“If the Great Pumpkin comes, I’ll still put in a good word for you!
Good grief!  I said ‘if’!  I meant, ‘when’ he comes!  I’m doomed.
One little slip like that could cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by.”
Linus van Pelt, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

 

“The Great Pumpkin Distraction” is INFP’s way of coping with the fear that their deep delvings into the realms of meaning and philosophical ponderings make them too out of touch with reality to be of value.  INFP’s specialty is exploring conceptual meaning, loving to ask hard questions and explore the nuances of philosophy and understanding, and they excel at that.  But their IP deep subject diving can make them feel like the world is passing them by, and with principles being their last and weakest cognition step, an INFP might try and prove that they can apply the specific details they’ve gleaned in their exploration, to the entire world.  But since INFPs are good at asking questions, but aren’t naturally good at answering them universally, when an INFP forces an understanding of a principle it’s likely to be an oversimplified truism that doesn’t actually apply in practice and is comprised of lots of little details and exceptions, rather than an elegant function that works with any variable.  This can make them look even more out of touch than they were afraid of in the first place.

But the INFP needs to give themselves a break and recognize that they don’t have to do it all.  The world needs more healthy INFPs to explore meaning and find possibilities that no one else would have found, understanding the fine details of meaning going on in a situation.  INFPs need permission to specialize more, not less.  As an INFP doesn’t feel pressure to be in charge of discovering universal principles, they can instead feel excellent in their specialty of exploration and question asking, and let other types be good at their specialties of principles, each needing and learning from the other. 🙂

Examples:
Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter
Screech Powers, Saved by the Bell
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at INFP The Ranger!