I don’t know what is going on in the MBTI test-administering world, but, Stephen Colbert getting a result of INFP as a personality type is absurd.
First of all, I don’t need the MBTI to tell me what someone’s type is. Did Jung use the MBTI?
Secondly, it is so obvious that Stephen Colbert is not an INFP to anyone that is somewhat versant in Jungian psychological types and a dose of common sense.
Fi dominance? Where might that be? Forget everything else for a moment. Where is the Fi dominance?
Stephen Colbert is basically someone who has made a career (and a brilliant one at that) out of making fun of stuff.
Yes, let’s keep it simple – making fun of stuff. It is quite easy to come sufficiently up to speed on who Stephen Colbert is by going to Wikipedia and viewing a few clips of him on Youtube. There is no great mystery in this personality typing business. People are what they appear to be. They cannot hide their true nature.
So, it should be obvious from viewing a few clips of the Colbert Report, the show that is Colbert’s claim to fame, that he isn’t an INFP.
Why?
Irreverence, mockery, rapier wit, lampooning, lambasting, irony of an epic order, lack of concern for creating social discomfort in his guests, etc.
I don’t know. It is just so obvious that these are not the traits of someone who is driven by Fi. Go look up a few definitions of Fi and it should become clear that these do not match Colbert’s basic agenda.
What is Colbert’s basic agenda?
Well, that’s one of the things right there. He doesn’t seem to have any clear mission except to treat everything with complete ironic detachment. And I mean everything. He seems to very successfully evade any detection of a core and soulful motive. Fi is all about deep and passionate motivations. Colbert lacks that almost totally. He is the antithesis of introverted feeling. No person driven by introverted feeling could have such detached latitude as Colbert is able to effect. And why? Because he doesn’t care that much about any of his subjects.
Colbert exists to mock and satirize whatever he can lay his ironic wit on. This is Ne dominance at work. Or rather, at play. Ne is play.
And it is the dominance by Ne that can afford such an ironic detachment as an ego-orientation. Which means, as a matter of course. Ne dominants take little seriously. All comedy is born of this function.
So, to me it is clear that Colbert is an example of an Ne dominant type. Only an Ne dominant can be that committed to…well, nothing. Which is why they can operate with such brilliance. But, it is not really nothing in the conventional Western sense of a lack of content. It is more that an Ne dominant is making fun of a series of nothingnesses that are posing as somethingnesses.
Or they are examining them using a method of logic like someone like Socrates did. You know, the Socratic method.
Well, that is what I see Colbert doing via the medium of a talk show, in this case, a talk show with a right-wing bent. So, Colbert is basically making fun of the right-wing talk show format via the embodying of that sort of character on his show. On the Colbert show he plays the role of the bold American who stands boldly by good American values, like gun ownership, waving the flag proudly from every height.
Just watch the show to see what I mean. He is mocking rightwing values.
But, if you are particularly subtle, you will notice that he is not championing the opposite side of the fence – leftwing values.
No, basically what Colbert is doing is challenging the leftwing values too. And he is particularly brilliant in this way. He is creating a setup and expectation that because he is mocking the rightwing so obviously, that he must stand on the opposite end of the opposition to that, and be a leftist of some sort.
But, no, he is not. Colbert is no Jon Stewart (which is a compliment).
So, what does he stand for then? What agenda is trying to propagate?
The Socratic process of questioning everything. Taking nothing as a given, nothing as an assumption. What this method generally leads to is a complete ironic detachment for all existence. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is exempt from examination, and by extension, mockery and attack.
But, all usually in a good spirit!
It is exactly because of the lack of introverted feeling (Fi) that a method like this is possible. It is because of Fi that an ENFP will not be perfect in their detachment and will be brought back into the sphere of caring and genuine concern. In short, they are brought back into the realm of attachment.
There is only one type that can be this free of care and concern. To be this indifferent to the results of their inquiries, which are usually undertaken in the most lighthearted manner imaginable. That type is the ENTP. No type is capable of their absolute foolishness, knavery, lies in the service of truth (comedy). Think of the court jester who was the only one who was able to tell the king the truth because he did it by making himself look like the fool. And the king would laugh at this absolute fool.
Look up Stephen Colbert at the White house on Youtube. OMG! Only an ENTP can get away with that type of thing that Colbert did. So brilliant. So impossible to retaliate upon. Because what was he really saying anyway. Picture an INFP doing a similar thing. It’s unthinkable. An INFP can barely speak normally in front of a group of people, much less in the White House, before the world of power, and speak truth to that power in the form of comic jibes. Only an ENTP!
Colbert has a segment on his show called The Word. This is where he makes fun of the way politicians, prominent people, and the general public use certain words. Well, welcome to the world of Ti auxiliary function. George Carlin is renowned for a similar brilliance with simultaneously mocking and making a very poignant commentary on the way we use language to deaden ourselves to the primal realities that lie behind that language. ENTP thing. Humor mixed with brilliant social, political, and linguistic commentary. Bill Hicks is another comedian in this vein. Are these guys INFPs? They are more nearly the antithesis of them if you asks me.
They care by not caring. That is the reciprocal relationship. For Fi, it is more what you would expect. Introverted feeling cares by caring. Duh.
Anyway, that is my little spiel on this latest piece of detritus to come out of the world of Myers-Briggs. It is kind of hard to take this shit seriously when someone like Colbert turns out to be officially an INFP by a professional administer of this test.
That’s the truthiness of the whole matter as me sees it.
Featured Photo Credit: Montclair Film Festival
What do you think John Stewart is? From interviews with Colbert (example- Fresh Air with Terry Gross) I found he comes across as caring and genuine and quite different than the character he portrays on “The Colbert Report”. I found his farewell on the Stewart’s last show to also be filled with heart felt sentiment as he praised Stewart for teaching how to treat other’s in a respectable manner. I’m going off my memory on that- which is lousy- but whatever. It was touching. I cried. Since he got, basically, his start as a correspondent on the Daily Show is it possible he fashioned his Colbert persona on another famous ENTP (Stewart himself, perhaps??). How about ENFJ for Colbert? Maybe a stretch, but I see Fe, possibly Ni and hey, your articles on ENFJ kind of fit too. Just a thought- Lampoon me if you wish. I’m a beginner. INFP- just wrong.
Jon Stewart = not-ENTP.
Blake
Satisfying rendering as always. Slice and dice: that’s the Colbert I’ve enjoyed. Skinned alive and laughing us all the while.
Hewitt
Mwahahahahaha YESSSSSSSS. I saw this 24 hours ago and I ALMOST e-mailed it to you. And then I thought, no.
Wait.
Just.
Wait…
Is there a particular functional stack that makes people more prone to being funny? I’m wondering if that helps explain why many rightwing thinkers are not very funny. (No offense to anyone reading. You know what I mean, though.) Is there something about functions that orients you more toward stability, conservatism, and is that also connected to how funny a type is?
