Re: Personality types (was: uncontrollable suffering)

From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Thu Nov 15 2001 - 15:24:51 MST


> > I wonder how these RPG references look to outsiders?
>
> Probably around the same way that Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram look to
> me: Darned silly. Which is the point I was trying to make with all
> this. Any system of phrenology works about equally well, whether it's
> Myers-Briggs, the Enneagram, the AD&D alignment wheel, or White Wolf's
> Nature/Demeanor system.
>
> Actually, I consider the gaming systems to be superior, since they were
> created by highly creative people, with a sense of humor, who had
> customers to satisfy; this in contrast to ivory towerfolk who take
> themselves far too seriously. I'd rather know whether someone is lawful
> or chaotic than introverted or extroverted, and the Natures and Demeanors
> strike me as being more specific (they more clearly fit or not fit a given
> facet of a given personality) than the Enneagram types. When creative,
> smart people try to have fun, useful ideas can come out of it; but Ifni
> preserve me from social scientists.

I wouldn't place Myers-Briggs quite in the same camp with homeopathy,
but I do agree that what it measures is pretty arbitrary. It does,
however, clearly measure _something_, as evidenced by the fact that
so many of use here are *NT*, and many other self-selected groups of
people similarly have high correlations.

On the other hand, one of my fellow editors of <http://www.wikipedia.com/>
is a devout Christian who lists himself as an INTJ with comment "I *live*
to make rules". I invited him to ponder me, a fellow INTJ who is a
radical anti-intellectual-property anarchocapitalist and atheist.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC



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