Lately, I've been really interested in personality and how we characterize and categorize it. Sure, we can rely on filler adjectives and characteristics now and then, but someone's personality is subjective. I can think I'm a decent human, but my neighbor probably thinks the worst of me. I won't say anything in one class, but I won't shut up in another. Basically, I'm saying that different people will perceive me how they want depending on whatever scenario we're both in. This is not to say that I'm putting up a front or acting differently just for the sake of it; I adapt parts of myself to the particular environment I'm in so that I'm comfortable.
My personality, thankfully, has changed over the years. I definitely don't want to be the same person that I was when I was, god forbid, twelve or fifteen. That's gross. Weirdly though, some people don't want you to change. Somebody once told me (the world is gonna roll me) that I changed because I was more outgoing which confused the holy heck out of me. Was I not supposed to be? Was I acting any differently? And on the other hand, did what they think of me what really matter? People are strange and our personalities aren't better off.
This got me looking into the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator, otherwise known as the MBTI test. Created by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs, who were influenced by Carl Jung, this test churns out a personality code based on your answers to a hundred or so questions. I avoided this test for a bit because I spent way too long ruminating over a couple of questions—which is probably its own personality type altogether. The test has 16 possible outcomes.
Alright, alright, alright.
A pretty decent cluster of words, am I right? But, people have questioned the validity of it since some have gotten different types even though they took the same test. Maybe it just goes to prove that personality does in fact chance over time. Also, it's hard to be objective about ourselves. My personality type makes me seem like I'm a pretty chill gal with a pair of heart sunglasses at the ready, but maybe that's the best version of me or who I want to aspire to be. I'm sure I'm the most science-y of science people you know, but I'm not here to debunk this. It's just plain fun and it feels like reintroducing yourself to, you know, you.
If you haven't already, you can take the test here and find out your deepest, darkest secrets. Good luck, young Padawan.
P.S. After you find out what your type is, tell your friends all about it because maybe one of them will whip out an article which explains why you run into each other all the time. Insert winky emoji here.