Since humor is often based on saying something unexpected and irreverent, Ne and T seem like they’d be natural functions for expressing it. It probably also depends on which type of humor you like. If you like making fun of people who are not successful, ugly, etc., Se might be better for that type of thing. It isn’t a style of humor I’m attracted to though.
“Is there a particular functional stack that makes people more prone to being funny?”
Yeah, Colbert’s function stack.
Hi Blake. Do you think that Colbert might be hiding his INFP self behind an ENTP persona? I’ve seen videos where he’s being interviewed outside of his shows and the way he acts is the way I act when I’m with people I’m close to, and I loosen up and my Ne comes out more.
“…lack of concern for creating social discomfort in his guests, etc.” I think this would be a concern for me, but maybe he’s just a good actor! or good at playing a role. Anyway, what do you think?
Happy to read another one of your posts.
I meant to ask this! Do you mean ENTP is Colbert’s persona? I suppose all we have to go on is his persona…
No, I mean ENTP is Colbert’s temperament. Colbert as a person, not just as a personality. Colbert ain’t that different from his persona. He just amps it up more when he is on stage. Actors can only act along the continuum of their type.
He is now the host of the late night show (I think it’s called) and he doesn’t use that persona anymore. He even said that he regrets using that persona, or something to that effect in an interview I saw. Either way, I don’t think INFP is likely at all. It would be more believable if he turned out to be an INFJ, because INFJs can at least put on a social mask. INFPs don’t put on social masks or personas as far as I know.(Fe vs Fi) Of course it goes without saying INFJ is just as unlikely as INFP, in my opinion at least
Please excuse me for being a butinski here, but I think that would be a hard thing for an INFP to sustain to the nth degree Cobert does. After all, even though you guys are fabulous actors, impish, and humorous — you tend towards authenticity as often as possible. Truthiness would not suit for long periods of time, because you guys are Shakesperian with a “to thine own self be true” mantra. You know uniquely who that self is and you hold tightly to that value of maintaining integrity about revealing your truth or at least not covering it up with a mask for years on end. Or so it seems to me. You are the expert on you and I am not. I have learned to honor especially the need of an INFPs need for expert status on who they are. To do otherwise does not generally go well in my experience. I know you did not ask me, but felt compelled to say something here. Do correct me if I am wrong. I know you likely will anyway. 😁 Much affection from another Inf type.
Haha yeah, I was stretching it…
Rita, I definitely would not be able to sustain an act like that, unless I could find some truth in it maybe. So what you’re saying applies to me. Thanks for commenting 🙂
“Do you think that Colbert might be hiding his INFP self behind an ENTP persona?”
Look, even when people hide, they hide in a particular way. According to their type. You cannot hide who you are. Not from me anyway. Especially in the case of a celebrity who has wide exposure and many different opportunities to be viewed and studied, seen from different angles, responding to different questions, and so on. Basically, the path narrows and converges on one type over time.
In Colbert’s case, it is pretty clear that he is an ENTP. He is not a particularly subtle case of type, but pretty overt and open and shut. There is no other type that can do what Colbert did on his Colbert Report show. After viewing a single episode of that show, it is pretty clear that he (and not just his persona) is an ENTP. The only other type that might lend itself to consideration would be ENFP. But, Colbert’s brilliant play with words, language, and phrases rules that out (among other things). He has very quick and accurate Ti that he plays with and hits people over the head with and a lightning-like presence of mind. ENFPs don’t have that. ENFPs often make fun of themselves by acting like straight-up buffoons or dumbos. Ashton Kutcher in That Seventies show comes to mind. Actually, Ashton Kutcher in any show and in real life comes to mind. Remember Kramer from Seinfeld played by actor and comedian Michael Richards. He is ENFP type humor. Spasmodic, voluble, dumb, goofy, endearing etc. Robin Williams was an ENFP. Hyperactive, spasmodic, emotionally voluble and prolix. Robert Downey Jr. has a similar thing in many of his movies. And certain interviews. Both ENTP and ENFP can have brilliant spontaneity and ability to extemporize. Improv. Opportunists who can run with a moment and make something interesting out of it. Neither type is particularly beholden to any ideology or ethic. ENFPs will often make a better show of this. While ENTPs will just be perfectly oblivious to it. Their perfect oblivion indicates a sort of innocence whence they escape all harm and retaliation for any of their offenses. Which have no malice whatsoever behind them. They are just playing a game. Like a child.
I think he could be an INFP that has Fi dominance but is very comfortable with engaging his Ne, which might distract from his Fi being noticed, and also why I think there can actually be some confusion between the types, even though they are so different, with older and more mature personalities, especially ones in the public eye or who are following a script. I think watching a bit of this interview might make this seem more plausible: https://youtu.be/lF5tudIqN7w
Here’s a quote from that interview where his is talking about his faith. “ Faith ultimately can’t be argued. Faith has to be felt. And hopefully you can can still feel your faith fully and let your mind a have a logical life of its own, and they do not defy each other, but complement each other. Because logic itself, for me, and Aquinas might say differently, will not lead me to God. But my love of the world and my gratitude toward it will. And, so, hopefully I can use my mind to make my jokes, and not deny my love for God at the same time.” (around 22:30 in the video)
First I want to point out his apparent lack of Fe. He lacks the kind of charisma that ENTPs tend to have. People seem to adore Colbert and his humor, but there’s something hidden there that prevents him from connecting with others in the way that ENTPs do. To me, Robert Downey Jr. is a good example of an ENTP. Colbert is funny, but that doesn’t lend to his having the devilish kind of charisma that RDJ has. It’s like if you were to go up and meet with Colbert, you’d be seeing some kind of facade – which is is the kind of sense people tend to get about INFPs. If you think about it, you’re uncertain whether you know and understand the true person of the INFP. With ENTPs, everything is out on the table, they are easy to read, what you see is what you get. with INFPs who are lost in their introverted feeling, you see someone who is hiding their deep convictions and values, something you may never get to connect with. But with INFPs who engage their Ne, their true nature is concealed even more because it is being masked by that kind of extraverted, playful, brainstorming quality.
Colbert’s ability to use his Ne in the way that he does on his show probably comes from his being secure in his deeply-held values and what he believes in. From this foundation, he is able to more objectively take interest in other facets of life which he does not perceive to be threatening to his values. In this way, he is able to be playful, witty, and detached – this quality is seemingly amplified more in our perceptions of him because of the brilliant and witty writing that is featured on his programs. In addition, the character that he plays on the Report was one that was very well-thought out by himself and a team of other writers and producers, all to give the kind of witty, Ne dominance effect that we end up seeing on his show. One that was meant to deliberately challenge all kinds of opinions, ideologies, and the views of his guests on his show.
