Okay guys, so I know I’ve been away for over 3 years, and I suppose you shouldn’t be too surprised – that’s what ENTPs do. That said – looks like I’m back, with some new ideas to share with you, & today I want to share a quick way to distinguish ENTPs from INTPs based on social interaction.
First, let’s take a look at the cognitive stacks here. ENTP: Ne-Ti-Fe-Si; INTP: Ti-Ne-Si-Fe (if you’re rusty on cognitive functions, take a look here).
Notice that for an ENTP, Ne, extraverted intuition (a perceiving function), is on top of the stack. We may call it the knee-jerk reaction. That means that before anything else happens, ENTPs spot patterns. They (we) spot subtle correlations. And being the extraverts that we are, we often voice what we spot instantly, without giving it much thought.
Yes, that includes all our perceptive ideas about things people are ashamed of, all their triggers, all their weak spots.
Elephant in china shop much! No wonder so many people – especially those with a high feeling function – aren’t too happy with us.
In time, we learn to subdue our kneejerk reaction. We become more aware of what might hurt someone. But not until our tertiary function, Extraverted Feeling (Fe) kicks in.
A lot of people have told me over the years that it took them time to get used to me and my communication style. But the truth is – it took me time to get used to them, and figure out what they aren’t comfortable with hearing. What can I say, we might care about others just as much as a XXFJ, but it’s doesn’t come as natural to us.
So why are INTPs different? I mean, their Fe is bottom of the stack, so shouldn’t they be even less attuned to the subtleties of feelings than we are? That’s what you’d think, and to an extent it’s certainly true. However, unlike us, INTPs are rescued from themselves by their dominant function – introverted Thinking (Ti). While ENTPs perceive, don’t process and instantly voice their thoughts, INTPs don’t use Ne for instant communication. Rather, for them it’s input they use to further build their logical framework.
In short – INTPs might think the very same thoughts ENTPs do (especially if the logical framework is similar), they just intuitively don’t talk about it. It means they usually don’t take the spotlight as often as we do, but they also don’t end up the target of scorn.
- ENTP vs INTP in social interaction - April 19, 2021
- Burned out? MBTI can help you cope - December 31, 2017
- Battling Hyperdrive Ne Insomnia - May 1, 2017