My first college essay
I took this test http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp for my english class, and was asked to write about the resulting personality I was labled and whether or not I agree with it. The following is my first draft. Feedback welcome...
It isn’t everyday you hear that your personality style makes up “one percent of the population”. While I believe a majority of my personality reflects the “Mastermind” rational (iNTj for short) I do stray quite a bit, and I find my weaknesses being very different from those described in the Jung Typology test.
“In a sense, Masterminds approach reality as they would a giant chess board, always seeking strategies that have a high payoff, and always devising contingency plans in case of error or adversity”. Right off the bat, this sentence sums me up nicely. I tend to look at all things, from friendships to the smallest of conversations, as opportunities. In a sense, you never know what will become of what. Every situation could grow or shrink at any moment, and somehow I have subconsciously rooted a sense of providence in all the moments of my life. I view it as a negative because I often interpret people as potential gains or losses as opposed to just people. The Keirsey “Portrait of the Mastermind” described my kind as “seeing reality as a crucible for refining their strategies” and the more I thought on it the more truth I began to see. I never saw myself as a perfectionist, but looking back on work I have done with passion it’s hard to say I wasn’t obsessed. The thought of pouring everything I have into something else, creating my image on another medium, is so immensely attractive. Keirsey also makes mention of Masterminds taking little else but the final product into account, not concerning themselves with small details or personal costs. To me, small details are no different from large details because overlooking either will lead to failure on some level. Personal costs are quite inseparable from the rest when it comes to forming a decision; everything must be taken into account or else it will bite you in the ass. Far from having a set work schedule (or even an ethic, really) I do work when I feel it needs to be done. For instance, this draft has only been complete for about nine hours, and I imagine it’s only been in print and on paper for one. It couldn’t be written at any other time than 2:34am and when I add the final period, it will be perfect.
Perhaps the strongest link between my personality and the “Mastermind” is in my personal life. A Mastermind doesn’t “readily grasp the social rituals” and has little patience and less understanding for small talk and flirtation. In relationships, I approach, I offer, and I wait. Shocking to admit this plan has holes in it, but I come off as one of two (and only two) things: confident, or arrogant. The latter seems to be the more popular opinion, and when I receive comments for being the former I get confused. It isn’t about confidence that she’ll say yes, I just don’t see any point in playing the field; I know who I like, and I go for them. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, sometimes it does. That is my basic philosophy on life, and it’s surprisingly accurate to what Jung predicted.
Outside of my element, which happens quite frequently, I shut down. I people watch, I talk to people who talk to me, and I remain pretty courteous and friendly if approached, but I cannot be outgoing. A true Mastermind would have no problem taking the reins of a situation and making their presence known, but I have trouble even speaking loudly. I operate on my own and tend to force others into making the first move socially. It isn’t something I like to do, of course. It simply is who I am, and I’ve since given up the idea of unnatural change. When I’m ready to be different, I will be start acting differently. At the moment I feel uncomfortable being extrovert, so I act introvert. This is a very elementary way of doing business; it feels right, so it must be right. Contrary to this, I do have an immovable sense of my own morality. I know what I believe and what actions I am capable of and I make no effort to forcefully change either. This isn’t to say I am ignorant of change, quite the opposite. I simply dislike change for change’s sake. If presented with new information it will be taken into account and I will act on it accordingly, but you won’t see me drinking at parties to fit in with friends. You won’t see me voting in an election where no candidate champions my personal interests. I don’t do things just to do them. If I don’t feel like doing it, I don’t do it. Fortunately, I have sense enough to know what things need to be done, and I have an understanding that we live in a world of compromises in which we must all do things we don’t like (paying taxes comes to mind) and in this sense yes, I do seem to contradict myself. However the point I mean to make is that I do not conform or perform without reason. The word conformity is thrown around quite a bit by my generation, and to an extent I believe it is justified. That justification ends with sayings like “down with Bush” by a kid who doesn’t know the facts. It ends with people believing in God and not knowing where their religion came from. Masterminds “simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality”. Well said.
The similarities between the Masterminds and I carry over to our way of “sensing” the world around us. We both savor instead of categorize. We both ponder “why” but do not let it take precedence over “wow”. Everything in this world fascinates me. It fascinates me how cultures grow up in complete isolation from each other yet bare so many resemblances (like speech, clothes, weapons, and war). It fascinates me how human beings are the most powerful creatures in the known universe yet we continue to humble ourselves before an unseen force, be it a deity or not. It fascinates me that people think selfishness is wrong, and selflessness is right. We see both what is and what could be, and while we feel a strong sense of being the Shepard, we tend to let others make their own mistakes and step up to lead only after others have proven their incapability of doing so.
I took one look at the list of famous Masterminds and started trying to tear apart the similarities I share with all of them, but the more I tried to deny the more I found myself in company. Not everything they said my personality does I do. Some of the weaknesses Masterminds have I do not share, and many of my strengths they do not share. However this test remains the most truthful interpretation of my personality to date, and it’s always nice to be told you’re the special “one percent”.
