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Are INTJs Really Master Planners?

Arvid Walton Leave a comment

Anon asked: “i know fictional INTJs are supposed to be master planners but how far in advance to real life INTJs plan?”

Well, for starters, I’ll first state that the answer to this question is highly subjective to what type of plans we’re referring to, and which INTJ you’re referring to. So, instead of answering the question directly, I’ll just give a few examples of what types of plans I’ve made and what types of plans I do not make. Various plans that I have made….

Wilderness Survival

At one point during my teen years, I fell into an obsession with wilderness survival and disaster preparedness. What would I do if all hell broke loose and we humans lost all of the things that we are so heavily reliant on (immediate food, clean water, entertainment etc.). Naturally, I decided to plan ahead.

  1. I learned how to navigate in the wilderness using a compass, the stars and the sun.
  2. I memorized all of the poisonous and edible plants in my local area and learned the proper ways to prepare them if I needed to eat them.
  3. I learned first aid procedures, how to treat for shock, split broken limbs and transport an injured person.
  4. I learned how to purify water using over 5 different methods and practised drinking lake water during my hikes in the mountains.
  5. I learned how best to build shelters in different types of weather, what types of plants make for the best insulation and which ones will give you the best shade in the sun.
  6. I keep a 30-pound pack in my closet, housing a sleeping bag and all the ten essentials.
  7. I also keep 30-pound buckets under my bed that are filled with food-storage supplies to last up to a year.
  8. I’ve read aeons of books about survival mentality and wilderness survival skills.

Continue reading →

INTJ: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Arvid Walton 8 Comments

This post is dedicated to my readers that want to understand INTJs, but are less familiar with Jungian cognitive functions. I understand that the functions are difficult for newbies to navigate, so I’m making your life easier.

Fact #1 People empty us.

When I say this, I don’t mean that we don’t value human companionship. In fact, I would argue to the contrary. However, our introversion causes us to drain our energy as we attempt to socialize. Our energy stems from within ourselves rather than from being with other people. We value solitude, silence and thought.

To us, silence truly is golden.

As a result, parties are definitely not our favourite place to be and when forced to be in such an environment, we tend to stick to the sides of the room rather than gravitating toward the centre. We are extremely conscious of our personal space and absolutely hate being touched (in any way, shape or form) without our permission. Likewise, incessant noise drives us mad, prevents us from thinking and makes us want to scream at everybody to “shut up.”

We find it astounding that some people can manage to say the same thing three times in different words or that someone can fill an hour of time with words that mean nothing. We value conciseness when it comes to speaking, such that we say nothing more than what needs to be said (and sometimes we can’t even say that much).

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My Favourite Characters from Each Type

Arvid Walton Leave a comment

“So, this is a weird question, but do you have favourite characters for each type so far?”

Oooh. Not fair. Absolutely not fair.

I’ll do my best. I’m assuming only fictional characters? And I’ll limit myself to two per type.

INFJ: Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars), Gandalf (Lord of The Rings)

ENFJ: Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)

INFP: the 9th Doctor (Doctor Who)

ENFP: Jonathan Strange (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell)

INTJ: Ender Wiggin (Ender’s Game)

ENTJ: Loki (Thor)

INTP: Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter), Death (Discworld)

ENTP: The Joker (Batman)

ISTP: Han Solo (Star Wars)

ESTP: Viola (Twelfth Night), Jack Harkness (Doctor Who/Torchwood)

ISTJ: Edmund Dantes (The Count of Monte Cristo), Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones)

ESTJ: Princess Leia (Star Wars), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

ISFP: Claire (Outlander), Jon Snow (Game of Thrones)

ESFP: Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

ISFJ: Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings)

ESFJ: Danielle de Barbarac (Ever After)

Updates And Future Plans

AsideArvid Walton 36 Comments

Dear friends,

It’s been a long time––and for that, I apologise. I’ve been reading through your many comments and the number of well-wishes and general positive sentiments not only surprised me, but reminded how many of you are still watching patiently (both for your own posts to be published and for words from me). In particular, I was moved by how many of you found meaning here.

That said, I want to break the silence that’s been hanging over The Book Addict’s Guide for so long.

Continue reading →

Character-Driven vs Plot-Driven Stories – An INTJ’s Take

Arvid Walton 11 Comments

INeverForgetPromises asked: if you were reading a literary work, what would hook you more, a plot-driven story or a character-driven story? Do you prefer complex plots with subplots in them or a simple plot with something deep underneath (take hills like white elephants for example)?

Im sorry if I’m asking too many questions, its just that I want to pick at your brain a little bit. Plus, you kinda remind me of my INTJ best friend :)

I personally prefer character-driven stories. However, any well-done character-driven story is subsequently going to have an excellent plot. It may not follow a typical arc, but as long as the characters behave realistically, the plot is also going to move forward in a realistic way.

If you look at any piece of Shakespeare’s work, you’ll realise that every last bit of it is character driven. His plots are fantastic, but they are always driven by the motivations of his characters.

The Ender’s Game Series is another good example of a character-driven storyline in which there is no absence of complex plots and subplots. I could think of a million other examples, but I’ll leave it at that.

Any story that has an interesting and well-developed character who is facing a very real conflict will necessarily end up also having an amazing plot.

Now, I enjoy a story with an intricate plot, but if the characters are boring the story becomes empty. I get bored reading Dan Brown because his writing features incredibly complicated plots with hardly any character development.

Am I a Feminist?

Arvid Walton 1 Comment

Sassyfeminist asked: Would you consider yourself a feminist?

