A Riddle for an INTJ

Arvid Walton 3 Comments

Once upon a time, I was a seventeen-year-old, bored out of my mind, even in my college-level classes. This boredom morphed into a sort of cosmic angst, anger at the fact that I was sitting in a classroom memorizing facts when I could be problem-solving somewhere else.

One of my siblings tells me I looked like Sherlock pounding around the living room asking for a case.

Boredom is a very dangerous thing in immature INTJs because we’ll do pretty much anything to stop being bored (so long as it doesn’t violate our principles).

In 2014, @Ockham’s Chainsaw linked me to a post they’d written on the topic of intelligence, mentioning that NT types are often reluctant to say, “I can’t do it,” or “I don’t know,” when taking a test because they have firm confidence in their ability to figure the problem out, even if they don’t know the answer.

The following piece of writing consists of the notes I recorded while solving the Einstein Riddle to stop being bored when I was in high school, and it’s a perfect example of Ockham’s idea.

Actually, it is easy. You just have to believe it. The problem with the 98% of people who can’t solve this riddle is that they lack the patience and the solid logic necessary to tell themselves that they can do it. As it turns out, I fall into the 2% that can effectively solve this riddle without googling instructions (since that’s no fun for an INTJ).

Come on, people. If you think you can’t do it, you’ve been watching too much telly.

I started with what I knew for sure.

  • House 1 = Norwegian
  • House 2 = blue (because the house next to the Norwegian is blue)
  • house 3 = Brit/red (because the middle house drinks milk –> green and white have to be next to each other and green drinks coffee, so it couldn’t be them)
  • House 4 = green (because green is on the left of white)
  • House 5 = white

Next, using a graph, I decided to slowly decipher various details about each:

  • House 1 = yellow (since I knew all the other colours) –> The yellow house owner smokes Dunhill
  • House 2 owns a horse (because the horse lives next to Dunhill)

Next, I made a graph of what I knew (in order of houses):

COLOUR Yellow Blue Red Green White
Pet Horse
Cigar Dunhill
Drink Milk Coffee
Nationality Norwegen Brit

I knew then that the water drinker could only belong at the yellow house because:

  1. Yellow doesn’t drink beer (beer is paired with Bluemaster and we know that yellow smokes Dunhill)
  2. He doesn’t drink tea (because the Dane drinks tea, not the Norwegian)
  3. The only option left was water

From this, I determined that the Blue house-owner smokes Blend (because Blend is neighbors with water).

Next, I looked specifically at one clue: the owner who drinks beer smokes Bluemaster

  1. Blue doesn’t drink beer because he smokes Blend
  2. Green drinks coffee and red drinks milk, so neither smoke Bluemaster
  3. Therefore, White drinks beer and smokes blue master
COLOUR Yellow Blue Red Green White
Pet Horse
Cigar Dunhill Blend Bluemaster
Drink Water Milk Coffee Beer
Nationality Norwegen Brit

Well, there was one obvious hole there…looks like blue drinks tea and is a Dane….

I deduce that the German lives in the green house because:

  • he can’t live in the blue house because he smokes Prince, not Blend
  • he doesn’t smoke Bluemaster, so he doesn’t live in the white house

Red must be the bird owner, because the bird owner smokes Paul Mall and all the other cigars are taken

Yellow owns the cat because blend has a neighbor who owns a cat (and we’ve now determined that it’s not red because red owns the bird)

COLOUR Yellow Blue Red Green White
Pet Cat horse Bird
Cigar Dunhill Blend Paul Mall Prince Bluemaster
Drink Water Milk Coffee Beer
Nationality Norwegen Brit German

We can easily see from looking at the graph that the only place left for our tea-drinking Dane is Blue.

That leaves white to be the dog-owning Swede and the green to own the fish.

COLOUR Yellow Blue Red Green White
Pet Cat Horse Bird Fish Dog
Cigar Dunhill Blend Paul mall Prince Bluemaster
Drink Water Tea Milk Coffee Beer
Nationality Norwegien Dane Brit German Swede

The German owns the fish!

Barry – Pokémon: ESTP

Guest Writer

Guest Post by Andrew, ENTJ

Pokemon Anime Franchise

Extroverted Sensing (Se): Barry is notoriously hyperactive. He runs when anyone else would walk, and he does not look where he is going, often colliding with Ash when they meet. His battling style is flashy and very aggressive. He attacks with abandon, and he builds up his Pokemon’s speed so as to land hits fast. Barry has no concept of gradualism, asserting that he wants to be the best trainer there is in the least possible time. Similarly, in individual battles, he is often overconfident, stating that nothing can or will stop him from winning. Barry is extremely competitive and wants to prove himself through head-to-head battles. He maintains that data used to analyze trainers is useless if not constantly kept up-to-date, as trainers’ strengths and strategies change constantly.

