"Well here we are, or rather here am I, quite alone..."The day of departure has finally arrived. It is hard to leave Australia but equally easy to commence the journey, because there's so much to learn and understand--my driving force in so many ways. There is also America, that great paradox...
Nowhere else would the quantification of Jung's types have been contemplated, let alone acted on by non-professionals. Measurement--quantification--is king: Even the current flurry of educational testing at home doesn't compare with the experience.
Testing, particularly IQ, is seen by some as oppressive and anti-democratic, e.g., Gould's Mismeasure of Man (1990) and Degler's In Search of Human Nature (1991). In recent history, people have been sterilised or incarcerated following inadequate completion of such tests. Quantification itself is considered by many as social control, yet many test proponents favoured social reform. Type users in both the US and Australia seem to me essentially socially conservative. I see type as a stimulus for significant social reform and real equality. I wonder how others see it...
A bumpy but otherwise pleasant flight into San Francisco, where beggars on the streets speak what elsewhere is sophisticated psychological language. The area is like Australia in scenery and ambiance with many gum trees, planted from the 1850s for many reasons, so it is in some ways a half-way house to America. I walk and think about what I will do here apart from my Consulting Psychologists Press (CPP) meeting.
Later, dining at a nearby Burmese restaurant. I am given two fortune cookies. One, on pink paper, says, "The luck that is ordained for you will be coveted by others." The other, on white paper, says, "You think that is a secret, but it never has been one."
The CPP offices are smaller than expected with tasks performed by surprisingly few. I meet Maud Willner, CPP's distribution manager. We talk about me, why I'm here, and I am quizzed about Australian MBTI issues.
One issue is academic qualifications and qualifying programmes. I explain that Australian three-year degree programs are essentially the international equivalent of US four-year degrees. Maud is interested in my working with Otto Kroeger and lanet Thuesen, indicating she values what they do. She is interested in Australia and I undertake to send her copies of our hn4rnal on my return. lt's an enjoyable meeting, and I learn a lot.
I also meet David Kranz briefly and Maud shows me lack Black's office, unchanged since his death and including memorabilia relating to his status in the psychological testing world. It's an interesting room, and the historian in me wants to investigate further. Like so many influential people in this field, Black was an alumnus of the University of Minnesota, home of the MMPI and "dustbowl empiricism," referring to both geographical location and its dry-as-dust approach to facts.
Many well-known users of the MBTI are from this area; I reflect on possible connections...
Leaving CPP, I head for nearby Stanford University. There are more gum trees than on many Australian university campuses, sitting uneasily with Spanish-influenced architecture. Its bookshop has a wide range of type materials and I wonder how to achieve the same in Australian universities.
I walk to the train and return to the city. Next day, I visit the Contemporary Art Gallery and see stimulating exhibitions on Native American humour and historical photographs of American politicians.
Minneapolis is definitely in the USA: There are no gum trees, the foliage is native. I am finally away from home. The home of dustbowl empiricism is paradoxically decidedly lush and green. I have a message from Sandra Hirsh, who lives nearby. We plan to meet later when she will show me some of her home town. Meanwhile, I look around on my own at the major tourist attraction in the area: The Mall of America.
Students of American culture should not find it at all incongruous that a shopping mall is a major tourist attraction. This one is the largest in the world; people fly in from everywhere to shop and see a huge playground and the usual range of shops, with some novelties. I lunch pleasantly at the Rainforest Cafe and search out shops of interest, reflecting on the highly extraverted, sensing, and material goods orientation of American society.
This is accentuated later, on an organised tour of Minneapolis-St Paul. The tour guide doesn't draw breath for the entire tour. I suffer from sensory overload and wish for space, reflecting that Midwesterners are reputedly quieter than Americans elsewhere.
Minneapolis is more than a mall. It's significant for learning and culture with streets of theatres and cares. Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha is set in local Minnehaha Falls. Like other parts of America, there are freeways everywhere; people drive rather than walk.
Next day, I meet Sandra and her husband Roger Schmidt. Sandra gives me an almost continuous stream of possibilities. After brunch, we see a Native American pow-wow in a suburban park. Particularly interesting is the Native American language and dance and the obvious respect these people have for their warriors who fought for the USA. I feel a voyeur after a while, so we leave. We visit the small but impressive History Museum of Minneapolis to end an enjoyable day.
Otto Kroeger and Janet Thuesen arrive. I agree to observe and participate in their MBTI qualifying workshop as an introduction to the program. The overall program includes a wine and cheese night and Jung videos shown at lunchtimes. The program itself is deceptively simple: A measured development of knowledge and practice, leading up to the exam. Everyone is comfortable with the program being a "class" and participants "students;' an unfamiliar context for Australians.
We examine the MBTI after a time of building type understanding--a good learning model and a different approach to my Australian qualifying programme. The different perspectives depend on what you're doing. In Australia, there are many approaches, in the true MBTI spirit.
Surprisingly, I discover that the US APT program apparently presumes that people will use a scoring service, and so instruction in scoring may not necessarily occur. People in Australia rarely use scoring services.
Otto places particular emphasis on the paradox of the scores. The presentation flows typically with anecdotes and humour, elaborating on the high knowledge component. The qualifying workshop group is diverse in types, backgrounds, and occupations. Some claim extensive experience with the MBTI (up to 14 years), intimidating me somewhat. However, as the workshop unfolds, it is clear that their knowledge is limited, in particular with the Jung-oriented material.
Like other participants, I introduce myself. It seems everyone wants to go to Australia. I see a role as tourist agent, encouraging Americans to take the golden road south. At the wine and cheese night, I talk with a participant who, somewhat paradoxically for me, holds a union position but supports Reaganist policies and believes in a media conspiracy. He wants America to go "back" to 18th Century community democracy, somewhat questionable historically. He seeks to convince me of his views, while not listening to mine.
At least he didn't seem to believe in Russian or UN troops massing on the northern US border, but he wasn't too
far from that. I resolve to avoid him and be more circumspect about this sort of discussion.
I'm perceiving substantial language differences between Americans and Australians. Overall, the group is extremely social, and I observe the more extraverted approach of American introverts. They often stand closer than what I would expect at home and are more verbal and descriptive. The week as a whole is interesting and challenging. Signed certificates for those passing are presented at the end of the program, an excellent idea...
Reflections and experiences on a journey through America on a quest for knowledge and understanding
Peter Geyer (INTP), Australian APT vice president, spent three months last summer traveling throughout the United States. He presented at APT XI, his third international conference, having previously attended APT IX in Richmond (1991 ) and APT X in Newport Beach (1993). His travel journal first appeared in the Australian Journal of Psychological Type.