Tracey Sketchit: ISFP

Guest Writer

Guest post by Andrew, ENTJ

Pokémon Anime Franchise

Tracey Sketchit ISFP | Pokemon #MBTI #ISFP

Introverted Feeling (Fi): Tracey lives life his own way.  When he meets Ash and Misty, he is following his passion of watching and drawing wild Pokemon.  He is very emotional and caring toward those he cares about, but is often oblivious of others’ emotions; he once made an indiscreet comment suggesting that Ash and Misty were in love, provoking an angry response from both of them.  He cares very much about Professor Oak’s opinion of his work, owing to the respect he has for the veteran researcher; he cannot contain his nerves when the famed Pokemon Professor reviews his drawings for the first time. Continue reading →

xxTJ? Or when it’s Just Your OCD Talking

Arvid Walton 3 Comments

Laurie asked: I’ve always considered myself (and been described as) INTJ, but I also have OCD, and you said in a post that every person with OCD will score as a TJ. I know that you can’t just magically type me without knowing me, but I would really like to find out if I *really* am an INTJ, or it’s just my illness that makes me act in a certain way (though I always recognized my thought process as that of an INTJ, not my actions necessarily). How do you go about typing characters who have mental illness? I know you always try to “separate” the two things and recognize the real type that might be hidden by the illness – are there particular questions I might ask myself, or things I might notice in my actions/thoughts etc.?

I know I shouldn’t give to much importance to my type – I myself use it more as a very useful tool to write plausible fictional characters than anything else – but recognize who I really am might help me overcome things and thought processes that are not “mine” but come from my condition…in a way, I believe I simply don’t want to be defined by my OCD, but recognize who I truly am, in spite of everything else. Thank you!

I don’t know the exact nature of your OCD, so I’m going to do the best I can at a generic, but applicable response.

I would suggest trying to pay attention to what you’re like when you’re less affected by your OCD (if possible). The particular function that tends to be associated most heavily with OCD is the Si function, simply because it likes to pay attention to minute details that intuitive upper functions don’t. Continue reading →

Sheldon Cooper: ISTJ

Guest Writer 12 Comments

Guest post by, “you only live once but living once means living many times ,as a series of similar but technically different people who know each other in one direction but who can help each other but only in the other direction,” ENTP

The Big Bang Theory

Sheldon Cooper ISTJ | The Big Bang Theory #MBTI #ISTJ

Introverted Sensing (Si): Introverted Sensing deals primarily with recalling facts and details of past events. Sheldon has an eidetic memory. Introverted Sensing is very tradition and ritual oriented. Sheldon holds on to these traditions very closely. In the series often Leonard and Howard often convince him to do many things just by saying its a ‘social custom’. He tends to know all the facts and enjoys system and order.He says that he does not like change and thinks that change never good,this is mostly where I believe that he is not an NT and more of an SJ. Sheldon sometimes become stubborn and refuses to try new experiences. Continue reading →

More Mind Palace Tips

Arvid Walton 1 Comment

Gabrielle Massman asked: You wrote a post on memory palaces, and I have since created my own and found it very useful– to a point. One of the main reasons why I created my mind palace was to remember Biblical Hebrew vocabulary, but I found my mind palace utterly useless in remembering any types of words or mathematical equations. I tried writing them in open books on tables, on the walls, and even in one word blood on my bathroom mirror, but nothing worked. When I walked through my mind palace, I could see that something was there, and I could remember a broad meaning of the word (for instance, if the word meant “to destroy entirely,” I would remember it had something to do with death.) However, I could not remember the word or exact definition. Moreover, in a practical sense, I wondering if I could fit (and be able to locate) 1,200 vocabulary words in a single or multiple mind palaces.

Do you have a technique to putting words into your mind palace? Or is a mind palace not the best memory technique for words and equations?

It’s not going to work if you try to write them on windows and mirrors. Period.

The reason for this is that the Mind Palace is a mnemonic system of memorisation that relies on making connections and establishing a very specified visual imagery. For tips on how to make your images work better, see this post it outlines how to use your mind palace imagery properly, including how to put large quantities of vocabulary words into it.

In terms of numbers and equations, my suggestion is that you find a way to mnemonically connect the numbers to your images, rather than simply writing them on the walls. I used the system to remember centuries worth of dates, terms, authors, literary works and royal genealogy for a test that I had one day to study for last week (the dates spanned from 3000 BCE to 1500 CE) and the memory palace served me faithfully.

If you have further questions after you finish reading my other post, please feel free to ask.

MBTI Crying in Movies

Arvid Walton

stranger5 asked: “you’ve talked before about how Fe and Fi cry in movies for different reasons. Does function hierarchy also affect whether/why a person will cry in a movie. say, would T types be less likely to cry in movies than F types? Also, are F types more drawn to emotional movies than Ts?”

Or, I should say question[s]. Shall we work through them one by one?

Function Hierarchy

Function hierarchy does have a certain degree of affect on whether someone will cry in a movie, but it isn’t necessarily consistent for everyone.

