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Also called the Promethean Temperament. To make people more like the gods, Prometheus gave them fire, the symbol of light and energy. In harnessing light and energy humankind gains a control and understanding of nature. To understand and control nature is to have real power: this is what sets the Promethean apart from the rest.
These are NTs. They are rather infrequent, only about 12 percent of the population, or some 24 million people. In school, only four in a class of 32 would be an NT. Of these four only one would be introverted, an INTP, or INTJ. They must live with aliens, while the SP's and SJ's are continuously surrounding them. The teachers and parents of NT's are likely not to understand the motivations of the child.
Power fascinates the NT. Not power over people, but power over nature. To be able to understand, control, predict, and explain realities. Note these are the four aims of science, control and understanding, prediction and explanation. Scratch an NT, find a scientist.
The Promethean NT loves intelligence, which means: doing things well under varying circumstances. The extreme NT can even be seen as addicted to acquiring intelligence, hooked on storing up wisdom, just as Aesop's Ant must store up goodies. Tell the NT that e is a fake, a liar, a cheater, lacking in responsibility and spontaneity, and e will reflect on your criticism and reply that "you may have a point there". Not that e is perturbed or offended, for e often wonders and doubts eir sense of freedom, responsibility, and authority. But tell em e is foolish, stupid, or incompetent and discover the exact value e places on your warrant to say so. Only e can judge eir capability, and e does so with ruthless self-criticism. Wanting to be competent is not a strong enough expression of the force behind the NT's quest. E must be competent.
The NT is the most self-critical of all the types. E badgers emself about eir errors, taxes emself with the resolve to improve, and ruthlessly monitors eir own progress. E continually checks the pulse of eir skills and takes eir conceptual temperature every hour on the hour. E must master understanding of all objects and events whether human or extra-human, physical or metaphysical, in whatever domain e stakes out as eir area of competency. And the more extreme the NT style, the more exacting and stringent the demand placed by the NT on emself in the acquisition of skill and knowledge. The NT must be competent in whatever domain of enterprise or inquiry e chooses; e will settle for nothing less.
The NT has accumulated massive lists inside eir head of things that e knows and things that e should know. E is inclined always to accumulate more items, never deleting any. E runs a kind of mental bureaucracy of excellence, and thus can be a perfectionist, becoming tense and compulsive in eir behaviour when e comes under too much stress. E may greet with scorn and amusement the criticism of others concerning eir powers. E may or may not express this reaction, although the extroverts are more likely to do so, but the NT is very conscious of the credentials of eir critics and in what degree they license comment. Allied to this demand for competency in critics is recalcitrance on the part of the NT, even from an early age. To accept an authority figure based solely on the fact that e is an authority figure, to the NT is ludicrous. The fact that a person proclaims something, whatever eir title, reputation, or credentials, leaves the NT indifferent. This tends to make others see the NT as arrogant, and unusually individualistic.
The NT is also overwhelmed by a sense of always being on the verge of failure. Constant self-doubting is the hallmark of the NT, so severe, that because of these doubts the NT often does not react at all because of fear of failure. E can be completely immobilised by self-doubt so far that eir resolution fades.
Watching the NT at "play" is apt to be touching and a little sad when compared to the SP's and SJ's. The NT, knowing logically that recreation is necessary for health, schedules eir play, and during that "playtime" taxes emself with improving eir recreational skills. For example, in a game, e must make no mistakes or lapses of logic or strategic inaccuracies. In tennis, each set must be the occasion for the improvement of certain strokes or the elimination of previously-noted errors. The opponent of the NT may feel that e cares nothing about winning, and is in eir own world separate from the game. The NT even demands of emself that e have a good time, since recreation is so defined.
An unfortunate by-product of the signals the NT unconsciously sends out, are that those around em are intellectually inadequate. In time, NTs become defensive, withdrawn, and make little effort to communicate their ideas. The consequences of these transactions, is, of course, that the NT confirms eir perceptions of the trivialities in the minds of others.