I feel like an ENTPs manner of approaching a show like the Report would not look or function like the Report at all. I don’t think ENTPs would be satisfied with simply mocking or finding the irony in things for the sake of a show. I think because they tend to be intellectually-driven, they are seeking to voice their opinions and reasonings and debate them with others. They wouldn’t be hosting talk-shows where they simply follow a script to get points across to an audience. They would seek out an environment where they can engage with people – something INFPs tend not to do, either because they don’t truly care about the subject matter (meaning it’s not a matter of their foundational, Fi concerns) and therefore do not care much to truly debate it with others, or because they hold the subject matter very dearly to them and they avoid situations that threaten those. Anyway, mature INFPs are very independent about the conclusions they reach and the beliefs they hold, they don’t feel a need to have them analyzed by an exterior party for validation.
Colbert does not address those issues that he holds dearly, which enables him to exert Ne in the political and cultural topics that are featured in his shows. Something Colbert appears to have personal conviction in is his faith. While he does make fun of some of the elements of Catholicism, he is not challenging it. I think in the interview I linked, his Fi is apparent. I think you can see how deeply he cares about his faith, until he switches back to Ne in almost a defensive tactic (something I can relate to at least, and it makes sense that he would do this as this is a public, taped, conversation with someone he doesn’t know). Also, I’m not saying ENTPs don’t have their own issues that they care deeply about, I’m saying that they wouldn’t express it in the way the Colbert does in this interview. He handles the topic as if it’s a sensitive situation. I think ENTPs would be more open about it, for lack of a better word, and not have the kind of hesitation and contemplation that Colbert appears to have – there’s a lot of checking in with internal values that I’m picking up on in this segment of the interview.
Finally, I want to speak to Ti vs. Te and I can explain it by again comparing RDJ and Colbert. They can appear so similar because of their Ne but I think the Ti causes big differences. RDJ has a very independent way of reasoning that gives him a kind of flippant, almost superior vibe, where it could be imagined that he values his internal reasoning over any other kind. This is for sure a huge trait of the character featured on the Report, but it’s a mockery of the function, not a true representation. I’d say Colbert uses Te, which I’d say is evident in the interview. He has a very factual, scientific reasoning process, that less forceful and individualistic than an ENTP’s would be. In this way, INFPs and Colbert appear more cool and more reserved in their reasoning.
I know that there is something to be said for stereotypes of the types and how there are common themes featured in members of each type, but I think that the stereotypes are there they are just manifesting in a different way: in a healthy, mature, individual and one in the public eye. The ENTP description you’ve written here is so on point if he was more like the character on the Colbert Report, and I understand what you mean when you say that he must be acting in the continuum of his type, but I don’t see much of that Report character in the interview I linked, where he seems to be coming from a more genuine place.
Anyway, I’m still not totally convinced he’s an INFP, I just wanted to see if I could make the point that it may not be so absurd that he might be one. Also, I have a pretty elementary understanding of the cognitive functions so I understand that I may be off base here… but I tried in the hopes that some of my thinking is acceptable. This post is grossly long.
Look Jordan, you are way off base in my book. It is basically absurd to type Colbert as an INFP. If Colbert is an INFP than I don’t know what an INFP is. I have no continuum. We don’t have to go reaching around for evidence of Colbert’s Fi. You could do that sort of thing with anyone. If you want to see something it will be there. Everyone has Fi just as everyone has a nose on their face. Some people have big noses. Some people have small noses. But, everyone has a nose. Same with the functions. Does Colbert have Fi dominance? If you think he is driven by Fi, then, either you don’t understand what Fi is, or you are looking for evidence of something based on an official result. I think you understand what Fi is more or less, but, many people will start to see whatever they are told to see based on some authoritative thing like a test result. This is likely to be the difference between taking one’s cues from judgment or perception.
I don’t care what a person’s test result on the MBTI is, which is not to say that it is likely to be wrong, though, often enough it seems to be. But, who can be the final authority on this? No one.
As a matter of common sense and the general descriptions of Fi and INFPs, I say it is absurd that Colbert would be an instance of this type. And I don’t have to go hunting around for reasons why. It is obvious to my common sense that he isn’t an Fi dominant.
Another thing – people that play characters in movies or shows does not present some big mystery or obfuscation to sussing out their type. It actually aids in it. It is a fallacy to think that an actor can sustain over long periods of time functions at which they are not naturally adept. An INFP, for example, simply could not do what Colbert does on his shows or even in this interview with the Myers-Briggs lady that I included in this article. That clip alone would suffice to rule out INFP. Actors are generally successful and known for the functions that they are strongest in. Colbert is successful for being anti-Fi. That is a large part of his success. So, it is absurd and counterintuitive to think that maybe that is just a mask over the real Stephen Colbert. No, the real Stephen Colbert has been largely visible the whole time. He is what he appears to be. I’m pretty certain that he is guy who doesn’t have large identity conflicts or care that much about who the flippin hell he is. He makes a blatant mockery of the whole proceeds. And he is always doing that continually. That’s his shtick. And he is extremely good at it, extremely extemporaneous. I’m certain that his responses in this video were mostly unscripted. If they aren’t, then they sure have the feel of fresh and spontaneous responses. You can see it in the MBTI women’s face even though she is doing her damnest to maintain her composure (she does a pretty good job). Man, INFPs don’t do that at all. And they couldn’t even if they wanted to. Their Ne is all in the context of their Fi. And Fi is emphatically not funny. Or glib. Or jesting. Or quipping and dipping.
RDJ is an ENFP in my book so to compare him to Colbert in an ENTP/INFP matchup doesn’t work.
Blake, thanks for reading my long post and responding. Yeah I was basically just trying to find ways to make the INFP typing work for him somehow 🙂
Thank you, Blake. I can breathe a sigh of relief that I am not altogether without insight and sense (something I usually pride myself that I possess). I was seriously considering that the whole world must have flipped on its axis during the blood moon but somehow I missed changing my glasses to view the new rules and world properly now that everything was upended. Or I thought I must have missed drinking the juice that was necessary to embrace the new perspective. I wondered was I suddenly clueless when I checked some MBTI discussions on the matter and so many people seemed convinced that Colbert’s result was right and said they knew ENTP was not right all along . Really???!
I am grateful that I am not alone in calling that MBTI result nonsense. I am proud to say that DNA testing reveals that I share some genetic link with Stephen Colbert and some other smart ENxx types, but I knew that I do not share that kind of showy brilliance as an INFJ. Not that there is anything wrong with that! 😉 I just knew we did not share any INFishness at all. I probably paid more attention to him because of the DNA share than I otherwise would have, but not by a lot because I had already been certain he was an ENTP and was already very drawn to his original perspectives and humor (ENTPs always are irritatingly delightful to me and I am particularly drawn to them of all types, so I was pretty darn sure!). I was in such doubt that I was very gladly ready to defer to you in this matter because 1.I know you are more studied in these matters and 2. more than usual I was doubting my perspective, understanding, and discernment. Either we are both out to lunch together ….or Blake, is it possible the blood moon turned everyone else upside down? Lol! Truly grateful. As always, I love your writing and insights on all matters type.
