ChrisC99
New member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
- Messages
- 56
- MBTI Type
- ADHD
Hi everyone! I haven't been on this forum in a year - my apologies. Grad school makes for a busy life Wonder if a lot of the same folks are still on here from when I last visited??
ANYWAY...I've been thinking that some folks in history with a type more or less 'established' i.e. by Keirsey, seem to have been assessed more along the lines of the public PERCEPTION of them, their works or their career rather thyan what contemporaries actually documented them as acting like.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Mozart is typically referenced as an INTJ, because the popular notion envisions such a prolific composer as spending his days in silent contemplation. But by all accounts, there was little 'introverted' about the personality of Mozart; the film 'Amadeus' was an exaggeration, but only a slight one! He interacted with great minds, other musical talents and their families throughout Europe, making countless new acquaintances (friends and enemies alike) nearly everywhere he went, and staying in touch with them as the years went on. He was a known practical joker, who would leap over tables and chairs when he got bored from teaching music for too long, would attend carnivals in costume just to make people laugh, and write poems in lewd humor (and often multiple languages) set to music. He was also a poor future planner with a very disorganized lifestyle and no sense of managing money. He also had a hot temper, and could be sensitive to criticism. None of this seems to suggest I, J, or even T territory to me!
Charles Dickens is often referred to as an ENFP. The sentiments in his BOOKS are certainly people-centered and filled with all manner of joyous interaction...but by all counts, Dickens himself did NOT enjoy the company of other people. The same goes for Dr. Seuss, now that I think about it.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is often typed as an introverted thinker...again, I think because people are inclined to think of such a prolific and introspective writer and massive intellect as an introvert and thinker. His bouts of depression certainly made him shy away from the public eye at times...but those aside, he seems to be every definition of the extroverted thinker, seeking out interaction wherever possible and entertaining groups with long stories. He was also very, VERY emotional - having a quick (but easily appeasible) temper and inheriting his mother's deep sensitivity and compassion.
Founding father John Adams is usually typed as an ENTP. But, he initially shied away from the public, preferring to live in privacy, giving in to pressure to enter the public eye only for the sake of the revolutionary cause. Even then, when he wasn't engaged in debate or making speeches he preferred privacy with his family...and once he retired from public life, he spent the last three decades of his life living alone on the family farm, rarely seen in public again. I don't think an extrovert could HANDLE that kind of a retirement! Ben Franklin for example, who WAS the epitome of an ENTP through and through, kept traveling and receiving hordes of visitors to the day of his death whenever his health permitted; he claimed to feel sick if he went more than a few days without doing so. Furthermore, Adams doesn't seem to have had the emotional detachment to have been a T; he liked structure and formalities, but he took almost EVERYTHING personally!
What do y'all think??
ANYWAY...I've been thinking that some folks in history with a type more or less 'established' i.e. by Keirsey, seem to have been assessed more along the lines of the public PERCEPTION of them, their works or their career rather thyan what contemporaries actually documented them as acting like.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Mozart is typically referenced as an INTJ, because the popular notion envisions such a prolific composer as spending his days in silent contemplation. But by all accounts, there was little 'introverted' about the personality of Mozart; the film 'Amadeus' was an exaggeration, but only a slight one! He interacted with great minds, other musical talents and their families throughout Europe, making countless new acquaintances (friends and enemies alike) nearly everywhere he went, and staying in touch with them as the years went on. He was a known practical joker, who would leap over tables and chairs when he got bored from teaching music for too long, would attend carnivals in costume just to make people laugh, and write poems in lewd humor (and often multiple languages) set to music. He was also a poor future planner with a very disorganized lifestyle and no sense of managing money. He also had a hot temper, and could be sensitive to criticism. None of this seems to suggest I, J, or even T territory to me!
Charles Dickens is often referred to as an ENFP. The sentiments in his BOOKS are certainly people-centered and filled with all manner of joyous interaction...but by all counts, Dickens himself did NOT enjoy the company of other people. The same goes for Dr. Seuss, now that I think about it.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is often typed as an introverted thinker...again, I think because people are inclined to think of such a prolific and introspective writer and massive intellect as an introvert and thinker. His bouts of depression certainly made him shy away from the public eye at times...but those aside, he seems to be every definition of the extroverted thinker, seeking out interaction wherever possible and entertaining groups with long stories. He was also very, VERY emotional - having a quick (but easily appeasible) temper and inheriting his mother's deep sensitivity and compassion.
Founding father John Adams is usually typed as an ENTP. But, he initially shied away from the public, preferring to live in privacy, giving in to pressure to enter the public eye only for the sake of the revolutionary cause. Even then, when he wasn't engaged in debate or making speeches he preferred privacy with his family...and once he retired from public life, he spent the last three decades of his life living alone on the family farm, rarely seen in public again. I don't think an extrovert could HANDLE that kind of a retirement! Ben Franklin for example, who WAS the epitome of an ENTP through and through, kept traveling and receiving hordes of visitors to the day of his death whenever his health permitted; he claimed to feel sick if he went more than a few days without doing so. Furthermore, Adams doesn't seem to have had the emotional detachment to have been a T; he liked structure and formalities, but he took almost EVERYTHING personally!
What do y'all think??