Category: not a typing post

you’re basing your argument about feynman on your personal view of his teaching skills (they were arguably ‘all over the place’), rather than an objective assessment of him as a person; his use of Ne versus Se is evident:At the same time I see much more about the flower than he sees. I can imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension of one centimeter, there is also beauty at a smaller dimension, the inner

structure. Also the processes, the fact that the colors in the flower
evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting—it
means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: Does this
aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All
kinds of interesting questions which shows that a science knowledge only
adds to the excitement and mystery and the awe of a flower. It only
adds; I don’t understand how it subtracts.

his
preference of Si over Ni was also evident when he went on that road
trip with dyson and they ended up at a brothel in oklahoma – one of the
first things he did once they had to stay the night was tell him all
about his life up until then, and his wife. moreover, during his
interview (the fantastic mr feynman) he expressed on more than one
occasion his “disdain” for uniforms and honors because of the way his
father had brought him up (again, clear preference for Si, in this case
Fe-Si)

we do agree on Introverted Thinking, but as far as the Se take-charge
elements, I cannot see any of those; feynman was not an impetuous
person, rather a very imaginative and daydreamy one, as much of an ESTP
veneer he might have displayed in his day-to-day life, he was clearly
Ne-dom (not to say that an Se-dom couldn’t be just as successful or
important in a scientific field, it’s just that feynman’s area of
research was not as focused as inferior Ni would require it to be); also
in the video.

my apologies for all the ask spams, tumblr wouldn’t allow me to compose a
SINGLE message without some sort of cap and i don’t have an account
here

Okay, here’s where my not typing by functions is going to make it incredibly difficult for us to argue.  I think my original reply where I gave anecdotal observations as ‘proof’ of type was probably a little misleading, so how I actually type is:

Si: He reminds me of an ESTP.

Fi: Yes, he feels like an ESTP.

It is super passive.  If there’s disagreement or ambivalence, then the Te gets in on it and starts asking questions like, “Well, E or I?”, until I get the problem narrowed down.

But because that is boring to read (and to write) every time I’m asked why someone is the type they are, I let Ne do the anecdotal observation thing.  It’s an afterthought, always.  It’s, “this is an ESTP thing, because Feynman is an ESTP,” and never the other way around.  I’m distrustful of Ne’s ability to make connections on its own, because it can connect anything.

So yes, there is not really a whole lot on which to hang an argument. I realize this is frustrating – believe me, it’s frustrating on this side, too.

I can give you my reactions to your comments, though – I think we’re seeing him a little differently, which is interesting.  Thank you for persevering with the ask box – it’s not tumblr’s vendetta against anons, by the way; every ask is subject to the dread word count, whether or not they’re a registered user.

Okay, here we go:

you’re basing your argument about feynman on your personal view of his
teaching skills (they were arguably ‘all over the place’), rather than
an objective assessment of him as a person

Teaching style, first off, not skill.  He seems very engaging – it’s just not engaging me.  And yes, I do judge everyone by my personal views, that’s how Fi works, but it’s also the most reliable tool I have for determining type.  Again, frustrating, but valid.

feynman was not an impetuous
person, rather a very imaginative and daydreamy one, as much of an ESTP
veneer he might have displayed in his day-to-day life

Hm, I would have gone with ESTP being the behaviours he can’t shed while he’s pursuing a very N-oriented career, but I don’t really find him daydreamy at all.  I actually find him very proud – of his accomplishments, his outside the box thinking, his dad (clearly his hero and a huge influence on his life), etc. etc. 

I would say that rather than talking about his childhood and his life as a nostalgic thing, I think he likes talking about the things that are a source of pride for him.  Kind of an: if you’re entertaining people, go for the happy stories sort of thing.  

I’m also thinking that with fourth function Ni, if you’re going to be using it a lot, maybe it’s helpful to have a N-type guide (I’m guessing his father was an ENT) as an example to keep referring back to.

feynman’s area of
research was not as focused as inferior Ni would require it to be

I don’t really know the extent of his research, but isn’t the whole idea of Ni that it connects things broadly in a large systematic way?  If you are actively feeding it, I’m not sure why it would have to remain a small network of things, even if it was narrowly focused to begin with (which I’m not sure it was in his case, particularly since his father seemed to have given him a push by educating him in many different areas).

“Maybe ENTJs would enjoy interior design (using space to create a mood?)” Wow, you’re good! I was asking out of curiousity, I just found out I’m actually an ENTJ. It seems out of character for me, but I’m really into design as a hobby You should see my pinterest I have three interior design boards, one of which is titled ‘atmosphere’ for pictures where I want to recreate the feel of the space . . . I caught the bug from my ESFP mother . . .

