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INTJ Area of Authority authority
Old 05-21-2010, 06:38 AM   #1
stock
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Hello INTJs,

I once read that all INTJs have areas in which they become experts and consider themselves authorities.

What areas do you consider yourself an authority in?

I also understand you wish to be highly competant at everything you do. Can you exhibit high levels of competency without being an authority? If so, what areas would those be for you in particular?


(On a side note, enfps are more aptly known for "areas of interest". We will find an interesting topic, spend several months fixated on it, trying to learn everything we can, then drop it for a new more interesting topic.)
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Old 05-21-2010, 06:54 AM   #2
igeryu
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I wish I had the attention-span to do this right now. The effort and attraction is definitely present, but because of the lack of consecutive "learning time", I end up learning a lot about one subject, only to learn about a completely different one next time I get time to myself.
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Old 05-21-2010, 08:31 AM   #3
Monte314
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I am a "recognized expert" in Data Mining (according to the definition used by the Association of Computing Machinery International Data Mining Conference).

For several international Data Mining conferences I have done Tutorials, served on Program Committee's, and been a Session Chair;

I have published many Data Mining technical conference papers;

have served twice on the National Science Foundation's Data Mining grant review panel;

was Technical Chair of the research consortium that authored the Data Mining Comprehensive Capabilities List for the U.S. Department of Defense;

served four years as member of the national review panel for advanced algorithms for the Missile Defense Agency;

served as an International Ambassador for the Augmented Cognition Society;

I am the co-author (with R. Delmater) of the book, "Data Mining Explained" (Digital Press), which has been used as a supplemental text in many colleges and universities around the world (including the MIT Sloan School of Business);

was a Technical Fellow at Northrop-Grumman, where I was Chief Cognitive Research Scientist, where my principal area of research was Data Mining;

am Adjunct Full Professor of Computer Science at Webster University, where I am Mentor for the Space Coast Region's Master of Computer Science Program (and I teach a graduate Data Mining topics course);

and, I am now the Chief Scientist at Celestech, Inc., working in advanced analytics, data mining, and machine intelligence.

(For more information, refer to any of my bio's in the current editions of:
"Who's Who in Science and Engineering"
"Who's Who in America"
"Who's Who in the World")
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Old 05-21-2010, 03:04 PM   #4
Imperator
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Thanks Monte! Don't set the bar too high or anything!
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Jack of all trades, master of none. Wouldn't consider myself an authority in any field, and competent in only a handful.

One of these days, would like to be a master (Professor) in Philology and Ancient History. Maybe throw in some competence in linguistics, anthropology, or sociology for the whole dangerous package. But I'm young, I've got time.

My competence in things would really depend on who I'm around.
Competent clarinet player (nowhere near professional caliber)
Competent historian (nowhere near professional caliber)

Quite good at language acquisition, currently learning French, German, Latin, and Greek with relative ease. Plan on adding Italian eventually. (still nowhere near professional....or fluency).

Am I on the right track with your competence question?
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Old 05-21-2010, 03:59 PM   #5
Leg
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Good knowledge of history (ww2, ancient history, ancient roman culture) and geography,
good knowledge of English (about to do the FCE exam) compared to other Italian people; basic Latin and Spanish.
I'm studying music on my own as I am a bass in a choir.

I'm interested by everything regarding biology, science, astronomy, technology, airplanes, ships, subs, cars, etc.. so if there's a subject interesting me, I'll try to get all the infos I can.
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Old 05-22-2010, 03:28 AM   #6
plushbug
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  Originally Posted by stock
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Hello INTJs,

I once read that all INTJs have areas in which they become experts and consider themselves authorities.

I've read this too, but would say our expertise is more often relative than absolute.

There is no area in which I consider myself anything like an absolute authority, formally or experientially qualified. That's at least in part because my interests have never focussed narrowly enough for me to naturally pursue the necessary depth in any one area. It's also in part because mine has proven to be a practical rather than a theoretical brain--I tend to lose interest in any topic, once I reach a point where I stop being able to learn easily, anything directly and immediately applicable to things I want to do--and to be rude about it, in part because I'm lazy. And to be even more blunt, while I'm far from stupid, I don't represent anything like a first-rate intelligence.

