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Epiphany comments on Open Thread, October 1-15, 2012 - Less Wrong Discussion

1 Post author: David_Gerard 01 October 2012 05:54AM

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Comment author: Epiphany 04 October 2012 07:40:49PM 3 points [-]

Personality Type Predictions:

The vast majority are introverts, ballpark 90% introverts.

Most common type: INTJ

NT types > 75% of the population

NF types - a handful or none (possibly more than the next type, possibly less)

ISTJ - a single digit percentage of the LW population

Other guardians and artisans: none or nearly none.

Comment author: Epiphany 30 November 2012 02:04:00AM *  6 points [-]

The survey results are in, so I am updating this:

If you scroll down to "MYERS-BRIGGS" you'll see that there are 436 people in Yvain's selection of results (of greater than 10 people for each type, leaving out a total 3.1% of the survey data). That's what these figures are based on. (The raw data is missing around 10% of the responses due to people wanting anonymity, and the graphic provided to show more detail has some issues so I used Yvain's selection.)

  • Ballpark 90% Introverts: Correct

    371 Introverts (85% of 436)

  • Most common type: INTJ: Correct

    163 INTJs (37% of 436)

  • NT types > 75% of the population: Correct

    371 NTs (85% of 436)

  • NF types - a handful or none (possibly more than ISTJs) : Correct

    51 NFs 436 (12% of 436)

  • ISTJ a single digit percentage of the LW population: Correct

    14 ISTJs (3% of 436)

I wasn't sure exactly how I should interpret the somewhat vague "a handful or none" for NF types, but I see that I used enough numbers to be able to do a literal, mathematical interpretation so I chose that method. I had predicted it was possible that there would be more of them than the ISTJs who I had predicted would be in the single digit percents (implying that 10% or more of them wasn't outside the range) and that there could necessarily be no more than 25% of them because it would contradict the NT prediction, so since they were within the numerical bounds, I interpreted this as correct.

Another interesting thing to note is that each personality type in the top 98% of LW personality types is in the same order as the type list I wrote here. Unfortunately that comment had been previously edited, so whether or not you believe that I did this intentionally will be based on how much you trust me not to lie and what you think the probability is of me having the ability to correctly list the personality types of 98% of the LessWrong population in same order as we'd see on the actual personality test results after having proven to you just now that I can make correct predictions about the Myers-Briggs personality types on LessWrong.

What's really interesting though is that our personality type pattern matches the pattern Mensa discovered when they did a personality type survey, and the pattern that Mensa and LessWrong share is very different from the ordinary personality type statistics. This makes the IQ figures on the yearly surveys more believable.

Comment author: drethelin 04 October 2012 10:47:38PM *  0 points [-]

INTP Introvert(11%) iNtuitive(38%) iNtuitive Thinking(25%) Perceiving(11)% You have slight preference of Introversion over Extraversion (11%) You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (38%) You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (25%) You have slight preference of Perceiving over Judging (11%)

From the below linked test

Also this feels like it can't possibly be that useful since many of the questions have different answers in different situations. If I'm up I love being around crowds, if I'm down I hate being around all but a very few people, etc.

Comment author: satt 05 October 2012 07:47:10PM 0 points [-]

Also this feels like it can't possibly be that useful since many of the questions have different answers in different situations.

Mmm, I noticed this too when I filled out an official MBTI. It probably comes up quite often; I remember the test having an instruction to answer each question with the choice that most often applies to you, even if sometimes it doesn't.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 05 October 2012 08:15:29PM 1 point [-]

I did the exercise once of filling out an MBTI on a five-point scale and calculating weighted sums, rather than a binary scale. My resulting classification didn't change.

Comment author: chaosmosis 04 October 2012 10:33:58PM *  0 points [-]

Another INFP here. NF slight preferences, moderate on the I and P (I wish I was an E, but I'm just not).

Why did you put J in your prediction of the most common type?

Comment author: wedrifid 04 October 2012 07:59:09PM *  0 points [-]

NF types - a handful or none (possibly more than the next type, possibly less)

Here is one. INFP. Fairly consistent across tests, with the "N" and the "P" being close to the extremes.

Comment author: Epiphany 04 October 2012 09:19:35PM 0 points [-]

I would not have guessed that. I wonder if some of your personality dimensions fluctuate or are on the border. For me, the E/I fluctuates and so does the F/T. I'm always an N and P. Are you right on the line between T and F? If this test is the one that I remember (the page changed) then I think it gives you percentages:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

No idea about the accuracy, but it's free.

Comment author: wedrifid 05 October 2012 07:37:21AM *  0 points [-]

I would not have guessed that.

People who know me on lesswrong tend to tell me that I come across very differently in person than I do online. I think they are right although I suspect that my personal interactions with people here (few though they may be) are rather similar to who I interact in person in the 'real world'.

I know from experience that acting like a typical INFP in an online environment where INFP is rare is a recipe for disaster---it just doesn't work. I also find that I am best served by rationing my lesswrong interactions and keeping them balanced by interactions with INFP friends (and lovers). Too much dealing with "Js" just gets tiresome. I actually suspect I'll take another hiatus from here soon and get my intellectual stimulation from the textbooks and papers on my to-read queue for a while.

I wonder if some of your personality dimensions fluctuate or are on the border. For me, the E/I fluctuates and so does the F/T. I'm always an N and P. Are you right on the line between T and F?

I'm very close to the line on T/F, fairly close to the line on E/I.

Comment author: Epiphany 05 October 2012 07:25:52PM 0 points [-]

acting like a typical INFP in an online environment where INFP is rare is a recipe for disaster

Good point. That's likely to make it harder to discover Fs here.

I actually suspect I'll take another hiatus from here soon ...

Aww. ): I hope you'll still talk to me.

Comment author: tut 06 October 2012 07:22:15AM *  -1 points [-]

... INFP ...

This makes INFP sound a lot like Elliezer.

Comment author: ewang 04 October 2012 11:14:50PM 0 points [-]

I've heard that test repeatedly labeled as the "only personality test on the internet that works", but I can't really find many other Myers-Briggs tests.