@Barhandar  
I think the best written characters are ones who are just as deep. I do think it’s possible, if you use a slice of yourself. Empathy is a powerful thing. Experience is required, though - The good, bad, and ugly.

@Cirrus Light  
The difference is that character’s author, unless they’re finding inspiration in insanity, knows how their character is, what’s their not-yet-known-to-public quirks and aspects of the personality, and thus can actually pin a type down.
 
No such luck with actual people - no one knows full true personality of a person, not even themselves.

@Barhandar  
If there’s a distinction then I’m unsure the character is being written well :P

@Cirrus Light  
MBTI is a psychological classification that requires a qualified psychologist to pin your type and is mostly obsolete (because people realized you can’t neatly peg personalities down like that). Meanwhile the armchair typists are using random, always-differing-in-output premade tests to find the type, and also are heavily biased.
 
So essentially MBTI is a good way to quickly indicate general personality of a character, but absolutely terrible way to indicate or label general personality of a person.

@Barhandar  
@KennyC  
It was a psychological science thing, though. Astrology is just pure hogwash that assigns you something based off of birth and assumes time of year has anything to do with it - which is almost certainly wrong.
 
But MBTI is a psychological classification that makes no such assertions, but does make some somewhat shaky ones, assuming that certain ways of thinking lead to certain personality types. So not ridiculous like astrology, but not necessarily foolproof, either.

@Barhandar  
Ok

@KennyC  
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Think astrology, except slightly more concrete. Still unspecific enough to fit whole into Barnum Effect.  
Except typically astrologers only go “WE ARE UNCOMPATIBLE SIGNS GO AWAY” once you get to romance, while MBTI followers do that from the get-go.

@Barhandar  
What’s MBTI?

@Barhandar  
The MBTI community has started getting better with this. Understanding types are suggestions. Some don’t really match up to their types. Other’s, usually the ones like me who get really into MBTI, Match up perfectly. We understand completely it isn’t a perfect system, it’s a fun one nonetheless. Stereotypes are hilarious and honestly great for writing characters. Some people just really click with their type and find it fun to identify as. Such as when people like to identify as stereotypes from the reason their in, such as people from Boston being cynical tough wise-crackers. It really is a fandom.-an INTP.

nice!!!!

@Cirrus Light  
The problems with MBTI start when people replace getting to know each other with that, with criteria for each personality type being pretty much arbitrary. “Oh I’m XXXX you’re XYYX we will not be able to cooperate well bye”, regardless of actual situation. Or as it goes, “my personality type and knowing it makes me so speshul people who don’t know theirs or are of specific ones are below me”.

@Cirrus Light  
Is that so? Damn shame. Funnily enough I always type it out, and double check the spelling.  
@Cirrus Light  
Same sort of situation here, actually. Introverted types such as me - INFP - or yourself generally have a harder time finding others of our type, purely because of their nature. I’ve actually found most people of my own type simply in the process of learning the system - Personality types and interpersonal connections click well with INFP. So, continuing those scientific interests of yours isn’t a bad option if you want to find others of your type.  
Here’s hoping, man.

@Cirrus Light  
I’m shire these is a girl out there like that :D

@KennyC  
That would be great. I do worry, sometimes, though, about holding such a high standard :p
 
But, someone who can share my love of what I’m passionate about (ie, would love hearing about it at least), but also have their own interests. Someone who’s just really good and a kid at heart, who could also be nurturing to a future family, and most of all of what I’ve listed here - takes a calm, rational approach to things.
 
And being tactile - ie, liking hugs’n’such - is also rather important :p

@Cirrus Light  
Hears hoping you meat a real life twilight :D

im INFP also :D

@KennyC  
Lol, pretty straightforward and bold, I must say. But I am a guy. Otherwise I would be pretty thrilled to find me, too.
 
…Okay, that came off really conceited, lol. But it’s rare to find someone who loves this stuff like I do and would be able to share that love of learning / interest in physics, math, engineering, astrophysics, astronomy…

@Cirrus Light  
Are you a guy or girl I wonder?

@KennyC  
Sorta? Kinda? Maybe? Yes?
 
Yes. Yes?
 
Well, if what I do for fun, how I feel about math, or what I’m doing for my future job is any indication, then I guess yes :q

@Cirrus Light  
That’s cool and your a real life twilight? cool

@KennyC  
Meyer-Briggs Type Indicators; it’s a way to organize personality traits into 16 categories. It was presented as a psychological theory with the hope that it would be useful. Seems useful, but I’ve seen it argued it isn’t.
 
In any case, a personality type in distinguished by four letters. (x or y) = (x/y)  
(I/E)(S/N)(F/T)(P/J)
 
Introverted/Extroverted  
Sensing/Intuition  
Feeling/Thinking  
Perceiving/Judging
 
They have some nuances, though, that are a bit different from the way an average person would use the words.
 
Wiki article, and a super cool infographic that summarizes it very compactly.
 
I’m an INTJ, which means I think/approach problems similarly to Gandalf, Moriarty, or our resident purple bookpone.
 

 
@BakaLou  
Eh, sorry. There’s a difference in-between typo and typing it wrong because you don’t know the acronym off the top of your head. If someone wrote “NASA” as “NAAS”, then I might question if they know much about NASA. Still, though, shouldn’t have been so quick on that, apologies.

@Cirrus Light  
Gotta remember that everytime I make a typo on a word or an acronym, it means that I don’t understand it. Thank you very much.

@Cirrus Light  
What does that mean anyway?(MBTI)

@KennyC  
@That One Guy  
It’s funny that it’s become so common that people are starting to typo it, though…  
“MTBI”.  
Meyer Type Briggs Indicator?  
It’s MBTI.
 
Makes me wonder if they really know/understand it…

@Background Pony #F05B  
Yep and juicy is the same way :D