The Self-Reflecting Make Few Faults, With Notes on Schizotypal Personality

I walk down the street / There is a deep hole in the sidewalk / I fall in / I am lost ... I am helpless / It isn't my fault / It takes forever to get out.

I walk down the same street / There is a deep hole in the sidewalk / I pretend I don't see it / I fall in again / I can't believe I'm in the same place / But it isn't my fault / It still takes a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street / There is a deep hole in the sidewalk / I see it is there / I still fall in ... it's a habit / My eyes are open / I know where I am / It is my fault / I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street / I walk around the deep hole.

I walk down another street.

— Anonymous, Five Chapters of Life

Everyone has blind spots. Buddhism calls them the three hindrances (the hindrance of afflictions, the hindrance of knowables, and the hindrance of karma); modern psychology calls them personality disorders. People with personality disorders keep falling at the same spot again and again, until bruised and swollen they finally realize that something is wrong with themselves. Buddhism likewise holds that people under various hindrances keep erring in the same matters all their lives; only when the hindrances are swept away can a person reach the state beyond ignorance.

Confucius praised Yan Hui, saying he 'did not transfer his anger, and did not repeat a fault.' This is a remarkable realm: Yan Hui made the same mistake only once, never a second time. To achieve this one must have strong self-reflection, never blaming others but looking for one's own problems and solving them first. Only those who do this can 'not repeat a fault.'

The Japanese entrepreneur Inamori Kazuo, speaking of how he conducts himself, also stresses this: when something goes wrong, he first looks for his own fault, improves the way he treats people and his work processes, so that the same mistake will not happen next time. This is how he ran his companies too, and he went on to found two Fortune Global 500 firms.

Sadly, many understand this principle, but perhaps only 3% of people can truly practice self-reflection. That is, only about 3% are like Yan Hui. Statistics show that of those who buy success-studies and psychology courses, 97% gain nothing after paying their fees, because bringing about genuine self-reflection is extraordinarily hard; most people with psychological problems find recovery very difficult. The root cause is that they cannot admit their own shortcomings and are unwilling to reflect.

Of course, personality traits that do not amount to a disorder need not be corrected, because they do not affect normal work and life.

Schizotypal personalities are the most typical self-reflecters. I myself have some schizotypal leanings (out of a total of 100, I scored 49; no other personality trait stands out as strongly). This is far below schizotypal personality disorder, but there is a clear schizotypal tendency, and it has shaped my character.

People with schizotypal leanings are usually lonely, silent, yielding, and dislike social contact; they rarely take part in social activities and live an isolated life. When emotionally normal, such people learn very well, because they are more focused than most. Schizotypal personality often runs in families; such people seem split off and disconnected from the real world, hence the name.

These people stand apart from the world, with rich imagination; to ordinary eyes they look like dreamers. Their words and deeds are a little unusual, making them seem not of this earth. Yet science advances precisely as one dream after another comes true, so this type has many original insights and creative thinking. Usually their most gifted members become creative scholars or scientists and achieve remarkable things; the most typical example is Newton, who developed schizophrenia in his later years.

Schizotypal people are often lost in reverie; once sunk in thought, they disconnect from the outside world. When people speak to them, they often answer beside the point, and sometimes startle when disturbed. I even fall into reverie while walking, which is why I often run red lights crossing the street.

Severe schizotypal people usually develop schizophrenia in adolescence. Those with mild schizotypal tendencies like me are very well suited to academic research, because we can quiet ourselves even in a noisy market. We can sit on the cold bench, endure loneliness, and enjoy solitary life.

Usually we are not strong at practical living and rely on a partner to manage our affairs. We badly need a safe partner who is our bridge to reality; with such a partner handling some interpersonal matters, our study and life go smoothly. Generally, we are also extremely loyal to our partners: once we decide someone is our best match, it is hard to change for life, unless the partner truly becomes unbearable.

What schizotypal people cannot bear most is their peace being repeatedly disturbed, because reverie has become an inseparable part of their life. If their life is full of noise they feel deeply dejected; in severe cases they sink into depression and their learning efficiency drops markedly.

I would not say I dislike socializing; when young I was quite sociable, and I still have twenty or thirty good friends, though we rarely gather. As for social events, I go to only a few in ten years; if a gathering is too crowded and chaotic, I instinctively fall silent. Sometimes I can go through an entire banquet without saying a word. But at work I must deal with large numbers of patients, and I manage that fine, so there is no social anxiety; I simply refuse to waste precious time on socializing.

Being good at self-reflection is one of the greatest strengths of the schizotypal personality. Schizotypal people are often immersed in deep thought and can usually think a problem through thoroughly. Reading an article by a schizotypal author often feels refreshing, though readers may sometimes feel such a writer is untouched by the world. Indeed, they radiate an unmistakable air, inside and out.

With the help of modern psychological assessments, I now have a clear grasp of this trait and have accepted it. Because the work I love is exactly academic research, this trait keeps me directly away from frivolity.

But I also know this trait has fatal weaknesses: we find it hard to be socially smooth like others, and are poor at any work that requires tact. We also find it hard to date people who love romance, because our personality means we live a minimalist life; a partner can only be someone who accepts this trait or is similar to us. So we must play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, keeping away from workplaces that demand complex social relations—those only make us stumble.

This trait appears most often among scholars and scientists; often scholarly or scientific couples share it.

Every personality has its strengths. Recognizing and accepting our own character, playing to our strengths and avoiding our weaknesses according to our nature, we live better.

What work a person is suited for is largely determined by his personality, and most people form their personalities before age seven. Hence the old saying, 'See the child at three, see the adult at seven'; it has solid scientific basis.