The YouTube channel INTJ Island recently released a video response to my “INTJ Religion” video, entitled, “Is the INTJ Mind Open or is it Closed?” Before I respond to his false claims, I just want to say that there are some things I can respect about this man.
First, it seems that he has served in the U.S. military. I have a deep sense of gratitude for the men and women who have served our country, and I’m thankful for his service. Second, he seems to be a dedicated husband to his beloved wife, and I admire his love and devotion to her. He also seems to dislike socialism/communism, so he scores some bonus points for that, too.
Nevertheless, INTJ Island’s video contained misinformation and deceptive tactics, and he has previously attacked me personally in comments. I’ve tried to overlook his attacks, but since he released a public video, I feel that I have no choice but to respond to his foolish claims.
INTJ Island’s Video
INTJ Island begins by saying,
“I am not attacking him personally in any way […] It appears that his history is that he spent a lot of time building a channel based upon the INTJ personality type, and only then did he run into something that challenged his religious beliefs, when he came across some information about Carl Jung’s personal habits that he considered to be unchristian. All of that is his business, and I honestly don’t care about all that.”
Actually, he does care. After I released my video and abandoned typology, he left not one, not two, but at least three different comments on various YouTube channels, using at least two different YouTube accounts, in which he attacked me personally. He was so triggered by my video that one comment alone was over 1300 words!
He wrote things such as,
“It is kind of scary watching a guy come unhinged that way.” [1]
I guess he doesn’t get out much…
He continued:
“He made Jung sound like a nut case who chased demons in the sacred forest.” [1]
Yes, but he forgot the part about when Jung’s head transformed into a lion, and then he became a god, which Jung referred to as his “initiation.”
He also wrote:
“INTJs are the least likely MBTI Type to be religious, or have a belief in a deity. However, when such a belief exists an INTJ can be an insufferable individual, eager to proselytize all who will listen…” [1]
Correction: INTJs are no longer the least likely MBTI type to be religious, according to recent studies with larger sample sizes. And it’s funny that he is so frustrated with me expressing my views on religion on my own channel, because he certainly hasn’t had a problem proselytizing his views on atheism or politics on his own channel.
He also wrote:
“If you feel the model is flawed point out the flaws” [1]
I am.
“and better still, come up with a more correct model.” [1]
Models with better scientific support already exist, such as the Big 5, but I guess he missed the memo.
He continued,
“That is how science works. You don’t take your Bible to the lab to check your results, at least you don’t if you are going to come up with useful and accurate results.” [1]
You’ve got to laugh at the irony here. That’s exactly why scientists have been criticizing Jung’s typology for decades. It’s based mostly on occult pseudoscience, Jung’s own flawed observations, and his magical spirit guide, Philemon – not the scientific method.
Several studies have shown us that the MBTI types do not actually exist. Even the most ardent typologist will admit that there is no empirical evidence for the functions, and MBTI is widely considered pseudoscience by countless scientists, psychologists, and even atheist websites such as RationaWiki.com – no Bible needed.
He also wrote:
“I have trouble with his taking sole claim to [the INTJ type] with his channel name…” [2]
That’s funny, because he certainly didn’t have a problem naming his own channel after the INTJ type: INTJ Island. In addition, many people have told me that he’s not a real INTJ, but I didn’t care because it’s all pseudoscience nonsense. You could argue that any person is just about any type, and people constantly question everyone’s type in this toxic typology community. I don’t believe these types actually exist.
But the strange thing is that he seems to openly admit that he’s not a normal INTJ.
He wrote,
“I just have more Ti (a lot more) and Si (where I shouldn’t have any). The entire magnitude of Si plus Se is larger than my Fi plus Fe values. My Ti is 80 while my Te is 65. However my Ni is 90, clearly my dominant function. I am odd even for an INTJ…” [2]
Hmm. The plot thickens…
Is he really an “odd” INTJ Island, an ISTJ Peninsula, or INFJ Canal?
And let me clarify something. Religion was not my sole reason for leaving MBTI, as the INTJ Island guy suggested. I spent 2/3 of my departure video (INTJ Dissents) explaining all of my frustrations with Jungian typology and the MBTI community. The straw that broke the camel’s back was finding out that MBTI was based on Jung’s occult pseudoscience and his magical spirit guide.
Even if I were an atheist, I would have ditched this nonsense just as quickly, and many atheists have thanked me for my videos exposing Jungian typology. In fact, several other YouTubers have also deleted their channels after finding out the truth about MBTI.
