3.23.2010

Types of people.

One thing that amazes me is that despite how unique everyone is, it seems that there are only a handful of categories everyone fits within. Rarely have a met someone who I do not see as being a certain 'type' of person. (At the same time, I'm not sure if I have ever met someone who being around them feels the same way as it feels to be around anyone else. With the possible exception of siblings)
Of course, within these types there are a variety of sub-types and an almost endless variety of ways for these sub-types to be combined and I suppose it is this combining of various sub-types that make everyone unique. However, I'm still frequently impressed at how often people fit into a distinct category of person.
I am also amazed at how much this seems to cross cultural divides. When I watch or read something about a different culture, I frequently find myself marveling that whatever particular culture it is, they seem to have the same different types of people we do, to a greater or lesser degree. This leads me to think that while I'm sure culture does have some influence on what different types of people there are(the culture would, after all, have to provide some manifestation of that particular personality type), it is largely influenced by biology.
It is particularly interesting to me when a family of one type has a child of a different type, such as a family of preppy jocks who has a video game nerd child, or a hick family with a sensitive artist son. It is interesting because despite being raised by and surrounded by one particular type of person, their biological inclination towards being another type of person prevailed.

1 comment:

Vincent said...

All that you have demonstrated here is your own tendency to categorize people into types. What you see is in the eye of the beholder.