How Types Age

[Reverse Transcriptase]

Each person develops as an individual, but they also tend to follow their type in how they develop. Not only do our different cognitive functions develop at different stages in our life but each type also faces challenges that are pretty specific. The outward appearance of the challenges might be similar (i.e. depression) but the reasons could be different (a stressed INTP is likely overthinking how everything can go wrong, whereas an INFP is despairing that the people they care about don't return care). Types share a lot, but they have their tendencies.

Someone on this board referred to SJs as "cultural sponges that turn into rocks". What happens when SJs age, then? They just stay the same, stuck in the culture that was popular during their youth. I'm just going to assume it works this way... I've seen stubborn older people, but I've never typed them.

So how do the rest of the types age? As we get older, will our type differences become more noticable?

I wonder what are the MBTI types of internet-users who are 70+. And to have something to compare it to.... we should get the MBTI types of every age group. My gut instinct & pride say that NTs are heavily represented in internet users, and even more so in older ones.

There is going to be a lot of noise though- either from incorrect MBTI scores or from individual differences. But what if a model could model even 10% of a population? That'd be powerful.

Thoughts?

edit// My thread is kinda all over the place. In summary I ask: Does each type mentally/emotionally age in a consistent way?

 

[FusionKnight]

I wonder what are the MBTI types of internet-users who are 70+.

Bwah?? Who?

 

[Decaf]

I could ask... I'm an admin (the second youngest admin) on the OF Clan gaming forum (OF -> Old Farts) and we have a couple septuagenarians. Come to think of it, I am 99% certain that one of them is an INTP.

My step-dad's adopted dad is 90 and uses the internet too, though I don't know with what facility. I would venture a guess that he's an ISTJ who has embraced his inferior functions.

 

[FusionKnight]

You know 70-year-old internet gamers??!! Kudos to them! Those are people I'd like to meet.

 

[Ermine]

I think it would be productive to ask the younger and older users here. I think it ranges from about early teens with Severus and Chimera, to me and many others, late teens, a bunch of 20 somethings, a few in their thirties (Jennywocky, greymatters, etc. ?), and a few people older than that. I think we have a pretty good mix here other than the lack of senior citizens. Well, at least that would work for one type. However, wouldn't it depend on how content the person is with their life?

 

[Jesin]

I think we have a pretty good mix here other than the lack of senior citizens.

Well, we have Coberst and Da Blob.

 

[hopefulmonster]

Each person develops as an individual, but they also tend to follow their type in how they develop. Not only do our different cognitive functions develop at different stages in our life but each type also faces challenges that are pretty specific. The outward appearance of the challenges might be similar (i.e. depression) but the reasons could be different (a stressed INTP is likely overthinking how everything can go wrong, whereas an INFP is despairing that the people they care about don't return care). Types share a lot, but they have their tendencies.

Someone on this board referred to SJs as "cultural sponges that turn into rocks". What happens when SJs age, then? They just stay the same, stuck in the culture that was popular during their youth. I'm just going to assume it works this way... I've seen stubborn older people, but I've never typed them.

So how do the rest of the types age? As we get older, will our type differences become more noticable?

I wonder what are the MBTI types of internet-users who are 70+. And to have something to compare it to.... we should get the MBTI types of every age group. My gut instinct & pride say that NTs are heavily represented in internet users, and even more so in older ones.

There is going to be a lot of noise though- either from incorrect MBTI scores or from individual differences. But what if a model could model even 10% of a population? That'd be powerful.

Thoughts?

edit// My thread is kinda all over the place. In summary I ask: Does each type mentally/emotionally age in a consistent way?

I suspect we Ntuitives age better then other types in terms of their ability to adapt to changing times. That said I don't think we are immune to old prejudices. . Look at the last years of Einsteins career. He absolutely refused to accept the changes in physics going on at the time. Brilliant mind wasted.

 

[Luzian]

NTs aren't necessarily prominent online, INxx are.

I assume INTPs would continue to evolve 'till DEATH!

It's similar to the concept of the movie "Speed", if our brains stop, we explode. But this is just theory.

 

[Da Blob]

Well, we have Coberst and Da Blob.

Truth, but (blowing on fingers) but we managed to Improve with Age

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I suspect we Ntuitives age better then other types in terms of their ability to adapt to changing times. That said I don't think we are immune to old prejudices. . Look at the last years of Einsteins career. He absolutely refused to accept the changes in physics going on at the time. Brilliant mind wasted.

I assume you are talking about his stance towards quantum physics. Couldn't this have been just a personal thing and not necessarily related to age?

 

[JoeJoe]

I assume INTPs would continue to evolve 'till DEATH!

Actually we continue to evolve beyond death.

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly but I once read in a book about MBTI (I think it was "Just your Type") that the two predominant functions are usually very developed from an early age on, and that in the 40s you start to develop your third function and in the 50s your fourth. For us that's Ti Ne Si Fe.

I seem to be an exception here because I think my Fe is already relatively developed, maybe thanks to all the Fe's I've been around. I don't know if I use my Si much. How do you tell?

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

Actually we continue to evolve beyond death.

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly but I once read in a book about MBTI (I think it was "Just your Type") that the two predominant functions are usually very developed from an early age on, and that in the 40s you start to develop your third function and in the 50s your fourth. For us that's Ti Ne Si Fe.

I seem to be an exception here because I think my Fe is already relatively developed, maybe thanks to all the Fe's I've been around. I don't know if I use my Si much. How do you tell?

Agreed, we do evolve beyond death

Yeah, that's standard theory for how types develop. The hard-and-fast rule is that you develop one function every decade. So as a 21yearold I'm just on the cusp of developing my Si.

But the book "functions of type" has good descriptions of cognitive functions and suggestions for how to develop them. With a tool like that, I think one could develop much faster. And true, it does help to be around other people for development. My Ni is really strong, because it's my mom's and bro's primary trait and my dad's secondary trait.

 

[Da Blob]

Agreed, we do evolve beyond death

Yeah, that's standard theory for how types develop. The hard-and-fast rule is that you develop one function every decade. So as a 21yearold I'm just on the cusp of developing my Si.

But the book "functions of type" has good descriptions of cognitive functions and suggestions for how to develop them. With a tool like that, I think one could develop much faster. And true, it does help to be around other people for development. My Ni is really strong, because it's my mom's and bro's primary trait and my dad's secondary trait.

One of the saddest things about being human is that we seemingly cannot learn from the Mistakes of Others at least, at least not in a social sense. The goal of pushing one's own development is an excellent suggestion, however, we would have to convince certain people that they are not already perfectly developed...