Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey, Ch.6

Rationals

To me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to attempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all that there is.

This is how Albert Einstein concluded his essay, My Credo, a statement summing up his philosophy of life, and expressing the essence of his fascination with science. Einstein's insatiable curiosity about the secrets of the natural world, coupled with his prodigious (and reportedly rather arrogant) ability to comprehend the structure of "all that there is," enabled him to change fundamentally the way in which, not just physicists, but all educated people look at the universe. From 1905 to 1925, Einstein not only conceived the theory of relativity, but he made indispensable contributions to new understandings of thermodynamics, the nature of light, atomic structure, and quantum physics, and created in the process nothing less than the first new model of the universe since Isaac Newton's, over two centuries earlier.

A truly astonishing achievement for any human being, but particularly for someone who was considered a slow-learner as a child, who dropped out of (and was then expelled from) his secondary school, who graduated from a mere technical college with a teaching diploma, and who, of all his classmates, was passed over for a teaching position and post-doctorate appointment. Rejected by academia, Einstein went his own way and took a job at the Swiss Patent Office, where he evaluated the plans of would-be inventors, correcting errors of design, and deciding (he could do this almost instantaneously) if an invention would work. In his youth, Einstein had enjoyed building models and playing with mechanical devices, and so his work at the Patent Office taxed him very little, and left him free in his spare time, and on his own, to do the theoretical work that would change the face of physics for the rest of the century.

Professorships at leading universities soon came his way, and as his fame grew so did the legend of his eccentric character. Shy and reserved as a child, with a calm detachment from all personal ties, Einstein grew into a thoroughly self-contained young man. Though popular with his colleagues and students, he remained remote, enjoying the company of other brilliant friends, but letting none get close to him. And then in his later years he became the very icon of the absent-minded professor, the abstracted, fuzzy-haired scientific genius all but unaware of his social context. Stories about his forgetfulness are legion, but one is delightfully succinct: on his way to an important meeting, Einstein telephoned his wife and asked, "Where am I and where am I meant to be?"

One thing he never forgot, however, throughout his long and celebrated life: what he called “the never-ending task of Reason.”

In the mid 1970s, while writing Please Understand Me, I chose the Greek god Prometheus to represent these Rationals (Myers's NTs), naming them the "Prometheans." Myth has it that Zeus commissioned Prometheus to fashion a creature to live on earth with the animals. The animals had already been given many different means of survival, weapons and defenses, such as fangs, claws, and horns, fur, feathers, and shells, not to mention powers such as strength, swiftness, and flight. Very few protections and powers were left to give human beings, so Prometheus decided to provide his creation with gifts outdoing those of the animals. First he shaped Man differently, upright like the gods; then he went to heaven and stole fire from the wheel of the sun, giving this precious knowledge to mankind as its means of surviving among the animals, even of triumphing over them.

This gift of fire, however, cost Prometheus dearly. Zeus, CEO of the Greek Pantheon, was so enraged that mortal humanity had been given divine knowledge that he condemned Prometheus to live forever chained to a barren rock, with, in some stories, a vulture eating daily at his liver (‘liver’ symbolizing life-sustaining). But Prometheus suffered this agony with dignity and serenity, for his was the noble cause of imparting to mankind knowledge of light and energy (symbolized by fire) in defiance of authority. Prometheus, the god of pre-learning (‘pro’ = pre + ‘metheus’ = learning), secured for humanity the powers of science and technology, thereby rescuing human beings from helplessness and ignorance, even though he had to rob heaven to do so.

In the 1980s I chose the Owl as the Rational's totem animal. Owls are among the most efficient winged predators, rarely missing their prey owing to their keenness of sight, swiftness, and timing. With their ability to see in the dark, and with their oversized talons, owls surpass even the hawk and the eagle in their ability to spot and to seize their prey. And this is very much the nature of Rationals, particularly in abstract matters: to penetrate the dark recesses of nature with their keen insight, and to grasp ideas with their sharp intellects. It is no wonder that, of all the animals, it is the professorial owl that best serves as the symbol of Rational pragmatics.

Looking back, I remember meeting only two Rationals during the war years. The first was another cadet like me. We were buddies during preflight and primary flight training. After that, only one other, an engineer sent along with my squadron to oversee our use of a giant rocket. Then in graduate school after the war I met two students and one professor in the psychology department who were Rationals, the rest of the students and professors seemingly quite different from us. Strangely, I found the professors and students in the philosophy department more given to reason than those in the psychology department. Finally, in the thirty years 1 worked for schools in corrective counseling I met so few Rationals that I kept lowering my estimate of their numbers. My guess now, as I've said elsewhere, is that they're no more than five or six percent of the population. In any case that ought to be enough of these strategic pragmatists to keep science and technology advancing at a steady pace.

Plato’s Rationals

Plato's word for men like Einstein was ‘dianoeti’' which roughly translated means “dialectical thought” – coordinate thought, parallel reasoning, ratiocination – hence he considered this type as the "Rationals." Plato regarded the Rationals as serving a particular function in society: to study nature and figure out ways to tame it, that is, to make the natural order confluent with the social order. Not, mind you, to violate Nature, but to civilize it.

A generation after Plato, his student Aristotle defined logic for the Western world. Aristotle said that the "Dialectical" types (Plato's Rationals) try their best to be accurate, to get things straight, to sort things out, in order to avoid errors in reasoning. Logic, he said, tells us how to avoid such errors. One way is to realize that whatever we can identify is unique, has an identity, no matter how hard it is to distinguish it from other things. For example, though two peas in the same pod may seem identical, they really aren't, and careful scrutiny will reveal their difference. This is Aristotle's Law of Identity. The other cornerstone of Aristotelian logic is that things that are identifiable in a given context are either one thing or another, and so can't be both. For example, there is no such thing as half man and half beast, such as a Centaur, even though we can imagine such a creature. This is Aristotle's Law of Contradiction. These two rules of logic are called "truisms," meaning that they are obvious even though unprovable. But provable or not, to violate them is to talk nonsense, something that Aristotle's Dialecticals are careful to avoid doing.

Galen named the Rationals the "Phlegmatics." The word `phlegmatic' has come to mean disinterested, bland, distant, seemingly detached from social involvement. And indeed these Rationals, concerned as they are with logical investigation, seem detached and distant from others, who conclude that this type has no interest in social reality. This conclusion is correct in the sense that when the Rationals are concentrating on some complex problem they do detach themselves from their social context and remain distant until they solve the problem. At that moment they are not interested in others, but that does not mean they do not care about others. They are just as caring as any other type when they are focused on those they care about.

Plato's Rationals are not only logical and contemplative, they are also usually absorbed in some enquiry, some investigation into complexity, some experimental probing into the nature of things. Perhaps this was why Paracelsus chose the mythical Sylphs to be their tutelary spirit. Sylphs were believed to live high above the ground, in forest canopies, and on mountain tops; they were cerebral spirits (much like the owl, who might have given rise to them), with their enlarged eyes which gave them penetrating sight, their oversized forebrain which gave them powerful reasoning, their sensitive antennae which gave them vivid imagination, and their gossamer wings which gave them access to places otherwise impossible to explore. Thus it was Paracelsus who first emphasized the insatiable curiosity and restless research of the Rationals.

Adickes spoke of Plato's Rationals as "Agnostics," for these people have their doubts about everything complicated. Despite all their rigorous logic, their studied contemplation, and particularly their probing empiricism, this type maintains a hint of uncertainty. With certitude so hard to come by, Rationals think it best to speak only of the possible and the probable. So it was Adickes who first touched upon one of the more puzzling features of the Rational character, their doubting nature.

In his intricately reasoned treatise on what he called different "forms of living" (translated as "types of men"), Spranger saw the Rationals, as did Plato, Aristotle, and Adickes, as rational, logical, and skeptical. But he focused even more closely on their penchant for theory building, calling them the "Theoretic" type. For the Rationals, to be sure, theory building is heady wine, one of the most fulfilling operations that tests and measures the mettle of their intellect.

Kretschmer, the first investigator to look carefully at the dark side of character, called the Rationals the "Anesthetics" which roughly translated means "unfeeling." In thus speaking of them he was echoing Galen, who had said that they are distant and detached, but Kretschmer was saying more than this. He believed that if and when life's problems get the better of them, Rationals, like the other three types, have no choice in which kind of absurd behaviors to use in their self-defense, their temperament alone deciding the matter.

Like Kretschmer, Fromm examined both sides of personality, presenting negative as well as positive traits of character. Fromm considered the Rationals to be "Marketers," thinking of marketing (or pragmatic transacting) as a negative trait, while he lauded them for their efficiency and other desirable traits. Thus in his view Rationals are not only "efficient," they are also "adaptable," "curious," "experimental," "farseeing," "flexible," "generous," "intelligent," "open-minded," "purposeful," "sociable," "tolerant," "undogmatic," "witty," and "youthful." It would appear that Fromm, probably a Rational himself, thought better of them than the other types.

Myers contributed to the study of the Rational personality by naming them the "Intuitive Thinking" types – “NTs” – and saying of them that they are "abstract," "analytical," "competent," "complex," "curious," "efficient," "exacting," "impersonal," "intellectual," "independent," "inventive," "logical," "scientific," "theoretical," "research-oriented," and "systematic." Though apparently unaware of the contributions of her predecessors, she was clearly able on her own to identify the more salient traits that characterize Plato's Rationals.

The Abstract Utilitarians

Plato's Rationals, Aristotle's Dialecticals, Myers's NTs, whatever their name, have something very important in common with the Idealists and Artisans, and little in common with the Guardians. With the Idealists they share a predominantly abstract manner of communicating their messages, and with the Artisans a predominantly utilitarian manner of implementing their goals. Of necessity we communicate messages with words, and implement goals with tools, and thus these two dimensions, word usage and tool usage, constitute the underlying basis of personality development. As shown in the matrix below, the base of NT personality is their unique combination of abstract word usage with utilitarian tool usage. It is for this reason that I think of Plato's Rationals as the "Abstract Utilitarians." Since these two dimensions are the bases of personality development, it is well that we examine them in some detail.

	ABSTRACT	CONCRETE
COOPERATIVE	NF	SJ
UTILITARIAN	NT	SP

Abstract Word Usage

Abstract words refer to imaginable things, concrete words to observable things. Rationals talk little of what is observable and much of what is imaginable. They are inclined to speak more of what can be seen only with the mind's eye, conceptual things rather than perceptual things, ideas rather than objects. All of us, of course, can observe what is before us as well as imagine what is not. But this does not mean that we do both equally. Very early in life we begin to exercise one focus of language – observables or imaginables – more than the other, and we continue to do so throughout life. Like the NFs, the NTs choose the imaginative, conceptual, or inferential things to speak of over the observational, perceptual, or experiential.

In conversation Rationals try to avoid the irrelevant, the trivial, and the redundant. They will not waste words, and while they understand that some redundancy is necessary they still are reluctant to state the obvious, or to repeat themselves on a point, limiting their explanations and definitions because they assume that what is obvious to them is obvious to others. NTs assume that if they did state the obvious their listeners or readers would surely be bored, if not offended. Their tacit assumption is that what is obvious to them is obvious to others, and the overly terse and compact style of speech that results is hard for others to follow. Because of this Rationals sometimes lose their audience and wonder why.

The basis of coherence in Rational thought and speech is deductive inference. This basis has much in common with the inductive inference of the Idealists, little in common with the harmonic thought and speech of the Artisans, and nothing in common with the associative thought and speech of the Guardians. Although inferential, induction requires the so-called "intuitive leap," a leap only dubiously taken by NTs, even when it is necessary to get on with their current speculation. On the other hand, associative thought and speech requires topic hopping, something NTs will only occasionally and reluctantly do, and only as an excursion before returning to the unfinished topic. And harmonic thought and speech requires selecting and arranging words for the way they sound, a skill not usually acquired by Rationals, though some (like Shakespeare) can become masters of it when they take it as their province.

While we cannot observe deductive thought (going from general to specific, whole to part), we can observe the language that makes it possible. Defining words to limit their usage is a deductive process, so too is arranging words in logical order to control coherence, and so too is choosing words to control shades of meaning. Thus, the coherence, reference, arrangement, and choice of words tend to be done deductively by Rationals.

Rationals are unusually exacting about definitions. Our words can have distinct reference only if we are careful in defining them, and so NTs make distinctions, lots of them, most of the time. Indeed, they're sometimes called "nitpickers" and "hairsplitters" by other types. NFs are even affronted by NT hairsplitting, bent as they are on erasing the NTs' finely drawn distinctions. But Rationals don't mind being teased with such names because they assume that their distinctions enable them to control arguments and, it might be added, enterprises. The way Rationals see it, whoever controls categories, controls useful operations. They leave control of other things to others.

Many Rationals are dictionary readers, even specialty dictionaries – anthropology, aphorisms, etymology, law, medicine, philosophy, psychology, slang. Some spend a good deal of time with their dictionaries, and so are aware of definitions and word families, of roots and derivations, of denotations and connotations, things the other types are content to gloss over.

While their word arsenal grows through the years, Rationals also tend to enjoy playing with words, finding pleasure in puns and paradoxes. They are delighted by comments such as Einstein's reference to mathematics: "The laws of mathematics, as far as they refer to reality, are not certain, and as far as they are certain, do not refer to reality." And the more puckish of them are tickled by Disraeli's retort to Gladstone. Gladstone: "You will either die on the gallows or from syphilis." Disraeli, in instant repartee: "Depending on whether I embrace your morals or your wife."

Rationals are careful in subjoining one word to another to avoid errors of sequence or of category. An obvious sequence error would be to join the word `meow' to the word `dog' such as in saying that "The dog's meow is worse than its bite." Everyone minds such obvious errors, but the NT, far more than others, is mindful of unnoticed errors of category that result in subtle contradiction. For example, the expression `disorder leads to chaos' presumes that chaos differs from disorder, when in fact the words are synonymous. Chaos cannot follow disorder because it is disorder.

Errors of category are just as scrupulously avoided by Rationals. For example it's a mistake to say that "there were weeds among the plants" because weeds are plants, the latter being the category that weeds belong to. NTs frequently note such trivial errors of category in others' speech, but they rarely comment on them. However, let the error occasion contradiction in an argument being made, and NTs are compelled by their very nature to point out the error.

Many Rationals are obsessed with speculative enquiry, so their speech tends to be laced with assumptions and presuppositions, probabilities and possibilities, postulates and premises, hypotheses and theorems. In such speech data plays only a supportive and secondary role, as does the merely factual. It is this feature of their language – a their disinterest in dative and factual information – that sets NTs farther away from their concrete cousins, the SPs, and their concrete opposites, the SJs. Hegel, the most arrogant of the German philosophers, is credited with (and condemned by some for) saying "if the facts do not comport with my theory, so much the worse for the facts." Facts, say the NTs, cannot speak for themselves, but must be spoken for by those conversant with and observant of the canons of logic.

Above all else Rationals want to be coherent in their arguments, and so they try to make certain that each phrase and clause advances the argument, introducing nothing that doesn't logically belong, and leaving out nothing that is logically required. This style produces carefully crafted communications, NTs tending to qualify their statements with modifiers such as `likely,' `probably,' `usually,' `occasionally,' and `in some degree.' Note how concerned the great anthropologist James Frazer is with the accuracy of his statements in The Golden Bough, and how he qualifies almost everything he says, as if he cannot allow himself to overstate his case:

Now that the theory, which necessarily presented itself to me at first in outline, has been worked out in detail, I cannot but feel that in some places I may have pushed it too far. If this should prove to have been the case, I will readily acknowledge and retract my error as soon as it is brought home to me. Meantime my essay may serve its purpose as a first attempt to solve a difficult problem, and to bring a variety of scattered facts into some sort of order and system.

Rationals can also become highly technical in their vocabulary. Not only will they use an extensive, erudite vocabulary (the speech of William F. Buckley, Jr., is a good example), but NTs in emerging scientific or technological fields will often develop their own high-tech terminology to talk about their theories and inventions – thus the computerese of the 1980s, with its esoteric vocabulary of `RAM,' `ROM,' `bits,' `bytes,' and so on.

