Wednesday, May 25, 2011

incapable of love?

Sometimes I think NT people are incapable of love beyond theoretical abstraction or fleeting moments of intensity (or maybe it's just ENTPs or maybe just me). First, as rationals (NT) temperament-wise, we want things to be rational and efficient, and love is, by all popular consumer definitions, neither rational nor efficient. Almost by default, this makes love rather repellent to NTs, like we want to eliminate it all together so that we can live in peace and productivity. I get how intoxicating the feeling is and I often get carried away with the whole notion of it myself, but that's all in very abstract, idealistic terms. The experience of this emotion still eludes me. I can honestly say that I've never been in love with anyone (outside of myself anyway) nor can I imagine myself ever being consumed by this emotion over another human being, not even those closest to me. The idea of them maybe or the role they play in my life, but never them themselves. This brings me to my second point, which is that I think love is more a S and F thing. This would include all temperaments (SP, SJ, NF) except NT. Obviously, F people would be into love by the very nature of the F dimension valuing feelings over logic. And love to them would probably be the most powerful feeling, something they value above all else (probably more difficult for men than women due to socialization). NFs are probably more swept away by the profoundness of love and SFs more by the concrete experience of it. S people (even STs) experience love by the nature of the S dimension being more prone to strong sensations easily felt through experience. Love probably develops rather superficially for them at first and deepens with time (or not and divorce happens). People with either the S or F preferences, especially the E versions, are more people-dependent: the F powering the need for emotional connection with others and the S powering the need for social affiliation. The NTs, devoid of either of these forces dominating our personalities, almost have no need for love.

Now onto the ENTP personality: Es are naturally more externally focused and therefore socially-inclined because we like to interact with others for the sake of self-expression. This makes ENTPs more people-dependent (at least superficially), but not for the S or F reasons of social affiliation or emotional connection. We just like interacting is all; it's energizing. The NT pulls us away from true people-dependency because we are perfectly capable of functioning in solitude. We have strong loner tendencies, even if we do choose to be surrounded by people. The P further drives us away from dependency of any kind because we have no sense of permanence or stability outside our own immediate consciousness. This makes human attachments, which love embodies, all the less likely or sustainable. In essence, love for ENTPs is mostly to feed our E needs for expression and interaction. Love is then the permanent audience. It validates our existence, and is powerful almost for this reason alone.

conclusion: The E in me will always want love, the P in me will never be able to hold onto it, and the NT in me will believe I ultimately don't need it. What a sad yet oddly self-consoling combination. I can see this dysfunction on endless loop for years to come. "I want it because I can't have it, not because I need it" or "I want it, lost it, didn't need it anyway"

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