In eir communications the NT is likely to speak with little or no redundancy. Eir communications tend to be terse, compact, and logical. E has a deep reluctance to state the obvious, restricting eir verbal communications because, e believes, "Of course, everyone knows that...". And, it follows, for the NT, that if e did state the obvious, eir listeners surely would be bored. The NT is oblivious to emotional overtones, and non-verbal communications.
Because the NT is so serious about the knowledge e must have to be competent (and to be seen by others as competent), e does, in fact, frequently gain proficiency in eir field. The dominance of eir power-hunger over eir lesser hungers for action, duty, of self-actualisation often exerts itself early in life, usually taking the form of a childish curiosity as to how things work, especially machines. The NT begins eir search for explanations as soon as e has the language for questioning. E is puzzled by the world around em and is not satisfied by the answers from eir elders. Learning for the NT is a 24-hour preoccupation, and this characteristic exerts itself early, particularly in the case of the extreme NT.
Perhaps more than any other style, NT's live in their work. For the NT, work is work and play is work. Condemning an NT to idleness would be the worst sort of punishment. Work is done not so much to achieve a product or for the pleasure of action, but for the improvement, perfection, or proof of skill or knowledge required by the work. The NT does not have the function-lust of the SP; rather, e has, through eir work, a law lust. E is ever searching for the why's of the universe. E ever attempts, in eir Promethean way, to breathe a fire of understanding into whatever area e considers eir domain. NT's are, understandably, drawn to occupations which have to do with the formulation and application of scientific principles. Science, technology, philosophy, mathematics and logic, design and engineering, research and development, management, manufacture, criminology, cardiology, securities analysis— all appeal to NT's. Sales and customer relations work do not hold such attraction, nor do NTs tend to gravitate toward services such as clerical work, repair, maintenance, entertainment, or distribution. They can be found in high frequency in engineering and architecture, in the teaching of mathematics, sciences, and philosophy. Wherever they are and whatever they do, the NTs strive (and usually succeed) to perform competently.
E tends to be straightforward in eir dealings with people, although others report often finding the NT cold, remote, and enigmatic. Yet if an NT is asked outright eir position on any issue, e is more than likely to state eir ideas on the subject without equivocation. The NT is vulnerable to the all-work-no-play syndrome and can easily become isolated in an ivory tower of intellectualism, seemingly cut off from the world that other types find as reality. The NT is, at times, the eccentric genius. Einstein shuffled in the streets of New York in his bedroom slippers and communicated intelligibly with only a few. Doubtless, Einstein had no regrets concerning this situation, and fortunately his work has not been lost. There always is, however, the danger that the work of NTs will be lost to others because of this tendency to communicate at levels of abstraction others find unintelligible.
NTs as a group tend to enjoy playing with words, finding pleasure in exploring verbal intricacies. Convoluted phrases and paradoxical statements fascinate them. Contemplating Einstein's comment, "The laws of mathematics, as far as they refer to reality, are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality", would give delight to the NT, as does the reading of satire and the savouring of such complicated word structures as those found in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
NTs tend to focus on the future, regarding the past as something dead and gone. What matters most is what might be and what might happen next. The past is useful only as a means of giving direction to the future and for deciphering the lessons of history, taking heed to the warning that "E who remains ignorant of history is doomed to repeat it". The NT is never willing to repeat an error. And it is quite humiliating for an NT to be in the position where others are witness to the errors e makes in eir work, especially errors in logic.
As the NT speculates about the possible motivation and thoughts of those e is with, trying to fit eir experiences into some system e carries around in eir head, e sometimes misses direct experience. E may be so occupied with trying to figure out what is happening, as it is happening, that e misses living the event. At times, the NT seems to stand beside, instead of in the stream of life, seeming to watch bemusedly as the river flows by— a little distanced, a little detached, a little uninvolved. This distancing sometimes causes the NT to make personal commitments which e later regrets. In particular, the NT whose feeling is not developed can become involved with members of the appropriate sex who might be totally unsuitable as life companions. At times, an NT can be quite oblivious to the emotional responses of others and may not always be sensitive to the complexities of interpersonal relations. People report that they sometimes feel that they do not exist when they are in the presence of an NT, and they may react to this by hostile, attacking comments directed to the personality of the NT. NTs generally react to these comments with bewilderment and seldom strike back. If e chooses, however, the NT is capable of biting sarcasm that can be devastating to the person at whom it is directed.