Lucky guess ❤

I’m not the person who sent the comment about Feynman being a Ne but your explanation of why you argue Se is great. when I went to look him up, you are right about Se/Ne and how different they really are. On top of all that I realize how often I assume most smartiepants are N and that is a ridiculous, sadly mistaken presumption.

I keep thinking about how lucky his S-type (especially Se dom) students were to have him as a prof.  With like, probably 99+% of science profs being NTs, it must be a relief to have things explained in terms of motion and spatial awareness for once.  I hope he inspired a lot of S-types to pursue science!

how could richard feynman possibly be Se-primary? if you watch his interviews and his lectures, his use of the Ne-Si axis is unimaginably obvious (pun intended) – he has a clear preference for Ne, and he also refers to it as “you have to be able to imagine all the (weird) ways things are/can be”

No, I stand by this one.

He makes me think of what Charlie Sheen would be like if he were a brilliant scientist.

So, you know how you learn better from some teachers than others?  Over the course of typing people I have listened to a lot of lectures about a lot of different things, many of which I have very little or no context for.  What I’ve found is that I learn best from ENTJs and ENTPs, which has actually been true throughout my entire history with teachers of every kind.  It doesn’t matter what they’re talking about, I can follow it, even if I don’t have the rudimentary knowledge in place that should make that possible.  It takes no effort on my part to sit and listen to them speak.

With Richard, my attention just slides right off his voice – I have no idea what he’s talking about in any single one of his videos, because all I’m doing is sitting and watching him move (actually, no, I can remember him talking about things shaking while also shaking his hand and body).  Every point he makes, he’s illustrating with movement.

Part of it is maybe the lecture structure as well – as an N type, I like to know why I’m learning something.  Richard goes from story to story – I’m not sure why he’s telling me any of them, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to get from any of them, except to be entertained (which I am).

You’ve mentioned Sam Smith being an INTP and exercising his third function through music and songwriting, and yourself being an INFP, exercising yours through this blog; how do you thing an ENTJ would go about it? Just curious.

I think I was talking about 4th functions, but it doesn’t matter, music and MBTI typing use all four functions, for both myself and Sam.

Probably most things can be Fi things, if you are using them to think about your emotions?  But anything where you’re translating your emotions into a creative output is great (acting, music, art, writing).  Also, just listening to other people or reading, etc, and kind of allowing yourself the space to react and think about why and how you’re reacting (name your emotion and wallow in it?) without actually doing anything about it.

ETA: Maybe ENTJs would enjoy interior design (using space to create a mood?  I’m just thinking you have all the same functions as an ESFP, and they are insanely good at this – they think about Fi together with Se in a way that doesn’t even occur to me, being an Si) or entertaining/party planning.  Uses a whole bunch of logistics and planning, but in a way that means you have to be emotionally and physically sensitive as well?

Also, exploring nature and beautiful architecture – which you share with a lot of people, but particularly ENFJs.  Feelings in space!  Feelings about space!

Not sure if this has been asked before but would you try and type someone if the video interview is subtitled in English?

Try is not the right word here – I would try (I have tried and sometimes even succeeded), but it is much better for my sanity and time management (hah!) if I tell you not to ask me.

The problem with typing people in other languages isn’t necessarily the language itself, but the missing context.  If I’m watching, say, a K-drama, I’ll start typing characters because there’s story and interaction and I can get the jist of type from how people relate to each other.  Probably if I were watching a subbed reality show with a “story arc” (e.g. Bachelor or Survivor), I could pick up types, but I am extremely resistant to watching reality tv at all, so good luck with that.  If I’m watching a political interview where I don’t understand the cultural and political history and I’ve never watched the interviewer before, etc., it’s like watching aliens.  I spend a lot of time wondering if what that thing means to me also means the same thing to them.  Am I judging them by Fi – my personal bias (yes), or by Si – my objective understanding of MBTI (no, and this is basically impossible without a lot of trial and error to establish patterns because I don’t have enough understanding of what is MBTI and what is culture or person-specific).

To be honest, every new group I start typing is like this at first (actors, writers, scientists, rappers, athletes, people from other countries or ethnicities etc.), but at least we have language and some shared cultural cues in common.  It makes it easier to check into them a little, find their peers and also find out what other people think of them and so on.  It also makes it a little easier to guess at why life experience has shaped one particular group of people a little differently from others of their type.

Anyway, I could probably type people from subbed interviews (and in fact, if English isn’t the person’s first language, I do check out subbed interviews to see how they interact in their own language), but I don’t have the time and energy to pick out the social undercurrents of people whose language I don’t speak or read so no, please don’t ask.