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What attracted you to MBTI?

Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
22,445
MBTI Type
EVIL
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I know a lot of us old timers don't discuss MBTI too much anymore, but I thought it might be an interesting topic to discuss.

For me, I was intrigued to learn about the type of INTPs because it suggested there were others like me. I didn't think there were any other people who were logical and nerdy and yet simultaneously a disorganized mess. I found that exciting at the time.

What initially appealed to you about MBTI?
 

Coriolis

Si vis pacem, para bellum
Staff member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
27,424
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Part of the appeal for me was that MBTI, like enneagram and some other systems, provides a systematic framework in which to discuss something that otherwise can appear very nebulous and shifting. As this should imply, it is not so much the final outcome that is important - what type you find as the best fit - but rather the introspection, analysis, and improved self-knowledge gained along the way.
 

Kingu Kurimuzon

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
20,900
MBTI Type
I
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I think my autistic brain craves to make order and sense of the world. Systems like MBTI made it seem easier to put people into classifications and make sense of social dynamics.

These days I'm not convinced MBTI is a great system and I think that type is a lot more fluid and malleable, and also influenced by a many factors including environmental, trauma, etc

I'm also pretty happy it helped me find my type, finally. INSTFJP lol
 

SensEye

Active member
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
829
MBTI Type
INTp
It was similar for me, after reading an MBTI book more or less at random (Please Understand Me II - Keirsey) I thought the book made good sense it that it paralleled my experience with other people. It gave me a bit more to go on than the usual bumpf about Type A vs Type B personalities.

Then finding other INTPs via online forums, it became clear to me that there is a small segment of society out there who have similar ways of looking at things as me. That was very refreshing compared to interactions with real life people whose irrational ways of thinking often leave me shaking my head.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
51,858
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I felt very much an outlier in my community and had only ever met a few people who really I felt a kinship to in terms of thought and approach. I tended to also feel like something might be wrong with me and didn't feel any support (just criticism) from the people around me for being different from them (especially being immersed in religion-world). Was there something wrong with me? But I couldn't successfully be them no matter how much they wanted me to be.

It was a real comfort, regardless of the total accuracy of MBTI, to realize there were actual patterns out there and different categories of people, and that is okay, and I wasn't just an outside but had my valid place as a person and could rest easy in that. It made things make more sense to me.

At the time, I was really immersed in it and tended to focus on it, due mainly to the world it had opened to me. Now I'm more laid back and I just feel like I am who I am, and I don't need to fit into a category or align with others and I'm still okay, there is nothing wrong with me -- but MBTI is like the first thing that gave me that confidence that I was valid and not an aberration of some kind and I could just be myself.
 

Polaris

AKA Nunki
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
2,720
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
451
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
For me, nothing very special. I just happened across an online article about how the MBTI could serve as a useful tool in the development of fictional characters. I was intrigued, so I decided to learn about the system and eventually wound up participating in forums dedicated to the subject. Do I actually use it for writing? No--I usually only have a vague idea of what a particular character's MBTI type happens to be. I use a different, more simple and more effective technique for inventing character personalities. The MBTI is purely a (very) light hobby of mine. I just enjoy having a special label for myself and others.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
22,445
MBTI Type
EVIL
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I'm wondering if there's a way we could have more discussions about personality differences here. It would probably be best to encourage a less rigid approach, while showing more of a willingness to discuss the topic than someone who is constantly slapping that stupid "not type related" emoji on everything. Some of the differences could be discussed through MBTI, and some through other frameworks or even just personal understandings.
 
Last edited:

Haight

Doesn't Read Your Posts
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
6,399
MBTI Type
INTj
A Carl Jung book that I read for a Psychology course.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
22,445
MBTI Type
EVIL
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
A Carl Jung book that I read for a Psychology course.
Which one? I think I read Man and His Symbols, although that didn't really touch on type. That was more about Anima/Animus, the Shadow, and the Self; things like that.
 

Coriolis

Si vis pacem, para bellum
Staff member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Messages
27,424
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I'm wondering if there's a way we could have more discussions about personality differences here. It would probably be best to encourage a less rigid approach, while showing more of a willingness to discuss the topic than someone who is constantly slapping that stupid "not type related" emoji on everything. Some of the differences could be discussed through MBTI, and some through other frameworks or even just personal understandings.
That has always been an important part of the purpose here - using MBTI and other typing systems to help understand and appreciate our differences. Much as that "not type related" sticker is overused, many things really are not type-related. Related to this is the observation that basing someone's type on observed behavior is risky, since every typing system goes deeper than that in analyzing how we operate. Any type can exhibit any behavior. It is in the how's and why's that we see the differences that point to type. I would be happy to see more of that sort of discussion.
 
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