It isn’t everyday you hear that your personality style makes up “one percent of the population”. While I believe a majority of my personality reflects the “Mastermind” rational (iNTj for short) I do stray quite a bit, and I find my weaknesses being very different from those described in the Jung Typology test.
“In a sense, Masterminds approach reality as they would a giant chess board, always seeking strategies that have a high payoff, and always devising contingency plans in case of error or adversity”. Right off the bat, this sentence sums me up nicely. I tend to look at all things, from friendships to the smallest of conversations, as opportunities. In a sense, you never know what will become of what. Every situation could grow or shrink at any moment, and somehow I have subconsciously rooted a sense of providence in all the moments of my life. I view it as a negative because I often interpret people as potential gains or losses as opposed to just people. The Keirsey “Portrait of the Mastermind” described my kind as “seeing reality as a crucible for refining their strategies” and the more I thought on it the more truth I began to see. I never saw myself as a perfectionist, but looking back on work I have done with passion it’s hard to say I wasn’t obsessed. The thought of pouring everything I have into something else, creating my image on another medium, is so immensely attractive. Keirsey also makes mention of Masterminds taking little else but the final product into account, not concerning themselves with small details or personal costs. To me, small details are no different from large details because overlooking either will lead to failure on some level. Personal costs are quite inseparable from the rest when it comes to forming a decision; everything must be taken into account or else it will bite you in the ass. Far from having a set work schedule (or even an ethic, really) I do work when I feel it needs to be done. For instance, this draft has only been complete for about nine hours, and I imagine it’s only been in print and on paper for one. It couldn’t be written at any other time than 2:34am and when I add the final period, it will be perfect.
Perhaps the strongest link between my personality and the “Mastermind” is in my personal life. A Mastermind doesn’t “readily grasp the social rituals” and has little patience and less understanding for small talk and flirtation. In relationships, I approach, I offer, and I wait. Shocking to admit this plan has holes in it, but I come off as one of two (and only two) things: confident, or arrogant. The latter seems to be the more popular opinion, and when I receive comments for being the former I get confused. It isn’t about confidence that she’ll say yes, I just don’t see any point in playing the field; I know who I like, and I go for them. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, sometimes it does. That is my basic philosophy on life, and it’s surprisingly accurate to what Jung predicted.
Outside of my element, which happens quite frequently, I shut down. I people watch, I talk to people who talk to me, and I remain pretty courteous and friendly if approached, but I cannot be outgoing. A true Mastermind would have no problem taking the reins of a situation and making their presence known, but I have trouble even speaking loudly. I operate on my own and tend to force others into making the first move socially. It isn’t something I like to do, of course. It simply is who I am, and I’ve since given up the idea of unnatural change. When I’m ready to be different, I will be start acting differently. At the moment I feel uncomfortable being extrovert, so I act introvert. This is a very elementary way of doing business; it feels right, so it must be right. Contrary to this, I do have an immovable sense of my own morality. I know what I believe and what actions I am capable of and I make no effort to forcefully change either. This isn’t to say I am ignorant of change, quite the opposite. I simply dislike change for change’s sake. If presented with new information it will be taken into account and I will act on it accordingly, but you won’t see me drinking at parties to fit in with friends. You won’t see me voting in an election where no candidate champions my personal interests. I don’t do things just to do them. If I don’t feel like doing it, I don’t do it. Fortunately, I have sense enough to know what things need to be done, and I have an understanding that we live in a world of compromises in which we must all do things we don’t like (paying taxes comes to mind) and in this sense yes, I do seem to contradict myself. However the point I mean to make is that I do not conform or perform without reason. The word conformity is thrown around quite a bit by my generation, and to an extent I believe it is justified. That justification ends with sayings like “down with Bush” by a kid who doesn’t know the facts. It ends with people believing in God and not knowing where their religion came from. Masterminds “simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality”. Well said.
The similarities between the Masterminds and I carry over to our way of “sensing” the world around us. We both savor instead of categorize. We both ponder “why” but do not let it take precedence over “wow”. Everything in this world fascinates me. It fascinates me how cultures grow up in complete isolation from each other yet bare so many resemblances (like speech, clothes, weapons, and war). It fascinates me how human beings are the most powerful creatures in the known universe yet we continue to humble ourselves before an unseen force, be it a deity or not. It fascinates me that people think selfishness is wrong, and selflessness is right. We see both what is and what could be, and while we feel a strong sense of being the Shepard, we tend to let others make their own mistakes and step up to lead only after others have proven their incapability of doing so.
I took one look at the list of famous Masterminds and started trying to tear apart the similarities I share with all of them, but the more I tried to deny the more I found myself in company. Not everything they said my personality does I do. Some of the weaknesses Masterminds have I do not share, and many of my strengths they do not share. However this test remains the most truthful interpretation of my personality to date, and it’s always nice to be told you’re the special “one percent”.