Subject:
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Re: Is this an overreaction and a violation of rights?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 24 Sep 2002 20:40:36 GMT
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Viewed:
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692 times
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David Koudys wrote:
>
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
> > In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz writes:
> >
> > > I think it would be bad to chose a career based on a personality test.
> > > On the other hand, it may be useful to know that most people who pursue
> > > the career you are interested have a different personality type. Almost
> > > all careers can benefit from people of varying personality types (you
> > > need innovators, people who can meet schedules, etc.).
> >
> > But that's the whole problem--the so-called "personality types" are as
> > subjective as astrological assessments or phrenological readings. And so
> > are the criteria that make up each "type."
> >
> > > I think they key to anything like this is to use it as a tool, and like
> > > any tool, constantly examine yourself to see if you are using the tool
> > > appropriately. And that goes for all tools, even pretty objective ones
> > > like hammers.
> >
> > Trouble is, you can usually discern when you're using a hammer correctly,
> > but it's hard to tell if you're using a subjective and arbitrarily-founded
> > test correctly...
I'm not sure that I'd say the test is arbitrary. If we are to discount
any subjective things, then there is a lot which totally falls apart
(for an example related to the original post in this thread, demonstrate
to me that there is no subjectivity in what is a crime and what is not -
in fact that's a good foundation to work from, it is possible for a
large population to have sufficient agreement on something which is
subjective such that the subjective measure is useful).
> > Dave!
>
> It may be a good start to discuss what people think the differences between
>
> Introvert and Extrovert
> Intuitive and Sensing
> Feeling and Thinking
> Perceiving and Judging
>
> Though, looking at it now, it probably isn't because even these global ideas
> are subjective, why these 8 and not others?
One problem with the MBTI is that the words used for the various types
are overloaded. The MBTI has specific (though subjective) definitions
for each of these terms. Unfortunately, the pair which causes the most
trouble, extrovert/introvert, is one which differs significantly from
what we would normally expect (and as a result, people are often
surprised that my MBTI includes extrovert since I'm often very quiet,
but I absolutely am energized by being in groups).
As to why those 8? I think they do make sense, though certainly other
sets are possible (while I don't know a lot about the Enneagram, it
seemed to have some sense to it also). One of the issues any time you
categorize complex things like personality is choosing a reasonable
number of categories. It is useless to say there are 6 billion
categories, but obviously one or two isn't enough.
I don't think this makes it useless to categorize though. What is
important is to understand the tool and it's limitations. Obviously part
of the MBTI's limitation is that it is highly subjective. It also tries
to get to a person's natural tendency, but can easily respond to learned
or temporary tendencies.
> Though if I were to analyse me, INFP does fit.
If it does fit, what is wrong with gaining some benefit from it?
Should I stop eating chocolate because the fact that it's almost my
favorite flavor is subjective?
Frank
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