That said, what I have found--my entire life, at every stage in my life--is that given any topic, any body of material or set of facts I am given, taught or exposed to, or anything I have experience with, I will tend to retain its logic better, integrate the facts available, extract a more thorough understanding of processes, and be able to come up with better practical ways to apply them, than--I'll say 50-75% of my peers. Over time, this has always tended to put me in a position of relative expertise, in relation to at least that percentage of any group I'm focused on the same topic with, no matter the context. So I end up being a 'go to' person for information or analysis and problem-solving, related to whatever the topic is--in short, a local expert.

I suspect that's as far as most of us "have" those areas in which we become experts and consider ourselves authorities.
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Could be in something as simple as applying Newton's Third Law to the task of forking dandelions out of a lawn without ripping the turf to excess.

 
I also understand you wish to be highly competant at everything you do. Can you exhibit high levels of competency without being an authority?

Wish to be highly competent, yes. Sure, anytime. But prepared to invest in developing extraordinary competence, once I've achieved recognizable, fully satisfactory, reliable, gets-the-job-done competence?--not necessarily. It pays to stay sensitive to diminishing marginal returns.

And can you exhibit high levels of competency without being an authority? As long as you're not in a field where being evaluated as exhibiting a high level of competency requires one to have achieved the state of being an authority--sure. No problem, at least in my experience.

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Old 05-22-2010, 05:44 AM   #7
reijiro
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hm.. well one thing i'm really REALLY good at (effortless enough) is developing career paths for people. I'm a jack of all trades with everything else but when it comes to people who fall below me, if they listen to what i say they always get promoted. (oh, 75%-80% if i had to put a figure to it)

don't get me wrong i'm not a peopley person. I tend to be very private. i'm not a super out-there helper person as well. I just like getting my guys to see their potential and rise up. they make loyal followers.
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Old 05-23-2010, 06:58 AM   #8
stock
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  Originally Posted by Monte314
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I am a "recognized expert" in Data Mining (according to the definition used by the Association of Computing Machinery International Data Mining Conference).

You know INTJs do this neat thing. Once an expert on a topic, you guys will share the knowledge with others. Some find this pedantic-but the funny thing is that I enjoy it if I have the time. I think it is something about Ni being calming and Te matching my own Te-so I can follow the path of your thoughts-it just makes sense. I enjoy just sitting quietly and absorbing knowledge.

All this to say-I feel the need to go have a beer with Monte and listen to him talk all about data mining.... no kidding.

  Originally Posted by Imperator
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Am I on the right track with your competence question?

Yes, thank you! I was interested in the topics that interest you as well how you guys self define authority vs competency. I can see both-authorities much like Monte, but also a drive for high competency even in areas of interest where you may not end up an authority.

  Originally Posted by plushbug
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That said, what I have found--my entire life, at every stage in my life--is that given any topic, any body of material or set of facts I am given, taught or exposed to, or anything I have experience with, I will tend to retain its logic better, integrate the facts available, extract a more thorough understanding of processes, and be able to come up with better practical ways to apply them, than--I'll say 50-75% of my peers. Over time, this has always tended to put me in a position of relative expertise, in relation to at least that percentage of any group I'm focused on the same topic with, no matter the context. So I end up being a 'go to' person for information or analysis and problem-solving, related to whatever the topic is--in short, a local expert.

I suspect that's as far as most of us "have" those areas in which we become experts and consider ourselves authorities.
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Could be in something as simple as applying Newton's Third Law to the task of forking dandelions out of a lawn without ripping the turf to excess.

As you approach a new topic-is there a point where you make a value judgment on the material-practicality and usefulness of the added knowledge vs intellectual curiosity-then choose to not pursue the subject matter any further?

