[jd_]

I was wondering if any INTP's here embrace their emotions. And I think that might be the key difference between the INFP and the INTP for anybody who is wondering the difference.

As for me, I feel emotions, sometimes strongly. However... I try to analyze my emotions. And it is often after the fact. I can rarely describe the mood that I am currently in. And often times, the mood is just devoid, indifferent, ambiguous or stoic altogether. If emotions come up in odd situations, I basically try to throw water over the flame and get rid of them as to calm their intensity. If I find myself even thinking about acting on an emotion, strict analyzing comes into play and I generally rationalize why I was feeling that way as to not make an unwise decision.

As for the INFP, I am thinking they actually embrace their emotions... in fact, they might LIVE on these emotions and want to make them stronger. Watch movies, listen to music, etc. in the efforts to intensify them. Read into characters in order to relate to them and intensify them. Then when their feeling is at a height, they will make a decision on how a choice makes them feel. Such as not eating meat makes me feel good. Or helping these people out makes me feel good. Dressing like X makes me feel good and different. Doing a certain thing makes me feel good and ultimately super unique from everybody else. They want to create a rich identity of themselves.

In contrast, for the INTP, I think they want to transcend any kind of personal identity, and if going if more "spiritually" inclined which an INTP might be skeptical over the term, it would be to more eliminate the ego and become one with the universe and world of ideas, like they are out of their bodies or something. Seeking an objective truth that they can live by.

Thoughts?

 

[DAPHNE XO]

Urm, I have an INTP friend who has, in detail, described basically every single emotion she has had for the past 6 months in text for me so I feel like I can comment.

Okay, so the first thing I noticed about her was her weird aversion to feeling anything other than neutral and impartial. It was like emotions actually scared her. She would literally go overboard at the slightest thing sometimes. It was weird even for me to watch. Like the first time she got really drunk, she was bloody hysterical. It annoyed the hell out of me because I just wanted to have fun but she was busy dramatising everything.

Slowly she started to relax a bit more, I guess having someone to talk to about it really helped the process along. She became more open to discussing what she was feeling and I think in her mind, discussing it meant she could process it, which meant she could get over it quickly. It was the weirdest thing for me watching her realise she was feeling emotions I knew she had been feeling for the past 5 hours or so. That I will never forget; I didn't realise people could really be that emotionally retarded.

Eventually she started to even "embrace" certain emotions, she would feel them knowing it would pass and everything would be okay in time.

But whenever she felt a new emotion, she would revert back to that deer in the head lights type of reaction. It would honestly frustrate the hell out of me.

She told me this was because emotions would cloud her judgment and that she didn't really know how to deal with them. She really does lean on me a lot for emotional support, which is quite frustrating at times, because it feels like I have to baby her...

But this is where I differ to her (as an NFJ), I like the INFP's you describe want to feel my emotions. No matter how deep they are. I don't really understand what purpose it serves for me other than telling me I am feeling something. Sad emotions used to be my favourite because they were deepest. They really put me in this sort of headspace where I felt like everything was intensified. I guess because I was just used to constantly being sad and you know what they say, eventually some people enjoy sadness. Happy feelings were always fleeting, and it disturbed the headspace I was in, so that actually annoyed me.

Anyway, in time and through our friendship, I think we both taught each other how to deal with things that were "difficult" before because we learnt the benefits of the other's way of doing it; I learnt that remaining objective really is the best way to make decisions and she learnt that feeling an emotion isn't going to give her heart attack and it'll pass soon enough.

But I think the best thing I learnt is that we were no different in how we feel emotions; it's just that where I preferred to allow myself to feel them, she preferred to rationalise them away/have a heart attack. I think before we met each other, we didn't really realise there was another way.

Hope that helped :kitteh:

 

[Seaborg]

But I think the best thing I learnt is that we were no different in how we feel emotions, it's just that were I preferred to allow myself to feel them, she preferred to rationalise them away/have a heart attack.

In our defense, the symptoms of a heart attack and emotions are very similar.

 

[DAPHNE XO]

In our defense, the symptoms of a heart attack and emotions are very similar.

I feel like I was being too harsh on her.
She truly is an amazing friend :laughing: it's just our differences are usually really amplified so clashes seem much worse than they actually are.

We deal with them by just ignoring each other I guess. I don't want to rock the boat and I feel even worse when she puts so much effort into trying to correct her behaviour, that genuinely breaks my heart ><

I have to tell her she should never apologise for being herself... URGHHHHH CURSE YOU INTP's. I never want to hurt any of you ><

 

[Nordom]

Depends on the emotion. Most of them I try and suppress. Dysthymia kind of muffles them all anyhow.
I'll use Robert Plutchik's 8 basic emotions

Fear- Well, I'm a dude. I'm not showing fear unless there are zero consequences. It's involuntary sometimes though. I might admit someone startled me, but I'll try and hide that as quickly as possible

Anger - Ehh, I rarely raise my voice. I'll get curt and sarcastic, but I'll usually walk away before I lose my temper. I'm pretty easy going for the most part. I'll kvetch, but that's more of an animated discussion observing general human behavior. Mild annoyance at most.

