I’ve been goofing around with Myers-Briggs personality types lately.  I test consistently as INTP, which explains a lot, actually.  One of the characteristics of INTP is zealously getting into an idea. Until we get bored with it, which doesn’t always take long.  It neatly explains why I’m interested in so many things, yet I tend not to remain on a subject for a long time.
Still, why let research for my own entertainment go to waste? Â I’m going to start sharing what I’m into at the moment with the world via the blog. Â Yeah, it’ll be boring to some people, but then, INTPs live inside their own heads anyway.
It is fascinating how, despite there being billions of people on the planet, Myers-Briggs seems to peg so many people perfectly. Â I’ll use myself as the case I know best.
1 Live inside their own mind, seek clarity in everything, therefore seek knowledge.
This is so integral to me. I can spend hours alone just working on whatever interests me. When things need to be done, it’s often with a flurry of energy near the deadline. (I’m not as bad at this as I once was, but…yeah…) When e-books were still new, I dove into the subject of how to make them. I researched and figured out how to manually create EPUB books, and I even wrote it up and shared it – something INTPs are not the best at doing, sharing what they learn. Of course, six months later somebody created software that could do it, but that’s irrelevant. I’d moved on to something else by then.
2 May seem dreamy or distant to others because they spend so much time in their minds.
It’s not so much that my head is in the clouds, rather I can get so focused on something that the rest of the world doesn’t exist. It also causes me to occasionally miss my turn while driving, I must confess.
3 Hate to work on routine things.
Do we have to cut the bushes again already? Let’s do something else like trim the trees.
4 Complex characters that lead to being restless.
The complexity comes from the vast amount of reading, research, and analysis done by the INTP. The restlessness comes from being easily bored – a type characteristic. We also don’t work well in structured work settings, which is probably why, after three months, I’ve hated every job I ever had.
5 Willing to consider changing mind, but skeptical and need solid facts to be convinced.
This is what gets my wife. She thinks I’m being intellectually arrogant, when in reality I’ve done the research and I’m expected to change my opinion because somebody’s cousin’s sister says another way is better. I’m willing to consider it, but I need data, not wives’ tales.
There’s so much more, but, frankly, I’m getting tired of thinking about this and I want to move on to something else now–specifically, lunch.