The opposite of high-tech speech is small talk, a way of communicating in which Rationals are notoriously disinterested. In Shaw's play Pygmalion, Professor Higgins' mother has learned not to let her famous NT son meet her high society friends:

MRS. HIGGINS: ... I'm serious, Henry. You offend all my friends: they stop coming whenever they meet you.

HIGGINS: Nonsense! I know I have no small talk; but people don't mind.

MRS. HIGGINS: Oh! Don't they? Small talk indeed! What about your large talk?...Henry: you are the life of the Royal Society [of Science]; but really you're rather trying on more commonplace occasions.

Rationals prefer to appear unemotional when they communicate (and they can seem rather stiff), trying to minimize body-language, facial expression, and other non-verbal qualifiers as much as possible. But when they become animated their characteristic hand gestures express their need for precision and control. NTs will make one or both hands into claws or talons, as if to seize the idea they are discussing. They will also bend their fingers and grasp the space in front of them, turning and shaping their ideas in the air. They will use their fingers like a calculator, ticking off point after point, and they will take small objects at hand (salt and pepper shakers, pens and paper weights) and arrange them on a table or desk to help map out their ideas. But perhaps the most telling gesture of all is the apposition of the thumb against the finger tips, as if the NT is bringing an idea or an argument to the finest possible point and is savoring the precision.

Utilitarian Tool Usage

Rationals are utilitarian in going after what they want, which means that they consider the usefulness of their tools as more important than their social acceptability – whether they should be used, are moral, are legal, are legitimate. Not that Rationals prefer to be immoral, illegal, or illegitimate in their tool usage. They do not refuse to cooperate with their social groups, but like their utilitarian cousins, the Artisans, they see pleasing others and obeying rules as secondary considerations, coming only after they have determined how well their intended means will work in achieving their ends. However, it must be emphasized that the Artisan's concrete utility is different from the Rational's abstract utility. Where SPs are interested in effective operations, NTs are interested in efficient operations. If a given operation promises to be too costly for the results it gets, that is, inefficient though effective, the NT will look for operations that are likely to take less effort to get the same result.

If not socially or politically correct, neither are Rationals at all snobbish in their utilitarianism. Indeed, they will listen to anybody who has something useful to offer regarding their choice of ways and means, but they will also disregard anyone who does not. Status, prestige, authority, degree, licence, credential, badge of office, reputation, manners – all of these marks of social approval mean nothing to the NTs when the issue is the utility of goal-directed action. They will heed the demons if their ideas are fruitful, and ignore the saints if theirs are not. Niccolo Machiavelli acquired his knowledge of statecraft by studying many effective means of taking and holding power: "With the utmost diligence I have long pondered and scrutinized the actions of the great," he wrote in The Prince, and by "the great" he meant any successful ruler, from the trusted Moses to the treacherous Cesare Borgia. The design of efficient action toward well-defined goals is no place for incompetents, even nice ones.

Rationals are wont to think of themselves as the prime movers who must pit their utilitarian ways and means against custom and tradition, in an endless struggle to bring efficiency and goal- directedness to enterprise, an attitude regarded by many as arrogant. But if this be arrogance, then at least it is not vanity, and without question it has driven Rationals to engineer the technology upon which civilization is based.

The Strategic Intellect

Strategy has to do with identifying the ways and means necessary and sufficient to achieve a well-defined goal. But not just any goal is of interest to Rationals; invariably the goal that Rationals set for themselves is increasing the efficiency of systems.

Some Rationals concern themselves mainly with social systems, like families and companies, while others are concerned with organic systems, like plants and animals, and still others with mechanical systems, like computers and aircraft and automobiles. But no matter what system they're working with, NTs want to increase the efficient operation of that system. Other sorts of objectives are of considerably less interest and so are given little effort. The way Rationals reach their objective of maximizing efficiency in systems is by analyzing systems in search of inefficiency, which is to say, they look for error in the order or in the organization of systems. Indeed, perhaps the most important thing to understand about the strategic intellect is that it is activated by errors found in complex systems. In other words, Rationals are ever on the lookout for systemic problems and are bent on solving them. They're problem solvers, one and all.

The concept of systems was understood and used by only a handful of behavioral and physical scientists during the first half of the 20th century. Then at mid-century Norbert Wiener wrote his seminal work on what he called "cybernetics," meaning by that term network (`netics') governance (`cyber'), that is, network control. He made his concept of cybernetics intelligible to those not conversant with systems theory by borrowing the term `feedback' from radio technology and using it as a metaphor for circular processes in systems. Magorah Maruyama would later say that feedback in systems is a matter of "mutually causal processes," thus distinguishing sharply between linear and circular causality. Causality, in the view of systems theorists, is always relative to the conditions surrounding an event, as the "necessary and sufficient conditions for the occurrence of an event." Rationals, never really having much use for the notion of linear causality, now embraced circular causality with enthusiasm and undertook the construction and reconstruction of complex systems with renewed vigor.

Order and Organization

Unity in systems is a two sided matter. On the one hand there is the unity of order, while on the other hand there is the unity of organization. Order and organization are different from each other: order is concerned with what follows what, organization with what is simultaneous with what. Those Rationals interested primarily in order I call the "Coordinators," and those primarily interested in organization I call the "Engineers." Before we consider what the Coordinators and Engineers do, let us study for a moment the distinction between their different objectives, the one in search of disorder in systems, the other in search of disorganization in systems.

Order, first of all, has two forms, one having to do with above-and below, and the other with before-and-after. Some things are of higher order than others. For example, a colonel in the army has higher rank than

a major, a major higher than a captain, a captain higher than a lieutenant, and so on down the ranks to the buck private. Lower ranks are said to be subordinate to higher ranks, being as they are of lower order. This kind of order is hierarchical and is usually referred to as "rank order."

The other kind of order can be called "serial order." For instance, certain technical procedures require a series of actions that must follow in a very specific order. Take firing a single action revolver. First load it, then cock the hammer, then pull the trigger. Reversing this order will not do. Of course the kind of series that interests Rationals is a bit more complex than firing a gun. The preparations for the invasion of Europe in World War II is an example of extreme complexity involving hundreds of planners over a period of years, any error in the sequencing of operations fraught with peril and inviting disaster.

Organization, on the other hand, has to do with either devising (and revising) or configuring (and reconfiguring) complex systems that are composed of parts, not ranks or steps. Where the ranks or steps of an ordinal system are separate from each other, the parts of an organizational system are connected organically to each other, such that what happens anywhere in the system reverberates throughout the system. Thus organizations, of whatever kind, are said to be integrated, every part being present to every other part of that system.

Now, Coordinators do the work of what might be called "arranging." Arranging is the act of determining the various levels of rank (in other words, hierarchy, layers, echelons) or the consecutive steps (sequence, series, succession) that are required to achieve long range objectives. Hierarchical arrangement enables the mobilizing of field forces in conducting campaigns. Serial arrangement, in contrast, enables the entailing of contingencies in a plan of action.

For their part, Engineers do the work of constructing. Constructing is the act of determining what the parts of a system are supposed to do (its mechanism) or what parts of a system are required for it to work (its configuration). Mechanical constructing involves building functional, working prototypes, while configurational constructing involves making detailed two-dimensional blueprints and three-dimensional models. Both kinds of construction are undertaken to determine what structures are necessary and sufficient for the system to do its work most efficiently.

To summarize: Arrangement works to reduce disorder in systems, the two forms of it being the mobilizing of campaign forces and the entailing of contingency plans. Construction, in contrast, works to reduce disorganization in systems, the two forms of it being the devising of prototypes and the designing of models.

Interest, Practice, Skill

Any skill is acquired by practice, increasing precisely in the degree it is exercised, and diminishing in the degree it is neglected. Neural cells are like muscle cells; if they aren’t used they lie dormant and even degenerate.

In addition, there is a feedback relation between interest and ability. We improve in doing things we’re interested in doing, and have greater interest in things we do well. Interest reinforces skill, skill reinforces interest, and neither seems to be the starting point. So the Rationals' lifelong interest in strategic operations – both arranging and constructing – fuels their daily exercise of such operations, and as strategic skills increase so then does interest in threm, precisely and exclusively measured by the amount of practice.

Now, in a sense every individual has not one but four IQs, and it is simply not possible for one person to develop all four of his or her capabilities equally. The kind of operation practiced most develops most, while that practiced least develops least. Unless stunted by unfavorable circumstances, Rationals instinctively practice strategic actions far more and far earlier than the others, and therefore end up more highly skilled in strategy than in tactics and diplomacy, and much more than in logistics. Consider the following graph:

	Logistics
SJ	Tactics
Guardians	Diplomacy
	Strategy
	Logistics
NT	Tactics
Rationals	Diplomacy
	Strategy
	Logistics
NF	Tactics
Idealists	Diplomacy
	Strategy
	Logistics
SP	Tactics
Artisans	Diplomacy
	Strategy

Notice in the graph above that logistics in the case of the NT profile falls far short of strategy. Note also that diplomatic and tactical skills lag behind strategic skills but outdo logistical skills, owing to the middling amount of practice usually given them as second and third suits. Another glance at the bar graph will suggest that, although NTs and SJs are opposites in the way they tend to use words and tools, they are likely to be equal in the extent they develop their diplomatic and tactical skills. Why? Rationals, like Idealists, are abstract in word usage and do considerable introspection, so it is not difficult for them to identify with others and to talk in a diplomatic way. As for tactics, Rationals share with Artisans a utilitarian way of selecting and using tools, so they, given enough practice, can get very good at making the right moves when in the field of action. On their side, Guardians share cooperative implementation with Idealists and concrete communication with Artisans, so they can match with Rationals in both diplomacy and tactics.

Strategic Role Variants

Rationals all have strategic intelligence in common, but they differ sharply among themselves in the kinds of strategic operations they choose to practice. The two sides of strategy explained above mark the first division, with one side having to do with the order in which things are to be done, that is, coordinating operations, and the other side having to do with the organization of things, or engineering operations. Thus Rationals naturally set their minds to mastering the roles of Coordinator or Engineer, and these enable them to play four strategic role variants, what I call the "Fieldmarshal" (ENTJ), the "Mastermind" (INTJ), the "Inventor" (ENTP), and the "Architect" (INTP) – all Rational to the core, but decidedly singular in their rationality. Let us examine the strategic roles that Rationals are temperamentally inclined to take.

The diagram below indicates the symmetry between the strategic roles and role variants, and systemic work. Those Rationals who develop their strategic intelligence to a high degree tend to gravitate to work with systems and to be preoccupied with the technology involved in such work. Note on the right side that work with systems involves both arranging and constructing; that arrangement is concerned with either mobilizing forces or entailing contingencies; and that construction is concerned with either devising prototypes or designing models.

Strategic Role Variants	Fieldmarshal [ENTJ]	Mastermind [INTJ]	Inventor [ENTP]	Architect [INTP]
	Coordinator	Coordinator	Engineer	Engineer
Working with Systems	Arranging	Arranging	Constructing	Constructing
	Mobilizing	Entailing	Devising	Designing

Strategic Coordinators

Those Rationals who are quick to judge and to make schedules are eager to take the part of Coordinator. Coordinators determine who is to do what at a given time and place, and this role requires a directive character. Coordinators steadily increase in directiveness as they mature, such that they easily and comfortably command others and expect to be obeyed. Indeed, Coordinators are surprised by any resistance to their directives, because it is so clear to them that others do not know what to do, presumably because their goal is unclear or absent, and because they apparently have no strategy in mind by which to proceed. So, in the view of the Coordinator, most people are operating blindly and going around in circles, plainly in need of direction.

Fieldmarshals arrange a well-ordered hierarchy that makes possible the chain of command and the mobilizing of forces. In their campaigns these expressive, energetic Coordinators commandeer whatever human capabilities and material resources are available and use them to execute a complex strategy, such as was done by Napoleon in his twenty years of campaigning in Europe, by Grant at Vicksburg and Chatanooga, by Sherman in his "scorched earth" march from Atlanta to Savannah, by Eisenhower at the beachheads of the Normandy invasion and the conquest of Germany, and by MacArthur in his Pacific island hopping, his reconstruction of Japan, and his Inchon landing. I hasten to add that although military campaigns are the most publicized, they are by no means the most common form of mobilized operation. Any kind of undertaking, whether commercial, educational, political, or military – whatever – can be arranged hierarchically, indeed must be if success is to be achieved, and the more efficient the hierarchy, the greater the success.

Masterminds arrange things in coherent and comprehensive sequential order, that is, they coordinate operations by making efficient schedules, with each item entailing the next, as a necessary precursor or consequence. Moreover, Masterminds make contingency plans for keeping their schedules on track. If plan A is in jeopardy or is aborted, switch to plan B. If that doesn't work, then plan C. Often working behind the scenes, these quiet, reserved Coordinators are able to anticipate nearly everything that can go awry and generate alternatives that are likely to avoid the fate that might befall the first operation. And so it goes, the Mastermind ending with a flow chart of alternate ways and means to reach clearly defined objectives.

Strategic Engineers

Engineers structure the form and function of the instruments to be employed in pursuing objectives, and is the domain of the probing Rationals, those who prefer to keep their options open and to follow an idea where it leads them. Concentrated as they are on determining the ways and means of operation, Engineers tend to have an informative rather than a directive character, which is to say that they are usually eager to provide information and reports regarding what they are currently engineering, but not at all eager to tell others what to do.

Inventors develop their skill in devising prototypes more than their skill in designing models. To these outgoing Engineers, functionality is the objective, as in the case of Nikola Tesla, the gifted inventor of the split-phase electric motor, the giant coil, alternating current, the radio, the inert gas light bulb, and countless other ingenious devices. Inventors must make sure their prototypes don't just make sense on paper, but work in the real world, or else face the consequences. Consider the international airport at Denver, Colorado, completed in early 1994. Doubtless the construction of the airport was coordinated well enough, but the devising of the automated baggage transport apparatus was flawed, delaying the opening of the airport for nearly a year. Whoever engineered it apparently was insufficiently skilled for the level of complexity involved.

Architects make structural plans, models, blueprints. To these reserved Engineers, often working alone at their desks, drafting tables, and computers, the coherence of their designs is what counts, the elegance of their configurations, be they plans for a building, an experiment, a curriculum, or a weapon of war. Howard Hughes, for example, designed a wonderfully versatile fighter aircraft in the late thirties. He offered his design to the United States, then to Britain and other European nations, all of which turned him down. But Japan bought the plans, and when the plane came to be built and used in the Pacific theater, it turned out to be the marvelous Zero, for which the allied fighters, the Curtiss P40, Brewster Buffalo, and Grumman Wildcat, were no match. And Hughes's racer, and much later, his giant seaplane, the "Spruce Goose," were like the Zero ingeniously designed, at least in the eyes of aviators.

Comparing the Strategic Role Variants

Every Rational plays these four roles well, but not equally well. Rationals differ from one another in the structure of their intellect, that is, their profile of strategic roles. Some Coordinators are better as Fieldmarshals, getting campaigns on track and moving, others as Masterminds, formulating a plan of operations; and even though campaigning is not contingency planning, these coordinating operations are interdependent, and so can never be found far apart. Similarly, some Engineers are better as Inventors of functional prototypes, others as Architects of structural designs, even though the two skills are often side-by-side, with Inventors drawing plans and Architects building working models of their designs. Consider the following chart of the four strategic role variant profiles:

	Fieldmarshal
Fieldmarshal	Mastermind
ENTP	Inventor
	Architect
	Fieldmarshal
Architect	Mastermind
INTJ	Inventor
	Architect
	Fieldmarshal
Mastermind	Mastermind
INTP	Inventor
	Architect
	Fieldmarshal
Inventor	Mastermind
ENTJ	Inventor
	Architect

Note that in the most likely development of their strategic capabilities the Fieldmarshals (ENTJs) are the mirror image of the Architects (INTPs), as are the Masterminds (INTJs) of the Inventors (ENTPs). Thus Fieldmarshals are usually better able to mobilize forces to achieve a goal than to make structural configurations. The reverse holds for the Architects, who are better at designing efficient models than marshalling efficient campaigns. Just so, the Masterminds are better able to do the exacting research required to make contingency plans than to engage in technological invention. And last, the Inventors are the best of all in devising ingenious prototypes, though not the best at detailing a strategic plan. Still, even with their long and short suits, Rationals will tend to practice, and thus will develop, any one of these four strategic operations well above those tactical, logistical, or diplomatic operations developed by the other temperaments.

