New INTP ebook: The INTP Quest

[Architect]

A new book by Drenth; The INTP Quest

It's an advanced guide for established INTP's. Having been through the phases he discusses here I think he nailed it. Worth getting a copy.

 

[TheManBeyond]

its author is a member here right?

 

[Architect]

I don't know if Andrew belongs, if so I don't think he posts much on groups.

 

[Black Rose]

I did the science fair three times in middle school, anything about that in the book?

Current life purpose is to create A.I.

My anxiety medication is increasing my awareness.
Currently trying to induce Se in the present moment.

 

[Late2theParty]

About 2/3 of the way through. Finding it insightful so far. Will post more as I finish. It’s good but I’m not sure if it’s going to give practical advice or just outline the overall concept of the INTP quest?

 

[Architect]

About 2/3 of the way through. Finding it insightful so far. Will post more as I finish. It’s good but I’m not sure if it’s going to give practical advice or just outline the overall concept of the INTP quest?

Depends on what you mean by practical advice. Certainly it won't give you a step by step manual to find your purpose, but yes it does give the most practical guidelines you could for such a thing. One example, he discusses you (as an INTP) doing things for extroverted versus introverted reasons. The extroverted ones stem from the INTP Fe inferior need for approval. The introverted ones are what you do to feed your innate need to think, analyze and solve (Ti). He suggests that the end point to your search is not in extroverted goals, but what ever it is that gives you energy.

That's a clumsy cut to the chase, but yes if you think about it I think this guide is as practical as it could be given the subject.

 

[Pizzabeak]

I didn't like the Drenth book and thought it had an odd religious twist to it that wasn't always relatable. It was overpriced too, should have been 3-4 bucks or just a free blog post on some website. There wasn't that much new info in it. Hopefully this one is better?
Someone should have just hosted and distributed it instead.
May as well check this one out too and see if I can take any guidance from it.

 

[Architect]

I didn't like the Drenth book and thought it had an odd religious twist to it that wasn't always relatable. It was overpriced too, should have been 3-4 bucks or just a free blog post on some website. There wasn't that much new info in it. Hopefully this one is better?

Don't know which one you're talking about, he's written some four ebooks or so. The general purpose one was largely gleaned from his blog, but the rest of the books are more unique.

Someone should have just hosted and distributed it instead.
May as well check this one out too and see if I can take any guidance from it.

$6 is a couple cups of coffee or a shot at a bar, that's not worth supporting for somebody trying to help one of the rarest types?

 

[theboogieman]

I realize I just joined yesterday and this is my first post, meaning this may make me look like a shill, but Drenth's "The INTP" book was very helpful for me and one of the reasons I joined this forum. I didn't realize he had a new one, will definitely pick it up later.

As the Architect pointed out, I think it's the "16 Personality Types" book that is mostly rehashed information from his blog. At least that's what I gathered from the reviews.

That being said, it's very common for blog posts to later be condensed and turned into an ebook. It's a good marketing tool, it helps the author monetize a little of their work, and it's a good resource for people who don't want to slog through blog archives.

As a writer and editor myself, it's clear that Drenth hired a professional editor for his books. That's something that usually drives me crazy about cheap ebooks -- they're often filled with typos.

 

[Architect]

Been doing a closer reading on this, Andrew really has outdone himself on this one. This is easily the best discussion of INTPdom I have ever seen, for you INTP's out there you really have to give this several readings, and think deeply in the context of your life on the material here.

Highly, highly recommended, really go out get it and read it carefully.

 

[Pizzabeak]

Don't know which one you're talking about, he's written some four ebooks or so. The general purpose one was largely gleaned from his blog, but the rest of the books are more unique.



$6 is a couple cups of coffee or a shot at a bar, that's not worth supporting for somebody trying to help one of the rarest types?

I only referred to the previous one, which was the latest one before the most recent one because it had some considerable hype at the time. Irrespective of artistic integrity for making the book you could have just gotten the same thing from reading the different intp online forums for some time.

I understood they maintain a blog with plentiful information so I thought it could have just been on there. It read like a collection of essays which some books are made up of so basically I think it was just that. However, it was still kind of good although even considering it was ebook format and the length I felt I would only have paid at least 4.99 for it instead.

 

[Architect]

The 16 Personality Types book was largely taken from the website, with additions. But I think people asked for a coherent 'hard copy' to read, while we INTP's have no trouble gathering information for some people it helps having it in a convenient book. The INTP had lots of new material IIRC, and certainly this one really goes beyond anything I've found on the web, as I've mentioned. So yeah I hear you.

 

[Late2theParty]

Depends on what you mean by practical advice. Certainly it won't give you a step by step manual to find your purpose, but yes it does give the most practical guidelines you could for such a thing. One example, he discusses you (as an INTP) doing things for extroverted versus introverted reasons. The extroverted ones stem from the INTP Fe inferior need for approval. The introverted ones are what you do to feed your innate need to think, analyze and solve (Ti). He suggests that the end point to your search is not in extroverted goals, but what ever it is that gives you energy.

That's a clumsy cut to the chase, but yes if you think about it I think this guide is as practical as it could be given the subject.

