Overthink

Personality

9 snips
Mar 3, 2026
They examine the rise of personality testing from BuzzFeed quizzes to the Big Five. They trace MBTI and wartime links, psychometrics, and the history of personality in abnormal psychology. They debate how tests package the self and trade moral, literary understandings for quantified labels.
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ANECDOTE

Ellie Felt Special At A Human Design Talk

  • Ellie describes briefly joining a Human Design talk at The Wing and being told her rare birth-type applied to only one or two percent of attendees.
  • She raised her hand as one of the only people with that type and felt special enough to temporarily 'drink the Kool-Aid.'
ADVICE

Treat Personality Tests As Interactional Tools

  • Recognize everyday interactions as informal personality assessments because we constantly judge dispositions like friendliness or openness in real time.
  • Use this awareness to treat tests as tools, not definitive identities, since personality is what unfolds in interaction.
ANECDOTE

Hosts Took Big Five And Debated Their Openness Scores

  • Both hosts took the Big Five test and found high openness; Ellie scored 94 and David 83, prompting playful dispute about who is truly more open.
  • They use personal examples (reading, tolerance for 'sus' people) to explain their openness scores.
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