Exploring INTP regions with the MBTI

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a useful system for understanding the way our brains are wired. Since learning to apply it I have found it extremely illuminating, especially about why I am so drawn to exploring new and interesting territory.


As a friend said to me at knitting group this week, "You are so good at finding things out. It's a gift, because not everyone has that. You have such deep faith that there is a solution to the problem you are trying to solve that you keep on looking and puzzling over what you find long after other people would have given up."

She is right, although the trait doesn't necessarily make me successful. Some would say it makes me rather weird or, worse, like a dog with a bone. Too bad. The way I see it, a personality trait is neither good nor bad; it depends on what you use it for, and i happen to use it for sharpening my creativity.

To get back to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I am what is known as an INTP. This means I am an introvert who leads with introverted thinking and uses extroverted intuition as my secondary cognitive function. The eight cognitive functions and the sixteen variations of how they can show up are pretty complicated but I'll keep this post simple.

Leading with introverted thinking as my primary function means I care a great deal about getting things right. I love puzzles and the challenge of solving them. Word puzzles tend to fascinate me more than number puzzles, although I've been known to wrestle for hours with a maths problem when others believed it couldn't be solved. What sets introverted thinking apart from extroverted thinking is that the former is an internal process used for figuring out differences, sums, products and quotients, while the latter is an external process used for taking action and getting things done; the designer as opposed to the painter, for example.

In second place on my cognitive function stack [the fancy name for the four-tier arrangement of brain functions on the Myers-Briggs model] is extroverted intuition. This is an intriguing function, even if I say so myself! The word "intuition" refers to the way some people learn, by paying attention to patterns in the way things happen. This is different from "sensing", which pays attention to sensory information such as distance, temperature and texture. The difference between extroverted intuition and introverted intuition is that the former learns by actively making connections and seeing what works, whereas introverted intuition contemplates patterns that present themselves and uses them to project future trends. This is why, as an extroverted intuition user, I enjoy launching new projects and travelling down unfamiliar roads. I hope to make interesting connections between things that will echo other connections, and so find delight in the way life keeps revealing new levels of meaning.

The above are my two main strengths, but it is worth looking into my two weaker functions as well, since they have the power to undermine my strengths if I'm not careful. They also serve to explain some of my less developed attitudes and behaviours, and can even provide insights into my highest aspirations.

Sitting in third place on my cognitive function stack is introverted sensing, a function which is informed by my senses and tends to like order and predictability. Fairly immature in my case, this function can sabotage my extroverted intuition by making me choose safety over exploration. When I stretch myself too far in the realm of experimentation and exhaust my supply of courage, I find solace in routine. Hence my preference for a quiet, organised home with good wifi so that access to travel websites is available when I want it.

The fourth and final function in my stack is extroverted feeling, which is concerned with getting other peoples' needs met. This is my least mature function and incredibly difficult for me as a visually-impaired person. For a start, I'm so much in my head with my primary thinking function that i forget about basic things like the need for food and shade. Secondly, my poor vision makes it impossible for me to see what is happening in my immediate vicinity, so I am forever missing the fact that my companion's eyes are filling with tears or that my dogs are making a nuisance of themselves. Thirdly, i regard obliviousness to peoples' needs as a grave character flaw in others, so I feel awful when I discover too late that someone has been suffering in front of me. In other words, I constantly disappoint myself with my incompetence.

To sum up then: I lead with introverted thinking, which makes me a problem-solver. I learn with extroverted intuition, which motivates me to explore possibilities. I relax with introverted sensing, which compels me to keep things ordered and safe. I experience limitations with extroverted feeling, which forces me to receive when i ought to give. This last is where I find myself most challenged. Exploring it stresses me out but I wouldn't skip it for the world. Strange as it may seem, it's the problems that offer me the greatest possibility of pleasure!