80 signs you’re an INTJ
I came across this list a while back on buzzfeed (http://www.buzzfeed.com/newu1671/80-signs-youre-an-intj-cz0z)
I thought I’d repost it here, but with my own comments on the entries. “80 signs you’re an INTJ”
1. You feel like an alien visiting a distant planet
it’s equal parts amusing and disenchanting.
This is rather vague, but okay…
2. You didn’t have to look up disenchanting just now
because you read the same way alcoholics binge and verbosity is a given.
Did anybody have to look that up though? “Disenchanting” isn’t exactly a strange word, I use it occasionally.
3. Meta-judging
Either you get it or you don’t.
This list is starting out with some pretty weak entries. Yes, we tend to judge things. It’s a good thing, as long as we get used to being disappointed. Most of life isn’t all that exciting or useful.
4. The prospect of research gets you excited
Bring the knowledge!
Hah. Yes. I love to dig into things to learn tiny little details.
5. Delusional people bring out your misanthropy
I refuse to believe anything which could make you bliss out so will end well.
Even just happy people make me misanthropic sometimes.
6. You come across as aloof on first meeting
or every meeting.
I really am working at this, I’ve learned the usefulness of trying to appear friendly upon first meeting someone. It’s a useful tool. People are more willing to cooperate with you and feel more comfortable around you if you appear friendly. They also listen better.
7. Since appeals to emotion leave you cold
Why should I invest in this with feelings? Give me reasons, dammit!
I’m not immune to emotional manipulation, but it doesn’t motivate me. The best you’ll get out of this is making me feel bad.
8. You have a secret rebellious streak
enticed by possibility. Blame the N.
I mostly resist rebellion, it causes problems. I don’t really have much to rebel from. I do what I want because I want to. It just so happens that what I want to do is not all that rebellious most of the time. Still, I don’t like being told what to do.
9. You have immutable principles
owing to your somewhat broader perspective.
This is rather vague, but I think the point being made is that there’s a unity of principle between my values and viewpoints, and that’s definitely true.
10. You’re blunt when you respect someone
and sharper when you do not.
This one is really more complicated than stated here. I tend to not be sharp with people I don’t care about, I mostly just leave them alone. Being sharp doesn’t do any good and I’ve grown tired of those sorts of interactions.
11. You habitually converse in layers of sarcasm, lofty reference and riddle
to duly note whom appreciates it.
If you’ve spent any time with me, particularly if my roommate Jeff is around, you know this is true.
12. Your pet peeve in others is incompetency
and you abhor the phrase ‘pet peeve’.
You can be cruel to those you perceive as imbeciles or willfully ignorant.
I have long stated that the phrase “pet peeve” is my pet peeve. And, yes, incompetence is extremely frustrating. I think willful ignorance is worse, though, because such a person is actually putting effort into retaining ignorance.
13. You keep expectations low and downgrade accordingly
Yes, non-INTJs, you read that correctly.
Very true. Also, I don’t know how well that gif fits this entry in the list, but that is a wonderful gif.
14. Your pragmatism can be scary to sensualists
“What do you mean, how?”
I don’t know about this, I haven’t discussed it with anyone. I don’t really see the point.
15. When you decide on a course you are unwavering
To the point of insanity.
This can actually be a great weakness, and explains why I’m so bad at chess. It’s terribly difficult to put together a good approach to something you don’t entirely (or at least mostly) understand, and when it begins to fail, I don’t find myself to be very good at improvising because I don’t know why it failed. This is another reason INTJs tend to be information sponges, particularly on topics that we find important or interesting. We try to amass a large body of knowledge and understanding so that we can approach things more effectively.
16. You are hasty in doling out consequences
Perhaps too hasty.
Actually I usually find myself not hasty enough. I think that’s the nice Midwestern upbringing in me. I do often think about doling out consequences very hastily.
17. You have a low tolerance for the norm
Learn to deal a bit.
We learn to entertain ourselves.
18. You experiment with social taboos to see what will happen
Curb that shit. Don’t tell me you can’t, liar.
This is not always a good thing. Entertaining, sure, but not everyone appreciates having social norms messed around with.
19. At least try to be less smug about the fallout
Visibly smug?
I take great pleasure in watching people reap the consequences of their actions. Sometimes I think the best part about being a libertarian is that we haven’t had a chance to see our ideas fail, whereas there are so many great examples of communist/socialist/fascist states failing. It’s fun to watch. But only from a distance.