The Spirit of the NT is caught in the myth of Prometheus, the Greek God who created humankind from clay. Disappointed in his lifeless sculpture, Prometheus enlisted the help of Minerva. She carried him to heaven where he stole fire from the wheel of the sun. Prometheus applied the stolen fire to the breast of humankind, giving them life. Prometheus paid for his theft by being "nailed hard and fast in chains beneath the open sky". A greedy vulture tore at his blackened liver all day, year in and out. And there was no end to the pain: every night, while Prometheus hung bound on the cliff, exposed to the cruel frost and freezing winds, his liver grew whole again. Prometheus rescued humanity from ignorance, even though he had to rob heaven to do so. He proclaimed the doctrine of progress for humanity and secured the gifts of science and technology.
Wishing to control nature, the INTJ "scientist" probably has more difficulty than all the other types in making up eir mind in mate selection. Even mate selection must be done in a scientific way. Nevertheless, when young, the INTJ is attracted to the free-wheeling, spontaneous, and fun-loving. But the INTJ requires that mating meet certain criteria, else it is not undertaken. So the INTJ doesn't often go through with what is begun by natural attraction. Since e proceeds in a rational and methodical way, the selection of a similar temperament is more likely than selection of opposite, following the assumption that those who are similar ought to do well together. The INTJ "scientist" is also attracted to the ENFP "journalist", probably because of the enthusiastic, effervescent, and apparently spontaneous enjoyment and wonderment this type exudes— the very antithesis of the careful, thoughtful exactitude of the INTJ.
The NT leader has to be conceptualising about something to feel good about emself within the organisation. E must also design, and so e is called the Visionary Leader. E is inspired and energised by being asked to do some kind of architectural or engineering job.
INTJ's are the most self-confident of all the types, having "self-power" awareness. Found in about 1 percent of the general population, the INTJ's live in an introspective reality, focusing on possibilities, using thinking in the form of empirical logic, and preferring that events and people serve some positive use. Decisions come naturally to INTJ's; once a decision has been made, INTJs are at rest. INTJs look to the future rather than to the past, and a word which captures the essence of the INTJ is builder— a builder of systems and the applier of theoretical models.
To INTJs, authority based on position, rank, title, or publication has absolutely no force. This type is not likely to succumb to the magic of slogans, watchwords, or shibboleths. If an idea or position makes sense to an INTJ, it will be adopted; if it doesn't, it won't, regardless of who took the position or generated the idea. As with the INTP, authority per se does not impress the INTJ.
INTJs do, however, tend to conform to the rules if they are useful, not because they believe in them, or because they make sense, but because of their unique view of reality. They are the supreme pragmatists, who see reality as something which is quite arbitrary and made up. Thus it can be used as a tool— or be ignored. Reality is a crucible for the refining of ideas, and in this sense, INTJs are the most theoretical of all the types. Where an ESTP sees ideas as the pawn of reality, an INTJ sees reality as the pawn of ideas: No idea is too far-fetched to be entertained. INTJs are natural brain-stormers, always open to new concepts and, in fact, aggressively seeking them.
INTJs manipulate the world of theory as if on a gigantic chess board, always seeking strategies and tactics that have high payoff. In their penchant for logic, the INTJs resemble the INTPs. The logic of an INTJ, however, is not confined to expressible logic. Unlike INTPs, INTJs need only to have a vague, intuitive impression of the unexpressed logic of a system to continue surely on their way. Things need only seem logical; this is entirely sufficient. Moreover, they always have a keen eye for the consequence of the application of new ideas or positions. They can be quite ruthless in the implementation of systems, seldom counting personal cost in terms of time and energy. Theories which cannot be made to work are quickly discarded by the INTJ.
