| > | | | | and operational procedures are never arbitrary, never |
| I've been looking forward to writing this article | | | | set in concrete, but are quite malleable and can be |
| because Sir Isaac Newton personifies some of the | | | | changed, improved, streamlined. In their drive for |
| outstanding introvert characteristics that you can | | | | efficient action, Masterminds are the most |
| learn to prize in yourself, your introverted child or | | | | open-minded of all the types. No idea is too |
| your introverted lover. If you're an employer, you | | | | far-fetched to be entertained-if it is useful." Other |
| can also learn to identify two of these qualities in job | | | | famous INTJ introverts are Niels Bohr and Dwight D. |
| interviews to your advantage. Introverts make | | | | Eisenhower. |
| terrific employees. These are the qualities: Sir Isaac | | | | Not all introverts are brilliant scientists and |
| Newton could concentrate like a Concentratin' Fool. | | | | metaphysicians, but there are three things most have |
| He loved his dog Diamond. And he was a modest | | | | in common. Focus/concentration, love of pets and |
| man. He had these three things in common with most | | | | modesty are typical of most introverts. |
| introverts. | | | | Newton's ability to concentrate was just amazing
|
| Sir Isaac Newton was born in 1642 in England. He is | | | | just like your favorite introvert; however, most of us |
| considered by some to be the most brilliant man that | | | | have more social awareness than the British genius. |
| ever lived. Other contenders are Mozart and Goethe. | | | | Here are a couple of anecdotes, the first taken from |
| Newton is credited with developing calculus and | | | | T. Moore's "Memoirs, Journals, and Correspondence". |
| discovering the Laws of Gravitation and the Laws of | | | | "Newton invited a friend to dinner but then forgot |
| Motion (more correctly, the "Three Laws of Motion | | | | the engagement. When the friend arrived, he found |
| underlying Classical Mechanics"). You probably learned | | | | the scientist deep in meditation, so he sat down |
| in school at about the same age as he discovered | | | | quietly and waited. In due course one dinner was |
| these laws that an apple fell on his head which got | | | | brought up. Newton had forgotten to tell his servant |
| him thinking. As the story goes, he wondered why | | | | a guest was expected. Newton continued to be |
| the apple fell and the Moon didn't. His 23rd year was | | | | abstracted. The friend drew up a chair and, without |
| a phenomenon, an Annus Mirabilis. Later he also | | | | disturbing the host, consumed the dinner. After he |
| wrote Principia Mathematica in 1868-87 and Optics in | | | | had finished, Newton came out of his reverie, looked |
| 1704. | | | | with some bewilderment at the empty dishes, and |
| Young Newton was a real seeker. As a young person | | | | said, 'If it weren't for the proof before my eyes, I |
| he wrote in his notebook, "Amicus Plato; amicus | | | | could have sworn that I have not yet dined.'" |
| Aristoteles; magis amica veritas" which means "Plato | | | | Not only can your favorite introvert concentrate like |
| is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but the truth is | | | | this, s/he needs to concentrate like this. If there's |
| my best friend." Latin was the language in which the | | | | one thing designed to stress your introverted pal to |
| educated class in Europe communicated with one | | | | the max, it's interruptions. That's why we don't like |
| another. | | | | and I mean h a t e telephones and especially cells. |
| Newton was recently in the news because of his | | | | Here's another amusing example of Newton's ability |
| Bibles. Like most introverts, Newton read a lot and | | | | to concentrate. On his way home from town one |
| one of the books he read a lot was the Bible. He had | | | | day, Newton dismounted and walked his horse by its |
| at least thirty of them. I've been running a book | | | | bridle so it could rest. The anecdoter continues, "As |
| survey on my website for introverts. One of the | | | | always his mind wandered. Perhaps he was thinking |
| questions I ask is whether people dog ear and write | | | | about the four wheel carriage he'd just built or the |
| in their books. From the results of my survey, most | | | | system of shorthand he'd created or maybe he was |
| people wouldn't dream of it but Newton's answer | | | | just watching the sunlight on the grass and |
| would be "yes". | | | | wondering what made the grass green
miles and |
| In a recent interview with Patricia L. Paddey of Bible | | | | hours later he arrived at home not even aware that |
| Network News, Dr. Stephen Snobelen, assistant | | | | the horse had long ago slipped out of its bridle and |
| professor of the history of science and technology | | | | he had walked the whole way back, alone." |
| at University of King's College in Halifax, said, "We | | | | Do you know anyone like this? If you try to change |