Now, please share your thoughts on Jon Stewart. I have crushed on him for years. I figured he was an ENTP type too, but one who ups the charm by turning on some Fe. Btw, I think Colbert turned on the Fe with his sincere share of honest gratitude and sincere bald appreciation of Jon Stewart during his last show. I have on rare occasions observed my ENTP husband look like that too, so I am not sure that is enough argument for being a feeler. After all, even the knavish ENTP has some sincere feely moments – otherwise, INFJs would not get tangled in that much mess! 😉 We often do though.
Again thanks, Blake. Sincerest likes for your site and insights.
I don’t think Stewart is an ENTP. I know that he kind of resembles one but I see much more genuine feeling him, which makes him more endearing, but, less profound and truly removed. The very non-ENTP error he made is that he cares.
Yes, the blood moon. During Mercury retrograde no less. Everything has gone all topsy-turvy. MBTI discussions have gotten that much more absurd. MBTI discussions which I don’t participate in but observe from a rather calm and unperturbed distance. To do anything but is sheer folly. One person’s ENTP is another’s ESFJ. Can’t have rational discussions with those kind of disparities in semantics.
Blake, I think you are taking it to far: it’s not true that Entps “don’t care”. Often we care, but we forget that we care, or we don’t care and we forget, in the heat of the moment, that we don’t really care. True, a certain ironic detachment is the zero point, the default mode: but nobody lives all the time in the default mode. On the contrary, especially extoverts are prone to get lost in the world of objects and interests, forgetting that “the true self” is somewhere else. For the Entp, i would say, this “true place of the self” is located somewhere at the edge of the universe, observing and thinking about everything that is. But preciselx because of that, it seems to me, there is a strong desire to be in the midst of things, to be engaged in a collective project/idea etc. I haven’t figured that out yet, maybe it has to do with that Te id that you mentioned, but I see in many famous Entps (esp thinkers): Machiavelli, Žižek, Tocqueville, Ben Franklin (if they are indeed Entps) > there is sth in the Entp that makes us want to be socially/politically relevant (which tends to end up badly, for the ovious reasons: but maybe comedy is, for some, the perfect medium to have the cake & eat it > you can mock everyhing, yet still be considered a champion of a cause, set of ideas etc. In that sense I disagree: in my view, Stewart is quite typically entp-ish here … of course, on top of that, in the US one is supposed to “speak from the heart” from time to time, “show that he cares” and similar sentimehtalisms: but this is a convention that one learns as every oher convention)
Alright! Alright! ENTPs do care. Fuck. OK.
But, ENFPs don’t.
Happy?
ENFPs care, too 🙂
I liked Colbert when I thought the Republicans were the root of all evil in the world. My political conceptions have advanced beyond that false dichotomy presented by Stewart and Colbert which presents both sides as intractable and irreconcilable. The real role these buffoons play is to convince the world that there is no alternative to the two big business parties. Every time I see these two crack jokes that promote illusions in the corporate “left” by making them seem fundamentally different from the barbaric right my Fi hammers me over the head and I feel like I’m gonna pass out.
Yeah, I hear you.
But, politics aside, Colbert strikes me as an opportunist. I don’t think he truly sides with either left or right and just finds himself in a position to take advantage of the dichotomy. Well, maybe he didn’t just find himself in that position. I’m sure he is very ambitious. But, there is something about ENTPs that holds no allegiance to much of anything. They just like to play around with systems and dualities, play them off against each other. Ruffle feathers. Needle people. Be contrarians. And of course, make money. ENTPs love money. They are like pirates who enjoy making nonsense conquests and bringing in the loot.
The point I was trying to emphasize about ENTP is that their lack of deep care is a sort of grace which enables them to not to get snagged in the snares of Fi sincerity. The world is an asylum and ENTP makes it into a three-ring circus. That’s how I see Colbert. I don’t think he is trying to do much of anything besides celebrate the absurdities of the world. He doesn’t care about left or right that much. He just used the rightwing persona as an opportunity to ascend to celebrity on the wake of an overpolarized opposition. He is making fun of lefties in a much more subtle and profound way. Stewart, for example, is much less subtle and profound. As a matter of fact, he isn’t subtle at all. With Colbert I am never sure quite what he is doing. And I like that. ENTPs are relatively innocent creatures who are beyond dualisms in many ways. Because they are beyond them they can see them clearly and play with them. And boy, do they have a field day with them! Love it.
Side note: George Carlin is an INFJ. The guy was a lone wolf. No way a guy who say he finally allowed himself to have a “best friend” after age 50 is an extravert. George often made fun of how we use words (i.e., euphemisms), but I see that more as tertiary Ti. He also used Ti to make fun of Fe, his auxiliary. He described himself as a writer who performed his own material after memorizing it verbatim. He never improvised. ENTP’s improvise. INFJ’s write.
I think a lot of stand up comedians are INFJ’s, but never the Robin Williams/Jonathan Winters typed.
“No way a guy who say he finally allowed himself to have a “best friend” after age 50 is an extravert.”
According to who are what? Why does an extravert have to have a best friend before 50? If anything, I think introverts are more inclined to have best friends. They are more selective and sifting. Extraverts, especially ENTPs and ENTJs will often have little close friendships, especially ones that are evaluated according to things like “favorite” or “best” friend. Extraverts are likely to run in wider circles than introvert, but probaly less likely to value anyone of those contacts, friends, aquaintances as their bestest and most favorite bosom buddy. ENTJs can often alienate everyone in their life by their narcissistic behavior. They are one of the types least likely to have any close friends. Maybe close subjects. ENTPs are softer and more friendly, but, Fi is out to lunch in most of them and that seems to be the function that has the most to do with loyalty, trust, and accorded status in more intimate relationships.
“George often made fun of how we use words (i.e., euphemisms), but I see that more as tertiary Ti.”
OK, so you see that as tertiary Ti. What kind of an argument is that? The right argument to make would be to state why you think that Carlin is exhibiting tertiary Ti rather than auxiliary Ti. What are the differences between Ti in these two positions and instances where Carlin is showing this particular usage of Ti?
“He also used Ti to make fun of Fe, his auxiliary.”
O really? When did he do that? I just see your statement that claims that. Make a case for it. Provide evidence and sustained arguments.
“He described himself as a writer who performed his own material after memorizing it verbatim. He never improvised. ENTP’s improvise. INFJ’s write.”
He never improvised? You know how hard that is to believe. Yes, I don’t think he came up with his whole act while he was performing it. But, at any rate, he gives the feeling of someone who is improvising, which is a form of improvisation. A feeling of a freshness. I know he was a writer. Many standup comedians are. They write their own material, or at least, a great deal of it. ENTPs are fully capable of writing funny shit, often in the nature of funny observations about the shit that goes down in this work-a-day world of ours.
So, to make this rather overly staunch dichotomy that ENTPs improvise and INFJs write smacks of a false dichotomy. I think many ENTPs write Ne type stuff, which is often in the nature of a reaction to Si type stuff – nothingnesses posing as somethingnesses. Things that happened, things that went down, the facets of everyday thing and events that are taken for granted. Same with the common usages of language. Ti in an Ne context is par excellence for pointing out the absurdities of the ways we use language or the way language has drifted off its original definitions. INFJs aren’t as able to point this out in simple and refreshing way because of the implications of the insularity of NiTi.
