Myers Briggs, what's yours?

Ooh, I love reading up on this stuff.

I think we took The Myers-Briggs in my first psych class just to show the variety we had. That was a little over a year ago; I don't remember if I got the same thing.

From the page: ENFPs have what some call a "silly switch." They can be intellectual, serious, all business for a while, but whenever they get the chance, they flip that switch and become CAPTAIN WILDCHILD, the scourge of the swimming pool, ticklers par excellence. Sometimes they may even appear intoxicated when the "switch" is flipped.

Funny, because this has happened to me. Since I live in a college town, people have often thought that I was drunk. I never drink.

Haha, I'm always drunk. O SNAP I GOTSA DISURDERP!

I'm always in a half-conscious state. I daydream constantly. Dunno why, it's just something I picked up years ago.

We're dreamers.

What's wrong with having an imagination, eh?

When I was little, I was really weird. My mum would tell me these outrageous stories about being aliens and dragons in our back yard, whatever she came up with, and I believed her. When she told me it was pretend I threw a FIT.

Ah, I miss those days...

I wonder if there's any variation in these test results from day to day or depending on how you read the questions.

There is an implied (sometimes explicit) premise - there is no right/wrong best/worst personality type. Each has advantages and disadvantages. That written, it does seem some personality types are perceived more favorably (varies somewhat with culture I think).

Here is an analogy -

When we go to see a movie most people remember the actors. The actors are often paid well, and they are the most visible aspect of the full truth. But what is the full truth?

The full truth is that there would be no movie industry, no opportunity for an actor to reach such high levels of fame if it were not for people with personalities to accomplish all the rest including -

Writing
Producing
Fund seeking
Special Effects
Stunts (planning/performing)
Costume design
Set design/construction
Advertising
Theater owners
Theater builders
Designing/constructing film equipment
Designing/constructing home viewing equipment (dvd players, televisions, VOD, etc.)
Makeup artists
Directing
Etc.

And the most important of all...

Actors are often tasked with imitating, or embellishing on the lives of real-life people who really do all those dangerous, amazing, emotionally moving things that actors imitate in safety for a living. So you see, if it was not for all those people with all those other personalities, doing all those other real-life things, not only would there be no movie industry, but there would be nothing to write about.

In other words, if we were all actors, there would be no actors. Likewise if we all had the same personality type, the world would be a very different, and probably very boring place.

Mavet wrote:I wonder if there's any variation in these test results from day to day or depending on how you read the questions.

Moods can change your perception, true, so introspection/self awareness would help here a lot.

I think nowadays I'm pretty rational most of the time, at least knowing what I do. I forgot my meds before I left my parents' house today and I still feel pretty mellow.

xdude wrote:The full truth is that there would be no movie industry, no opportunity for an actor to reach such high levels of fame if it were not for people with personalities to accomplish all the rest including -

Writing
Producing
Fund seeking
Special Effects
Stunts (planning/performing)
Costume design
Set design/construction
Advertising
Theater owners
Theater builders
Designing/constructing film equipment
Designing/constructing home viewing equipment (dvd players, televisions, VOD, etc.)
Makeup artists
Directing
Etc.

I definitely see where personality diversity makes everything what it is today. I wonder how long it took the human mind to evolve to that extent, where there are so many combinations of traits?

Mavet wrote:I definitely see where personality diversity makes everything what it is today. I wonder how long it took the human mind to evolve to that extent, where there are so many combinations of traits?

Who knows. Maybe it's no different then ants, building their nests, splitting up into different roles versus all ants playing the same role. We humans seem to be inclined to want to take the natural land and build shelters and other things as well. I suppose you could even argue that the split of the sexes, and tendency among so many animals to take on different roles in their respective groups is just more of the same. If we were all exactly the same who knows how things would have been different, for better or worse.

It's hard to say if personality traits are learned, in born, or some of both, but ask some parents and teachers - many will tell you they definitely noticed differences in the personalities of children from an early age (nature or nurture or some of both?)

I'd say some are learned but some things make me think about genetics more than I did years ago. For instance, I hardly ever spent any time with my dad, but I ended up with the same ridiculous traits.

Animal personalities are fun. I think even my goats have personalities. Maybe it's there because it's a simpler way to give everything a natural place.