Lifestyle & Commentary Posts

xxTJ? Or when it’s Just Your OCD Talking

Arvid Walton 3 Comments

Laurie asked: I’ve always considered myself (and been described as) INTJ, but I also have OCD, and you said in a post that every person with OCD will score as a TJ. I know that you can’t just magically type me without knowing me, but I would really like to find out if I *really* am an INTJ, or it’s just my illness that makes me act in a certain way (though I always recognized my thought process as that of an INTJ, not my actions necessarily). How do you go about typing characters who have mental illness? I know you always try to “separate” the two things and recognize the real type that might be hidden by the illness – are there particular questions I might ask myself, or things I might notice in my actions/thoughts etc.?

I know I shouldn’t give to much importance to my type – I myself use it more as a very useful tool to write plausible fictional characters than anything else – but recognize who I really am might help me overcome things and thought processes that are not “mine” but come from my condition…in a way, I believe I simply don’t want to be defined by my OCD, but recognize who I truly am, in spite of everything else. Thank you!

I don’t know the exact nature of your OCD, so I’m going to do the best I can at a generic, but applicable response.

I would suggest trying to pay attention to what you’re like when you’re less affected by your OCD (if possible). The particular function that tends to be associated most heavily with OCD is the Si function, simply because it likes to pay attention to minute details that intuitive upper functions don’t. Continue reading →

More Mind Palace Tips

Arvid Walton 1 Comment

Gabrielle Massman asked: You wrote a post on memory palaces, and I have since created my own and found it very useful– to a point. One of the main reasons why I created my mind palace was to remember Biblical Hebrew vocabulary, but I found my mind palace utterly useless in remembering any types of words or mathematical equations. I tried writing them in open books on tables, on the walls, and even in one word blood on my bathroom mirror, but nothing worked. When I walked through my mind palace, I could see that something was there, and I could remember a broad meaning of the word (for instance, if the word meant “to destroy entirely,” I would remember it had something to do with death.) However, I could not remember the word or exact definition. Moreover, in a practical sense, I wondering if I could fit (and be able to locate) 1,200 vocabulary words in a single or multiple mind palaces.

Do you have a technique to putting words into your mind palace? Or is a mind palace not the best memory technique for words and equations?

It’s not going to work if you try to write them on windows and mirrors. Period.

The reason for this is that the Mind Palace is a mnemonic system of memorisation that relies on making connections and establishing a very specified visual imagery. For tips on how to make your images work better, see this post it outlines how to use your mind palace imagery properly, including how to put large quantities of vocabulary words into it.

In terms of numbers and equations, my suggestion is that you find a way to mnemonically connect the numbers to your images, rather than simply writing them on the walls. I used the system to remember centuries worth of dates, terms, authors, literary works and royal genealogy for a test that I had one day to study for last week (the dates spanned from 3000 BCE to 1500 CE) and the memory palace served me faithfully.

If you have further questions after you finish reading my other post, please feel free to ask.

MBTI Crying in Movies

Arvid Walton

stranger5 asked: “you’ve talked before about how Fe and Fi cry in movies for different reasons. Does function hierarchy also affect whether/why a person will cry in a movie. say, would T types be less likely to cry in movies than F types? Also, are F types more drawn to emotional movies than Ts?”

Or, I should say question[s]. Shall we work through them one by one?

Function Hierarchy

Function hierarchy does have a certain degree of affect on whether someone will cry in a movie, but it isn’t necessarily consistent for everyone.

Quite frequently, you’ll have two Te doms in the same movie theatre –one will remain unaffected emotionally and the other will tear up and get embarrassed about it. Likewise, there are plenty of F types that cry relatively little in response to movies. Continue reading →

xNTP vs xNTJ Writing

Arvid Walton 6 Comments

Morally Relative Midnight asked: As someone who engages in creative writing frequently, how would you differentiate between INTJ and INTP writing styles? How would an INTJ’s tertiary Fi and an INTP’s tertiary Fe manifest themselves in a creative writing assignment or just any writing project in general?

Now that’s what I call a question.

Best examples of INTJ writing I can think of off the top of my head are Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Flannery O’Connor and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Some good examples of INTP writing include Edgar Allan Poe, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. 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.

INTJs: How to deal with Low Self-Esteem and Emotional Emptines

Arvid Walton 19 Comments

Asthma asked: As an intj how do you deal with :
– lack of confidence/ low self-esteem.
– emotional emptiness.

Low Self-Esteem

I’ve never had a problem with low self-esteem myself, but I suspect that my methods for dealing with self-criticism could apply to your question just fine.

My interior monologue often runs along these lines: Why don’t I feel anything? Why don’t I care that this person in front of me is crying? Am I a bad person? Did l have to say that? It may have been true, but it wasn’t kind. I am a terrible friend. etc.

