Does your & your beloved ENTP's brain just keep producing idea after idea, thought after thought, seeking new connections and combinations, exploration ad nauseum & infinitum towards tireless [im]possibility?
Well. Ladies & gents, welcome to the world of *Ne-Ideaphoria!*
Years ago, as I felt troubled by what career path I should be choosing upon leaving grad school, and probably for the umpteenth time in my life, I was recommended by a fellow member in an ARTS recovery group, to take a peek at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation and their aptitude services.
While I did not book a flight to take their test, I did chance upon that word "Ideaphoria" which has really *stuck* with me ever since...
I've had a fairly active imagination ever since I was a kiddo, and I was lucky to be trained in the UK where students are encouraged to learn how to explore ideas and develop ideas. Conceptualizing is probably the word I'm looking for here...
And I doubt that most ENTPs with their dominant Ne-function will have much trouble generating ideas either!
The problem that we are likely to have... is *How the fruit does one go from the gazillion ideas to just The One?!!*
On lucky occasions, the Intuition gives you that gut instinct KNOWING, that something IS the one and only choice, and perfectly fitting choice...
But this Intuition of mine, doesn't always answer me with that kick in the stomach type of knowing... Often times, it sits silent and totally demure and detached from my problems!
I think this tendency drives a lot of ENTPs to...
a) become serial job holders
b) become serial monogamists/serial daters
c) disorganized households
d) a dozen unfinished projects & hobbies.
After some digging around though, I found that Mr Branson was typed as an ESFP. (source) I guess, not all 'inventor' types are actually going to be ENTPs!
OK. So, here are some take aways.
(Oh, *Ne* by the way, means Extraverted Intuition...)
1. According to the article that first inspired me and informed me about *Ideaphoria* this is how they define it;
". . . One possible source for this extra spark might be in the aptitude we call "ideaphoria," the rate of flow of ideas. The high-ideaphoria teacher is one who tends to keep students alert and interested by using alternative methods, examples, and anecdotes for communicating concepts. A teacher with an irrepressible flow of ideas often encourages the students to try creative actions of their own, making each teaching day an adventure for the high-ideaphoria teacher and student alike."
(source: High Ideaphoria and Teaching)
2. In his memoir, Paul Allen shares that his mom was a voracious reader, reading 5 books simultaneously... (perhaps she was an ENTP herself!) while his dad would be more controlled about his reading, and sticking to one book with consistency.
It was fascinating too, that Paul Allen's entire childhood and youth were completely marked by indulgent reading for subject matters that became passionate focus areas for him.
At a very early age, and I'm talking like when he was like 4 or 5, he was reading about trains or steam engines (sorry, if I got them wrong; detail is not my strong suit) which morphed to learning about electronics and integrated circuits, and by 16, he was already kind of *grounded* in his metier. And he had learned how to be a proficient programmer.
This just reminded me so much about the Five Strengths Test I took years ago.
I clearly remember the word *input* being one that initially puzzled me. How is that even a 'strength?'
Anywho, my point being, some special cases of *luck* aside, I think to nurture your ENTPness, I think one really easy way, one very real and predictable way to get your inborn genius to come alive and manifest, is to ACTIVELY feed yourself some input that stimulates you.
And if you're the parents of a wonderful, smart, bratty ENTP child, that's something you can do too.
OK. So... Here's my lil shpiel on ENTP's and their crazy idea generation abilities! Also known as that 'Ne (extraverted Intuition)'/ Ideaphoria... and what you can easily do to keep that beautiful God-given spark alive... :-)
xoxo
Her ENTPness
Well. Ladies & gents, welcome to the world of *Ne-Ideaphoria!*
caption: Welcome to the Inside of Her ENTPness's Brain!
Years ago, as I felt troubled by what career path I should be choosing upon leaving grad school, and probably for the umpteenth time in my life, I was recommended by a fellow member in an ARTS recovery group, to take a peek at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation and their aptitude services.
While I did not book a flight to take their test, I did chance upon that word "Ideaphoria" which has really *stuck* with me ever since...
* * *
I've had a fairly active imagination ever since I was a kiddo, and I was lucky to be trained in the UK where students are encouraged to learn how to explore ideas and develop ideas. Conceptualizing is probably the word I'm looking for here...
And I doubt that most ENTPs with their dominant Ne-function will have much trouble generating ideas either!
* * *
The problem that we are likely to have... is *How the fruit does one go from the gazillion ideas to just The One?!!*
On lucky occasions, the Intuition gives you that gut instinct KNOWING, that something IS the one and only choice, and perfectly fitting choice...
But this Intuition of mine, doesn't always answer me with that kick in the stomach type of knowing... Often times, it sits silent and totally demure and detached from my problems!
* * *
I think this tendency drives a lot of ENTPs to...
a) become serial job holders
b) become serial monogamists/serial daters
c) disorganized households
d) a dozen unfinished projects & hobbies.
* * *
I think one recent & living example of this is probably Paul Allen. He self-professedly calls himself the Idea Man in his memoir. Bill Gates apparently is an INTJ. (source) And together they built Microsoft and became super-billionaires.
So far, I've only read up to the first 2 chapters of his book, (was teaching this today in class), and it was quite an interesting contrast to Richard Branson's book, Screw It, Let's Do It.
After some digging around though, I found that Mr Branson was typed as an ESFP. (source) I guess, not all 'inventor' types are actually going to be ENTPs!
* * *
OK. So, here are some take aways.
- What is Ideaphoria exactly?
- What can you do to nurture your God-blessed Ne?
(Oh, *Ne* by the way, means Extraverted Intuition...)
1. According to the article that first inspired me and informed me about *Ideaphoria* this is how they define it;
". . . One possible source for this extra spark might be in the aptitude we call "ideaphoria," the rate of flow of ideas. The high-ideaphoria teacher is one who tends to keep students alert and interested by using alternative methods, examples, and anecdotes for communicating concepts. A teacher with an irrepressible flow of ideas often encourages the students to try creative actions of their own, making each teaching day an adventure for the high-ideaphoria teacher and student alike."
(source: High Ideaphoria and Teaching)
* * *
2. In his memoir, Paul Allen shares that his mom was a voracious reader, reading 5 books simultaneously... (perhaps she was an ENTP herself!) while his dad would be more controlled about his reading, and sticking to one book with consistency.
It was fascinating too, that Paul Allen's entire childhood and youth were completely marked by indulgent reading for subject matters that became passionate focus areas for him.
At a very early age, and I'm talking like when he was like 4 or 5, he was reading about trains or steam engines (sorry, if I got them wrong; detail is not my strong suit) which morphed to learning about electronics and integrated circuits, and by 16, he was already kind of *grounded* in his metier. And he had learned how to be a proficient programmer.
This just reminded me so much about the Five Strengths Test I took years ago.
I clearly remember the word *input* being one that initially puzzled me. How is that even a 'strength?'
Anywho, my point being, some special cases of *luck* aside, I think to nurture your ENTPness, I think one really easy way, one very real and predictable way to get your inborn genius to come alive and manifest, is to ACTIVELY feed yourself some input that stimulates you.
And if you're the parents of a wonderful, smart, bratty ENTP child, that's something you can do too.
* * *
OK. So... Here's my lil shpiel on ENTP's and their crazy idea generation abilities! Also known as that 'Ne (extraverted Intuition)'/ Ideaphoria... and what you can easily do to keep that beautiful God-given spark alive... :-)
xoxo
Her ENTPness