Hmmm… Do I believe in equality of the sexes? Now that’s a really tough question. I’ll have to think really hard about it and eventually come to the same opinion I had before I thought about it.

Of course I’m a feminist. Just because I’m biologically male doesn’t mean I can’t support women’s rights.

For my German readers, does anyone find it horrifyingly sad that all three of the lead female characters in Generation War/Unsere Müter, Unsere Väter get raped by the end of the series with no consequences to any of the men who rape them?

My Friend Group as an INTJ

Arvid Walton 23 Comments

Pejar asked: “As an INTJ, what is your friend group like? Are there certain types that you gravitate towards or that gravitate towards you? Like, do you have other INTJ friends? And do you make friends differently than other types?”

Which types am I most likely to be friends with?

My current room-mates, an INFJ and ISFP, were handpicked by me –and by handpicked, I mean my Te took over, organised a flat and then told them they were living with me. They were both fine with that. Generally, my friend group has one INTJ (me) and a whole bunch of INFxs and couple of ISFPs, occasionally allowing for a few tagalong xxxxs.

The most likely reasons for this are as follows: Continue reading →

Do I relate to INFPs?

Arvid Walton 18 Comments

Elise Ann asked: How do you relate to INFPs? you must find us exhausting

I do find you exhausting. You burst out with seemingly random topic changes while I’m still philosophically analysing something you said two hours ago. Also, your emotions…dear me, they are everywhere…

But yes, there are a few ways that I relate to INFPs (not drastic ways, just subtle ones).

The main way that I relate to INFPs in the persistent Fi desire to do the right thing. Of course, we go about it vastly differently, but the goal is the same.

Secondly, there is the often frequent drive for creativity –which, as a writer, artist and Ni user, I relate to regardless of whether the creativity stems from an Ni or Ne function. Both types of intuition can be vastly creative, just in different ways. Many make the mistake of assuming that only Ne is creative, and that Ni is merely a goal setting function –this is based on a limited understanding of MBTI.

Ni presents more of a focused and vision oriented creativity while Ne presents an unexpected and possibility based creativity.

How do I know so many literary figures?

Arvid Walton 1 Comment

“Just out of curiosity, how do you know all these literary figures so well?”

Simple answer: I’m studying English at university.

It’s also why I have a better understanding of character motivations than most typists out there.

Lets just say…I have a small obsession with the intersection of history, art, and human nature (and by small, I mean INTJ small…so really big on most people’s scales).

The Thesis on God

Arvid Walton 28 Comments

Someone recently requested that they’d like to read my thesis on God that won a philosophy debate several years back. I’m afraid that I can’t post the original complete article on this website (or share it with any of you through email) simply because I’d like to keep my professional writing separate from this website as a privacy measure.

However, I can give you the basic premises of the argument (without all the written explanation). It would probably make more sense with the actual essay, but unfortunately this is as much as I can give you.

By way of introduction, it’s an ontological argument that follows a similar vein as Descartes’ “Meditations.” As part of the essay, I also included a detailed case against my own argument, followed by a response as to why the case against doesn’t actually dispute the argument, but I’ve spared you the pain of reading that bit here and just left you with the bare skeleton of the main argument. Continue reading →

To my Grammar Nazis

AsideArvid Walton 3 Comments

Recently, I’ve gotten an influx of grammar-correcting comments, which I’d like to address. I believe grammar is expressly important, but it’s not the most important thing in writing.

You spelled ______ wrong! Don’t you understand how important grammar is?

Being a grammar nazi is a poor way to assert your intelligence because it merely expresses emotional immaturity. A grammar nazi is a person who lacks the self-control necessary to restrain themselves from voicing their inner-critic at inappropriate times and places. He misses the big picture in order to focus on minute details.

Correcting other people’s grammar does not make anyone think of you as a genius. A person may be academically intelligent, but that does them no good if they lack emotional maturity. On a larger scale, this is why Ender Wiggin was chosen to fight the bugger war over his brother Peter. Both were incredibly intelligent, but one of them lacked emotional maturity.

I completely understand the urge to correct other people’s grammar –believe me. However, self-control is far more important. If you can’t control the things you chose to say, then who are you? Because you’re not your own person. You’re simply being swayed one way and another by your emotional responses to things that aren’t important.

“Recognise is spelled with a Z.”

Yeah, maybe in America, but in the UK, we spell it with an S. My earlier attempts to cater all my spellings toward Americans (who comprise the largest percentage of my readership) were a flop, and I’ve gone back to UK spellings.

Consider this. Which is more important? Somebody else’s correctness, or your maturity? Are you simply going to react to everything you see, rather than assertively making a decision as to how you will respond? Are you going to sacrifice your own maturity for the sake of something you probably can’t change?

I am an English Major. I knew the risks of deciding not to spend an extra ten minutes editing per post on this website. It’s for this very reason that I specifically avoid connecting this blog to the books/stories that I’ve published.

I apologise for any grammatical errors you may find on this blog. I’m sorry if they offend you, but they don’t offend me enough that I’m going to spend my entire day off trying to fix all of them.

My INTJ Movie Tastes

Arvid Walton 6 Comments

Hi this isn’t MBTI related, but I was wondering what your favourite movie is since you’re an INTJ and I don’t know any.

INTJ Movie Tastes

I don’t really have a favourite movie. I just have a very long list.

Many of the movies that I tend to lean towards the most don’t necessarily appeal to the masses as films they’d want to see over and over again (while others do). Continue reading →