Hey everyone!

I'm Joshua, and I am hope that I can adequately (though not succinctly, I'm afraid) detail out a recent self-evaluation I've chosen to undertake and get your input about what I've found out and what I did to get to that point.

I have been acquainted with the MBTI for pretty much my entire life. My family has been using MBTI before I was even born and I've grown up with a fairly decent understanding of it. My family has been very good friends with Dr. Charles Meisgeier, Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at the University of Houston who has (among other things) developed an instrument to identify personality differences in children that uses MBTI typing. I had an opportunity to take this instrument when I was very young.

http://www.arbor.org/director.php (Profile of Dr. Meisgeier)

Anyways, I've only recently found out about Socionics and I am intrigued so far by what I've read both here on the forum and at other sites. So, I look forward to learning more and more about Socionics and getting to know some of you around here.

Before I get into who I am, how I've typed and how I got to this point, I'll start with some pictures to give you VI gurus a start.





I'll explain the origin of some of these photos later on (which might illustrate more of my personality), and there's more where that came from.

Anyways, I guess what I'll do is I'll put down a little bit about myself generally, then type-wise, start at the end and work my way backwards.

A lot of what I'm going to describe here is basically how I've described myself according to my Myspace page with maybe a little bit more information. It will be quite random at times too, so I hope that it does come across well enough.

I graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree (I'll explain how I came to decide this major in another post if you're interested) from UT in 2004, and I currently work as a System Administrator at a local community bank. So, I handle technical support for bank employees and some bank clients and also maintain the computers within the bank.

My passion is serving and helping others. I love being forthright and transparent about who I am and what I'm about and verbally processing these things with people as sounding boards. I'm really interested in different perspectives and how different people can see the same thing in different lights, and really trying to understand motives and reasons people have for thinking and feeling the way they do (especially when they are perspectives that differ from mine). I make an effort to really, honestly understand people. I also make an effort to be flexible, warm, and easy-going with people (I consciously try to avoid conflict). Simple and mundane things fascinate me.

I don't like to gawk or stare at people in fear of being impolite or rude, but I like observing people and watching people and how they interact with one another. It's just so interesting to me. But I don't like to verbally comment about everything that I see, but I like processing it internally and thinking about it. I don't talk just to talk. Though I can be extremely wordy, when I say something, I make sure it has purpose.

I'm kind of a loner; I like being left alone at times, but I really like having people to talk about what's going on in my head. I like close-knit, smaller, more intimate group settings. Larger groups do make me feel uncomfortable. But public speaking doesn't bother me (speech class really helped with that). I like long conversations with people.

I'm kind of a goofball in my inefficiency. I pay great attention to detail, and I crave structure in task. I put a lot of energy into whatever it is that I do, and a lot of it gets wasted when I do simple tasks in weird orders. I have been apt to overwork myself at times, staying late to make sure things get finished properly (even if in my inefficiency that means it would take longer). When I choose to do something, it's because I desire to do it. I feel like I'm being disrespectful to others if I force myself to go somewhere but I don't want to really be there. I feel a great sense of inner conflict when what I desire differs from what I should do. So, I'm apt to being stubborn at times and not really listening to other people's advice when I should be listening to them.

I'm a pack rat. I still keep mementos from my past. I'm very nostalgic and reminiscent and can be quite histrionic when remembering specific events from my past. I will often replay mistakes from my past in my mind over and over again. I really think I consciously do that (or originally chose to do that) because in some weird way, remembering it would prevent me from forgetting my mistakes and be able to learn from them. Unfortnuately, in doing that, I will often not learn from my mistakes but instead relive them. I remember specific dates, places, emotions, and senses from significant things from my past.

I don't like thinking about the future unless it's mapped out or framed in my mind. I have a hard time relaxing and just... letting things be. Being care-free is a quality that I admire in others. I think a lot about how other people see me or perceive me, and many times to an unhealthy degree. Letting go is a challenge for me.

I constantly try to evaluate what my strengths and weaknesses are and really try hard to work on those weaknesses bit by bit... it might take longer to achieve some things because of my stubbornness, but I really try to recognize and find ways to improve various areas of my life.

There are times when I enjoy expressing myself (when I have the energy and desire to do it) through creative video blogs (on my YouTube page). I don't do typical video blogs, but rather try to add my own stamp to them. Some of the pictures above are straight from my video blogs. I don't make episodes all the time, maybe one every few months... but I enjoy expressing myself through it. My musical tastes are very diverse and they change depending on how I feel. I like using music to express things that I go through.

Ok, I think that's plenty long for now.

To how I typed.

Before I registered here, I found out about and took the Socionics Type Assistant. I really did my best to be mindful of how I am outside of work and be clear about what I definitely am and what I definitely am not. Here are the results of that first take.

http://www.the16types.info/typeassistant/sta.php?4Esoee2yt1w1wUjibzOhkr$UpjCsMOvlwNTb@de:kZ{FWxisYI1 j)Xeekkt1UjUj.xvgIUV1U1faau},:201107201144

This was the very first time that I've taken the Type Indicator, and as you can see from the results, I came out pretty definitively INFJ/EII. After reading several portraits and articles on INFJ, I really find what they say fitting and describing my essence.

Before this recent self-examination, again, I used the MBTI to type myself. About a year or so ago, I found myself at a point where I wanted to as best as I could, objectively re-evaluate my strengths and weaknesses. At that time, I typed ISFJ. And I identified with the different descriptions I read about ISFJ.

And I find that interesting seeing that and ISFJ and INFJ are Comparative/Kindred types. I have two ISFJ friends that I really can identify with and understand. But when I read articles between ISFJ and INFJ, I really believe that INFJ fits me more completely than ISFJ does. The only thread that I could find that even addressed this ESI/EII relationship was a short one on socionics.com, so I'm particularly interested in talking about this particular relationship.

Actually, I wonder if maybe at work, the nature of my work demonstrates and when I'm away from work I tend to demonstrate socially and emotionally ?

What do you guys think? For those of you that read through this whole post, I really do appreciate you taking the time out to work this out with me. Thank you.

If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask. My life is an open book, and I am not afraid to help you better understand who I am, which I hope in turn helps me to understand you better.

Thanks again guys, I look forward to your responses.