Sadness - It's mostly muted. Thanks paxil. I would rather withdraw and be by myself then show sadness. I'll be wistful, occasionally but that's usually when I'm remembering something from the past.

Joy - Even this I try and suppress. I like to stay even keeled at all times. It is very rare for me to be excited enough to jump up and down. If something or someone is funny, I don't try and suppress laughter. That's sort of the safest emotion for me to express.

Disgust - This is easy to express as a concept for me. If something terrible or unjust happens, I have no issues showing it. If someone is acting in a way that disgusts it would depend on how well I knew them for me to express anything.

Trust - Very subtle. Basically I'll walk over to someone and engage them in conversation. I don't usually bother otherwise.

Anticipation - This is suppressed for me too. Again I try and stay neutral and even keeled. If something doesn't work out I haven't lost too much. If I invest too much, the disappointed is tougher to bounce back from.

Surprise - My expression is typically muted for this too. It's hard to catch me off guard or get me to jump. I'd wait for someone else to react and then decide if that's how I feel or not. I usually have no idea for a little while.

 

[Ista]

My emotions are often too powerful to comfortably or practically "embrace." I acknowledge emotions, live through them and try not to encourage them. My emotions are managed (but not micro managed). After many years of experimentation, it seems to me that observation and tolerance (which is neither repression nor wallowing) of emotion is the best management technique for me.

Most importantly, recognizing that action and perspective drive a large proportion of emotions enables their gentle, rather than dictatorial guidance.

 

[Wasp]

Initial response to the title of your thread: No. ...Fuck no.

Further on that: Strong feelings send me into autopilot. Where does this pilot take us? Calm computer lady voice: "System shutdown. Please prepare and standby."
I thereby go into calm-mode. I say nothing aloud. I might stare. Blinking, optional. This occurs until i've processed things, OR until the extreme situation dies down. If it doesn't die down?...
Calm mainframe voice [from Reboot] starts the countdown of User's destructive win:

...yeah, ignore the last 30 seconds... i couldn't find one better

 

[LadyO.W.BernieBro]

l had to reply because l relate to wanting to transcend identity. l guess that's really not an Fi thing...maybe some Fi types becomes this way later in life but l notice an attachment to identity.


Hmm. l can "feel" things but l don't always feel them as my own emotions. Collective emotions? Anyone's emotions?

Good thread, because l hadn't thought about the way Fi and Fe differed there. l feel more like an emotional conductor of sorts. l think feeling emotions that aren't yours can be more painful ;_; Looking back, my experience with some Fi types was a lack of understanding of why l didn't ''own'' my emotions which they equated with immaturity.

Extremely annoying.

 

[RoSoDude]

In contrast, for the INTP, I think they want to transcend any kind of personal identity, and if going if more "spiritually" inclined which an INTP might be skeptical over the term, it would be to more eliminate the ego and become one with the universe and world of ideas, like they are out of their bodies or something. Seeking an objective truth that they can live by.

SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS

No seriously, I've been half-joking about becoming one with the collective floating consciousness for years now. There's something so appealing about transcending the shells we call physical forms and merging together as one unified and perfect understanding that only exists in the abstract realm of thought. What do you think Tool's constantly babbling on about (i.e. what do you think the quote in my signature is about)?

 

...

*ahem* Now that we've herded that elephant out of the room, we can get back on topic. I don't really value my emotional reactions, but they are of course there nonetheless. I don't really get much out of the visceral emotional aspect of things that some people seem to thrive on. I recognize that I have emotions, and try not to dismiss them out of hand, but also don't make much effort to take them seriously. I claim that I value feelings more than emotions (as are defined in this article), as they represent my conscious, long-term views. I feel as though emotions, as merely a product of reactionary brain chemistry (though what isn't?), aren't worthy of intense consideration. One should note one's emotions and make efforts both to respond to them, but one should not let one's basic emotional reactions decide one's actions.

Though I could claim as many do that I don't even act on feelings, I act "rationally", this isn't actually true, because it isn't true of nearly any human being on the planet. People who lose the emotional centers of their brain become completely unable to make any decision, as they end up only weighing options endlessly and of course fruitlessly. It is ultimately one's feelings, which may be rationalized with conscious thought, that motivates behavior. What I'd instead argue is that I'm not very swayed by emotions such as anger or shock, but I will admit that fear is an emotion that strongly motivates me (both in the positive and negative sense). Fear and anxiety are emotions that rely on twisted rationalization, which may make them appear as more innately rational, when they are as "irrational" as anything that originates from the human brain.