To understand INTJs, their way of dealing with reality rather than their way of dealing with ideas should be observed closely. Their conscious thought is extroverted and empirical. Hence, they are better at generalising, classifying, summarising, adducing evidence, proving, and demonstrating than are the INTPs. The INTJs are somewhat less at home with pure reason, that is systematic logic, where principles are explicit. In this respect they resemble the ENTJs. The INTJs rather than using deductive logic, use their intuition to grasp coherence.
INTJs can be very single-minded at times; this can be either a weakness or a strength in their careers, for they can be either a weakness or a strength in their careers, for they can ignore the points of view and wishes of others. INTJs usually rise to positions of responsibility, for they work long and hard and are steady in their pursuit of goals, sparing neither time nor effort on their part or that of their colleagues and employees.
Fellow workers of INTJs often feel as if the INTJ can see right through them, and finds them wanting. This tendency of people to feel transparent in the presence of the INTJ often result in relationships which have psychological distance. Thus colleagues find the INTJ apparently unemotional and, at times, cold and dispassionate. Because of their tendency to drive others as hard as they drive themselves, INTJs often seem demanding and difficult to satisfy. INTJs are high achievers in school and on the job. On the job, they take the goals of the institutions seriously and continually strive to respond to these goals. They make dedicated, loyal employees whose loyalties are directed toward the system, rather than toward individuals within the system. So as the people of an institution come and go, the INTJs tend, ordinarily, to verbalise the positive and eschew comments of a negative nature; they are more interested in moving an institution forward than commiserating about mistakes of the past.
As mates, INTJs want harmony and order in the home and in relationships. They are the most independent of all types. They trust their intuitions about others when making choices of friends and mates, even in the face of contradicting evidence and pressures applied by others. The emotions of an INTJ are hard to read, and neither male nor female INTJ is apt to express emotional reactions. At times, both will seem cold, reserved, and unresponsive, while in fact INTJs are almost hypersensitive to signals of rejection from those for whom they care. In social situations, INTJs may also be unresponsive and may neglect to observe small rituals designed to put others at their ease. For example, INTJs may communicate that time is wasted if used for idle dialogue, and thus people receive a sense of hurry from an INTJ which is not always intended. In their interpersonal relationships, INTJs are usually better in a working situation than in recreational situations. They do not enjoy physical contact except with a chosen few.
As parents, INTJs are dedicated and single-minded in their devotion: Their children are a major focus in life. They are supportive of their children and tend to allow them to develop in directions of their choosing. INTJs usually are firm and consistent in their discipline and rarely care to repeat directions given to children— or others. Being the most independent of all the types, they have a strong need for autonomy; indifference or criticism from people in general does not particularly bother INTJs, if they believe that they are right. They also have a strong need for privacy.
The most important preference of an INTJ is intuition, but this is seldom seen. Rather, the function of thinking is used to deal with the world and people. INTJs are vulnerable in the emotional area and may make serious mistakes here.
Intuition is directed to the inner object, a term that might justly be applied to the contents of the unconscious. The relation of inner objects to consciousness is entirely analogous to that of outer objects, though their reality is not physical but psychic. They appear to intuitive perception as subjective images of things which, though not to be met with in the outside world, constitute the contents of the unconscious, and of the collective unconscious in particular. These contents per se are naturally not accessible to experience, a quality they have in common with external objects. For just as external objects correspond only relatively to our perceptions of them, so the phenomenal forms of the inner objects are also relative— products of their (to us) inaccessible essence and of the peculiar nature of the intuitive function.
Like sensation, intuition has its subjective factor, which is suppressed as much as possible in the extroverted attitude but is the decisive factor in the intuition of the introvert. Although eir intuition may be stimulated by external objects, it does not concern itself with external possibilities but with what the external object has released within em. Whereas introverted sensation is mainly restricted to the perception, via the unconscious, of the phenomena of innervation and is arrested there, introverted intuition suppresses this side of the subjective factor and perceives the image that caused the innervation.
