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Which are better athletes, thinkers or feelers?

Which are better athletes, thinkers or feelers?

  • Thinkers

    Votes: 11 39.3%
  • Feelers

    Votes: 3 10.7%
  • They are equally good, just in different ways/areas.

    Votes: 14 50.0%

  • Total voters
    28

greenfairy

philosopher wood nymph
Joined
May 25, 2012
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4,024
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iNfj
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6w5
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sx/sp
Which do you think is more conducive to athletic ability? Or are they totally unrelated, and they have different strengths and weaknesses in the athletic department? I'm thinking it's the latter, and I'm interested in the differences between the two. I think thinkers and judgers would be better at goal oriented tasks and strategy, and feelers and perceivers would be better at creative and expressive physical activities. Also we would have to define "athletic" activities; some would say it more applies to the competitive and goal oriented sports, others strenuous physical activity.
 

Red Herring

Superwoman
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Jun 9, 2010
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7,483
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INTP
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5w4
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sp/sx
I doubt T/F has any relevance here. But I'd expect to find a lot of strong Se users in this field.
 

DiscoBiscuit

Meat Tornado
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I don't think type has much to do with how athletic one's body is genetically.

I do however think, that Se may play a role in how much of one's athletic potential is realized.
 

RaptorWizard

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The whole competitive and physical nature of sports appeals far more to T, particularly STP, ESTP being more active but ISTP being more focused on the game.
 

RaptorWizard

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Feelers are too nice and easygoing to get completely riled up in the competition the way the indomitable drive of thinkers impells them to do, the feeler's willpower to win being far weaker.
 

Stanton Moore

morose bourgeoisie
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INFP
Feelers are too nice and easygoing to get completely riled up in the competition the way the indomitable drive of thinkers impells them to do, the feeler's willpower to win being far weaker.

As long as you think that way, it makes it easier to beat you.
 

The Ü™

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Sensors, obviously.

But in all seriousness, I would say Thinkers because their tough-mindedness allows them to handle competition better.
 

Orangey

Blah
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I really don't think it matters.

I don't even think Se is all that important or influential except perhaps as providing a motivation to actually play and practice, but even then it's murky since Se can find expression in a lot of different activities besides sports.
 

Rasofy

royal member
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Basically, I think testosterone plays a big role on how competitive people are; and Helen Fisher's ''director'' personality, which is associated with a high testosterone activity, is also loosely correlated with mbti thinkers.
 

KDude

New member
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8,243
I really don't think it matters.

I don't even think Se is all that important or influential except perhaps as providing a motivation to actually play and practice, but even then it's murky since Se can find expression in a lot of different activities besides sports.

Yeah, I think I started like any other kid. I wiped out when I first rode a bike. I was clueless in my first little league soccer game.. actually ran the other way and scored for the other team. lol.. I got better from the motivation and practice. I was always outside. I guess Se just provides a gravitation towards these things. And when I started winning, I think it was more skills or control than any competitiveness. A few years after learning to ride a bike, I won a bike competition.. but I don't remember trying hard to win (not all of it was races, but lame obstacles and objective scores). Funnily, some kids stole my bike after that. They were the competitive minded. Sore losers. I got my bike back though.
 

Jaguar

Active member
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Messages
20,647
The Brain: Why Athletes Are Geniuses
by Carl Zimmer

Neuroscientists have found several ways in which the brains of top-notch athletes seem to function better than those of regular folks.

Full article here:
http://discovermagazine.com/2010/apr/16-the-brain-athletes-are-geniuses/

If you're interested in athletes, there's plenty of research out there. Athletic ability can be readily observed. It certainly isn't based on a self-reporting instrument: The MBTI does not measure skill or aptitude.
 

Fidelia

Iron Maiden
Staff member
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I don't think it's really a thinker vs feeler thing. However, someone has written a book detailing which MBTI types tend to have particular athletic strengths and what sports they are drawn to and which types may have to work harder to achieve success athletically. I can't remember where it is but I'll see if I can hunt it up. I've read excerpts but I'd like to order it in and read the whole thing.
 

Thalassa

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I think they have the same ability to be good, just in different ways or for different reasons depending on their judging functions (for example a xxTJ might be better at strategics, and an xxFJ at teamwork; a Ti type at a particular type of precision, an Fi type at pure passion or drive to be the best/to stand out).

Then Se vs. Si might determine if they choose sports for the excitement and competitiveness, or the goal of precise perfection at that skill.
 

greenfairy

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Cool. I'm definitely not attached to my ideas on the matter; if I'm totally wrong that's fine. I wanted to know what people thought. I'll read that article on athletes, it sounds really interesting.

Obviously we're talking about all physical characteristics being equal, and acknowledging that anyone who wants to be good at something can do it if they work hard enough.

I for example, am not very good at sports which require being aware of a lot of different things in my environment, because of lack of Se. I'm more focused. I'm not very good at things in general involving the function. But I enjoy and am good at creative activities, and I'm fairly good at things involving thinking, such as rock climbing and marksmanship.
 

Gish

Which side are you on?
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
Messages
901
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PTSD
THINKERS ARE THE BETTER ATHLETES BECAUSE THEY USE THEIR BRAIN MORE, DUH.
 
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