Another installment of the MBTI personality trend here on Atheist Nexus. For those who aren't aware of what the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) is, it is a system devised by psychologists and sociologists that allows them to categorize a person's personality into one of sixteen different personality types. Each type is represented by four letters, each letter being one of two things. The trend was started by moJoe with the ENTP group, and then by Heather McIntosh with ISFJ. For those who don't know which personality type they are, here's what I consider the best of the quizzes out there to find out: www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp. Please keep in mind, when you see the results, that the percentages given to you for each letter does not mean that you are stronger in that area; the percentages only measure how sure you were in answering the questions.

Since there are innumerable descriptions on the web about the INTJ personality, I'll try to keep this brief.

Wikipedia overview: "Masterminds are introspective, pragmatic, directive, and attentive. They tend to be capable leaders, skilled in contingency planning and entailment organizing, which are directive activities that tell the planner what activities to do and in what order to do them. Despite their leadership capabilities, Masterminds prefer to stay in the background until others demonstrate ineffective leadership. However, once in a position of power, Masterminds are known for their efficiency and willingness to adopt useful ideas.

"Masterminds are strong willed, self confident, and decisive. They are also highly theoretical and the most open-minded of the 16 role variants. Before Masterminds adopt a theoretical notion, they insist on researching all the available data and checking the idea against reality. Masterminds are suspicious of theories based on poor research and will discard ideas that cannot be effectively implemented.

"Masterminds are highly pragmatic, and they will put forth a great deal of time and effort to implement effective ideas. They are driven to solve complex problems and to create organized, decided, and executed solutions. Masterminds tend to make positive statements instead of negative ones, focusing on how to make the organization more efficient in the future rather than dwelling on past mistakes."To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of "definiteness", of self-confidence. This self-confidence, sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, is actually of a very specific rather than a general nature; its source lies in the specialized knowledge systems that most INTJs start building at an early age. When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know."

Marina Margaret Heiss of www.typelogic.com: "INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion 'Does it work?' to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake.

"INTJs are known as the 'Systems Builders' of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Whatever system an INTJ happens to be working on is for them the equivalent of a moral cause to an INFJ; both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come into play, as INTJs can be unsparing of both themselves and the others on the project. Anyone considered to be 'slacking,' including superiors, will lose their respect -- and will generally be made aware of this; INTJs have also been known to take it upon themselves to implement critical decisions without consulting their supervisors or co-workers. On the other hand, they do tend to be scrupulous and even-handed about recognizing the individual contributions that have gone into a project, and have a gift for seizing opportunities which others might not even notice.

"In the broadest terms, what INTJs 'do' tends to be what they 'know'. Typical INTJ career choices are in the sciences and engineering, but they can be found wherever a combination of intellect and incisiveness are required (e.g., law, some areas of academia). INTJs can rise to management positions when they are willing to invest time in marketing their abilities as well as enhancing them, and (whether for the sake of ambition or the desire for privacy) many also find it useful to learn to simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality."