Interviews -- Clemens Lode

Clemens' interview is linked below:

Here are some observations I made about Clemens:

• In the first ten seconds of the interview. Clemens immediately takes initiative and eagerly starts talking, getting things moving and saying hello.
• Seems relatively undeterred by being alone and makes several comments to this effect (iconcally provided the example of not caring about the world cup final, instead taking the time to "stroll in the city").
• Seems also to have few problems with taking initiative and interacting with people especially in small groups (provides anecdote about disliking loud music and preferring to talk outside quietly to people). Doesn't describe shyness or difficulty with interacting, only dislike of bothering others and dislike of loud environments. "I need a reason to talk to people" but seems unfettered when such a reason exists.
• Describes himself as approachable.
• When asked "Do you consider all your words so carefully", does not really comment on question very directly but instead talks about process of writing and developing syncretic set of ideas. Describes a wide range of interests.
• Describes emphasis for diplomacy in communication and emphasizes mutual understanding rather than acceptance of finished conclusions.
• Repeatedly describes an idealistic, other-directed optimism. Iconic comments "Instead of building up real values like building connections to people or working on their own dream or on their career or creating their own ideal life, many people have given up on that and that's a little bit sad. I would like to see more of a spirit, an optimistic spirit, that they can change their life in the future." Describes that people have a lack of direction for "discovering new things or building connections and entrepreneurship."
• Uses words like "vision", "dream", "spirit"
• Mixed, somewhat conflicted and somewhat trusting views on the vague concept of "authority" -- describes self as hypochondriac and sometimes trusting of authority figures.
• Seems to have difficulty with writing and formulating ideas/arguments. Has "formal" approach to epistemology, reads many books and studied formal theory of logical fallacies. Describes need for evidence and need to evaluate claims independently and think about them (including of the interview's concluded type). Almost no focus on ideological conformance, whether positive or negative (also no orientation to "authenticity") or on understanding systems -- most of his ideas are highly varied.
• Interesting anecdote about book, finds the idea of someone else editing his ideas somehow "too restrictive" so that he formed his own publishing company. More below.
• Has no clue to interpret interview question "How do you deal with obstacles?"
• Somewhat equivocal answer to dealing with emotions and flat dismissal of suggestion that he needs help expressing his feelings. Instead he describes needing help with bringing these feelings into action. 
• One observation not present in the video but which is quite apparent viewing a small amount of Clemens' communal interaction is his cheerfulness and constant playful use of emoticons.

I broadly found these observations (some observations of omission are also thrown in) to be very interesting and pretty conclusive. But one piece of evidence that has barly even been touched on is Clemens' book which he mentions briefly but does not really explain in great depth. It turns out that this project is a series of several books about philsophy (https://www.lode.de/)

This project is very, very interesting because it is Clemens' response to an inner need to communicate something channeled over a period of years. The book is described as a "reflection of my values" in the interview but really seems to be something more scattered, a varied array of philosophical topics that are taken together as a whole somewhat loosely. And as above, it is very interesting that Clemens decided to start a publishing company in order to express these philosophical views with fewer restrictions.

This typing is plausible but I think Clemens may be an ILE instead. - 3/23/15

Synthesizing these observations, I think Clemens is IEE. Clemens identifies as an introvert but seems not to be in my opinion; he has no shyness nor difficulty taking the initiative where there is a clear reason or he possesses motivation to do so (and indeed seems to often describe taking initiative in building interpersonal connections even though he says he does not do much of this). Instead I interpret that Clemens is very driven by motivation and interest -- when he is unmotivated, he has great difficulty making himself move, but in circumstances or projects that he is motivated and enthusiastic about he is quite active. Of course I see this high reliance on motivational state as representative of Ne dominance.


Clemens extensively discusses themes of good faith judgment, the idea that others are imperfect and have the potential to improve themselves and their surroundings. I interpret this message as canonical of the Fi+Ne values of the delta quadra. By contrast, not once in the interview does he question the authenticity of others, which in my opinion is something Fe types (especially beta types) often do. Instead he seems not to be very critical of others and is much more interested in the ways in which people might live ideally.


Most of the other observations in my opinion also suggest delta values. The emphasis on drawing a conclusion based on presented evidence, rather than emphasizing the conclusion is characteristic of Te values, an orientation towards "unfettered" information. The formality with which Clemens views argumentation and the investigation of logical fallacies is also a characteristic trait of Te mobilizing -- where Clemens feels that he must "be good at" fact collecting and that this can and should be done somewhat formally. Clemens describes that in situations where he does not have great expertise or certain knowledge he is quite reticent to contradicting the conclusions of others, instead preferring to listen and investigate more facts for himself later (listen to his discussion of medical advice).

The bit about Clemens forming his own publishing company because he felt that other people editing his work is "too restrictive" (in my words, not his) reminded me of Rick DeLong's professional lifestyle as well. Rick has basically been self-employed for years, describing not that he has difficulty with being productive but that he feels that working for someone else is inevitably "too restrictive" and that freelance work suits his peripatetic lifestyle much better. And it is also amusing that in Clemens' case these restrictions essentially refer to what seems to be a magnum opus project, which really just consists of a collection of syncretic, perhaps disconnected ideas about philosophy.



One thing which I noticed, and found very odd, was that Clemens described his principal philosophical influence in writing his book as Ayn Rand, who I believe is LSI. This is one of several signs sprinkled throughout the interview that the IEE typing might be missing something. Another is, as mentioned in the observations, the use of Ni-themed words like "vision" and "spirit" and especially "hero." However, for the latter point, it seems that Clemens really does value and speaks extensively about "fostering individual connections with people" and that what he means by these words is an Ne+Fi-oriented goal, and not an Ni-oriented one. Similarly, with Ayn Rand, he seems to draw Rand's idea that people should change themselves, but does not concomitantly (look at the test on his publishing website) agree with much of what Ayn Rand has to say. For instance, while Rand rejected the idea of altruistic motivations and emotional guidance as contradictory to the path of rational self-interest, Clemens does not seem to find these elements (i.e., rational self-interest and emotional guidance) contradictory at all (I had a brief chat with Clemens in which we discussed these topics somewhat circuitously.)

Nonetheless these points still give me pause. And perhaps there is perhaps some merit to certain Ti-valuing typings like IEI or EIE, but overall I would have great difficulty seeing how they could paint a better picture of Clemens than the IEE typing described here.


The interviewer here concludes that Clemens is LII because of, among other reasons, his orientation towards "rules" and need to use rules to navigate the world around him and engage people. I find this comment confusing as it seems to me that Clemens barely mentions rules (rigid principles of interaction to be followed) but rather repeatedly emphasizes various other topics including good faith judgment and seems to have little difficulty being open to other people in the appropriate situations. Of course, several of the interviewer's other comments about open-mindedness and interest in history and philosophy relating to extroverted intuition are still consistent with IEE.