Recently I was talking with an old friend who felt aided by taking a
personality test. Presumably it helped this person make useful
discoveries.

I've never really bothered to think deeply on these kinds of tests.
They just immediately come off to me as a waste of time. For example,
there's the popular Myers Briggs Type Indicator. I once took that
test, and what it said about me was so revealing, that I can't even
remember what it was ... repression, right? ;-)

Just off the top of my head:
1. Tests or theories about tests can't be responsible for the
decisions we make. Only we can do that.
2. The tests aren't really informative. Say I have a list of sports
and ask you to check off which one's you like. If you check off many
of them, I determine you're a "sportsman" (or "sportswomen"). So? I
guess presumably these tests work by putting the tester in an esteemed
position of knowing you better than you know yourself. That's a bit
troubling, isn't it? So the tester is more responsible for our
decisions than we are? Hopefully not.

Can anyone on this list refer me to a good discussions on this topic?

-- Matt Dioguardi