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Poll: Hacker News (Myers-Briggs) Personality Types

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Re: Poll: Hacker News (Myers-Briggs) Personality Types

#121
Myers-Briggs used to annoy me because there were always a lot of questions I could go either way on. The third time I took it I figured out what to do. I divided my answers into two columns. Anytime I had an unambiguous answer, I'd put it in both columns, but if I felt split I'd put opposite answers in each column. I was curious as to whether this would yield interesting results, and it did: I got a 50/50 split in two of the variables (that is, I'm evenly matched in IE and TF), and an extreme bias in the other two (I'm about as N and P as you can get). This matches how I feel about myself pretty well. I found another amusing way to verify the approach: if you combine the opposites to my extremes you get SJ, and the SJs turn out to be my arch-enemies. I read the description of SJ and it makes me squirm and think, why would anybody be like this? These people are neurotic bureaucrats. The world would be better off without them!

Edit: I'm joking, of course. SJ is so much my polar opposite that I have a hard time understanding or empathizing with them. I just find it ironically hilarious to read a typology that's designed to foster understanding and find myself dismissing 1/16 of humanity as basically adding no value.

Edit 2: As of this moment, the SJs are less than 3% of the respondents to the poll. Evidently I've come to the right place. :)

Re: Poll: Hacker News (Myers-Briggs) Personality Types

#122
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Despite the drawbacks in MB, the poll results show an interesting and compelling deviation from expected (i.e. average) results.

Well, the results are certainly skewed, but that's not necessarily an indication of anything interesting . For example, you can't rule out the possibility that the test is particularly appealing to people with a certain personality (i.e. "hackers"), and that the test happens to label these people identically (i.e. " NT "). The fact that the test was posted here, and that the results are heavily skewed toward a small…

"the test is particularly appealing to people with a certain personality (i.e. "hackers"), and that the test happens to label these people identically (i.e. "NT")."

Isn't this the only claim that proponents of the test make? It's the whole point: people with different personalities are supposed to show up differently on the test. It's not clear to me why you seem to think that the claims for the test are actually claims against it. :)

Re: Poll: Hacker News (Myers-Briggs) Personality Types

#123
That is an amazing result, though not surprising when you think about it, few developers are serious extroverts,though if you're NT and an extrovert it is conceivable. you need to be intuitive to develop large software apps, It is difficult to make software by feeling you need to think and both perception versus judging could be considered valid and useful ways to make software.

Most developers would be NT and indeed INT. If nothing else this does seem to indicate there is some validity in the myers briggs tests.

The total lack of S versus N is also fascinating. (for reference I started life as an INTP when I first did this 20 years ago, a few years ago I was an INTJ, now today I'm an INFJ, not sure what this means, maybe I'm mellowing with age)

Re: Poll: Hacker News (Myers-Briggs) Personality Types

#125
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forer_effect

It's not just identifying with some vague general points of the description. For some people reading an INTP profile for the first time is blow-your-mind-and-shit-your-existential-pants amazing. INTPs would be first in line to understand and point out the kind of cognitive bias that make people believe in horoscopes and astrology (and possibly the other 15 MBTI categories).

Care to share what is so amazing about it? As it apparently describes millions of people to a T :/

Re: Poll: Hacker News (Myers-Briggs) Personality Types

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Hence, it is common to see INTPs dabbling at many things, achieving competency, just enough to prove to themselves that they could become more proficient if they wished, but rarely actually bothering to refine their skills further. This is a point at which we begin to get a feel for the workings of iNtuition backing up Thinking. The INTP has a whole set of skills which he knows that he would be proficient at, yet ot…

Wow! Took the test 5mins ago, found out I'm an INTP too. Now reading these comments and links is blowing my mind! lol

Why? Millions of people behave similarly. I don't get why this is interesting... or surprising.

Re: Poll: Hacker News (Myers-Briggs) Personality Types

#128

I wonder how much of an overlap there is between the INTPs and INTJs. For example, I always score INTP on these tests, and yet the INTJ profile describes me far, far better.

Read this:

http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/light/organization....

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