Finally finished the book. I thought it was really good. It does lean more to what i was talking about though, where it outlines the concept of the intp quest more than giving methods of tackling the quest. But I still found it rather insightful. I do think it is totally possible that one could put together a practical guide to do it... although it would be a different undertaking. And for what it is it is still impressive.

I found the whole concept of the quest to be something invisible underlying a lot of what the INTP needs that I had never noticed. That we need to seek and need to quest. That was something that was missing in my life but didn't quite realize it.

Really liked the insight on Ti needing to be independent and find it's own way through the world. It didn't occur to me just how independent it is and needs to be. It makes a lot more sense why I seemingly increasingly dislike following established methods or never get excited about established tracks.

Another great insight...as you mentioned, the doing things for your own personal interests instead of Extraverted and Fe goals.

Also really liked the different descriptions of the different stages of the quest. I related a lot to not being able to rely on ideals for emotional motivation as you get older and instead to rely on a process that gives you energy and go more and more into the present. It was something I started heading towards from reading other things and your own story Architect... glad to see it confirmed elsewhere. He doesn't mention it, and comes at it from a rather western perspective but this conclusion is actually quite eastern and reminds me a lot of daoism... in the sense that we are supposed to be following the paths which feel the most natural and harmonious and being in the present. Which I am a big fan of.

For my own quest, I've found it to more or less reaffirm that the things I am on the lookout for are correct, but still not sure how I will find them. But I think an important first step is to seek and quest more.

 

[Architect]

My complaint would be Andrew, well naturally enough I guess focuses too much on his personal experience when describing what works for INTP's. For example writing/blogging, he talks about that as an avenue for INTP's a lot. The problem is Andrew doesn't have a wide variety of life experience here, he's been fairly narrowly focused. To be fair he used to be really biased, but has since broadened his view to admit that (gasp) INTP's might like computers, for example.

He also pushes the meditation/breating agenda. I've been doing both for long than he's been alive, and yeah OK they help, but there are much better things an INTP can do. Anyhow, you can't blame a writer for writing from their experience, but do note this when reading the books. Despite that though he does do a good job of trying to generalize it, and yeah he got out and wrote these books, not me.

 

[Late2theParty]

My complaint would be Andrew, well naturally enough I guess focuses too much on his personal experience when describing what works for INTP's. For example writing/blogging, he talks about that as an avenue for INTP's a lot. The problem is Andrew doesn't have a wide variety of life experience here, he's been fairly narrowly focused. To be fair he used to be really biased, but has since broadened his view to admit that (gasp) INTP's might like computers, for example.

I can't remember, but don't his methods include a lot of interviews with different types and also INTPs? I thought he might be doing that as a part of his psychology job? If he's doing it all from his own head... it's actually rather impressive that he is broad as he is currently.

I do think this is a big problem for most INTP's due to our needing to understand things subjectively, and also our Si tendencies. It's best if we go through the situation personally to really understand it. But it creates big blindspots if we haven't or we deem it non important and don't realize even amongst the same type there is a lot of variety. However, I think it could be mitigated to an adequate degree by interviewing enough other people and keeping it in mind.

He also pushes the meditation/breating agenda. I've been doing both for long than he's been alive, and yeah OK they help, but there are much better things an INTP can do. Anyhow, you can't blame a writer for writing from their experience, but do note this when reading the books. Despite that though he does do a good job of trying to generalize it, and yeah he got out and wrote these books, not me.

What better things would you recommend? I do tend to agree that they (meditation / breathing) can help but they can also be very hit or miss. There's quite a lot of nuance that goes along with them... and if you miss certain details or aren't more wholistic and regimented with how you implement them they can and do tend to fall apart.

 

[Architect]

I can't remember, but don't his methods include a lot of interviews with different types and also INTPs?

Yes he does that - he interviewed me for his site. But anyhow I'm taking it more from an angle of his personal experience bias. His books are definitely geared for the humanities geek INTP. I put INTP's into two major groupings, the humanities and the STEM geeks. The first ones rely heavily on Ne to get through the day, the second are the clear Ti/Ne's. I was a humanties geek until 22, then switched to STEM so saw both sides of that creek.

I thought he might be doing that as a part of his psychology job?

Don't know what he does for a day job but I have a feeling it's not psych ... don't know really.

If he's doing it all from his own head... it's actually rather impressive that he is broad as he is currently.

Yes he's expanded his view

I do think this is a big problem for most INTP's due to our needing to understand things subjectively, and also our Si tendencies. It's best if we go through the situation personally to really understand it. But it creates big blindspots if we haven't or we deem it non important and don't realize even amongst the same type there is a lot of variety. However, I think it could be mitigated to an adequate degree by interviewing enough other people and keeping it in mind.

agree

What better things would you recommend? I do tend to agree that they (meditation / breathing) can help but they can also be very hit or miss. There's quite a lot of nuance that goes along with them... and if you miss certain details or aren't more wholistic and regimented with how you implement them they can and do tend to fall apart.

Recommend for what specifically, relaxation? The only sure-fire way I've found is what the book is about; know your purpose and work at it every day. Woody Allen is probably an INTP (I'm convinced at least), and that's the formula he found. As he says, he puts out a movie every year to keep from sitting around thinking too much about his existential philosophy problems (and getting depressed).