[Isol8]

Hi. Jim. 22 M. Introvert(100%) iNtuitive(62%) iNtuitive Thinking(88%) Judging(33%)

I'm into philosophy, psychology, evolutionary science, classic literature, various forms of music (playing and listening).

This intro will be double as a 'advice on my situation please?' thread.

I've known about MTBI since high school. INTJ seemed appropriate. Of course I'm not convinced of the 'absoluteness' of the test, but it seems like a good rough indicator.

I read this page yesterday and it got me thinking [can't link yet, but it's Portrait of an INTJ on Personality Page dotcom]. Some of the phrases describe me perfectly, including the negative traits.

I haven't been in good place... ever... as far as life goals and enjoying the moment. I don't have Asperger's and I only have mild depression (dysthmia) if anything; never been on anti-depressants. But I'm in self-imposed isolation now, because I get nothing from other people. Naturally I am not very social, but when I learnt of the 'theoretical' importance of socialising in fending off depression I made a concerted effort. That ended a year ago in extreme frustration - I can easily become involved with things, but I don't want to - because of other people.

I have recognised that I've developed a sort of secret (sometimes not so secret) narcissism/ elistist attitudes. As the aforementioned article would have it, this is due to a failure of my explanatory capabilities but I blame the stupidity, ignorance, anti-intellectualism and poor attention spans of others. This has become quite a serious issue for me, because it seems I cannot express anything I'm passionate about without drawing a blank, whereas most other people's opinions I find either depressingly or infuriatingly vapid. (I used to be Christian and I think the focus on tolerance helped me get through high school.)

For this reason I haven't been able to find anything I want to do since high school. I haven't finished a university course, it's virtually impossible for me to do menial jobs so most of the time I'm unemployed, and I haven't been in a romantic relationship (which used to be because I lacked social skills, but now is more because I can't find people I like, male or female).

As INTJs we're open-minded, so I've been over all the options. I could be full of shit, just too picky, too hung up on my personal preferences. I have, in fact, met people who I think are great - online - just this year. They differ from the people I know in real life in that they read, have relevant opinions, are smarter etc. I am from a fairly conservative town, so there is a real possibility I'm far more 'enlightened' than the people I would encounter if I left the house. But then there was uni, which you'd think should have turned out some more interesting people than it did.

Basically, how do I tell if I'm full of shit or if I'm a genius, basically? And how do I get motivated after having a massive existential crisis and losing my faith in life? And if 'waiting for people to make sense' is the greatest downfall of the INTJ, how can I turn that off, and why would I want to? What would that even mean? I don't want to settle for shit, but there are literally only a few people (besides authors/philosophers/scientists) that I hold in high esteem, and they are all on other continents.

Rich and rewarding life my ass, this is tragic.

[Addendum, for those of you who want more deets: I'm not that socially retarded - I'm actually quite good one-on-one - the psych was surprised I had the problems I was describing. I can be very patient and quite good at explaining myself. It seems quite clear to me that the problem really is other people's... er... intelligence. There's no way to sugarcoat it.

Then of course I know people weren't 'designed' to 'make sense,' and that's just me projecting my values onto the world. Which only makes me think I'm irrelevant even if I'm right, if you know what I mean. How am I meant to make sense of this mess?... there I go again. Sense. Umm. Ok. There isn't even a question let alone an answer, there's just a bunch of shit that is but I guess all I can do is see what other people think.]

Sincerely,
Ray O. Sunshine

[Bailalobos]

Welcome to you. Read this http://intjcentral.com/the-compleat-...e-to-the-intj/ then let's chat.

[Isol8]

"To be able to send PMs your post count must be 2 or greater"

Fine. I'll Try again then.

[Cooper]

Welcome to the Alley...