[Carola]

He is usually typed as an ENTP.I was wondering why ENTP and not INTJ?
I can see how he could have been NT and N dominant but i couldn't decide between ENTP and INTJ.

What do you think and which aspect of his personality make a difference?

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

Yeah, I always thought of him as an INTJ (super weird, albeit genius Ni dom who pretty much went insane by the end of his life) - I think the only reason he's typed as an ENTP has to do with "the inventor" stereotypes (which is not objective typology) and the fact that people seem to love typing super eccentric people as ENTPs based on excessive stereotypes. Otherwise, from what I've read about Tesla, he was noted to be a "classic introvert."

 

[Carola]

Yeah, I always thought of him as an INTJ (super weird, albeit genius Ni dom who pretty much went insane by the end of his life) - I think the only reason he's typed as an ENTP has to do with "the inventor" stereotypes (which is not objective typology) and the fact that people seem to love typing super eccentric people as ENTPs based on excessive stereotypes. Otherwise, from what I've read about Tesla, he was noted to be a "classic introvert."

Exactly.
Anyway there are a couple of things that make me doubt.

He had a great desire to share his inventions since he was young.This could be Ne.
He had a vision for his life and he could work hardly and for extremely long periods without stopping.This seems more Ni.

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

He had a great desire to share his inventions since he was young.This could be Ne.

That would be his ego, I'd think. You can't type actions.

 

[OrdinarinessIsAFWTD]

He is an INTP.

He is usually typed as an ENTP.I was wondering why ENTP...

Principally because of the notoriously scattershot Dr. David Keirsey. In his typology, ENTP is the "inventor", and it probably would look ungainly for the king of inventors to be tagged as anything else. As a matter of fact, his son concedes that under MBTI typology, Tesla would come out as an INTP. Real Idea Men | Please Understand Me

That said, I don't get the INTJ arguments for him, either. Is it because of the first two letters of his first and last names? The Ni is defensible, but what evidence is there of Te?!?!

With the possible exceptions of DaVinci and Einstein, no one springs to mind quicker when Ti-dominance comes up as a topic of discussion. Unlike his pal Edison and others whose inventorial methods resembled little more than blindfoldedly throwing darts and hoping for a bullseye, Tesla was more wont to do all the nitty-gritty in his head. Didn't hurt that he was a math whiz, but still.

Oh, and what self-respecting ENTP would be celibate by choice? If you're a believer in the snowflake theory and that an Ne>Ti>Si>Fe strain of ENTP exists, then maybe...

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

Te would be his focus on the external world with basically every logical application he made. I don't know for sure, but I think a decent argument can be made for this. I seem to recall reading that he often had weird, prophetic-type visions and took them seriously, which would make sense if he were an Ni dominant. Isaac Newton was a bit like this as well, and he was most clearly an INTJ - dominant Ni can be super eccentric to the outside world, not gonna lie. There's a reason that Jung pointed out that they tend to comprise spiritual cranks and mystics to an extent.

 

[electricky]

Otherwise, from what I've read about Tesla, he was noted to be a "classic introvert."

But we'd have to know what was meant by "classic introvert" though, as it may have been something very different from cognitive I/E.

That would be his ego, I'd think. You can't type actions.

How is what was said about actions though?

Oh, and what self-respecting ENTP would be celibate by choice? If you're a believer in the snowflake theory and that an Ne>Ti>Si>Fe strain of ENTP exists, then maybe...

This is more about actions :laughing: Why would this be un-ENTP? If anything, it's more evidence for inferior sensing, not against.

(Not that I know what he was....I'm really not sure)

 

[Carola]

That would be his ego, I'd think. You can't type actions.

I wa obviously not referring to the action itself , but to the fact that he did not percieved them as ''private'', but as things that have to have life in the world. But i guess you're right , it was probably his ego.

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

I and E is pretty much what it is in other areas of psychology in MBTI. It was not Jung's original idea. He borrowed it and worked off of it.

 

[Taikand]

I'm doing something bad right now and say that people usually said that Tesla was more of an engineer kind of guy, and if he would have used some math instead of experimentation it would have saved him quite a lot of trouble.
EDIT
Source: “Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality.”Nikola Tesla
This is the link, and yes, I know what they say about internet quotes.

 

[electricky]

I and E is pretty much what it is in other areas of psychology in MBTI. It was not Jung's original idea. He borrowed it and worked off of it.

True, but I'm still skeptical of the term, as it's sometimes just used to indicate "works with things and reads instead of being a socialite," or someone who is quiet or odd, or something like that.

 

[OrdinarinessIsAFWTD]

I'm doing something bad right now and say that people usually said that Tesla was more of an engineer kind of guy, and if he would have used some math instead of experimentation it would have saved him quite a lot of trouble.

Nah, that's what he said of Edison after the Wizard's passing.

 

[Carola]

I'm doing something bad right now and say that people usually said that Tesla was more of an engineer kind of guy, and if he would have used some math instead of experimentation it would have saved him quite a lot of trouble.

This is what Tesla said about Edison.. How is it? XD

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

True, but I'm still skeptical of the term, as it's sometimes just used to indicate "works with things and reads instead of being a socialite," or someone who is quiet or odd, or something like that.

Generally, it's just about how much you focus on the outer vs. inner world as it relates to you. The rest are just stereotypes.

 

[Taikand]

If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search... I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.
Nikola Tesla, New York Times, October 19, 1931
Also found this.
And check my edited post before this one.

 

[electricky]

Generally, it's just about how much you focus on the outer vs. inner world as it relates to you. The rest are just stereotypes.

Well, yes this is the general divide, but it's so vastly misunderstood. There's people even now that don't understand that the Internet is part of the outer world and seem to think of internet addiction as some "extreme introvert" thing.

 

[Arrow]

Generally, it's just about how much you focus on the outer vs. inner world as it relates to you. The rest are just stereotypes.

That's a perfect description. I wish that was seen more in the literature about typing.

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

@Electric Sparkle

Lol, yeah, that's pretty dumb. I know a lot of extraverts that are hooked on the internet.

 

[JungyesMBTIno]

Gee why does the above always happen when I type @Electric Sparkle's username, haha??

 

[Flatlander]

Well, yes this is the general divide, but it's so vastly misunderstood. There's people even now that don't understand that the Internet is part of the outer world and seem to think of internet addiction as some "extreme introvert" thing.

Yeah, the Internet is kind of a world in its own right. It's certainly a "realm" where you can do a lot of things, lots of potential for extraverted stimulation to be found here.