r/entp

I just watched a clip (from what seems to be a podcast) where a woman said, "Men have no independent thinking and are submissive, because in the army, most men are taking orders from a handful of men."

My first reaction was that she had completely lost it. But it led me to think - maybe this is what you call a true devil's advocate. I am so utterly stunned by her logic (or lack of it) that I can't even formulate a counter-response without resorting to insulting her intelligence.

I doubt it was an xNTP because she delivered that speech with a perfectly serious face and composed pose. It did not sound like playful intellectual sparring at all.

Would you guys engage in such bizarre logic-bending conversations? On a public platform? Is there a way to differentiate whether the speaker is 'playing' devil's advocate or just plain lacks contextual understanding?

Sometimes people on this sub seem to boil ENTP down to, "My logic is tremendously strong 🤓." But they don't really describe the broader MBTI characteristics—they just identify with being good at debating. Do you think that's an accurate use of the type, or has "ENTP" become an identity for some people?

I'm (M32 ENTP) struggling to understand the logic that I have to take responsibility for my parents mistakes and become a provider to them because in the past they made some bad choices and took wrong turns without asking for my views, totally ignoring my warnings and "my prophecies" has since been true (never been worse to be right). Now I'm their only "hope" and relies on me for the rest of their life (they're jobless and has used up their retirement money).

I'm furious, I always say things that might hurt their feelings like "you never asked for my opinion at least once yall's life wont be miserable like today" or "yall gotta face the music dont expect me to come and rescue you", but thanks to my Fe (probably), I can't stop thinking about their wellbeing and I bought them food, transferred them some money and buy them new things (I have a high paying income thankfully)

But the satan part of me keeps whispering, "why should you be responsible for their mistakes" or "you're now less flexible because you gotta provide for your parents now that they're penniless because they won't listen to your advices" and some other bad things I said (that should not be said).

I feel so trapped, and I'm stuck with a 9-6 job and I'm now less flexible than before this whole incident. I was more into freelance kind of jobs, and I hop jobs more often than most people (but it also requires me to go through those income-less periods) and I no longer able to do that.

I'm asking for everyone's advice here because i feel like pulling out the plugs and stop all the fundings because it's not my fault

Short intro about my personality and 9wings: I am entp-a and 5w6.

As an entp I have always noticed a pattern that in my freshmen and sophomore year I always suppressed my feeling of emptiness by forcing myself to study and hitting the gym. I was always a self-disciplined person, I would get lazy at study but when I knew I needed to get my ass up and study I never allowed pain to stop me from doing it. For me emotions were like puzzle that needed to be solved, more of like math problem set. Whenever I felt depressed or anxious I always tried to analyze why I felt this way and how to solve it. I also never disclose my emotions to others because I made all my life choice growing up, my childhood told me to not rely on other people’s words, and no one has obligation to take care of my emotions. Later my friends who are both intp told me emotions aren’t something you can solve, and my intj friend told me I have to learn how to live with my emotions. Now it is the part that puzzles me. My best friend told me I have some bpd traits inside of me, as I told him how I feel empty all the time, how my emotions are mostly numb but when i can feel them they can literally tore me up. I instantly felt that all my pain was getting validated, such a relief. I had to slap myself to stop crying, and to a point I could no longer take it all in and force myself to study. The worst part was entp I always had difficulty realizing that I was sad, I literally could only knew I was sad when my chest started to hurt, it felt like splitting apart, and when I started to cry. To cope with it I created solutions such as creating inner elder sister to take care of me so that I can have safety space to cry without feeling guilty or numbing myself; allowing myself to sit and feel my emotions without thinking about study and work. I am really self aware of myself and have tried to seek help from therapy, but at the same time my bpd traits haunts me and I think entp in general would struggle more from bpd. For all being said, I am really proud of me from surviving an abusive relationshi, struggling with who I am and still am here. To every other entp who is strug with bpd, we are on the same boat and everything is tough but we gonna fight till the end.

um, hello, I'm an intj (i think, im unsure of this rn) whos been around this sub and some other personality subs for a year or two now, in different accounts (whichever one happens to be connected at that moment). I don't usually interact much in the subs and this is my first post here, I've met only a very few entps in my life, and known even fewer deep enough for a longer period of time, but generally have formed a very conflicting opinion of them, i tend to really respect them and also, be very cautious of them, but, and i know every entp is different because obviously, you all are breathing living individuals with separate opinions not just one big group who show all the same patterns throughout every action and feeling. Which is why, and i know I didn't really get to the point, was wondering if anyone would be willing to speak, i guessed id have better luck finding you guys here than out and about so id rather just reach out to several ppl directly; bigger chances of finding someone who's bored and might want to chat around, my sole purpose is probably just trying to have as many different angles to look at you rather then judging based on well the 1-2 entps I've known very personally, broaden my perspective or wtvr ud like to call it, feel free to ask questions or dm (fair warning I'm really bad at making the first move in conversations) that's all thank you

on my experience, I always choose the ISTP. cuz there’s 2 guy who is an ISTP that I fell inlove with. they’re nice to me, always choose me as their partner (Online games or any activities), they always make time for me, and have patience. Whenever I was with em, my mind felt peaceful— we’re just enjoying what we’re doing…. buttttt we don’t have any labels, I am clueless if they have a feelings towards me. I wanted clarity, but I never knew how to tell that I have feelings to them, but it was already obvious for them not to notice. now, I stop talking with them because I dont wanna get hurt or make a fool to myself.