“I think a lot of stand up comedians are INFJ’s, but never the Robin Williams/Jonathan Winters typed.”
I think Jon Stewart is an INFJ. As I said, he doesn’t have that absolute remove that someone like Colbert has, that lack of care. Carlin didn’t give a fuck either, especially the older he got. He also got proportionately funnier the older he got. So, there is some correlation between not caring and humor. When you care too much about what you are pointing out, commenting on, there is an inevitable pulling of one’s punch. This is also related to the relative degree of flawless comic timing. If you don’t care, aren’t attached, you are inevitably funnier, lighter, and more in the nature of thoughtless laughter.
Ah, to truly see things from a great distance and height. To not be involved in it in a near-term sense. INFJs aren’t of this ilk. They are down in it like a motherfucker. It destroys their comic sensibilities. Which is not to say that INFJs can’t be comedians. Like I said, I think Jon Stewart is an instance of INFJ as a comedian. He always has a feel of a near-term endearment. And he is very popular I think because of Fe in auxiliary position, which means as a personality emanation. I think he is likable and innately sincere and caring. I think he is successful more for this reason. I think women instinctively like a sort of intimacy and casualness that he puts across, like you were having a chat with him about absurdities of political life in his bedroom or on a sofa or something. Women like INFJ men instinctively. ISFJ men too. Fe auxiliary thing. Charming, soft, and fluid. Responsive and receptive to feminine concerns.
Carlin is in a whole different sphere. Many ENTPs are instinctively misogynistic, or at least, highly insensitive to women’s concerns. They use Fe in animistic overdrive, like a smile pasted on a cardboard cutout character. A cartoon Fe. A highly glib Fe. Fe as a joke really. Salesman Fe. Over-the-top, circus grin Fe. One doesn’t get the feel of it used as a normative personality emanation in ENTPs. However, it is great for stage performance, especially comedic in nature, where expressions and affects have to be writ large, especially for comedic effect. Other types that use Fe more like this are ENFJs and ENFPs. So extraverts.
I think an ENTP would more likely make fun of Fe. They use it rather glibly and completely insincerely in most cases. INFJs, quite the opposite, use Fe in a mostly sincere way. They kind of redeem Fe from its supposed lack of sincerity and make it sort of a thing-in-itself, a sort of graciousness of expression. ENTPs, the opposite. They ramp up the insincerity of Fe, often, to great comedic effect. Colbert, for example, is doing this pretty much every second of his existence on camera.
Also, ENTPs can be loners. An extravert orientation doesn’t mean that you will have many friends. That’s a misnomer. Extraversion means having object-orientation, being orientated by the objective. I think ENTPs can be quite social but at the end of the day, have very few true friends.
Talking about ENTP writers, do you think that Kurt Vonnegut could be one?
Friendly ENTP commentator Luka might answer this one. I think there is a good chance the Vonnegut is a NF type. Maybe ENFP. Maybe even INFJ. Um, yeah, those would be the two choices for NF types. I have no other types that I think he might be besides possibly an ENTP. ENFPs and INFJs can be mistaken for ENTPs in many cases.
Luka, you want to chime in?
I must admit I haven’t read Vonnegut, alas
but I can comfirm Blake’s observation about ENTPs
Blake, I appreciate the time you put into your reply. I agree with the particulars you point out with regard to ENTP’s and INFJ’s. Yet, we disagree when it comes to typing Carlin. Obviously, we’re seeing different things. I have watched everything he has done since 1992, read his autobiography and watched several interviews. I maintain: no way he is an ENTP.
I’ll get to the specifics that you raise, but for right now, let’s go to the heart of the matter. INFJ’s have skin in the game (INFJ’s “are down in it like a motherfucker” to quote you). I agree. ENTP’s, such as Colbert, are all about “complete ironic detachment” and that is the antithesis of INFJ passion. Again, I agree.
Carlin described himself as having no rooting interest in the human race, but in interview he agreed that this was something like Buddhist lack of attachment, and he agreed that he was a frustrated idealist. Buddhist lack of attachment vs. ironic detachment. Very different things. Who is more likely to be unattached in the spiritual sense, an INFJ or an ENTP? Who is more likely to describe themselves as a frustrated idealist?
I see Carlin’s righteous anger, which really came to the fore in the early 90’s (and that he described as finding his voice), as evidence of his passion and lack of ironic detachment. How often have you seen Colbert act righteously burn-the-house-down pissed at the state of human affairs?
It is a pleasant coincidence that you brought up Jon Stewart. See this link for Stewart’s interview of Carlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8rzazty3V8
Carlin told Stewart that he wanted “attention, approval, admiration, approbation and applause”. Sound’s like Fe to me (as in INFJ). Check out Carlin’s benediction of Stewart at the very end: “It’s been great to know you a little, and you’re going to show us a lot”. Pure Auxiliary Fe from an INFJ master to an up and coming apprentice.
Briefly addressing your specific comments:
Lack of close friends. I say again, Carlin was a lone wolf. He didn’t hang around anyone other than first degree family members: brother, wife, daughter. You describe extraverts vs. introverts in the abstract, but the fact is that extraverts typically need people in far more quantity than introverts.
Language and Ti. I wasn’t using this as an example of what Ti tertiary looks like, just an example of Ti. I think the difference between Ti auxiliary and Ti tertiary lies in the fact that INFJ’s have to earn their Ti since it’s opposite their auxiliary Fe. Carlin started out wanting conventional stand up success – The Tonight Show, nightclubs, etc. In the late 60’s, he began the long process of finding his voice, and he switched audiences from businessmen to college students. He did so knowing that he might wreck his career. He went counter culture. Some may see that an Ne, as in ENTP, but Carlin didn’t start out that way. It came after he had conventional success. It came, at least when he first changed direction, at the expense of conventional success. It was a right of passage, an initiation. He had to earn it.
So, I disagree with those who think tertiary is a temptation. I think getting really good at tertiary is what separates the men from the boys. I have lot’s more to say on that subject, but this reply will go on way to long if I do.
Making fun of Fe. Maybe I should have said offends Fe sensibilities. Ti in tertiary can manifest this way. It takes some maturity and guts for INFJ’s (and ISFJ’s) to go against the grain of all the Fe ego support structures they have built. I don’t think a card carrying ENTP would experience any guilt by offending social sensibilities. The dominant/auxiliary Ne/Ti don’t offer ENTP’s any built in resistance to using their Ti in a way that offends. INFJ’s have that in-born resistence: Fe auxiliary.
Here are the examples you requested:
1. “List of people who ought to be killed”;
2. “Fuck Mickey Mouse. Fuck Mickey Mouse in the asshole with a big rubber dick then break it off and beat him with the rest of it.”
3. “Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man… living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer and burn and scream until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money.”
