Every forum, every video always talk about INTPs being highly intelligent, especially at solving problems or puzzles. The older I get the more I begin to accept that I simply don't have the intelligence nor the mental stamina to solve complex issues. I switched my career from film making to IT for family reasons and learned coding. But it's really not coming easy to me. I'm learning slowly and forget what I don't practice daily.
So now I'm asking myself: should I just accept that I'm not intelligent even though I have the ambition to become a good coder? Or could there be a psychological reason?
I'd focus less on intelligence and more on how your abilities line up with the tasks you want to do. Instead of thinking whether you're intelligent enough to solve this particular problem, rather consider whether you have the information, knowledge and ability to solve that particular problem,. Intelligence is more of a spectrum, and you can't always extrapolate whether something (someone*, freudian slip, those human thingies
) is intelligent or not based on their competence in a few select areas.
There is this one explained concept regarding self confidence and self perception. It's probably more complex in practice than what I'm about to explain, but I find it kinda illustrates possible methods of self perception in a helpful way
A lot of children grow up where they are praised for their intelligence and other inherent abilities when they do well in sports, school or whatever activity they do well in. When they do well, they are being told they're intelligent and smart. When parents and teachers do this, they teach children that success or failure is a matter of inherent ability. If they do well it's proof they're intelligent. If they fail, nobody ever tells them this but it's kinda implicit, it means they are dumb.
The other method is basically praising children's effort and applied abilities, rather than what they are born with. If you did well it's because you worked hard. Children start thinking their success is related to how hard they work or that if they fail it doesn't mean they are dumb, it just means they have to work harder or differently
Interestingly, the latter group is shown to be better able to handle depression and difficult problems (I read this in Norwegian some years ago, so don't have a source, maybe googling growth mindset and depression will yield results). When the former group meet complex problem solving, they give up and blame themselves. The latter group keep trying and don't feel bad to the same degree about failing. To them it's a challenge they can overcome, to the former it's proof of their innate missing abilities, it's static and unchangeable.
Of course, in reality, people tend to do a bit of both, and probably have other types of input regarding their self perception. But I think this kinda illustrates how wrecked you can get if you grow up with the "you're intelligent" perspective or if you continue to cling to it as an adult. It's possible to change perspective as an adult and start focusing more on your own results compared to yourself, rather than others. Or to start recognizing failing doesn't mean a lack of intelligence. It's not necessarily easy to do this shift, but if you start being able to shift it, you might start feeling less concerned about how a task says something about your intelligence and to what degree your innate abilities is a limiter from what you can do. Mastering tasks might come a bit more into focus and you might start feeling generally more relaxed. It's about the challenge, not the result. Well, ofc you'll get fired if you get no results, but you know what I mean.
I'm kinda with Serac on recognizing there sometimes are things we can't do, but sometimes I think Hado's "just do it" approach can encourage people to make leaps where they grow and are better off for. Sometimes people need to realize they can't do that thing they really wanted to. Other times they need to make the jump and realize they could do more than they thought
So basically, most people wont have any idea what their choice will result in, so I guess we're just generally fucked
I guess if you know you can handle the consequences of failing, then, sure, try it.
Oh, also, I don't know anything about coding, but I agree the kind of mindset you get into stuff, process and learn have a lot to say in regard to how well you will do. It's not just about being intelligent, it's about being able to take in information in a way where you understand the implications and logical consequences of it. Which is kinda difficult to explain how to do, and when you were in school, most of the time you only learn how to memorize, not how to apply what you learned in a larger whole. Kinda.
Lastly, sometimes your brains will get exhausted as you use it in new ways, sometimes it's more of an temporary exhaustion where you teach yourself to become a more efficient thinker. Other times, things are just hard, man. As long as you're not braindead after working with something for a few hours, don't worry about it. At least you (probably) wont get alzheimer
Analogy-wise, he has 5 giant holes dug out, while I’m off digging a new hole every two scoops.
As an ENTP, learning something new is exciting, but once I start learning the details and step-by-steps I get bored. That’s when it starts sucking all the energy out of me.
Enfp (Ne dom), same here. Though, I still want to learn the details because I know it's improves understanding. I just very easily get bored by them
For instance, spelling is a boring detail
