Perhaps it’s a great time now to mention that there’s a Tron facebook page just for Singapore right here! I had a bit of fun with the photobooth application, putting my grimace of a face into a helmet and colouring it all blue and stuff. It doesn’t take much to get you into the spirit of Tron!

I totally can’t wait to see Tron in cinemas – it’s a great way to end off a huge geek year for me!

Hi!

But first: Looking at my profile I should be (not in any order):
a) Counselor
b) Religious Teacher
c) Teacher
d) Working in humanities (?)
e) Web Design
f) Musician
g) Literature / Writer
h) Archeology
i) Psychologist

Of which the closest to any science is Archeology and Psychology… I’m screwed.

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
by Joe Butt

Profile: INFP
Revision: 3.0
Date of Revision: 26 Feb 2005

“I remember the first albatross I ever saw. … At intervals, it arched forth its vast archangel wings, as if to embrace some holy ark. Wondrous flutterings and throbbings shook it. Though bodily unharmed, it uttered cries, as some king’s ghost in super natural distress. Through its inexpressible, strange eyes, methought I peeped to secrets not below the heavens. As Abraham before the angels, I bowed myself…” –(Herman Melville, Moby Dick)

INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see life through rose-colored glasses. It’s as though they live at the edge of a looking-glass world where mundane objects come to life, where flora and fauna take on near-human qualities.

INFP children often exhibit this in a ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ fashion, switching from reality to fantasy and back again. With few exceptions, it is the NF child who readily develops imaginary playmates (as with Anne of Green Gables’s “bookcase girlfriend”–her own reflection) and whose stuffed animals come to life like the Velveteen Rabbit and the Skin Horse:

“…Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand…” (the Skin Horse)

INFPs have the ability to see good in almost anyone or anything. Even for the most unlovable the INFP is wont to have pity.

Rest you, my enemy,
Slain without fault,
Life smacks but tastelessly
Lacking your salt!
Stuck in a bog whence naught
May catapult me,
Come from the grave, long-sought,
Come and insult me!
–(Steven Vincent Benet, Elegy for an Enemy)

Their extreme depth of feeling is often hidden, even from themselves, until circumstances evoke an impassioned response:

“I say, Queequeg! Why don’t you speak? It’s I–Ishmael.” But all remained still as before. … Something must have happened. Apoplexy!
… And running up after me, she caught me as I was again trying to force open the door. … “Have to burst it open,” said I, and was running down the entry a little, for a good start, when the landlady caught me, again vowing I should not break down her premises; but I tore from her, and with a sudden bodily rush dashed myself full against the mark.–(Melville, Moby Dick)

Of course, not all of life is rosy, and INFPs are not exempt from the same disappointments and frustrations common to humanity. As INTPs tend to have a sense of failed competence, INFPs struggle with the issue of their own ethical perfection, e.g., perfo rmance of duty for the greater cause. An INFP friend describes the inner conflict as not good versus bad, but on a grand scale, Good vs. Evil. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars depicts this conflict in his struggle between the two sides of “The Force.” Although the dark side must be reckoned with, the INFP believes that good ultimately triumphs.

Some INFPs have a gift for taking technical information and putting it into layman’s terms. Brendan Kehoe’s Zen and the Art of the Internet is one example of this “de-jargoning” talent in action.

Functional Analysis:
Introverted Feeling
INFPs live primarily in a rich inner world of introverted Feeling. Being inward-turning, the natural attraction is away from world and toward essence and ideal. This introversion of dominant Feeling, receiving its data from extraverted intuition, must be the source of the quixotic nature of these usually gentle beings. Feeling is caught in the approach- avoidance bind between concern both for people and for All Creatures Great and Small, and a psycho-magnetic repulsion from the same. The “object,” be it homo sapiens or a mere representation of an organism, is valued only to the degree that the object contains some measure of the inner Essence or greater Good. Doing a good deed, for example, may provide intrinsic satisfaction which is only secondary to the greater good of striking a blow against Man’s Inhumanity to Mankind.

Extraverted iNtuition
Extraverted intuition faces outward, greeting the world on behalf of Feeling. What the observer usually sees is creativity with implied good will. Intuition spawns this type’s philosophical bent and strengthens pattern perception. It combines as auxiliary with introverted Feeling and gives rise to unusual skill in both character development and fluency with language–a sound basis for the development of literary facility. If INTPs aspire to word mechanics, INFPs would be verbal artists.

Introverted Sensing
Sensing is introverted and often invisible. This stealth function in the third position gives INFPs a natural inclination toward absent- mindedness and other-worldliness, however, Feeling’s strong people awareness provides a balancing, mitigating effect. This introverted Sensing is somewhat categorical, a subdued version of SJ sensing. In the third position, however, it is easily overridden by the stronger functions.

