Robin Williams

[synesthesia-]

He described himself as introverted and quiet. (The public, manic, comedy act is what people are constantly typing.)

Almost and ENFP you will EVER talk to says that they have to be alone sometimes. Our N with F makes us prone to some pretty deep shit when it comes to mental illness and Robin Williams (both his public and private life) are pretty clear examples of the inner workings of an ENFP.

 

[Jaguar]

Almost and ENFP you will EVER talk to says that they have to be alone sometimes.

The same could be said of any person, not just an ENFP.

 

[Mal12345]

After keeping the question of Robin Williams' type in the back of my mind for several years, I've finally decided it is ESFP 7w8.
That probably differs from something else I posted about it. At one time I had gone with 7w6.

The difference between ESFP and the more common call of ENFP is (was) the physical nature of Williams' comedy. ESFP is (was) extremely out there physically, while the ENFP is more inward and has a conceptual frame of mind. The 7w8 is the impulsive wing of the 7, and Williams was extremely impulsive both on stage and off.

My source for this is a conversation I had with someone who knew Robin Williams personally.

 

[burningranger]

Robin Williams was an ENFP. The poster child. Erbody knows that!

 

[Mal12345]

Robin Williams was an ENFP. The poster child. Erbody knows that!

ESFPs as comics are loud and physical, ENFPs as comics are more laid-back and intellectual.

 

[burningranger]

ESFPs as comics are loud and physical, ENFPs as comics are more laid-back and intellectual.

I get where you are coming from. He is an actor. Acting can make one channel one's Ne in a very particular way speaking from personal experience. Imagination gets more grounded and easily applicable to the real world depending on one's intent. It's the delivery and the process of how he seems to connect his comedic ideas that gives Ne away for me.

Tell you what though...if we find a way of being 100% accurate on typing ESFP vs ENFPs...he'd be the best case study to test it out fully.

 

[Mal12345]

I get where you are coming from. He is an actor. Acting can make one channel one's Ne in a very particular way speaking from personal experience. Imagination gets more grounded and easily applicable to the real world depending on one's intent. It's the delivery and the process of how he seems to connect his comedic ideas that gives Ne away for me.

Tell you what though...if we find a way of being 100% accurate on typing ESFP vs ENFPs...he'd be the best case study to test it out fully.

I'm also basing my call on a conversation I had with someone who knew Robin Williams. Williams, in real life (not as an actor), was known to suddenly jump up and say, "Hey! Let's go do xyz!" and it was usually something so crazy and off-the-wall that he had to be quietly talked out of it.

 

[Mal12345]

I get where you are coming from. He is an actor. Acting can make one channel one's Ne in a very particular way speaking from personal experience. Imagination gets more grounded and easily applicable to the real world depending on one's intent. It's the delivery and the process of how he seems to connect his comedic ideas that gives Ne away for me.

Tell you what though...if we find a way of being 100% accurate on typing ESFP vs ENFPs...he'd be the best case study to test it out fully.

100% accuracy is not a goal, really. The goal is 100% certainty which is more subjective and intellectual. The best certainty, I think, comes from relating a person's behavior and cognition (all the evidence that can be known about a person) to type descriptions using as many Jungian components (functions) as possible. And we have to recognize that the Ti-tertiary is often stronger than the auxiliary type, a factor that can confuse all of us. (See my recent post on Ayn Rand.)

 

[burningranger]

And we have to recognize that the Ti-tertiary is often stronger than the auxiliary type, a factor that can confuse all of us.

What do you mean? Did you mean Te-tertiary?

 

[Mal12345]

What do you mean? Did you mean Te-tertiary?

Sorry, I'm all caught up in typing Ayn Rand (not so much Robin Williams). And she had Ti-tertiary because she was an INFJ. So the reason she is often typed as an INTJ is because she is strongly intellectual and "rational." But that is Ti-tertiary causing Fe-auxiliary to become submerged, probably because of problems she had dealing with people (friends that she had and then rejected) and disgust at society for not doing things right.

 

[Mal12345]

But her Fe-auxiliary, while submerged in a sense, lent her a certain gravitas through her writing, and personal effect she had on people, which led to the founding and growth of a social movement.