Correcting People

[Mnemosyne]

I pick up on spelling/grammar/language use errors really quickly, and most of the time I inform the person of his/her mistake. I've been known to interrupt a class to tell the teacher that they spelled a word wrong on the board, or used "metaphor" wrong or something. The teacher is usually good-natured about it. Sometimes my classmates laugh, but more often they get pissed off. This guy in my physics class hates me because I give the teacher a hard time.

I correct people partly out of habit, and partly because it's sometimes the only way I can get noticed. I'm trying to stop doing it so much, though, because I'd rather make friends than enemies.

Do you correct people? How do they take it? Do they get annoyed? offended? or are they appreciative? Have you ever corrected one of your superiors (boss, teacher, etc.)? Do you do it because the error bothers you, or to show off, or some other reason? What types of mistakes do you tend to notice?

[Laeskis]

I think I should refrain from correcting people, especially in this forum. There is an apparent stigma attached to verbal people. Apparently such types are thought to simply want to "Sound Smart"
I used to correct people in the real world; but now I don't even speak, much less correct.
They tend to get annoyed when corrected. I however, think it's an excellent opportunity for self-reflection and correction. Learn from criticism people!

[Salad]

I used to correct people. I don't anymore. Most of the time people make simple slips even though they meant to say something else, and even through that slip, they are often understood. Even if I am confused about something and I point it out, it usually turns out that the person just made a mistake.

The same is true with spelling. A person may or may not know how to spell a word, but to me it's just a detail that gets in the way of understanding what the person is actually trying to communicate (which is a reason I think many people on this board may get touchy if you point out a spelling or grammar error. They are trying to communicate this concept or something that happened, and rather than getting a response to that, they get nitpicked over something that doesn't really matter).

My favorite example of this is when people call me by my brother's name. It's not as though they actually thought I am my brother, they just got the names confused in there mind.

[Johnny]

I'm one of the members who likes to dish out criticism quite a bit. But don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying my own dues to learn how to take it either.

Wanna get good at something? Get in there and make lots of mistakes... :lol:

*then fix 'em!*

[int]

I usually notice spelling and grammar mistakes but never bother speaking up about them as I don't want to draw attention to myself.

[Johnny]

Not directly, anyway... :lol:

[Vagabond]

I usually notice spelling and grammar mistakes but never bother speaking up about them as I don't want to draw attention to myself.
Ditto.

[Almaviva]

I was a compulsive arguer and corrector in early school. I still feel the urge to start up and argument when I know that it's not an appropriate place to do so. I suspect, like you alluded to, it's a manifestation of insecurity.

[shaytana]

I will only correct the mistake if the mistake confuses the concept of the message. Or sometimes if I notice that the person doesn't realise that they are making a mistake and they continue to make it.

[Mnemosyne]

It's interesting that some of you have said you don't correct because you don't want to draw attention to yourselves. I'm trying to get attention, and that's why I do it.

I'm not sure if that's the same as insecurity. (I'm not saying you're wrong--I may reject the idea only because I dislike it--but I haven't thought about it that way before.) Insecurity is something I associate with people who don't value themselves and put down others to try to prove their own worth. And it's not that I don't value myself, so much as I wish others would.

Of course, harping on people for making errors probably doesn't put me in a good light, which is why I want to stop doing it.

The reason I posted this is that I read here (http://www.typelogic.com/intp.html) that "correcting others" is a characteristic of the INTP. Not all people possess all the traits, obviously, but I figured some would.

[Slider]

heh. doing that to get attention (and admitting it) is most certainly not an INTP characteristic. have you thought of why you're trying to get attention? my guess is so people will acknowledge your intelligence . . . INTPs don't really care if other people think they're smart, they just know it.

[Avengardh]

I only do it if I know the person well enough or I want to annoy them.

~*Aven*~

[int]

B) Me too.

[EternalCynic]

Ditto for me.

[Seraph]

I can't resist correcting spelling errors. I just don't understand how it's so difficult for people to spell words properly that we've been using our whole lives. At work, one of the managers spelled lemonade "lemmon aid"...I wanted to bang my head against a wall. The guy was like 30!

[Mnemosyne]

heh. doing that to get attention (and admitting it) is most certainly not an INTP characteristic. have you thought of why you're trying to get attention? my guess is so people will acknowledge your intelligence . . . INTPs don't really care if other people think they're smart, they just know it.

