Shadowing Practice: Is Myers Briggs Just Astrology for Smart People? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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All right, let's get to the video.
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I'm a Sagittarius, if you didn't know.
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Let's check out the profile for a Sagittarius.
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Sagittarius is a steadfast friend and a creative thinker.
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A great person to have on a work team, and That does not describe me very much.
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Oftentimes, I get people asking me in the comments, or in real life, oh, you believe in MBTI?
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Do you also believe in astrology, huh?
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Some people are even like, astrology is much more accurate.
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And I'm like, okay.
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The other thing that I've heard a few times is that MBTI is like horoscopes for smart people.
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"That's hurtful, man." Is that a valid assessment?
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I say no, here's why.
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There are different levels of understanding that people have when it comes to Myers -Briggs and astrology,
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and that assessment of them being analogous to each other is more true at certain levels, but even then it's not that true.
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So we start off at the remedial level.
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Someone takes a Myers -Briggs test and they're like, "Oh, this is my type, great, I'm an INFJ.
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who subscribes me, woohoo, I'm gonna go subscribe to Frank James, awesome.
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Then on the astrology side, it's like, "I know what my sign is because of the month I'm in,
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"and maybe I read the horoscopes." And that's the beginner level.
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And at that level, yeah.
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MBTI is sort of just like a horoscope, because it's just like, oh, this seems like me, great, whatever, but then let's go up another step.
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We go up to the college prep level of understanding,
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where for Myers -Briggs, you start to understand what thinking and feeling and intuition and sensing are, and what the other types are,
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and maybe you've read some more profiles about the other types.
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Maybe at that point, you're even like, "Oh, wait, this type doesn't describe me as well as this other one." In astrology, I guess the analogy would be,
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you learn about all the other signs and about water and fire signs, et cetera.
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And then at the advanced placement level, you have on the Myers -Briggs side, learning about cognitive functions and what those are and everything like that.
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And then on the astrology side, you learn about birth charts, etc. At the very bottom, yeah, horoscope, MBTI, almost the same.
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As you move up though, what's the thing that's the same, that differentiates them?
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It's that with Myers -Briggs, it starts with you.
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Either you have to take a test or maybe your friend tells you, "Oh, you're this type," or you read about the types,
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but you're always looking at you and what am I like and which personality fits me.
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You might be wrong, but at least it starts with you.
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With astrology, It never starts with you.
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I mean, unless you wanna say, "Oh, it starts when I was born," but it still, it has to do with the date.
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It has to do with something outside of you.
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Even at the highest level, even when you get the birth chart, it still is asking you stuff that has nothing to do with your innate personality.
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It's asking you where you were born, what time, where.
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That's the most obvious reason why it's a terrible comparison.
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But let's continue a bit further, because there are a couple more commonalities that people could point out. And...
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force you to make assumptions and leaps of logic in a sense.
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So astrology forces you to make the assumption that the positioning of the stars and the planets
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is going to tell us what we are like as people, or what our lives are going to be like.
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MBTI and all the stuff related to it,
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makes, you have to make the assumption that these preferences are actually out there, right?
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But even so, it's not that much of an assumption.
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Because it's easy to understand those definitions of, oh, this is a thinking decision, this is a feeling decision, et cetera, and it's really just talking about a preference.
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But I suppose it is an assumption to think that that's how the human mind works.
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However, I think the biggest thing to differentiate here is that with those assumptions, It's like a leap of faith.
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You have to believe in astrology.
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Whereas Myers -Briggs, doesn't really require belief,
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because all Myers -Briggs is doing is trying to pick out patterns in human behavior and then label them.
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It's not even really behavior, it's like human preferences, the way that people work,
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the psychology, and put labels on them so that we can better understand it.
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People might argue, oh, you have to believe that these types are real, you have to believe that cognitive functions exist.
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And it's like, it's not so much about believing in this abstract form out there.
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It's about, there's no belief because it's just a term.
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Like when we say extroverted feeling, it doesn't matter to me if extroverted feeling is real,
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like a thing in my brain that you could point to and say that's extroverted feeling.
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To me, it's just like, this is a term that we use to describe a certain process of making decisions,
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you know, that might manifest itself in certain ways in a person.
