simplifying things to the point of insult as they struggle to
gauge their conversation partners' perspective. The ultimate insult comes
as INTPs give up with a dismissive "never mind".
Loathe Rules and Guidelines - These social struggles are partly a
product of INTPs' desire to bypass the rules, of social conduct and
otherwise. While this attitude helps INTPs' strength of unconventional
creativity, it also causes them to reinvent the wheel constantly and to shun
security in favor of autonomy in ways that can compromise both.
Second-Guess Themselves - INTPs remain so open to new information
that they often never commit to a decision at all. This applies to their own
skills as well - INTP personalities know that as they practice, they improve,
and any work they do is second-best to what they could do. Unable to
settle for this, INTPs sometimes delay their output indefinitely with
constant revisions, sometimes even quitting before they ever begin.

INTP friends
Many of the usual motivations for making friends - emotional support, social
validation, shared routine - simply don't apply to INTPs. More likely, these
concepts are met with disdain, as people with the INTP personality type prize
intellectual depth above all else. It is not easy to become good friends with
INTPs, but if there is a common interest and a common train of thought, the
connection is likely to spark instantly, surprising everyone else who thought they
had this distant personality type pegged.

Be Slow To Fall Into Friendship...

INTP friendships are knowledgebased, defined by the exchange of
ideas, theories, and concepts, and
those who aren't able to keep up with
this, or who have sharply differing
tastes (don't talk to INTPs about
celebrities) will find stony faces that
border on rude. To INTPs,
communication is often more of a
nuisance than a pleasure, and
conversation is reserved for topics
that they find meaningful, or for
people they already like enough to stick it out.

Unless there's a natural affinity for this intellectual style, few have the patience to
try to penetrate their shields, and INTPs are left with a naturally small circle of
good friends.
Other Analyst (NT) types are a natural fit for INTPs, who share their passion for
new ideas, riddles and solutions. People with the INTP personality type are
knowledgeable and intelligent, and have a great deal of respect for those who
can keep them on their toes in this regard. They will gladly help to tackle any
dilemma thrown their way, offering up sound advice and rational solutions. As
valuable as these qualities are though, they are not always the best approach when it comes to emotional support or advice in dealing with matters of the heart,
INTPs are at a loss.
It's not that INTP personalities don't feel - quite the contrary, they actually have
very strong sentiments. But Feeling (F) is one of INTPs' least developed traits,
making their emotional reactions strong, untrustworthy and naturally in need of
being tempered by their well-trained logic and rationalism. Still waters run deep.

...But When In Friendship, Continue Firm and

Constant
While they may not be able to help directly with these sorts of problems, INTPs
help indirectly with unambiguous and reliable friendships. INTPs' friends need
never worry about power games or emotional baggage - they are liked for their
minds and abilities, not their status or possessions. While it may not be easy to
establish true friendships with INTP personalities, once the link is made, they will
provide years of understanding and thought-stimulating ideas, making them well
worth the effort.

INTP parents
In parenting roles, as with many social roles, INTPs find themselves facing a
robust but healthy challenge. Not a naturally sensitive type, INTP personalities
struggle to identify with the raw emotions and irrationality that are often the
standard with young children, who have yet to develop the sort of self-control and
logical thinking that INTPs take for granted.
People with the INTP personality type are nevertheless incredibly devoted perhaps not in the traditional, emotionally supportive sense, but they are parents
who are committed to encouraging their growing children to think and act
independently, seek out new knowledge, and voice and defend their own
opinions.
For INTPs knowledge is key, and they will do their best to give their children the
tolerance and freedom necessary to acquire it. INTP parents take a relaxed,
intellectual approach towards their children, allowing them to explore the world
around them and overlooking the more minor offences along the way.
Having no interest in exerting control over other human beings, INTPs are likely
to allow their children to form their own principles - though they may take the
opportunity of the "why?" phase to share their own perspectives and ideas, just in
case.
INTP personalities are not particularly demanding parents, at least not in the
sense that they expect their children to live a traditional life of

school/career/marriage/house/kids/retirement (and in that order, thank you very

much). Rather, INTP parents are demanding in an intellectual sense - they want
their children to ask if this path is the best path for them, and how to go about
following a different one if they need to. This level of personal freedom can be
daunting, and can take a long time to come to terms with, but INTP parents are
prepared to stand by their children with support and advice for as long as they
need.
While there is hardly a better parent for having rational, intelligent discussions
with their children, there is hardly a clumsier example when it comes to providing
the emotional support that many children need, especially as they approach their
teenage years. In this area, INTPs will need to either rely on a more capable
partner, or to take themselves far out of their comfort zone in order to empathize
without trying to clear away the tears with an endless series of rational
suggestions and blunt truths.

