I Doubt, Therefore I Am

Here’s a fun thing to do: take a personality profile. Go to http://keirsey.com/sorter/register.aspx and complete the questionnaire.

I’m an INTJ: slightly expressed Introvert, moderately expressed Intuitive personality, distinctively expressed Thinking personality, slightly expressed Judging personality. I found great info on myself in this website, http://www.geocities.com/lifexplore/intj.htm, and find it remarkably accurate.

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I found the section devoted to parenting very interesting in this website: http://www.net2.com/mb/intj.htm.

“As parents, INTJ's main goal is to raise their children to be intelligent, autonomous and independent. They want their kids to think for themselves and make their own decisions, and so are likely to give them room to grow, and to challenge their decisions and thoughts at key points in their lives.”

I find that this perfectly describes me. I already focus on setting the stage for Evan for thinking about things, even to the point of rehearsing what I would like to talk to him about when he’s older. Not that I haven’t already started these talks!

“Mommy, I want this.” He says pointing to a picture of a car in a picture book.
“This is just a picture, Evan. It’s a two-dimensional representation of an object,” is my reply. For some reason, this explanation comes naturally to me.

“Mommy! It’s the Ho-Ho Man!” Evan exclaims at the sight of a Santa in the mall.
“He’s not real, Evan,” I say, “It’s pretend--he’s playing dress-up. Santa is a cultural holiday icon, which symbolizes the spirit of giving and receiving of gifts at Christmas. He is also meant to represent the joy of the season and the celebration of childhood at every stage of life.” I’m sure my thoughtful clarification will suffice for his toddler mind.

I’ve been “explaining” things to Evan this way since he was 1 year old. Anyone feeling sorry for Evan yet?

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My favorite piece of information on Being an INTJ comes from this website: http://fuzzy.snakeden.org/intj/. This explains a lot about me regarding faith that I didn’t fully understand before, particularly why I tend to the Agnostic side of things.

I’ve cut a paste a bit here that I really appreciate, particularly about religion. (I've tried inserting a web link, but for some reason can't do it. Just not tech-savvy enough.)

Q. Is Spock an INTJ?
A. Spock is a fictional character, but to answer the question - no. Mr. Spock of Star Trek is not a representation of an INTJ temperament. No INTJ would go around quoting Star Fleet regulations on a regular basis and especially not during a crisis. A more common INTJ reaction would be, "To hell with the regs! We need to do this to save our butts!" Spock is more of an ISTJ. J.R.R. Tolkien's Gandalf is a better fictional representation of an actual INTJ.

Q. Is there any difference between male and female INTJs?
A. The only difference between male and female INTJs is that the females get more flack for their INTJ tendencies (and the plumbing, of course).

Q. Are female INTJs less feminine than women of other temperaments?
A. Female INTJs are just as feminine as they want to be. They can be just as sweet and sexy as the next woman if they feel like. They are just opinionated and don't put up with stupidity for long.

Q. Are INTJs religious vs. non-religious?
A. INTJs range in beliefs from staunch atheists to devote theists and everything in between. The believers may be Agnostic, Buddhist, Muslim, Christians of every flavor, Wiccan and so forth. INTJs do not automatically discount the spiritual. They just challenge it.

Q. Is God really an INTJ as you have been hearing?
A. Yes. God is the Ultimate INTJ. If you have any doubts, ask an INTJ. *grin!*

INTJ Prayer:
"God, let me be open to other people's views, WRONG though they may be."
(Amanda Doerr © 2000).

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At the risk of being overly self-involved, I took the personality test again, and came up with a new answer: INTP, which actually sounds like more like me than the other. (A good description of the personalities is at www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html.) It seems I'm on the border of both, and it depends on what frame of mind I'm in which part is dominant. Does anyone else's personality change like that?