There are lots more: http://jamesaquilone.com/101-greatest-george-carlin-quotes/
ENTP’s improvise/INFJ’s write. I didn’t mean to exclude the opposites, but INFJ’s are far more apt to be great writers than verbal improvisors. And Carlin never improvised while performing. He wrote, memorized and performed. ENTP’s are so bright, fast and witty, I think they are at their best when improvising. So are ENFP’s. Wouldn’t you agree that between the two, INFJ’s are far more apt to be the better writer and ENTP’s the better verbal improvisor?
In sum, Carlin has far more of that wisdom/sage/INFJ (Ni search for meaning) thing going on than Colbert (who’s got the most clever guy in the room thing).
OK, let’s try a simpler way to approach this. Name me off as many ENTPs and INFJs you can think of and then I will see if we are even talking about the same thing. There is MB theory, MB descriptive, and MB attributive.
I think we agree on theory and description more or less. But, something is going haywire at the attributive level. This is quite common in these type of discussions but it is also where the rubber meets the road in a sense. It is the proving ground for who is truly on the same page.
So, establish me a continuum of type by naming off as many famous instances of the aforementioned types into their respective lists.
I mean, I basically agree with what you are saying and can see how you would arrive there, but, still, at the end of the day, Carlin ain’t an INFJ to me no matter how much describing or referencing of him you do. I have seen all the stuff you linked to before but it doesn’t change my mind. It actually reinforces my typing of him as ENTP.
For example, it is obvious to me that Stewart and Carlin are not the same type. But, to you, that interview is proof that they are. If anything, that interview is evidence that indicates to me that they aren’t. In other words, I can’t see a continuum in the attributive forming. Stewart and Carlin aren’t on the same continuum of type.
But, for example I could see Carlin as similar to Robert Anton Wilson and Bill Hicks. Or Socrates. Or David Foster Wallace. Or Richard Feynman. All irreverent, jesting geniuses with extremely wide fields of expression.
Jon Stewart?
Surely Mr. Red Man you must be joking?
Red Man?
Is that name a combination of Red Herring and Straw Man fallacies. Hmmm…interesting. Ha!
Speaking of ENTPs, did anyone see the interview of Amy Schumer with Jon Stewart?
She was so brillant at one point she asked jon ‘do you want me to talk slower?’.
Haha!
Jon asked her about some dramatic event that happened while she was making her last movie. I swear she was trying so hard to ‘care’ and not make fun of it. Gotta love those ENTPs!
He’s an INFP. His character is just a persona. These people have been on to him since 2009: http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/popular-culture-and-type/20158-stephen-colbert.html
Um, I see mostly INFP and ENFP. I could concede to ENFP. Fi dominance is out of the question for me.
“An Ne dominant is making fun of a series of nothingnesses that are posing as somethingnesses.”
Well said!
p. s. Colbert doesn’t strike me as an Entp. I’m not a fan of his, so I can’t really tell (since I haven’t paid much attention), but he seems to lack the spontaneity that comes with dominant Ne. His jokes seem to be made up in advance, carefully crafted, but not as hyperbolic as you would expect from a dominant Ne, especially if his job is making wild associations. Stewart defenitely: with Colbert, I’m not convinced he’s an Entp.
Any clue about Louis C. K.’s type?
This shit is getting wild! I love it. So, you disagree about the Ne dominance because you perceive Colbert as lacking spontaneity. Now, I could see him not being an ENTP and being an ENFP, but, I see Ne dominance. Maybe not Ti auxiliary. Maybe some of the brilliant wordplay he exhibited on Colbert Report was crafted by his writers. But, I do see Ne dominance. In the video I included in the article his responses to MB lady seem unscripted, and whether they are or not, to me, they feel that way. So, can’t agree with you there.
But, he may not be an ENTP. However, I cannot concede that he is Fi dominant. Maybe he is Oscar Wilde-type ENFP. Yeah, that does make sense I guess. Ne dominance does seem to have some Ti built in to it. Ne is to the objective what Ti is to the subjective. ENFPs have fooled me before into me thinking them ENTPs. But, INFPs, never.
A similar thing often happens between INFJ and INTJ.
The main thing about Colbert is that he seems to have Ne dominance and there is no way he is Fi dominant. I guess he could have aux. Fi, which he bypasses for tertiary Te in the making of his over-the-top Te rightwing type character on Colbert Report. Yes, actually, that makes sense – hyperbolic Te. Hmmm…
Yes! That is probaly it. It must be. That is why some people think it is plausible that he could be an INFP. That is common too – the introvert or extravert of the same class being a controversy. But, INFP and ENTP being confused for each other…don’t think I have ever seen that.
I am going to trust your good instincts as an indisputable ENTP yourself and allow that Colbert is an ENFP.
But, I’ll never go to INFP for him. Never! I will walk away from this whole business if that somehow turned out to be indisputably true.
That aside, what do you think about Carlin? ENTP? Something else? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Also, someone else in the comments on this article is asking what I think about Kurt Vonnegut as a potential ENTP. Maybe you could find that comment and respond if you have a strong feeling about it. If you care enough 🙂
O, and Louis C.K.’s type. Ready for this peoples of the world? Drum roll please…*imagining drum roll*…
Louis C.K. is a …OK, I’m ready for the flames…
Louis C.K. is a…
an ISFJ.
There, I said it. I feel so much better. A weight has been lifted.
Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!
you always go for ISFJ whenever a type is disputed or unclear 🙂
Carlin strikes me as an ENTP yes
The reason it seems that way (about ISFJs) is because they are an underassigned type. It has to do with the assumption that if someone is great or famous they must be an intuitive and definitely cannot be an SJ class type. But, I think people would be surprised – ISFJs are not just some chicken-soup mother hens who never enter into celebrity or greatness. As a matter of fact, I think many of the most resonant and popular comedians (and comediennes – Joan Rivers) songwriters, and especially popular sitcom-type writers are ISFJs. Seinfeld was one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were the co-creators of that show. I would type both of them as ISFJ types.
Paul McCartney? One of the most prolific and popular pop songwriters of the 20th century. C’mon, isn’t it obvious the guy is not an intuitive? Just look at the stuff he writes about. It’s all Si encoded in Fe auxiliary pop genius.
Many ISFJs are pop geniuses. They have an extraordinary ability to take the sentiments of the common man (and woman) and make them entertaining and appealing. To even the intuitives! And introverted intuitives at that. Well, maybe not INTJs.
And they have an advantage over INFJs – they can eclipse themselves in a performance. ISFJs are all over the artistic world. Hollywood was built by people like them. They are often behind the scenes but when they do take center stage it is often as a character with an incredible humility and lack of ego. Like Louis C.K. He is such a beautiful example of ISFJ genius. Which is a genius of the personal and the everyman. What are the themes of Louis C.K.? Well, mostly he rode to fame on his incredible honesty about how he felt about married life with children + what a fat faggoty piece of shit he is. And he elevates these themes to an incredible poignancy, and counterintuitively, a dignification of himself as a representation of the common, everyday sort of guy. Also, Fi id is in there bigtime with Louie. This is the ISFJ version of tearing themselves to shit, reaching epic levels of self-hatred and other-hatred. The INFJ corollary to this Fi id in its sharpest pitch would be Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky.
