Saturday, January 26, 2013

Observations from the Window 1.26

I was skimming through blogs a couple days ago when I saw a post that included a link to one of those things that will instantly analyze your personality. The answer is based on on a system developed by psychiatrist Carl Jung in his book Psychological Types according to which there are sixteen different personality types. Yes I'm trying hard to sound professional and I did have to try it out but before I get to my results I should a say you can read her post at Mo' Homo or try the typealyzer yourself if you want.

Normally I don't bother doing these things because a few years ago I did one that told you what writer you were most like. Paste in a few paragraphs of text, I used a blog post, and it came up with with an answer. The problem with mine was it said David Foster Wallace which, while flattering, just reminded me that Wallace had hung himself in 2008. I did this one because it was easy, just paste in the blog address, and the answer comes with a cute picture. I typed in my blog, hit send, and just started laughing when I saw the pic. If I believe the answer I have what is called an ISFP personality.

"The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people feel. They usually have a strong appreciation for art and beauty or things around them that affect the look, taste, sound or smell. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living. They genuinely care about people. They are extremely gifted at creating and composing things that stimulates the senses, such as art, music or food. They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They have no desire to lead others and they don't want to be led. ISFPs are sometimes not good at giving him/herself enough credit for things they did well."

Granted I may have seen something like this before but with my short term memory I didn't remember so now suitably intrigued I did some more digging. A psych website actually describes an ISFB  (Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Perception) as "the Artist."

"As an ISFP, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit into your value system. Your secondary mode is external, where you take things in via your five sense in a literal, concrete fashion. ISFPs live in the world of sensation possibilities. They are keenly in tune with the way things look, taste, sound, feel and smell. They have a strong aesthetic appreciation for art, and are likely to be artists in some form, because they are unusually gifted at creating and composing things which will strongly affect the senses. They are likely to not give themselves enough credit for the things which they do extremely well. Their strong value systems can lead them to be intensely perfectionist, and cause them to judge themselves with unnecessary harshness."

And still another site said, "People with ISFP personalities are very in tune with the world around them. They are very much attuned to sensory information and are keenly aware when even small changes take place in their immediate environment. Because of this, they often place a high emphasis on aesthetics and appreciate the fine arts. They are also perfectionists and can be their own harshest critics. Because they place such high expectations on themselves, they often underestimate or undervalue their own skills and talents."

Enough already, between horoscopes, karma, and history I have enough to worry about and I really don't need psychology too, still it does sound like me. Only 5% of people have this personality, two thirds of whom are women, including Hillary Clinton, Keith Richards, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, Sofia Coppola, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. So maybe it's not so bad after all, I seem to have good company.

And Michael Jackson.

They lost me.