Continue reading →

Hans Hubermann: ISFP

Guest Writer

Guest post by Ethereality, INTJ

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Hans Hubermann ISFP | The Book Thief #MBTI #ISFP

Dominant Fi: He is very certain of his own emotions and his own moral code, which has been developed over time and is very different to that of his family and most of the rest of Germany; for example, he chooses very deliberately not to join up to the Nazi party, even when most people start supporting it and the only thing that actually changes his mind is when his not being part of it begins to adversely effect his business and thus the wellbeing of his family, who he loves and values. He feels things deeply and is very sensitive to others emotions but he tends to work through his own emotions internally and in a personal manner, which leads to him being often quiet and contemplative, even with Rosa shouting at him most of the time. He keeps hi Continue reading →

Eames – Inception: ENFP

Guest Writer 2 Comments

Guest Post by E. J., INTJ

Inception

Eames ENFP | Inception #MBTI #ENFP

Dominant Ne: Eames thinks of himself as a creative person, and he provides many of the ideas that allow Cobb’s team eventually uses in their mission. His flexibility is important as the plan goes forward. Although he does not usually allow himself to become angry with others, Eames finds less creative people difficult to understand. As a result, he tends to introduce ideas in his preferred way–leaving the details to the imagination–despite the confusion this sometimes causes in other people.

Eames ENFP | Inception #MBTI #ENFP

Auxiliary Fi: Eames is not overly concerned with other people’s opinions. He knows that Arthur gets annoyed with him at times, but he is not upset: in fact, he often finds Arthur’s frustration humorous. His lifestyle is very unconventional. Even when he is not working at his (illegal) profession, he tends to pass the time doing things that many people would consider unethical or, at least, unwise. Eames understands his own emotions well, and his understanding of his own feelings helps him know how to appeal to Fisher’s, despite their differing personalities.

Eams ENFP | Inception #MBTI #ENFP

Tertiary Te: Although Eames is better at coming up with new ideas than carrying them out, he does care about basing his ideas on empirical evidence. Eames’s analysis of his own previous, failed attempt at inception helps put Cobb’s plans on solid footing. Eames can be very blunt on some occasions–in particular, if he is angry. After finding out that Cobb had not been completely honest about the mission, Eames directly confronts him, grilling Cobb about his behavior.

Eames ENFP | Inception #MBTI #ENFP

Inferior Si: As Arthur points out, specificity can be a weakness for Eames. He has a tendency to introduce new ideas without fully considering the details necessary to carry them out. Eames prefers to think in terms of future possibilities, but he is willing to learn from his mistakes. His earlier attempt at inception did not dissuade him from believing that inception was possible. He did, however, carefully consider what happened, how it went wrong, and how to prevent a similar occurrence. Eames uses his experience to help Cobb from making the same errors.

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen: ESTP

Guest Writer 1 Comment

Guest post by Andrew, ENTJ

Dune Series, Frank Herbert

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen ISTP | Dune #MBTI #ISTP

Extroverted Sensing (Se): Feyd-Rautha is entirely given over to physical pleasures. He enjoys food and the company of women, but his first love is gladiatorial combat. He fights to the death for the thrill of battle and the adoration of fans, and he cheats every time to ensure that he will always wi Continue reading →

Can you be two types?

Arvid Walton 2 Comments

Dina asked: Hi! I have taken many different personality tests (keeping in mind, they probably weren’t, individually, very accurate), and half the time I got ENTJ and the other half INTJ. I did much more research (a good deal of which was on this site) in order to get a better idea of which I was more affiliated with.

My question is, is it possible or even probable for someone to be directly between types? I seem to fit into bits of either depending on the category (communication, Leadership, emotions, etc.) Thanks for humoring me! Godspeed!

p.s. This site is the most in-depth and well thought out that I found so far. Bravo!

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See the bottom of my FAQ page.

Miss Havisham: ISTJ

Guest Writer

Guest post by Key Lime Pi, INFP

Great Expectations

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Si: Miss Havisham is fixated on the past, so much so that she keeps her entire house exactly as it was on the day of her canceled wedding, even as it disintegrates around her. She approaches her entire life based on her experience with tragedy in love, trusting a select few people (Estella, Mr. Jaggers, Pip) and raising Estella for the sole purpose of breaking the hearts of men. However, she still allows a few visitors whom she knows from her past, like Miss Camilla, even if she doesn’t like them. Continue reading →

Tyler Hoechlin: ESFP

Guest Writer 2 Comments

Guest post by Occam’s Chainsaw, INTJ —http://systematicthinker.wordpress.com

Tyler Hoechlin ESFP | Actors #MBTI #ESFP

Se: The first thing you recognize about Hoechlin is how utterly physical he is—and by this, I’m not referring to how athletic he looks. I mean how conscious you are about all of his movements, even the small ones. While talking, he engages his whole body in the conversation or in what he’s saying, and there won’t be a moment where he’s just sitting/standing without doing much of anything else; he will either be stepping around, shifting his weight from one leg to another, move his head, smile, gesture with his arms, scratch, make wide movements, wiggle his eyebrows, etc all the time. His eyes are always wide and alert-looking, like he’s constantly scanning his environment for little clues, to suck up as many information as possible from there. He seems to be invested in his surroundings and aware of every small detail of it. He’s clearly an opportunist, willing to try out new things for the experience—according to him, at the age of 8-9, he was offered a role in a commercial and he thought, “why not, that would be fun”. His dominant Se plays a role in the way he acts/depicts characters; e.g. he unconsciously made Derek Hale’s character extremely physical, to the extent that it could be hard for typers who go for stereotypes/are inexperienced/beginners to tell apart Derek’s dom Te from his tert Se, because Hale’s character is also a very strong Se user. Hoechlin’s biggest passion has always been baseball. Continue reading →

Book vs Movie Characters

Arvid Walton

 

Grace asked: When books get turned into movies, do the characters sometimes change types? If they do and you type them, do you go by the book or movie?

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I will direct you to my About page, which explains my typology method, including how I handle book/movie conundrums.