What It Means To Be A Person, part 2

Continuing my train of thought on my post, "What It Means To Be A Person":

Humanity: It's a curious thing. We were designed with the unique ability to evaluate ourselves. The conscience. Further we are able to choose how we act and react to our surroundings. Free will. We are created in the image of God. With a temporary body and and everlasting soul. Born into a world of corruption with the privilege of accepting God's grace and then given the opportunity to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling". Encouraged to treat those who occupy this earth with us with the same dignity and respect we desire from others.

With all of these intricate tasks before us, giving and receiving with other people, it is essential that we understand our own behavior and the behavior of those around us, in order to live in harmony. That is why so many of us are interested in personality tests and languages of love. We desire communication and connection.

Since I wrote my last post on Myers-Briggs I wrote an article for the newspaper regarding the subject (which won't be published till August). In my research I discovered that there are a lot of people who believe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) isn't as accurate as it should be. It isn't consistent. For example have you ever taken the test a few times in a row only to get different results each time? Also, people don't like the use of dichotomies; that the test allows only for one extreme or another. Introvert. Extrovert. Thinker. Feeler. I agree... generally we are all a mix of two extremes. Anyway, there is are a lot of articles on the web with the opposing arguments if you want to check it out for yourself.

I wouldn't ever recommend putting all of your "trust" in one assessment or test. There are a lot of other personality tests and quizzes out there and you have to take each one with a grain of salt.

BUT... I have noticed, for myself at least, that after enough studying and putting two and two together, a lot of the different personality tests from various perspectives do match up to show the same traits that I demonstrate daily. That I have a particular personality. Here are a few various tests that I think are super cool that I feel match up with Myer-Briggs pretty well:

1. The Color Code

Or another similar test: True Colors
(Explanation here)

2. The 5 Love Languages

Here's one that I keep reading good things about but haven't taken or studied yet:
3. The Big Five

They seem to match well in the end. From the true colors perspective, I was a Blue and Orange tie... for MBTI, I'm and ENFP... my love language is a tie between Quality Time and Encouraging Words.

Each definition of these personality expressions relates well with the others. I'm an outgoing people-person. I like action and spontaneity. I'm a pretty good procrastinator. ...and so-on.

If Myer-Briggs weren't accurate at all then I wouldn't be able to relate so well to the things about my ENFP personality type. Like this hilarious article: Your ENFP Care and Handling Use Guide and Manual
The night before I read it I'd stayed up way too late reading articles on my phone and denying my need for sleep. While reading this "ENFP manual" I was so tired and when I got to the part about making and ENFP go to sleep and taking away any distracting devices I started laughing so hard that I thought I might stop breathing!

Anyway, it's time for me to head to work. This blog post is probably riddled with bad grammar, run-on sentences and other horrors. Frankly, I don't have the time to edit, so please forgive the insanity.