Detailed portraits of the four Rational role variants can be found below, after a general overview.

The Interests of Rationals

Everybody has interests, but not everybody has the same interests. Moreover, our interests are reciprocal with our abilities, so that we are interested in doing what we do well, and tend to do well in what we are interested in doing. The interests of Rationals are diametrically opposite of those of Guardians and quite different from those of Artisans and Idealists. It may help to juxtapose the interests of all four types so that comparisons can be easily made:

interests	Rationals	Idealists	Artisans	Guardians
Educational	Sciences	Humanities	Artcrafts	Commerce
Preoccupational	Technology	Morale	Techniques	Morality
Vocational	Systems	Personnel	Equipment	Materiel

At school Rationals typically choose courses in the sciences (and mathematics) and avoid the humanities and commerce. Some will try arts and crafts owing to their utilitarian way with tools, but they only rarely stay with a given art or craft long enough to develop saleable skills in it. While preoccupied with technology from an early age, NTs are rarely interested in morality, and only slightly interested in morale building. On the other hand, they will work hard in adding new techniques to their collection, but they are not as consumed by this as they are by mastering technology. In career choice, it is best that they work with systems and not materiel, tools, or personnel. We will understand the Rationals better if we look carefully at their interests in science, technology, and systems.

Educational Interest in the Sciences

It is hard to get Rationals in school to study information that does not pertain to one of the sciences, and even harder to get them to practice clerical or maintenance operations. Long ago Rationals were the tribal sorcerers, attempting to bend nature to their will; later, in medieval times, they were the alchemists seeking the philosopher's stone. Today, the largely clerical curriculum in most elementary and secondary schools is boring to NTs, simply because the curriculum is wrong for them. What arouses their inherent curiosity is the work of science – logical investigation, critical experimentation, mathematical description – and it can engage and absorb them in lifelong study. Rationals do not have the function-lust of the Artisans so much as a lust to discover natural law, that is, an indomitable drive to find in nature what Francis Bacon thought of as

those laws and determinations of absolute actuality, which govern and constitute any simple nature .... Of a given nature to discover the [fixed law] ... is the work and aim of Human Knowledge ... and the investigation, discovery, and explanation of it is the foundation as well of knowledge as of operation.

The Rationals' desire to know how nature works never really ends for them. Even when in their nineties, if fortunate enough to reach them, NTs are still studying their books, still observing the world's patterns, still designing their experiments, still learning what there is to learn about whatever sciences captured their attention and interest in youth.

Preoccupied with Technology

Rationals are preoccupied with technology, and continue to be preoccupied with it all their lives. Technology is related to technique, something that Artisans are preoccupied with – to be sure, both words stem from the IndoEuropean root `tekt,' with some of its more important derivatives being `architect,' `technical,' `tectonics,' and `text' (as in `context,' `pretext,' `textile,' and `texture'). All of these terms have something to do with build, structure, fabric, form, configuration, and the like. In the word `technology,' however, the suffix, `logy' modifies the stem `techno' so as to make it an abstract word meaning "the logic of building." Compare this with the Artisan's `technique' which means "skill in building." The abstract logic and the concrete skill are thus fundamentally different, indeed, so different that Rationals and Artisans usually end up going down totally different paths in life.

Two widely different pioneers in electricity, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, were both Rationals, and both preoccupied with technology all their lives, although Tesla was more interested in prototyping and Edison in product development. Then there was Abraham Lincoln, one of our eight Rational Presidents, who constantly tinkered with mechanical objects, (including his son's toys, which he occasionally wrecked in the process), and who had an invention registered in the U. S. Patent Office. Then, when the Civil War erupted, Lincoln gathered information on how to conduct military campaigns, and he took special pleasure in trying out new weapons in the course of examining the latest technology of warfare. Another of our Rational Presidents, Thomas Jefferson, was more preoccupied than most others of his time with the technological aspects of 18th century science-astronomy, botany, optics, zoology, and more – keeping up with them to his dying day.

Vocational Interest in Systems

Rationals are intrigued by machines and by organisms, the two kinds of systemic entities. Organisms are the province of anthropologists, biologists, ethologists, psychologists, and sociologists; machines, the province of engineers of any kind. Organismic systems are self-regulating and self-developing, while mechanical systems are regulated by servo-mechanisms developed by engineers. Of course, any organism, whether plant or animal, is infinitely more complex than any machine. Even a sub-system, the mammalian eye for instance, is vastly more complex than the most modern airport, a giant machine itself with countless sub-assemblies. But whatever the level of complexity, it is complexity itself that intrigues NTs and therefore beckons them to take up systems-work, whether organismic or mechanical. Indeed, if some Rationals do systems-work in an organismic domain as their vocation, biology for example, those same Rationals will sooner or later get into mechanical systems as an avocation. And the reverse holds true, with many physicists in their later years getting into anthropology, biology, or psychology, Schrodinger, for example, writing What is Life? or Capra The Tao of Physics.

The Orientation of Rationals

We are born into a social field and live out our lives in that field. Our periods of disorientation, owing to shock, danger, or surprise, are usually short-lived, after which we quickly reorient ourselves and come back to our ordinary waking social frame of reference. After all, we humans are the most social of all the animals, our intense sociability ending in massive and complex societies, and it is our choice of social membership groups that creates our life-long frame of reference. Whatever we think or feel, say or do, occurs, indeed must occur, in the iron crucible of social reality. Each act and attitude is shaped and governed by a prevailing outlook, perspective, or point of view determined by our social matrix. We are oriented always from a certain angle, a standpoint, something Adickes spoke of as our built-in "Weltanschauung" or "worldview."

But different personalities have different perspectives, viewing time and place as well as past, present, and future, differently. Consider the following chart in making these comparisons:

Orientation	Rationals	Idealists	Artisans	Guardians
Present	Pragmatic	Altruistic	Practical	Dutiful
Future	Skeptical	Credulous	Optimistic	Pessimistic
Past	Relativistic	Mystical	Cynical	Stoical
Place	Intersections	Pathways	Here	Gateways
Time	Intervals	Tomorrow	Now	Yesterday

Here it is claimed that Rationals are pragmatic about the present, skeptical about the future, relativistic about the past, their preferred place is at the intersections of interaction, and their preferred time is the interval. How different from the other temperaments in the way they view these things. So let us look closely at these five dimensions of orientation so that we will not be surprised when our Rationals friends prove, in their insistent pragmatism, to be less hedonistic, for example, or less altruistic, or less stoical than we are.

Pragmatic in Looking Around

All of the different types of personality have a different way of viewing the world around them. For Artisans, the prevailing perspective is hedonistic, which means that they look for pleasurable actions in the here and now. Guardians are stoical in perspective, requiring themselves to bear up under the burdens of life and to keep an eye on the current needs and responsibilities of others. And Idealists are altruistic in this matter, always concerned with giving of themselves to those they care about.

The perspective of the Rationals is like none of these. The Rationals instead construe their immediate surroundings from a pragmatic perspective. Pragmatism consists in having one eye on what John Dewey called "the relationship between means and ends," and the other eye on what William James called "the practical consequences" of achieving one's ends. Now, one of the most important things to know about the Rationals is that they are pragmatic to the core, and so must look to the efficiency of their means and must anticipate the practical consequences of their intended actions before they act. Thus they go for what might be called "mini-max" solutions, those that bring about maximum results for minimum effort. Minimum effort, not because they are lazy – this they could never be – but because wasted effort bothers them so much. To NTs, the other types, the SPs, SJs, and NFs, seem relatively unclear about ends, and all but incapable of coming up with effective means, so they feel it incumbent upon themselves to select if available, or to devise if not, the most efficient tools, materials, and actions possible to make sure that the goal is reached. Efficiency is always the issue with Rationals. They are efficiency-mongers at all times, everywhere they go, no matter what they do, no matter with whom they interact.

Rationals regard social custom neither respectfully nor sentimentally, but again, pragmatically, as something useful for deciphering the lessons of history, and thus avoiding errors. (NTs heed the warning that “Those who are ignorant of the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them,” and they have a horror of repeating an error.) All too often, however, Rationals find that the actions of others are based on mere prejudice or convention, both of which they brush aside, unless some use can be found for them. Even when they take part in the customary or the conventional, Rationals tend to do so somewhat halfheartedly, and never seem to learn to do such things as a matter of habit. Since NTs are naturally disinterested in tradition and custom, it should be no surprise that they readily abandon the customary for the workable.

Unfortunately, other types, especially Guardians and Idealists, believe that everyone should observe – and respect – social conventions, and so are likely to believe that Rationals are uncaring, and this can lead to interpersonal problems. Rationals, though seemingly indifferent to convention in their single-minded pursuit of pragmatic ways and means, are just as caring as others, but are reluctant to communicate such feelings.

Skeptical in Looking Ahead

In their anticipation of things to come Artisans are optimistic, expecting to get the breaks, Guardians are pessimistic, expecting pitfalls, and Idealists are credulous, expecting the best of people. Rationals are strikingly different in their anticipations: they are skeptical, and thus expect all human endeavors, even their own, to be shot through with error. To an NT, nothing can be assumed to be correct; all is uncertain and vulnerable to mistakes – all evidence of the senses, all procedures and products, means and ends, observations and inferences – and thus all must be doubted. That's what skepticism is, an attitude of doubt about whether appearances or beliefs are to be trusted. Rene Descartes, that quintessential seventeenth century Rational mathematician and philosopher, began his Meditations concerning First Philosophy by arguing for the rational necessity of Universal Doubt:

Since reason already convinces me that I should abstain from the belief in things which are not entirely certain and indubitable no less carefully than from the belief in those which appear to me to be manifestly false, it will be enough to make me reject them all if I can find in each some ground for doubt.

One must doubt, says the Rational, for error ever lurks in what appears true just as much as what appears false. Best therefore to take a long and careful look at any proposed method or objective, otherwise those inevitable errors of order or organization are likely to go undetected. The only thing that cannot be doubted is the act of rational doubt, and this first principle Descartes expressed in his famous formula: "I think, therefore I am. Of nothing else can I be certain."

If not born skeptical, Rationals soon become so, having their doubts about almost everything proposed either to them or by them. If looking for solutions is the engine of research and development, looking for errors in coordinating or engineering is its brake. Too often what appears to be the way to go ends up in a box canyon with no way out except back to the entry. Not that one can or should put a solution to all possible tests before a prototype is built. That of course is impossible. But the new solution will be flawed in many ways, that's for sure, no matter how careful its creator. Rationals know this, and that's why they consider their skepticism as a useful and even necessary attitude.

Relativistic in Looking Back

The different temperaments have different ways of looking back, of reflecting on past events, of coming to terms with things that have transpired, especially those things that did not turn out well. Guardians are usually fatalistic about their troubles, Idealists mystical, Artisans cynical. But Rationals, while at times they might use any of these other ways of rationalizing the past, are far more often relativistic in their hindsight. To Rationals, events aren't of themselves good or bad, favorable or unfavorable. It's all in the way one looks at things, they say – all is relative to one's frame of reference. Reality, like truth and beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, or so the Rational phenomenologists Husserl, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty tell us in their poetic manner. And bear in mind that Einstein, on presenting his theory of relativity, saw the real as subjective – "Reality," he said, "is a joint phenomenon of the observer and the observed."

Such a relativistic way of dealing with setbacks also gives Rationals a solipsistic view of the world. Rationals believe that others, even those who care about us, cannot really share our consciousness, cannot know our minds, cannot feel our desires and emotions, much as they might wish to. Each of us is alone in an envelope of consciousness, marooned, as it were, on the earth as its sole inhabitant. There is no way to contact directly some independent reality, what Kant called the "thing-in-itself." All is subjective; we live in our mind's eye and can only imagine the world about us. All is relative to our point-of-view; we make up our world and only then find it outside of us. "Physical concepts," Einstein reminds us, "are free creations of the human mind and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world."

The Place is the Intersection

Rationals do not view places as simply positioned in space. With their eye always on relations between things, Rationals structure space as if making a map or plotting a graph – as a two-dimensional network, with an "x" and a "y" axis – and they define a place as the junction of these two independent coordinates, the point at which these two lines cross each other. "I'll meet you at the corner of First and Main" is a common enough expression, indicating the spot at which two dimensions intersect, and to a Rational it is this intersection which defines the "place." Nor do they confine themselves to two dimensions, often adding a third, specifying "on the fifth floor," and to finish defining the event, they might add the fourth dimension (time): "at four P.M." Or look at any global model of the earth and you will see lines of latitude and longitude, and some modern maps add lines of altitude. It is in terms of such axes or crossing lines that the Rationals look at spaces and places.

Now consider the matrix, or more recently, the spread sheet of the computer, with its row and column factors, and with the intersection of rows and columns – cells – resulting in a systematic array of combinations. Such coordinate tables speak powerfully to Rationals, since they enable them to stay on target and to produce accurate distinctions. With such an orientation the Rational has little time and no interest in other spatial orientations, such as the Artisan's centers, the Guardian's gateways, and the Idealists' pathways. It is this attitude about spaces and places that is probably more puzzling to other kinds of character than any other of the Rational's strange ways of construing reality.

The Time is the Interval

The other types tend to view time as a line or a stream running from yesterday (the focus of the Guardians), through the now (the focus of the Artisans), and into tomorrow (the focus of the Idealists). But not so the Rationals. For them time exists not as a continuous line, but as an interval, a segment confined to and defined by an event. Only events possess time, all else is timeless. For example, Dagny Taggart, Ayn Rand's Rational heroine in Atlas Shrugged, is aware of time only in relation to the task at hand – in this case, getting her small airplane aloft:

Then she climbed aboard-and the next span of her consciousness was not separate moments and movements, but the sweep of a single motion and a single unit of time, a progression forming one entity, like the notes of a piece of music: from the touch of her hand on the starter – to the blast of the motor's sound that broke off, like a mountain rockslide, all contact with the time behind her – to the circling fall of a blade... – to the start for the runway – to the brief pause – then to the forward thrust – to the long, perilous run ... that gathers power by spending it on a harder and harder and ever-accelerating effort... – to the moment, unnoticed, when the earth drops off ... in the simple, natural act of rising.

In a sense, the focus of Rationals is outside of time as it is ordinarily understood, and it is in this sense that they can be considered atemporal. Rationals instinctively, if not deliberately, heed Einstein's dictum that events do not happen in time, rather that time is of events: "Every reference-body (coordinate system) has its own particular time; unless we are told the reference-body to which the statement of time refers, there is no meaning in a statement of the time of an event."

The Gestalt psychologists describe time similarly when they speak of "temporal configurations," in which the parts or movements of a whole are "contemporaneous." Thus a melody is composed of notes all of which belong to the same time, even though the last note comes well after the first note. The melody is not complete until the last note is sounded. Thus time for Rationals, like time for Gestaltists, is not fixed and flowing, but relative and contingent, since it is created by events rather than being a medium in which events occur.

This concept that events are not mere points on a time-line, but create their own period of time, unfolding across their own temporal interval, might be difficult to understand, but it does explain why Rationals tend to lose track of clock time, and can be oblivious to schedules, timetables, calendars, even changes from day to night, absorbed as they are in the unique time interval of whatever event they are considering.

The Self-Image of Rationals

All of us have a concept of ourselves composed of things we believe about ourselves. Three aspects of our self-image, or "self-concept" as it is sometimes called, are of special importance in determining how well we regard ourselves: self-esteem, self-respect, and self-confidence. For all the types, including the Rationals, I think the self-image is a triangular matter, the three bases of self-regard affecting each other. Thus when our self-esteem increases, this increment tends to bolster our self-respect as well as our self-confidence. Likewise, as we gain in self-respect, it becomes less difficult for us to maintain our self-confidence and self-esteem.

