The INTJ Death Stare

The INTJ "Death Stare"

I am going to keep this answer short and sweet. I have had a significant number of people ask me about the INTJ "Death Stare." So below is a brief overview of the INTJ death stare.

The INTJ death stare is a look that some individuals observe when they look at an INTJ.

In my personal experience, when I catch myself or see other INTJs presenting a look that could be thought to be a death stare style look, the prevailing cause is typical because we are in deep thought or are trying to solve something in our mind.

Here is an example of what may be going through an INTJ's head when he/she is displaying the "Death Stare."

"A thought process might go like this:

(Sitting at a bar with some friends, they're talking about something I find boring)

• Someone asks someone else if they're going to order food.
• I notice the menu.
• Do I want food or a beer?
• If I order a beer, and then decide to order food, it needs to pair well.
• What beers do they have that pair well with the things I typically order?
• What do they have that I typically order?
• I tick off a few items in my head that I always order.
• I think of things I haven't ordered yet that they serve.
• I then widen the list to try to remember all the other things I've ordered here before.
• I know I'm forgetting something.

Person: "What's wrong?"
Me: "Trying to remember what I've ordered here."
Person: "Do you want to see a menu?"
Me: "No, I want to remember."
Person: "....ok....."

• Back to thinking.
• What was that thing, was it a sandwich?
• Oh right! It was an oyster sandwich, but I didn't order the sandwich, I ordered the oysters, they were not good.
• Something reminded me of oysters recently, what was that?
• Oh yeah, the story on Reddit about the guy who got his arm stuck in the giant clam trying to get the giant pearl.
• I wonder what I would do if I got my arm stuck in a giant clam, could I think of a way to escape?
• Would I have anything to pry it open? I wonder how much force they have.
• Maybe I could just cut off my arm, I could probably do that if I was going to drown, but would I have time?
• Crap, a person is looking at me, I need to make conversation.

Me: "How long do you think it would take to cut an arm off underwater?"
Person: "...."
Person: "...What?"
Me: "Like, if you were trapped underwater, how long do you think it would take to cut your arm off?"
Person: "I dunno... Why would I need to cut my arm off?"
Me: "Because it's stuck in a giant clam."
Person: "I don't think clams get that big and why would it get stuck?"
Me: "I read this story the other day about a guy who got his arm stuck in a giant clam and died."
Person: "Where were you reading that?"
Me: "Oh, just on the internet somewhere..."
Person: "riiight..."

continue this cycle for the rest of the evening/rest of my life

[Author Note] An important note is that usually, I don't think in words or pictures, I think in impressions or ideas. This may be true for everyone, I don't know. I'm not playing out sentences, conversations, or scenes from my head - I'm playing out the connections between ideas and it usually branches like an [Expletive] oak tree, and more often than not I'm just along for the ride. We might be talking about politics and then there is a lull where I'm quiet. When I get back, I might be talking about fingernail regrowth. How did I get there? I may not even know entirely, but I've probably already bored myself with the topic we were covering a minute ago unless you can find a novel approach that I didn't branch to already."

So in the future, when you see an INTJ that is displaying a face that looks something similar to the photo below, they are likely deep in thought or just jumping thought to thought having fun.

If you interrupt us in this state, expect some sort of witty or sarcastic reaction for bothering us. Individual experiences may vary.   

Lastly, there is also the possibility of the INTJ actually giving you the death stare. I'll leave it up to your judgment to determine whether or not the stare is genuine or not.

I hope this sheds some light on this topic. I understand that it may be common knowledge, but it's sometimes good to have a brief recap of information out there. Please let me know if you require additional clarification on this topic.

Regards,

Andrew



Note(s):

The section in quotations was borrowed from a Reddit user by the name of: "Charm_City_Charlie." The link to the original article is:

http://www.reddit.com/r/intj/comments/13iu8x/what_goes_through_your_head_during_the_intj_stare/

Furthermore, all credit for the photos or articles used in these postings belongs to their respective owners.