personalities

I have had some pretty interesting conversations with various friends about the differences in people.

One topic was the Myers-Briggs personality types. (I am ENFP.) I think it's really fun to try to figure out someone else and what you think they might be and why, and then find out if you're right! Even though I don't think there are only 16 types of people in the world, I think, at least for myself, that there are definitely a lot of truths about me as an ENFP in how I take in information, how I function in my environment, and how I am inclined to make decisions. I have found it helpful in understanding myself and other people better.

The other conversation that I was part of along these lines have more to do with the differences between men and women. Last weekend when I was with a bunch of friends at a cabin, a married couple got into an interesting conversation about her theory on why men tend to be more obsessed with hobbies than women are. She thinks it has something to do with the fact that men are raised not to talk about their feelings, so they need something to talk about with each other! The two guys in the room both thought that nature has a lot to do with that (vs nurture). The guys were talking about how they really would much rather go fishing or play sports and just talk about that with their friends than talk about what's going on in their personal lives. They couldn't really understand the need that us women feel to share our feelings (good or bad) and listen to others' as well. We couldn't understand why the guys wouldn't want to know what's going on with their friends or have their friends know all about their personal lives! I don't know if we really came to any great conclusions about this topic, except that having some balance is probably good for both sexes. Very interesting...