INTP: What is the most painful thing to an INTP?

[ApeTheDog]

I expect different types experience different pains. To a feeling type, being betrayed will perhaps be more of a shock to their system than to a cynical INTP.

What would you say an INTP feels more thoroughly than any other MBTI type out there does?

[fresh]

Emptiness, perhaps.

Edit: Come to think of it, perhaps the strongest emotional reaction in me comes when I know others are suffering or being hurt. It stirs up feelings of rage, the lethal kind. Quit the bullshit or I will kill you, seems to be the physiological and emotional response in me. The rest of the time, I seem to either be seriously calm or slightly jovial.

[SolitaryWalker]

Helplessness, Pretense, Obscurity.

[immortalmack]

I expect different types experience different pains. To a feeling type, being betrayed will perhaps be more of a shock to their system than to a cynical INTP.

What would you say an INTP feels more thoroughly than any other MBTI type out there does?

No information to absorb!

[Jennywocky]

i can only speak for me, not for others:

- Obfuscation/Inability to get the information needed to make decisions/live
- Stupidity/Ignorance, coupled with unwillingness to learn
- Purposeful distortions of truth to suit someone's plans/beliefs
- Loneliness (i.e., no one "understands" or "knows" me)
- Purposeful cruelty and/or interference in or domination over other's lives
- Meaninglessness... doing things over and over without any large goal / big picture

[Kathara]

I expect different types experience different pains. To a feeling type, being betrayed will perhaps be more of a shock to their system than to a cynical INTP.

What would you say an INTP feels more thoroughly than any other MBTI type out there does?

I agree. Not sure about the part with the INTPs feeling more throroughly. They just tend to feel in burst, and this leads to an overwhelming intensity.

[Ferrus]

Work.

[Archvile]

Having to fulfil external obligations.

[Anonymous]

The most painful things are painful to everyone, regardless of type. I haven't experienced these things, though, and in regards to type-specific pain (although I suspect the boundaries here are very thin as well, and possibly more dependent on upbringing) I'd say that inadequacy isn't a nice one for INTPs. I also agree with fresh's comment on others being hurt.

[2hype]

To a feeling type, being betrayed will perhaps be more of a shock to their system than to a cynical INTP.

But what if it's a betrayal by someone the INTP is close to? INTPs don't let very many people get close to them, so if one of the few people they are close to betrays them, I think it would be extremely painful.

The feeling of not fitting in can become tiresome. It's not horribly painful, but it seems like a kind of loneliness or burden that never goes away.

[MacGuffin]

I expect different types experience different pains. To a feeling type, being betrayed will perhaps be more of a shock to their system than to a cynical INTP.

What would you say an INTP feels more thoroughly than any other MBTI type out there does?

When we finally halt the detatched observation/analysis and try to make something understood, only to be misunderstood.

Frustrating on an intellectual level, horrifying if it is on a personal level.

[Katzchen]

Come to think of it, perhaps the strongest emotional reaction in me comes when I know others are suffering or being hurt. It stirs up feelings of rage, the lethal kind. Quit the bullshit or I will kill you, seems to be the physiological and emotional response in me. The rest of the time, I seem to either be seriously calm or slightly jovial.

I think people of most types would say they sympathize with others who are suffering. The difference is probably that everybody sympathizes with a different set of people. INTPs for instance probably react much more intensely when they see other INTPs in pain than when they see, say, ESFJs in pain. I think that even feeling types who say they sympathize with "everybody" don't sympathize with many thinking types (xxTJ comes to mind) because they think they "had it coming." :rolleyes2:

[s0978]

When we finally halt the detatched observation/analysis and try to make something understood, only to be misunderstood.

Frustrating on an intellectual level, horrifying if it is on a personal level.

That, and somewhat similar to what you're talking about- people apparently understanding those ideas you hold very close because you've thought so long and hard about- and then they go misapplying and misrepresenting. Makes me wish I'd never talked to them about it in the first place. "That's not what I said!" Oh, my thoughts, my poor precious.