Not Just Life, But Good Life

INTPs want nothing more than for their children to grow up smart, independent,
and tolerant, but if they want them to be well-adjusted too, they must make this
effort. INTPs' parenting style affords a great deal of latitude for their children, but
with this freedom comes responsibility, and it is INTPs' responsibility to ensure
that it is used constructively. Though it's a challenge for people with the INTP
personality type to teach empathy alongside rationality, if they are able to pull it
off, their children will grow into confident adults who know how to ask questions,
use their minds, and take care of themselves no matter what comes their way.

INTP careers
INTPs are solitary, eccentric, and independent - none of which is listed as
desirable for corporate positions, which are usually designed for very different
personality types. INTPs duly struggle in finding careers that meet their needs,
but what they do bring, qualities in much higher demand, are creativity, a passion
for theoretical methods and ideas, and an entrepreneurial, innovative spirit. If
they are able to put this better foot forward to secure a position in a suitable line
of work, people with the INTP personality type will find that, whatever the job
listing says, these "less desirable" qualities will prove an asset after all.

A Poem of Numbers
Chief among INTPs' interests is exploring and building models for underlying
principles and ideas, even going so far as to find these concepts, in their own
way, beautiful - this makes them natural mathematicians, systems analysts, and
career scientists, especially in more abstract fields such as physics. There are
many other careers that allow INTPs to explore these interests, but many of them
are far too rooted in uninteresting practical applications. As useful as it is to
develop a better vacuum cleaner, it is no Large Hadron Collider.
INTP personalities are self-driven and have very high personal standards - "good
enough" is never good enough - but have few environmental needs. Despite this
relative simplicity, they are often hard for more people-centric types to

understand. INTPs live primarily in their own heads, and have little interest in
social distractions like chitchat and motivational speeches.
All INTPs really want is to immerse themselves in an interesting project, and
anything that interrupts that, be it overactive managers, the need to manage
others, or office parties or meetings, are simply unwelcome burdens.
For this reason, the flatter the workplace hierarchy, the better, making small,
technical workplaces and fields such as law, forensics, and laboratory research
very desirable for INTPs. Insightful and open-minded managers who can
accommodate these needs will find their INTP subordinates to be a tireless
generator of brilliant and unique ideas. However, many people with the INTP
personality type may do away with the immediate hierarchy altogether, opting
instead to provide their services on a freelance basis as consultants.

Emotional Values: A Mere Illusion

Where INTPs do not thrive is in workplaces that require them to provide a high
degree of emotional satisfaction - cruise ship masseuses they are not. INTP
personalities struggle to understand emotional exchanges, and service-oriented
positions will prove baffling and exhausting for them. Though INTPs are talented
analysts who are perfectly capable of understanding the theoretical importance of
customer service, the day-to-day application of such a scheme is simply better
left to more people-oriented personality types.
Business is growing more complex every day, and this complexity is managed
with technical systems, economic theories, and data. The need for novel
approaches is stronger than ever for people and organizations to distinguish
themselves. Though general people skills are often phrased as a must, it is the
technical work that creates something to talk about, and it is in this pursuit that
INTPs thrive.
Work as business analysts and corporate strategists is well suited to INTPs, but
they can also move things forward as data analysts, mechanical, electrical and
software engineers, and even as technical writers and journalists, provided the
field is interesting enough. If they can smile and shake hands just long enough to
establish themselves as the brilliant innovators that they are, people with the
INTP personality type will find that whatever the expectations for social conduct,
it is the qualities unique to them that are truly in demand.

INTP in the workplace

The running theme for INTPs is their desire for solitude, need for intellectual
stimulation, and the satisfaction of the final piece of a puzzle clicking into place.
Whether in subordinate or management positions, with colleagues or working
alone, these privileges and the freedom to pursue them unfettered by social
obligations and progress reports are about all people with the INTP personality
type look for in their workplace.
Though INTPs may scoff at the notion, they actually function best when paired
with another person. Their position determines which personality type best fits
their needs, but INTPs' tendency to live in their heads and vent inspiration and
creativity seemingly at random demands the presence of an implementer,
preferably a Sentinel (SJ), to ensure that no stroke of genius goes unnoticed.