- “Cetanu the INTJ” was an atheist who created videos on the INTJ type. He garnered thousands of subscribers, but then later took down his videos.
- A channel called “Penny Thoughts” created videos on Jungian typology and gained thousands of subscribers, but then he released a video titled, “7 reasons why MBTI is BS” and abandoned the channel.
- INTJ Ryan created several videos on INTJs, but he later deleted them and questioned Jungian typology.
- Another guy created a channel called “Must Not Sleep. Must Warn Others” and made several INTJ videos, but he took them all down and abandoned the channel as well.
- Psychologist Adam Grant also typed as INTJ, but he later abandoned MBTI in favor of the Big 5, and he has released several scathing articles on the MBTI.
I’m hardly the first person to build a channel around MBTI or the INTJ type, only later to find out the truth and delete my videos. I’m sure I won’t be the last, either. But I do find it interesting how INTJ Island seems to be fixated on what I’m doing on my channel.
INTJ Island’s Creepy Obsession with Me
Not only did INTJ Island attack me personally in multiple comments, but he has been doing some unusual things.
For example, I used the pose below in most of my older videos as my video thumbnail, and after I left, someone pointed out to me that he created his INTJ Island channel using a similar pose for his channel avatar. Hmm. We’re twins!
He’s also uploaded some videos on the same topics that I had. It’s almost as if he’s trying to recreate my channel as his own, but with an atheistic slant. It’s not always unusual for YouTubers in the same niche to make videos on the same topics, but he seems to be fixated on my channel.
For example, I uploaded a video on July 12, 2018, titled, “INTJ in Love.” He uploaded a video just a few weeks later, titled “An INTJ in love.” I took a break for a few months and then uploaded my video INTJ Religion, and he responded a couple of weeks later by uploading a video trying to debunk my “INTJ Religion” video. So the comments he’s left, the copycat behavior, and his excessive focus on my channel is a bit inappropriate and creepy.
(By the way, I’m remaking some of my older videos using the same title in an attempt to help people and clear up some of the misinformation I presented before, so don’t think I’m copying him. I had uploaded those videos long before he created his INTJ Island channel.)
INTJ Island Mischaracterized the Purpose of My INTJ Religion Video
Next, in his debunking video, he completely mischaracterized the purpose of my INTJ Religion video to his viewers, saying,
“the creator was doing a hit piece against MBTI generally, and the INTJ personality type description specifically.” [3]
That video was not a hit piece against MBTI or the INTJ type. I made my INTJ Religion video as a direct response to a negative comment someone had written about me, which I partially quoted in the video itself. I have the right to defend myself, and I refuted the person’s claims using studies, examples of INTJs who were religious, and then I pointed out the flaws in her reasoning by revealing that MBTI was actually considered pseudoscience.
I let the girl know that I had made the video response, and she responded by writing in part,
“I do stand corrected on my generalization about INTJ religious belief because I confess that it was based on a preconception, not on facts, which you clearly showed to be erroneous.”
I thought that was very nice and mature of her to admit that.
So this was no hit piece against MBTI, as he falsely suggested to his audience, but it was a defense of myself and a correction of common stereotypes in the MBTI community, which he conveniently forgot to mention. But do you see how he’s trying to turn his audience against me by making me look like the MBTI boogeyman, out to terrorize INTJs everywhere? It’s so deceptive!
INTJ Island Continues…
Next, in the description of his video, he wrote the following:
“It is asserted that we are inconsistent and this is an argument against the validity of MBTI and the INTJ type. Can this assertion be validated or debunked?”[3]
I never stated in the video that INTJ descriptions in general were inconsistent and that it disproves MBTI. This is what I actually stated, which is a far cry from what he’s claiming:
“I hear these stereotypes all the time. INTJs are so open-minded. Ayn Rand is the poster child for the INTJ female type. She was no social justice warrior. Although she was an atheist, she railed against communism/socialism in her books, considered homosexuality immoral, and made feminists everywhere gasp when she confidently explained why she’d never vote for a female president.
Your religious or personal beliefs have NOTHING to do with the four letters you get on some pseudoscience, occult-based personality test.”
I’m refuting toxic and foolish stereotypes that I’ve actually encountered, but he seems to have a serious problem comprehending the whole point of my video.
