Chinese Astrology’s dictates on my personality are laughable.  So are Western astrology’s.  Those each have 12 bins.  So the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, which itself has only 16 bins into which people are sorted, should be just as ludicrous.  Right?  I mean, I take a test, and it describes me extensively.  Yeah, right.  Like the following summation of the “INTP” type could in any way apply to me:

INTPs are pensive, analytical folks.  They may venture so deeply into thought as to seem detached, and often actually are oblivious to the world around them.

Precise about their descriptions, INTPs will often correct others (or be sorely tempted to) if the shade of meaning is a bit off.  While annoying to the less concise, this fine discrimination ability gives INTPs so inclined a natural advantage as, for example, grammarians and linguists…

A major concern for INTPs is the haunting sense of impending failure … expressed in a sense that one’s conclusion may well be met by an equally plausible alternative solution, and that, after all, one may very well have overlooked some critical bit of data.

Mathematics is a system where many INTPs love to play, similarly languages, computer systems — potentially any complex system.  INTPs thrive on systems. Understanding, exploring, mastering, and manipulating systems can overtake the INTP’s conscious thought.  This fascination for logical wholes and their inner workings is often expressed in a detachment from the environment, a concentration where time is forgotten and extraneous stimuli are held at bay.  Accomplishing a task or goal with this knowledge is secondary.

INTPs and Logic — One of the tipoffs that a person is an INTP is her obsession with logical correctness.  Errors are not often due to poor logic — apparent faux pas in reasoning are usually a result of overlooking details or of incorrect context.

Games NTs seem to especially enjoy include word games of all sorts….

The INTP mailing list … in its incipience … had trouble deciding on:

1. whether or not there should be such a group,
2. exactly what such a group should be called, and
3. which of us would have to take the responsibility for organization and maintenance of the aforesaid group/club/whatever.

(all emphasis in the original)

A list of famous INTPs includes Socrates, Descartes, Pascal, Newton, and Einstein.

This is just creepy.

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:35:00 -0500
Under philosophy, science
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