[MBTI General] The Mistyping of John Lennon

[Mal12345]

John Lennon
John Lennon - INFP or ENFP? - The iNtuitive Musician

In the past I've considered Lennon to be an INFJ. But I suddenly realized that Lennon had Inferior or Tertiary Si. This is seen in his negative attitude toward the past, his renunciation of many parts of it and wanting to look forward in life instead of behind. If you want, you can easily find the relevant quotes online.

Many of the songs Lennon wrote with the Beatles are considered to be nostalgia songs, for example, Strawberry Fields. I see that as more of an INFP than ENFP trait. But then his attitude toward the past - such as his dislike of singing Beatles songs in concert - seems more ENFP. His joking during interviews seems more ENFP. His mistake in saying that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus didn't lead to the downfall of the Beatles, but to its reinvention. His style of dress, the mockery of fashion, seems more ENFP than INFP. Am I right?

(Statements about how Lennon was a bad bad father are not welcome here, as they are not topical.)

 

[Starry]

No one ever seems to see it but the dude was so, so ENFP

 

[Mal12345]

No one ever seems to see it but the dude was so, so ENFP

In what way?

 

[Starry]

In what way?

In the way he makes me nonstop cringe whenever I see anything on him, read anything about him, etc.


I do think it would be fun to talk typeshop with you and others in this thread but I have two hurdles I won't be able to clear...

1.) I would want to make numerous references to his enneagram type but don't have the energy to face the same 'ol e7 stereotypes of the lamp-shade comedian on crack and people's insistence on 4w5 or 5w4. He was an obvious 7w6 sx strongly fixed at 4 (I don't know if he was a Visionary or Gentle Spirit though...I go back and forth on that).

2.) I wouldn't be able to talk about him in a way that wouldn't be offensive to all the people that thought he was so great. While there are a few past and present famous ENFPs that I take a sense of type-related pride in...Lennon is not one of them. Just in my personal opinion he presented with way too many ENFP characteristics that drive me insane. I actually see him as having like a highschool age level of stunted ENFP growth in spite of the talent that so many people feel inspired by.


I'll yield to the fans.

 

[Mal12345]

In the way he makes me nonstop cringe whenever I see anything on him, read anything about him, etc.


I do think it would be fun to talk typeshop with you and others in this thread but I have two hurdles I won't be able to clear...

1.) I would want to make numerous references to his enneagram type but don't have the energy to face the same 'ol e7 stereotypes of the lamp-shade comedian on crack and people's insistence on 4w5 or 5w4. He was an obvious 7w6 sx strongly fixed at 4 (I don't know if he was a Visionary or Gentle Spirit though...I go back and forth on that).

2.) I wouldn't be able to talk about him in a way that wouldn't be offensive to all the people that thought he was so great. While there are a few past and present famous ENFPs that I take a sense of type-related pride in...Lennon is not one of them. Just in my personal opinion he presented with way too many ENFP characteristics that drive me insane. I actually see him as having like a highschool age level of stunted ENFP growth in spite of the talent that so many people feel inspired by.


I'll yield to the fans.

Why 7w6? Because he made Jesus jokes?

 

[Starry]

Why 7w6? Because he made Jesus jokes?

Haha yes. And the fact he clearly thought he was on some level. If I became as famous as he did at that age and was doing just as many psychedelics which I'm quite certain I would have been with a message like "drop out" floating around I'd surely be the first to convince myself that my personal drug use would bring about world peace...

I, too, would be making tons of Jesus jokes.


Unhealthy/stunted 7s have the most amazing way of hiding their entitlement and narcissism from themselves and all around them behind like...yah...a peace-loving hippie facade...some kind of "selfless giver to the world". It works because it is something that is truly in most of us...or the ENFPs at least...but we need to work through that entirely twisted hidden piece first. Here's a quote by him...

“Well, I don’t want to be king, I want to be real.” <-I don't know what this was in response to but it shouldn't be taken figuratively that's what I can tell you.

 

[Mal12345]

Haha yes. And the fact he clearly thought he was on some level. If I became as famous as he did at that age and was doing just as many psychedelics which I'm quite certain I would have been with a message like "drop out" floating around I'd surely be the first to convince myself that my personal drug use would bring about world peace...

I, too, would be making tons of Jesus jokes.


Unhealthy/stunted 7s have the most amazing way of hiding their entitlement and narcissism from themselves and all around them behind like...yah...a peace-loving hippie facade...some kind of "selfless giver to the world". It works because it is something that is truly in most of us...or the ENFPs at least...but we need to work through that entirely twisted hidden piece first. Here's a quote by him...