In this way introverted intuition perceives all the background processes of consciousness with almost the same distinctness as extroverted sensation registers external objects. For intuition, therefore, unconscious images acquire the dignity of things. But, because intuition excludes the co-operation of sensation, it obtains little or no knowledge of the disturbances of innervation or of the physical effects produced by the unconscious images. The images appear as though detached from the subject, as though existing in themselves without any relation to em.
The peculiar nature of introverted intuition, if it gains the ascendancy, produces a peculiar type of person: the mystical dreamer and seer on the one hand, the artist and the crank on the other. The artist might be regarded as the normal representative of this type, which tends to confine itself to the perceptive character of intuition. As a rule, the intuitive stops at perception; perception is eir main problem, and— in the case of a creative artist— the shaping of eir perception. But the crank is content with a visionary idea by which e emself is shaped and determined. Naturally the intensification of the intuition often results in an extraordinary aloofness of the individual from tangible reality; e may even become a complete enigma to eir immediate circle. If e is an artist, e reveals strange, far off things in eir art, shimmering in all colours, at once portentous and banal, beautiful and grotesque, sublime and whimsical. If not an artist, e is frequently a misunderstood genius, a great person "gone wrong", a sort of wise simpleton, a figure for "psychological" novels.
Although the intuitive type has little inclination to make a moral problem of perception, since a strengthening of the judging functions is required for this, only a slight differentiation of judgement is sufficient to shift intuitive perception from the purely aesthetic into the moral sphere. A variety of this type is thus produced which differs essentially from the aesthetic, although it is none the less characteristic of the introverted intuitive. The moral problem arises when the intuitive tries to relate emself to eir vision, when e is no longer satisfied with mere perception and its aesthetic configuration and evaluation, when e confronts the questions: What does this mean for the world? What emerges from this vision in the way of a duty or a task, for me or the world? The pure intuitive who represses eir judgement, or whose judgement is held in thrall by eir perceptive faculties, never faces this question squarely, since eir only problem is the "know-how" of perception. E finds the moral problem unintelligible or even absurd, and as far as possible forbids eir thoughts to dwell on the disconcerting vision. It is different with the morally oriented intuitive. E reflects on the meaning of eir vision, and is less concerned with developing its aesthetic possibilities than with the moral effects which emerge from its intrinsic significance. Eir judgement allows em to discern, though only darkly, that e, as a person and a whole human being, is somehow involved in eir vision, that is not just an object to be perceived, but wants to participate in the life of the subject. Through this realization e feels bound to transform eir vision into eir own life. But since e tends to rely most predominately on eir vision, eir moral efforts become one-sided; e makes emself and eir life symbolic— adapted, it is true, to the inner and eternal meaning of events, but unadapted to present-day reality. E thus deprives emself of any influence upon it because e remains uncomprehened. Eir language is not the one currently spoken— it has become too subjective. E can only profess or proclaim. Eirs is "the voice of one crying out in the wilderness".
What the introverted intuitive represses most of all is the sensation of the object, and this colours eir whole unconscious. It gives rise to compensatory extroverted sensation function of an archaic character. The unconscious personality can best be described as an extroverted sensation type of a rather low and primitive order. Instinctuality and intemperance are the hallmarks of this sensation, combined with an extraordinary dependence on sense-impressions. This compensates the rarefied air of the intuitive's conscious attitude, giving it a certain weight, so that complete "sublimation" is prevented. But if, through a force exaggerated of the conscious attitude, there should be complete subordination to inner perceptions, the unconscious goes over to the opposite, giving rise to compulsive sensations who excessive dependence on the object directly contradicts the conscious attitude. The form of neurosis is a compulsion neurosis with hypochondriacal symptoms, hypersensitivity of the sense organs, and compulsive ties to particular persons or objects. This type has little consciousness of eir own existence.
There are many books and websites to read about this, plus many online tests you can take to determine which personality type you might be. The open directory entry on Myers-Briggs and Keirsey is a good place to get started.
Notes on pronouns: This document was written using gender-free pronouns to refer to a person of unknown gender in a non-sexist manner. For more information, see a table of Spivak pronouns.