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Sunday, September 7th, 2003 08:50 pm
1. My Jewish mother continues to conform to stereotypes.
2. Redskins won. Game was a blast, even with my stratospheric seats.
3. Had much fun watching Michigan wax Houston down at "Tommy Joe's" in Bethesda with the grad school alums.
4. Had considerably less fun watching Maryland get waxed by Florida State with my old college buddies.
5. What the hell are the Tennessee Titans wearing? White helmet, powder blue jersey, navy pants. I may not know fashion, but I know ugly.
6. Picked up yet another pair of Timberland shoes. So now I've got the big boots, sandals, dress shoes, boat shoes, and three other varieties. I Heart the Timberland Outlet store.

On the Meyers-Briggs Personality test, I score INTJ. (Examples: Colin Powell, Gandalf) Took the time out to read a personality profile or two. Pragmatists, perfectionists, and systems builders. Apparently, INTJ's make for good lawyers, engineers, and criminal masterminds. Who knew?

"INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know." --That is me, to a T.


One of the sites presented a pretty accurate list on how to deal:

-- Be willing to back up your statements with facts - or at least some pretty sound reasoning.

-- Don't expect them to respect you or your viewpoints just because you say so. INTJ respect must be earned.

-- Be willing to concede when you are wrong. The average INTJ respects the truth over being "right". Withdraw your erroneous comment and admit your mistake and they will see you as a very reasonable person. Stick to erroneous comments and they will think you are an irrational idiot and treat everything you say as being questionable.

-- Try not to be repetitive. It annoys them.

-- Do not feed them a line of bull.

-- Expect debate. INTJs like to tear ideas apart and prove their worthiness. They will even argue a point they don't actually support for the sake of argument.

-- Do not mistake the strength of your conviction with the strength of your argument. INTJs do not need to believe in a position to argue it or argue it well. Therefore, it will take more than fervor to sway them.

-- Do not be surprised at sarcasm.

(95% of my very frequent arguments and fights with my mother stemmed from these 8.)

-- Remember that INTJs believe in workable solutions. They are extremely open-minded to possibilities, but they will quickly discard any idea that is unfeasible. INTJ open-mindedness means that they are willing to have a go at an idea by trying to pull it apart. This horrifies people who expect oohs and ahhs and reverence. The ultimate INTJ insult to an idea is to ignore it, because that means it's not even interesting enough to deconstruct. This also means that they will not just accept any viewpoint that is presented to them. The bottom line is "Does it work?" - end discussion.

-- Do not expect INTJs to actually care about how you view them. They already know that they are arrogant bastards with a morbid sense of humor. Telling them the obvious accomplishes nothing.

The INTJ could seem to explain my "Timberland" collection. I've got 12 pairs of shoes, 3 of which are basically junkers. 7 of the other 9 are Tims. Why? Because they're practical - I can wear them to work most of the time, and I can wear them with jeans. They aren't the most comfortable shoes, but they're nigh indestructible. Yeah. I go with what's proven to work.
Monday, September 8th, 2003 09:08 (UTC)
I am a borderline INTJ-INTP. That means I make lots of detailed lists of things to do, and never follow them.

; )
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 13:35 (UTC)
You would do that, wouldn't you...:-)
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 13:40 (UTC)
The gap between political scientist and philosopher.
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 16:10 (UTC)
The "political scientist" is usually an INTJ. The "political philosopher" is generally an INTP.

I went for the Masters in Public Policy instead of the PhD - because it didn't seem necessary to get "work that mattered" - so to speak. When I went out and volunteered on campaigns and worked on staff, the work was more of the end rather than a learning experience. Us INTJ types start feeling fraudulent if we think we're going too long without putting our theories into practice.

You know... enough theory - time to get in the sandbox and play.
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 16:24 (UTC)
That's what these practical types just don't get. When theoretical types get together and hash about theories, they're having fun!

But I am neither a political scientist or a political philosopher 'cause politics? ...boring! Not to mention depressing as hell.
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 17:53 (UTC)
Oh sure. I find it fun too. It's just, gun to the head, practical types (or at least me) feel this pesky tug - a voice in the back of the head whispering of obligations. Stupid sense of duty (to self and the idea) telling me I'm a hypocrite if I don't actually go into the community and do X to put my beliefs into action. After a while, I can't enjoy it if I don't feel like I'm building toward some eventual practical application. And sometimes, that gets frustrating. Them theoretical types seem to be so much more relaxed, and having much more fun.

