I followed Bowers’ lead and took the crude Meirs-Briggs personality test. Here is how Bowers and I differed.
- Introverted- Me: 44, Bowers: 67
Intuitive- Me: 62, Bowers: 88
Thinking- Me: 38, Bowers: 1
Perception- Me: 11, Bowers:33
I don’t know what the numbers really mean, because we both came out as INTP’s, or ‘Architects’.
Explanation below the fold.
Architects need not be thought of as only interested in drawing blueprints for buildings or roads or bridges. They are the master designers of all kinds of theoretical systems, including school curricula, corporate strategies, and new technologies. 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.
Architects often seem difficult to know. They are inclined to be shy except with close friends, and their reserve is difficult to penetrate. Able to concentrate better than any other type, they prefer to work quietly at their computers or drafting tables, and often alone. Architects also become obsessed with analysis, and this can seem to shut others out. Once caught up in a thought process, Architects close off and persevere until they comprehend the issue in all its complexity. Architects prize intelligence, and with their grand desire to grasp the structure of the universe, they can seem arrogant and may show impatience with others who have less ability, or who are less driven.
Albert Einstein as the iconic Rational is an Architect
Here is what we’re supposed to be doing for a living:
The most reserved of the Rationals is the Architect (INTP). They store huge amounts of information in their heads and can analyze problems with great insight. They are often drawn to professions where they can be their own bosses, such as optometrist, plastic surgeon, neurologist, or scientist. They may become lawyers, architects, or financial analysts. Many are found in the higher levels of academia in such fields as archeology, chemistry, philosophy, or mathematics. They may show a strong creative bent as a musician, inventor, or photographer. Some restore antiques or old cars. Says Don, “I like having my own business as an optometrist. I am constantly reading about new advances in the field. My work must be of the highest quality. My reputation has caused many patients to come to me because they have problems that were not solved by other treatment professionals.”
The drive towards constantly increasing their knowledge base and being highly competent is what gives Rationals a sense of personal satisfaction.
Architects are the rarest form of ‘Rationals‘ which is itself the rarest personality type.
Rationals don’t care about being politically correct. They are interested in the most efficient solutions possible, and will listen to anyone who has something useful to teach them, while disregarding any authority or customary procedure that wastes time and resources.
Rationals have an insatiable hunger to accomplish their goals and will work tirelessly on any project they have set their mind to. They are rigorously logical and fiercely independent in their thinking — are indeed skeptical of all ideas, even their own — and they believe they can overcome any obstacle with their will power. Often they are seen as cold and distant, but this is really the absorbed concentration they give to whatever problem they’re working on. Whether designing a skyscraper or an experiment, developing a theory or a prototype technology, building an aircraft, a corporation, or a strategic alliance, Rationals value intelligence, in themselves and others, and they pride themselves on the ingenuity they bring to their problem solving.
Rationals are very scarce, comprising as little as 5 to 10 percent of the population. But because of their drive to unlock the secrets of nature, and to develop new technologies, they have done much to shape our world.
I suspect that a high percentage of bloggers are INTP’s. I suspect an even higher percentage are Rationals of some sort or another. It’s been my experience that bloggers, as a general matter, find it:
“difficult…to listen to nonsense, even in a casual conversation, without pointing out the speaker’s error. And in any serious discussion or debate [they] are devastating, their skill in framing arguments giving them an enormous advantage. [Bloggers] 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.
This feature of the Blogging Personality Type may help explain why we tend to fight so contentiously with each other, even as we generally share the same principles and goals.
