"The Neuroscience of Personality"

[brucethecollie]

I have studied and enjoyed using the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator since I was a kid. I understand it as a tool for self awareness based on one's "preferences"--the initial way of filtering, consuming and processing information. Each of the differences come with their own pros and cons in different situations. I tend to think it is often misunderstood, as well.

 

I found this video by Dr. Dario Nardi, author of a book on the subject. I just wanted to share and would love to hear feedback, personal comments and opinions: 

 

 

Anecdotally speaking, one of the most useful things for me in my marriage and as a parent has been this personality test. It has helped guide me to understand the differences between myself and my husband and children. When two very different people come together (but ideally and most importantly, hold the same values), there can be a tendency to be almost bewildered by each other. 

 

For example, I am an F where my husband is a T. This doesn't mean I can't make decisions based on logic but without awareness of my strong initial emotional reactions based on the way my brain functions due to genetics, early childhood, experience etc, logical decision making skills can be weak or clouded at times. Generally speaking, I'd say there is more potential for higher intelligence in a strong T versus a strong F. Just my guess.

 

My husband on the other hand naturally applies a logical and more impartial perspective and doesn't have to hesitate or work through a cloud of feelings. I can certainly appear like an blubbering idiot to him while he can sometimes appear very cold and distant to me--this happened more during our first year together. Now I value his way of processing information and he values mine, we just help each other out. He has learned to help me past my initial reactions under stress (which is when I struggle) and supports me to a place more grounded in reality while I show him that some people get to their rational place by first having their feelings acknowledged, particularly children and it is  very useful when communicating with others. 

 

I provide compassion and display empathy more easily than he does. He admires the warmth that brings. It flows out without a thought or without any effort. (I admit this is a negative thing when there is misplaced compassion and empathy--that I don't value and strive to avoid.) 

 

As an example, let's say someone gives us bad news. They say they have some illness. My first reaction is to feel sorry and give compassion and my husband's is to ask if they've thought of this or tried that. Now depending on who gives this news and their personality, they may either respond appreciatively to my quick show of compassion or to my husband's quick jump into practical matters and troubleshooting/problem-solving. It doesn't mean I don't go into problem-solving, it just means my preference is going to be first talking to this person about how they feel and listening to them talk. And my husband can be very compassionate and empathetic but typically as a thoughtful secondary reaction pushed forward through awareness of who he is speaking to and what may first benefit them in that moment. 

 

The 16 combinations of these four preferences create some very distinct differences. 

 

Something very interesting that Dr. Nardi shares in his book (if I recall correctly), is how when using EEG testing on the IN types, the neocortex did something the other types didn't do which is to emit medium-low frequency but very high amplitude waves across all the regions, meaning the brain was in a relaxed but very awake state. These two types are often considered (tentatively by random non professionals) as having the most potential for intelligence of the 16 types. They are capable of intense focus utilizing many parts of the brain which allows them to access information and make connections (kind of like Sherlock Holme's mind palace lol in fact many believe the character to be an INTP or INTJ) leading them to novel or impressive conclusions that often blow people away. These types are often regarded as a little bit psychic due to this piecing together of so many connections and coming up with a conclusion that happens to be true (like a successful solution to a tricky problem) though they often can't explain how it is true until later. 

 

A person who knows thy self is, I think, going to appreciate themselves more as well as appreciate others for the way they are (others who are decent--I'm not speaking of immoral or ridiculous individuals). I think MBTI is useful for many types when it comes to learning about their tendencies--some are just not going to be open or interested in learning about it for perfectly fine reasons (such as many of the types I think gravitate in large numbers to this forum) but may well be extremely good about knowing themselves and communicating well with others anyway. 

 

There is supposedly a spectrum for each type. One could be a strong I or E or maybe smack in the middle of both. As the video demonstrates, different preferences occur as a result of what is happening in the brain and we can train different regions in the neocortex and get more activity out of them. I am a weak P versus a strong P because I have lived 20+ years with an illness that benefits from the structure and routine of a J type. I have effectively practiced changing in a way that will support my health and make it easier to take care of myself by challenging myself to adopt different habits and develop different skills. I have been doing this with my F function. I have been writing science articles as of late and find it has been forcing me to practice my T function, though I still am very much an F. 

 

It is inspiring to me to see the above video because it shows we have control over so much. We can choose to work on tendencies we have and perhaps make them less extreme by developing other areas of our brain that will suppress our exaggerated stimulated responses. 

 

My twins are very much opposites, which I hear is common because growing up the exact same age alongside someone tends to produce exaggerated responses and preferences based on working as a unit or team versus an individual during the first few years of life. I don't talk to my kids about meyers briggs--don't want to while they are so young but I think I know their types and am able to help them strengthen and challenge their weaknesses and acknowledge and continue to develop their strengths with my awareness and encouragement. 

 

Many other people do this with their children and other loved ones. For me, MBTI has been mostly helpful in the organizational sense and in the way it ascribes language to something I could before only intuit. (Intuition being just making connections using different parts of the brain but not exactly being able to pinpoint the source of said gathered information, I don't mean to say in a mystical sense).

 

Anyway, I'm gonna shut up now. As you see I could chat about this forever!