I'm new to the forum but I've read a ton of the posts.
I took a few informal tests and read lots of posts in this forum and various descriptions of the ENTP and it seems like I identify with the ENTP the most, especially with how I can come up with a creative solution to just about anything. But I'm torn over a few things I've read about ENTPs in this forum, so I'll describe myself and would love some feedback on if I still fit the ENTP personality.
I am extremely musical, and have been told by friends, teachers, and professors that I have a real talent. I play both keyboard and saxophone doing Jazz and R&B, and am drawn to Smoother Jazz and R&B because of the soulful melody lines and harmonies, and the grooving light funky rhythms that go with it. Improvisation is my greatest strength because I can very quickly get the feel of where a song is going harmonically and rhythmically and can play to enhance the piece without any conscious effort. I think I've taken to improvisation because it involves intuitively grasping the tonal relationships and the grander overall flow of the song and can adjust myself to fit within that larger flow, which seems to be pretty ENTP. And of course there's the showing off aspect of improvisation. lol. But when I'm listening to music, which a lot of the time is instrumental, I'm focused less on the individual instrumentation than the overall sound and mood it creates. I even form an abstract image or concept around the overall sound of the song and almost relate it to a life experience in an abstract way. Perhaps this is ENTP.
I have an astute problem solving ability on many levels dealing with people, things and ideas. After a very short time of talking with people I can easily recommend great courses of action to take to solve the problem. Also I can relate with many different types of people and can carry on a conversation with just about anybody about anything. When it comes to mechanical objects, there is very little I can't fix. I usually can take it apart, quickly get a sense of how it works, and determine what needs to be done. I guess this is also ENTP.
One thing that sort of puts me at odds with some other ENTP's on the forum is that I'm not the most skilled at writing papers. Don't get me wrong, I'm great with words and can be very mentally quick arguing my point in a conversation, and I'd much rather talk off the top of my head, (which I can do very well and legitimately) than write a formal, structured, sequential, formal paper. To me papers seem like the antithesis of improvisation. And research papers are the worst, where everything has to be properly cited, even though much of what I say plays off of what I read but takes it in my own direction. I always have trouble structuring my papers and being able to say exactly what I want to say without using hand gestures, pictures, or informal colloquial analogies. I'd, much rather talk to somebody and show somebody informally I know something than write about it in a structured formal way and sacrifice spontaneity and originality for some professor's requirements.
Now don't confuse this with a disinterest in the humanities which is not the case. I'm fascinated by history, philosophy and psychology and love exploring and inventing new ideas and seeing them play out in the real world.
Another skill I do have great spatial orientation, which some in the forum have deemed an S trait. But I think I can very accurately imagine things in the real 3D world because of their relationships to one another, just like I intuitively grasp relationships between ideas and concepts and people. To me S seems more 2D or 1D, looking in 1 direction when they think and not taking in a greater perspective (more dimensions). I never get lost and can figure out how to get somewhere a lot of the time without a map. When I've been someplace only once, I can imagine the place accurately in my head and imagine it from many different angles and points of view, and love leading the way in showing people how to get somewhere. And I have always been more drawn to sciences like Astronomy and Physics instead of Chemistry or Biology because of the spatial intuitive aspect of the former over the sequential, memorizing of latter.
On the social side, when I meet strangers on the subway I can carry out a conversation no problem and make them feel like I know where they're coming from. But with my own friends, I feel like I can't make a deep connection with that many of them. I have plenty of friends, but I don't feel that I connect with that many of them on a deep friendship level. Many are STJ so it gets limiting sometimes. It seems like I have different friends for each of my many interests, and many of my friends have little in common with one another, personality and interest wise. If I hung with all of them together I'd feel completely engaged, like my entire color palette right in front of me. But that usually doesn't happen. But I do have one or two friends where we can just B.S. and hang over just about anything, but those are rare. Do any other of you ENTPs have the same issue, feeling like you're not completely engaged when you're with certain people? And in my college which is a business college, people are so extremely rule based, uncreative, tunnel-visioned, narrowly focused, and take things to be true just because other people say they're true without understanding why, so you can understand my frustration. (BTW accounting and statistics and number crunching bores me, can't stand it, and am not the best in doing it quickly; I'm in this school because I'm interested in seeing the big picture through management consulting in which I have a real talent). With some people, I get tired of trying to come up with all the ideas of what fun things to do or initiate conversation. But with my musical P friends it doesn't seem to be a problem, lol.
Anyway I just laid some qualities out on the table: being musical, problem solver, inventive, need to be engaged with friends. Thanks for reading my long post, lol sorry about that. I’m leaning toward ENTP, but if I could get some input that'd be great.