[lbloom]

Obscurity.

Meh.

[djm]

For me it would be a lack of personal autonomy.

[lbloom]

For me it would be a lack of personal autonomy.

I'll go with that one. ^

Along with a loss of mental faculties.

[Methofelis]

For me it would be a lack of personal autonomy.

+

Not being explored on an intellectual level by the person I'm in a relationship with.

[LastRailway]

For me it would be a lack of personal autonomy.

Yeah, that.

[Delilah]

+

Not being explored on an intellectual level by the person I'm in a relationship with.

Oh yeah, definitely that. :(

[quantumzero]

When we finally halt the detatched observation/analysis and try to make something understood, only to be misunderstood.

Frustrating on an intellectual level, horrifying if it is on a personal level.

Yea, what he said. But I've come to the realization that miscommunication is the underlying theme of this world, so I keep quiet, cept for here.

[fresh]

Although I'm certain I can't blame this on type, my loneliness is really starting to inflame my brain. And my obscurity is more hurtful with each passing day. Fuck 'em all, they're never allowed to love me anyway.

[bluebell]

When we finally halt the detatched observation/analysis and try to make something understood, only to be misunderstood.

Frustrating on an intellectual level, horrifying if it is on a personal level.

Yes. The horrifying aspect includes aloneness/disconnectedness.

[Dansker]

For me it would be a lack of personal autonomy.
Likewise.

[rainfall]

Being betrayed by a longtime friend/lover you never doubted.

[fresh]

Blind faith should probably be reserved for worship of gods, but too right it's too easy to fall into never doubting a lover.

[Oso Mocoso]

Blind faith should probably be reserved for worship of gods

Blind faith should only be reserved for Fripping, heathen! There is no other god here.

[fripping]

Blind faith should only be reserved for Fripping, heathen! There is no other god here.
what he said. *bites tongue*

[Seanan]

I expect different types experience different pains. To a feeling type, being betrayed will perhaps be more of a shock to their system than to a cynical INTP.

What would you say an INTP feels more thoroughly than any other MBTI type out there does?

Emotion-based actions/reactions and thoughtless judgements that harm others.... including animals. Even though emotion seems to be part of human nature, I see those that result in pain to self or others as inhumane.

[rainfall]

Oooh, oooh. Social rituals. Like, when you're supposed to congratulate someone, although you cannot care any less about them. And they know it, too.

"Great job, Bob." *fake smile*
"Why, thank you." *fake smile*

Bob knows you're lying. You know you're lying. Everyone who sits there, they all know they are lying, and they all are sitting and smiling and lying. It's a big gathering of liars. But if you don't do what bob wants, lie to him, bob will start stirring up shit against you. He will act indignant, like you've raped his mother or spat on his shoe. He knows you don't care, that you don't care at all about whatever is happening to him, but he wants you to lie. And somewhere, amongst those fake handshakes and fake smiles, something inside dies. It's not the most painful thing, not right away, not until the day you wake up and you feel tired and you wake up understanding - "I no longer have any backbone. I am playing their games their way. I have submit, and now I am useless, just like they are. I'm a coward. A liar. A poser."

[Delilah]

Oooh, oooh. Social rituals. Like, when you're supposed to congratulate someone, although you cannot care any less about them. And they know it, too.

"Great job, Bob." *fake smile*
"Why, thank you." *fake smile*

Bob knows you're lying. You know you're lying.

Yes! My boss left early today because she has laryngitis and...well, whatever else, i wasn't listening, but I still sort of managed to tell her to get well, it was very unconvincing, fortunately she is pretty damn stupid so I don't think she caught on.

[outmywindow]

The constant sense of mental, physical, and emotional disconnect from everything and anyone around. It in itself isn't painful (for me, anyway), but it can lead to many of the things previously mentioned in this thread: inability to communicate; loneliness; feeling like a robot, and the possible feelings of associated guilt; that sense of meaningless repetition...