But different types of personality base their self-image on different things. Since having a good opinion of ourselves is one of the keys to our happiness, and often to our success, it is well that we pause for a moment to compare the four character types on this vital aspect of personality:

Self-Image	Rationals	Idealists	Guardians	Artisans
Self-Esteem	Ingenious	Empathic	Dependable	Artistic
Self-Respect	Autonomous	Benevolent	Beneficent	Audacious
Self-Confidence	Resolute	Authentic	Respectable	Adaptable

Note that Rationals, to feel good about themselves, must look upon themselves, and be seen by others, as ingenious, autonomous, and resolute, while feeling or appearing, say, dependable and beneficent, attributes so important to Guardians, contributes little to their sense of well-being.

If ingenuity, autonomy, and resolve are mutually reinforcing, then the self-image of the Rationals is triangular, with the three bases interdependent. But even if they are not interdependent, they still deserve individual attention, so that we can understand how Rationals are alike in this regard and how they are so different from others in how they view themselves.

Self-Esteem in Ingenuity

Rationals pride themselves on their ingenuity in accomplishing the many and varied tasks they set their minds to. Indeed, so important is ingenuity to the Rationals' self-esteem that artistry, dependability, and empathy, so important to the other character types, pale into insignificance for them. It doesn't matter whether the task be to design a machine or an experiment, to develop a theory or a long-range plan, to build a computer or a business. The degree of inventiveness which they bring to these tasks is the measure of their ingenuity and therefore the measure of their pride in themselves. Rationals aren't comfortable bragging on themselves, but listen as one of the engineers of the national information highway lets his NT pride show for a moment when he speaks of ingenuity:

You want to be the first to do something. You want to create something. You want to innovate something .... I often think of Edison inventing the light bulb. That's what I want to do. I want to drive over the bridge coming out of New York there and look down on that sea of lights that is New Jersey and say, `Hey, I did that!'

And yet Rationals do not confine their ingenuity to business or professional matters; they apply it to almost anything they set out to master. For example, Rationals play not so much to have fun but to exercise their ingenuity in acquiring game skills. Fun for NTs means figuring out how to get better at some skill, not merely exercising the skills they already have, and so for the Rational the field of play is invariably a laboratory for increasing their proficiency. In tennis or golf, for example, each game or round must be the occasion for pondering the physics of the most effective swing, and for trying out new strokes that seem to fit the paradigm.

Thus it is impossible for Rationals to play with the thoughtless abandon of Artisans. For the Artisans, playing is a free, impulsive activity, engaged in for the fun of it, with improved game skills coming as a result of the doing. Rationals are just the opposite, in that they mightily tax themselves with improving their skills during play, which makes improvement come rather slowly and with great difficulty. In this sense the Artisans are the Rationals' mirror image. Both can become absorbed in practicing their sport or game, but if the SP's practice is absorbing because it is free, unconscious doing, the NT's doing is absorbing, and less effective, because it is deliberate, conscious practice. If the Artisan is naturally impulsive and effortless in action, the Rational is naturally thoughtful and purposeful in action. If the Artisan cannot be induced to try, the Rational cannot be induced not to try.

Although it is too much to say Rationals are grim in their recreational activities, they can be quite unhappy with themselves when they fail to eliminate errors. When an NT plays sports, or even cards and board games, there must be continuous improvement, with no backsliding. On the golf course or the tennis court, at the bridge table or the chess board, others may shrug off mistakes, but not Rationals. In other words, just as ingenuity is the NTs' pride, so lack of it is their shame, and when they see themselves as slow or second-rate in any activity they are merciless in their self-condemnation, calling themselves "klutz," "idiot," "numbskull," "turkey," and other pejoratives. Such self-recriminations are not mere critiques of their performance, but are also likely to be scathing self-denunciations, with each term indicating the unforgivable crime of stupidity.

Rationals are easily the most self-critical of all the temperaments regarding their abilities, rooting out and condemning their errors quite ruthlessly. But others beware. NTs allow no one else to criticize them without warrant – and even with warrant, the critic is advised to be cautious and accurate. Just as NTs hold themselves to be precise, so they require those who remark on their errors to be precise as well, at the risk of learning the precise value they put upon such criticisms. And when unjustly or inaccurately criticized, Rationals burn with resentment and have even been known to fantasize about revenge, efficiently and poetically executed.

Self-Respect in Autonomy

While ingenuity is the basis of Rational self-esteem, autonomy is the basis of their self-respect. As much as possible, at times even regardless of the consequences, Rationals desire to live according to their own laws, to see the world by their own lights, and they respect themselves in the degree that they act independently, free of all coercion. Individualists all, NTs resist any effort to impose arbitrary rules on them. Indeed, they prefer to ignore any law, regulation, or convention that does not make sense to them, though they are willing to obey those that do. Little wonder that the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights were largely the work of Rationals such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison.

Rationals want to govern themselves, and also to think for themselves. From an early age Rationals will not accept anyone else's ideas without first scrutinizing them for error. It doesn't matter whether the person is a widely accepted authority or not; the fact that a so-called "expert" proclaims something leaves the Rational indifferent. Title, reputation, and credentials do not matter. Ideas must stand on their own merits, and NTs simply do not trust anyone else to have done the necessary research and applied the rules of logic adequately. "I understand that Einstein said so," comments the Rational, "but even the best of us can err." This natural lack of respect for established authorities tends to make the Rationals seem irreverent, some might say arrogant.

Instinctively taking autonomy to be the greatest virtue, Rationals regard dependence on others as the greatest vice. Whether or not they agree entirely with Ayn Rand's political and economic theories, Rationals are hard pressed, after careful consideration, not to join in her contempt for interpersonal dependency: "All that which proceeds from man's independent ego is good," she wrote in The Fountainhead, "All that which proceeds from man's dependence upon men is evil." Self-respecting Rationals want to be self-directed and self-determined, and their own occasional lapse into dependency is their only source of guilt.

Self-Confidence in Resolution

Rationals are self-confident in so far as they sense in themselves a strength of will or an unwavering resolution. NTs believe they can overcome any obstacle, dominate any field, conquer any enemy – even themselves – with the power of their resolve. In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Rochester must will himself to live with the secret of Thornfield Hall:

He ground his teeth and was silent: he arrested his step and struck his boot against the hard ground. Some hated thought seemed to have him in its grip, and ... to hold a quivering conflict ... under his ebony brow. Wild was the wrestle which should be paramount; but another feeling rose and triumphed: something hard ... self-willed and resolute: it settled his passion and petrified his countenance; he went on: -- ‘During the moment I was silent, Miss Eyre, I was arranging a point with my destiny.'

Once Rationals resolve to do something they have in a sense made a contract with themselves, a contract they dare not go back on. Indeed, their worst fear is that their determination might weaken, their will power might falter, and that they will fail in their resolve. Why is this? Why are NTs so fearful of their will power weakening? It is because they can never take will power for granted, however strong it has proved itself in the past. They know, perhaps better than others, that they are not in charge of their will, but that their will is in charge of them. Einstein was fond of quoting Schopenhauer's words: "Man can do what he wants, but he cannot will what he wills." Rationals know, for instance, that they cannot will themselves to control involuntary functions, such as speech, sexual desire, digestion, warding off infection, and so on. After all, the involuntary is by definition not subject to the will, but must occur spontaneously.

And yet, even though they know some things must happen of themselves, Rationals can dread this loss of control. This is why so many NTs turn out to develop unreasonable fears, especially of germs and other forms of filth, something they have no control over. The Rationals Mark Twain, Nikola Tesla, Howard Hughes, and Buckminster Fuller each developed disease phobias, some of them incapacitating, as in the case of Hughes. And speech is a special problem for the Rationals, who are the most likely of all the types to develop gestural tics when they try to take control of their speech. Though it tends to impair their performance, strength of resolve is of such extreme importance to Rationals that, under stress, they have no choice but to invoke their will and try harder.

The Values of Rationals

The different kinds of personality differ in what they value. Thus they can differ in their preferred mood, in what they put their trust in, in what they long for, in what they continuously seek, in what they prize most, and in what they aspire to. It is in the domain of values that Rationals separate themselves most clearly from the other types, and particularly from the Guardians. Where Guardians value being concerned, Rationals value being calm; where Guardians trust authority, Rationals trust reason; where Guardians yearn for belonging, Rationals yearn for achievement; where Guardians seek security, Rationals seek knowledge. And the contrast extends to what they prize and what they aspire to, Guardians gratitude and executive power, Rationals deference and wizardry. But NTs are also very different in their values from SPs and NFs, as shown in the following chart:

Value	Rationals	Idealists	Artisans	Guardians
Being	Calm	Enthusiastic	Excited	Concerned
Trusting	Reason	Intuition	Impulse	Authority
Yearning	Achievement	Romance	Impact	Belonging
Seeking	Knowledge	Identity	Stimulation	Security
Prizing	Deference	Recognition	Generosity	Gratitude
Aspiring	Wizard	Sage	Virtuoso	Executive

These differences in values are so extreme that it will serve us to study all six Rational values in some detail, lest we are surprised to find them, say, less generous, less authoritarian, or less enthusiastic than we are.

Being Calm

The preferred mood of Rationals, as Galen suggested, is one of calm. This is particularly true in stressful situations, when things around them are in turmoil, as C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower discovers in a moment of crisis, after having set fire to the enemy ship which held him captive:

A side pane fell in as they watched, and a rush of flame came through the opening. That store of paint, Hornblower calculated – he was calmer now, with a calm that would astonish him later, when he came to look back on it – must be immediately under the cabin, and blazing fiercely.

Artisans like to be excited, Guardians are likely to get concerned about their responsibilities, and Idealists give their enthusiasm free rein, Rationals prefer to remain calm, cool, and collected. And if they cannot avoid these emotional states, they will try hard to avoid letting their concern, excitement, or enthusiasm show. SPs, SJs, and NFs are puzzled more by this seeming unflappability in trying circumstances than by any other trait of the NT character. Indeed, because they are reluctant to express emotions or desires, NTs are often criticized for being unfeeling and cold. However, what is taken for indifference is not indifference at all, but the thoughtful, absorbed concentration of the contemplative investigator. Just as effective investigators carefully hold their feelings in check and gauge their actions so that they do not disturb their inquiry or contaminate their results, so Rationals are prone to examine and control themselves in the same deliberate manner, being careful to avoid reading their own desires, emotions, and expectations into their observations.

But make no mistake, although they hold back on any intemperate displays, Rationals are not the cold and distant persons they are often made out to be. For one thing they can get quite intense and pressured about matters under their control (and few things will they admit they cannot control), becoming as tight as a bowstring when they think they might be able to solve a problem if they put their mind to it. For another, being closet romantics, their feelings are just as varied and strong as those of other character types, though again, and more than others, Rationals tend to hold them tightly in check.

Trusting Reason

The only thing Rationals trust unconditionally is reason – all else they trust only under certain conditions. Thus they trust their intuition only now and then, their impulses even less often, and they completely distrust titular authority. Of all these only reason, NTs say, is universal and timeless, and only its laws beyond dispute. Thus Rationals take it for granted that "if men would but reason together," even the most difficult of problems might be solved. When the Rational Thomas Jefferson wrote the charter for the University of Virginia, he insisted that here education "will be based upon the illimitable freedom of the human mind, for here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor tolerate error so long as reason is left free to combat it."

Jefferson's vision was of a free competition of ideas, unfettered by convention or tradition, an inquiry limited only by the scope of the human mind and the laws of reason. In this he was a typical Rational. More than the other temperaments, NTs listen carefully to new ideas as long as they make sense – as long as they are logical. But they have little or no patience for ideas that don't make sense, and they will not be swayed by any argument that fails to meet their criterion of logical coherence.

Yearning for Achievement

One of the most important things to remember about Rationals, if they are to be understood, is that they yearn for achievement. Some might suppose that these seemingly calm and contemplative types have no strong desires. But beneath the calm exterior is a gnawing hunger to achieve whatever goals they set for themselves. While NTs prefer to acquire knowhow, and would like to be ingenious, they must achieve, and their longing is never fully satisfied.

Because their hunger for achievement presses them constantly, Rationals live through their work. For them, work is work and play is work. Condemning an NT to idleness would be the worst sort of punishment. However, Rationals work not so much for the pleasure of action (like the Artisans), nor for the security a job provides (like the Guardians), nor for the joy of helping others (like the Idealists). Rationals work with a single-minded desire to achieve their objectives; indeed, once involved in a project, they tend to be reluctant, if not unable, to limit their commitment of time and energy. Unfortunately, at this point they can be unreasonably demanding of both themselves and others, setting their standards too high and becoming quite tense under stress. No wonder that NTs frequently achieve notable success in their chosen field.

Achievement eats at NTs in this way because it demands of them ever greater knowledge and skill, a challenge they eagerly accept, as Sinclair Lewis explains in Arrowsmith, his novel about a gifted young scientist:

There was no strength, ...no knowledge, that Arrowsmith did not covet, when consciousness of it has pierced through the layers of his absorption. If he was but little greedy for possessions, he was hungry for every skill.

Thus, and because of their persistence, Rationals tend over their lifetimes to collect a large repertoire of skilled actions, few of which they employ very extensively. In this they are quite unlike the Artisans, who also become skillful. For the SPs, skills are opportunities for action and have no meaning if they are not used, while for the NTs skills are competencies to be sharpened through practice, then held in reserve until actually needed.

Rationals demand so much achievement from themselves that they often have trouble measuring up to their own standards. NTs typically believe that what they do is not good enough, and are frequently haunted by a sense of teetering on the edge of failure. This time their achievement will not be adequate. This time their skill will not be great enough. This time, in all probability, failure is at hand.

Making matters worse, Rationals tend to ratchet up their standards of achievement, setting the bar at the level of their greatest success, so that anything less than their best is judged as mediocre. The hard-won triumph becomes the new standard of what is merely acceptable, and ordinary achievements are now viewed as falling short of the mark. NTs never give themselves a break from this escalating level of achievement, and so constant self-doubt and a niggling sense of impending failure are their lot.

Seeking Knowledge

While Artisans go in search of stimulation, Guardians security, and Idealists identity, Rationals are on the lookout for knowledge. Some of them are so relentless in their search, that (like their benefactor, Prometheus) they would steal knowledge even from the gods. Francis Bacon declared at the beginning of the 17th century that knowledge is power, and advised that nature be "put to the rack," so that her secrets could be extracted by scientific experimentation. In doing so he established the Rational method of scientific investigation which has prevailed in the West for 400 years.

The Rationals' search for knowledge has two objectives: they must know how to as well as know about. To know about is to comprehend the necessary and sufficient conditions under which events occur. To know how to is to comprehend the operational capabilities and limits of technologies – the possibilities and constraints of their tools, be they cutters, carbines, or computers. By knowing about and knowing how to, Rationals increase their capability to predict and to control events.

Knowledge for Rationals is never merely speculative. When NTs ask "why?" they are really asking "how?" or even "how to?" To ask why the sky is blue, why water is wet, why a lever has power, is not to ask for the meaning or significance of these things (something that greatly concerns their abstract cousins, the Idealists). The Rationals' questions are about why things take the form they do, about how things work – and thus about definition and description of structure and function. As his biographer James Gleick notes, Nobel prize winning physicist Richard Feynman had no use for what he called the philosopher's "soft" questions:

Feynman's reinvention of quantum mechanics did not so much explain how the world was, or why it was that way, as tell how to confront the world. It was not knowledge of or knowledge about. It was knowledge how to.... There were other kinds of scientific knowledge, but pragmatic knowledge was Feynman's specialty. For him knowledge did not describe; it acted and accomplished.

