Ep 37: The Power of Positive Larding
https://soundcloud.com/user-989538417/episode-37-the-power-of-positive-larding
Nick Skinner, Richard Clarke and I talk about What a Tanker and all things Lard.
Join the conversation at https://theveteranwargamer.blogspot.com, email theveteranwargamer@gmail.com, Twitter @veteranwargamer
Follow Nick @dozibugger and Richard @TooFatLardies on Twitter! The Too Fat Lardies Website Blog and Forum https://toofatlardies.co.uk/
What a Tanker Pre-Order
https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product/what-a-tanker-complete-advanced-order-bundle/
Sailor Malan's 10 Rules of Air Combat
http://ww2today.com/27th-august-1940-raf-ace-sailor-malans-ten-rules
YouTube Crack That Tank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PL2HFLRMI0
US Army professional wargaming https://www.army.mil/article/202457/cgsc_tests_board_based_strategy_game
S.L.A. Marshall Men Against Fire
https://www.amazon.com/Men-Against-Fire-Problem-Command/dp/0806132809
M40 105mm Recoilless Rifle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M40_recoilless_rifle
TFL Kriegsspiel
https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product-category/kriegsspiel/
US Army professional wargaming https://www.army.mil/article/202457/cgsc_tests_board_based_strategy_game
Music courtesy bensound.com. Recorded with zencastr.com. Edited with Audacity. Make your town beautiful; get a haircut.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Sunday, February 23, 2020
One Piece: Burning Blood - Gold Edition Free Download
One Piece: Burning Blood - is a fighting video game based on One Piece developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows.
Featuring: Set sail with the Straw Hat Crew and collect your bounty in the most epic anime fi ghter this side of the Grand Line! Use Devil Fruit abilities, Haki techniques, and punishing combos to turn the tide in the ultimate One Piece battle royale! Step into the New World with over the top head to head combat featuring all the action, drama and comedy of the world's favorite pirate saga! The Perfect Blend of Manga x Anime x Game - Taking full advantage of the rich history of One Piece, character expressions, and elemental effects.
• Featuring Devil Fruits plus Haki can be used to do Massive special Moves and take down the fiercest opponents.
• Burning Blood Game is all about style that will reheat fan's nostalgia and peak the interest of curious new pirates.
• New true-to-series pirate free-for-all Activated at will these unique abilities can increase the player's attack power.
• Perfect Blend Manga x Anime x Game taking advantage of the rich History of One Piece & character expressions.
• Plus strategize how and when to use these New Epic Special Abilities to unleash their Maximum Fighting potential.
Game is updated to portable version
2. GAMEPLAY AND SCREENSHOTS
♢ Click or choose only one button below to download this game.
♢ View detailed instructions for downloading and installing the game here.
♢ Use 7-Zip to extract RAR, ZIP and ISO files. Install PowerISO to mount DAA files.
ONE PIECE: BURNING BLOOD DOWNLOAD LINKS
PASSWORD FOR THE GAME
Unlock with password: pcgamesrealm
4. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS GAME
➤ Download the game by clicking on the button link provided above.
➤ Download the game on the host site and turn off your Antivirus or Windows Defender to avoid errors.
➤ When the download process is finished, locate or go to that file.
➤ Open and extract the file by using 7-Zip, and run the installer as admin then install the game on your PC.
➤ Once the installation is complete, run the game's exe as admin and you can now play the game.
➤ Congratulations! You can now play this game for free on your PC.
➤ Note: If you like this video game, please buy it and support the developers of this game.
Turn off or temporarily disable your Antivirus or Windows Defender to avoid false positive detections.
(Your PC must at least have the equivalent or higher specs in order to run this game.)
• Operating System: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 | 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 @ 3.70GHz or faster for better experience
• Memory: at least 4GB System RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 15GB free HDD Space
• Video Card: NVIDIA@ GeForce@ GTX 460 or faster for better gaming experience
Supported Language: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese-Br, Korean.• Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 @ 3.70GHz or faster for better experience
• Memory: at least 4GB System RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 15GB free HDD Space
• Video Card: NVIDIA@ GeForce@ GTX 460 or faster for better gaming experience
If you have any questions or encountered broken links, please do not hesitate to comment below. :D
Friday, February 21, 2020
Shining Spears And Other Euphemisms
The Falcon turrets are nearly ready for paint, in the meantime I've been working on the Shining Spears. The white and blue is finished on these guys, just the metal, gems and decals left to go.
Thursday, February 20, 2020
More Reaper Bones 4 Minis
More Reaper Bones 4 minis...
Thunderfoot Defender
Rear of same
Pack of Velociraptors.
Missed Classic: The Price Of Magik - Won! (With Final Rating)
By Ilmari
Last time, I had just explored a house from top to bottom and defeated a giant slug with some salt. Beyond the slug opened up a completely new playing field. It seemed the game was funneling me towards some direction, since there were so many one-way connections between rooms (in truth, there was always a route I could backtrack to the house).
