What Makes INTJs so Smart?
Kevin Price, Editor at Large for USA Business Radio and Host of the Price of Business Show, has recently become hooked on Quora. In addition to daily hosting the Price of Business, Kevin has numerous writing obligations on this and other sites for which he serves as an editor and with his syndicated column, so we decided that if he’s going to write at Quora, he is going to share that content on this website. If you are on Quora, make sure to follow Kevin. You can check out his page here.
Kevin’s hot topics on Quora are history, free market economics, philosophy, and Myers Briggs typology, and many others. The following is one of his recent answers to the question in the title.
As an INTJ, I must honestly note that not everyone with that classification is “smart.” At least not in the academic sense of the word. However, there is a propensity for them to be intellectually intelligent. I think there are several factors as to why. Here are just a few:
They are among the most introverted. Thus they spend significant amounts of time alone and exploring the universe of their minds. As a kid, I remember walking to the library (over a mile away) and spending hours just reading things on a Saturday or during the holidays. I wasn’t doing homework, but just wildly curious.
The “parts” of the INTJ type demands it. Introverted, Intuitive, Thinker, Judge. They constantly analyze, extrapolate possibilities, determine better ways of doing things, etc. The type itself demands intelligence. The practice of each of these things will only foster becoming smarter.
All the intuitive thinkers tend to be smarter (although more profoundly among the INTJ and INTP), because of the powerful combination of using one’s intellect with their intuition. There becomes a seamless movement of information and the processing of it, that simply is not as natural for the other personality types.
Multi-bestselling author of hundreds of books, Isaac Asimov, one of the great INTJs, was asked if he was a “speed reader.” He said, “I do not think so, but I am a speed learner.” He went on to say, once he got something, he kept it. I’m similar, as are many INTJs. I know so many things that I’m not even sure when and where I read it. But I will have a robust debate (which always unlocks information for INTJs) and look up my points later, and they are well documented. It is kind of odd, but also epitomizes the INTJs unique relationship with information and intelligence.
I want to mention again, not… (READ MORE, while there FOLLOW Kevin and check out his other content).
