More thoughts on personality

I thought about INTJs, who are believed to comprise only 1% of the population. We are quite the persecuted minority! How are INTJs generally portrayed in the media? Well, I came up with some fictional characters that are probably INTJ:

Mr. Spock of Star Trek
Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice
Henry Higgins of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady

Mr. Spock is usually shown to be gentle and thoughtful, even in the extremities of his logic. His influence is almost always positive. However, Mr. Darcy and Henry Higgins are initially portrayed as being arrogant and selfish, and while these faults can be true of an INTJ, things can be misconstrued. Notice how Mr. Darcy's proud and prejudiced manner becomes softened to the reader when the thoughts and motivations behind his actions are understood. Suddenly, he moves from being a negative to a positive figure (remember, for instance, his logical and methodical handling of matters regarding Lydia's marriage in London-- he simply did what needed to be done, because it needed to be done, and no one else was doing it). Darcy is willing to alter an opinion he holds, when given sufficient evidence to convince him. Darcy isn't a different person in the second half of Pride and Prejudice; he just seems more human because he becomes more well-rounded to the reader, and the mind behind the man becomes apparent. Higgins is more brash and sometimes heartlessly domineering, but he is simply driven by devotion to his craft (linguistics), to the exclusion of nearly all else, and not by any desire to be mean; he just doesn't understand why the world doesn't understand. He is willing to reassess his views; when he opens himself up to acquire more information about his subject (Eliza, who he thinks of as a test subject until he notices that she is a lovely and charming young woman), he changes his pre-conceived opinions about her and about his work.

So there you have it. You'll love your INTJ when you understand what is going on in his or her mind, that makes him or her say and do those strange things. But don't always demand to know what your INTJ is thinking; our thoughts are very personal, and if we're not ready to share, it means we think our thoughts (extensions of ourselves) are not yet mature enough to be displayed to the world.