And, really, the scientist/philosopher dichotomy is by no means limited to politics. It's just the subject I picked because, depressing as it often is, it's one of my areas of expertise. And for your sake, it's probably a good thing you aren't a student of politics - watching BtVS-7's musings on power and leadership through my lens was an extremely frustrating experience.
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 18:20 (UTC)
If you have insights on power and leadership in season 7, do share!
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 20:31 (UTC)
In short, that if Joss was going to close his season opener with "It's about power", he really should have brushed up on Sun Tzu and Machiavelli before planning out the rest of the season... because for most of the season, his Buffy is an example of how not to be an effective leader and how not to marshall and manage power. And by and large, I think Whedon's story fails to examine this in a critical manner.

Will work on sending you a longer comment in private e-mail.
Monday, September 8th, 2003 09:29 (UTC)
Nice to see you joining the ranks!

I am also INTJ, test so every single time I take it. The arrogance definitely fits me to a T, as does the complete disregard for most people's opinions. -- Expect debate. INTJs like to tear ideas apart and prove their worthiness. They will even argue a point they don't actually support for the sake of argument.--Oh yeah! Bear is ENTJ, which means that our debates can become months long and quite vociferous without ever becoming anything more than intellectual.

-Rhi
Monday, September 8th, 2003 14:31 (UTC)
I dig INTJ women. Justifiable arrogance is hot, especially coming from someone who is totally ready to kick their own ass first.

Now, I don't completely disregard other people's opinions - I just don't let them influence me unless they bring solid backup... Of course, I've been told my definintion of "solid backup" can often be a bit harsh.

Dear old dad, is an engineer, and probably also INTJ. But he won't get into a debate if there isn't a specific point or practical application. Which is too bad, because he makes awesome conversation if you can keep him from being bored. "Look, what are you really trying to do here?" and "Why am I supposed to be doing this?" are pretty much what I grew up hearing from him.
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 07:10 (UTC)
My dad is also an engineer. Extremely strict and quite remote...never managed the empathetic side of things well, though he is getting a bit better as he ages. Here's a story that I think perfectly illustrates that engineering frame of mind:

I had a bedtime and curfew well into high school. Bedtime was 9 on weeknights, 11 on weekends. Not allowed out on school nights except for play rehearsal, choir or soccer/swimming. One school night, I was laying in bed past 9, reading. Dad came up around 10:30 and yelled at me for still having my light on, demanded that I turn it off immediately. I did so, because Dad did not brook disobedience well.

The following morning, I approached him with my logically formulated argument: e.g. I am now 15 years old. I need to begin finding my own limitations and abilities. I feel that it is time for you to allow me to determine when I need to go to bed. I am a good student and I finish my work on-time, thus I feel I have already established that I am responsible in that area, which is the most important right now. If I am tired the next day, this consequence will teach me to go to sleep earlier. This will, in turn, encourage me to use my independence wisely and with restraint because the consequences will be readily and immediately apparent.

Had I argued with him the previous night, I would almost certainly have gotten myself grounded (which happened to my younger brother on a bi-weekly basis for sass). By laying out the argument in a logical pattern, however, I convinced Dad to relinquish his rules about bedtime.

He was quite proud of my argument and used it to illustrate the importance of teaching logic to one's children when he was chatting with his coworkers. I still laugh about it...Dad taught me more about the importance of tailoring an argument to your audience than any rhetoric class could have.

-Rhi
Tuesday, September 9th, 2003 13:24 (UTC)
Oh yeah - very similar to the type of parental/mentor figure I suspect that I tend to be. However, my dad is a bit more laid back.

He pretty much assumed that, as a teenager I would be defiant anyway, so instead of giving me rules and structure was all about providing me just enough rope to hang myself, and then following up with a "son, this is generally how things work - don't be stupid" speech. I very rarely had to use your argument with him, though it would have certainly worked...

Except, that I also had the stereotypical meddlesome Jewish mother - so much of what my dad would have prefered often went by the wayside, in favor of her more hands-on approach to parenting. There are only so many fights one can win with the woman, and neither logic, nor sound argumentation is rarely of any use. From dad, I learned all about picking my battles.