I am “The Architect” – at least according to Carl Jung and Isabel Myers-Briggs. I ran across an online Jung Typology Test, aka the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment. Being the test I took this time didn’t refer to Myers-Briggs, I’m guessing it’s a cheap imitation. However, my results were consistent with one I took a dozen years ago.
I am, still, an INTP, along with folks like Descartes, Pascal, William James, Einstein, Bob Newhart and Rick Moranis. We “architects” are, according to the site, only 1% of the overall population, which makes us a scarce resource, and therefore more valuable than the average person. It also makes us a minority, which means we should be getting special treatment. The fact that neither of these are true means that either the information is questionable, or that the public needs to be better educated. The fact that I am analyzing this proves that I am indeed an INTP.
Someone by the name of Joe Butt has written a profile of the INTP personality type, in which he writes
INTPs are relatively easy-going and amenable to almost anything until their principles are violated, about which they may become outspoken and inflexible. They prefer to return, however, to a reserved albeit benign ambiance, not wishing to make spectacles of themselves.
A major concern for INTPs is the haunting sense of impending failure. …
Anyone who’s read this blog or my comments on other blogs knows that this is pure crap, but what else could you expect from someone named Joe Butt. He also writes
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.
Of course, he’s provided absolutely no support for this conclusion, an obvious but poor attempt at an argument from authority. And listen to this:
Knowing the Truth is enough for INTPs; the knowledge that this truth can (or could) be demonstrated is sufficient to satisfy the knower. “Cogito, ergo sum” expresses this prime directive quite succinctly.
How arrogant. I really don’t need him to tell me anything. Seriously…
Someone who is not named “Butt” has written a nicer overview of the INTP, otherwise known as the architect:
For Architects, the world exists primarily to be analyzed, understood, explained – and re-designed. External reality in itself is unimportant, little more than raw material to be organized into structural models. What is important for Architects is that they grasp fundamental principles and natural laws, and that their designs are elegant, that is, efficient and coherent.
Architects are rare – maybe one percent of the population – and show the greatest precision in thought and speech of all the types. They tend to see distinctions and inconsistencies instantaneously, and can detect contradictions no matter when or where they were made. It is difficult for an Architect to listen to nonsense, even in a casual conversation, without pointing out the speaker’s error. And in any serious discussion or debate Architects are devastating, their skill in framing arguments giving them an enormous advantage. Architects regard all discussions as a search for understanding, and believe their function is to eliminate inconsistencies, which can make communication with them an uncomfortable experience for many.
Ruthless pragmatists about ideas, and insatiably curious, Architects are driven to find the most efficient means to their ends, and they will learn in any manner and degree they can. They will listen to amateurs if their ideas are useful, and will ignore the experts if theirs are not. Authority derived from office, credential, or celebrity does not impress them. Architects are interested only in what make sense, and thus only statements that are consistent and coherent carry any weight with them.
Okay, I seriously think I need to rename this blog, except that people would think I liked to design buildings, or that it was a reference to the character in The Matrix. I’m not quite that delusional.
Seriously, I do think that the Myers-Briggs test is pretty accurate in many things, and this information can be useful. It can also be used to justify behavior, which it shouldn’t. I’ve always thought that it was most important in pointing out where you were most likely to fail… but, that’s probably just that impending sense of failure talking.
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.
