So what is this personality typing thing anyways?

I am by no means an expert on the Meyers Briggs personality tests, and if you want to be completely confident on your results or want more information you should consult a professional. As all blogs, this is an expression of my opinion.

MBTI is method of describing how different people think, at a basic level. It is more of a learning experience for you yourself to figure out how you work. It doesn't evaluate how other people see you, or how you interact with people, but rather tries to describe how you personally experience the world.

I'm not sure how correct it is, or how scientific. However, I do know that it does explain parts of my personality very well. There is always more to a personality that what can be described by classifying people into 16 types. Some people have more or less of certain traits. Methods of interacting with other people, shown by the Enneagram test or other similar tests, can add another layer to your personality. On top of that are tests like Multiple Intelligences test, which, although fairly basic, can help you understand your strengths and weaknesses.

However, for those of you who are interested in taking a guess at what personality type you are, there are several websites that offer free, but not necessarily very correct, tests.

In order of shortest to longest in terms of the number of questions.
www.blogthings.com/howrareisyourpersonalityquiz/

Also www.41q.com/type.41q?p=24581080

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

This is my personality type. If you click on the image you can navigate the website to take your own too, and have your results displayed beautifully.

As Others See Us

INTP's are stereotypically the university professors who are disorganized and spend all their time thinking about vague ideas that they only half understand and the rest of the world doesn't seem to understand at all. I think that is not true. While it may be an INTP's natural habitat to live in their own head, and think about things their own way, and in a slightly disorganized way, we do come out sometimes :)

When we do come out of out shells it will probably be in a slightly crazy way. We like to have a lot of fun, and always in a new way. Being bored is to be avoided at all costs. We may still be cold and detached though, and will probably find it hard to meet other people's emotional needs. However, we can give you a lot of other support, as one person so nicely wrote out on Personality Cafe.

This is one of those amazing compliments that I want to remember for my entire life. I think, and hope, that this is the way that many people see me. I want to understand you, and accept you for who you are, and support you in whatever way I can.


"Your minds are amazing! You can explain things to people in a way that leaves them reeling with all the implications, you can enlighten and enrich people. You're interesting - you know random facts and related theories and if someone questions you on them, you know that and more. You're smart, and that goes a long way in getting my hard-earned respect. You're also fun! For all your quietness and seriousness, you have a wonderful goofy side that's fun to get to know! You bring out the child in me, which is something I need people to do more often.

But most of all you get me. You understand the things I'm saying, you understand the things I'm thinking about but that I can't figure out how to express in words, you understand why I think things are interesting that nobody else does. That horrible feeling of being misunderstood I have throughout most of the day just seems to slide easily off my shoulders when I'm with you. With most people I have to present a mask - not just to be socially acceptable, but to even give people any idea how to begin interacting with me. If I'm 100% me, most people get a stunned look on their face and hurriedly change the subject or leave. You don't do that - you let me feel like it's okay to relax and be who I am in your company. You let me be 100% me without fearing that I'm being judged, because you seem to accept me for who I am, not what you think I should be or what you want me to be. Even if you do see me as a freak, you seem to shrug your shoulders and say "It's cool; you are what you are." I feel comfortable around you, and people like that are few and far between.

How can INTPs be so fully aware of who they are and yet be so stunned when people find their company enjoyable?
" ~ Napoleptic on Personality Cafe

The answer to that last question, I think, is that we are always very self-critical, and we know that we have a very hard time dealing with other peoples emotions, and even our own. We know that we have many weaknesses, and we find it hard to believe that other people can see through them to find the good parts.

A brief introduction to being an INTP

Where to start? First of all, I apologize for sort of referencing one of Stephen Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time." It was a good book, and had many interesting ideas.

So what does this blog entail? This is a place for me to share all the random things that occur to me that might be worth sharing. Why the name, you might ask? I think it is just a warning that it will be written by an INTP, and so it will be fairly random, and involve many things that an INTP would find themselves interested in. I think it will be mostly written for myself, but only about stuff I would be willing to share with others.

Keeping up with this could very well fail after about 2 weeks. Most things in INTP life do that. So I will try to keep the standards low, and the posting irregular.

The background with all the books makes me feel right at home, although it is a little bright.

Someday I hope to make a video for my fellow personality-cafers, so perhaps this will be a good way to organize my thoughts on that.