to the ISFP guy, I just don’t know what their business for me. they’re just like ISTP but not cool enough to be ISTP hahaha

Hi all, my mom is an ESFP, and her Extraverted Thinking is hard for me to deal with. I was wondering how exactly to argue with introverted thinking. I feel like I've lost touch with it and advice about this would be extremely helpful.

ENTPs don’t abandon systems because we’re lazy. We abandon them because they’re designed for people who thrive on routine, while we run on pure novelty and get bored the second something feels like a chore.

After way too many "just grind bro" seasons and burnouts, here are 3 frameworks that help me with the ebbs and flows of life. I believe these work with how our brains process information instead of fighting it:

The Pomodoro Technique
Essentially enables you to reach flow state without risking burnout. Short sprints turn boring tasks into a game against the clock. This technique can be as simple as setting a 25-minute timer for locking in + 5-minute cool-down timer for whatev. This isn't about forced focus, it’s about constraint. Your brain gets the dopamine hit of beating the timer instead of staring at an endless to-do list.

Reality Transurfing
This was a game changer for me; it reduces the emotional charge around outcomes so you can stop trying to brute force reality with sheer mental horsepower. Less resistance, more flow. It's perfect for anyone who tends to overcomplicate everything. I try to prioritize reachingmy flow state on a daily basis. (Check out the audiobook by Vadim Zeland)

Adlerian Psychology
This helps separate your tasks from other people’s opinions. Famously coined in the book “The Courage to Be Disliked” this helps close the gap between performing for validation and actually developing skills. It's a game changer for those of us who overthink every social ripple.

The common thread:
These all treat the problem as bad system architecture, not a lack of willpower. We’re not defective; the default advice is just incompatible with how we work. Anyone have experience with these or any other systems that help you stay productive or reach flow state?

Listening to cigarette smoke by Olivia Rodrigo and it makes me think of my narcissistic mother lol.

INTJ here. I've been curious about ENTPs for a while and want to see what the conversations are actually like.

If you're an ENTP and feel like chatting, send me a message. Bring your curiosity, a few unconventional business ideas, and let's see where the conversation goes.

German/Turkish/English

I wanted to ask you about dating I was wondering what were the types of your exes or current gf/bf or so what about them drew u in and what about u drew then in tell me about your preferences turnoffs and why any past experiences u would like to share regarding this are welcome

is this normal? like i gen triangulate like my consequences for lying & when i get caught i find another excuse. basically a kid rn so no real consequences. not addicted to lying or anything but if i need it i can lie and larp tf out.

can yall convince me to care? i care about humanity but not the human.

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This is not an analysis of all entps or all infjs. it is simply my experience with one person.

we met online, from two different countries, and somehow became part of each other's daily lives surprisingly fast. that is something I have noticed about online connections. people often open up much quicker than they do in real life. sometimes you end up knowing someone's fears, values and routines before you even know where you actually stand with them.

He told me more than once that he liked me. the funny part is, I never asked him what he meant by "like". maybe that was my mistake. I assumed that if it was important, he would eventually make it clear.

At one point, I admitted that I liked him too. his response was not something I could clearly understand as acceptance or rejection. it stayed somewhere in the middle, and I was left trying to make sense of it.

Later, I found out there was another woman involved. I asked about it, but I never felt I got the clarity I needed. instead of chasing answers, I stepped away. Somehow, despite me roasting him and insulting him more times than I can count, he still stayed and kept talking to me.

this time I made my boundaries very clear. I told him I did not want friendship mixed with flirting or mixed signals. if we were friends, I wanted it to feel like friendship. if it was something more, then I wanted honesty.

yet there were still moments like "little baby", "good girl", and other affectionate comments. maybe he saw them as harmless. I experienced them differently. they blurred the exact line I had already tried to draw.

