Also, it’s cool you’re now friends with Paul Wheaton – I see his links under “Friends of ERE”. Way to go, can’t go wrong with supporting the right causes!

Jacob, have you read “Tao of Physics?” I just combined your post and that and it is blowing my mind. I am always looking for the “truth.” But now I get it. We really do all see things differently. Tao of Physics parrallels our view that with the Theory of Relativity.

Also, money is something that barely interests me except that its necessary and unavoidable no matter how idealist you are.

The problem with the guardian temperment today is that the system is failing or at least in decline. A personality that involves heavy investment in falling in line, and getting others in line, with the system is not at its best when the system is starting to fail. Its great when the system has already been established and just needs maintenance to keep working.

Someone above mentioned the Enneagram, and that one is my favorite and has helped me the most. My husband is a One, the Reformer, and his besetting sin is anger. When I learned what he was all about by reading about the Reformer, it completely changed my perception, understanding, and acceptance of him. I went from almost hating him a lot of the time, to respecting him almost all the time.

With me being an idealist (which corresponds to the Four on the Enneagram), I had just enough non-conformity to carry through with the homeschooling for as long as we did.

Yes people really are really different. My mother is Sensing; I am INtuitive (INFP). From studying the MBTI and reading Gifts Differing, I was finally able to stop villifying her for not appreciating my love of possibilities.

But the main point I want to make is — I recommend the Enneagram. It is very nuanced and its accuracy is uncanny.

I think it’s a disgrace that being different is labeled as a disorder. I realize that being different can be debilitating, but I think it is misdirecting the blame—especially if the problems stem from fitting in socially.

For what it’s worth, I’ve noticed that I fit in marvelously well with other rationals. It’s just that they’re rather hard to find. It’s hard to find a good analog that won’t break down quickly but consider some aspect (pick some: intellectual development, emotional development, experience, …) mental difference between [most] adults and [most] 14-year olds. Now imagine that you’re the adult and that on those aspects, 9 out of 10 people is acting like a 14-year old compared to you. How to cope with that? One solution would be to come to the level of the 14-year old. Is such a solution desirable? In many cases the return on investment is seen as too low http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html . Another solution would be to seek out other adults. What if the world was arranged to suit 14-year olds? That is, the world would look like high-school with popularity contests and where how you dressed was somehow important … hey wait! How to cope with such a world? What if the kids decided that being an adult was a disorder, albeit a mild one—after all, adults do do important things like science, engineering, and inventing cool new toys. What if people didn’t like you when you gave them a solution to their “drama” instead of validating that “they’re epically awesome and the x-bff is the worst person, like, ever”.

I think this is the big question in life for rationals.

I can only imagine how idealists, the other minority group, feels about life.

Question: If most people are insane and only a minority is sane, who is really sane and who is really insane? The current thinking definitely seems to be that normal is defined by the majority even if “normal” doesn’t make sense. However, should “normal” really be defined democratically?

What’s interesting to me is the keyword “high-functioning Aspergers”. Does that not imply that others then belong to “low-functioning Normals”? In terms of the topic of this post, we have people, typically rationals, who solve their personal finance issues and become financially free in less than a decade. Conversely, most people struggle with these issues for 30–40 years. Who’s really doing better? It’s really like comparing apples and oranges … however, if we must compare, apples are better

I doubt I’m up to date with Futurama (the last new stuff I saw were the feature length episodes which some kind person got me off my Amazon wishlist).

Then again, I don’t watch much current TV as I save money by not having cable like a good ERE boy should.

As an INFJ Idealist, I agree about this authenticity business. That is why I want to do ERE. I dont want to waste material goods nor pollute the earth. I really dont want to be a part of the rat race. Basically I want to free up as much time as possible for things that matter to me, like reading philosophy and playing with animals. =]

Mica

Don’t confuse situational personalities with real personality. Being a salesman does not imply a preference for extraversion and being a family does not imply a preference for being an SJ/guardian. It only means that those capacities are probably quite well developed.

Actually I think the situational vs real is the source of many psychological problems. Kinda what veganprimate alluded to.