Online personality tests are replacing genuine introspection, argues Gerardo Viera. Our need for simple explanations for our behaviours and psychology misses the complexities that shape them. These self-diagnoses can be dangerous, too; they can warp the very thing they attempt to name.  “Are you extroverted?” This question came up with some friends the other day, and someone mentioned a heuristic that is meant to answer the question. If you find social interactions energising, then you’re an extrovert. If you find social interactions draining, then you’re an introvert. After reassuring each other that we didn’t find each other draining, we realised that the simple heuristic couldn’t answer our question. Like most people, we all found some interactions draining while others energising. If we wanted to answer this question, to say something definitive about ourselves, then we would have to turn to another source of evidence. Luckily, a few of us had already take…

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