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Re: Personality type and conlangers

From:Stephen DeGrace <stevedegrace@...>
Date:Wednesday, June 5, 2002, 20:06
--- In conlang@y..., "Mike S." <mcslason@A...> wrote:
> Stephen DeGrace <stevedegrace@Y...> wrote:
[...]
> >That's consistent with my own hypothesis. I add a > >couple extra predictions that I'm interested in
seeing
> >how they shape up: > > I also would have guessed that about the N/S divide,
however,
> I wanted to point out that we do have at least one
ISTJ on
> board, interestingly enough.
That _is_ interesting. But one thing I've figured out from working with this stuff for a hobby for a number of years is that you can't make blanket statements about it, although I indeed did make a blanket N/S statement at the very beginning of my involvement in this discussion (and inserted the expectation I would be burned :) ) - and promptly got burned :). All of my predictions should be taken as predictions of tendencies, statistical trends, not rules. I would be very surprised, not to mention rather interested, if any single rule based on type can be spotted that does not include exceptions, especially if we wind up with a decent-sized sample. Human motivations are too complex to simplify this way, although if you're happy with trends and rules of thumb, these typing schemes are fine.
> >- I expect a a bit of a T/F divide in > >loglanging/artlanging (however you want to define
it,
> >who gives a frig, as long as the basic idea gets > >across <g>), with more Thinkers in loglangy things
and
> >more feelers in artlangy things (however, I would
be
> >surprised if this proved to be an iron-clad rule). > > Might I suggest "engelang" as the term to contrast
with artlang?
> :-) BTW I agree with your view on the T/F divide
here. "lablang", for sure :P <weg>
> >- I expect that you get very few _really_ extreme > >introverts or extreme extroverts. Introverts need > >access to the extroverted side and interest in
people
> >and their doings to go about something like this,
but
> >more than that, it's just a hunch I have. I'm on
more
> >solid ground wiuth the extroverts, conlanging is a > >solitary activity requiring concentration for good > >chunks of it, so an extrovert would need strong
access
> >to their introverted side. > > I would not rule out extreme introversion on this
list.
> Extreme introverts are known to become moderately
sociable
> strictly when discussing their deep, but often
highly
> idiosyncratic interests. Extreme extraversion does
seem
> to me unlikely for conlangers however.
I wouldn't rule it out either, but I'm more interested in what sort of trend might show up... I tend to be rather introverted too, but there is something in me that is deeply sociable and drags me out of my cave more than I think is normal for a person as introverted as myself. I'm always getting into interests that involve organising things or interacting with a lot of people, even though that isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world for me (I _am_ rather good at it when I get going tho - at least, my track record is good). I seem to notice something similar in a few folks around here, and I wonder if some collateral effect of the conlanging bug might in a good number of cases mitigate and disturb the normal manifestation of introversion in a manner that encourages the development of the extroverted function - although with such a complex system, it is probably pure convenient fiction to stipulate any particular thing as a "cause" or an "effect"!
> >- I don't know what to make of J/P in all of this,
but
> >I have a feeling that J may be a
loglangy-predisposing
> >factor ("we need a language with RULES dammit!!
What
> >IS this crap our natural language tries to feed
us!?"
> ><G>) and P an artlangy predisposing factor ("oooh, > >pretty!" <g>), so that in this prediction, Thinking > >Judgers would be the most loglangy and Feeling > >Perceivers the most artlangy. > > I am not sure about this. I am a perceiver who is
strongly
> predisposed to loglangs. I think the more likely
distinctions
> will be found in questions such as, how many
conlangs one has
> started but not completed? How much does one revise
his or
> her conlang? Does one stick with one's design
decisions, or
> is there a constant tempation to change one's mind?
We'll see :). You notice I hedged more on this one ;). But the possibility is there, and if it shows up I wants some credit for it b'y <weg>. Stephen ______________________________________________________________________ Movies, Music, Sports, Games! http://entertainment.yahoo.ca