Do INTPs enjoy gaining knowledge just for the sake of gaining knowledge?

[louiesgonnadie]

Or do they sometimes question themselves doing so wondering how it will apply to them and their future?

I mean, I believe in order to be better at life, you need to gain more knowledge. There is almost no limit to knowledge - and if there is, the gap is slowly but surely expanding due to new breakthroughs in technology, science, and other things.
However, I sometimes question if any random knowledge I should gain, be useful in any way.

Or am I just ISTP? Hmmm....

*retreats back to his bubble of ponder*

 

[Duxwing]

I love getting more knowledge because I feel like I'm smart and getting smarter.

-Duxwing

 

[snafupants]

Most times I'm really not agenda driven. Probable ENTP talking here. I just love to learn; I love truth. Sometimes these intellectual excursions are incorporated into my copywriting, but it doesn't matter to me either way. The pursuit of knowledge is fulfilling in its own right.

 

[Nezaros]

Practical knowledge is good, but learning for learning's sake is awesome as well. I know I'm more than likely never going to used advanced calculus or astrophysics in my chosen career path, but I want to learn both anyway. My question is, is this a trait unique to INTP's or are there other types that enjoy knowledge for its own sake?

 

[snafupants]

Practical knowledge is good, but learning for learning's sake is awesome as well. I know I'm more than likely never going to used advanced calculus or astrophysics in my chosen career path, but I want to learn both anyway. My question is, is this a trait unique to INTP's or are there other types that enjoy knowledge for its own sake?

Maybe knowledge for its own sake-ness is an Ne thing?

 

[SLushhYYY]

I study quantum mechanics, cosmology and psychology for fun even though my immediate career doesn't directly involve any of those subjects. Why? I have no idea, it's fun learning about the universe.

 

[Architect]

I constantly learn thing just for it's own sake. I watch reality TV shows like Deadliest Catch just to learn how to work a crab boat, for gods sake.

 

[Nick]

Remember the way we like to learn things, we have a wide breadth of collective knowledge, but it's usually not very in-depth. I believe I read it here before someone comparing it to lakes, certain people have a couple lakes of knowledge that go very deep, our knowledge is many different lakes but many of them are shallow.

 

[Wolf18]

I study quantum mechanics, cosmology and psychology for fun even though my immediate career doesn't directly involve any of those subjects. Why? I have no idea, it's fun learning about the universe.

I study quantum mechanics and psychology for fun, as well. I recommend reading The Black Hole War (QM) and Give a Boy a Gun (Psych fiction). The stuff they teach in school I understand after the first couple of minutes, and when I have access to a computer, I can learn anything I want in this fascinating universe. It's fantastic.

 

[SLushhYYY]

I study quantum mechanics and psychology for fun, as well. I recommend reading The Black Hole War (QM) and Give a Boy a Gun (Psych fiction). The stuff they teach in school I understand after the first couple of minutes, and when I have access to a computer, I can learn anything I want in this fascinating universe. It's fantastic.

Will do.
Im reading "The Quantum Universe" along with "Quantum Electrodynamics" and "A Universe from Nothing".... all of which are great.

 

[Etheri]

If there's one thing us INTPs can be unanimous about, it'd be this. I assume that nearly everyone will answer yes.

 

[Montresor]

Yes.

 

[Montresor]

And no. I enjoy gaining knowledge for the sake of knowing how to do things. And I'm not just saying that because it resembles what Architect said.

 

[Trebuchet]

Yeah. I recently read that dung beetles use the Milky Way to navigate their little balls of dung away from the crowd. I read stuff like that for fun and also to have something to say if conversation flags a bit.

I also read a lot of linguistics, though I am not a linguist, history despite not being an historian, etc. Those are less frivolous than the dung beetle article, but no less fun.

 

[walfin]

And no. I enjoy gaining knowledge for the sake of knowing how to do things. And I'm not just saying that because it resembles what Architect said.

Yep. Not quite gaining knowledge for the sake of gaining knowledge, that.

 

[Architect]

If there's one thing us INTPs can be unanimous about, it'd be this. I assume that nearly everyone will answer yes.

Everyone who is an INTP. Please Understand Me II forcefully makes this point about NT's. On the other hand, every ESTJ I've known had little use for knowledge, and little ability to gain it in any meaningful way. Try to have a conversation with one beyond small talk, they're really not interested.

 

[walfin]

Try to have a conversation with one beyond small talk, they're really not interested.

I can imagine an ESTJ saying the converse with disgust.

And for the INTP, try to make small talk with them, they're really not interested!

 

[Void]

try this, it's the best random yet interesting facts database I've come across so far. The science sub is also good.

