Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan

[whoever]

Ben Bernanke is an IXTj for sure, but N or S?
- family person
- very disciplined
- detached and objective. he has on occasions, refused to state his political view
- less idealistic than alan greenspan. more practical. more of a doer in comparison to alan greenspan.
something about bernanke: http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...122319,00.html


Alan Greenspan is an INTp?
- he's a big partygoer, so maybe he's not an I?
- definitely someone that climbs the social ladder. makes sure that he knows the right people.
- he changes his mind all the time, a 'p' trait.
- has trouble articulating himself. his wife whom he married in 1997 knew he was actually proposing only on his third attempt.

so what do you guys thiNK?

[WVBRY]

I think most of these traits have nothing to do with type.

[Raver]

I personally think that the government is filled with xSTJs and xNTJs.

[tcaudilllg]

I personally think that the government is filled with xSTJs and xNTJs.

We make damn good beuracrats.(sp?)

[Raver]

I personally think that the government is filled with xSTJs and xNTJs.

We make damn good beuracrats.(sp?)

True, ESFp's or SPs in general are good spokespersons therefore they make great presidents.

[whoever]

the fed is concerned with monitoring the macroeconomics of the US -- big picture. somethign more N than S. both hold PhDs in economics, somethign that requires heavy use of T for data analysis and application of concepts.

i think the fact that the two gentlemen have proven themselves great economists before becoming the chairmen of the fed says that they are quite comfortable wtih using their T function. and the traits i put in my first post DO reveal something about their socionics types, i believe. the traits i list are observations of others over years, which means they are likely objective observations if you believe that people cannot pretend to be people their not forever.

[Expat]

This little anecdote from an old Booknotes episode may help.

This is an interview with Nathaniel Branden, who wrote a book about his relationship with Ayn Rand. Here, they discuss her friendshio with Alan Greenspan:

LAMB: Who is the head of the Fed and who was a follower of Ayn Rand. Close?

BRANDEN: Oh, very much so. He was a member of our circle brought in by another member of our circle. He was reading "Atlas Shrugged" as it was being written. I kind of love the story of Alan because it was -- all in its own terms -- a happy story. Because what made it interesting is that when Ayn first met him in an elevator, or met him through this other person, she was kind of negatively impressed. I liked him initially a good deal more that she did. There were reasons she didn't like some of his ideas. He was a Keynesian economically. He wasn't what he is today politically or economically. And he also at that time was a supporter of a then fashionable philosophy called "logical positivism," which taught that you can be certain of nothing. You can know nothing for sure. You can't even be certain that you existed.

So he and I would have rather hilarious conversations in which he would try to convince me that one couldn't know for a certainty that one existed. And my task was to see how irrational this was and to prove philosophically that one could have such knowledge for a certainty. Ayn thought I was quite mad to even waste my time talking to a person who would be saying he doesn't know if he exists or not. I kept saying -- listen, this is a very intelligent man. He is a good guy. You're going to see this story is going to have a very happy ending. And eventually he did change his ideas on these various subjects. He did become a very close friend Ayn Rand. I think that she really cared for him a lot. And they were devoted until Ayn Rand died in 1982.

So which type would be attracted, even devoted, to a philosophy that says that you can't be certain of anything, even of your own existence?

I'd say ENTp first, then INTj.

:wink:

[Ms. Kensington]

lol what is his type?

he is the same astrological position as me.

[FDG]

I have seen him typed as ENTp. I can't disagree.

[Expat]

He was Ayn Rand's friend, or perhaps even boyfriend.

They used to discuss a lot of deep stuff, until he said that the most important question was to discover whether one existed or not. "How can you be sure that you exist?"

Ayn Rand said, "I can't waste my time with a guy that doesn't know if he exists", and they went different ways.

[Dioklecian]

ENTJ from what I have heard.

[Dioklecian]

He was Ayn Rand's friend, or perhaps even boyfriend.

They used to discuss a lot of deep stuff, until he said that the most important question was to discover whether one existed or not. "How can you be sure that you exist?"

Ayn Rand said, "I can't waste my time with a guy that doesn't know if he exists", and they went different ways.

So what did he find out? Does he exist?

[Ms. Kensington]

He was Ayn Rand's friend, or perhaps even boyfriend.

They used to discuss a lot of deep stuff, until he said that the most important question was to discover whether one existed or not. "How can you be sure that you exist?"

Ayn Rand said, "I can't waste my time with a guy that doesn't know if he exists", and they went different ways.

[aestrivex]

I have seen him typed as ENTp. I can't disagree.

same

[Dioklecian]

I have seen him typed as ENTp. I can't disagree.

same

He was much better at managing things that he was at coming up with general principles.

Also I have read Ayn RAnd at some length since I was a follower for some time and ran an Objectivist club once. My understanding of their rift is that Greenspan eventually accepted that the institution of the Central Bank (Federal Reserve) is helpful, Ayn RAnd is very strongly opposed to such perspectives. In fact as a folower of Rand, he called the Federal Reserve, quote: "the copper peny in the power box". I have that essay that he wrote, very interesting that he eventually ran that penny himself.

I am no longer an objectivist as that world view is heavily influenced by an ESFJ perspective.

[Creepy-Diana]

.

[CuriousSoul]

Hard to imagine someone seriously wondering if they exist or not.

Perhaps, but many of my earliest childhood memories revolve around wondering if other people really exist or whether they are just figments of my imagination. It is quite a difficult question to answer actually, but eventually one just has to take it for granted to get on with life.

[Angel von Himmel]

He was Ayn Rand's friend, or perhaps even boyfriend.

They used to discuss a lot of deep stuff, until he said that the most important question was to discover whether one existed or not. "How can you be sure that you exist?"

Ayn Rand said, "I can't waste my time with a guy that doesn't know if he exists", and they went different ways.

LOL ... way to keep a girl!

[FDG]

Hard to imagine someone seriously wondering if they exist or not.

Perhaps, but many of my earliest childhood memories revolve around wondering if other people really exist or whether they are just figments of my imagination. It is quite a difficult question to answer actually, but eventually one just has to take it for granted to get on with life.

I used to wonder analoguos hypotesis. In actuality, my question was not over my existence or lack thereof, but more centered towards finding out whether every body was actually reciting and living different lives whenever I wasn't looking at them, or not.

[Animal]

Hard to imagine someone seriously wondering if they exist or not.

Perhaps, but many of my earliest childhood memories revolve around wondering if other people really exist or whether they are just figments of my imagination. It is quite a difficult question to answer actually, but eventually one just has to take it for granted to get on with life.

I used to wonder analoguos hypotesis. In actuality, my question was not over my existence or lack thereof, but more centered towards finding out whether every body was actually reciting and living different lives whenever I wasn't looking at them, or not.

I still wonder about that sometimes when I fail to occupy my mind with sane thoughts.

[Expat]

BTW, I agree with ENTp for him.