Next, he said,
“He made quite a fuss over the fact that the study didn’t suggest that all INTJs are atheists, as if he expected that would be the case. Of course this is a straw man argument. It is not generally suggested that all INTJs are atheists. That assertion is absurd on its face.”[3]
I never expected that most INTJs would be atheists. I know that most “INTJs” are theists, though INTJs don’t actually exist. I’m debunking a false stereotype that I’ve encountered. People have said to me, “You can’t be a true INTJ! You’re a Christian. All the INTJs I know are atheists!”
A quick search on Google will show you examples of people claiming that most INTJs are atheists or that INTJs tend to be atheists. In fact, the girl that I responded to in the video questioned that I could be a true INTJ due to my religious beliefs by writing, “What INTJ you know believes in the Bible? I’ve only met one in my life-who I dated for 2.5 years while in the military-and I’m pretty sure he was agnostic or atheist.”
So my comment was a direct response to her comment, as well as other people who have said this to me in the past. It was not a straw man argument at all, as he falsely claimed.
He then says,
“You can accurately state that members of this group both mostly believe in God, and at the same time still have the highest likelihood of not believing in God. There is no conflict in those two statements. And yet, the presenter in the video tried to make it appear as though there were…” [3]
Um, no. That was the whole point I was making in the video! It’s like he didn’t even watch it. I explained that INTJs did, in fact, have the highest percentage of atheists in an outdated study, which is probably how the false stereotype that most INTJs are atheists (or that they tend to be atheists) originated. That’s a false stereotype. Most INTJs are religious, and INTJs do NOT tend to be atheists; they tend to be religious. They merely had more atheists than other types, though that’s no longer the case.
I then correctly pointed out that the study actually showed that most INTJs were religious, which disproved the false stereotype that most INTJs were atheists. There is no contradiction here, and I never suggested such a thing. But again, he’s deceiving his audience and twisting my words.
In the most strange comment of all, he then says this,
“Any such assertion would be ridiculous. All it would take to overthrow it would be to point out Sir Isaac Newton or C.S. Lewis.” [3]
That’s exactly what I did in my video! To disprove the girl’s comment, which suggested that true INTJs couldn’t believe in the Bible, I cited examples of INTJs (Isaac Newton, C.S. Lewis, etc.) who believed in the Bible.
Ugh, how can this guy get so much wrong? It’s embarrassing.
He even says,
“…there is no set of INTJ religious beliefs…” [3]
I made this same point in my video. He keeps restating things that I said, but he makes it seem as if he’s debunking me! It’s bizarre.
INTJ Island then states the following:
“Another point that is related to whether your mind is open or closed was when he pointed out that INTJs were very likely when they had a religious belief to be strongly religious. He appeared to be surprised by this. Seriously? If you think something is true is it odd or at all unexpected that you would then treat it as being true and act accordingly?”[3]
I never even made that point in my INTJ Religion video! I never once said in that video that INTJs were very likely when they had a religious belief to be strongly religious. That is blatantly false and the literal definition of a straw man argument! Yet he goes on and on about the absurdity of that point, which I never made.
The whole point of my video was that people who get INTJ on a pseudoscience personality test can be any religion. They can be “open-minded” or “closed-minded.” They can be very religious or areligious, and their beliefs can change over time. Jungian pseudoscience does not dictate a person’s beliefs or social tolerance! Why does he keep deceiving his audience by claiming that I made statements or points that I never made in that video?
It’s so strange.
I don’t even know how he got that impression from my video. The only thing even remotely close to that statement was that I said the following:
- I cited a study that asked “You are very religious,” and I pointed out that there were more INTJs who answered yes than there were INFPs, but I wasn’t claiming that if you’re a religious INTJ, you’ll be STRONGLY religious. I was just quoting a study to debunk the stereotype that most INTJs are atheists.
- And after citing examples of INTJs who did believe in the Bible (to refute the girl who left the comment), I wrote in my article, “Nevertheless, it’s pretty clear that many dogmatically religious individuals have typed as “INTJ.” Again, nowhere am I claiming in the video or corresponding article that if an INTJ is religious, he or she will be strongly religious. I merely cited a few religious INTJs to disprove the girl.
He literally made that up out of thin air, and then went on a bizarre tangent about the absurdity of it.
Ironically, many “INTJs” do claim to be religious, but they are not particularly dogmatic about it, and I provided some screenshots from reddit.com in the video as evidence to debunk his foolish claim.