| actually have 30 of [Newton's] personal Bibles at | | | | them, you'll destroy one of their greatest gifts, the |
| Trinity College, Cambridge that can be examined
. | | | | gift to concentrate, and give them nothing in return. |
| His personal Bible that he used for looking up | | | | Please let introverts be more consciously introverted |
| references is a very small, hand-held Bible. That is a | | | | and don't make them try to be extroverted to have |
| remarkable artefact [sic] to handle physically, because | | | | your respect. Liza's father was a brilliant introvert. |
| you can actually see the dog-eared pages. You can | | | | They bought him umbrellas by the dozen because he |
| see the soiling. You can see this physical testimony of | | | | left them on the Chicago "L" going to and from work |
| a lifetime." Dr. Snobelen is one of only a handful of | | | | in the rain. He always left them. Always. |
| academics worldwide who now study [Newton's | | | | Another common characteristic of introverts is their |
| Bibles and other non scientific manuscripts] for | | | | love of pets. Sometimes a pet is the introvert's best |
| insights into his theology. These papers were willed to | | | | companion. N*O S*M*A*L*L T*A*L*K. |
| Cambridge University by the economist John Maynard | | | | Sir Isaac Newton had a dog named Diamond who has |
| Keynes in 1946. | | | | become famous right along with him. I guess he was |
| Newton was an intense reader. "While it is possible | | | | pretty smart. Newton once bragged to his friend |
| that some dog-earing was the work of subsequent | | | | Wallis about his little dog Diamond. 'My dog Diamond |
| owners," Snobelen continues, "it is evident from the | | | | knows some mathematics. Today he proved two |
| fact that most instances of it point quite precisely to | | | | theorems before lunch.'. 'Your dog must be a genius,' |
| passages of demonstrable importance to Newton | | | | said Wallis. 'Oh I wouldn't go that far,' replied Newton. |
| that the vast majority is his own. He used dog-ears | | | | 'The first theorem had an error and the second had a |
| not merely to mark pages but to align the page | | | | pathological exception.'" I know, you had to be there. |
| corners with specific passages of interest (hence the | | | | An even better story concerned the night Diamond |
| fact that pages may have their corners turned down, | | | | knocked over the candle on Newton's desk, starting |
| up, or both)." | | | | a fire that destroyed records of many years' |
| According to the London Daily Telegraph, Newton | | | | research (!). Legend has it that Newton, viewing the |
| was consumed by apocalyptic research and | | | | destruction, said only, "O Diamond, Diamond, thou |
| reluctantly predicted that the world would end in | | | | little knowest the damage thou hast done." (R. |
| 2060. "Thousands of Newton's papers, which had lain | | | | Hendrickson's "The Literary Life" and other sources |
| in a trunk in the house of the Earl of Portsmouth for | | | |
this is a very popular tail, I mean tale!) |
| 250 years, were sold by Sotheby's in the late 1930s. | | | | Last but not least, Newton was a modest man |
| John Maynard Keynes ... bought many of the texts | | | | considering his accomplishments and intelligence. |
| on alchemy and theology. But much of the material | | | | Asked one day how he had come to make his |
| went to an eccentric collector, Abraham Yahuda, and | | | | remarkable discoveries, he replied, "By always thinking |
| was stored in the Hebrew National Library. It was | | | | about them." |
| among these documents that the date was found." | | | | If you're hiring someone for a job, it would be good |
| Sir Isaac Newton was an INTJ introvert. There are | | | | to know this characteristic of introverts lest you |
| eight different types of introverts, according to | | | | underestimate their capabilities based on their modest |
| Keirsey Personality Theory and Myers-Briggs | | | | but accurate representation of themselves and hire a |
| Temperament Inventory, both based on the Jungian | | | | showy extrovert with half the talent instead(!) |
| approach to personality interpretation. Newton was | | | | Introverts lack the desire to dress their own |
| an INTJ Introvert, called the Mastermind. This is a | | | | windows, a quality you will come to appreciate if you |
| rare one per cent of the population according to | | | | hire one. Instead of window dressing, they will focus, |
| estimates by the Keirsey Temperament Theory. | | | | concentrate and work a full day instead. |
| According to Keirsey, "Masterminds approach reality | | | | Look for these qualities when interviewing an |
| as they would a giant chess board, always seeking | | | | introvert: ability to concentrate and modest, accurate |
| strategies that have a high payoff, and always | | | | communication. As for the pets, they might even |
| devising contingency plans in case of error or | | | | have a photo in their wallet. |
| adversity. To the Mastermind, organizational structure | | | | |