i agree 100% (more...)

Posted by isaacthe54 on September 06, 2000 at 11:43:42:

In Reply to: personality tests posted by Joe on September 03, 2000 at 02:56:00:

yes, the tests are just a starting point. of course, i'd like to point out another very useful usefulness of the enneagram, especially for fives.

i never really cared about people until i got into the enneagram. they're too unpredictable, don't make any sense, and are generally just stupid. (who here hasn't felt that at one point or another?) the enneagram turns the randomness of human interaction into a mathematical game. WOW!!! this was cool. suddenly i had to collect all 18, just so i could have subjects to study! and, thanks to the amazing complexity of humans, it hasn't gotten boring after 8 years. even people who would otherwise annoy me can be tolerated on the basis that all of their annoying behavior is insight into how their type works.

the beauty of the enneagram is that it's a reflective system. there is no one authority to be consulted, because a "4" is the label associated with the ENTIRE PERSONALITY, however that personality might be, and nothing any 4 does will ever be un-4ish. it's like biological taxonomy that way. you may find bad descriptions of the mammal class, but the definition of the class is based on the ANIMALS THEMSELVES, not on any description of the class. that is, the *definition* of a 5 is based on 5s, tho the *descriptions* are based on the observed characteristics of 5s. (and yes, i'm going somewhere with this...)

this is why there can be no perfect test except understanding. the tests can only EVER be an approximation of a type, and a personality type is a VERY complicated and dynamic thing. plus, they usually are filled out by the subject being tested, and most people have some funny opinions about their own personality. i turned up as a 4 on the first rheti i ever took, and that's one of the best tests, i think. however, when i read the chapter in the riso's _pt_ about the 5, i felt like someone had been sitting in my brain all my life to have gotten that information. and, since that time, i've gotten even more understanding of a 5, how a 6wing works, what going to 7 entails, why they click with 7s 9s and 6es, etc, etc, etc.

and, i never would have cared about people in the slightest if they hadn't been made into a math game.

isaac

: The problem with all tests is that many people use them as a shortcut for finding out what type they are. A test might be a useful starting point, but it is only useful if we remember that it is a starting point and not some final answer. You will only find your true type by observing yourself. I think that that may be the most useful use of the enneagram, as a tool for observing oneself. I agree with Mikko when he said “every person ultimately has to find their type on their own.”
: I don’t think the enneagram would be useful if we could effortlessly take a test and learn for absolute certainty what type we are. I think the enneagram’s usefulness is in the effort we make when we observe are selves.

: -Joe

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