20. Disrupting formal groups for personal amusement isn’t good for your career
You’re going to ignore that, aren’t you?
Sometimes self-amusement is more important.
21. Suffice to say you’re a bad influence
From the perspective of the other guy.
Yes it’s true, I can be a really bad influence if I want to be. Particularly when I’m bored. I’ve carefully cultivated a set of personal guidelines to help me be a better influence on people. Too much information or explanation can cause problems for some people, and then they don’t do what I want.
22. Your truly losing an argument is the stuff of legend
Riddle me this: Why do people start them regardless? You enjoy them as a learning process and your pride won’t allow you to back down.
I must admit, I hate losing arguments enough that I’ve mostly stopped arguing, because I get impatient or frustrated and then lose interest, and I don’t want the other person to think they’ve won just because I don’t care anymore.
23. “Technically-“
Watch them run out of good points and make with the insults.
I must go upright and vital and speak the rude truth in all ways. ~ Emerson
Haha, yes, we do have a bad habit of correcting minor things that people say, even if we’re not arguing. Eventually I’ve learned that it doesn’t help anything and it’s easier to just let people be wrong most of the time.
24. Finding a point of agreement in a discussion is buried treasure for you
Mutual recognition feels!
The gif says it all, that’s really quite perfect.
25. This systematic approach gives you an uncanny ability to resolve conflicts
26. You almost never use it for that
AU fun ftw.
Non-INTJ translation: I wonder what would happen if I didn’t intervene?
Hahaha, perfect. “I wonder what would happen if I didn’t intervene?” So great.
27. Your history is kinda mysterious
and it’s bloody staying that way.
So true. I’m a very private person. I like to keep personal information to myself. Particularly emotions and inner conflicts. And yes, those are two different things, most of my conflicts are informational and logistical, not emotional.
28. At parties
Weirdly, especially when you love those present.
This is me all the time, particularly in groups of people I don’t know.
29. But you can rock a corner
The better to watch you in.
Find a quiet corner and just watch
30. Small talk is an endurance sport
This is why we avoid meeting new people.
I’m getting better, it takes practice. But yes, it’s rather draining and tedious. I’d rather talk about real things.
31. “What have you been reading?”
The entire list?
This is a lot bigger question than it seems.
32. You never look embarassing somehow
even falling over or silly dancing look like a knowing injoke.
Is it savoir faire? Sprezzatura? Éclat?
This isn’t true. I dislike dancing, and I try to avoid being noticed in general.
33. Your thinking face looks angry
34. Your angry face looks serene
35. You have an incredibly long fuse with a bomb at the end
Must I at length the Sword of Justice draw?
Oh curst Effects of necessary Law!
How ill my Fear they by my Mercy scan,
Beware the Fury of a Patient Man. ~ John Dryden
Yup
36. Consequently, people find you hard to read
37. Your business face ensures no one tries to fuck with you
The word evil has been applied to it at least once.
Not sure about this one either
38. You snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
39. You can pass for charismatic
It eventually wears down with your patience.
Haha yes, it is tiresome and usually not worth the effort, but I can fake charisma when I need to. If I seem friendly and conversational, I’m either hitting on you, I’ve had a ton of caffeine, or I’m faking it.
40. You obsessively admire and respect true intelligence
and search for elements of their method to incorporate into your own plans.
Yes. We learn practical tools (social, intellectual, conversational, etc) and look to apply them as needed to achieve our desired results.
41. You are forthright in conceding your expertise
which can make you appear arrogant but if asked respectfully, you’re equally forthright in conceding knowledge gaps.
We tend to know what we’re good at and what we’re not good at.
42. You demand respect for your expertise
Attempts to humiliate you by insisting you pass impromptu interrogation will result in abrupt humiliating and instructive traumatizing of the crude idiot.
I’m not sure quite why this seems so personally insulting, but we to tend to be rather prideful when we’re doubted about something that we actually know a lot about. I think it’s because we value competence and knowledge so much, we treasure what we’ve mastered.
43. How do you make an INTJ enemy?
Underestimate them.
INTJs can become ruthlessly Machiavellian when they feel their intellect is unappreciated, their loved ones are threatened or wronged.
On one hand, I’m rather glad to not have made any enemies I’d have to destroy. On the other hand, I think I would rather enjoy it. Plotting the demise of people I’m angry at helps me calm down.
44. You are a quick thinker and find slowing down for other’s benefit tedious
yet going through the motions make you appear mercurial and irritated.