INTP Subordinates
Under the right conditions, INTP subordinates are innovative, resourceful, and
hard-working, easily wrapping their minds around whatever complex problems
are placed in front of them and delivering unorthodox but effective solutions.
However, these qualities require a great deal of freedom, something stereotypical
managers are loath to cede. It is difficult to quantify these qualities on a resume several other characteristics, like a relative indifference to job security and to
being liked, exacerbate the challenge - and it can take time to grow to trust INTP
subordinates enough to allow this latitude.

INTP personalities prefer to work alone, but at the same time they despise
"grunt-work". Their focus on conceiving new and exciting ideas and ignoring the
details of execution means that INTPs need someone alongside to keep things in
order and actually put into practice their often unrefined ideas. Such a condition
can't be forced on INTPs, but a few logically phrased criticisms (certainly not
emotional appeals or pep talks about working as part of a team) and clever
management can make it happen.

INTP Colleagues
For INTPs, colleagues aren't so much a group of people who they socialize and
work with as they are a series of obstacles and diversions with occasionally
useful knowledge. Mingling, chitchat, drinks after work - these make INTPs want
to work alone, not get up in the morning. Despite this distance, people with the
INTP personality type are unusually good at developing insightful and unbiased
interpretations of others' motivations, though sometimes they overthink it,
becoming unnecessarily suspicious of others' goals.
What they do enjoy are riddles and patterns, and any INTP would be proud to be
the guru who is sought after as arbiter on the validity of an idea, or for their
insight on how to apply a principle to novel situations. INTPs love discussing
theories, at least with "proven" colleagues, and are almost always available as
impromptu consultants. This, however, does not apply to emotional riddles and
conflicts, INTPs' Achilles Heel - in these charged situations, INTP personalities
have no clue what to do.

INTP Managers
While INTPs don't care for managing other people, it is likely the most rewarding
position as it provides the opportunity to direct concepts and theories while
others handle the logistics. INTPs have a very tolerant and flexible style,
characterized by an openness to logical suggestions and relative freedom for
their subordinates. But this freedom comes at a cost - INTP managers have very
high standards, and they expect others to grasp their insights instantly, and to
provide their own in equal measure.
As well as their demand for innovation, INTPs are better than any other type at
noticing logical discrepancies - their tendency to ignore others' feelings means
that their criticisms often come hard and fast as they direct projects to their own
perfectionistic standards. Here again INTPs do best with a partner, this time a
delegator who can filter their thoughts and direct their team in more socially
productive ways. A liaison can also help to deter schmoozing and attempts at
emotional manipulation, a sure mistake for anyone who tries.

Conclusion
INTPs' intelligence and logical reasoning skills are a force to be reckoned with.
Be it a minor debate or a life-changing decision, INTPs will find it easy to
entertain multiple ideas and keep a cool head. This allows INTPs to overcome
many challenging obstacles - yet they can be easily tripped up in areas where
careful and rational thinking is more of a liability than an asset.

Whether it is finding (or keeping) a partner, making friends, reaching dazzling

heights on the career ladder or learning to make difficult decisions, INTPs need
to put in a conscious effort to develop their weaker traits and additional skills.
What you have read so far is just an introduction into the complex concept that is
the INTP personality type. You may have muttered to yourself, "wow, this is so
accurate it's a little creepy" or "finally, someone understands me!" You may have
even asked "how do they know more about me than the people I'm closest to?"
This is not a trick. You felt understood because you were. We've studied how
INTPs think and what they need to reach their full potential. And no, we did not
spy on you many of the challenges you've faced and will face in the future have
been overcome by other INTPs. You simply need to learn how they succeeded.
But in order to do that, you need to have a plan, a personal roadmap. The best
car in the world will not take you to the right place if you do not know where you
want to go. We have told you how INTPs tend to behave in certain circumstances
and what their key strengths and weaknesses are. Now we need to go much
deeper into your personality type and answer "why?", "how?" and "what if?"
This knowledge is only the beginning of a lifelong journey. Are you ready to learn
why INTPs act in the way they do? What motivates and inspires you? What you
are afraid of and what you secretly dream about? How you can unlock your true,
exceptional potential?
Our premium profiles provide a roadmap towards a happier, more successful,
and more versatile YOU! They are not for everyone though - you need to be
willing and able to challenge yourself, to go beyond the obvious, to imagine and
follow your own path instead of just going with the flow. If you want to take the
reins into your own hands, we are here to help you.