I hope during a season of so serious news and push-pull, this will make you laugh.
Long ago, the American Psychological Association looked askance and considered it a breach of ethics for shrinks to psychologically advise callers on the radio. Dr. Laura has been grieved against in many states for ‘practicing without a license via radio’ in the state the program is heard. Except Calif, where last I heard, she had gotten a marriage and family license from the state.
Before Dr. L., there were any number of shrinks on the radio, some of them licensed psychologsts who also took heat from the APA which was loudly threatening to ban/ disenfranchise such psychologists who would dare to use new media.
Now, these many years later, that’s all become a moot point, or a mute one, as only one shrink more or less dominates the airwaves. (If equal representation re politicos on radio comes back into effect, one wonders if Dr. L, who is far right… would have to have a back to back show with a lefty shrink? Oh, come on.)
But all the ‘old’ radio shrinks aside, today Andrewski, The Sullivan, put up a link that analyzes websites. Serious. Using what we use in our profession, known as the Meyer-Briggs Multiphase Personality Test, the version on aforementioned site is Meyers-Briggs Lite Lite Lite.
But entertaining: Here’s how The Moderate Voice came out: We are, presumably:
INTP – The Thinkers
The logical and analytical type. They are especialy attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications.
They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.
INTP, stands for something like this: ‘Introverted Intuitive, of the Thinking and Perceiving type.’ As opposed to say for instance, the EFSJ, ‘Extroverted Feeling, of the Sensation and Judging type.’ These two typological configurations are opposites, and although it may all seem a shade too layered for much use, one thing is clear about typological studies which I wish everyone single person in the universe could be taught in childhood and learn to move with in peace:
Those persons who are ‘dominantly thinking types’ often find ‘dominiantly feeling types’ irrelevant and stupid, and visa versa. Almost without fail.
Thing is, maturity, that is individuation, becoming a ser humano, a full human being, is supposed to take on some of the traits of the opposite typology in order to be most creative, most discerning,
most caring and strong, and most able to speak to, persuade, converse with a broad spectrum of persons.
THus, the thinking type learns feeling (often by being in love for reallies, the love of devotion)… and the feeling type learns to take on aspects of the linear, (often by being taken with a teacher who has just those traits) and so it goes. People often learn what they admire and love.
Simple. Not so simple. Interesting. Funny. Each person strange and one of a kind. And worth it… the impulse for ongoing finessing of the human spirit and psyche never ceases firing in a person, no matter how old they become. One can ignore it. Or embrace it. A bit at a time.
That’s an interesting endeavor that reaches to expand/ include the world, rather than moving to center one’s eyes only on oneself or one’s own small tribe.