Here’s how I deal with it. Continue reading →

How INTJs cope with Trauma

Arvid Walton 69 Comments

How INTJs cope with Trauma

There is no defined route traveled by every traumatized individual, and variations range so widely even within the INTJ realm that all we can really observe are the patterns. Continue reading →

9 MBTI Typing Mistakes Tumblr Makes

Arvid Walton 25 Comments

9 MBTI Typing Mistakes Tumblr Makes

Credit: quotes & bullets borrowed from celebritytypes.com and expounded upon in an understandable format

If you haven’t already, read my Mistyping post for further input on what mistakes to avoid when typing people.

Continue reading →

Can you develop all 8 MBTI Functions?

Arvid Walton 3 Comments

“Can you develop all eight functions? If so, how would one go about doing that?”

Can you develop all 8 MBTI Functions?

That would be an excellent idea if you want to go nowhere in life.

I would not recommend trying to develop all eight functions, and here’s why.

You have four functions that you utilize on a regular basis, but occasionally, when you’re extremely stressed out, you can lapse into using all opposite functions (aka, your shadow functions). Continue reading →

How MBTI can Help with Character Development

Arvid Walton 8 Comments
How MBTI can help with Character Development

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How to Get out of the Grip

Arvid Walton 6 Comments

“Would you please do a post on how to get out of the grip of your inferior functions?”

Hmm, funny. I was going to do a post on this independently of your question (great minds think alike). Actually, forget I said that. Great minds pride themselves on thinking differently.

There are multiple ways you can pull yourself out of your grip functions, but heres the basic method.

#1 Accept that you’re in the grip

It goes without saying that Continue reading →

INTJs! Don’t Hide from your Feelings!

Arvid Walton 1 Comment

Sumayyah asked: As an INTJ. I used to be very detached and anything emotional aggravated me. However, my problem lately has been that I’m usually in a bad mood or temper. I snap at people more often. I don’t like to hear or have any conversations that make emotions and feelings the center. Also, I have been betrayed by the man that I liked. I don’t know how to deal with these sudden feeling and emotions. It seems very illogical to me and aggravates me that they are controlling me. Do you have any advice or tips for an INTJ do deal with this situation.

Here’s my #1 piece of advice: DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR UPPER FUNCTIONS. Do everything you can to avoid locking into only your lower functions (this is called being “in the grip” and it isn’t a healthy state to be in). Make use of your upper functions.

My second piece of advice is to avoid locking into a loop between your Extraverted Thinking (Te) function and your Extraverted Sensing (Se) function. Often, INTJs experiencing emotional trauma will do this in order to detach from the strong feelings they’re enduring. Just as I warn you not to lock into only your lower functions, it’s unwise to stop using any function simply to avoid dealing with a problem.

To quote one of my all-time favourite Christopher Nolan films, “you always fear what you don’t understand.” And it sounds like there’s a disjunct between your emotions and your understanding of them (thus your fear of them).

Take your TeFi and analyse your feelings. Allow yourself to feel those feelings, but then ask yourself why you’re feeling what you’re feeling. Mature INTJs do not hide from their feelings. They face them without allowing the feelings to control them.

It is perfectly possible to feel strongly and still be rational. The feelings themselves may be irrational, but the only way you’re going to talk yourself out of that irrationality is to analyse those feelings so that you can understand them, and to do that, you have to feel them.

You will never understand anything that you spend all your time hiding from.

ENFPs and Trauma

Arvid Walton 9 Comments

Meredith asked: “I have a friend who’s was a total ENFP but then he went through a traumatic experience and now he doesn’t seem like an ENFP at all. Could he have changed to an introverted type?”

Probably not, although, yes, if the trauma you’re referring to was physical head trauma, a stroke or anything that could cause brain damage and literal personality changes. However, I’m going to assume that you’re talking about something that was psychologically traumatizing.

First of all, everyone (hopefully) undergoes Continue reading →

INTJs: Embarrassed about Crying in Public?

Arvid Walton 12 Comments

Abbie asked: Help! I’m an INTJ and I’m crying… In a public place… With no secluded spot or sanctuary I can run to… And people are watching… What do I do? What do you do?

Answer: Curtesy queue interruption –this is what you should do.

Forget that other people are watching.

It does not matter what anyone thinks of you. A person who judges you for crying is not someone whose opinion you should value enough to let it affect you. When you cry in public, that’s when you really discover the character of the people you care about. The ones who judge you aren’t people you want to keep around and those who don’t will probably be your friends for life.

Secondly, you should never be ashamed of crying.

There are large quantities of immature T-types out there who will tell you that emotion is for weaklings. To that, I say that if you have not cried –if you have not been broken, your life has been too easy and you have not learned enough.

Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you’re weak for emoting. Crying releases endorphins, which is why we sometimes can’t feel better until we’ve had a decent cry. Emotion is what makes us human. If we could not feel, we would not make moral decisions.

If there is nowhere to hide your tears, stop worrying about it and deal with what’s really important (aka the issue that’s making you cry in the first place).

When an issue is important enough, just let yourself cry. Who cares if people are watching? Cry, and then move on. That’s all I can really tell you.