I put up with this a lot better when I know that I’ll benefit from the other person understanding what I’m trying to explain
45. There are times …
with irrational protocols…
with self-contradictors…
with misinformed moralizers…
with politically-motivated scientism fans…
with magical thinkers…
and people who cannot see the consequences of their ideas
Their evidence-denying hypocrisy makes you shut down, cut them off and retreat somewhere you can recover from the contaminating force of their stupidity in peace. To an untrained eye, this makes you the bad guy.
46. People ask your advice constantly
47. The things you predict constantly come true
because they ignored you.
Haha yeahhhhh…
48. You treat these people with contempt forever after
49. Your mind is an endless source of entertainment
My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind:
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave. ~ Sir Edward Dyer
You should hang out in my mind sometime, it’s a pretty interesting place
50. You have a slightly addictive personality
51. You have numerous creative outlets
At least one work is a parody.
Absolutely
52. Your close friends know to steer you away from bookshops
53. You believe rationality is the key to the universe
54. You perceive the world as a sequence of interlocking systems
each with its own delicious rules
and you devour details when calculating something specific
55. You are a natural-born optimizer
56. You’re on a quest to tinker with and transform the world
Been shifting around all the variables and yup, we should just make you Master of the Universe.
Like I said, engineer
57. You pull off daring moves
58. You know Life is a game of strategy
and spoiler: even when you win, you die.
I don’t understand how this gif applies
59. You give up blending
when you realize the people you’re emulating are equally clueless.
Blending can be a useful tool though
60. You perceive the profundity of the mundane
and can dredge the truth from completely contrary sources of information.
I’ve long spoken to certain people about the beauty of the mundane
61. Your sense of fun seems bizarre to outsiders
62. You have apathy where offense usually is
Why waste the energy?
This is a developed trait, we INTJs are rather egotistical in our own ways, and can take great offense in certain seemingly surprising circumstances.
63. You apply your brains to lazy ends
64. When you like something you observe it
This may have disturbing consequences if you like a person.
This definitely has disturbing consequences if I like a person. I stare a lot. I’m sorry. This entry is the one that made me think I should add my comments to this list in the first place. Anything that grabs my attention merits studious observation. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’m attracted to the people I stare at, sometimes there’s just something that intrigues me. More often than not, I think they look like someone else I know. But I do definitely stare at people I find attractive or intriguing.
65. You avoid deepening relationships without good reason
This concerns well-meaning non-INTJ friends.
Relationships involve a lot of risk and have a pretty big personal cost to me, I tend to keep everyone at a safe distance.
66. Being in love terrifies you
You have more red flags than a bull tamer.
It’s a dangerous game, still not sure if there’s much benefit to it
67. As does the merest prospect of emotional dependence
68. Your sensitive disposition is constantly on the lookout for rejection
Sincere flattery is greatly appreciated and repaid in kind with interest.
I am really sensitive to rejection. I also don’t take complements well and generally ignore them entirely. Few people and few kinds of complements actually get through to me. I think, in the end, the things that do get through would probably surprise most people.
69. You become formal and polite when hurt in public
shrinking back into your mind’s sanctuary to tend your wounds.
You never let it show.
I do fall back on formality when I’m in an uncomfortable situation.
70. You go quiet and become hesitant when hurt in private
trying to deduce the superior course of reaction.
Your pride will stubbornly refuse to allow other proof of injury and redouble efforts to push away the offending person, never to be forgiven again.
Yes. Very true.
71. When you trust someone, silence is golden
We don’t need to talk the entire time.
If you promise to keep a secret, you will take it to your grave.
We are extremely loyal, to a fault, and we keep secrets well. Tell me all your secrets.
72. Your closest friends have passed a list of secret tests
73. Your close friends = Friends who have seen you cry
74. Duty is something you sign up for or rebel against
There is no middle ground. Intensely devoted or intensely repulsed.
We like to make our own allegiances. If you try to make a decision like this for me, don’t be surprised if I simply ignore your decision and let you deal with things on your own.
75. You resent being controlled above all else
76. You’re overjoyed to find precise answers
77. When INTJs find a perfect solution
78. You relish having the last word or lasting impression
79. You’re difficult to impress
It surprises you when it happens.
Yes. Good gif to accompany this entry.
80. You enjoyed the INTJ-indulgent length of this list
You have the strong temptation to fact-check/correct
I don’t mind.
It was a good length, any fewer would have felt vague and incomplete. This was nice.
A Sample of My Mind 