INTJ Island continued:
“The presenter suggested that INTJs are said to be open-minded. Then he quoted Ayn Rand, where she suggested that she would never vote for a woman president. This, in his mind, proved that an INTJ does not have an open mind.” [3]
It did no such thing. It proved that you cannot stereotype INTJs into a certain thinking pattern or belief system, which again, was the WHOLE. POINT. OF. MY. VIDEO. To prove that point, I cited someone widely considered to be an INTJ (Ayn Rand), and I showed that she held views that many today would consider “narrow-minded” or “intolerant.” I sarcastically wrote on the image, “INTJs are very open-minded.” Again, I am not claiming that INTJs have either an open or closed mind. I don’t even think INTJs exist.
I’m arguing that you can’t stereotype people based on the silly four-letter code they get on a personality test.
His claims just keep getting stranger.
He then says:
“INTJs keep an open mind as long as we are awaiting new evidence. However, once the evidence is in, in our opinion, we make up our mind. And once that happens, the only way to shake our position is to bring in better evidence.” [3]
That literally describes 90% of the population. I took his statement, and I read it to my wife, who has typed as ISFJ/ESFJ. She fully agreed with it. Who wouldn’t? That’s exactly what scientists have been claiming for decades – that Jungian typology and the MBTI makes use of what’s known as the “Barnum Effect” or “Forer Effect.” Nearly anyone could agree with that generic statement that INTJ Island provided, yet he thinks he’s describing a trait of INTJs.
I will sometimes search out evidence for long periods before making a decision. Other times, I can form an opinion very quickly with very little evidence. Sometimes I require a lot of evidence to change my mind, and sometimes I don’t. You can’t put people in box, which again, is the whole point of my video.
Next he says,
“I have found MBTI to be a great help in understanding myself….” [3]
I used the same argument to defend Jungian typology before I realized the truth. But does a theory that is considered pseudoscience really help us to understand ourselves, or does it help us to misunderstand ourselves?
Think about it….
- First, it puts us into types, when scientific evidence and better models such as the Big 5 tell us that we have traits that operate on a continuum that can change over time, not fixed personality types.
- Studies have shown that 35-50% of people will get a different MBTI personality type when retested, and a quick search on Google proves that countless individuals have changed MBTI types over time, even when taking the official instrument.
- MBTI tells us that we process information and make decisions based on a specific cognitive functions, which, according to empirical science, do not even exist.
- And Jung’s theory is based on an outdated occult premise. The point of type was to help people realize their unbalanced nature before going through his Gnostic individuation process. One Jungian writer put it this way, “Jung differentiated various orientations—ways in which an individual can process information, make decisions, and interpret the world. An individual’s combination of these orientations highlighted their path to individuation.” And of course, Jung’s book was titled “Psychological Types, or the Psychology of Individuation.” So this personality nonsense has occult and religious implications, and people deserve to know what they are really studying when they study Jungian typology, especially those claiming to have an “open mind.”
INTJ Island’s Astrology
What I find utterly confusing is that INTJ Island has a video critiquing astrology, in which he says in the description, “A few thoughts on the pseudoscience of astrology,” yet his entire channel is based on MBTI and the INTJ type, which is also widely consider pseudoscience!
I guess he only likes certain types of pseudoscience?
Furthermore, any astrologer can tell you that Jung based his four functions on the four elements of astrology, which have always characterized personality traits. The four elements are arguably one of the most important teachings in the occult, and it forms the basis of magic rituals, the pentagram, divination, and so forth.
In other words, Jungian typology is basically a form of occult astrology in which you choose your own four elements, rather than being arbitrarily placed into them by your birth date. Jung once wrote the following:
The important point is that the horoscope is true only in the time sense, not astronomically. It is independent of the stars. We see that menstruation has a moon period, yet it does not coincide with the phases of the moon; otherwise all women would menstruate at the same time, and they don’t. It simply means that there is a moon-law in every woman and likewise the laws of the stars in every human being but not in the relation of cause and effect.
– C.G. Jung, December 11, 1929
Source: Astrology website astroligion.com.
Jung loved astrology, and he once wrote to Freud:
“my evenings are taken up very largely with astrology.” [4]
It is clear that his four functions are based on the four elements of astrology, and that is the problem. As psychologist Adam Grant correctly wrote, “MBTI is astrology for nerds.”
Here are but a few websites pointing out that Jung’s four functions are based on the four elements of astrology, but I’ve seen this mentioned in countless occult books and other astrology websites:
- http://www.factsbehindfaith.com/heaven_on_earth/notes/note.aspx?intNOteID=55
- https://www.astrostar.com/Four-Elements.htm
- https://www.astro.com/astrology/in_jungonastrology_e.htm
- https://astrotabletalk.blogspot.com/2010/10/jungs-psychological-types-and.html
- https://thelivingsky.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/the-personality-theory-of-carl-jung-and-the-four-distinct-astrological-temperaments/
INTJ Island may be unaware of the astrology connection to Jungian typology, but that’s what happens when you allow your mind to follow pseudoscience rather than reason. If he only knew how contradictory it makes him look to bash astrology, which Jung used often, when his favorite pseudoscience is based on those same four elements of astrology!