 

[Nezaros]

Everyone who is an INTP. Please Understand Me II forcefully makes this point about NT's. On the other hand, every ESTJ I've known had little use for knowledge, and little ability to gain it in any meaningful way. Try to have a conversation with one beyond small talk, they're really not interested.

It may not be quite an NT trait, as INTJ's are still more concerned with the practical side than knowledge for its own sake.

 

[BigApplePi]

I most certainly and unconditional do not want all knowledge. Was it mentioned what kind of knowledge? What about "S" type knowledge? You might like to know what I sensed yesterday at 1:34:53 pm just out of curiosity. But would you like to know three hours of that? I defy you not to be bored if you could know.

Also the idea of knowledge for knowledge's sake. I'll lay you a thousand to one there is a reason behind every interest you have and that is NOT random. That is not knowledge for knowledge's sake.

That leaves open the question of, if we seek knowledge, what kind is sought?

 

[snafupants]

Ne and Ti together is like gasoline and fire.

 

[EditorOne]

I enjoy knowing stuff. I do try to avoid sharing too avidly -- although that dung beetle-Milky Way connection is going to be tough to keep to myself. Share too eagerly and you become Cliff Clavin, the postman who had a million odd facts to share with his fellow drinkers at "Cheers."
In fact I was derisively called "Cliff Clavin" by my executive editor in 1992 while explaining the origin of some ancient phrase like "lock, stock and barrel" during the daily content meeting.

 

[louiesgonnadie]

So you all enjoy learning about almost anything, right?

Were any of you ever like this as a teenager?

 

[snafupants]

So you all enjoy learning about almost anything, right?

Anything I deem interesting and edifying haha.

I'm not riveted by most people's lives, for instance.

 

[Nick]

Were any of you ever like this as a teenager?

Anything and everything, I can't really think of a reason not to learn something, unless I'm forced to learn it, then my rebellious Ti takes over.

As a teenager, consider me a sponge.

 

[snafupants]

Stanley Kubrick put down LSD users for considering everything beautiful, which leaves nothing really beautiful. Words like interesting and beautiful achieve meaning through contrast.

I'm sickened by anyone, in other words, who finds the entire world unvaryingly interesting or beautiful. That means you're either stupid/delusional or aesthetically undiscriminating.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

I don't willingly seek out random information, such as TodayILearned or what you see on tumblrs and stuff, and I wouldn't read a science/maths book just for the hell of it. But I do absorb information easily, and enjoy reading all about my favorite interests or hobbies(isn't this normal?). I especially enjoy reading up on the history / evolution of something(geopolitics, biographies, music genres etc).


Don't care for television news, but I will browse reddit.

 

[Spin Doctor]

I enjoy gaining knowledge for the specific purpose of proving wrong the idiots around me when it comes to certain debates, or if it will help me gain status, wealth or advantage over someone in an area of interest.

An example would be my fascination of discovering our universe. I am seeking knowledge that brings me closer to understanding other worlds and forms of life. This knowledge will eventually disprove religion and I will be happy when religious people are proven wrong because they will have to accept rationality and reason as I do, therefore making further progress to ultimate existence, and I am curious to figure out what ultimate existence truly is and I am assuming that I would like to experience it.

BOOM! I just explained my fascination with a certain subject with the greatest amount of ciphering and detail. Let's see anyone but an INTP do that.

 

[Etheri]

So you all enjoy learning about almost anything, right?

Were any of you ever like this as a teenager?

I'd learn anything that wasn't being taught in class.
I'd also read into what was taught in class whenever I felt my teacher was wrong and I could outsmart them. In all honesty, highschool teachers are often not the brightest people. (Some are tho, but most aren't...)

 

[Nezaros]

An example would be my fascination of discovering our universe. I am seeking knowledge that brings me closer to understanding other worlds and forms of life. This knowledge will eventually disprove religion and I will be happy when religious people are proven wrong because they will have to accept rationality and reason as I do, therefore making further progress to ultimate existence, and I am curious to figure out what ultimate existence truly is and I am assuming that I would like to experience it.

But you're forgetting that religious people don't think about their beliefs with the slightest bit of rationality. No amount of god-disproving knowledge will ever change that.

I most certainly and unconditional do not want all knowledge. Was it mentioned what kind of knowledge? What about "S" type knowledge? You might like to know what I sensed yesterday at 1:34:53 pm just out of curiosity. But would you like to know three hours of that? I defy you not to be bored if you could know.

Also the idea of knowledge for knowledge's sake. I'll lay you a thousand to one there is a reason behind every interest you have and that is NOT random. That is not knowledge for knowledge's sake.

That leaves open the question of, if we seek knowledge, what kind is sought?

If I could know every detail about every single thing that was happening in the universe with no effort on my part, I would. Not all at once, mind you, but I'd like to have access to it. Much of it could be potentially useful I suppose, for manipulation if nothing else.