In the context of typology, this difference in emotional focus seems somewhat consistent with Fi vs Fe. The theory suggests that Fi users often focus more on evaluation based on their personal reactions, while Fe types tend to prioritize
the broader emotional connections. INFPs, with Fi as the dominant process, internalize all emotion and evaluate on how things make them feel. They have a strong sense of identity and this is where they draw strength. On the other hand, INTPs, with Fe as the inferior process, may feel that desire to connect and emote to others on a broad level, but are not able to provide this for themselves, and so engage in weird fantasies about shedding personal identity and ego in favor of a connected cognitive entity.

 

[Norsecat]

I can now

I was wondering if any INTP's here embrace their emotions. And I think that might be the key difference between the INFP and the INTP for anybody who is wondering the difference.
Im older and living on drugs so I am happy to embrace my emotions and even talk about them (badly with lots of stuttering). I live with an INFP girl friend but I think we will soon go seperit ways.(she told me that a year ago)
INFP does live in there emotions and often have a bubble around them to keep the universe at bay.

ILL add more later

 

[vorpal]

personally, I have trouble with acknowledging my emotions.

I have spent most of my life supressing any reactions I may have had to any emotion because I saw it as weakness when observing my parents and the people who I grew up around. every time they would react emotionally to something it seemed to create more chaos in an already convoluted situation....

I am still really bad at acknowledging emotion. I think I still supress immediately or revert to apathy...

but it is interesting, I relate to what you are saying about Fe... seeking what other people are feeling, Im not sure if I would call it empathy but it feels like that some times...

oh and I day dream of what RoSoDude is talking about... too bad there seems to be so little useful documentation on that type of trancendence...

 

[RandomNote]

Depends on which emotions.

 

[Tharwen]

i love feelings. i really, reeeaally do. but theres nothing im more afraid than getting lost or confused in them.
i want feelings to make clear sense, i want reasons for their existence. i demand it all to be ordered, or else ill take none.

im also afraid of being overwhelmed by their darkness, how it can feel like theres no hope at all for anything better. its really scary.

i find that i have alot more security in my feelings when other people are around me, but it can also work in adversity if im afraid of showing my feelings to them in fear of rejection.

im not afraid of their intensity. currently, theres a battle between my love and hatred for humanity, and when love is winning, im really caring of others, and when hatred is winning, then im uptight intellectual bitch who will crush anyone with his intensity if they stand between me and my goals. in the love state i use my love to persuade others to my will.

i think this post explains my feelings quite thoroughly. =/

 

[onthefence]

[insert joke about ten foot pole here]

 

[TheProcrastinatingMaster]

Hell naw, I avoid them like the fucking plague is back in fashion.

 

[nevermore]

Believe it or not I am actually with the INFP's on this one, but I have practically lost all my emotions at this point. Having been both emotionally dead and perhaps emotionally over-sensitive I'd say it's better to take the pain and not lose the beauty (which can be in both positive and negative emotions), but that's just me. People have different personality traits (in a non-MBTI sense) and a tendency to feel different types of emotions more strongly or often, which could play a role in what you prefer.

This gets me wondering: are there a lot of Feelers who mistype themselves as Thinkers simply because they don't like to dwell on their emotions? Just a thought...

 

[See Above]

There is a watcher in me that views everything as data, including my emotions/feelings. When I feel them, and I do occasionally feel them, the watcher in me lifts the binoculars and creeps quietly closer to try to see identifying features, calls and habits. Mental notes are taken and I find, after the intense observational interlude, I have been totally distracted from the "feeling" part of the experience, at least for a time. (Which is another interesting data point, and that starts me off on another round of observation and analysis, with a bit of experimentation tossed in.....which leads me, eventually, to considering the stark and rending horror of the fun-house mirror maze.) I can't stop learning. If learning added calories, I'd be too huge to make it though the door of my house.

Hi. My name is XXXXXX and I'm a learning-aholic.

 

[SoulScream]

For the most part of my life I am like this:
"Oh, I feel something.. lets poke it and analyze it from every possible angle." In the end I just store some data and move on.

I rarely am feeling anything anymore though. So when I do I try not to analyze it at least for a bit and enjoy it (whatever the emotion is).

 

[badgers]

I feel emotions like everyone else but 99% of the time I won't notice it until later on, after it passed.

Even when I'm feeling something half the time I won't know what it is.

For the most part, I'm numb, not really feeling anything.

 

[Moor]

I do sometimes try to embrace my emotions, but that doesn't really work. It's as if I've built a thick, blurred glass wall between my consciousness and emotions and thus I am unable to touch them but sometimes I can see glimpses of them. Since I am a human being, emotions do affect me. Sometimes when I try to understand what I am feeling or what I have felt, I look at how the emotions have affected me, what they have made me do and how they have made me act. Sometimes it helps in the understanding of what the feelings were, sometimes it doesn't.

I think that distance, or distancing, between me and my emotions is probably the reason decision making is usually difficult for me, but I don't know how to get closer to my emotions and I am scared of even trying (being scared, emotion! Well, not quite... I meant scared in the sense of logically not seeing the thing as safe).