Hi.
Welcome to Personality Hacker.
My name is Joel Mark Witt.
I'm Antonia Dodge.
Today we're talking about the Myers-Briggs personality type INTP, or in our Genius System,
Accuracy/Exploration.
We have talked about INTP personality types more granular in other content, but what we're
going to do today is we're going to riff on the topic of INTPs, give some of our insights,
maybe some of the things that we've noticed about them, and talk about some of the ways
that they can develop their personality type to become the best version of themselves and
to become a gift to the world.
The reason why it's so interesting to talk about INTPs in that way is, I think a lot
of INTPs have an attitude about what they're going to give to the world.
I think they actually really do want to make an impact.
I think they really do, but one of the issues they face is that, just statistically, they
have the highest IQs of anybody, and so there's this feeling about INTPs that they are legitimately
smarter than other people in the ways that society traditionally thinks about intelligence,
like in analytic intelligence and that sort of thing.
So there's an idea of how smart they are, and then at the same time, they are profoundly
misunderstood.
In fact, I think a lot of them think that they have autism, or Asperger's, or some other
... or they've been given titles, like they have ADD.
I think that's not exactly what's going on with this type.
They feel like society will not accept them; but, at the same time, in the weird way, celebrates
their intelligence.
So they don't really know where they stand.
Yeah.
We have a friend who is a mom of a child who I believe is an INTP, after meeting him.
She is worried.
She thinks he might have autism.
She thinks he might be broken.
I think this is something a lot of INTPs deal with, is the people in your life have a tendency
to think there's something wrong with you because you think fundamentally different,
and you show it to the world in this way.
People are like, "There's something wrong with you.
What's wrong?
You're broken.
You've got to get fixed."
Yeah.
I know of an INTP kid whose parent took them to a psychiatrist and said, "Fix this kid,
because he's broken."
Not that all INTP kids are going to face this ... There's a percentage, though, that ends
up getting this bad rap.
I'm fairly certain it's because they lead with a process called accuracy.
Accuracy is a thinking process in the Myers-Briggs system.
The cognitive function is technically called Introverted Thinking.
The accuracy process is all about seeing information and data as truth, separated from any emotional
component, meaning "We want to know what the data says," like "Give me the information,"
separated from what we want to think that that information says or any emotional attachment
we have to the information.
Because they're so focused on information that removes the human emotional component
... When I say "emotional component," not necessarily removes the human.
Humanity is part of information, so you don't remove humanity.
You just remove the emotional biases.
Because they're so focused on that, when people show up, wanting to interject emotional and
social biases, it's very frustrating to the accuracy person, and they will oftentimes
go, "Well, that's stupid."
Let's just give a non-abstract example of this.
I always think of it in terms of the 7-year-old that goes to school, and the teacher says
something is true, and the 7-year-old accuracy person has done their own research already
and knows it to not be true.
So they correct the teacher, and the teacher tells them to shut up, or diminishes them,
or says that that's not respectful.
Here's the little 7-year-old accuracy person going, "But I know this to be true.
I know you're wrong," and they focus on the data, and they don't care who's the person
who's the teacher and who's the student.
All that is important is whether or not the information is correct or accurate.
So, because they have so many of these experiences from the time that they're really little,
all growing up, there's this sense that it's them against the world.
Like, the whole world just wants to regurgitate this information that may or may not be true
and doesn't really want to put true thought into it, and anytime you state what accuracy
is, or truth, then all of a sudden everybody dogpiles you.
It really feels like the INTP doesn't have a place in the world.
Yeah.
The INTP shows up with this ability, this genius ability, to be able to clean slice
information.
I've been in conversation with INTPs before, and you'll be talking about a subject, and
they get very nuanced on exactly what we're talking about.
If anything's distracting from the issue, they can say, "Well, that's not ... This is
what we're talking about here.
We can deal with that in a moment, but this is what we're talking about here."