He often told me that he cared about me. maybe he genuinely did. but I often found myself looking for that care in his actions, and I struggled to see it. there were times when it felt like he came back because it benefited him. maybe I was wrong. maybe I was right. I never had enough certainty to confidently choose either conclusion.

that is probably the most entp part of this story. I do not mind complicated people. I do not even mind complexity. what eventually exhausts me is ambiguity that never turns into clarity.

after almost nine months, I realised I was spending more energy trying to decode the connection than actually enjoying it.

maybe he genuinely cared. maybe he was confused. maybe I misunderstood him. maybe he misunderstood me. I honestly do not know.

then my account got deleted on its own for some reason, and strangely, I think life made the decision I had been postponing for months.

I have decided not to reach out again.

Youre conversing but the conversation can possibly be a waste of your time that will not get anywhere

Whats your main indicator that tells you this is one of those conversations

To me, it's a lack of authenticity. People who suck up to others to gain validation and acceptance don't like to disagree for fear of rejection. Coming from teenagers, I understand perfectly, but I've seen adults acting this way. It's strange, and I understand that it's due to a lack of self-esteem, but even so, when I notice too many people like that in groups, I withdraw.

Hello, I'm a prospective psychology student and I could easily spend the day debating the humanities. I'm an intp 2w1 4w5 9w1. I was a student of the intellectual and genius professor Olavo de Carvalho. My name is Gean.

I want a relationship that could grow to something more than just friendship

There is a huge lack of nuanced discussion on this sub regarding how cognitive functions actually work. Most people here do look at the theory, but the problem is how they reduce it to a rigid, absolute truth about a person. Instead of looking at these processes as fluid mental filters, it feels like the community oversimplifies them into strict binaries. For example, people will confidently claim that certain functions are entirely locked out of being objective, or that others can never be subjective. We have all seen posts where someone treats these black and white interpretations as absolute objective facts, completely ignoring the nuance of actual human behavior. We are so obsessed with categorizing everything that we never stop to ask why we need these labels in the first place. Is it a genuine tool for understanding or just a way to feel in control? Honestly, it feels like we are just building new complex stereotypes hidden behind sciencey language.

Think about the core contradiction here. We use this system to define the objective nature of the human mind, yet we rely entirely on anecdotal stories to prove it works. We claim we are using objective functions, but we are really just using our own biases to decide what those functions look like in practice. It is like trying to measure a ruler using the ruler itself. Are we actually uncovering the blueprint of human cognition or are we just mapping out our own assumptions and calling it reality? The reality is that modern peer reviewed psychology rejects MBTI precisely because it lacks empirical validity and test retest reliability. Carl Jung himself stated that his original character types were just fluid, rough observations to help illustrate a concept, not static boxes meant to lock people in for life.

The most frustrating part is how people conflate cognitive processing with emotional maturity. You see it all the time when someone dismisses a person entire type profile just because they lack social skills or act immaturely. We treat these functions like deep unchangeable structures, but then judge them based on whether someone is being polite. How your mind processes information has nothing to do with how you were raised or how much therapy you have done. By mixing the two, we end up pathologizing normal personality traits as cognitive imbalances. It makes you wonder where the actual theory ends and where our desire to judge who is doing it right begins. If these functions are universal, why is this community so obsessed with policing how people express them? We are not just observing psychology anymore. We are grading people on a rubric of social competence. It creates this toxic loop where users try to fix their cognitive stack to match the popular socially acceptable version of their type. Your mind is not broken, it is just different.

The deepest irony is that by clinging to these labels to understand ourselves, we blind ourselves to our own biases. This whole dynamic relies on the Barnum Effect, which is the proven psychological phenomenon where people read vague, generalized trait descriptions and mistakenly believe it uniquely applies to them. We treat our internal mental map as absolute truth, project it onto everyone else, and write off anyone who does not fit as mistyped or an outlier. It is a closed circuit echo chamber. We are not learning about other minds. We are just building intellectual armor to keep the messy, unpredictable reality of other people at a safe labeled distance.

I get the appeal. People come here to find their tribe, and there is real value in that connection. But that exact desire to find our people is what is poisoning the theory. Instead of using these labels to expand our perspectives, we are using them to gatekeep. A space meant for exploration has turned into a clubhouse where you have to perform a specific archetype just to be heard.

Funnily enough, most people here do not even realize they are doing it. They will confidently state their own subjective experiences as if they are universal laws of physics, completely unconscious of the fact that they are just projecting their own personal reality onto everyone else. Once a consensus forms around a certain vibe for a type, anyone who does not mirror it perfectly gets interrogated. We prune away the individuals who challenge the stereotype so the community shared opinion remains unchallenged and uniform. It is no longer a discussion, it is a performance of type loyalty. Logic takes a backseat to whoever can spin the most convincing narrative.

We need to be honest with ourselves. Is our logic actually consistent? True logic is independent of the observer. What we are doing here is using personal filters to define a correct type, mistaking our subjective consistency for objective truth. As long as we use this theory as a shield for our own biases, we will never actually see what is going on underneath the surface.