Such a quest for pragmatic knowledge arises early for Rationals, as soon as they have the language for inquiring, and seems fueled by an insatiable curiosity. But since they are likely to pose their question as a "why?" they will often be unsatisfied with the answer they receive, for they are actually interested in "how?" not "why?" And since they can be insistent in their questioning, they often dismay their parents and teachers, who don't understand what they are really asking. Further, NTs want to be given a rationale in the answers they receive, something most parents and teachers have difficulty giving them.

As Rationals grow up, their pursuit of knowledge leads them to grapple with an ever-widening range of complex problems. Whether the problem is one of engineering machines or of coordinating operations, Rationals consider problems of central importance, and they will persist in their search for models and maps, for paradigms and algorithms, with which to construe and attack these problems. Problem-solving for the Rationals is a twenty-four hour occupation, and if they don't have a problem to work on they will actually set one for themselves as a way of exercising their skills. They are especially drawn to problems that tax their knowledge base, since practice with such problems adds to their knowledge and naturally expands their repertoire of useful models. And the more extreme the Rational style, the more exacting and stringent the demand they place on themselves for acquiring knowledge.

Another way of looking at this is that, in contrast to the social and moral shoulds and oughts of the Guardians and Idealists, the Rationals have a good many should-knows itemized in massive lists inside their heads. And though they can concentrate fully on one thing at a time, they are inclined to accumulate more and more useful knowledge, rarely deleting or forgetting any, and to work continually on solutions to the many problems that intrigue them. Having won a Nobel prize in 1972 for his work on immunology, biologist Gerald Edelman was not at all content to cease his inquiries:

About three years after Edelman won the prize he essentially left the field to pursue even bigger questions-the biggest ones imaginable, concerning the essential mysteries of biology ..... I have a small romantic streak and a very definite belief that's coupled to it, which is that the asking of the question is the important thing .... So if you said to me, "Well, now, you're the czar of immunology." Horrors! ... None of that really interests me. What interests me is dark areas.'

So intent are Rationals in their pursuit of knowledge, that they might be thought of as the "Knowledge-Seeking Personality." Of all the traits of character that set the Rationals apart – and at the same time group them together – it is their life-long search for knowledge.

Prizing Deference

What is pleasing to one sort of person may not be nearly as pleasing to another. Artisans are quite pleased by generous treatment, Guardians by gratitude, Idealists by being recognized as their unique selves. Certainly Rationals are not indifferent to generosity, gratitude, or recognition, but they are much more pleased when asked by an admirer to comment on something the NT has produced, especially if the request is for an exposition of their rationale. NTs regard such deference as being given not so much to themselves personally as to their productions. After all, when they make something or do something it is usually after long and sometimes obsessive analysis. So even if they are not especially brilliant, it is to be expected that their productions have been carefully devised, with pros and cons considered, and errors of inclusion and exclusion rooted out.

But Rationals cannot ask for deference, any more than Guardians can ask for appreciation, or Idealists for recognition. It must come to them spontaneously, out of interest in their work. And, of course, if in their view they haven't achieved anything they regard as worth noting, then they have no desire to be consulted in the matter. But if they have done something rather well, they are pleased when someone defers to them for definition and explanation of their production, and they can be disappointed if none comes their way, or worse, if someone else is asked to expound on what they've accomplished.

Their problem is that their accomplishment is often so highly technical – designing a computer chip for instance – that most people are only vaguely aware of how difficult it was to make, and so have little or no reason to acknowledge and give credit to its maker. So the vast majority of Rationals who manage to achieve something great are unsung heroes to the public, and therefore heroes only to their family or their colleagues – and perhaps in their own eyes.

Aspiring to be a Wizard

Because Rationals value the strategic intellect so highly, they tend to take as their idol the technological wizard, especially the scientific genius. After all, a wizard is the ultimate scientist, with what seems an almost magical power over nature, and in single-minded pursuit of the four aims of science: the prediction and control of events, and the understanding and explanation of their contexts. Scratch a Rational, find a scientist; but glimpse the figure the Rationals would aspire to become, and behold a wizard. Listen as Merlin, King Arthur's wizard in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, teaches young Arthur what he considers the most important lesson of all:

Merlin: There's only one thing for all of it. Learn! Learn why the world wags and what wags it.

Arthur: How could I learn if I couldn't think? ...

Merlin: Yes ... thinking, boy, is something you should definitely get into the habit of making use of as often as possible.

But listen also to Jonas Salk as he explains his view of the magic of biological science:

When I discovered there was more to learning than the books we were exposed to, and then when I became interested in bringing science into medicine, I recognized that there was a logic to the magic. Life is magic; the way nature works seems to be quite magical .... I started to try to understand how that system works. I began to tease out the logic of the magic that I was so impressed by.

The Social Roles Rationals Play

It is impossible not to play a role in all of our social transactions, and there are two kinds of social roles, those that are allotted to us by virtue of our position in our social milieu, and those that we reach out and take for ourselves. We perforce play offspring to our parents, siblings to our brothers and sisters, and relatives to our extended family members. On the other hand we choose to play mate to our spouse, parent to our offspring, superior to our subordinate, subordinate to our superior, friend to friend, and so on. Allotted or embraced, we have no choice but to enact our roles, since to interact with others can never be role-free.

Three of our roles – mating, parenting, leading – are of special interest in the context of the study of personality. In these three roles the different kinds of personality differ significantly in the effects their roles have on mates, offspring, and followers. Consider the following chart which compares how differently the mating, parenting, and leading roles are played:

Social Roles	Rationals	Idealists	Artisans	Guardians
Mating	Mindmate	Soulmate	Playmate	Helpmate
Parenting	Individuator	Harmonizer	Liberator	Socializer
Leading	Visionary	Catalyst	Negotiator	Stabilizer

Note the striking difference between playing the Rational's Mindmate role and the Guardian's Helpmate role, the Idealist's Soulmate role, and the Artisan's Playmate role. These different roles will require lengthy and complex study and so a chapter (Chapter 7) on mating is provided later in this book (the section on Rational Mating is reproduced below). Separate chapters (Chapters 8 and 9) are also furnished on the NT's parenting and leadership roles, to distinguish the NT Individuator parent from the SP Liberator, the SJ Socializer, and the NF Harmonizer, as well as to differentiate the NT Visionary leader from the SP Negotiator, the SJ Stabilizer, and the NF Catalyst. Even so, a few remarks can at least give an outline of how Rationals play their social roles.

The Mindmate

Sharing with their spouses what they have on their minds is of primary importance to Rationals. They are prone to initiate discussions with their mates on a wide variety of topics and to pursue them until the issue is clear, whether or not there is agreement. The issues they pursue with their mates are almost invariably abstract rather than concrete – issues such as theories of politics and economics, questions in ethics and religion, epistemology and linguistics, and, of course, breakthroughs in science and technology, although the latter are usually too technical for much sharing, if, that is, the Rational is a scientist or technologist and the mate is not.

This desire for intellectual sharing puts limits on the kind of mate that Rationals are apt to choose. The desire will not be fulfilled in the event they are mated with either Guardians or Artisans, neither of whom are willing to pursue abstract topics either recurrently or for more than a few minutes. So, if the desire for cognitive sharing is the Rational's primary criterion for choosing a mate, he or she is prudent to choose another Rational or an Idealist. On the other hand, if for some reason the Mindmate role is set aside, the Rationals have just as much leeway as other types in finding their mate, though choosing the more friendly types, Conservator Guardians (ESFJs and ISFJs) and Improvisor Artisans (ESFPs and ISFPs), will probably entail less marital conflict.

Rationals usually approach mate selection as a difficult and even threatening problem, one requiring careful empirical study and calm but rigorous introspection. After all, they say to themselves, there is no room for error in this choice since mating is for life. Those who do err in this are likely, owing to their rather stringent code of ethics, to honor the contract they made and do their best to minimize the underlying conflict of values. Even in marriage NTs are pragmatic.

The Individuator Parent

Rational parents are usually more concerned about the growth of individuality in their children than the other types. It is vitally important to them that each and every child in the family becomes progressively more self-directed and self-reliant in handling the challenges of life. Other concerns, such as the Idealist's self-esteem and the Artisan's venturesomeness, important though they may be, are thought to follow along naturally in the wake of their children developing a firm sense of their individuality and autonomy. And civility of conduct, so important to Guardian parents, is all but ignored by Rational parents in their determination to encourage their children's individuation.

The Visionary Leader

Rational leaders usually have a vision of how an organization will look and how it will fare in the long haul, their long suit in intelligence being strategic planning. They look far ahead and all around, their plans leaving nothing important to chance. And owing to their early and long pursuit of coherent and comprehensive speech, they are often able to convey their vision of things to come to their followers, such that their followers heartily join them in the enterprise they have envisioned.

Matrix of Rational Traits

The matrix that follows arranges and highlights the terms used in this chapter to define the personality of the Rationals. These terms are placed beside those used to define the other three personalities, thus enabling us to compare the Rational traits to those of others.

There can be considerable payoff for those who take time to study this matrix, and refer back to it from time to time, the payoff being that of getting a grip on the whole configuration of the Platonic-Aristotelian Dialectical Rational Personality and getting a feel of its uniqueness and radical difference from the others.

Communication:	Concrete	Concrete	Abstract	Abstract
Implementation:	Utilitarian	Cooperative	Cooperative	Utilitarian
Character:	Artisan	Guardian	Idealist	Rational
Language	Harmonic	Associative	Inductive	Deductive
Referential	Indicative	Imperative	Interpretive	Categorical
Syntactical	Descriptive	Comparative	Metaphoric	Subjunctive
Rhetorical	Heterodox	Orthodox	Hyperbolic	Technical
Intellect	Tactical	Logistical	Diplomatic	Strategic
Directive Role	Operator	Administrator	Mentor	Coordinator
· Expressive Role	· Promoter [ESTP]	· Supervisor [ESTJ]	· Teacher [ENFJ]	· Fieldmarshal [ENTJ]
· Reserved Role	· Crafter [ISTP]	· Inspector [ISTJ]	· Counselor [INFJ]	· Mastermind [INTJ]
Informative Role	Entertainer	Conservator	Advocate	Engineer
· Expressive Role	· Performer [ESFP]	· Provider [ESFJ]	· Champion [ENFP]	· Inventor [ENTP]
· Reserved Role	· Composer [ISFP]	· Protector [ISFJ]	· Healer [INFP]	· Architect [INTP]
Interest
Education	Artcraft	Commerce	Humanities	Sciences
Preoccupation	Technique	Morality	Morale	Technology
Vocation	Equpiment	Materiel	Personnel	Systems
Orientation
Present	Practical	Dutiful	Altruistic	Pragmatic
Furture	Optimistic	Pessimistic	Credulous	Skeptical
Past	Cynical	Stoical	Mystical	Relativistic
Place	Here	Gateways	Pathways	Intersections
Time	Now	Yesterday	Tomorrow	Intervals
Self-Image
Self-Esteem	Artistic	Dependable	Empathic	Ingenious
Self-Respect	Audacious	Beneficent	Benevolent	Autonomous
Self-Confidence	Adaptable	Respectable	Authentic	Resolute
Value
Being	Excited	Concerned	Enthusiastic	Calm
Trusting	Impulse	Authority	Intuition	Reason
Yearning	Impact	Belonging	Romance	Achievement
Seeking	Stimulation	Security	Identity	Knowledge
Prizing	Generosity	Gratitude	Recognition	Deference
Aspiring	Virtuoso	Executive	Sage	Wizard
Social Role
Mating	Playmate	Helpmate	Soulmate	Mindmate
Parenting	Liberator	Socializer	Harmonizer	Individuator
Leading	Negotiator	Stabilizer	Catalyst	Visionary

Rational Role Variants

These "Abstract Utilitarians," as I like to call them – Plato's Rationals Aristotle's Dialecticals, Galen's Phlegmatics, and Myers's NTs – have tightly configured personality, so that each trait of character entails the other traits. This means that Mother Nature does not permit Rationals, any more than other types, to pick and choose their traits of character. If their environment enables them to develop a given trait it can only be one that is predetermined by their temperament.

While it is useful to think of each of the four temperaments as a single, unified configuration of attitudes and actions, individual members of each temperament clearly differ from one another. Thus, all the Rationals seem to have a natural gift for strategic ingenuity, but some (the scheduling NTs) are drawn to the directive role of Coordinator of efficient campaigns and contingency plans, while others (the probing NTs) prefer the informative role of Engineer of efficient prototypes and models. These two divisions can be further broken down to reflect an expressive or a reserved social attitude, with the Coordinators tending to play the role variants of Fieldmarshal or Mastermind, and the Engineers playing Inventor or Architect.

The Fieldmarshal [ENTJ]

Myers had a special name for the ENTJs. She called them "the leaders of leaders," in a word, "superleaders." This no doubt because she could see how efficient the ENTJs are in marshalling task forces in the field in preparation for launching major enterprises. Marshalling forces is the coordinating of personnel and materiel in the service of a clearly defined objective, something ENTJs seem especially cut out for. Best then to call them the "Fieldmarshals."

Another word that is useful in defining this kind of coordinating activity is `mobilizing.' Personnel and materiel can be mobilized as well as marshaled, the only difference being that mobilizing connotes moving effective forces toward a goal, while marshalling connotes binding effective forces to a goal. Either way, the basic, driving force of these Fieldmarshals is to command forces that promise to be effective in achieving the objectives that they are able to visualize.

It was no accident that World War II saw three of these ENTJs in command of our armed forces – George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, and Douglas MacArthur – each a genius in strategic mobilizing and marshalling of personnel and materiel toward world-wide aims. Marshall, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the outbreak of war, was already at the top, and he knew full well which commanders to pick to run the campaigns in the eastern and western theaters – Eisenhower, a mere colonel at the time, but a brilliant student of warfare who had worked for Marshall as his best campaign planner; and General MacArthur, languishing with little to do in the Philippines. No, it was no accident, because Marshall had long experience with both of these men, and he fully appreciated the high strategic intelligence of each.

As a variant of Plato's Rationals and Aristotle's Dialecticals, the ENTTs are little different from the other NTs in most respects. Like all the Rationals, they are abstract in their communication and utilitarian in how they implement their goals. They choose to study science, are preoccupied with technology, and work well with systems. Their point of view is pragmatic, skeptical, relativistic, focused on spatial intersections and intervals of time. They base their self-image on being ingenious, autonomous, and resolute. They would if possible be calm, they trust reason, are hungry for achievement, seek knowledge, prize deference, and aspire to be wizards of science and technology. Intellectually, they are prone to practice strategy far more than diplomacy, tactics, and especially logistics. Further, having a decisive or scheduling nature, they tend to choose the Coordinator's directive role over the probing, exploring Engineer's informative role. And because they are so forceful in their expressiveness they find greater satisfaction in the role variant of Fieldmarshal than Mastermind. To visualize ENTJ intellectual development, consider the following graph that depicts the most probable profile of their strategic roles:

ENTJ Preferences
Coordinator	Fieldmarshal
Coordinator	Mastermind
Engineer	Inventor
Engineer	Architect

Although Fieldmarshals are just as rare as the other Rationals, something less than two percent of the total population, they seem to have influence beyond their numbers. Such individuals, male or female, of whatever age, are bound to lead others, and from early on they can be observed taking command of groups, so forceful is their climb to the top. In some cases, Fieldmarshals simply find themselves in charge of groups, and are mystified as to how this happened. But the reason is that they have a strong natural urge to bring order and efficiency wherever they are – to harness people and resources and to lead them toward their goals with minimum waste of effort and maximum progress. Every operation needed for achieving the objective shall be executed, and all unnecessary operations are quietly and permanently eliminated from the planned sequence of events.

Take building a house, for example. Put a Fieldmarshal in charge of the job and he or she will coordinate all the steps in the operation, hiring a cement contractor to pour the foundation, but also hiring a plumber to set the water pipes and connect the sewer lines before pouring the slab. Then come the framer, electrician, roofer, drywaller, painter, and cabinet maker, with the ENTJ requiring that the construction follows a logical order so that there is minimum waste of manpower and material resources.

