A Personality Like...

I was over at Puddleglum's Wigwam this morning reading about personalities. It brought up an interesting memory.

In high school we all had to take a personality test and get analyzed by an occupation placement specialist. It was sort of a way to bash all our hopes and dreams. My conversation went something like this.

"You said you want to work with computers?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Well this test has identified your personality as 'ENTP'."

"And?"

"Well ENTP's are generally not suited for that field. You just don't have the temperament for it. You'd probably be very unhappy. Are you sure you don't want to be a lawyer?"

We took a test called the Myers-Briggs personality test. Mr Rose, referred to my personality simply as "I see we've got another nut in society!" He said he was allowed to say that because he was an ENTP. Regardless, it has stuck with me all these years. I remember asking him at the time if everyone really did fit into these rather narrow 16 slots. He said that most of the time, they did.

So, there you have it, I'm a nut, and surprisingly this profile for me is spot on! Profile of an ENTP.

In a way I find it annoying that I can be so accurately slotted, and that I just do things because of what I am, and not because I decided to do them. Regardless I can't dismiss lines like this one below.

"They tend to have a perverse sense of humor as well, and enjoy playing devil's advocate. They sometimes confuse, even inadvertently hurt, those who don't understand or accept the concept of argument as a sport."

I suppose in some way's I can garner comfort from this. There are times I feel like I'm the only person on earth that feels the way I do. Clearly this isn't so. There are plenty of other nuts out there, and we should be the easiest to identify, as I learned from this test, we are all a bunch of pompous blow hards.

At the end of the profile there is a section for "Type Relationships for Personality:" Which basically just says who I should marry, live next to, and who my friends should be. Very funny, the gap between 'should do' and 'have done'.

Oddly enough my wife and my personalties are not at all suited for eachother. While we are not total opposites, but as this website refers to us, we are each others Anima (or Inner Self). Okay, that seems silly to me. Actually I'd say 'stupid' but that's just because I'm an ENTP and can't help myself!

Want to see what you are? Myers-Briggs