On its own and under the right circumstances, that disconnect can be very positive and allows the person to crawl back inside their head to think, observe, analyze, contemplate, create fantastical scenarios, etc., so it certainly isn't all bad. It's just when the person realizes that they can't crawl back out when they'd like, or that no one else can crawl in with them, that things start to hurt.

[Ptah]

The constant sense of mental, physical, and emotional disconnect from everything and anyone around.

I find this "disconnect" a strength, perhaps one of my greatest strengths. I tremble to imagine being helplessly swept under by the tides of the willfully ignorant masses, drowning in a sea of emotional, psychological, epistemological, and philosophical wreckage/default as are (manifestly) most others around me.



On its own and under the right circumstances, that disconnect can be very positive and allows the person to crawl back inside their head to think, observe, analyze, contemplate, create fantastical scenarios, etc., so it certainly isn't all bad.


"Crawl back inside?" Apart from servicing the necessities of survival, why would you ever want to crawl out to begin with? :)


It's just when the person realizes that they can't crawl back out when they'd like, or that no one else can crawl in with them, that things start to hurt.

Hardly. Alone in a high tower watching the tides of the moojority splashing harmlessly (and entertainingly) against the cliffs of introversion far below is perfectly comfortable and preferrable to me.

What is the most painful thing for me as an INTP? The contant thrashing of the sea of the ignorant against my raft of Ne/Ti; longing for the tower high above, whilst being splashed by the struggling masses awash all around and below.

Put another way, it is painful to realize that the rational are the few.

[Park]

The constant sense of mental, physical, and emotional disconnect from everything and anyone around.

That description reminds me of a observation my shrink made recently. She said that it was like all my energy was concentrated from my neck and up. That I neglected/ignored my emotions and body and compensated by using my mind. Perhaps the disconnect is placed here, mind <----> body, feelings.

[outmywindow]

I find this "disconnect" a strength, perhaps one of my greatest strengths. I tremble to imagine being helplessly swept under by the tides of the willfully ignorant masses, drowning in a sea of emotional, psychological, epistemological, and philosophical wreckage/default as are (manifestly) most others around me.

"Crawl back inside?" Apart from servicing the necessities of survival, why would you ever want to crawl out to begin with? :)

Hardly. Alone in a high tower watching the tides of the moojority splashing harmlessly (and entertainingly) against the cliffs of introversion far below is perfectly comfortable and preferrable to me.

You speak the truth for where you are in your life. You have found your companion, and whether or not she inhabits those cliffs with you, you at least know she'll be there when necessity drives you down from them.

Also, you're misinterpreting my statements about crawling in and out as being the absolute extreme ends of the extroversion/introversion or sensor/intuitive scales. Not wanting to spend every Friday night alone for the rest of the foreseeable future certainly is not being "swept under by the tides of the willfully ignorant masses." Being frustrated that I am my own barrier against comfortable social interaction is not wanting to become part of the "harmlessly splashing moojority." The prose was quite eloquent, just not hugely accurate in my case.


That description reminds me of a observation my shrink made recently. She said that it was like all my energy was concentrated from my neck and up. That I neglected/ignored my emotions and body and compensated by using my mind. Perhaps the disconnect is placed here, mind <----> body, feelings.
I can completely relate. Sometimes, when I'm stretched out on the couch or bed, I find myself thinking how far away my foot is from me. From me, as if the foot itself weren't even a part of myself.

[Helios]

For me it would be a lack of personal autonomy.

My first thought was "breach of my autonomy"


I know nothing else moves me like that feeling. OTH, it never seemed painful, since I could always escape it. NOTHING has been worth tolerating that for, and thankfully I haven't been 'trapped'.


