Xander
Lex Parsimoniae
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 4,463
- MBTI Type
- INTP
- Enneagram
- 9w8
Why oh why do so many people pick up MBTI and suddenly think they have the key to everything?
I swear that every book on the subject should come with the warning "a little knowledge is dangerous".
The number of people I see going through function preferences and hyper analysing whether they extrovert T or not. They seem to blaze past the frighteningly simple truth about the MBTI and how simple it is whilst trying to turn what is a guide into some kind of instructional manual.
One statement I read makes more and more sense the more people I meet and I know it confuses the hell out of a lot of people but it's really simple.
"An INTP is like all other INTPs. An INTP is like some other INTPs. An INTP is like no other INTP." (Using INTP as the type out of laziness, it works for every type.)
It's simple. You are a person who displays preferences which match this pattern. Based on this pattern it is predicted that you will tend to display these behaviours. The key words are pattern, predict and tend. No rules, no hard lines, no "you are an INTP and therefore a master of logic". That's all BS. If you are an INTP then it's likely that you will have an interest in logic as a system of thinking. It is likely that as it is something you have an interest in that you have assimilated a lot of information on it and will enthusiastically discuss it in depth. It does not guarantee competence and nor does it say that other types are less logical. Such things are a result of your capacity for that discipline and what you have chosen to spend your energy on.
Does this make typing people harder? If you are looking to box people then yes. If you are looking to understand people then no.
For example, my gaffer tests as ENTJ at work. She's a ball breaker and blunt (given chance). She has a stare which makes senior staff quake. Yet she won't walk into a pub first. She hates being crowded. She likes poetry and dogs. She's prone to bursting into tears if stressed or dealing with someone who she cares about who is stressed. Hugged me when I told her my wife was pregnant! Her type? Probably ENFJ. Does it matter? No. I do tend to find that the tactic used with ENFJs when you want to object where you basically punch them on the nose does work. This does make me think that ENFJ is the right type but the most important thing is I'm trying to understand her as an individual and I've found something that works on/ for her.
It amuses me that many try to fit ENTP on me because I'm chatty. The thing is if I'm talking to people then to keep myself interested I find that engaging is far more interesting than not engaging, so I talk...sometimes at length. Does this make me an ENTP? Don't be ridiculous. It makes me an INTP who is being chatty. Simple.
Do I Ni Fe Te or some such? No. I think, I act, I am. Simple. The functions are descriptors to enable discussion. The thought itself exists apart from it's description as all things do. To confuse this is to confuse yourself.
I swear that every book on the subject should come with the warning "a little knowledge is dangerous".
The number of people I see going through function preferences and hyper analysing whether they extrovert T or not. They seem to blaze past the frighteningly simple truth about the MBTI and how simple it is whilst trying to turn what is a guide into some kind of instructional manual.
One statement I read makes more and more sense the more people I meet and I know it confuses the hell out of a lot of people but it's really simple.
"An INTP is like all other INTPs. An INTP is like some other INTPs. An INTP is like no other INTP." (Using INTP as the type out of laziness, it works for every type.)
It's simple. You are a person who displays preferences which match this pattern. Based on this pattern it is predicted that you will tend to display these behaviours. The key words are pattern, predict and tend. No rules, no hard lines, no "you are an INTP and therefore a master of logic". That's all BS. If you are an INTP then it's likely that you will have an interest in logic as a system of thinking. It is likely that as it is something you have an interest in that you have assimilated a lot of information on it and will enthusiastically discuss it in depth. It does not guarantee competence and nor does it say that other types are less logical. Such things are a result of your capacity for that discipline and what you have chosen to spend your energy on.
Does this make typing people harder? If you are looking to box people then yes. If you are looking to understand people then no.
For example, my gaffer tests as ENTJ at work. She's a ball breaker and blunt (given chance). She has a stare which makes senior staff quake. Yet she won't walk into a pub first. She hates being crowded. She likes poetry and dogs. She's prone to bursting into tears if stressed or dealing with someone who she cares about who is stressed. Hugged me when I told her my wife was pregnant! Her type? Probably ENFJ. Does it matter? No. I do tend to find that the tactic used with ENFJs when you want to object where you basically punch them on the nose does work. This does make me think that ENFJ is the right type but the most important thing is I'm trying to understand her as an individual and I've found something that works on/ for her.
It amuses me that many try to fit ENTP on me because I'm chatty. The thing is if I'm talking to people then to keep myself interested I find that engaging is far more interesting than not engaging, so I talk...sometimes at length. Does this make me an ENTP? Don't be ridiculous. It makes me an INTP who is being chatty. Simple.
Do I Ni Fe Te or some such? No. I think, I act, I am. Simple. The functions are descriptors to enable discussion. The thought itself exists apart from it's description as all things do. To confuse this is to confuse yourself.