Louis C.K. is the Dostoevsky for the masses. For the everyday person. He is fucking brilliant too. One of the best comedians I have ever seen.
ISFJs are often typed as ENTPs, because they echo that type and I have also seen INFJ a lot because they look-alike superficially. For example, Seinfeld and Jon Stewart present a similar first impression in their stand-up comedy vibe. A similar Fe persona thing. But, the themes of each are radically different. And as I said, the Fi id is the same (well, similar) in ISFJ and INFJ. It basically equals the ability to reveal the depths of of some mighty floor-flushing and societally taboo feelings (such as C.K. wanting to kick his baby out the window). No one can tear themselves apart into the depths of self-hatred like an INFJ or ISFJ. C.K.’s stand-up is basically an exhibition and confession of his id impulses. And he redeems and makes it palatable via Fe aux. Fi on its own = no laughter.
ISFJs are all over the place if you look. They like to hide though. They generally do not like being the center of attention.
Obama?
O, yes.
Obama is like a study in the genius of ISFJ.
Also, ISFJs are counting on you underestimating them. Suits them fine. Lets them carry on in their favorite mode.
I don’t think Colbert or the person who typed him actually believe him to be an INFP. The moment I saw the title with “Stephan Colbert” and “INFP” in one line, my first thought was that it was a joke. After watching the video, I was more convinced of it. I think it’s pretty obvious he’s an ENTP and I still can’t get my head around how people actually take his INFP “typing” seriously (there were even some people on the video high-fiving him for being a “fellow INFP”). The answers Colbert was giving in the “test” as well as the interaction between him and the person typing him gives away that it was all for good humour (maybe mocking the people who can’t figure out his personality). I think they chose INFP on purpose because it’s one of the types that is so obviously the opposite of ENTP, whereas if they had chosen something more like the character he shows on the show, I think it would’ve been more ambiguous and therefore more likely to be seriously considered. To me, the whole video seemed like it was just meant for fun.
Blake,
Yes, this is an attributive problem, and it’s not all that interesting to be frank. My original comment was a “side note” precisely because we agree on the theory.
Listing off names probably won’t get us far – too much potential to disagree until the end of time if we are not seeing the same thing. We really don’t want to have to read, watch, listen to and research the other guy’s list in the likely event that we’re not already well-versed. To illustrate, my first impression is that I do agree with your typing of Wallace, Socrates and Hicks, but I’m only confident about typing Socrates. Don’t know the other guys well enough.
How about this: with regard to Ni/Fe in INFJ’s, sometime ago I saw a similarity between Pluto, both astrologically and archetypally (as in Hades & Persephone), and Ni. Venus goes with Fe.
As to ENTP’s, Ne = Jupiter and Ti = Uranus.
INFJ = Pluto/Venus
ENTP = Jupiter/Uranus
I see the Uranian vibe in both Carlin and Colbert (I’m guessing that’s exactly what you are seeing), but I only see the Plutonian vibe in Carlin. Carlin has Ti tertiary and Cobert has Ti auxiliary, which explains the Uranian thing. Carlin has dominant Ni and Colbert doesn’t have Ni at all, so no Pluto, no darkness, no depth.
C’mon Mr. Red Man! Who do you think is an ENTP? Who do you think is an INFJ? 10 of each if you can.
I don’t have time to get into an NiTi loop with you. Not interested.
Show thy attributions!
O, here we go. Carlin reveals an important secret of his success in life –“It’s important not to give a shit”.
He’s an angry ENTP. That can happen. If anything, I see some of the harshness of the xNTJ or xSTJ temperament coming through, not INFJ. In other words, a Te thing. ENTPs have Te id.
Dude, where is the Fi in this guy? INFJs have very strong base Fi. In other words, they care like a motherfucker, even if they don’t want to, or try to ironicize themselves up (Stewart).
I think Carlin became more ENTJish as he got older. ENTJs can often be characterized by using attacking Fi. They use it vehemently and with precision. But, they don’t by any means inhabit it.
Check out David Foster Wallace for a more INFJish ENTP.
And don’t forget those attributions!
Fi – he has mentioned many times the fact that people don’t treat each other very well. As he got older it was a motif with him. One example of many at 1:28: “Save the planet? What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet! We don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned how to care for one another. We’re going to save the fucking planet?!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c
Also the following at 45:00.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CewUVZZMXT8
“Watch INFJs fool you into thinking they are an intuitive thinking type”.
– Blake
“Watch INFJs fool you into thinking they are an intuitive thinking type”.
– Blake
Yes, I did say that, but, Carlin is not a case of this. OK, since we are on the subject of INFJs that can appear to be intuitive thinking types, here is a list of some of them:
1. Kierkegaard
2. Goethe
3. Schopenhauer
4. Camus
5. Rousseau
6. Baudelaire
7. Chopin
8. Coleridge
9. Antonin Artaud
10. Plato
Now for my ENTP continuum:
1. Socrates (gadfly of Athens. Carlin shares a lot of traits with this guy.)
2. Richard Feynman (theoretical physicist. Nobel Prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics)
3. Einstein (emphatically not an INTP)
4. Robert Anton Wilson (author of Prometheus Rising)
5. Douglas Adams (author of Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy)
6. Dr. Seuss (Author of This, That, and The Other Thing, All of Which Make No Difference in The Whole Scheme of Existence,)
7. Carl Sagan
8. Bill Hicks (if you don’t know who he is, then you need to look this guy up)
9. David Foster Wallace (an ENTP writer! Yes, they exist Red Man)
10. Isaac Asimov (Hmm, a lot of writers on this list. Yeah, I guess they’re probaly INFJs)
Blake,
Agree on Plato. I don’t know nearly enough philosophy to have any opinion on the others.
My 10, after George Carlin:
Bill Watterson
Woody Allen
Bob Dylan
Carl Jung
Dante
Jesus
Dostoevsky
JK Rowling
JD Salinger
Lord Byron
Not that helpful is it. Only Jung and possibly Watterson seem to have the intuitive thinking thing going on. Maybe Woody Allen too, but he is really very caught up in the dynamics of relationships. I’ll see if I can come up with something on ENTPs, but I feel out of my depth there. I’ve met some, don’t like them much (sorry if to offend if that applies, but that’s how it is). Seems like lawyering would be a good career match for ENTP’s.
Well, if you don’t know ENTPs that well, how can you say that Carlin might not be one?
Your INFJ list is reasonable. I don’t agree with all of them, but, I can see a continuum there.
I think Carlin fits better on my ENTP list than your INFJ list.
But, I don’t care that much. What difference does it make if you think he’s an INFJ and I think he’s an ENTP?
Well, goddamn it, it does make a difference! How the fuck does George Carlin fit on a list with Bob Dylan, Dostoevsky, JD Salinger, and Dante? I can see a continuum between those four guys.
