I just read his biography. He was very motivated to solve the problems facing man kind (which is why he attempted to make power free) he also only cared that the inventions work, Edison was an ESTJ (like Ford) and as an early industrialist was only concerned with making money. All in all Tesla seemed to be interested in people the way INTPs go about showing interest, that is the "look at me! but don't look at me!" push-pull they have. They want attention but at the same time they really don't (Personalityjunkie.com). He didn't seem interested in actually making money, that strikes me as Ti. If he was a Te user I wager he would have been one of the wealthiest people of all time, especially at that time in American history. According to Dario Nardi's work Te users "
Tend to move to action before accurate or what-if processing, so quick efficiency can become a pitfall". Tesla criticized this type of thinking (His critique of Edison (ESTJ)). He goes on to say this about Ti:
Ti types:
- Show high use of four regions that afford complex logical reasoning: F3, F4, P3, P4
- Use F3 to linearly derive solutions. (highest for ESTPs followed by INTPs)
- Use F4 to categorize and define concepts. (highest for INTPs, followed by ESTPs)
- Use P3 to integrate visual-kinesthetic data. (highest for ISTPs then ENTPs)
- Use P4 to holistically weigh numerous pros and cons of many uncertain or risky factors. (highest for ENTPs followed by ISTPs)
- Above regions are located away from direct sensory contact, so have a "deep" or "detached" quality.
- Tend to enter a dissociated state when arguing or meeting someone new. In this state, their neocortex shuts out raw emotions in order to enjoy objectivity.
- Least interested in listening.
- Engage the above regions + Fp1 and Fp2 when examining a topic from multiple angles and integrating the angles into a coherent way.
The above list seems to point toward ENTP. The INTPs on INTPforum.com were discussing why Einstein was an ENTP by the same criteria (they considered Einstein's large temporal lobes as evidence of this). Plus Tesla was a obvious Si user, his biography was littered with references to his past and how that made him into the person he is today, not to mention his continued reliance on tradition (ate the same thing, at the same time, at the same place, never gained weight, walked the same route, etc...). He seems really ENTP because of Nardi but resembles the INTP stereotype so I am perplexed. BTW math skills are associated with the part of the brain overused by ENTPs (according to Nardi) and Tesla was a math genius after all.
Edit*
Fp1 Chief Judge: Focus on explaining, making decisions, noting errors, and screening out distracting information.
Fp2 Process Manager: Focus on process, either step-by-step for tasks, or open ended creative brainstorming, or both.
