Can anyone explain what the INFJ profiles mean when they say that INFJs feel like “aliens”?
In looking through the INFJ posts here and a bit of information online, I keep running across the notion of being “weird” or “alien”. And this really makes me confused because I - at the present moment - don’t think I’m either. There are many points to the INFJ personality that ring true with me, but it’s this part that is emphasized that puzzles me. I’m also not a particularly artistic/creative person and my memory is really bad, but I don’t know if those are strong INFJ characteristics so…
Anyway, I might have thought that I was different when I was when I was younger, but right now I really don’t think I’m that different from other people. This could be because of my friends, however. I have a few close friends who I can count on to discuss my thoughts and opinions with and know they won’t judge me for them, heck, most of the times I found out we have the same view. But then again, psychologically we do generally choose to be around people who are most like us. I don’t always feel like I would “fit in” with a lot of people, but I don’t think I particularly stand out. I do feel awkward in social situations though…but I think that might just be my overt paranoia.
I don’t think I’m more complex than anyone else. But that might be me being egotistic in the way that everybody bases everything off of what they think/feel/experience. Since I can’t physically and mentally place myself in someone else’s shoes (although I can try and sometimes I do feel that I can empathize with others), I don’t know if I am “weird”. But then again, what is normal? I consider what is normal to be the result of what we perceive is common in our environment. I’ve been pretty sheltered, so that might be why I don’t think I stand out in anyway. I think everyone feels that way about themselves because it is hard to understand what it is like to look at the world from another person’s eyes. I feel like I’m not being totally truthful with myself if I say that I am really good at empathizing with other people because often times I think I am, but there’s always that uncertainty - the chance that I am wrong. But this might also be a self-esteem issue here.
I don’t mean to say that INFJs aren’t rare and unique in their own way, I just want to know why people (INFJs or otherwise) feel that the label “alien” fits. Can someone please educate me? It is quite late and I’m just rambling at this point. If I’ve said anything that anyone finds offensive, I apologize. That wasn’t my intention. I just want to become a bit less ignorant on this subject and try to get in a different viewpoint. I could just be interpreting the term incorrectly, of course. Anybody willing to enlighten me?
-
synthecoma likes this
-
purtistringo answered:
I think the most salient sentiment of feeling like an alien, is simply feeling as if you’re different, as if you don’t belong anywhere truly
-
christypascual answered:
haha, i just wrote a blog about this yesterday…
-
trevorfindsthestrals answered:
oh INFJs are paradoxes sometimes as chatty introverts, logical feelers, trusting and mistrustful, serious and silly. That’s a bit alien.
-
threequarterslucid posted this
