4 Letters to Understand Yourself Better

Is it fair to say we can take the results of the Jung Typology Test and decide if it is right or wrong? It all depends on how well we know ourselves and how honest we can be with ourselves. I am still discovering many things about me that I didn’t know, but I think that at this point in my life, the results of my test represent me very well. After reading about the different learning styles and writing styles for each type, I was not only able to understand myself better, but also see how I can become the person I would like to be. But for now, I am an ESFJ.     Martin Luther King is also an ESFJ and I am very honored to be the same as him!

Most know me well enough to easily assume I’m an extravert.  As my test results concluded, I am an extravert, but naturally I am a little introverted at times. I really enjoy socializing; even if I am not talking to someone, I like to be around people. But when it comes to learning styles, I found that I am much more introverted. Although I do volunteer to talk during class, I like to do my own independent work, and I usually “need to think about ideas, then write and plan” them out (X1002). The writing styles of an extravert match my writing styles more closely, but when it comes to social settings, I’m definitely extraverted.

I was unsure, at first, whether or not sensing fit me. While answering the questions for the test, I constantly found myself asking whether or not my answers reflected how I truly am or how I want to be. It made me want to take the test twice: one time to answer how I am, and a second to how I want to be. In psychology my professor told us that people become who they are pretending to be. It would be interesting to keep the second test to see if it became more accurate. After reading the learning styles I realized I was definitely the sensing type, but I would love to have more intuition qualities. A lot of the styles listed for intuition are things I just don’t have the ability to do well, such as having a  “high tolerance for theory, reading, verbal fluency, interpreting meaning” and “looking “beneath [the] surface to find hidden meaning” (X1000). Some of these things may not ever be a part of me, but I would love to develop more intuition styles in the future.

When it comes to feeling versus thinking, I’m a feeler. Ever since I was little, I’ve been very sensitive, and I am still very sensitive to this day. Joe Butt explains, “ESFJ’s are easily wounded”, and that describes me very well (Butt). The writing styles of a feeler fit be better than most, and I do tend to “prefer topics that [I] care about” (1009).  David Keirsey said a feeling person “tends to make his emotional reactions more visible”, and this is very true for me (Keirsey 21).

                                                                                             

The last letter is the only one I question. For this test, my type came out to be judging rather than perceiving, yet on the Myers-Briggs test I had perceiving rather than judging. Once again, the learning and writing styles were the most useful information and it helped me understand what type I fit best. Although I agree with my other test in that I am pressure-prompted, I definitely agree with the judging styles for learning, and I prefer structure when it comes to schoolwork.

It is so interesting to read all the different learning and writing styles. It helped me to not only understand but also recognize what styles are the most efficient for me. It might not be fair to say we can label the results of the Jung Typology Test right or wrong, but for me, I can say that the results of this test accurately describe my personality and have helped me to be more understanding and honest with myself.

"GO RIGHT"

At first, Web 2.0 made me feel like I was being taken over by the computer.  It gave me negative feelings, maybe because a lot of it is unknown to me.  I agree that because the web opens up so many new possibilities, students should be learning how to utilize those new boundaries.  After reading Revenge of the Right Brain, however, I lost the desire to learn more about the web. I felt like the video and the information on the brain contradict each other. Daniel Pink explains that the left side of the brain is being replaced by computers, so does that mean in order to tap into the left side of our brains, we need to learn more about computers and the web? If so, the subjects no longer contradict. Maybe the new boundaries of the web are the result from people using the their whole brain to the fullest. One of the most interesting and positive things I’ve learned from the reading is a new appreciation for the web.  Hypermedia “is best adapted to the whole brain”, and because of that we can exceed the boundaries of learning and knowledge (Jerome Bump 8.). So in order to use our brains to the fullest, we must learn to use the web and computers to the fullest.

I liked the way Daniel broke down the different ages: The Industrial Age we used our bodies, the Informational Age we used our minds, but only one side. In the Conceptual Age, we will learn to use the right side of our brains to the fullest. “More people are searching for meaning,” says Pink, and I couldn’t agree more. I think that’s what is sparking the Conceptual Age.  Covey explains the differences between the left and right sides of the brain very well. What stuck out the most to me was that one of the best ways to use the right side is to use you imagination. It also reminded me of something Mr. Pink mentioned: “do something computers can’t do faster”. Every person is so different when it comes to their imagination, and that is something I think people should be very proud of. I recently read a book on DMT by Rick Strassman and it made me think that the reason psychedelic drug research is becoming more popular is because many researches believe that the drugs can stimulate more things that have to do with the right side of the brain such as creativity and no time limits.

            After reading the information about the left and right sides of the brain it made me wonder why the left side has been so strongly pursued. I think a big part of it has to do with what classes were stressed in school: Math, Science, Reading and Writing. Daniel’s idea of the Conceptual Age goes along with what Covey encourages people to do in his book: “Expand your mind. Visualize in rich detail. Involve as many emotions and feeling as possible. Involve as many of senses as you can” (Covey pg 131). I think these ways of thinking will lead to Art classes being taken more seriously, writing and reading classes will stress more of what you feel and imagine than the context. That is how we will no we are in the Conceptual Age.