  Originally Posted by reijiro
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hm.. well one thing i'm really REALLY good at (effortless enough) is developing career paths for people. I'm a jack of all trades with everything else but when it comes to people who fall below me, if they listen to what i say they always get promoted. (oh, 75%-80% if i had to put a figure to it)

don't get me wrong i'm not a peopley person. I tend to be very private. i'm not a super out-there helper person as well. I just like getting my guys to see their potential and rise up. they make loyal followers.
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I actually see this in many of the INTJs I observe. You guys grow people-I dont understand the motivation but it seems almost a paternalistic desire to see others achieve and grow into something more. Sometimes this is most certainly tough love as needed, but in the best interest of the person involved.

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Old 05-23-2010, 08:18 AM   #9
Vagrant
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Biology
While not really an expert, still pretty knowledgeable about chemistry
Photography
Constructing/Repairing a computer
Video Games
Longboarding (both the tech and actually doing it)

I have a lot of other "skills" I'm proficient or capable in, but not an expert.
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Old 05-23-2010, 12:15 PM   #10
plushbug
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  Originally Posted by stock
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As you approach a new topic-is there a point where you make a value judgment on the material-practicality and usefulness of the added knowledge vs intellectual curiosity-then choose to not pursue the subject matter any further?

Yes. It isn't a particularly hard-edged or explicit intellectual process, but as I work with any topic there tends to be a continual weighing of factors going on, like

  • how personally interesting I find the material
  • whether or not what I'm learning holds any promise of ever being useful (or even just entertaining, as in
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    good for freaking people out with, when they find out I know about that, too)
  • how much I need it, to accomplish anything I may need to accomplish
  • how hard I'll have to work, to get a reasonable grasp of the subject
  • how much time I can afford to give the effort right now
  • how much energy I've got, to give it
  • which could boil down to how late in the day it is, and I've been up since when?
By the time I get to a point of making that judgement not to pursue a topic, in any instance, it will tend to have a feel of the judgement making itself. As in, however interesting I've found it at any point previously, either as useful or satisfying my curiosity about anything of which I'm ignorant, I will by that point have come to feel that either I'm satisfied, I'm at the limits of my ability to understand easily, or at the limits of my willingness to invest time and energy in the task, given no burning need to apply the knowledge.

 
I actually see this in many of the INTJs I observe. You guys grow people-I dont understand the motivation but it seems almost a paternalistic desire to see others achieve and grow into something more.


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That we grow people is a sweet way of putting it. I wouldn't say exclusive to INTJs, as I've also seen it in ENTJs, most notably my father, who was an absolutely relentless day-by-day experiential teacher, and exceptionally good at it--I think there's definitely something in that Ni Te combination, whichever way one flips the dominant - auxiliary relationship, lends itself to a need to share knowledge. Which can at its worst just be a pedantic power trip--been there, done it, hope to have grown up enough never to go back--but for my money it usually has as much to do with the fact that we get so high, ourselves, on 'getting' ideas--our own "Aha!" moments of insight and understanding when all the pieces of the puzzle go *click* and we see something we've never seen before--that we get a real charge out of being able to provoke that sort of experience for other people. Who may then be able to turn it around and provoke it more in us... So our interests also are served.

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Old 05-26-2010, 02:55 PM   #11
bailey
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I'm a Jack of all trades... I've always been good at everything I've tried.

The closest to an expert I am in anything is in coffee. I know way too much about coffee.
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Old 05-26-2010, 03:11 PM   #12
Causa Mortis
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Macroeconomics, particularly monetary policy and the business cycle.
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Old 05-28-2010, 05:15 AM   #13
Titus Alone
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For me the strange thing is I become an "expert" in various things that grab my interest, usually because I have to work on them rather than because I see them as intrinsically important. When I was 7 I did a project on stingrays and knew a startling amount about them - much more than I do now. I had a similar thing in high school where I got really interested in the ancient history and knew vast amounts about the various political shenanigans of late republican Rome, and Latin prosody and versification. I also did a part-time job where for about a month I became an expert on the New Zealand car park market.

But I forget all these things rather quickly when I don't need to use them any more.