In just the same way, Fieldmarshals cannot not build organizations, and cannot not push to implement their goals. More than all other types ENTJs are from an early age bent on the exacting and untiring practice of their budding coordinating skills, which enable them to be good at systematizing, arranging priorities, generalizing, summarizing, compiling evidence, and at demonstrating their ideas. When in charge of an organization, whether in the military, business, education, or government, ENTJs desire and have the ability to visualize where the organization is going, and they seem unusually able to communicate that vision to others.

These decisive and outspoken Rationals will usually rise to positions of responsibility in the workplace and enjoy being in charge. They are so single-minded and easily caught up in some project or campaign that they can easily block out other areas of life for the sake of their work. Superb executives, they mobilize their forces into smooth-functioning systems, planning in advance, keeping both short-term and long-range objectives well in mind. For the ENTJ, there must always be a reason for doing anything, and people's feelings usually are not sufficient reason. More than any other type they are skilled at reducing bureaucracy in any of its forms, and they are willing to dismiss employees who cannot get with the program and increase their efficiency. Although Fieldmarshals are tolerant of some established procedures, they can and will abandon any procedure when it can be shown to be ineffective in accomplishing its goal. Fieldmarshals are the supreme pragmatists, always aware of the relationship of means to ends. Any procedure the objective of which is no longer pursued is instantly eliminated and its users reassigned to more productive actions. Parkinson's law has little chance of survival where an ENTJ is in charge.

Fieldmarshals take full command at home, leaving little doubt about who makes the decisions. Male or female, they expect a great deal of their mates, who, if not to be steamrolled, need to possess a strong personality of their own, a well-developed autonomy, many and varied interests, and a healthy self-esteem. A career-woman, however, may not be appealing to an ENTJ male, who is apt to view his home and family as a part of his professional background, as a resource, and thus adjunct to his own career development. He might expect his mate to be active in civic and community affairs, to be socially sophisticated, and to continue her education. The ENTJ female, on the other hand, may find it difficult to select a mate who is not overwhelmed by the force of her will.

Also in their parenting role, Fieldmarshals are thoroughly in command, and their children will know what is expected of them – and will be expected to obey. When they don't, the ENTJ parent is not apt to make a scene; rather, there is more likely to be a low-key clarification about who is in charge, what is expected, and what the inevitable consequences of disobedience will be. Few children are not in awe of this sort of command. While both mating and parenting are highly important to the Fieldmarshals, these roles must sometimes take a back seat to their strong career drive, and to the enormous amount of time they spend on the job.

The Mastermind [INTJ]

All NTs are good at planning operations, but Mastermind INTJs are head and shoulders above all the rest in contingency planning or what is called "entailment management." A contingency plan has if-thens in it, put there to deal with foreseeable operational errors and shortages of personnel and materiel. All sorts of contingencies are bound to arise when any complex project is undertaken, from planning a family vacation in Europe to preparing for the invasion of Europe, as in World War 11. Such operations involve many, many steps, each of which must be coordinated to follow one another in a necessary progression, and each of which can be subject to unforeseen problems. Masterminds are able to grasp how each step necessitates or entails the next, and to prepare alternatives for difficulties that are likely to arise. INTJs never set the course of their current project without a Plan A firmly in mind, but they are always prepared to switch to Plan B – or C or D if they are called for.

As a variant of Plato's Rationals and Aristotle's Dialecticals, the INTJs are little different from the other NTs in most respects. Like all the Rationals, they are abstract in their communication and utilitarian in how they implement their goals. They choose to study science, are preoccupied with technology, and work well with systems. Their point of view is pragmatic, skeptical, relativistic, focused on spatial intersections and intervals of time. They base their self-image on being ingenious, autonomous, and resolute. They would if possible be calm, they trust reason, are hungry for achievement, seek knowledge, prize deference, and aspire to be wizards of science and technology. Intellectually, they are prone to practice strategy far more than diplomacy, tactics, and especially logistics. Further, with their schedule-minded nature, they tend to choose the Coordinator's directive role over the probing Engineer's informative role. And because they are reserved around others they seem more comfortable in the role variant of Mastermind than Fieldmarshal. To visualize INTJ skills development consider the following graph depicting the most probable profile of their strategic roles:

INTJ Preferences
Coordinator	Mastermind
Coordinator	Fieldmarshal
Engineer	Architect
Engineer	Inventor

Masterminds are rare, comprising no more than, say, one percent of the population, and they are rarely encountered outside their office, factory, or laboratory. Although they are highly capable leaders, INTJs are not at all eager to take command, preferring to stay in the background until others demonstrate their inability to lead. Once in charge, however, they are thoroughgoing pragmatists, seeing reality as nothing more than a chess board for working out and refining their strategies. When planning, the Mastermind is completely open-minded and will entertain any idea holding promise of utility. Fruitful theories are quickly applied, all else discarded.

To the INTJ, order is never arbitrary, set in concrete, but can be improved. Thus authority based on degrees, credentials, title, or celebrity does not impress them, nor do slogans or catchwords. They will adopt ideas only if they are useful, which is to say if they work efficiently toward accomplishing well-defined goals. Only ideas that make sense to them are adopted; those that don't, aren't, no matter who the author is.

Masterminds tend to be much more self-confident than other Rationals, having usually developed a very strong will. Decisions come easily to them; indeed, they can hardly rest until they have things settled and decided. They have a drive to completion, always with an eye to long-term consequences. Ideas seem to carry their own force for them, although they subject every idea to the test of usefulness. Difficulties are highly stimulating to INTJs, who love responding to a problem that requires a creative solution. These traits of character lead them to occupations where theoretical models can be translated into actuality. They build data and human systems wherever they work, if given the slightest opportunity. They can be outstanding in scientific research and as executives in businesses.

These seclusive Coordinators usually rise to positions of responsibility, for they work long and hard and are steady in their pursuit of goals, sparing neither their own time and effort nor that of their colleagues and employees. They tend, ordinarily, to verbalize the positive and to eschew comments of a negative nature; they are more interested in moving an organization forward than dwelling on mistakes of the past. However, they can become single-minded at times, which can be a weakness in their careers, for by focusing so tightly on their own pursuits they can ignore the points of view and wishes of others.

Masterminds are certain that both internal and external consistency are indispensable in the well-run organization, and if they encounter problems of overlapping functions, duplication of effort, inefficient paper flow, and waste of human and material resources, they are quick to realign operations to the forgotten goal. Remember, their imperative is always cost effectiveness.

INTJs are the highest achievers in school of all the types. And on the job, because of their tendency to drive others as hard as they drive themselves, they often seem demanding and difficult to satisfy. Their fellow workers often feel as if a Mastermind can see right through them, and often believe that they find them wanting. This tendency of people to feel transparent, and even incompetent, in their presence often results in working relationships which have some psychological distance. Colleagues may describe INTJs as unemotional and, at times, cold and dispassionate, when in truth they are merely taking the goals of an institution seriously, and continually striving to achieve those goals. Fortunately, indifference or criticism from their fellow workers does not particularly bother Masterminds, if they believe that they are right. All in all, they make dedicated, loyal employees whose loyalties are directed toward the system, rather than toward individuals within the system. As the people in an institution come and go, these NTs have little difficulty getting on with their jobs – unlike the NFs, who have their loyalties involved more with persons than projects.

Masterminds want harmony and order in their home and in their marriage, but not at the cost of having a submissive mate. The most independent of all the types, INTJs want their mates to be independent as well, able to stand up to the sometimes formidable strength of their personality. Courtship is a special problem for Masterminds, since they regard the selection of a proper mate as a rational process, a matter of finding someone who correlates highly with their mental list of physical and intellectual requirements. They know quickly – usually on the first or second date – whether or not a relationship has any future, and they will not waste their time on courtships that seem to hold little promise. In general, Masterminds rely on their head and not their heart to make these choices, and at times, therefore, they will seem cold and calculating. Even in more casual social situations, they may appear cold and may neglect to observe small rituals designed to put others at their ease. For example, INTJs may communicate that time is wasted if used for idle chitchat, and thus people receive a sense of hurry from them which is not always intended. Make no mistake, the emotions of an INTJ are hard to read, and neither a male nor female of this type is apt to be very outgoing or emotionally expressive. On the contrary, they have a strong need for privacy, and they do not enjoy physical contact except with a chosen few. For all that, however, Masterminds are deeply emotional, even romantic types, and once they have decided a person is worthy of them, they make passionate and loyal mates, almost hypersensitive to signals of rejection from their loved one.

With their children, Masterminds are loving and unfailing in their devotion. Their children are a major focus in life, and they loyally support them and tend to allow them to develop in directions of their own choosing. These supremely definite INTJs encourage independence of action and attitude in their offspring. On the other hand, they are fully aware that children need well-defined limits, and they are invariably firm and consistent in setting those limits.

The Inventor [ENTP]

Inventing is the functional side of engineering, that is, the building of prototypes of devices that work to make systems more efficient. It is so natural for ENTPs to practice devising ingenious gadgets and mechanisms that they start doing it even as young children. And these Inventors get such a kick out of it that they really never stop exercising their inventive talent, though in the workplace they will turn their technological ingenuity to many kinds of systems, social as well as physical and mechanical.

As a variant of Plato's Rationals and Aristotle's Dialecticals, the ENTPs are little different from the other NTs in most respects. Like all the Rationals, they are abstract in their communication and utilitarian in how they implement their goals. They choose to study science, are preoccupied with technology, and work well with systems. Their point of view is pragmatic, skeptical, relativistic, focused on spatial intersections and intervals of time. They base their self-image on being ingenious, autonomous, and resolute. They would if possible be calm, they trust reason, are hungry for achievement, seek knowledge, prize deference, and aspire to be wizards of science and technology. Intellectually they are prone to practice strategy far more than diplomacy, tactics, and especially logistics. Further, having a probing or option-minded nature they tend to prefer the Engineer's informative role over the scheduling Coordinator's directive role. And owing to their expressiveness and interest in the world at large they prefer the role variant of Inventor over Architect. To visualize ENTP intellectual development, consider the following graph depicting the most probable profile of their strategic roles:

ENTP Preferences
Engineer	Inventor
Engineer	Architect
Coordinator	Fieldmarshal
Coordinator	Mastermind

There aren't many Inventors, say about two percent of the population. They are intensely curious and continuously probe for possibilities, especially concerning complex problems, and they find chaos theory intriguing. Such curiosity can be inspiring to others, who find themselves admiring the Inventor's insatiable hunger for know-how. ENTPs are also the most reluctant of all the types to do things in a particular manner just because that is the way things have always been done. They characteristically have an eye out for a better way, always on the lookout for new projects, new activities, new procedures. Inventors are confident in the value of their approaches and display a charming capacity to ignore the standard, the traditional, and the authoritative. As a result of this innovative attitude, they often bring fresh, new approaches to their work and their lives.

Good at functional analysis, Inventors are keen judges of the pragmatics of both social and technological organization, and often become expert at improving relationships between means and ends. Where the INTP Architect sees design as an end in itself, the Inventor sees design as a means to an end, as a way of devising the instrument that works, the prototype that is replicable. To these outgoing Engineers, ideas are valuable when and only when they make possible actions and objects. "It can't be done" is a challenge to an ENTP and elicits a reaction of "I can do it." They are not, however, the movers of mountains as are the INTJ Masterminds. Rather, Inventors have faith in their ability to come up with solutions to problems, and they display an extraordinary talent for rising to the demands of even the most impossible situations. Superficially, they resemble ESTP Promoter Artisans with their talent for improvisation and expedient action. But the focus of the Inventors is on competency and a sense of achievement, rather than on the Promoter's feeling of spontaneity and freedom of action.

Inventors have an entrepreneurial spirit and can cleverly make do with whatever or whoever is at hand, counting on their capability to solve problems as they arise, rather than carefully generating a detailed blueprint in advance. A rough draft is all they need to feel confident and ready to proceed into action. Because of this tendency to depend on their capability and inventiveness, ENTPs may, at times, neglect to prepare themselves adequately for a given task. Even after repeated failures in situations where their capability has met with defeat, they will develop ways of avoiding such situations rather than resorting to more thorough preparation.

ENTPs can succeed in a variety of occupations, as long as the job does not involve too much humdrum routine, at which point they become restless. They are usually outstanding teachers, continuously devising new and intriguing ways to get their students involved in learning. They make good leaders on innovative projects that test their ingenuity. And they are skilled at engineering human relationships and human systems, quickly grasping the politics of institutions and always aiming to understand the people within the system rather than to judge them. Indeed, they are non-directive in their handling of others, and will take charge of activities only when forced to by circumstance.

No matter what their occupation, however, Inventors are seldom conformists in the workplace. If their job becomes dull and repetitive, they tend to lose interest and fail to follow through – often to the discomfort of colleagues. To stave off routine, ENTPs will try to outwit the system and use the rules and regulations within the system to give themselves room to innovate. They may even work against the system just for the joy of holding the upper hand. Inventors have also been known to engage in brinkmanship with their superiors, placing their own careers in jeopardy and behaving as if unaware of the consequences. Thus they may create an unnecessary crisis on the job, just to give them an opportunity to come up with a solution – which, more often than not, they succeed in doing.

Inventors often have a lively circle of friends and are interested in their ideas and activities. They are normally easy-going, seldom critical or nagging. Their good humor and curiosity tend to be contagious, and people seek out their company. ENTPs can be fascinating conversationalists, able to articulate their own complicated ideas and to follow the complex verbalizations of others. They may, however, deliberately employ debate tactics to the disadvantage of their opponents, even when the opponents happen to be close associates and valued friends. Versatile and agile of mind, they respond quickly and adeptly to another's shifting position. Often they are several jumps ahead. Indeed, ENTPs are the most able of all the types to maintain a one-up position with others, while to be taken-in or manipulated by another is humiliating to them, offending their pride in being masters of the art of one-upmanship.

Their home environment also tends to be full of life. They are gregarious, laugh easily and often, and are typically in good humor. Although usually dependable providers of economic necessities, life with ENTPs is at times an adventure, and they can unknowingly navigate the family into dangerous economic waters. Orderliness in the routines of daily living is not apt to inspire them, and they usually solve this problem by letting their mates pick up after them. Inventors like to spar verbally with their loved ones, and if their mates are not intellectually competitive they are likely to find such one-up/one-down transactions somewhat wearying. If the mate is competitive, however, the result might be delightful give-and-take – or, at times, marital conflict.

Inventors tend to have all sorts of hobbies and to be experts in unexpected areas, but they are not apt to share these hobbies with their mate or children in the sense of teaching them. In fact, Inventors may be very inconsistent in the attention they give to their offspring. Usually, it is feast or famine, wonderful warmth and affection when they are with their children, but also benign neglect when they are engrossed in their many outside interests. In particular, Inventors have little time for the everyday tasks of caring for and disciplining their children, and if possible will leave such domestic details to their mate.

The Architect [INTP]

Architectonics is the science of spatial relationships – organization, structure, build, configuration – and Architects from a very early age are preoccupied with spatial relativity and systems design. But INTPs must not be thought of as only interested in configuring three-dimensional spaces such as buildings, bridges, and machines; they are also the architects of curricula, of corporations, and of all kinds of theoretical systems. In other words, INTPs are men and women whose aim is to design systemic structures and to engineer structural models. All of these Architects look upon the world as little more than raw material to be reshaped according to their design, as formless stone that must yield to their coordinate lines of demarcation. Indeed, in their later years (after finding out that most others are faking an understanding of the laws of nature), INTPs are likely to think of themselves as the master organizers who must pit themselves against nature and society in an unending effort to create organization out of the raw materials of nature. Where the Mastermind Rationals are would-be masters of order, the Architect Rationals would-be masters of organization.

