I'm looking for other people to relate to. I'm struggling with fitting in, and knowing who I am.

There is no ultimate purpose— everything we do will be nullified subjectively when we die and objectively at some point in the future as the universe ages.

Don't worry so much about what other people think. We're all crazy apes on a rock in space who are bound to die and know it. We're characters in each others' dreams. The ego is an illusion and we can only observe our own thoughts and actions. People are nuts, myself included, because we know we're going to die. You'll never get approval from everybody and there's no one "society" in which to fit. Read up on some theory of mind, pop neuroscience, and Ernest Becker to get a grasp of the human condition. Literature also helps.

You sound like you may be holding contradictory values (yours and those of others that you've internalized), so you'll have to sort that out and clarify your own (and recognize that even those come from outside yourself). If your values include other people, find people who share or tolerate your values. Your values aren't mainstream, but they're also not unique.

Learn how to engage in small talk, banter, and ask questions. You have to open with those and use them to qualify the people you're talking with before you can throw out "theories and ideas." Take genuine interest in their feedback. Consider what the information you're sharing means to the other person. "insights and feelings about people and situations" is vague, but I can imagine how they can be boring to people other than ourselves. Make sure what you're sharing is relevant to the other person somehow; just because a thought surprises you or makes you feel deeply doesn't mean it will do the same for them.

/r/isfp Thread