Do you think your pursuit of knowledge gets in the way of your happiness?
Just to preface this, I'm not a happy person, I'm a content person. I'm happy maybe 1-3 times per week which is solid IMO.
On to my main point. As INTJs we are often fascinated by topics which we know little about and we are often the most open minded and willing to learn new things that may be outside our comfort zone. I notice that while my pursuit of knowledge brings me fulfillment, it also brings me sadness. Seeing how horrible people can be reinforces my inherent distrust of others, and seeing atrocities that go on in the world sadden my heart and brings me anxiety (For instance that post on legal advice recently where OP's wife died and her family is taking over). I look at others who live a daft life and can't help but think they are enjoying life more than I or other INTJs. As much as I don't like the saying, I'm feeling that ignorance is bliss in most circumstances. And I know I can't change and I don't even really want to, however it's hard to look at others who ignore so much and live a gleeful happy ignorant life. We shouldn't forget that it's all subjective. I was actually just feeling somewhat like crap because something I watched reminded me that according to some highly regarded historians, after WW2, American soldiers raped on average 330 young women a day in my country (you can easily find sources if you like). I initially regretted watching the video as it's something personal to me. But then I found a silver lining in the fact that those historians were also Americans, capable of acknowledging facts as facts instead of denying and twisting them for their convenience, whose existence I wouldn't have remembered but for this video I'd watched. That alone made me happy-ish, though not entirely, and that's good enough for me.
I don't pursue knowledge for the sake of it, I pursue knowledge in order to apply it to whatever hairbrained scheme I have going on - I guess this keeps me somewhat distracted from being all out sad. I'm too grateful for what I have to be all frowny faced (on the inside - obviously my INTJ exterior resting face is all frowny by default!)
It seems to me to be an Fi thing. I wouldn't call the INTJ the "most openminded" of the types. Fi is what I call the "Paladin function" and, in the INTJ, it's a guardian at the gate. Yes, we can use Se to fuel an Ni-Te thought that is very open-minded, because Te, unlike Ti, merely structures a thought logically/rationally rather than insisting that the thought itself be logical/rational. But our guardian at the gate is Fi and, having Ni rather than Ne, the INTJ is primed to prefer his/her own insights to those of others. If I were to construct the most open-minded type based on the functions, I'd want Ti and Ne to be higher on the list, and Fe rather than Fi. Given that Si is the one left, I think we'd be looking at an ISTP or an INTP (or the extraverted equivalents)... someone who judges a given thing based on whether it works rather than a moral/ethical emotional center, and cares more about what other people feel about something than about what you know is just and true and righteous in your heart. Granted, any function group can be more or less open-minded based on how it's being used.
Luckily, Fi is pretty easily 'kept'. (I'm married to an INFP and learning what works for him has helped me deal with my own tertiary Fi.) Just expose yourself to at least one positive thing for every negative thing. I'm subscribed to the subreddit "blackcats" (I own one myself). I receive a monthly magazine with a very upbeat feel to it and goals that are within the reach of the average non-rich person. (I hate magazines that sell pants for $150 apiece. They're PANTS. You put them on your BUTT.) My family and friends help to ground me, especially my children, who are easy-going and smart and freakin' hilarious. Count yourself lucky. You can keep Fi "like a pet" and structure a "feeding program" through Te to make it happy. Fi-dominants seem to rely more on chance to see if they get good things or sad things to focus on. You can choose, coldly, not to look. I don't think they can. One of my 'jobs' as I see it is to influence my husband's "diet" to help him keep his faith in humanity.
Strangely enough, I find and derive the most happiness out of my pursuit of deep social connections and romantic relationship endeavors. People are puzzles and I'm really attracted to enigmatic individuals who constantly create new layers for me to peruse. When I'm not doing that, discovering music intentionally, working out, reading, writing, video games, ping pong, and mental exercises - a la chess, rubik's cubes, etc. I think that this applies to me, but in a different way. I love learning, and I love being in school, despite the toxic environment associated with academia. I'm in a research heavy grad program where, through the research I do, I can contribute to the sum total of knowledge on earth. However, I'd also say that I'm not happy in grad school, because of the stress associated with it. While I'm not depressed or anything (yet), but I'd definitely agree that my own pursuit of knowledge has decreased my happiness. Well, ignorance is bliss to many people. Humans aren't designed to know everything wrong with the world and people that know enough to drop beliefs in childhood fantasies (tooth fairy, santa, god etc) are often worse off emotionally than people who still believe these things.