Extraverted Thinking
The INFP may turn to inferior extraverted Thinking for help in focusing on externals and for closure. INFPs can even masquerade in their ESTJ business suit, but not without expending considerable energy. The inferior, problematic nature of Extraverted Thinking is its lack of context and proportion. Single impersonal facts may loom large or attain higher priority than more salient principles which are all but overlooked.

Famous INFPs:
Homer
Virgil
Mary, mother of Jesus
St. John, the beloved disciple
St. Luke; physician, disciple, author
William Shakespeare, bard of Avon
A. A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
Helen Keller, deaf and blind author
Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis
Neil Diamond, vocalist
Julia Roberts, actor (Conspiracy Theory, Pretty Woman)
Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap)
Amy Tan (author of The Joy-Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife)
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Lisa Kudrow (“Phoebe” of Friends)

Fictional INFPs:
Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)
Deanna Troi (Star Trek – The Next Generation)
Wesley Crusher (Star Trek – The Next Generation)
Doctor Julian Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space 9)
Bastian (The Neverending Story)
E.T.: the ExtraTerrestrial

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The Idealists

All Idealists (NFs) share the following core characteristics:

* Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.
* Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.
* Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.
* Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.

Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self — always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the “not visible” or the “not yet” that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.

Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a “soulmate,” someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are relatively rare, making up no more than 15 to 20 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.

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Healers present a calm and serene face to the world, and can seem shy, even distant around others. But inside they’re anything but serene, having a capacity for personal caring rarely found in the other types. Healers care deeply about the inner life of a few special persons, or about a favorite cause in the world at large. And their great passion is to heal the conflicts that trouble individuals, or that divide groups, and thus to bring wholeness, or health, to themselves, their loved ones, and their community.

Healers have a profound sense of idealism that comes from a strong personal sense of right and wrong. They conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place, full of wondrous possibilities and potential goods. In fact, to understand Healers, we must understand that their deep commitment to the positive and the good is almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. Set off from the rest of humanity by their privacy and scarcity (around one percent of the population), Healers can feel even more isolated in the purity of their idealism.

Also, Healers might well feel a sense of separation because of their often misunderstood childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood-they are the prince or princess of fairy tales-an attitude which, sadly, is frowned upon, or even punished, by many parents. With parents who want them to get their head out of the clouds, Healers begin to believe they are bad to be so fanciful, so dreamy, and can come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. In truth, they are quite OK just as they are, only different from most others-swans reared in a family of ducks.

At work, Healers are adaptable, welcome new ideas and new information, are patient with complicated situations, but impatient with routine details. Healers are keenly aware of people and their feelings, and relate well with most others. Because of their deep-seated reserve, however, they can work quite happily alone. When making decisions, Healers follow their heart not their head, which means they can make errors of fact, but seldom of feeling. They have a natural interest in scholarly activities and demonstrate, like the other Idealists, a remarkable facility with language. They have a gift for interpreting stories, as well as for creating them, and thus often write in lyric, poetic fashion. Frequently they hear a call to go forth into the world and help others, a call they seem ready to answer, even if they must sacrifice their own comfort.

Princess Diana, Richard Gere, Audrey Hephurn, Albert Schweiter, George Orwell, Karen Armstrong, Aldous Huxley, Mia Farrow, and Isabel Meyers are examples of a Healer Idealists.

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heh heh, always somehow makes me sound really AWESOME or something.

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It’s been a while since I last went to the lighthouse. I would jog past it each time I went jogging, which was few and far between. But even then it would stand, resilient against weather, against the waves beating against its base. It wasn’t a very tall lighthouse, neither was it a very old one, being powered by electricity and running unmanned, but it stood as a landmark on the beach – a tall, yellow beacon. People would gather under it when it rained, or meet around it when the sun blazed on the beach.

It’s been a long while since the last murder at the lighthouse. I heard stories of a girl being murdered there even when I was a little boy, and stories of how the girl was murdered would drift in and out of my consciousness each time I jogged past the lighthouse. I never knew the true story behind it, but as I grew up her demise became grimmer – any reason to avenge her death swelling greater with each pass. For the longest time I would refuse to climb the stairs of the lighthouse, for fear of seeing blood stains, apprehensive that I would witness her cold, unmoving body still lying there, unclaimed by man, by nature and by time, waiting to be avenged. I was forced to climb the lighthouse, one day, because a girl I was trying to impress was there – I had to be there to save her if the body was still lying there.

