T H E   N T   R A T I O N A L

For the iNtuitive-Thinker, relating to the world is not as important as understanding its internal logic. Only when the NT Rational believes he or she has developed competence in understanding is an NT happy.

ESSENTIALS

Competence is a life-long quest for NTs. At each Rational's heart is the fear of being exposed to the world as a fraud who doesn't really know what he or she is talking about. Consequently the NT is driven more than any other temperament to learn, to study, to practice, and to master any and every field.

Often enough, the NT succeeds. An NT may not know everything about everything (and will engage in ruthless self-criticism for that "failure"), but he or she will certainly know a great deal about a few things, and will probably have a basic working knowledge of almost everything else. NTs are great planners; they think constantly about the future and they prepare for it logically by doing everything they can to become expert in at least one field.

CHILDHOOD

As with the other temperaments, a Rational nature is expressed early in childhood. NT infants and toddlers amuse themselves by figuring out ways to get what they want from adults, and parents of an NT will need to keep an eye out to make sure that their child's curiosity isn't getting him or her into danger.

One of the best ways to identify blooming Rationals is by peeking into their rooms. (This is best done cautiously with Introverted NTs, as they value their privacy tremendously.) A central feature of any young NT's room will be a collection of collections. NTs are born naturalists, and are likely to have organized collections of rocks, shells, bones, feathers, fossils, leaves, insects, and even different kinds of dirt. Many NTs are also interested in mechanical function, and expand their collections to include models of cars, trains, space craft, the human body, dinosaurs, and the solar system. They also enjoy jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, and logic puzzles--anything that allows them to study and understand the nature of a whole thing from the structure of its parts. And there is one other thing an NT's room will usually contain in great abundance: books.

SCHOOL

NTs usually do well in school and enjoy being there, primarily because it's a good place to find books. A young Rational is likely to know the Dewey Decimal System but not his or her own telephone number. Teachers who appreciate and encourage this insatiable curiosity are likely to be worshipped by NTs, but other teachers (particularly SJs) may find these junior scientists, inventors and generals more than they know what to do with. There generally are not many NTs in the average classroom, which means that coursework can seem childish to an NT (who probably studied on his or her own the assigned material a year or two earlier). Bored NTs tend either to "tune out" the classroom--usually with a book--or else to become fidgety or even emotional and disruptive.

Most NTs who can afford to do so attend college. Graduate degrees are an NT magnet, particularly for the Introverted NT. (The extraverted NTs are usually too anxious to get out into the world and start building systems to put up with the structure of academia for very long.) Some NTs find that the ease with which they breezed through elementary and high school did not matriculate with them to college, where they are surrounded by other highly competent NTs. If these NTs have been properly prepared for the shock of having to compete, they can excel; otherwise they may do well in a few subjects and fail ignominiously in others, simply giving up in order to avoid the embarrassment of failure.

WORK

Once they leave the campus--if they ever do; many Rationals find the university a congenial home--NTs tend to enter white-collar professions which allow them to indulge their creative, system-building instincts. Popular career choices for Rationals include research scientist, engineer (chemical, electronic, etc.), mathematician, lawyer, architect, pathologist, historian, computer hardware engineer, software designer and developer, and R & D team leader.

NT employees are happiest when they have the opportunity to create new things, whether new products, new insights into reality, or new organizational systems. They dislike routine, and Introverted NTs especially prefer quiet environments where they can concentrate without having to endure constantly ringing telephones and interruptions from garrulous coworkers. Although they can let their hair down with close friends, most NTs prefer to keep their work and their personal lives separate, with the result that an NT's coworkers can form the impression that he or she is cold, standoffish, arrogant, rude, impatient, condescending, and generally unfriendly. Although they may prefer to avoid social situations with coworkers, sometimes such mixers help to dispel these beliefs that Rationals have no feelings and aren't any fun. Still, most NTs would rather be evaluated on an impersonal basis; they wish to be judged on the quality of their work and the cleverness and utility of their ideas.

NTs who enjoy management tend to be ENTJs, but all NT managers tend to share a gift for visionary leadership. It is not enough for an NT to simply keep doing the same things; organizational growth is a critical interest for these managers. That means new products, new practices, new management models, new clients, new services, new ways of doing business, or else atrophy, decay, and failure. The Rational manager doesn't do it simply to make money (corporate or personal), though, although checking the books is one way to measure success. More important to the NT leader is having the opportunity to test hypotheses, in this case about how best to structure a business. And an important part of this is one of the other special gifts of the NT: the ability to keep in mind the whole while considering the nature of the basic parts. More than any other temperament, NT managers are always aware of the overall goal, and are able to direct low-level activity toward the successful completion of that high-level goal.

RELATIONSHIPS

NTs are generally less successful where personal relationships are involved. The competence and authority that allow them to direct the activity of employees toward a goal do not serve them as well when they must negotiate on a one-to-one basis as an equal. NTs are often unfairly accused of not having feelings; the truth is that persons with this temperamental preference have feelings as strong as anyone else's. What they do not have is the inclination to develop their expression of those feelings.

CONCERNS

For this reason, NTs can make devoted spouses, but have a tendency to forget to show that devotion unless reminded. Mates of NTs often complain of being taken for granted, or that their spouse does not respect them. This is due in part to the Rational belief that redundancy equals rudeness. A typical NT comment might be, "But I married you--why do I need to keep telling you I love you?"

Another (and possibly more relevant) reason for the Rational coolness is the NT preference to avoid getting into situations where they feel expected to "put their emotions on display." Some NTs have great difficulty with social situations, particularly very personal moments; others compensate by studying and practicing what is typically required of them in such situations. But all NTs share a deep-seated concern that, no matter how hard they try, they're doing something wrong, a feeling which can actually precipitate the nervousness that does indeed make things go wrong.

SUMMARY

If the Rational's heartfelt desire to be seen as competent is understood, however, and the NT is assured with honesty that his or her true skills are seen and valued, the rewards will include dedication, novelty, good humor, prudent foresight... and just maybe an invitation to share a heart and mind that no one else will ever see.

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