- What's up, everybody?
Today's video is a bit different
than ones I've done in the past,
because my buddy J.J.,
who made this awesome piece of artwork,
he told me, "Dude, Ben Shapiro,
noted conservative commentator Ben Shapiro,
is going to be releasing a video
where he takes the 16personalities.com test.
Just my opinion, but it seems pretty obvious
that he is an ENTP.
(crowd jeering)
What do ENTPs stereotypically like to do? Debate.
What does Ben Shapiro like to do? Debate.
And I knew he wasn't gonna get that, and I was right.
(laughs)
- Okay, let's see, guys.
- [Crew Member] Architect, INTJ, wow.
- [Another Crew Memeber] I knew it.
Okay, everybody in the room's like, "Called it."
(crew laughing)
- So you can watch his video, the link is down below,
or you can go to infj.me/ben.
I'm not only gonna talk about, briefly,
why I think he's ENTP and not INTJ,
but also I'm gonna discuss a few of the issues
with the 16personalities.com test that led to this.
Before we jump into it, this video is sponsored by Audible.
You can go to audibletrial.com/fj,
get yourself an audiobook.
They've got an unparalleled selection of titles
for you to choose from.
I have listened to recently
"Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss,
awesome audiobook.
I'm sure you can find an audiobook that suits your tastes.
You can listen while you're driving,
while you're washing the dishes, while you're doing pushups.
You know what I'm saying?
audibletrial.com/fj, get a 30-day free trial
and a free audiobook.
Whoa.
Okay, now that you've signed up
for your free trial of Audible...
The first thing we gotta talk about is 16personalities.com,
the Myers-Briggs test that everyone seems to take.
It pops up at the top of Google.
It's not actually a Myers-Briggs test,
it is a Big Five test.
Big Five, of course, is the scientific...
I don't know why I put it in quotes, it is scientific.
(laughs)
The scientific personality scale,
which is often remembered by the acronym OCEAN:
Openness to experience, Conscientiousness,
Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
So the 16personalities.com takes the Big Five scale,
and masquerades as a MBTI test.
It's gonna lead to stuff like Ben Shapiro
getting typed as an INTJ, which he is not.
All right, first up, the introvert/extrovert dichotomy,
which is the most similar to Myers-Briggs
when it comes to the Big Five.
But if you look at that test, a lot of the questions
that Ben was answering like an introvert
had to do with people.
- [Ben] I enjoy vibrant social events with a lot of people.
(laughs sarcastically)
No.
After a long and exhausting week,
a fun party is just what you need.
Strongly disagree.
- Because a lot of people,
even if they are extroverts, E types in Myers-Briggs,
are still going to get worn out by people.
One of the funny things is,
you'll get people who are like ENFJs,
people who are big extroverts in Myers-Briggs,
who are like, "I'm really drained by people
because I'm always going around
talking to them all the time, my social calendar is full.
I must be an introvert, 'cause I'm burned out by people."
Meanwhile, the real introverts are like,
"I had to talk to someone for like five minutes,
and now I am burned out."
If Ben Shapiro is an ENTP,
his extroverted dominant function is intuition,
which is not so much focused on people anyway.
That is more focused on ideas, things in the world.
Now, people can be part of that,
but extroverted intuitives are not primarily focused
on socializing and people.
The other thing, this is the thing
that really kills me about the 16personalities.com test,
is that they equate conscientiousness on the Big Five scale
with the J/P dichotomy at the end of the Myers-Briggs types.
Which, of course, causes a lot of problems
because P types can be high in conscientiousness,
and especially if you look at
someone like Ben Shapiro, he's conservative,
statistically, conservatives tend to be
higher in conscientiousness.
Let me just quickly define what conscientiousness is.
From Wikipedia, you know it's true,
'cause anyone can write it,
conscientiousness is the personality trait
of being careful or diligent.
Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well
and to take obligations to others seriously.
In order to be successful in a field,
you have to be conscientious to a degree.
- [Ben] Your personal work style
is closer to spontaneous bursts of energy
than to organized and consistent efforts.
Disagree, I'm pretty organized in how I work.
If you have temporarily put your plans on hold,
you make sure it is your top priority
to get back on track as soon as possible.
Strongly agree.
You often make decisions on a whim. Disagree.
When starting to work on a project,
you prefer to make as many decisions upfront as possible.
Strongly agree.
You still honor the commitments you made
even if you have a change of heart.
Super agree.
- The stereotype of an extroverted intuitive like an ENTP
is that they're kinda all over the place,
they don't follow through with stuff,
they don't plan anything.
But look at it this way.
He runs a business, he has to have a plan.
He wants to get things done, he has to be conscientious.
I think we really need to decouple this association we have
with J and P and conscientiousness,
because it really throws a lot of people off.
Now, if we just look at some differences generally
between ENTPs and INTJs,
I think we can start to illustrate
why Ben Shapiro is not INTJ, but is more likely ENTP.
ENTPs love new things.
Extroverted intuitives love new things,
and while Ben, in that quiz,
answered as though he doesn't like new things...
- [Ben] You have a careful and methodical approach to life.
I'll agree.
- Ben loves seeking out these new discussions
and new opportunities to engage with people in a debate.
He likes having things thrown at him,
having arguments thrown at him,
so it's more of an abstract, intuitive kind of gathering.
INTJs are less naturally looking for an argument
unless it happens to fall into their more narrow wheelhouse.
Politics is not narrow,
he talks about all kinds of different stuff.
You're able to throw almost any kind of vaguely related
political/cultural question at him,
and he'll come up with an argument.
And that's what he likes, that's what he thrives on.
An INTJ, though, it seems to me, is less likely
to want to build their brand around that sort of thing.
And this is because INTJs with extroverted thinking,
when they have a debate, an argument,
when they're working through some kind of logical thing,
it's oftentimes for an end, it's a lot more practical.
It's like, let's come to reality.
But for the ENTPs with introverted thinking,
coming up with a practical solution
is of much lower importance
than coming up with an argument,
with something that is logical
and entirely coherent to them,
which then leads them to take pleasure
in having debates for the sake of having debates.
That's a big thing with introverted thinking,
is that it likes to get in there with a knife
and cut apart other people's arguments.
Or you think about it like a Jenga tower,
they like to just take out little things
all around someone else's argument
to make it fall apart.
Whereas an extroverted thinker is more likely
to wanna just come in there with a baseball bat
and be like, "Let's get down to the brass tacks,
let's figure out what is actually logical
and what is gonna work."
They're not gonna be like,
"Oh, let's debate for the fun of it,
I like winning arguments."
That's not so much an INTJ thing.
It's also arguable that Ben Shapiro is INTP,
but I think that ENTP makes a lot more sense
because he is easily able
to understand other people's arguments
in order to pull them apart, which is why ENTPs
are the stereotypical debate team gurus of MBTI.
Not so much the INTPs, 'cause INTPs aren't as good
at getting at understanding the other person's argument.
They can do it, but it's not something they can do
easily in the moment like an ENTP can.
Hit the Like button if you enjoyed this.
Till next time, stay cool and attractive.