I also don't tend to get personally motivated to find things out on my own, and like plushbug very perceptively said, expertise is much more relative than absolute. I'm very cautious about proclaiming myself an authority on anything.
Unfortunately at the moment I'm not really a relative authority on anything - French literature is about as close as it gets but I'm pretty under-educated on that front.

I have a slightly concerning propensity to find an interesting aspect in anything that I have to do, without ever feeling truly passionate about it.
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Old 05-31-2010, 12:36 AM   #14
LifesEcstasy
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I am not an authority on any subject. My attention span is too short to ever specialise. But I can become highly competent at just about anything at speed.
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Old 05-31-2010, 01:01 AM   #15
MrFlaneur
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Indoor Horticulture. Hydroponics.

Leisuring.

erm...I sussed iteration curved graph roots (maths) last friday.

I dont really know that I have any true authority in a subject, but when ever the shit hits the fan, in life or at work, I project a little authority - people look to me to sort shit out.
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Old 05-31-2010, 06:43 AM   #16
PRBori
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Jack of all trades, but highly knowledgeable on my field

Have no college or degree just a passion for what I do and a strong will power to accomplish my goals... I tend to focus my efforts on whatever I'm working on and read like crazy to ensure it meets all the requirements....and to help streamline processess...

I'm not much into authority, and don't really care much about it either... but if I feel that others are not doing things right, I have the habit of taking over and doing whatever I feel is necessary for achieving compliance on whatever it is I'm working on... I always take the initiative and if it is something I don't know, I research and research, put it in practice until I learn it.. then document it for others to learn for I believe in cross-training individuals who share my field...
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Old 06-01-2010, 09:28 AM   #17
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The areas that I'm confident in teaching in with authority is chess and programming. Other than that although I might be good at something, it's not something I'd be open to work with others. Wouldn't want to teach anyone improperly.
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Old 07-26-2012, 10:50 AM   #18
80085
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For me its quite consistent with the INTJ description, I will consider myself the authority in something when others have demonstrated that they are clearly not.

In situations when I'm not the most knowledgeable about something I sometimes act as the voice of reason or the "king maker" to the person that I believe should be the authority.
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Old 07-26-2012, 11:38 AM   #19
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Working on it... But the work will never stop.
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Old 07-26-2012, 05:04 PM   #20
porousshield
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I have a bachelor in napping with a Phd in sleep. I'm currently working on my masters in laziness but it'll be a number of years before I finish that.

In seriousness, I have a number of degrees but I only feel confident in my knowledge of history.
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Old 07-26-2012, 08:06 PM   #21
envirodude
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Old 07-26-2012, 08:17 PM   #22
LiamN
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  Originally Posted by porousshield
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I have a bachelor in napping with a Phd in sleep. I'm currently working on my masters in laziness but it'll be a number of years before I finish that.

In seriousness, I have a number of degrees but I only feel confident in my knowledge of history.

I hope your knowledge in history isn't solely based on your education via the 'system..

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Old 07-26-2012, 09:10 PM   #23
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I find that any given subject has many assumptions that almost always turn out to be false, especially war history. God what a load of crap. Vietnam was lost because of hippies. NOT! It was probably lost after we started spraying agent orange on the south in an attempt to force the people to move to the cities and rely on the US. We destroyed their food supplies, then wonder why so many civilians didnt want to side with us.
Or WWII, we only won because of one gay guy who broke Ultra. Who would have known that the most influential man in history would have later been stripped of his clearance and forced onto hormones simply for being gay? Then we wonder why people do things like give the A-bomb to the Soviets.
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Old 07-27-2012, 08:08 AM   #24
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  Originally Posted by LiamN
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I hope your knowledge in history isn't solely based on your education via the 'system..

No it isn't.

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Old 07-27-2012, 02:04 PM   #25
Ely
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Video games
Computers
Geography
A tiny bit of history
English, languages in general, most of the time I pronounce things really good at my first attempt.

Things I'm not-so-good at.
Programming. (just gonna start soon, aswell as web developing, and developing software later.)
I honestly can't think of anything else right now.
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