As a variant of Plato's Rationals and Aristotle's Dialecticals, the INTPs are little different from the other NTs in most respects. Like all the Rationals, they are abstract in communication and utilitarian in how they implement their goals. They choose to study science, are preoccupied with technology, and work well with systems. Their point of view is pragmatic, skeptical, relativistic, focused on spatial intersections and intervals of time. They base their self-image on being ingenious, autonomous, and resolute. They would if possible be calm, they trust reason, are hungry for achievement, seek knowledge, prize deference, and aspire to be wizards of science and technology. Intellectually, they are prone to practice strategy far more than diplomacy, tactics, and especially logistics. Further, with their probing or exploring nature they tend to opt for the Engineer's informative role rather than the quick-scheduling Coordinator's directive role. And because they are reserved and highly attentive they seem to prefer the role variant of Architect over Inventor. To visualize INTP intellectual development consider the following graph depicting the most probable profile of their strategic roles:

INTP Preferences
Engineer	Architect
Engineer	Inventor
Coordinator	Mastermind
Coordinator	Fieldmarshal

Architects are rare – say one percent of the population – and therefore not to be encountered in ordinary places, or if encountered, not recognized. For this type of Rational, the world exists primarily to be analyzed, understood, and explained. External reality in itself is unimportant, a mere arena for checking out the usefulness of ideas. What is important is that the underlying structures of the universe be uncovered and articulated, and that whatever is stated about the universe be stated correctly, with coherence and without redundancy. Curiosity concerning these fundamental structures is the driving force in INTPs, and they care little whether others understand or accept their ideas. Architects will learn in any manner and degree they can. If knowledge can be gathered from observing someone or taking some action, then such is worthwhile; if not, then not.

Architects prize intelligence in themselves and in others, and seem constantly on the lookout for the technological principles and natural laws upon which the real world is structured. The cognitive scanning of INTPs is not global and diffuse like an NF's; on the contrary, Architects limit their search to only what is relevant to the issue at hand, and thus they seem able to concentrate better than any other type. Architects can also become obsessed with analysis. Once caught up in a thought process, that process seems to have a will of its own, and they persevere until they comprehend the issue in all its complexity. Moreover, once INTPs know something, they remember it. With their grand desire to grasp the laws of unity and diversity, they can be a bit snobbish and may show impatience at times with others less endowed with engineering ability, or less driven. Unfortunately, their pride in their ingenuity can, at times, generate hostility and defensive maneuvers on the part of others.

Architects exhibit the greatest precision in thought and language of all the types. They tend to see distinctions and inconsistencies in thought and language instantaneously, and can detect contradictions in statements no matter when or where the statements were made. Only sentences that are coherent carry weight with them, and thus authority derived from office, credential, or celebrity does not impress them. Like the ENTPs, INTPs are devastating in debate or any form of adversarial discussion, their skill in differential analysis giving them an enormous advantage in discrediting their opponents' arguments and in structuring their own. They regard all discussions as a search for understanding, and believe their function is to eliminate inconsistencies, no matter who is guilty of them. It is difficult for an INTP to listen to nonsense, even in a casual conversation, without pointing out the speaker's error, and this makes communication with them an uncomfortable experience for many.

This type of Rational is the logician, the mathematician, the technologist, the scientist – that person given to any pursuit that requires architectonics, systems analysis, or structural design. Mind you, architecting is not the Artisan's fitting of physical shapes into pleasing forms, but the more abstract process of designing models. For the Architect, the model is the thing, whether a two, three, or four dimensional model.

It is hard for some types to understand these terse, observant Engineers because of their complex and technical speech and their avoidance of redundancy. However, they can be excellent teachers, particularly for advanced students, although here again they rarely enjoy much popularity, for they can be hard taskmasters. They are not good at clerical jobs and are impatient with routine details. They prefer to work quietly, without interruption, and often alone. They are inclined to be shy except when with close friends, and their reserve is difficult to penetrate. For all these reasons, INTPs are often seen as difficult to know, and are seldom perceived at their true level of competency. If an organization is to use their talents effectively, Architects must be given an efficient support staff who can capture their ideas as they emerge and before they lose interest and turn to another idea.

Architects take their mating relationship seriously and are faithful and devoted – albeit preoccupied at times, and somewhat forgetful of appointments, anniversaries, and other common social rituals. They are not likely to welcome much social activity at home, nor will they arrange it, content to leave the scheduling of social interactions to their mate. If left to their own devices, INTPs will retreat into the world of books and emerge only when physical needs become imperative. Architects are, however, eventempered, compliant, and easy to live with – that is, until one of their principles is violated, in which case their adaptability ceases altogether. They prefer to keep their desires and emotions to themselves, and may seem insensitive to the desires and emotions of others, an insensitivity that can puzzle and frustrate their mates. But if what their mates are feeling is a mystery to them, Architects are keenly aware of what their mates actually say and do, and will often ask their mates to give a rationale for their statements and actions.

Architects are devoted parents; they enjoy children, and are very serious about their upbringing. Each of their children is treated as a rational individual, with rights, privileges, and as much autonomy as that child can handle safely. INTPs encourage their children to take responsibility for their own lives and to chart their own course. They do not visit their own expectations on their children and never attack them physically or verbally. When safe to do so Architects let the natural consequences of their children's actions teach them about reality. When this is unsafe, they somehow contrive to design logical consequences to inform their children's actions.

The Rational Mindmate

1 wanted my wife to share all my interests, which included mathematical social science .... I was a little worried (I am not joking) that she did not know calculus, but she promised to remedy that, a promise she fulfilled only many years later.

-- Herbert A. Simon

Rationals make wonderful mates – they are loyal, uncomplaining, warmly sexual, honest and aboveboard in their communications, and not in the least possessive. But for all the satisfactions they bring to a marriage, establishing romantic relationships with Rationals usually requires more time and energy than with the other temperaments. Even the outgoing Rationals, although apparently easy to get to know, are fairly difficult to get close to, for their personality structure is characteristically complex and, at times, even hidden from view.

Rational Courtship

Rationals do not care to spend much of their time or energy making social connections. Not only do they find the rituals of dating slightly absurd, but they seem to have more difficulty than other temperaments engaging in play, which makes dating usually something of a trial for them. While some NTs will attempt to cover their lack of social skills by clowning around, they tend, on the whole, to be rather serious and cerebral, enjoying discussions on esoteric topics full of technical details (everything you wanted to know about chemical bonding – and more), a pastime which the other temperaments are apt to find dreadfully dull. For most NTs, intellectual development seems to proceed at a faster rate than does social development – they are often the math whizzes and science nerds in high school and college – and they tend to prefer their books and computers to football games and prom dates. But even in young adulthood, Rationals remain somewhat stiff and awkward when it comes to dating, and many show almost no interest in developing social graces or in being popular.

Once in a college or business environment, extraverted Rationals might decide (quite deliberately) to date around for the fun of it, and some might experiment with sexual practices. But when establishing more lasting relationships they are not likely to give in to impulse. Indeed, and as a matter of personal ethics, Rationals usually regard sexual promiscuity with distaste. Even talking about their sexual experiences is uncomfortable for them, and they are not likely to discuss past involvements with a partner or with others, and almost never discuss their current sex life with friends. A few highly private, seriously committed relationships is the usual pattern of an NT's love life, probably because Rationals (like many Idealists) tend to develop intimate relationships rather slowly.

Thus, generally speaking, dating for Rationals is neither entertainment (as it is for Artisans), social participation (as it is for Guardians), nor deep bonding (as it is for Idealists); rather, dating for Rationals is a sometimes difficult search for a person they deem worthy of their personal investment. Wanting always to know what they're doing and where they're going, NTs think through relationships carefully, giving prolonged consideration to their intentions and expectations. Once the matter has been mapped out to their satisfaction – once their coordinates are clear – they are ready to proceed with investing in the relationship, and, in all likelihood, they will develop the relationship as they have conceived it, provided, of course, that a response has been forthcoming from the recipient. If the relationship calls for a short-term involvement, a short-term investment is made, and the NT makes sure the temporary nature of the affair is clearly understood by the other party. Should this not be agreeable, the NT is likely to shrug his or her shoulders and turn away, with only mild regrets. If, on the other hand, the relationship calls for a long-term commitment, a long-term commitment is made, and will be honored even if the relationship does not develop as satisfactorily as anticipated. Nor is the NT likely to verbalize any disappointment or dissatisfaction if such is the case. Once Rationals have made their search and decided on a mate, they are unlikely to have a change of mind.

The Coordinator NTs (ENTJs and INTJs) are more systematic in this search for a mate than the Engineer NTs (ENTPs and INTPs). Coordinators will often have in mind a list of physical and cognitive features they hope to find in their mate, and they will not be slow to discourage someone who does not fit the bill. Engineers, on the other hand, can be rather passive about the search, seeing the whole courtship process as perhaps more trouble than it's worth, and they are likely to settle down with the first person of quality who happens to show an interest in them – just to get the mating problem solved. Both styles can lead to errors: Coordinators can be naive about their requirements and make faulty lists, while Engineers sometimes find that short-term solutions can result in long-term regrets. But unless their choice is a complete disaster, Rationals tend to stand by their commitments and make every effort to see their relationships through.

Although the Rational mating style can seem over-controlled at times, it has its attractions for the other temperaments. Artisans admire both the Rationals' penchant for effective action and their refusal to be bound by convention, while at the same time they enjoy trying to jolly the NTs up a bit, getting them to stop being so serious and obsessive about their work. Guardians, in contrast, think highly of the Rationals' seriousness and hard work, and take real pride in helping the lost-in-thought NTs keep their feet on the ground, providing them with an enjoyable, conventional social life. All in all, however, Idealists feel the strongest attraction to Rationals. Not only do Idealists share with Rationals a rare compatibility of mind, a deeply satisfying mutual interest in abstract ideas, but NFs also marvel at the NTs' ability to focus and to concentrate, so different from their own tendency to be scattered, divided, and distracted.

Once Rationals have given themselves to a mate, they feel pledged to the relationship – with or without a marriage license. NTs often have a curious amorality concerning the generally-accepted standards of mating behavior. The rules and formalities of society have little pressure for them, but their own personal standards of conduct certainly do. Society's seal of approval – in the form of a church ceremony or marriage license – means nothing to them, and will be put up with only to please their family or their mate. What matters to the Rational is individual commitment, and this personal contract is worthy all their loyalty. The same goes for their attitude towards pre-marital sex. The sexual ethics of NTs are carefully considered, and strictly adhered to, but may or may not conform to the general mores of sexual behavior current in any given time. In most cases, Rationals are not at all reluctant to explore their sexuality once they have committed to a relationship.

Rational Married Life

Once an investment has been made in a mate, and Rationals are free to pursue their varied interests – both know-abouts and know-hows – they come face to face rather quickly with a major problem in their marriages. It is frequently, and sadly, the case that Rationals are misunderstood on one important point by their spouses, who will accuse them of being cold and unemotional, and of seeming distant and unconcerned with their welfare. NTs, for their part, are amazed that their way of relating and loving can be seen by their mates as aloof or uncaring, for they know what powerful passions surge within them, and how keenly interested they are in their mates. But the false impression – almost a stereotype – of Rational coldness remains the source of much disappointment and conflict in their marriages. What's the cause of this misunderstanding, this discrepancy between appearance and reality? The answer lies in the combined strength of three of the Rationals' core character traits: their abstractness, their need for efficiency, and last but not least, their desire for autonomy.

In the first place, Rationals spend much of their time absorbed in the abstract world of ideas, principles, theories, technologies, hypotheses, research models, system designs, and the like. When they aren't puzzling over a problem from work, they are studying other subjects (the Civil War, astronomy, photography) – ever in the business of acquiring knowledge – and this makes them often seem out of touch with the real world of people and objects, and oblivious to the daily, homely events that comprise much of family life. Making matters worse, NTs have a unique ability to concentrate on whatever problems they are trying to solve – and they are always working on solutions to problems – which can make them seem emote and preoccupied with their work, lost in thought, as if a million miles away even when sitting with their spouse in the living room. This is me of the major complaints of their mates: that NTs seem to direct exclusive attention to the world of theory and technology, at the expense of giving sufficient attention to them. The Rational, it can sometimes seem to his or her mate, "doesn't know I'm alive."

And yet, while Rationals might seem unaware of their mates and the domestic life around them, they are not indifferent or unresponsive, usually showing genuine interest when these people and events are brought to their attention. It's just that NTs don't notice everyday reality – and this includes their spouses – very well on their own. Thus the problem is not that Rationals are cold and inhuman, but that they are by nature both abstract and highly focused, and have to be reminded to get their nose out of their books, their technical journals, their computer files – to get out of their heads – and join the family circle.

But there's the rub, because many husbands and wives feel humiliated having to ask their Rational mates to pay attention to them, or to give time to the family. They want their Rational mates to think of them and care about them of their own volition, without having to be reminded – as a spontaneous expression of love. And so they will wait with growing anger for the NT to offer interest or affection, and when this fails, they will accuse them of thoughtlessness or indifference. This is an all-too-common impasse in Rational marriages.

Along with their abstractness, Rationals have an almost obsessive need to be efficient in whatever they do and say, which means they want, if at all possible, to achieve maximum results with minimum effort in all their endeavors. This constant striving for peak efficiency, for mini-max operations and communications, explains many things about NT behavior: why they put their trust in the precision of logic, for example, or why they are so hard on themselves when they make errors, or why (always on the lookout for mistakes and wasted effort) they often frown and appear to be angry when concentrating.

At the same time, this obsession with efficiency figures into a familiar problem in Rational marriages, namely, that NTs are reluctant to speak of love to their spouses, who are often hurt by the silence. It's not that NTs don't feel love for their mates, but that they have a distaste for stating the obvious or being redundant, and so once they have indicated their feelings by choosing their mate, they are not apt to engage in sentimental love talk. Their spouses might long for more frequently verbalized expressions of affection and concern, but, to the ever-efficient Rationals, repeating what is clearly established is a waste of time and words, and might even raise a doubt about the sincerity of the message, as if the lady or the gentleman "doth protest too much." Once the NT makes a commitment to a mate, the commitment stands until notified. Nothing more need be said. All too often, however, their mates come to believe that this lack of emotional expressiveness is due to a lack of emotion, and, again, Rationals are accused of being cold and unromantic, or, worse, of selfishly regarding their own efficiency as more important than the feelings of their mates.

The third cause of the seeming coldness of Rationals is their principled insistence on individual autonomy, both for themselves and for their spouses. NTs allow no compromise when it comes to their own autonomy. They are the most self-directed and independent-minded of all the temperaments, and they resist (and resent) any and all forces that would coerce them into acting against their will, that would try to make them march to someone else's drum. To Rationals, every man is an island, alone unto himself, and their resistance hardens against social or moral expectations that are meant to control them, those rituals, manners, regulations, codes of conduct – those shoulds and shouldn'ts – that govern most social behavior. And this is just as true if the coercion comes from educational institutions, governmental institutions, business institutions, or from the institution of marriage.

Thus, if Rationals detect in their mates' messages even the slightest pressure to behave in a socially acceptable way, or to have a better attitude – if they sense the subtlest suggestion of social or moral obligation – they will balk and refuse to cooperate, not only on significant matters such as tending the children, or saying "I love you," but also on seemingly trivial things such as cleaning up the kitchen, dressing for a party, or helping bring in the groceries. Their refusal might take some form of silent, passive resistance, or an icy blast, but it is rare for any NT simply to follow orders without some word of protest or gesture of self-assertion. On occasion, they might bite their lip and go along in order to avoid a quarrel, but they allow their autonomy to be abridged only under duress, and with growing annoyance.

Beyond this resistance to interpersonal constraint, Rationals are not at all comfortable with the involuntary impulses (urges, emotions, appetites, desires) that well up from within themselves and seek to take control of them. NTs have just as many of these irrational impulses as the next person, but they are innately mistrustful of them – after all, they might lead to mistakes and inefficiency, both of which are unacceptable to them.

Basing their self-respect on their autonomy, NTs have difficulty allowing themselves to give up control and go with their impulses and emotions and to express them freely and openly. On the contrary, Rationals try to govern their impulses and bend them to their will by consciously evaluating them and analyzing them, which effectively kills them in the process. "Analysis," as Artisan athletes like to say, "is paralysis."

