• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Edison and Einstein

INTJMom

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
5,413
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
Does anyone have a good idea what types Edison and Einstein were?
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,192
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Does anyone have a good idea what types Edison and Einstein were?

Traditional readings (which have good cases for them)
Edison: ENTP
Einstein: INTP
 

ptgatsby

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,476
MBTI Type
ISTP
Traditional readings (which have good cases for them)
Edison: ENTP
Einstein: INTP


I'd agree... except that Edison might of been a J. He was a real bastard and actively went out to hurt his competitors. He viewed life as much from a control/win point of view than invention.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,192
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I'd agree... except that Edison might of been a J. He was a real bastard and actively went out to hurt his competitors. He viewed life as much from a control/win point of view than invention.

Hmmm. Good point -- there was that whole dreadful business with Tesla, wasn't there?

(Maybe he was just a cranky ENTP whose mother never rocked him to sleep?)
 

ptgatsby

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,476
MBTI Type
ISTP
Hmmm. Good point -- there was that whole dreadful business with Tesla, wasn't there?

(Maybe he was just a cranky ENTP whose mother never rocked him to sleep?)

It wasn't just telsa... but yah, his... how do you say, amoral approach towards winning over AC was certainly dramatic. I can see an ENTP doing this... but I can also see the xNTJ drive in him, along with the ugly aspects of his personality.

I mean, contrast this to Einstein who was socially incompetent, relationship retarded and fought against his own theories for much of his own life... the gap between ENTP and INTP isn't that big, and there is a huge gap in how Einstein and Edison approached all aspects of life.
 

"?"

New member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
1,167
MBTI Type
TiSe
I'd agree... except that Edison might of been a J. He was a real bastard and actively went out to hurt his competitors. He viewed life as much from a control/win point of view than invention.
Most ENTPs at entp.org agree with you.
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,988
Has anyone been able to get a copy of Edison's diary?

I read part of it in college, and tried to order it used through a bookseller on Amazon (they took the money but I never got the book).

He seems to project a very different persona externally when compared to what he was thinking. I could see him as an Ni when he was reflecting on things, from what little I read.
 

The Ü™

Permabanned
Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
11,910
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
It wasn't just telsa... but yah, his... how do you say, amoral approach towards winning over AC was certainly dramatic. I can see an ENTP doing this... but I can also see the xNTJ drive in him, along with the ugly aspects of his personality.

I mean, contrast this to Einstein who was socially incompetent, relationship retarded and fought against his own theories for much of his own life... the gap between ENTP and INTP isn't that big, and there is a huge gap in how Einstein and Edison approached all aspects of life.

NTs are pretty much the least social of all the groups, but I suspect that the xNTJ treads the anti-social or snobbery line more than the xNTP.
 

meanlittlechimp

New member
Joined
Apr 29, 2007
Messages
338
MBTI Type
ENTP
I'm pretty sure the conventional readings were right with Einstein being INTP and Edison being ENTP.

Edison might have had very aggressive business tactics but his internal management style is more indicative of type. I can see an ENTP being very machiavellian in business with competitors but less so in terms of the way they treat their own staff and team members.

Edison was very good at motivating and inspiring his staff and was pretty generous with them. He didn't have the "do it my way or the highway" managerial approach more typical of an ENTJ. He instilled a lot of freedom and flexibility to the scientists that worked for him.

I'm not sure I would read too much into the Tesla incident, since it was with one person and you have no idea what lead exactly to their falling out. The relationship he had with most of his engineers was a very collegial and agreeable one. He inspired rather than scolded. Tesla, I'm leaning towards INTJ or INTP, incidentally.

(based on the Josephson biography and a few others I read a long time ago).
 

ptgatsby

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
4,476
MBTI Type
ISTP
I do lean more towards ENTP.

Who else would name their kids Dot and Dash cause they were into morse code? :D
 

INTJMom

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
5,413
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
Thank you for the interesting responses. This is the first chance I've had all day to get online.
I once saw a movie about Edison. One of the things I learned about him was how he wasn't just an inventor, but be had a real gift for marketing his inventions, too. That kind of surprised me.
 

ps646566

New member
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
32
MBTI Type
INTJ
Einstein was probably INTP. But let's face it it's all shades of grey.
 

nozflubber

DoubleplusUngoodNonperson
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
2,078
MBTI Type
Hype
I think Edison was ENTJ. very quick to take market advantages of inventions - not just his own, but others as well. He tried to get everyone to stick to DC for long-range power distribution over the obviously superior Alternating current invention of Tesla. I don't see an ENTP doing that- at least not anymore likely than an ENTJ would, who prefer to milk things to the bitter end.

also, not every ENTJ has this stubborn "my way or the highway" approach at management. many ENTJs are wise and very willing to listen, especially in industries like research, invention and innovation which require you to actually, you know, LISTEN to your fellow inventors and builders.
 

BlackCat

Shaman
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
7,038
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I think Einstein is an ENTP, not sure about Edison.
 

527468

deleted
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
1,945
I don't think edison and tesla had the typelogic "pal" relationship going on. More like "contrast" or something, and I am using my experience with these relationships, not just their supposed definition. So then my guess for edison is ENTJ.

The interesting thing is that I am rather sure that edison is an ISTp in socionics, and tesla is my sociotype. So whatever conflict taken place would be on the basis of edison ignoring Ti ways of thinking and focusing on the Te. (of course if you know Socionics like I do, you know what function position Ti is in for the ISTp, it is called demonstrative.) An ESTj or ENTj would not have the time or focus to poke at Ti.

Edison was in fact a "Te" ISTp, and Tesla a "Ti" ENTp. Semi-duality, but not so hopeful. Telsa had his ideas, and Edison was more focused on production, what in recent would come of the development of the invention, based on trend or such.


As far as Einstein and MBTI, I would say he is an INTP.
 
Top