“Well, I don’t want to be king, I want to be real.” <-I don't know what this was in response to but it shouldn't be taken figuratively that's what I can tell you.

He said that he was being treated like Caesar.

 

[Mal12345]

-some kind of "selfless giver to the world".-

I don't see that in John. He was into himself, not into others. He was an authenticity wonk. He wanted to get real. He wrote a lot of songs about people who weren't true to themselves. That's what John wanted to be.

 

[Starry]

-some kind of "selfless giver to the world".-

I don't see that in John. He was into himself, not into others. He was an authenticity wonk. He wanted to get real. He wrote a lot of songs about people who weren't true to themselves. That's what John wanted to be.

That "selfless giver to the world" and that peace-loving other one I wrote...I actually wasn't tying those specifically to Lennon...the "selfless giver" especially I had in mind that one ENTP that was trying to create some massive world movement but then received all kinds of backlash and then he went crazy...

I agree wholeheartedly with what you are saying...but disagree as well. When we are unhealthy/stunted...we can insert ourselves into multiple different understandings of who we are and this is what I observed in Lennon. But I wouldn't expect anyone else to see it really.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I never found INFP convincing.

 

[Galena]

Wow, INFJ/INFP/anything other than ENFP? Really? This is the only way I could imagine typing him.

 

[Starry]

Since no one seems to care here...I might search out and post some of his quotes because there are tons that give me the ENFP heebee jeebees *shivers*


"I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?" <-No self-respecting INFP or INFJ is going to say that out loud (at least over the age of 10 or so).

 

[1487610420]

Title sounds like a mysterious novel

 

[Starry]

gah...

Actually, some of these are sweet and have a purpose but it does take an ENFP 7 a great deal of time to recognize that there are processes and work to be done. That saying things with great feeling doesn't = a job well done. (I hope people recognize I'm just tripping out on my own type.)


"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality."


"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."


"We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant.... You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it."


"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted."


"Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away."


"All you need is love. All you need is love, love. Love is all you need."

 

[Starry]

Title sounds like a mysterious novel

It's like the new Da Vinci Code.

 

[OrangeAppled]

I thought he was routinely typed as ENFP until that celeb types site put him in the INFP section.

That site's ENFP section has some of the worst mistypings. The INFP page has a few galling mistypes too (John Meyer?????), but it's general vibe seems right. The ENFP has super obvious Fe-dom (Sandra Bullock?????) typed as ENFP and perhaps even an ST mistyped as ENFP (Jennifer Aniston as Ne-dom? Whaaaaa?). The likes of Aldous Huxley - seems right. But Sandra Bullock?????

The only thing that has struck me as more INFP about John Lennon is his prickly sarcasm. I saw an interview with him where he was argumentative and sarcastic in a way that's far more common to INFPs than ENFPs. IMO, INFPs display more inferior Te unconsciously than ENFPs (the prickly, harsh attitude at times), who may display more unconscious Si (coming across as more sentimental than INFPs, even if they consciously reject nostalgic attitudes).

However, I get that the "always sunny" ENFP portrait is not accurate. I just don't see that side even with ENFPs online who are not one-dimensional.

I have seen him typed as ENTP too, but NT seems off for him.

 

[Robopop]

I've read a lot about him, he was a public provocateur who got off on being on the cutting edge and pushing boundaries, in his private life he was an insensitive asshole.

Overall very ENTP imo, a person many get wrong in MBTI because he was embracing the counter culture which was heavily Fi/Ne.

 

[mooo]

A bitter ENFP can easily be an a**hole in his private life.

 

[Abcdenfp]

Since no one seems to care here...I might search out and post some of his quotes because there are tons that give me the ENFP heebee jeebees *shivers* "I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?"
but SS lol doesn't that sound like a typical ENFP , I'm sure I've said something akin to this before. A belief in something mystical and unseen seems to be a recurrent enfp pattern and not in a typical mainstream religious way.

 

[Starry]

but SS lol doesn't that sound like a typical ENFP , I'm sure I've said something akin to this before. A belief in something mystical and unseen seems to be a recurrent enfp pattern and not in a typical mainstream religious way.

Oh it most definitely sounds like a typical ENFP which is why it kinda causes me to cringe a little bit. And yes, I have notebooks from high school filled with poems and other writings saying that same kind of stupid shit...that I thought was so cool at the time.

^And there's a place for it...but like I was saying...Lennon represents a stunted ENFP to me. I can't explain it...and I may never make it there...but we are meant for more(which is a weird thing to say probably since Lennon was so famous...but our thinking is meant for so much more imo)