On to the rest of you post; yes, you're right, the world is a horrible place and most people don't even know half of it. You on the other hand do have that information, so you have the ability to try and do something about it.
On to my main point. As INTJs we are often fascinated by topics which we know little about and we are often the most open minded and willing to learn new things that may be outside our comfort zone. I notice that while my pursuit of knowledge brings me fulfillment, it also brings me sadness. Seeing how horrible people can be reinforces my inherent distrust of others, and seeing atrocities that go on in the world sadden my heart and brings me anxiety (For instance that post on legal advice recently where OP's wife died and her family is taking over). I look at others who live a daft life and can't help but think they are enjoying life more than I or other INTJs. As much as I don't like the saying, I'm feeling that ignorance is bliss in most circumstances. And I know I can't change and I don't even really want to, however it's hard to look at others who ignore so much and live a gleeful happy ignorant life. We shouldn't forget that it's all subjective. I was actually just feeling somewhat like crap because something I watched reminded me that according to some highly regarded historians, after WW2, American soldiers raped on average 330 young women a day in my country (you can easily find sources if you like). I initially regretted watching the video as it's something personal to me. But then I found a silver lining in the fact that those historians were also Americans, capable of acknowledging facts as facts instead of denying and twisting them for their convenience, whose existence I wouldn't have remembered but for this video I'd watched. That alone made me happy-ish, though not entirely, and that's good enough for me.
I don't pursue knowledge for the sake of it, I pursue knowledge in order to apply it to whatever hairbrained scheme I have going on - I guess this keeps me somewhat distracted from being all out sad. I'm too grateful for what I have to be all frowny faced (on the inside - obviously my INTJ exterior resting face is all frowny by default!)
It seems to me to be an Fi thing. I wouldn't call the INTJ the "most openminded" of the types. Fi is what I call the "Paladin function" and, in the INTJ, it's a guardian at the gate. Yes, we can use Se to fuel an Ni-Te thought that is very open-minded, because Te, unlike Ti, merely structures a thought logically/rationally rather than insisting that the thought itself be logical/rational. But our guardian at the gate is Fi and, having Ni rather than Ne, the INTJ is primed to prefer his/her own insights to those of others. If I were to construct the most open-minded type based on the functions, I'd want Ti and Ne to be higher on the list, and Fe rather than Fi. Given that Si is the one left, I think we'd be looking at an ISTP or an INTP (or the extraverted equivalents)... someone who judges a given thing based on whether it works rather than a moral/ethical emotional center, and cares more about what other people feel about something than about what you know is just and true and righteous in your heart. Granted, any function group can be more or less open-minded based on how it's being used.
Luckily, Fi is pretty easily 'kept'. (I'm married to an INFP and learning what works for him has helped me deal with my own tertiary Fi.) Just expose yourself to at least one positive thing for every negative thing. I'm subscribed to the subreddit "blackcats" (I own one myself). I receive a monthly magazine with a very upbeat feel to it and goals that are within the reach of the average non-rich person. (I hate magazines that sell pants for $150 apiece. They're PANTS. You put them on your BUTT.) My family and friends help to ground me, especially my children, who are easy-going and smart and freakin' hilarious. Count yourself lucky. You can keep Fi "like a pet" and structure a "feeding program" through Te to make it happy. Fi-dominants seem to rely more on chance to see if they get good things or sad things to focus on. You can choose, coldly, not to look. I don't think they can. One of my 'jobs' as I see it is to influence my husband's "diet" to help him keep his faith in humanity.
Strangely enough, I find and derive the most happiness out of my pursuit of deep social connections and romantic relationship endeavors. People are puzzles and I'm really attracted to enigmatic individuals who constantly create new layers for me to peruse. When I'm not doing that, discovering music intentionally, working out, reading, writing, video games, ping pong, and mental exercises - a la chess, rubik's cubes, etc. I think that this applies to me, but in a different way. I love learning, and I love being in school, despite the toxic environment associated with academia. I'm in a research heavy grad program where, through the research I do, I can contribute to the sum total of knowledge on earth. However, I'd also say that I'm not happy in grad school, because of the stress associated with it. While I'm not depressed or anything (yet), but I'd definitely agree that my own pursuit of knowledge has decreased my happiness. Well, ignorance is bliss to many people. Humans aren't designed to know everything wrong with the world and people that know enough to drop beliefs in childhood fantasies (tooth fairy, santa, god etc) are often worse off emotionally than people who still believe these things.
On to the rest of you post; yes, you're right, the world is a horrible place and most people don't even know half of it. You on the other hand do have that information, so you have the ability to try and do something about it.
