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What Would Rorschach Tell You About You?

Mark Turnauckas
/
Creative Commons

The Rorschach inkblots are ubiquitous throughout culture. They've inspired visual artists from Warhol to Alan Moore, from Gnarls Barkley to Jay Z, to the Watchmen comics. The inkblots have also become a perfect metaphor for today's polarized, relativist world. 

The Myers-Briggs test is adapted for pop psychology quizzes on Buzzfeed and Thought Catalog and used in online dating sites to help you find the perfect match. Yet all of these uses distort the purpose of both tests, each created in the early 20th century by people long overshadowed by their creations.

Psychological and personality testing took on new fervor in post-World War II America; industrialization, the Cold War, and a shift from a culture of character to one of personality converged to fuel the rise of Rorschachand the still popular Myers-Briggs test, which both have a dark sidewe'll explore. 

Also, we spend a few minutes with a local visual artist.

GUESTS:

  • Damion Searls- author of The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, His Iconic Test, and The Power of Seeing
  • Merve Emre - Assistant professor of English at McGill University. Her book on the Myers-Briggs test will be published in Spring 2018
  • Cary Smith - Painter of hard-edged abstract paintings who exhibits his work at galleries in New York City

Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show. 

Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows.

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