Anyway, I don’t know. It just is what it is.
I mean, I could see Carlin as an excellent lawyer. ENTPs are lawyer-jesters.
You need to think more about ENTPs. It seems evident by your own admission that you don’t have a good grasp of them.
Woody Allen may be an ENTP. He certainly does not have the Ni-Se axis as his primal dilemma.
JK Rowling is an INFP even though she thinks she is an INFJ and appears on first blush to be an xNTJ type.
Try to come up with some ENTPs.
I really don’t think it matters that much either, and I’ll stick with that. When you are dealing with someone you don’t actually know, you’re missing a lot that you pick up in person.
ENTP’s
Denis Leary
Johnny Cochran
Bill Maher
Howard Stern
Tom Hanks
Best friend’s room mate in college – now a DJ
Dick head from college now a lawyer
David Letterman
Neil Patrick Harris
Bill Murray
Johnny Carson
Eddie Murphy
That’s 12 since you don’t know two of them. I guess talk show host would be a good career too. Funny that most of them have that lean and hungry look. Beware yon Cassius.
OK Red Man, now we are getting somewhere – not a one of those people on your list would I consider an ENTP. So, it is helpful to know your attributions because when I say “ENTP”, it turns out we ain’t talking about the same thing. Semantical difference. How can we know who is an ENTP or otherwise unless we can agree on what an ENTP is. That is why I asked you for your attributions.
We can agree on theory and descriptions of the type, but, this is where the rubber meets the road – who you think is an ENTP and an INFJ. I actually do agree with your Jupiter-Uranus designation for ENTP. I have arrived at that independently myself. But, when you jump to your attributions we are seeing different things for ENTP.
So, Carlin may be an ENTP since you don’t seem to know who is an ENTP or not. And to me he doesn’t fit on the continuum of your INFJ attributions list, many of which I agree with.
What does this prove?
Mostly, that we are not on the same page regarding ENTP. Further, by your own admission you have said that you don’t even really know who would be an ENTP. In my book, that is further corroborated by your list of attributions. Doesn’t mean I’m right and your wrong. It just means that we aren’t even in the same ballpark semantically.
As I said earlier in these comments, one person’s ENTP is another’s ESFJ.
Blake,
Well, I can either concede or point out that saying that I haven’t listed any ENTPs hardly constitutes evidence.
While we agree that I’m not strong on typing ENTPs, that doesn’t mean that Carlin isn’t an INFJ. I’m not strong on typing INFPs either, but I know Carlin isn’t one. I will concede, however, that if you are indeed strong on spotting both INFJs and ENTPs, that gives your opinion more weight than mine.
It is amusing that at least one person thinks that this friendly exchange has resulted in your giving away your type.
You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.
Wow!! Blake all this time I thought you were an infj but the aggressiveness that you have shown in the back and forth with Red Man has made me question that. I mean as an infj with a lot of Mars in my birth chart I can have short bursts of verbal aggression but the back and forth, hummmmm. Interesting!!
I wonder how close his E and I scores were. ENFP might not be out of the question.
Being a student of Enneagram, Astrology (mostly evolutionary for the last few years), and MBTI as well as psychology in general, I look forward to reading more of your posts. I knew from this point in your article where we were going, or what the answer was,
“So, it should be obvious from viewing a few clips of the Colbert Report, the show that is Colbert’s claim to fame, that he isn’t an INFP.
Why?” ENTP could be the only possibility, which your description bore out. I have known one or two well also, so that makes them as easy to spot as an albino Thomson’s gazelle.
My compliments to your perception skills. I’m a rare one, INTP, counterphobic 6w5 sp/sx tritypes 1w2 & 3w2, and sun in Cancer 29 degrees 54’5″, moon in Aries 00 degrees 15′”20 with Aries rising. Hope I didn’t give you a headache 😉
Is it radical to consider ESFJ for Colbert?
Yes, that would be radical for me. That type would never enter into consideration for him from where I stand. INFP would be more likely than ESFJ.
Haha ok:) Anyhow I kinda agree.
All I I think I know though is that he seems to have a deep drive to make people around him enjoy themselves even if he is seeking attention.
“Ne dominance does seem to have some Ti built in to it.”
This is quoting you Blake. It sure would seem that way. The whole mixing of things and parts requires being able to take things apart, or at the very least “see” the parts in a sufficiently unhazy way to be able to run with whatever emerges from the mind.
Diverging in thought a bit….
It’s actually fascinating to me to think about the estp/istp version of Ti that isn’t linked with Ne. ?!?!?!?!
I would pay a lot of money to try out each mbti type for a week. Just to see. I’d easily pay several thousands of dollars per type. Because you can’t really escape your own type. It’s a constant aspect throughout life. Really STRANGE. Oh my god life is freaking strange.
“Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were the co-creators of that show. I would type both of them as ISFJ types.”
Oh my god… who ever knew… you are right that isj is not what one usually guesses. Holy moly that blows my mind. Okie am gonna lose the evening to thinking about that one. Thank god kids are in bed.
“Check out David Foster Wallace for a more INFJish ENTP.”
I am not 100% sure, because he sometimes speaks very fast like he has a cascade of thoughts, but I think he may be INTP. Check out this interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91ytSdSM-Kk
Reason why I think he might be INTP is mainly that his Fe is coming through with dark coloring: he struggles with the eye contact, he displays paranoia about people reading his books and at least once uses some bizarre “math” to explain the paranoia, he is sensitive to Charlie Rose’s readings of his motives, he is sensitive about whether he has given a thorough or overly thorough answer, he appears to have sudden anger…. like although he is having various feelings throughout the interview they just morph into a singe undertone of anger. He just seems extremely uncomfortable overall, like this public interview is the absolute worst setting for him. I kind of like him, he seems so human in a way. Devastated to learn he committed suicide.
I feel a type challenge coming on!
Blake, oh no:) I cannot resist those:)
David Foster Wallace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwfQl2LGhwc&list=PLmNmw0tpTKBYPHyYeZJ_GyexVT0PL6Hrc
At about time marker 11:48 and a bit onward, DWF is being slightly bullish, but he’s fine. Honestly, he looks entp there. That’s some convincing extrovert energy.
hmmm. what is this? Today, the initial one on one interview looks very different to me…. like I can see an entp I think. A kind of “dark” one.
In the original one on one interview of Wallace with Charlie Rose (previous comment), it is maybe the idea of worrying about writing the book that sunk his mood, perhaps not exactly the question about the respect….. at this point the chain had already been unleashed.
Can an entp tell me whether entps tend to be self conscious like this David Foster Wallace? He looks entp but reminds me of intp theme of Fe paranoia. He seems like an extrovert more than introvert. An uncomfortable extrovert.
Mmmmm, a type challenge. 🙂
He’s an INFJ, darling. If anything the test is faulty. Just switch the last letter to its counterpart (P for J, vice versa) and you’ll have the real type. Which would explain why he seems so brilliant.