They've got a great knack for being able to focus in on data, and stay on-topic, and really
get granular with that data, to the point where it's very usable.
It shows up as a genius for them.
A lot of INTPs are scientists, and great thinkers, great mathematicians.
They show up in the world with the ability to manage mass amounts of data very quickly.
So it's a brilliant, a brilliant function that they lead with, this accuracy function.
Yeah, but if they're not developed, unfortunately what ends up happening is they end up getting
further and further away from relationships and other people.
They end up cloistering themselves in their homes, or they just don't want to have to
deal with the "real world," the world that they feel perpetually rejects them.
So, in order to become the best versions of themselves, and become mathematicians, or
people who have extraordinary things to give to the world ... In order to do that, they
have to develop that co-pilot process of exploration more and more.
Exploration is all about trying new things.
To an INTP, putting themselves out there and trying new things can be scary, because they
haven't always gotten the best feedback; but, the more they do that, the more they're willing
to put themselves out there and experience the world through travel, through foods, through
picking up new hobbies ... You went to a class ... an improv class.
I took an improv class.
Yeah.
An INTP was in the class, and he was purposely trying to grow his secondary process, his
co-pilot.
He was getting into improv and all these new experiences.
He was actually going and meeting women and he was doing all this stuff that he had never
tried before.
He was 22, I think.
You could see the glow in his eyes at the growth he was doing, and he was a really cool
guy.
I loved the fact that he wanted to grow like that.
It was really neat.
Yeah.
People who've really developed the exploration process usually get higher and higher charisma.
Charisma oftentimes comes with exploration, because exploration people are so free and
fun and willing to try new things.
They're wild, and crazy, et cetera.
So the more an INTP can get into that exploration process, the bigger the world gets, the more
information that they can add to their already extensive data collection, they understand
new concepts in reality as opposed to just in the abstract, and also they increase their
charisma.
So their interactions with the world ... The feedback they get is better and better.
Really, the key to the whole operation for them is to develop that co-pilot process.
If you are an INTP, and you're interested in getting more tips and tricks on how to
become the best version of your type and, again, to bring amazing things to the world,
we recommend going to our website, personalityhacker.com, and to the tab that says "Take the Test."
It'll send you through the genius style assessment.
If you've already gone through that, and you've discovered that you are an INTP, or an accuracy
exploration type in the genius style assessment, we want you to give serious consideration
to getting the premium content, because there's some incredible information in there on how
to become the best version of yourself and to become a gift to the world, which you may
or may not care about.
I do, because I think you're amazing, and I want you to bring your incredible concepts
to the rest of us and be a true gift.
So you think INTPs are amazing, which I agree with you.
I do.
I actually love INTPs.
What's a secret about INTPs that most people wouldn't realize?
What is a secret about INTPs that most people wouldn't realize?
or even INTPs wouldn't realize about themselves, but most people do realize secrets about themselves.
Oh, I think INTPs know this.
INTPs are surprisingly interested in their reputation.
Their reputation is actually very important to them.
So, even though they're very egalitarian when it comes to information and data ... Like,
if the janitor has a great idea, then we celebrate the janitor.
It doesn't matter ... It doesn't matter that they're a janitor.
There is something about their reputation that is very important to them.
They want to be well-regarded and they want to be respected.
One of the reasons why it's so painful to them to get rejected is that their reputation
is important.
They want people to know that they have something to offer, and I think they hide that away
from other people and they hide that away from themselves, because they don't want to
have to acknowledge that they don't have the reputation they desire, but it's actually
very important to them.
That makes sense, because you want to be well-regarded for your work.
That desire to have a good reputation is part of the aspiration of them bringing their concepts,
which are inside of them, to the world.
It's part of their DNA makeup that gives them that extra oompf or impetus to not just conceptualize
all this data inside of themselves, but actually package it and give it to the world so that
the world will give them positive feedback.
Cool.
Well, thank you for joining us on this quick riff on the INTP personality, or the Accuracy/Exploration
in the Genius System.