Category: not a typing post

Can’t tell if that was a serious answer about Ne communication? ‘Don’t talk to people’, ‘have an Ne spirit guide’?

Can’t a person just mean multiple things at once?

(Yes, the answer is yes.)

1. Not talking to people is an actual solution, even if it’s not for everyone. 

(Properly functioning Ne thinks of all the solutions, not just the good ones!) 

While the ENTP in question seemed to be searching for a pro-active method to improve their situation (commendable!), I, myself try to avoid spending a lot of time in person attempting to communicate ideas to people who do not know me well.*  It is ridiculously exhausting when you don’t have a common language of understood things to refer back to.  So yes, joke, but actually sort of not.  I hear avoidance is not the best way to solve your problems, though, even if the temporary rush of peace and quiet is nice.

2. Having an N type interpreter is actually really useful and also has the pleasant side-effect of making you feel more comfortable talking to people, if that is something that makes you anxious. 

What I am talking about is a buffer.  Solution 2 is a buffer.  Or like, a partner if you’re in a work context.

But seriously, make sure that this a real person with their own fleshy meat suit, not a spirit anything.  Always keep in mind that your goal is to be less confusing.  If you are interacting with a non-entity on top of making drastic intuitive leaps, you are not achieving your goal.  (Joke.  But also – it worries me somewhat that this was your takeaway.)

Technically your interpreter/buffer/partner doesn’t even have to be an N-type, just someone who can reliably follow what you’re trying to say and see where you’re losing the other person.  If that’s an S-type, more power to them!  Carrying them is a joke (I mean, I guess you can if that seems like a good idea?), but you should probably think about compensating them if you’re going to use their services often, maybe with friendship, or baked goods, or a salary and a job title.

3. & 4. Points 3 and 4 were, sadly, not jokes.

* Maybe the difference between E and I is how long we’ll try to explain a thing out loud before giving up.**

**(a joke)

I love MBTI for it’s ability to shed light on how people think, and interact. It’s ability to fills in the gaps and explain where they’re coming from. As an ENTP I’m beginning to realize I have huge communication problems. I’ll ask a question, and from the answer I can tell that the person has no idea what information I was looking for. It feels like Ne is the problem, but I could be wrong. As a MBTI wiz, and an INFP do you have any advice on how to adjust to people that struggle with Ne?

Yes, this definitely does seem like an Ne problem.  I have four solutions:

1. Don’t talk to people, or at the very least, don’t ask them questions.

2. Carry around another N type as an interpreter.  They will likely follow most, if not all of your intuitive leaps, and if not able to translate to your audience, may have a better idea as to why it’s not translating.

3. Use your Si/Te.  Usually your logic leaps are because you’re thinking too fast to follow and not using enough words.  Try listing or organizing your thoughts before you talk to someone (write or draw it down, and then read it out loud) – including asking yourself what is the simplest way to explain this thing.  If you can wait a hour, or a day before talking, let it simmer in the back of your head; you will probably come up with a better way to say what you want to in that time.  This is also a good time to consult your N type interpreter.

4. Give examples of the answer you’re looking for (or the type of example you’re looking for), or explain why you need it.  Sometimes it’s easier to understand the question if you already have the answer, if that helps.

So you’re saying Ben Howard’s an ISFP? *the whole system crashes* As Jared Leto? I don’t see it. His songs are full of metaphors (not saying ISFPs can’t do that). Is it because he’s a surfer? He doesn’t go straight to the point in his songwriting like Sensors tend to do. I’d just like to know your reasoning behind this if you don’t mind, because this kinda bugs my internal ‘database’ of MBTI mild-understanding you see… Anyway, I really like your blog, didn’t mean to be offensive at all.

I am typing by things like body language and speech patterns, so his body language and speech patterns were a better match for the ISFP tag than the INFP tag.