INTJ Island finishes by saying,
”[MBTI] is a tool that I find useful…” [3]
That’s the most common excuse people give for studying Jungian typology. But what most people don’t know is that nearly every promoter of pseudoscience uses the EXACT same excuse.
- The website Palm-reading.org explains that “Palm reading is therefore a very useful psychological tool that can help you know yourself better.”
- Astrology website astrostyle.com wrote, “Astrology is a tool that can help us understand and unlock our highest potentials….”
- Tarot.com explains that “Tarot cards are a tool to help you tap into your own intuition…”
Yes, pseudoscience practitioners love to talk about how their pseudoscience “tool “can help you in some way. Aren’t those occult “tools” so POWERFUL in helping you understand yourself? Nope! They are helpful in wasting your time while helping you misunderstand yourself.
By the way, if you argue with any MBTI fanatic, you can rest assured that he or she will use these two reasons to defend MBTI, despite whatever evidence you present to show how it is occultism or unscientific:
- It makes me feel special and validated.
- It is a tool to help me understand myself and others.
Conclusion
In conclusion, INTJ Island’s response video was an absolute train wreck from the start. It was filled with misinformation, straw man arguments, and deception.
- First, he claimed that he didn’t want to attack me personally and didn’t care about my departure, but he has already attacked me personally and was very triggered over my departure videos.
- He completely mischaracterized my video as a “hit piece” against MBTI, when I was actually defending myself against a specific comment someone left about me, as well as toxic stereotypes I’ve encountered, which he conveniently forgot to mention to his viewers.
- In addition to writing negative comments about me, people have pointed out how INTJ Island has uploaded many videos that I’ve made, and he even uses a similar pose on his channel. He’s very focused on what I’m doing.
- He fabricated statements or points that I never made (straw man arguments), and then attempted to debunk those false claims to make me look bad to his audience.
- He restated at least one or two points that I made in my video, giving the impression that he came up those arguments or examples himself.
- He used a generic statement to describe how INTJs are open-minded. My XSFJ wife even agreed with that generic “Barnum Effect” statement.
- He concluded by talking about how MBTI is a useful tool, which is the same lame excuse that even tarot card readers and palm readers use to peddle their pseudoscience!
I have no clue why this guy feels the need to rant about me in comments and even go so far as to make a video about me, but this just shows you how triggered people get when you dare to criticize their beloved typology.
I can only hope that INTJ Island can get whatever anger he has toward me out of his system, and move on with is life. There are 10,000 things that he could do instead of focusing on me. There is no need for him to be so emotionally invested in what I’m doing, and it is becoming somewhat inappropriate at this point.
Sadly, it would be easier to convince some people that they are really an elephant living on Mars, than it would be to convince them that they aren’t an “INTJ” or that “INTJs” don’t actually exist. It’s strange how attached people get to this typology stuff. It’s very addictive and toxic, and people get personally offended when you attack the theory.
I plan to remake some of my older videos on my channel. I’ve said I would for nearly 1-2 years now, so I’m trying to make good on that promise, but it takes time. My goal is to help people overcome common struggles, and I also want to provide general tips for how to succeed in various aspects of life. No typology is needed for that. In fact, typology is often a stumbling block for people to get over their issues, as it warps their perception of self and gives them justification for certain tendencies.
I’m not going to be promoting cognitive functions, the idea of types, or any such occult pseudoscience. As I remake my videos, I will take time to correct misinformation that I previously stated. I will also debunk toxic stereotypes, just as I did in my INTJ Religion video. In addition, I will make a few videos critiquing various forms of typology, such as MBTI, the Enneagram,and so on.
References:
- INTJ Island’s comment from Zombie’s Ruin MBTI Channel. Video Title: INTJ Guy Quits MBTI, Hates Everything.
- Comment from Michael Pierce’s Video: In Defense of Jungian Typology: a reply to INTJ (second half).
- INTJ Island YouTube channel, Video title: “Is the INTJ Mind Open or is it Closed?”
- Jung to Sigmund Freud, 12 June 1911, in Letters I, p. 24.