But also, let's say I'm interested in sharks. Why? Because sharks are cool. I have no desire to go into marine biology or any other career field where knowledge of sharks might be the least bit relevant, I just like sharks and want to learn about them. If you're going to be that nitpicky then no, that isn't knowledge for its own sake, but it's not knowledge for any practical reason either. We want to learn about the things that interest us, but it's not always because there's a practical reason to do so.

 

[Montresor]

I already knew everything when I was a teenager.

 

[snafupants]

I already knew everything when I was a teenager.

That's the oddest comment I've seen today haha. Well, shoot, I guess you can rest then.

 

[Sorlaize]

you have to learn to answer why you have to learn / to find why you should be living in the first place. heh

 

[BigApplePi]

If one seeks knowledge, must it be jambled in one's head? What order? What recall method? We have Wikipedia which stores some knowledge if not in one's head, in close range. I have a library of unread books, but I can recall many of the topics handy.

A reason for knowledge doesn't have to be immediate. Why are sharks cool? They have lots of attributes different from ours. Last week I heard about one shark's skin. Plates one way, smooth another way when you touch them. The setup was useful for metallurgy or something I forget at the moment. We go after things we don't know because statistically we can use them later ... if only to build more knowledge ... if only to post on this Forum.

 

[BigApplePi]

So you all enjoy learning about almost anything, right? Were any of you ever like this as a teenager?

I may have been an INTP teenager and a terrible role model for learning. I was ill-read and loved only mathematics and some science. I hated other school topics and refused to learn. Then I discovered psychology which was not a school topic and later philosophy (can't remember how) which wasn't either ... so I was free. I gained a love of those, but not people (famous psychologists or philosophers), but rather analytics. Those seemed a key to knowledge ... foundations. There was no way, for example could I make sense of history or literature. I was too retarded.

 

[snafupants]

I may have been an INTP teenager and a terrible role model for learning. I was ill-read and loved only mathematics and some science. I hated other school topics and refused to learn. Then I discovered psychology which was not a school topic and later philosophy (can't remember how) which wasn't either ... so I was free. I gained a love of those, but not people (famous psychologists or philosophers), but rather analytics. Those seemed a key to knowledge ... foundations. There was no way, for example could I make sense of history or literature. I was too retarded.

@BigApplePi

What makes psychology and philosophy easier to pick up than history and literature?

 

[BigApplePi]

What makes psychology and philosophy easier to pick up than history and literature?

I regard that as a personal question not applicable to others ... excepts maybe some INTP's. I think it goes to the worst flaws an INTP might have. Your question is going to be hard to answer as I must be talking about age 14-19. At the earlier ages I was so socially retarded I had no feeling for social groups ... people. I don't think I can explain it. Say the school topic was Napoleon. I recognized this was some famous person but had no conception of a European map or wars or ... and was blocked and intimidated by other kids who were older and could talk like normal teenagers in class. Books? I only knew dog stories and these were read to me by my mom. I recall one day the class was sent to the library to a pile of books to select a compulsory book report. I was slow and the others got there before me. Maybe I was looking for a dog book. I would end up with ... not sure if it was, "Two Years Before the Mast" by Richard Henry Dana. This was way over my head. It was like a five year old sent to an adult environment. I think I had my mom help me with it. Don't recall but I was terrified.

One day, bored, in study hall, I had a book, "Heredity and You" ... a psych book. It fascinated me and it posed explanations for things I was totally ignorant of. I can't give you the sequence of events without further recall but philosophy was the same way. I got hold of this paperback, "Philosophy An Introduction" which seems to have answers on how the world worked. I desperately needed a one-up for my retardation. It explained things.

Today I realize a child was sent to a man's world. Today I do have a one-up, but regret I don't know what I'm missing. Like you. I see you, snafu, as a person of literature. If you had met me at nineteen, would you be contemptuous of me? My wife has a degree in English lit and is an editor ... way above my level as to literature. I hold onto the mind of a child. Now is that INTP-ish ... or not?

 

[louiesgonnadie]

I regard that as a personal question not applicable to others ... excepts maybe some INTP's. I think it goes to the worst flaws an INTP might have. Your question is going to be hard to answer as I must be talking about age 14-19. At the earlier ages I was so socially retarded I had no feeling for social groups ... people. I don't think I can explain it. Say the school topic was Napoleon. I recognized this was some famous person but had no conception of a European map or wars or ... and was blocked and intimidated by other kids who were older and could talk like normal teenagers in class. Books? I only knew dog stories and these were read to me by my mom. I recall one day the class was sent to the library to a pile of books to select a compulsory book report. I was slow and the others got there before me. Maybe I was looking for a dog book. I would end up with ... not sure if it was, "Two Years Before the Mast" by Richard Henry Dana. This was way over my head. It was like a five year old sent to an adult environment. I think I had my mom help me with it. Don't recall but I was terrified.

