INTP: Incessantly Needing To Ponder

I recently took the Myers-Briggs personality test (the short version here), and discovered that I'm an "INTP". That means I'm an "Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Perceiving" type -- though, in my case, I suspect it could also mean "IN Twin Peaks". Here are a few facts about me, according to Myers-Briggs, as profiled here:

I'm one of those "pensive, analytical folks" with an "obsession with logical correctness". Call me "Spock".

I'm "relatively easy-going and amenable to almost anything until [my] principles are violated." Yeah. Sure. Whatever you want. Just don't ask me to bend my rules. I only do that if it's my own idea.

Yikes. "A major concern for INTPs is the haunting sense of impending failure." This is what keeps me going. Fear of failure is my rocket fuel.

Hmm. "Mathematics is a system where many INTPs love to play, similarly languages, computer systems--potentially any complex system." I actually hate math (I don't think it was taught to me correctly), but I like computers and love language. Maybe you've noticed.

As far as intuition goes, "INTPs enjoy games, formal or impromptu, which coax analogies, patterns and theories from the unseen into spontaneous expression in a way that defies their own comprehension." Yeah, "brain dumps" and other randomness -- me like.

I have "a relative absence of environmental awareness". This doesn't mean I don't know about climate change. It means I often tune out what's going on around me because I'm more interested in what's going on inside my 32-track mind. This is not always a good thing.

"When present, the INTP's concern for others is intense, albeit naive." Yes, and this gets me into trouble sometimes, as I tend to be too effusive or to assume someone is hurting more than they actually are. So sue me....

And so, gentle readers, now you know what you're dealing with. INTPs are said to make up about 1 percent of the population. I'm either a freak or very special, depending on how you look at it.

What INTPs do in bars.