Ancient Greece song by Mr Nicky

A history primer on Ancient Greece... Mr.Nicky rocks!  This educational parody is set to the beat of Meghan Trainor "All About That Bass".

I have also posted elsewhere historical primer parodies by Mr. Nicky, specifically on Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Rome.  If you like the video below, I suggest you visit the others. 

Enjoy!  :)

For Mobile users who cannot see the video above, here is the link for Ancient Greece by Mr. Nicky

If you like my poems, by e.e. cummings

Edward Estlin Cummings poses, embodying
a success all-too-rare for a career poet,
exuding a charisma that contains a joy of life
that is contagious throughout his poetry.

if you like my poems let them
walk in the evening,a little behind you

then people will say
"Along this road i saw a princess pass
on her way to meet her lover(it was
toward nightfall)with tall and ignorant servants."



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For an informative background of the life, style, and historical context encasing e.e. cummings' exceptional body of work, please read the article immediately after the following poem—

"since feeling is first" by e.e. cummings

You may also enjoy these other poems by Edward Estlin Cummings:

• "love is more thicker than forget"


• "now does our world descend"

MBTI personality test: Take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator free online

The Myers-Briggs personality test is used with increasing frequently in Business and Human Resources for the purpose of building teams that can work effectively together by assembling these in such a way that its members complement one another.  This approach has proved useful not only by increasing productivity and the quality of the work but also by reducing quarrels between individuals within the assembled groups.

The Myers-Briggs test is based on Jungian Archetypes, classifying people into one of 16 personality types that result mathematically from a classification along four dichotomies.  The dichotomies are: Extroverted vs. Introverted, Sensing vs. iNtuitive, Feeling vs. Thinking, and Perceiving vs Judging.

MBTI's 16 personality archetypes organized by characteristic cognitive functions.

Your own archetype may or may not be stable throughout your lifespan depending on how deep you fall into one side of each dichotomy.  For example, I personally fluctuate between INFP (i.e., the Healer or Protector), INTP (i.e., the Architect or Mastermind), and sometimes even ENFP, and this is perfectly O.K.  As a result, I tend to take the test every year or two just to check and perhaps obtain some insight into a situation I've been facing.





Once you receive your result, you should head over to Wikipedia where there is a very in-depth description of the conceptual framework, its history, and methodology of the test, as well as individual wiki entries for each personality type.

I personally think everyone should know how their personality is skewed when it comes to these ancient archetypes.  So ---

Take the Myers-Briggs Jungian typology test!

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Other psychological personality tests you may enjoy:

The Enneagram Personality Test

Lüscher Color Test

The Defense Style Questionnaire

Attachment Style Test (New article, with complete theory, dynamics, and free copies of the DSM V and ICD-10!)

The MMPI-2 Personality Inventory

O Me! O Life!, by Walt Whitman

O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

                                      Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.





Published in Leaves of Grass, Final "Deathbed Edition", 1892.

Luscher Color Test: Free Online Versions, Background, & Instructions

Developed by Dr. Max Lüscher, at a Swiss psychotherapist, at the early age of 23, the Lüscher Color Test or Lüscher Color Diagnostics asks the test taker to choose between eight colors in the order of how good these feel at that very point in time.  Preferences for these colors when it comes to things like cars, clothing, or accessories ought to be disregarded; what matters is how these colors make you feel or how much you like them intuitively upon looking at them.  What are or have been your favorite colors does not matter.  After selecting an order, the participant should take a small pause before the test requests that the very same exercise be repeated. The repetition is very important and variance between the two rounds provides a lot of the information that the test produces.  Personally, I close my eyes as I click to go into the second round and, upon opening them, make my best attempt to choose quickly solely through instinct.

Carrying out this test should not take longer than 2 minutes, that is, the test taker ought to choose impulsively, based on gut feelings, without trying to replicate first-round choices or over-thinking the exercise, its point, or what possible meanings the colors may have. Links to three versions are provided below.


Though I know exactly how the algorithm works, I have chosen not to explain it here or provide a link to any detailed information regarding how the results are obtained.  My reason for not providing the information is that this test has the very peculiar characteristic that it can be taken an infinite amount of times at different points in one's life and each result may prove insightful as to how you feel and what you require (in this sense, you may take it as often as you want to, just don't try to fool yourself by doing so twice in a row unless your state of mind and how your body feel has changed).  Knowing how the algorithm works makes this harder; I still take the test from time to time, putting effort into disregarding what I know, but I find it hard to do so even if still possible.

If you want to know how the results are calculated, please leave a note in the Comments section below or contact me privately through any other means and I will provide it to you directly.

