Dr. Hood, This is the response that I had to the MTBI class that you taught. I was hoping that you would read it and offer an comments that you might have. If you haven't sufficient time I will understand. -Will Holcomb P.S. The qoute for Eric Blair (George Orwell) in the book is wrong. It goes: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." George Orwell "Animal Farm" The quote is putting pigs as better than the other animals, thus the quote "All pigs is equal, but some pigs is more equal than others" dosen't make much sense. Unless, this is some type of statement that assumes that the reader knows the correct statement, and the misquote is a statement in itself. Reguardless, I thought that I would let you know. This is my response to the MTBI test and its implications. First, I was predicted (said) to be a INFJ, but given my scores (EI=-5, SN=-47, TF=-1, JP=5) I am truly a XNXX. This is more fitting to my personal estimation of my persona. I predicted a INTJ, but this is the person that I a and not my true self. I beleive my true self is an ENXX. I have written poetry, stories, and thesi on just who I am, but I still do not know. As you might remember from my autobiography, I went through some very trying times during Jr. High that forced me out of society. Rumors as to my sexuality got me ostracised quickly and efficiently. I had no friends and I was forced to turn in towards myself. That is past, and yet it is not. When I talk of "emotional scars" I see myself as sounding weak and pathetic; The victim that I once was and never want to be again. That does not make them go away. I have found that even though satisfaction with my state of being is a state of mind, deceiving myself mentaly is not an effective way to bring it about. People frighten me very much, but I love being wiht them. It has to do with building walls. When I was in my (severely) troubled times, I built up "walls" to keep the world out. I told myself that I didn't need them, and that I was better off. Still, I longed to be a part of the group. I loved to stand in the limelight and take all of the attention, but always when I prepared to step forward and seperate myself from the crowd I could not. To do so I would need to break down the walls and open myself up to attack. That was the biggest problem with walls; they shut out all of the joy with the pain. So I am an "I", but that is not my true self. I enjoy interacting with people; I don't simply beleive that I am an E because I long to be a part of the group. I realize the fundamental need in all creatures to be with others of thier kind. My longing is different than the need for a sense of community. In my true self there are two definite qualities "E" is one of them. The other came out strongly on the MBTI. Stronger than I would have wished, for it indicates that I am out of balance, but I will work on that. That quality is "N." Wherein extroversion and introversion are easy to define (not really, but on a surface level they can appear so); sensing and intuition are more abstract. I am surprised at the 92% on the "N" portion of my test. I often enjoy detail work to the point of anal-retentiveness. I know pi to 3.14159265, acceleration due to gravity 9.80665 m/s, my parents creditcard # 5_2_ 1_0_ 0_3_ 9_0_ (I won't fill in the blanks for obvious reasons,) and all sorts of useless trivia, but I can relate to not being able to understand until I have the "big picture." For example, I am trying to get some grasp on spirituality. I have quite a few ideas onreligon, but I am not sure of the validity of any of them. To this end I have been trying to gather information from different areas; honestly in the hopes of poking logical holes in my arguments. For if I eliminate all that is not impossible; that which is left, however improbable, is the truth (that sounds like a quote,it might be some version of something by A.C. Doyle.) I do not enjoy living in indecision, and my research has taken on many forms (an e-mail question on "Do Jews go to heaven?" to you Dr. for one.) One problem that I am having is my roommate. Not that he is not a religious man; he is a devout Pentacostal (if he thumps me with his Bible any harder I'll have bruises), but the way that he approaces his spirituality. We meet in his church (he has keys) every morning and worship together. His entire religion is based on the Bible, no questions asked, so all that we have been doing is reading photocopies of a book that lists verses of the Bible on a specific subject, and writing down all of the verses that relate to a subject. Exe. Hold up hands - Matt 4:45, Ex. 34:6, ... Then at night he saw me reading my Bible, and he wanted to read with me. I was reluctant because of the speed that I like to read at, but agreed because "Who knows, maybe this is a better way of doing it?" He likes to memorize verses though, which is not something that helps my understanding in anyway. From being around him, I would saw that he is "ISXJ," but this is a good example of why I beleive that, while I do have some "S" qualities, "N" is dominant in my true self. It also helps bring me to my final though on the class. My roommate is, as I said, a strict Bible Fundamentalist. I really don't know. God's domain is primarily our spiritual nature, and how that interacts with our physical nature. So, should not the Bible deal also with our spiritual sides. I used to beleive this very strongly, and I looked in to all that I read to find how it could apply to the spiritual, but for N.(my roommate) this is questioning the Word and thus blasphemy. This made me wonder as to what I was supposed to do? If I was supposed to apply God's gift of thinking to the Bible wouldn't that surface as the desire to do so? and if Satan wanted to lead me astray wouldn't having me find unrichous callings in the Bible an excellent way of doing so? and wouldn't Satan make me desire to think on the Bible. So I was faced with a feeling and if I acted on it depended on where it came from, and I could not know. I am excellent at rationalization, which would be a great help for whatever reason I was thinking on the Bible. Be it to find the real truth for me hidden in there, or to lead myself astray. So, all that I have reached for all of my thought is a state of total confusion. I am reading the Bible, and I hope I see the truth. For if my reasoning is right then to gain a better understanting of God I should also read the texts of other major monotheistic religions, but that is certainly blasphemy in N.'s book. (I'll figure it out; I hope!)Reguardless, I saw some of my dilema in Perry's model. If I follow it N. is in stage #1 "The Word is right, no questions asked" Do you beleive that is the correct way of doing things? Also, to follow Perry's model for my situation causes it to colapse. In order for me to realize the validity of N.'s argument comes with a requirement that I follow. I do not follow now, because I do not fully understand it's basis, and if I see that it has a solid Biblical basis then as a Christian I am caled to follow. Thus, the only way for me to be open to everyone's ideas is to exclude his. I cannot realize the validity of his statement, and in good faith continue to be open to others. The two are mutualy exclusive and the model colapses. I would appreciate any thoughts that you have what so ever. -Will Holcomb