Well, I know INTPs don't typically try to get attention. (I've said before that I haven't taken the MBTI, so I'm not 100 percent sure I am one.) And I didn't do it to get attention at first, I did it because spelling errors were the. Most. Irritating. Thing. On. The. Planet.

I don't care if people think I'm smart, but I guess that if they have a class with me, I want them to at least know my name. If I had friends I could actually relate to, and who thought about things the same way I do, I wouldn't care if anyone else knew I existed. But I don't. And I'm damn lonely. Especially in my physics class, where if you don't play sports, go to wild parties, own a car, or haven't seen every comedic movie ever made, you are NOTHING. Because the teacher apparently thinks that making buddies with the class is an effective teaching method.

Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into a rant! Next time I'll keep my mouth shut.

[Division56]

I used to correct people compulsively, I had to stop, I didn't like the way people treated me after I did it.


BTW, if he's one of those "buddy" teachers, screw him up for us, will you? Those types are impossible, half the time they grade on feeling, not on the actual quality of work.

bastards...

[Slider]

yes, I understand. my profs are always telling me they're going to start calling on me during class discussions cos I never talk . . . very tedious really . . . and if I don't talk they'll fail me for the 'class participation' part and they "don't want that to happen". anyway, you sound more like an INFP to me, have you looked into it?

[ronbus]

I've tried several times to stop correcting others but it has never worked for me.Like a true INTP, I don't do it to get attention or to prove I'm smarter than others, I do it to make everyone better around me.

I also don't see much of a point to correct spelling. Spelling mistakes are just little details. Spelling usually doesn't confuse the meaning of sentences; the correct spelling can be determined by the reader when he puts the word into context (e.g., Their are many smart people who are INTPs). That being said, I don't like to make those mistakes myself so if I make them I appreciate when someone corrects me. Grammer on the other hand can cause sentences to be confused, so I tend to correct most grammer mistakes.

If you think about how allowing small mistakes to be made without correction impact the future, you will probably be happy to make the corrections. I've successfully not corrected people I work with on a couple occasions and it turned out to be a big mistake on my part. When someone makes a mistake, others hear it and think they were wrong so they change their correct action into that mistake, purpetuating the mistake far into the future; this occurs because most people don't have the self confidence needed to argue their point. Many small mistakes are completely harmless, but some are not. Determining whether a mistake is harmless or not is difficult in the time required to correct most mistakes, so I usually correct other's mistakes without judging if a mistake is harmless or not.

I agree that sometimes correcting other's mistakes can cause some problems. I've learned to be more tactful when correcting most people. You tend to learn pretty quickly which people can take the corrections and which people can't. Learning about other types helps too. The main problems I've run into are with my wife, parents and brother (and his wife). I tend to be around them more often and they take it more personally than people at work. Teaching my wife about the INTP has helped a lot but it still gets to her every once in a while. I keep working on not correcting others but it hasn't worked yet and I'm 33.

[Slider]

ronbus: you're sure you're not a J, huh? very weird . . . i don't understand the 'helping others help themselves' thing . . . or maybe an E instead of I . . . I don't get it, you sound like an enneagram type 1.

[Mnemosyne]

anyway, you sound more like an INFP to me, have you looked into it?

I've read several INFP profiles, and they sound a little like me at first, but since I lack some of the basic characteristics, like ability to empathize with others, I would say I'm probably not an INFP. You seem to think I correct others because I think they will benefit from it. And that's not why. I know they're going to go right back to making the same mistakes, and what's more, I don't care. It's not about them. It's about me.

I know most INTPs want to blend in, rather than be noticed. And I used to be like that. I tried as hard as I could not to offend anyone, not to get in anybody's way, because if they happened to see me and talk to me, I wouldn't know what to do. And I was successful. By the middle of last year, I was amost invisible. I didn't have any friends I liked and no one seemed to know my name, but that was okay. I took comfort in knowing that I was intelligent and unique and that someday, I would be a successful adult and none of this high school crap would matter.

I don't know exactly when I realized that my brilliant plan wasn't going to work. I just started getting uncomfortable with my lack of a life. I got tired of trying to convince myself that I was okay when I wasn't.

I guess I'm trying to say (whilst telling my entire life story and hijacking my own thread) that I don't want attention just for attention's sake. I want to be liked, and if not, then I at least want people to know my name. Anonymity sucks.