Photo of colored cards, placed side by side, used in the Lüscher Color Test.
Different versions may carry different colors, but one thing that is often noted
of the traditional version is that the red in the test isn't really red, it is orange,
and the blue is a navy blue, and the green is a dark green, as seen in the next image.

Colors available in the traditional Luscher Color Test, available online
for free (first link below).  The colors themselves never vary, but on-screen
position always does.  Both selection rounds look like this screenshot.

This test was created while Max Lüscher worked a Human Resources job that required him to screen potential applicants.  That is part of what it does, but it is not really what it does; in fact, more often than not, it does not provide insight into a person's job potential and their tendencies for carrying out assigned tasks.  Nevertheless, like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the Lüscher Color Test is used sometimes for screening job applicants, though much less often.

A published research article — Holmes, C.B., Wurtz, P.J., Waln, R.F., Dungan, D.S., and Joseph, C.A. (1984). "Relationship Between the Luscher Color Test and the MMPI".  Journal of Clinical Psychology 40(1), January: 126-128. — used a sample of 42 graduate students to compare MMPI-2 and Luscher Color Test results and found little relation between the two.  Since the MMPI-2 is regarded as the best profiling tool available, the authors argued that the Luscher Color Test ought to be used with caution if at all.  Even though I do not agree with the foundations underlying the way colors are understood in Lüscher's procedure (see Sidenote below),  I understand that paper's conclusion to be mistaken because it relies on the presupposition that both tests attempt to measure the same thing: a person's personality.  But these tests don't measure the same things, and people don't really have set personalities, as any good military branch or Department of Defense around the world can attest to based on their experience screening people for certain type of operations or for ascertaining whether someone is trustworthy enough to received Classified or Top Secret information.

The MMPI-2, the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, the Enneagram Personality Test, and the Luscher Color Test all look at different aspects of a person's behavior, different components if you will.  Even the Defense Style Questionnaire, which is not a personality test, can reveal an important facet of a person's "personality" that none of the other tests can readily tell you.  I am currently working on an article where the differences in what is measured is explained systematically in a clear model, and I am hoping to integrate all the results into its own overarching algorithm that provides a better profile than any of these tests considered by itself.  (But, as you may imagine, creating such a program is quite hard.  I will update this post once that article is finished... and hopefully the program too.)  For the time being, it may be enough to note that the Lüscher Color Test provides, at best, some insight into a person's current state of mind.  Test-retest variations can ultimately be even more productive as patterns emerge in tendencies.  I've seen from experience that the results other people get are almost always things that I have never gotten, and viceversa.  The Anxiety and Compulsiveness scales received via the first link are of particular note as the tendencies emerge.

Of the three free, online versions provided below, the first is the most complete, being the only one that gives the information that Human Resources people are looking for.  The third is mostly click-bait to sell their test, manuals and procedures, but I have chosen to link to it anyway because it provides a different way altogether of doing the test (e.g., no second round), even if it has the fatal programming flaw that some configurations that fail to produce any information.  The first and second links provided are to versions that produce the same basic categories of results:

1. Existing Situation
2. Stress Sources 
3. Restrained Characteristics
4. Desired Objective
5. Actual Problems 

The first version of the test provided below further divides the Stress Sources into three sections:

1. Physiological 
2. Psychological
3. In Brief 

"In Brief" very succinctly paraphrases the result within the two preceding divisions. Furthermore, in contrast to the second link provided, the algorithm of the first link generates four additional categories:

1. Ambivalences (if applicable) 
2. Approach to Work (if applicable)
3. Anxiety (degree of which is numbered on a scale from 0 to 6)
4. Compulsiveness of Compensations (numbered level on a scale from 0 to 6)

The second link's algorithm is far more verbal than both the first and third, providing a longer description; however, there are recurring problems with the algorithm, mainly in the areas of faulty grammar and orthography and the fact that it often repeats propositions, but all in all it is still pretty sound and sometimes the repetition is meaningful.  The only reason the first test does not fall into the same problems is because it simplifies the written structure and requests of the user to replace gender whenever necessary.  The Luscher Color Test is gender-neutral insofar as the results it affords such that asking the user to change the gender in their minds if necessary is of no real consequence.

Warning: You are probably going to find your results depressing.  Results are problem-oriented and apply to your present situation. These psychological diagnostic programs are inferential engines that try to assess the different aspects of the situation you currently find yourself in.  They take into account your current preference and your current stance regarding your situation, as well as your life objectives and the manner in which you are dealing with your current problems.  The image below is an example of the results provided through the third link, which are much simpler (and has many less possible configurations, of which at least one is bugged and shows no information at all) than those provided by the programs in the first two links.