I suspect I'd go (completely) insane.


edit-being lonely sometimes 'hurts', but you'd never catch me in a billion years trading my freedom to fix it. Just ask my former ISFJ g/f

[airjaw]

existential angst

[Gaupa]

That description reminds me of a observation my shrink made recently. She said that it was like all my energy was concentrated from my neck and up. That I neglected/ignored my emotions and body and compensated by using my mind. Perhaps the disconnect is placed here, mind <----> body, feelings.

I once stated that the only purpose of my body was to carry around my brain, and a friend of mine - who just happens to be a shrink - looked at me as if I was really crazy. And then decided that I was just joking, and laughed really hard. Of course I wasn't joking. And I still can't see what's so wrong about what I said...? (I might be diagnosed as a severe case of INTP - but what drugs would they give me to cure it...?:devil: )

My first thought on "most painful thing to an INTP" was stupidity. A frightening thought would be to discover that you, yourself, are stupid...! Not understanding, not being able to see connections etc. And of course stupidity in others is just as painful (and more realistic...!:happpy: ).

I can endure lack of personal space (like right now when we are renovating the house, and my bedroom is also my youngest daughters bedroom AND the living room with the TV - thus my bed = the "sofa"...!). I can always turn inwards, read a book etc. and block out the sounds of mind-numbingly stupid tv shows.
It's mostly some kind of mental issue that would be painful. If I was not allowed to be creative. If I was forced to always follow a strict regimen of "how-to-do-this-task". Etc. Lack of respect.

[Xenolith]

My greatest fear is the inability to remain indifferent to aspects of life that are unchangeable.

[Ptah]

I... I am reminded of what is truly painful to me.

Failure.

[Karl]

Most painful thing? Like something that can happen? I dunno really. Having my trust broken would probably be difficult, sense I'm slow to trust people, but in the end I think I'd just be slower to trust people, and not have that bit of comfort, which is really what trusting someone gets down to. I don't need to trust people; it's just nice to be able to trust the few I do.

Perhaps, being dismissed or told I'm otherwise not worthwhile by those whose opinion I put great worth in, but then I have to slap myself for putting worth in their opinion anyway. (in one case I have in mind, probably more than they put in their opinion)

Ah, I dunno. Lack of autonomy doesn't hurt. It's just maddening. If anything, it motivates me to try to get into a situation where I cannot have my autonomy taken away.

[Karl]

I... I am reminded of what is truly painful to me.

Failure.

That sounds like you might be onto something. I haven't had a chance to fail with the thing I care about doing yet, since I just figured them out in the last year or two. I think that'd do it though (hopefully I won't find out?).

[nittanylion302]

Reliving past failures. They usually come to me uncontrollably. Like something sparks my memory which leads to a time that I failed at something.

It's agonizing.

[airjaw]

I've noticed one thing in particular that has become more "annoying" to me over the years.. that is when I see heavy bias of some sort. Its annoying wheN I see people ignore facts just to prop up their side of the story. It makes me not want to deal with people or any field which has gray areas and instead find solace in a logical field where there is an obvious right and wrong answer like fucking math or programming or something

[Oso Mocoso]

To me as an INTP I've always thought the most painful thing would be to have bamboo shoots forced under my fingernails while electrodes attached to a car battery were applied to my genitals.

[foodeater]

To me as an INTP I've always thought the most painful thing would be to have bamboo shoots forced under my fingernails while electrodes attached to a car battery were applied to my genitals.

Agreed.

And past failures.

Mostly the first one.

[Oso Mocoso]

And past failures.

Oh, yeah. Past failures are pretty painful too.

[walfin]

Mostly the first one.
This means, the first ever past failure?

[rek]

Feeling like no matter what I do I can't change something. I hate feeling helpless.

[sorabji_66]

Having people around when I really don't want them there.

[manza]

Having people touch me when I don't want them to.

[Mr.Miagi]

feeling inadequate

[iksikaksi]

incompetence is the worst feeling I know.

[Mercurial]

Having people touch me when I don't want them to.

Yes. That one. There's an electrical nausea to it that takes awhile to shake before coming back at odd intervals later when I'm by myself.