It has been a long time since the lighthouse was really used. Now there’s a larger, brighter, taller one just a short distance away. The ships no longer come so close to shore, and now there’s no reason to warn them away. The ships also got larger, the water shallower, and now the lighthouse stands there, unused. I suppose ships being further out would be a good reason to stop it from being used, its light a poor excuse for a beacon of warning. Even then, I wondered if they stopped using it because of the murdered girl. If she would lean against the barricade on the lighthouse, staring out at sea, searching with piercing eyes for her assailant, and when she failed, dimming the light, forcing ships to crash ashore, so that she would no longer be alone in her misery. When people gather under it, I would, then, wonder if she was trapping people in her tears. Save me, find me, except the rain would wash away the blood-written words, the name of her assailant smeared away.

It took a long time to finally get to the lighthouse. These days even that part of the beach is deserted, traffic rerouted to the newest beach haunts, fake waves replacing real ones, fake beaches replacing old ones. The sand is finer around the old lighthouse, the crowd thinner. I’d nearly taken the wrong turning there, but there was no mistaking the road in, cold, solemn, grey. Even with the sky awash in blue, the brooding spirit of a place once loved now mostly forgotten hung low in the air, suppressing ones mood. The lighthouse was a little off the road, but just a short while after the turning one couldn’t miss it. Creeping along the horizon, the lighthouse welcomed one – but anyone going there would feel as if the lighthouse was still doing its job, trying to warn anybody to come near to turn away.

And it took a long time before I realised the lighthouse was right. Just as I drove in, the alien mothership pierced through the sky, ablaze, the friction of sudden entry and the wounds of a sky battle apparent on its hull. Lasers shot out, going “pew pew”, and then the harsh sounds of fighter jets arrived, missiles launching. Then the sky grew gradually dimmer, and then something snuffed out the sun. My engine died. I stepped out of the car, wondering what was wrong, at which point the lighthouse fired a large beam into the sky and that was the last thing I saw -

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Like I said, best not let something fester for too long.

I can’t remember how this has changed over the years, but as usual they have it almost spot on, generic qualities or not. (A quick search shows INFP for 2006 and 2004.)

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You’re an INFP
INFP

You focus deeply on your values and devote your life to chasing ideals… you often draw people together around a common purpose and work to find a place for each person within the group. You’re creative and seek new ideas and possibilities. You quietly push for what’s important to you, and rarely give up. You might be somewhat gentle or have a good sense of humor, you could be hard to get to know and overlooked by others…you like to make the world more in line with your vision of perfection.

If you’re a teenager, you probably have a bit of a rebellious streak. You might argue with others who hold different values than yourself..you probably have a small close-knit group of friends…you can relax around these pals and be pretty entertaining, since you see the world in a different and special way… that’s why your posts on the Storm Palace are so great!

Inner harmony is the most important thing to you. You’re sensitive and loyal. You have a strong sense of honor concerning your personal values. You’d rather communicate your feelings in writing…

You do best in a flexible situation where the teacher/collegue takes a personal interest in you…you like to interact with your peers, but not TOO much …you have both creativity and flexibility, and you like that about yourself….you don’t get bogged down by details…your job must be fun and it must be meaningful to you….you don’t wanna feel conspicuous so you’ll sell yourself short just to avoid the spotlight…

You can be a gentle and subtle leader…being indirect and inclusive of others…you don’t confront people head-on, but rather work with ‘em to get the job done….you lead with your values in mind and let these guide you…you don’t like conflict, so you don’t confront situations directly.. you’d rather wait for a situation to work itself out….

Leisure and kickin’ back is really important to you. sometimes it is hard to separate work from play, huh? when you find a new recreational pursuit, you do a lot of reading up on it…most of your leisure things are done alone, like reading, listening to music, and even BBSing….when you want to be sociable, you can be very charming and outgoing..

Love is a very deep commitment to you…it’s not easily attained…you probably pick out flaws or are disappointed when he or she doesn’t match up to your ideal as to what love should be like…first dates are very well set up to make sure everything is taken care of so it can be “just right.” you might have a hard time sharing feelings about others…you tell so many feelings inside that you forget to tell your partner that you love ‘em or whatever….

If the relationship goes bad, you take it to heart, but probably don’t tell many others about it….you have a tendency to overreact, huh? Other things to watch for…don’t get so caught up in your dreams that you don’t consider others’ points-of-view…you might not adjust your vision to the facts of a situation…you may need a “reality check” once in a while… also, don’t try to please everyone and be so hesitant to criticize… don’t delay projects ’cause you’re holding out for perfection…it’s not gonna come…don’t get overly critical because no one matches your perfect ideals… you could lash out and it could get ugly.

INFP: “I Never Find Perfection”