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And so there's no belief there.
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And the thing is, Myers -Briggs isn't scientific.
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I'm not even gonna argue that it's valid.
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I'm not gonna say it's watertight.
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But it's not asking you to go out on this huge limb of believing, something the way that astrology does.
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Here's the other thing, is that Myers -Briggs is not predictive the way that astrology claims to be.
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Now, some people will go out and say MBTI is predictive.
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I don't think so.
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I think it's more descriptive.
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It's trying to explain the way you are working in your mind right now.
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Astrology's trying to say, this is everything about you.
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This is how life is going for you.
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I think we get a little tripped up sometimes when you become a MBTI aficionado because you try to,
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explain everything in human life, as opposed to like canine life.
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You try to explain everything in your life relating to type and it's like, I'm not sure you can.
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There's more to you, there's more to your personality, than your Myers -Briggs type.
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And that's something we gotta remind ourselves.
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We gotta be humble, have some humility when it comes to typology, and realize it doesn't explain everything.
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I think people get hung up on the whole thing about types.
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Oh, how can you believe there's 16 types of people?
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It's like, I don't believe there are 16 types of people.
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I'm just saying there are these ways of making decisions, these ways of seeing the world, and depending on how you do stuff,
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depending on what your preferences are, I would then call you that type, but I'm not believing anything.
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It's just a way of classifying patterns.
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Ironically, Carl Jung, who started all the stuff, the psychological types that MBTI then expanded on, he believed in astrology.
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I'm not bashing astrology.
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If you enjoy it, Do your thing, baby.
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As for me, MBTI makes sense to me.
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I mean, the patterns seem to be there for me, but you got to watch out for that confirmation bias, right?
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"that if I think I'm gonna see it, then I see it." You gotta watch out for that.
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Ultimately, I think what astrology and MBTI
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are both getting at and why they often get brought up a lot is
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because they are these systems for trying to simplify really complex things astrology is trying to simplify like life
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and history and your personality.
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And MBTI is trying to simplify humans and sometimes we just have to admit that things are really complex.
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But humans will try their best to reduce it, to take the complexity out of things.
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'Cause it's hard to hold a complex thing in your mind.
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Humans are contradictory.
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Life doesn't always make sense, but we want it to.
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We want humans to always make sense, for life to always make sense.
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It just doesn't.
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If you enjoyed the video, leave a like.
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If you didn't enjoy it, That's illegal.
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Subscribe to see more videos.
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Until next time.
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Stay cool and attractive.
About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English listening and speaking skills through the engaging dialogue about the comparison between Myers-Briggs and astrology. This conversation allows you to explore complex ideas and express nuanced opinions, enhancing your vocabulary and comprehension. By the end of the lesson, you will be able to articulate your thoughts on personality assessments and their implications in both casual and academic discussions.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - A personality assessment tool that categorizes individuals into 16 different personality types.
- Astrology - The belief that the positions of the stars and planets influence human behavior and personality.
- Personality Type - A classification that describes an individual's characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
- Cognitive Functions - The mental processes associated with perception, reasoning, and decision-making in the context of personality types.
- Horoscope - Predictions or insights based on astrological signs, usually tied to one's birth date.
- Beginners Level - A foundational understanding of concepts; typically involves basic interpretations.
- Advanced Placement Level - A deeper comprehension of concepts, involving detailed analysis and application.
- Remedial Level - The most basic level of understanding, often requiring more explanation and guidance.
Practice Tips
To effectively improve your speaking skills, consider using the shadowing technique while watching this video. Here are some specific tips to optimize your practice:
- Watch the video at a slower speed initially. This will help you catch every word and understand the context better.
- Repeat immediately after the speaker. Try to mimic their tone, speed, and intonation. This exercise enhances your pronunciation and rhythm in English.
- Use a shadowing app to record your voice as you practice. Comparing your vocal output to the original can help identify areas for improvement.
- Focus on phrases rather than single words. This will help you learn how to use vocabulary in context, making your speech sound more natural.
- Engage in self-reflection after each session. Consider how your understanding of the content improves as you practice with it repeatedly.
By incorporating these shadow speech techniques, you will develop your English speaking abilities more effectively and confidently.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.