The only thing I care about is having a posters gender and their type. These help when talking to people.
If we're talking idealism, it would be wonderful if all the posters knew their type, and knew how to type. This isn't a rant, I don't have anything against those people who don't/can't (I'm one of them), but this requirement alone would probably reduce junk posts by like 80% or so.
This of course assumes that there is one correct way to type...
The problem lies in stereotypes and the biases that follows from knowing type, gender, race, age or even nationality. Even those who don't tend to think in stereotypes will have subconscious images of the poster. Sometimes these biases don't matter, but often they seem to influence to what degree people will acknowledge or be willing to listen to a person.
If I were to reveal that I was a female ESFJ, a lot of you would immediately have some idea of who I am and how I think.
When discovering they are a said type, some will spring to their traits and throw their identity into them. If they have met resistance, then this discovery is an escape from that criticism.
I will use an example I get hints of often on this forum. This is pure speculation, but there seems to be a pattern.
Individuals having a tendency to think strictly, what they consider, "logical". I find the concept of logic very general. Anything can be logical, but often this logic becomes inaccurate and doesn't dive into what the consequences are. For instance, I could be logical in saying that an omnipresent god would be everywhere. But that would only be a shallow statement and little else. Saying something is logical doesn't even mean that it is true. We can't know that there is an omnipresent god.
I see this kind of thinking quite a lot. It's just not as visible when decorated with scientific terms and it revolves around topics more grounded.
Individuals having a tendency for this thinking have, obviously, met some resistance from the environment. Their thinking can seem cold and harsh to people. And those are the aspects people often react to. They react, perhaps, with disgust or sarcasm. So the logical thinker will apply emotional bias to the disgusted instead of evaluating own logic, even when the emotional outbursts had a point or two.
So what happens when the logical thinker discovers the INTP? He revels. Finally someone who understands he's right! And in worst case scenario, his thinking becomes more extreme. Everything is seen through a strict logical lens that doesn't consider the human and, ewwww, emotional factor.
The INTP doesn't have to look critically at their own thinking anymore
After all, all the geniuses are INTPs, that means they must be too. All rational, logical and accurate thinking are born from NTs. They have monopoly on it. NFs are idealistic thinkers tending to value humans and give arguments weight if they are merciful. Don't even get started on the SFs, they can't have any valid point, like ever. They can't be intelligent, rational thinkers.
The logical thinker will consider arguments born from the same perspective more relevant and more accurate than others. Just knowing that someone else is an INTP is enough to value that person's opinion more. After all, he is not a criticising, non-understanding sheep of the masses ESFJ.
And that's just the INTP. That's part of what I see a forum's tendency to be if types were known. It's not always open and in your face, but it's there.