Quite frequently, you’ll have two Te doms in the same movie theatre –one will remain unaffected emotionally and the other will tear up and get embarrassed about it. Likewise, there are plenty of F types that cry relatively little in response to movies. Continue reading →

xNTP Professors vs xNTJ Students

Arvid Walton 25 Comments

Gineasll asked: You once said that you hate your xNTP professors because they have all the opposite functions of an INTJ? Could you go into more detail on how that plays out? Are there any other types you hate as professors?

I love you! ….distantly, and without emotional investment…Hold on, let me revise that: I love you theoretically!

I have nothing against xNTPs as people. In fact, I love my xNTP friends, but yes, I hate them as teachers. I hate xSFJ teachers equally well (same functions as the xNTP).

Here’s why. Continue reading →

xNTP vs xNTJ Writing

Arvid Walton 6 Comments

Morally Relative Midnight asked: As someone who engages in creative writing frequently, how would you differentiate between INTJ and INTP writing styles? How would an INTJ’s tertiary Fi and an INTP’s tertiary Fe manifest themselves in a creative writing assignment or just any writing project in general?

Now that’s what I call a question.

Best examples of INTJ writing I can think of off the top of my head are Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Flannery O’Connor and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Some good examples of INTP writing include Edgar Allan Poe, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. Continue reading →

My Friend Group as an INTJ

Arvid Walton 23 Comments

Pejar asked: “As an INTJ, what is your friend group like? Are there certain types that you gravitate towards or that gravitate towards you? Like, do you have other INTJ friends? And do you make friends differently than other types?”

Which types am I most likely to be friends with?

My current room-mates, an INFJ and ISFP, were handpicked by me –and by handpicked, I mean my Te took over, organised a flat and then told them they were living with me. They were both fine with that. Generally, my friend group has one INTJ (me) and a whole bunch of INFxs and couple of ISFPs, occasionally allowing for a few tagalong xxxxs.

The most likely reasons for this are as follows: Continue reading →

How to Test Accurately

Arvid Walton 8 Comments

MMR asked: The whole Myer-Briggs Theory is interesting but how does one know if it is accurate. I have taken the test multiple times over the past year to be sure of my type. I was typed each time as an INTJ; I however am afraid I am being biased, trying to be original, or just answering the same way from memory. In reading the other types it is easy to find small traits to identify with in all INxx types. I strongly agree with most typing a for INTJ and feel, if I can say that, that it is my personality type. Wanting to be sure, my question to you is, how does one know if they are being biased when typing themselves?

That’s a good question, and one that I can’t teach you the answer to. I can however, give you a starting place to learn from.

  • Do your answers to the questions match up with your behaviour?
  • In other words, are you answering questions about who you are, rather than who you’d like to be?
  • Do you fully understand the question that is being asked?
  • Are you answering ‘yes’ on questions that only occasionally apply to you?

In general –and I have stressed this time and time again– I suggest not trusting the test as your guide to MBTI. READ. LEARN. INTROSPECT. That is the only way to know yourself.

Do I relate to INFPs?

Arvid Walton 18 Comments

Elise Ann asked: How do you relate to INFPs? you must find us exhausting

I do find you exhausting. You burst out with seemingly random topic changes while I’m still philosophically analysing something you said two hours ago. Also, your emotions…dear me, they are everywhere…

But yes, there are a few ways that I relate to INFPs (not drastic ways, just subtle ones).

The main way that I relate to INFPs in the persistent Fi desire to do the right thing. Of course, we go about it vastly differently, but the goal is the same.

Secondly, there is the often frequent drive for creativity –which, as a writer, artist and Ni user, I relate to regardless of whether the creativity stems from an Ni or Ne function. Both types of intuition can be vastly creative, just in different ways. Many make the mistake of assuming that only Ne is creative, and that Ni is merely a goal setting function –this is based on a limited understanding of MBTI.

Ni presents more of a focused and vision oriented creativity while Ne presents an unexpected and possibility based creativity.

Johnny Cade: INTJ

Guest Writer 1 Comment

Guest post by Andrew, ENTJ

The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton

Johnny Cade INTJ | The Outsiders #MBTI #INTJ

Introverted Intuition (Ni): Johnny needs a realistic vision of a better life for himself for his life to have purpose.  Unfortunately for him, at the beginning of the book, he lives in poverty with abusive parents; there is no exit strategy, no glimmer of hope for a brighter future.  It is only after breaking his back, lying in a hospital bed facing his own death, that Johnny’s will to lives starts to show.  Even after bowing to the inevitable, Johnny makes a last-ditch effort to make things better: for his best friend, Ponyboy, Continue reading →

Meowth: ENTP

Guest Writer

Guest Post by Andrew, ENTJ

Pokémon Anime Franchise

Meowth ENTP | Pokemon #MBTI #ENTP

Extroverted Intuition (Ne): Meowth is always bursting with ideas: practical, impractical, and everywhere in between.  He always has some new scheme to catch Pikachu or another valuable Pokemon.  Some of these are more outrageous than others, and all of them tend to fail.  Meowth seldom or never revisits old ideas for catching Pikachu, preferring to devise new ones instead.  Especially in the Advanced Generation Continue reading →