the personality test

Few days back i wrote a book review http://drharoonhmarikar.blogspot.in/2012/12/book-review-personalities-in-love-by.html

a nice book by Donna Partow about personality types . Hope you would have already read it by now ... 

No  ???  Other than availability and the common reasons if you havent no need to worry . The answer maybe in your personality type .  As discussed in the book (originally by Hippocrates 2500 +yrs back )  there is 4 basic personality types and their combinations . 

But the people who are really into   personality typing is Myers -Briggs and Keirsey whose classification of people  into 16 different personality types is really interesting (details available on the internet )  . For the skeptics ya we are all unique  but if you have seriously observed around you , you must have seen the patterns .  The  type who is the life of the party who forgets your name afterward , the type who sticks around the fringes but  who becomes your lifelong close friend , the type who sits round the clock to finish the work assigned to him/her and so on  ...

Long ago i thought the extroversion-introversion axis itself was a simple thing  . The whole world wants extroversion while introversion is considered a negative trait  . But going deeper into this itself showed many interesting things  :  

Extroversion along with its obvious positive things is associated with an equal number of negative things  . To tell a random example imagine the apple falling on Isaac Newtons head . If he was a classic extrovert he would have showed off the apple to all , maybe even cooked up a small story about how he got it directly from australia  and then ate it along with his 25 friends .  Of course with his introversion and its associated persistent thoughtful nature he invented the Newtons laws  the fruits of which both extroverts and introverts are enjoying for centuries  .. 

I used to think there are only pure extroverts and pure introverts . But like in everything  its a simplistic approach . People have varying percentage of introversion and extroversion .  And to tell it flatly unless its really at the extremes both are good in their own way . Even Newton we want once in a while to attend a scientific conference facing 100 people and so on  ... 

And surprises galore ... Dont think that someone who always is in public limelight etc is an extrovert and one who spends 12 hrs in a lab is an introvert . Princess Diana is a self proclaimed INFP  where I stands for some degree of introversion .  Introversion classically implies that they need significant "me " time to recharge . Thats all . It doesnt mean that they are not social  .  Similarly extroverts primarily derive their energy from outside  . (  further details internet  extensive material is available)  

I described Extroversion /introversion because that is the only thing people know at least to "some " extent . But MBTI and Keirsey temperament sorter shows that there are iNtuitives , Sensing , Feelers , Judgers etc  .  

Now we should part ways ... depending on your personality some people if they are interested should check their  personality type using the good websites available humanmetrics is an example , and then can read the brief description of their character. This is the obvious shortcut . The long cut is reading extensively on the net itself about Keirsey and Myers Briggs the other types and how  it affects interpersonal interactions .  There is even a book on Amazon.com called Please Understand Me 2  which many people have found useful in understanding themselves and their relationships.  

Now i always knew i was good in teaching (though 90 percent of my students sleep  ....joking  ok  :)  )  and ok in writing (  though nobody has read my blog till its end  :)  )  and my reading of my personality type not only clearly tells me about it  and more importantly why it is so  ...

To the non -skeptics a word of caution .  Its definitely true that each one of us is unique  and personality tests and its application to career , friendship etc  is  only  part of   the whole thing . The point is dont read your personality type and try to limit yourself  but use  the positive insights in bringing some sense into the enigma of human personality  . In short dont take the tests and interpretation very seriously but as an interesting read  The original test itself costs $$  .. the humanmetrics one is at best an approximation  .

Anybody interested in my personality type ... I dont have a personality :)   Im Dr Evil :)  (movie : Austin Powers  )