Not surprisingly, the Rationals' tight rein on their impulses also takes its toll on their marriages. Even with their closest loved ones, NTs prefer to restrain and hide their emotions behind an immobile facial stance, with only their eyes transmitting depth of reaction. A public display of emotion or affection is particularly repugnant to most NTs, not out of modesty or respect for decorum, mind you, but because it shows a lack of self-control – a lack of autonomy – and this attitude contributes to the image of the Rational as the cold automaton. NTs are even inclined to keep certain aspects of their personalities, as well as some of their talents, to themselves. Showing off is loathsome to them (it is acting for others, not for themselves), and so their loved ones are often surprised to learn of some skill, or interest, or facet of character in the Rational that had not been apparent previously.

But not only do Rationals live according to their own lights, they expect their mates to do the same. Personal dependence (on alcohol, for example) is repellant to them, but so is interpersonal dependence. Rationals show little sympathy with mates who look to the Rational to give them happiness or wholeness. To NTs, "People who need people," are not, as the song from Funny Girl puts it, "the luckiest people in the world" ("a feeling, deep in your soul, says you were half, now you're whole"). Such people are sorely lacking in self-sufficiency, says the NT, and need to become whole in themselves, self-determined and self-possessed, for the Rational to continue loving them.

In all fairness, Rationals are full of loyalty and support for mates, children, or even old friends who happen to be in need of help, but only if there is no sign of dependency or game-playing in the needy person. If those close to them (especially their spouses) try to make a crutch of the NT, or hope to extort sympathy with some overdone complaint, the NT will turn quickly away and refuse even to meet them half way. We are all on our own in life, says the Rational, and no one can make you happy but yourself.

The Rationals' intention to instill their own fierce sense of autonomy in their loved ones is a common basis of NT Pygmalion Projects, and as in all Pygmalion Projects it is meant benevolently, to help the mate become what the NT believes is a better person. Unfortunately, such a shift for yourself way of relating to loved ones strikes many less self-reliant mates as cold and uncaring, when in truth it is the Rationals' way of showing just how much they care.

For the most part, however, Rationals tend not to own the behaviors of their mates as might those of other temperament, and so do not feel they have the right to interfere with them – even for their own good. The errors, or at least the non-logical errors, of their family members are not the NT's errors, and so can be regarded objectively. (The NT's own errors are those which are inexcusable, and unforgivable.) Parenting, therefore, is usually a pleasure for a Rational, who seems to watch the growth of children with joy but as something of a bystander. And in the case of a quarrelsome mate, Rationals will usually not let themselves be hooked into the interpersonal battle, but will quietly step back and observe their mate's curious, overwrought behavior, waiting for the anger to burn itself out. Unfortunately, such benign detachment often only feeds the fire, and Rationals, instead of being valued for their patience and self-control, are once again accused by their mates of being aloof and uncaring.

This characteristic Rational trait – caring without needing to possess – also extends to many material goods. NTs tend to be relatively uninterested in acquiring material wealth beyond what is necessary for reasonable security and comfort, or in acquiring expensive things (cars, jewelry, clothes) just for the status or the pride of ownership. Possession as an end in itself seems not to motivate Rationals; rather, they are content with enjoying the beauty of, say, a vintage car, a classic airplane, or an exquisite art object, taking pleasure in their efficient design and construction, and finding satisfaction in their elegant functioning. While NTs are periodically inspired to acquire the wealth needed to own such expensive toys, this urge seldom lasts long enough to make that fortune. Their attention quickly turns once again to the theoretical, and the momentary interest in becoming wealthy dissipates – only to return from time to time with the same result.

Certain things, however, Rationals find irresistible to own, sometimes to the delight and sometimes to the irritation of their mates. Land is one kind of property that NTs have a powerful need to possess, and this might well have to do with their wanting to assure their personal freedom and autonomy – the idea of a man's home being his castle, secure from bureaucratic trespass. Owning tools is another weakness for NTs, who will think very little of the cost of buying the latest, most efficient design of any tool they happen to find useful, be it power saw, video camera, or computer hardware or software. Rationals love to feel capable, as if they can handle any problem that might arise, and so they surround themselves with the best tools available. And NTs seldom lose interest in owning books – they are some of their most valuable tools. A Rational's home is likely to be well-lined, even strewn, with books: with technical journals and dictionaries, with works of philosophy, history, biography, and the physical and social sciences, but also with books for recreation, works of far-flung imagination (especially historical novels, spy novels, science fiction, and mysteries), as well as books of math puzzles and complex game strategies (chess, bridge, and the like).

For Rationals, sensuality also has much to do with imagination, as it does for Idealists, and both temperaments are capable of appreciating the imaginative nuances of physical intimacy which Artisans and Guardians might find irrelevant or even unfathomable. The messages that both NTs and NFs send through the physical relationship are apt to become more and more complex over time, as their overtures to the sexual encounter become threaded with subtleties and symbolism. Moreover, the degree of sexual satisfaction in an NT's marriage will be correlated with the mental closeness of the relationship, and normally the sexual act is given meaning beyond mere playfulness or release from sexual tension.

At the same time, the Rationals' imaginative way in sexuality can sometimes block the full expression of their physical nature. The female NT, in particular, may have difficulty with sexual responses unless her mate takes the time, makes the effort, and understands the necessity of making his romantic approach through mutual exploration of ideas, arousing her mind as well as her body. Indeed, it is likely that an NT female will be sexually stimulated only by a mate who is as bright as she is, or at least by someone whose quality of mind she greatly admires. Obviously, this places the intelligent female NT in a position of limited choices. Male NTs have a slightly different standard concerning brain power. While they, too, prefer mates who are just as smart as they are (and unintelligent females actually turn them off), their attitude is more apt to be that, given other personal or domestic talents, their mate need not be quite their intellectual equal.

Rationals tend to enjoy arguing about ideas with their mates, taking great pleasure in the lively discussion of economics, politics, history, science (and many other topics), either one-on-one or within a circle of friends. NTs will insist that logic be adhered to in such discussions; to be sure, logic or rationality is the other major area (besides autonomy) in which Rationals are likely to start up Pygmalion Projects with their spouses. Rationals seem to have eternal hope that one day they can prevail upon their mates to share their fascination with science and technology, and that they can shape up their loved ones into being more logical in their thinking and speaking. Isn't this the way everyone should be?

But such discussions are often as witty as they are logical. Contrary to the stereotype of them as always cold and serious, Rationals generally have a well-developed sense of humor, although the amusing and humorous is usually subtle and, more often than not, based on a play on words. NTs especially enjoy humor which is ironical, or which contains an unexpected double meaning, but this is not to say their wit is always abstract and pedantic. Many Rationals, particularly males, get a kick out of off-color jokes and stories, at least when not in mixed company, though it must be said that they are not that good at telling dirty jokes – they often lose their timing and forget the punch lines.

However, just as quick-witted debate can bring Rationals alive, relationships that are fraught with emotional infighting can aggravate and exhaust them. NTs love to spar over ideas and theories, but conflict on a personal level – quarreling and bickering over acceptable social behavior, for instance, or locking horns over matters of family or domestic control (from big things, like raising children, to little things, like taking out the garbage) – is something NTs find destructive, and they will walk away from this kind of interaction, putting whatever psychological distance is needed between themselves and a cross, coercive mate.

For the social graces, similarly, Rationals tend to have little time or interest. Notoriously absorbed in their research, NTs (especially the reserved NTs) may be utterly unaware, unless reminded, of annual social rituals, and this can lead to difficulty when their mate is a type to whom anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, vacations, and such are important. Moreover, most NTs give very little thought to their personal appearance, particularly to how they dress, and if you happen to see someone wearing two different colored socks, or a shirt with the price tag hanging from the sleeve, it is likely to be an NT. This can embarrass some social-minded mates, who will get after their Rationals for being so careless.

But this is more than absentmindedness; again, there are principles of efficiency and autonomy involved. For Rationals, clothing is to be efficient, not fashionable, which means it must be comfortable and functional, and preferably inexpensive. Indeed, to give more than passing regard to color or style or expensive labels is worse than a waste of time, it is going along with the crowd, trying to please others, and is thus a loss of autonomy. Female NTs have pretty much this same attitude about clothing, and also about hair styles, makeup, jewelry, and the like. The female NT, if she attends to these fashion issues at all, tries to keep her appearance unpretentious, wanting to give as little time and attention as possible to outward form, and caring to please only herself and to keep her husband happy.

Rational Pairings

In spite of these misunderstandings, Rationals, both male and female, do indeed greatly please their mates, and make highly successful marriages with all the temperaments. But watch out for thorns.

Rational-Artisan: The Rationals' lack of possessiveness and reluctance to interfere with their mates makes a very nice fit with the Artisans' freedom-loving nature. In the SPs, NTs find mates just as irreverent as they, just as willing to ignore convention, and just as results-oriented. NTs admire SPs their interest in tools and tool skills, and at the same time they find in SPs an aptitude for fun, improvisation, spontaneity – even mischief – which can help get NTs out of their heads and show them how to let go and wing it. Rationals need to learn how to play, and Artisans love to spread their playfulness around. Of course, if pushed too hard SP fun and games can come to seem frivolous to NTs. But, more than this, SPs can also disappoint their NT mates by their general lack of interest in the internal world. NTs enjoy expounding their theories and hypotheses and describing their latest inventions and paradigms to their mates – at times, in fact, these breakfast-table conversations can turn into lengthy, highly detailed lectures. But it is very difficult for NTs to hold an SP's attention on such abstract subjects, and Rationals are quick to note when interest wanes and their mates begin turning the conversation to more concrete, down-to-earth matters.

Rational-Guardian: While Guardians won't usually take the lead on merrymaking, they do offer Rationals one invaluable gift as a mate: a stable, reliable center in the home. Preoccupied as they are in their ivory towers, NTs often lose touch with the everyday workings of family life, and an SJ mate happily steps in to see that things get done and that the details of running the home are taken care of. SJs also see to it that NTs have a social life – not one as varied and exciting as that whipped up by an SP, perhaps, but a full, enjoyable, often family-oriented social life nonetheless. NTs and SJs share a strong sense of loyalty to close friends and family, and SJs make sure their NT mates remember to take part in the social functions and family traditions they might otherwise forget. Rationals need to be reminded to relate to people, and Guardians love to help their mates remember their social obligations. If pushed too far, of course, SJ social reminders can sound to NTs like nagging, and they will grimly protect their autonomy from SJ bossiness. But a more important problem is that Guardians, no matter how intelligent in their concrete logistical roles, have little interest in the Rationals' abstract world of systems analysis and technological design. NTs may not need a great deal of intellectual interaction with their mates, particularly if they are able to discuss their brainstorms with their colleagues at work. A satisfying social life, family life, and sexual life may be enough for them. But Rationals with concrete mates (Guardians or Artisans) sometimes sense they're missing some vital connection.

Rational-Rational: Two Rationals married to each other do not have this problem. Two Rationals are likely to be fascinated by each other's research and discoveries, by their tools and technologies, and when they find the time to come together they have intense discussions, logical, esoteric, critical, and competitive. This competition can get rough at times – NTs will go for the jugular in the heat of argument – but the main trouble in NT-NT marriages is just the opposite: that each tends to stay absorbed in his or her own cognitive world, each forgetting to notice the other, and thus doubling the distance to be overcome in the relationship. Rationals married to other Rationals need to learn how to get away from their work and meet each other on a personal level.

Rational-Idealist: Marriage to an Idealist is probably the best option for a Rational. NTs and NFs share an abiding interest in the abstract, internal world, and so can find with each other a companionship of ideas, a mutual love of insights and concepts, even a similar fluency with abstract language, that bond them securely. At the same time, NFs bring a personal warmth to their relationships which appeals to the analytical, self-controlled NTs, and helps them put aside their work and take time for a personal life.

Conflicts, of course, are inherent in both of these areas of Rational-Idealist attraction. If sharing ideas with an NT means arguing over definitions, logical categories, and necessary consequences, it is onerous to NFs, who are willing to engage in such debates for only short periods of time, and only if the discussion remains friendly. And conflict between the NT's cool resistance to showing emotion and the NF's desire for emotional expressiveness is an endless problem in their relationships, though one' that is usually overshadowed by these two temperaments' rare compatibility

If theory holds, this compatibility is enhanced in Rational-Idealist marriages when the other factors of personality, the expressive or reserved (E-I) social attitude and the scheduling or probing mindset (J-P), are complementary. Here are four NT-NF pairings that illustrate the paradigm.

Fieldmarshals and Healers would seem to fit well together. Whether in the military or not, the outgoing and schedule-minded Fieldmarshal (ENTJs) are natural mobilizers, that is, they're itching to get their hands on several armies so they can mobilize their forces and conduct their campaigns as they should be conducted – with an eye to long-term strategies and their derivative tactics, logistics, and consequences. What in the seclusive and probing Healer (INFP) seems to fit so well with the Fieldmarshal? First note their one point of similarity. In their questing phase, Healers also become leaders of armies (as did Joan of Arc), and launch their campaigns with missionary zeal. In their saintly or monastic phase, however, Healers can offer their imperious Fieldmarshal mates a welcome respite from the wars, perhaps sharing with them their quiet spirituality, their desire for inner-harmony, and their personal sensitivity.

Masterminds and Champions should match up best. Wishing to control events, the reserved and scheduling Masterminds (INTJs) are probably more systematic than all other types in choosing a mate. Mate selection must be done in a logical and methodical way, with each candidate required to meet certain criteria, or else be quickly dropped. It may well be that the stereotype impugning the Rational approach to mating has as its target the thorough-going Mastermind. In any event, Masterminds will rarely go wrong with an expressive and probing Champion (ENFP). On the one hand, Masterminds and Champions speak the same language of ideas and fantasies (INTJs, for all their rationality, have a sometimes secret passion for fairy tales and mythical stories). But ENFPs also complement INTJs significantly, bringing to the marriage an enthusiastic and effervescent enjoyment and wonderment about life – the very antithesis of the tightly focused, thoughtful exactitude of the master of contingency planning.

Inventors and Counselors are most likely to find great satisfaction together. The inventor, broadly conceived, is bent on replacing whatever tool, operation, or enterprise now existing with a better one. Out to exercise their ingenuity in the world, the outgoing and probing Inventors (ENTPs) are of necessity iconoclastic and tend to get into a bit of trouble with the custodians of the establishment, who usually are not all that pleased to see the tried-and-true device set aside for the better mousetrap. Counselors (INFJs) share this desire to better things, though it is better personal relationships and the development of the self, not better tools and technologies, that inspire their inventiveness. In the seclusive and scheduling Counselor lies the soul of the advisor – the personal guide to a more harmonious life – and the irreverent, sometimes antagonistic ENTP greatly admires the INFJ's ability to help other people find their way.

Architects and Teachers are apt share a rare compatibility. The reserved and probing Architects (INTPs), all-too-easily lost in their abstract designs and desire for coherence, can despair of ever finding a mate who will listen to them and appreciate their visions. Fortunately, the expressive and schedule-minded Teachers (ENFJs), brimming with ideas in their own right, are catalysts of the personal growth process in others, able to bring out the best in others with inspiring personal enthusiasm. All the Idealists seem to have this facilitative capability in some degree, but Teachers seem to have it in abundance – and Architects find this combination of intellectual spark and personal sparkle quite irresistible.

Regardless of the particular pairing, however, and even more than the other types, Rationals need to be appreciated for the many qualities they bring to a marriage, and not criticized for the qualities they lack. Because of their single-minded, logical focus and their fiercely independent character, Rationals are easily seen as cold and uncaring, and thus they become the natural targets of Pygmalion Projects to make them more playful, more law-abiding, or more emotionally expressive, that is, to re-shape them into Playmates, Helpmates, or Soulmates. But if their spouses – of whatever temperament – could recognize the Rationals' focus and independence, not to mention their skepticism, efficiency, resolve, composure, logic, yearning for achievement, and thirst for knowledge, as positive traits, indeed, as the qualities that attracted them in the first place, then Rationals could be accepted as the excellent mates they are.