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  1. You must read the article before you can comment on it.
    • jeff2 years ago

      Fascinating article! There's a lot of really interesting history here that I was totally unaware of.

      I've taken the test multiple times and was always typed INTJ. I put personality tests in the same kind of fun category as astrological signs but I also think there is something to a well-thought-out test. If someone is your MBTI opposite you're probably going to have pretty divergent personalities. Either way, there's definitely something satisfying about seeing yourself distilled and quantified into a point on a graph or a four-letter type.

      In retrospect, it seems to me that the question of type's staying power is less interesting than how type wins you over: The quasi-religious appeals it makes to your sense of wanting to know who you are and why you do what you do.

      • leverettt2 years ago

        I really liked how she pointed out that many people use their types to justify their negative actions. I don’t like when people try to do that, it’s off-putting and pessimistic. People can change, regardless of their type or characteristic.

        • jeff2 years ago

          I don’t like when people try to do that, it’s off-putting and pessimistic.

          Agreed! Not only off-putting and pessimistic but legitimately disempowering and self-reinforcing.

          People can change, regardless of their type or characteristic.

          I'm less sure of how much I agree with this. I think it really cuts to the heart of the questions Emre raises about our sense of self. I certainly agree that people can change their behavior, but can an introvert really become an extrovert, as opposed to say just acting like one? Is that even a meaningful distinction?

          • leverettt2 years ago

            I think people can develop qualities that blend and pull from both types. I'm hesitant to categorize people so strictly. Granted there are people who are introverted through and through, (like myself). But there are also times when an individual can be a combination of both, depending on what part of life they're in. They might migrate toward one end or the other, like a pendulum.

    • Jessica2 years ago

      Interesting read on Emre's experience at the certification program. I've been skeptical of putting labels on people, especially defining them into four-letter categories. It can be illuminating in some ways, but also limiting in that MBTI can serve as an excuse for our actions rather than us trying to make room for improvement.

      I've recently realized that I'm probably much more extroverted than I think I am. (I always typed as introverted.)

      This article reminded me of a job application process several years ago where I was asked to take a "Predictive Index Assessment" prior to my interview. The assessment included a section on level of extroversion. I have no doubt that my assessment results influenced the way that they steered my interview and perceived me before they met me. Either way, I don't work there ...

    • BillEnkey2 years ago

      It appears to me that as humans we crave the extreme. Whether we choose religion, space, or personality type doesn't seem to matter; we want definitive, complete answers. Nevermind that those answers may not necessarily exist. I suppose it's just something else over which to fight.

      • jeff2 years ago

        I suppose it's just something else over which to fight.

        Yes, but at the same time it's maybe also something to more readily bond over, for a glass half full take.

        I really liked this quote from the article:

        Learning to speak type means learning to link the quotidian gestures of life into an easily digestible story, one capable of communicating to perfect strangers some sense of who you are and why you do what you do.