Only if you agree with me

I'm here again trying to begin a thing, urgh things. I was about to launch into how definition creates separation/isolation etc. But that's not why I came here. I'm here to work through an odd resistance that I noticed just now. Skip to somewhere in the middle for a truTV video that triggered this.

MBTI, anyone savvy? Those of you who've worked in industry, been on corporate retreats, have an active HR unit probs have. It stands for Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and puts you into one of sixteen personality types.

Straight from Wikipedia, click here to read their explanation.

I'd recently been through the process, half day away with my work colleagues. Drinking tea and eating biscuits, I did neither as I am an unfeeling ascetic. Untrue, I'm actually an emotional fat boy, who has cultivated an identity of being always fasting, thus people assume and reinforce the idea that I will not eat anything. Back to the half day, the most interesting part was talking to those I work with, in some detail about their past, present, and future.

Then came the time for sitting in a circle an talking through our MBTI. We did a self assessment to see whether we were:

• Extrovert or Introvert
• Thinker or Feeler
• Sensing or Intuition
• Judging or Perceiving

We then compared our self assessment with the outcome from our MBTI questionnaire. I more or less nailed mine, felt rather proud for being all sorts of self aware. My score between thinking and feeling was split super close. We read some descriptions of what the 16 categories were all about and were asked to choose one, based on everything we'd learnt so far.

I forget what I picked but it turns out it was the same as my boss, thick as two thieves in a pod, does anyone get that reference?

I then proceeded to not think about it till a week or so ago. A relatively new friend asked me what my MBTI was, as she suspected we may be the same. I had my questionnaire and associated booklet to hand and sent her a message explaining the quandary of my thinking feeling split. I was excited to find out if there was someone out there who was just like me.

Today one of my favourite YouTubers, Phillip Defranco, mentioned a new vid from truTV in their "Adam Ruins Everything" series. I love this series as it debunks things like wine snobs, alpha males, low fat food, lie detectors, etc. Click here for a big old playlist. So he goes through why MBTI is probably a load of boloney.

Care to hazard a guess as to my initial reaction? Go on, play along, indulge me please?

It wasn't instant acceptance, it was resistance. I was unsure why I would resist this well argued point, with references, backed up by Wiki. My initial thought was I want to be the same as my old boss, a veritably organised finance powerhouse, and my friend. But as I write this I suspect this goes deeper, that's what she said.

Yesterday I wrote about how I'm not really sure who I am anymore. Whether I formed a mask and have cowered behind it since or if that's just me and I'm wishfully thinking it wasn't. Luckily I was born human and I don't have to be as I am, discretionary nature. I think I've written all about that previously. So I reckon that's what I was resistant, a revelation that makes me unsure. Which is good, conclusion is comforting but boring, n'cest pas?

- Karl Jung

Oh and my resistance is nay more to this, thanks writing, you've done it again.