{"id":1288,"date":"2008-11-21T06:37:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-21T06:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/11\/on-looking-within\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:12:02","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:12:02","slug":"on-looking-within","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/11\/on-looking-within.html","title":{"rendered":"On Looking Within"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SSaotAtSCPI\/AAAAAAAAB5c\/mOoFqg0JPos\/s1600-h\/pilgrim+passing+between+worlds.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px;float: right;cursor: pointer;width: 320px;height: 254px\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SSaotAtSCPI\/AAAAAAAAB5c\/mOoFqg0JPos\/s320\/pilgrim+passing+between+worlds.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I rather enjoy the various options there are out on the \u2018net to psychologically type oneself. There is, after all, little as much fun as looking in a mirror. And there are tons of mirrors out there. For instance one can see what is one\u2019s religion, which Winnie-the-Pooh character one is, what kind of classic movie star one is, etc. etc. What\u2019s not to love?<\/p>\n<p>And recently, at least for me, I\u2019ve discovered a blogger can even learn what type of various sorts their blog is. The other day I found one that determined what gender Monkey Mind is (male by eighty-two percent).<\/p>\n<p>Now, thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/homefries.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Kenneth Sutton<\/a>, I\u2019ve found a site that gives one\u2019s blog a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Myers-Briggs<\/a> typology.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve taken the Myers-Briggs several times over the years and the read on me has shifted.<\/p>\n<p>The first time I took it I was an INFP. (If this interests you, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myersbriggs.org\/my-mbti-personality-type\/mbti-basics\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">here\u2019s a spot<\/a> that defines these combinations of letters and what they\u2019re supposed to mean.)<\/p>\n<p>The second time I took it I was an ENFP.<\/p>\n<p>And the third time I took it I was an ENTP.<\/p>\n<p>Let me be honest here. I have little faith in these instruments and their analysis. For me they are slightly more probable than astrological charts. And if you\u2019ve ever read this blog you might guess what I think of astrological charts\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Still, that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t useful. Particularly if one holds \u2019em lightly\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Myers Briggs is based upon the work of Carl Jung. For me one of the most important things Jung did was to notice in a formal way the dichotomy between <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Extraversion\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">introversion and extroversion<\/a>. Now there\u2019s a type you can sink your teeth into\u2026<\/p>\n<p>However. You may note while I was originally typed as an introvert, the two subsequent tests seemed to show I\u2019m an extrovert.<\/p>\n<p>If one defines the differences between introvert and extrovert through what behaviors \u201crenew\u201d a person, I\u2019m pretty obviously an introvert. So, I\u2019ve never, never, ever thought spending a night at a bed and breakfast was anything fun. I mean who wants to greet a stranger when stumbling into the kitchen for a morning cup of coffee? Not an introvert, let me tell you\u2026<\/p>\n<p>However my chosen occupation requires lots of face time with others. And I\u2019ve become over the years what I like to call a faux extrovert. I enjoy it, but somewhere along the line I absolutely gotta shut a door.<\/p>\n<p>Having an insight into one\u2019s self is valuable. That a test suggests one\u2019s otherwise is also, I suspect, valuable. Makes one pause. Hopefully\u2026<\/p>\n<p>But, beyond that observation, simple typologies for the most part are just too, well, simplistic.<\/p>\n<p>We live in a world of multiple causality and the human personality is a rather complex mixing of many, many conditions.<\/p>\n<p>And the mirror any simple typology holds up is going to be badly formed and cracked.<\/p>\n<p>Worth playing with, certainly gives one a way to break the ice at a cocktail party (I think, that is, if I found myself in such a situation\u2026), but not something I think one should count on very deeply if one is actually trying to see into her or his heart and mind.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to look within, well, friend, the best way is to sit down, shut up and pay attention.<\/p>\n<p>Your best bet\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The universal solvent.<\/p>\n<p>Doesn\u2019t mean these other systems aren\u2019t fun, and that they don\u2019t sometimes point in true ways to who we are.<\/p>\n<p>Just don\u2019t cling\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Monkey Mind, by the bye, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.typealyzer.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Typealyzer<\/a> is INTP.<\/p>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/33904114-1533009679170242738?l=monkeymindonline.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I rather enjoy the various options there are out on the \u2018net to psychologically type oneself. There is, after all, little as much fun as looking in a mirror. And there are tons of mirrors out there. For instance one can see what is one\u2019s religion, which Winnie-the-Pooh character one is, what kind of classic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>On Looking Within<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I rather enjoy the various options there are out on the &#039;net to psychologically type oneself. There is, after all, little as much fun as looking in a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/11\/on-looking-within.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Looking Within\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I rather enjoy the various options there are out on the &#039;net to psychologically type oneself. 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