Click to Enlarge.
Example of results of the most basic Luscher Color Test provided
in the links below.  Both the testing procedure and the colors
themselves are different in that version; hence, it is worth trying it.

Because of the amount of color combinations possible, the first two Lüscher Color Test provided will always provide variations, unless you answer in the exact same way, which would be highly unusual. This test is best used as a guide, not a diagnostic mechanism. However, as a guide, it is good to take it again as your moods change to explore how your perspective and context has changed and what would be the best way to approach the new scenario that you are in.

Sidenote: I do not agree with the underlying psychology or philosophy of the test. The test relies on universalized assumptions that color preferences have a strong innate component related to archetypes, a view that I do not agree with. The test has also faced serious objections from psychological investigations. Nevertheless, though it shouldn't be taken as a diagnostic, I have found it to be extremely helpful in clarifying some key aspects of my moods and bodily states as these shift and shape a new perspective with regards to the existing context. Besides, the very same objections apply to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, the Enneagram Personality Test, and almost every other profiling test currently available, a topic I will address in a future post.  Therefore, I still invite you to make use of it, but in a responsible manner.


Take the (Highly Recommended)

Lüscher Color Test

Or try

the Color Quiz!

Or finally, to variation's sake, try the more basic (and bugged)

Lüscher Color Diagnostics

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Other psychological personality tests you may enjoy:

Attachment Style Test (New article, with complete theory, dynamics, and free copies of the DSM V and ICD-10!)

The Myers-Briggs Personality Test

The Enneagram Personality Test

The Defense Style Questionnaire

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

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Related articles you may enjoy:

• Semiotics and Branding


• How You Know What You Know


• Perception, Emotion, and Decision-Making

Courage and Fear

Fear, like all strong emotions, foments neurogenesis
and the integration of new neurons because emotionally charged
experiences are more salient, thus creating stronger memories.
Click the image to read the news article from the University of California
at Berkeley.  Peer-reviewed journal paper from Molecular Psychiatry
may be found here, by lies behind a pay firewall.

Courage is strength of anima—both mental and moral—to venture and persevere, to act in the face of fear, danger, and overwhelming difficulty. Confucius said that «it does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.» This idea entails extraordinary determination; however, its lack of a time-constraint renders it more accurate for private life than for profit-seeking. Swift action is often required for business success. Frequently, timing is everything.


Fear paralyzes. As a flurry of recent neuropsychological experiments has corroborated, fear reduces the velocity of cognitive decision-making, and persistent fear over time decreases functional cerebral mass as millions of neurons shrink or die, widening the brain’s unproductive, anatomic cortical folds. In The Prince, Machiavelli noted the vast advantages of inspiring love instead of terror. A fleeting feeling of love is—inversely considered—an absence of fear, a state of vulnerability that compels action and foments a productive, happy society that precludes the appearance of conspirators. Despite acknowledging this, Machiavelli reluctantly recommended governing through terror-instigating measures solely because fear paralyzes individual and collective actions, thus thwarting rebellious uprisings.


Decelerated mental activity yields mediocre execution, professional conformity, and consequently, when widespread, the propagation of broken promises that pave the way for the materialization of a culture of rotten compromises. Because uprisings aren’t as great a concern to a CEO, COO, CFO or CIO as they are to a prince, managing by inspiring admiration, respect and love is pivotal to securing the long-term success and survival of any corporation. To deserve and receive respect, leaders must inspire courage in others. Empathy is necessary to earn the love of a subordinate or peer.


Mediocre leaders confuse fear with respect and compliments with love and admiration. Empathy demands that courage be rewarded. Combating conformity, on the other hand, requires imposing excellence as the nonnegotiable standard for all labor, as the maximum value of our work-ethic. Excellent execution necessitates a healthy dose of courage, which therefore merits reward and distinction whenever encountered. As a result, when a person defines his own hierarchy of values—his ethic—if he also places growth and excellence as categorically above his preferred value system, then the question of how and when to reward courage becomes moot. To that self-realized leader, any culture of rotten compromises is unacceptable and unlivable.

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Originally published by the St. Gallen Symposium.

Also available at ResearchGate.

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You may also enjoy reading:

• How You Know What You Know


• Perception, Emotion, and Decision-Making


• How to Relax Completely in 10 Seconds


• Semiotics and Branding


• The Transmutation of the Human Spirit, excerpt by Friedrich Nietzsche


• How Do Human Minds Work?: The Cognitive Revolution and Paradigm Change in Cognitive Science