Quote: (04-06-2010 09:38 PM)hydrogonian Wrote:
Quote: (11-05-2009 09:38 PM)speakeasy Wrote:
Good thread guys, keep it going!
At some point in my past, I was at the height of my AFCism. I had began dating a girl that I had oneitis for for several years. Due to my beta male tendencies at the time, I ended up losing her. I feel into a deep depression thinking that girl was the pinnacle of my life accomplishment and all I wanted was to be with her and I lost her. I made pathetic attempts to get her back. She came back briefly giving me hope that this was meant to be, and then she kicked me to the curb once again when she met someone else. I was once again devastated all over again. At that point I started becoming really introspective and trying to figure out why my luck with women has been consistently so bad over my whole life. I started studying psychology and took a great deal of interest in MBTI and learned about my personality type(which is INTP, btw) and found it fascinating. At the same time I also found out about a man named Dr. Gilmartin who wrote a now long out of print booked called Shyness & Love: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment. It was basically the only serious research book about men were extreme betas. The book was like 800 pages long. You couldn't buy it anywhere, and there was only one copy of it in the entire Los Angeles library system. I located it and got the book and must have read all 800 pages in about 2 and a half days. I literally couldn't put it down, reading it for like 18 hours a day. It blew the doors off for me. Maybe the way a guy who lived a life of crime feels when he's in prison and turns to the bible or koran for the first time and comes to an epiphany about the errors of the entire way he's lived his life. I felt like for the first time I truly understood my situation and it was a transformational experience. The only problem is that the book is that it didn't mention much in the way of solutions or where to go from here now that you understand what happened to you. From there, I found out about David DeAngelo most notably as well as some other gurus. I started working on my inner game and came a long way. I'm still nowhere near where I want to be, but I have come a long way from where I was. In a paradoxical way, I guess that girl really did me a favor. I only wish it happened much sooner.
From one INTP to another, thats good stuff. Congrats on your progress.
I was amazed when I read my Myers Briggs evaluation as well. I've taken the test maybe 4-5 times, and I'm consistently INTP. Its definitely helped to put many things in perspective about myself and, when reading about other types, others. I'd like to get more into it when I get some time. Btw, there are a couple of huge INTP forums on the web.
As for influential books, the ones that changed my thinking process (led me to be much more of a free thinker), and therefore my life, the most were:
Quantum Psychology by Robert Anton Wilson
and
The Way of Zen by Alan Watts
I would suggest them in order, as the first helps you to get a LOT more out of the second.
Thanks for these recommendations! I just added them to my reading list. They sound like they would help the foundations of my inner-game, which is always a good thing.
I read a book a few months ago called the Tao Te Ching and when I read it, I had some insights on how to improve my overall vibe to one of absolute non-neediness. Great, timeless work.