One day, bored, in study hall, I had a book, "Heredity and You" ... a psych book. It fascinated me and it posed explanations for things I was totally ignorant of. I can't give you the sequence of events without further recall at recall but philosophy was the same way. I got hold of this paperback, "Philosophy An Introduction" which seems to have answers on how the world worked. I desperately needed a one-up for my retardation. It explained things.

Today I realize a child was sent to a man's world. Today I do have a one-up, but regret I don't know what I'm missing. Like you. I see you, snafu, as a person of literature. If you had met me at nineteen, would you be contemptuous of me? My wife has a degree in English lit and is an editor ... way above my level as to literature. I hold onto the mind of a child. Now is that INTP-ish ... or not?

I'm not sure if this is typical for INTPs, but your situation as a teen sounds somewhat similar to mine. I have trouble concentrating/motivating myself, moderately socially awkward, have special interests where all my mental energy is focused on that one thing, etc. And I suspect I could be INTP as well.

You say you were "socially retarded". Did you ever suspect you had Asperger's syndrome? Not trying to be a dick, lol.

 

[QuickTwist]

I am ~78% sure that I am INTP. I am 84% sure i am an I, 68% sure I am N, 96% sure I am a T and about 59% sure I am P.

I am in concurrence with EyeSeeCold , BigApplePi and louiesgonnadie. One commonality that I think we all have is that we are primarily concerned with whether or not our statements remain true if what we are saying is taken in another context and/or rather than eliminating the presence of whether the statement or question(s) we come up with are only true in a one dimentional aspect. How we do this is though clarification up front and being sure not to say "this is always the case" for example.

Whe I was in High School I was very apathetic towards learning in a formal sense/setting but was always quick to "pick up" different concepts. When I was taking algebra I remember that I was always doing my math homework while the teacher was giving the fallowing lesson the next day and I still ended up with a B+ (I disliked homework). I had more passion at that time for my ceramics class and I was very careful to learn how to physically form the clay in a linear progression of ability rather than an exponential way. In this regard I was a perfectionist. Pottery was my only form of self expression and I did it very well. I was so overy concerned with making sure the pot was centered that I generally didn't push myself enough to make bigger pieces and now the opposite is true for me; I push myself to make biger peices and am not as concered that they are perfectly center. The only reason I am giving you my life story is because I think it paints a good picture of what kinds of learning makes me tick and I think this example can be applied to other INTPs as well.

Basically I think I personally need to learn things that directly apply to my life rather than just storing up information because it makes me smart and this could be applied to both now and later but only later if I am conscious of how it could help me. On the contrary, there are other INTPs that have a passion for learning in general and seek to learn because the knowledge might be useful someday which IMO requires more of an impartial outlook on things.

 

[BigApplePi]

You say you were "socially retarded". Did you ever suspect you had Asperger's syndrome? Not trying to be a dick, lol.

Nope but I can see why people might conclude that. In comfortable surroundings I have a regular range of emotions though not in front of strangers. Check out the post I just made. Not a perfect expression of emotion, but shows some. Today I am eager and able to socialize but retain the ability for abstract thinking due to training I think. But feel free to ask again if you wish. Today I've gone over to the other side and am interested in a great many subjects ... as my posts probably show.

 

[Wolf18]

So you all enjoy learning about almost anything, right?

Were any of you ever like this as a teenager?

I am a teenager.

 

[snafupants]

At center the question is impossible to answer. The root cause of an INTP's curiosity could be anything from feelings of inferiority/incompetence and/or existential dread to seeking innovation and self-renewal. So, my answer is that INTPs seek knowledge for multifaceted purposes.

 

[BigApplePi]

I wonder if we could generalize and say each temperament seeks knowledge for their dominant function?

 

[louiesgonnadie]

At center the question is impossible to answer. The root cause of an INTP's curiosity could be anything from feelings of inferiority/incompetence and/or existential dread to seeking innovation and self-renewal. So, my answer is that INTPs seek knowledge for multifaceted purposes.

This. I feel so incompetent, in social situations, self confidence, in general basically, so I feel like I need to gain more knowledge.

But I suspect I may have some sort of learning disability, so it's hard.

 

[snafupants]

This. I feel so incompetent, in social situations, self confidence, in general basically, so I feel like I need to gain more knowledge.

But I suspect I may have some sort of learning disability, so it's hard.

Averagely healthy enneagram 5s and INTPs have similar concerns about their ability to cope with a perceptively hostile world. The tendency is to go within to deal with the without, or to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the world's demands. These types basically ruminate and plan their actions to sidestep, what they perceive as, chaos and external dissolution. Their heads are a "safe" place, or a respite from the brutal herd and encroaching agendas of other people.