[Chunes]

The thing that hurts the most is being forced to live in the system; to conform to absolute stupidity.

[ObtainGnosis]

Incompetence at living and participating in the human community, at manufacturing a functional persona that doesn't disgust me and not confusing it with my true identity. Utter doubt as to my worth as a human being. Self-deprecating endless cycles of new inventive constructs of judgmental self-critique. Dwelling in sadness and loneliness as a private power game. Bitter, lonely narcissistic fantasies and the coldness of distant stars. Blind aimless wandering and trodding down empty paths carried by the mundane humdrum of soft, numb, comfortable existence and never being there with my whole Self for others to see. "Hiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities of escape, again, are as many as hiding places." Always peering out of shadowy dreamscapes, naked and wounded, but guarded and hiding. Dissatisfaction. Alone with the "Man with the Hammer" standing above every impulse smashing. Projecting these emotions onto other people and suspecting they can see right through you, but it's you that's looking at yourself and saying "you worthless, callow, hollow, infantile fool."

"Now with our Steppenwolf it was so that in his conscious life he lived now as a wolf, now as a man, as indeed the case is with all mixed beings. But, when he was a wolf, the man in him lay in ambush, ever on the watch to interfere and condemn, while at those times that he was a man the wolf did just the same. For example, if Harry, as a man, had a beautiful thought, felt a fine and noble emotion, or performed a so-called good act, then the wolf bared his teeth at him and laughed and showed him with bitter scorn how laughable this whole pantomime was in the eyes of a beast, of a wolf who knew well enough in his heart what suited him, namely, to trot alone over the Steppes and now and then to gorge himself with blood or to pursue a female wolf. Then, wolfishly seen, all human activities became horribly absurd and misplaced, stupid and vain. But it was exactly the same when Harry felt and behaved as a wolf and showed others his teeth and felt hatred and enmity against all human beings and their lying and degenerate manners and customs. For then the human part of him lay in ambush and watched the wolf, called him a brute and beast, and spoiled and embittered for him all pleasure in his simple and healthy and wild wolf's being.

Thus it was then with the Steppenwolf, and one may well imagine that Harry did not have an exactly pleasant and happy life of it. This does not mean, however, that he was unhappy in any extraordinary degree (although it may have seemed so to himself all the same, inasmuch as every man takes the sufferings that fall to his share as the greatest). That cannot be said of any man. Even he who has no wolf in him, may be none the happier for that. And even the unhappiest life has its sunny moments and its little flowers of happiness between sand and stone. So it was, then, with the Steppenwolf too. It cannot be denied that he was generally very unhappy; and he could make others unhappy also, that is, when he loved them or they him. For all who got to love him, saw always only the one side in him. Many loved him as a refined and clever and interesting man, and were horrified and disappointed when they had come upon the wolf in him. And they had to because Harry wished, as every sentient being does, to be loved as a whole and therefore it was just with those whose love he most valued that he could least of all conceal and belie the wolf. There were those, however, who loved precisely the wolf in him, the free, the savage, the untamable, the dangerous and strong, and these found it peculiarly disappointing and deplorable when suddenly the wild and wicked wolf was also a man, and had hankerings after goodness and refinement, and wanted to hear Mozart, to read poetry and to cherish human ideals. Usually these were the most disappointed and angry of all; and so it was that the Steppenwolf brought his own dual and divided nature into the destinies of others besides himself whenever he came into contact with them."

[walfin]

Incompetence at living and participating in the human community, at manufacturing a functional persona that doesn't disgust me and not confusing it with my true identity.

Something you do everyday can't possibly be the most painful thing. If it's that painful you'd avoid it like the plague.

[indie]

Dealing with the idiots.

[OrionzRevenge]

Feeling the bars of society’s cage brush against your soul.
Feeling trapped and limited by your station in life.
Knowing you’ll never be allowed explore every horizon nor soar to every star.

“Pinch Me” Bare Naked Ladies