The first interesting encounter was a golem wearing a silver mail with the word FIN written on it. It took me a while to find out what the creature wanted, but finally I traded my robes with the mail.
The FIN spell turned the target into a fish, and it came soon handy, when I arrived at a river. A ferryman took me to the center of the river, I turned into a fish and dived. My reward was another spell (SAN).
Beyond the river I found a tunnel, the end of which was guarded by a bloodworm. Fortunately, my trusty bat friend scared the monster away.
Next, I came to an altar, on which rested a talisman, above which floated a 10 000 kg weight. If I tried to take the talisman, the weight crushed me. The simple solution was to cast FLY spell, which was enough to keep the weight floating, even if I took the talisman.
A few rooms further I found a statue of cherub. The statue was holding a trumpet, which I knew to be a focus for BOM spell. I couldn't just take the trumpet, but I had an idea I could test what BOM would do (you don't need to be holding the focus for casting a spell, it just needs to be in the same room). To my delight, the spell turned the statue alive. The cherub was scared and left the trumpet behind.
I came to a glowing portal, where I had to offer a gift to Myglar, the evil wizard, before I could proceed. Myglar accepted any item as a gift, and then I could move through the portal to a grassy plain. The weirdest thing was that a brass monkey dropped on my back and refused to move. Taking into account that Brass Monkey is a cocktail and having a monkey on a back refers to being addicted, I think this is meant to be a joke. Ha-ha.
Getting the monkey off was equally ridiculous, and I had to check the clues to get it. I had to backtrack to house - fortunately I could use the ZEN spell for quick movement - and go to its kitchen area, specifically to a cold room. After a few turns, the monkey got too cold, escaped and left me with a crystal and a black ball. The black ball wasn't that interesting - it was a sort of one-time protection to any spell - but the crystal ball was a focus for ESP spell, which let me send an astral projection to an adjacent room for one turn.
My mapping session ended, when I came to a portico, filled with giant ants. With no idea how to defeat them, I turned to test some of my new spells and items. I tried various things with the talisman I found and rubbing it sent me to a new valley, completely separate from the rest of the game. This place was almost empty, but I did find a riddle:
At the middle of Stonehenge I found a blue box with the spell IBM written on it. This scene broke the mimesis for me. Had I been transported from a nameless fantasy realm to Earth? Why is there, presumably, a computer in Stonehenge? Did IBM have blue computers? And what does it all have to do with the spell itself, which frightens its target? In any case, I could use IBM to scare off the giant ants.
Beyond the ants I found new rooms. They were otherwise empty, but one of them contained a locked room. I could now try the ESP spell, which allowed me to project an astral projection of myself to some direction and returned me back to my body after one turn. Thus, I saw that beyond door there was a dead idol. I could not do anything physical in my astral form, but I could cast spells. Thus, it was only a matter of casting BOM to make the idol alive and of casting HYP to make it obey my command to open the door.
Next problem was an ice room that was too cold for walking through. The solution was simple - I just flew through it.
After few rooms I came across a gargoyle and a moonbeast. Moonbeast was more aggressive, so I decided to deal with it first. I had trouble figuring out what I was supposed to do to the beast, so I checked the official clue sheet. The solution was waving a mirror, so that the moonbeast would be scared of its reflection.
Gargoyle was more peaceful, but it also prevented my move forward. The gargoyle wanted me to solve a riddle - it didn't tell me what riddle, but since I had come across only one riddle in the game ( see above), I guessed that would be it. I had no idea of the solution, so I again turned to the clue sheet. Turns out, the correct answer was FEAR.
Only one more room to go! I entered the lair of evil Myglar - who instantly killed me with a lightning. I restored and sent instead my astral projection to the room. I tried casting SAN - a spell that makes a person completely sane - and it did make it impossible for Myglar to cast any spell, but he still had a dagger he could use. I then tested DED - a spell to "kill" all magic. After casting it, Myglar's magical enchantment of eternal youth collapsed, and the evil wizard died.
Somewhat surprisingly, the game gave me an opportunity to decide whether I wanted a good or a bad ending. In the good ending, I received all the powers Myglar used to have and led the world into a new era of magic and prosperity. In the bad ending, my supposed magical powers were actually just figments of my disturbed mind and I was sent into an institution where I spent the rest of my days imagining myself as a magical ruler over my fellow inmates. Now, that came out of left field.
Spells (if I've "officially" found them) - foci (if I own them) - what they do: ESP - crystal ball - send an astral projection to a room next to you, ? - candle - ?, ZAP - ashes - throw a lighting, DET - elder cross - detect danger, XAM - prism - checks if target is focus for some spell, ZEN - mirror - rapid movement, MAD - grimoire - make target mad, HYP - staff - hypnotises targets, FIX - valerian - heal the target, DED - wheel - cancels spells, FLY- broom - makes target fly, DOW - pendulum - check if target is magical, BOM - trumpet - turns statues and pictures alive, SEE - feldspar lense - finding secret doors, KIL - axe - makes target go berserk, FIN - silver mail - turns target into fish, SAN - claw - makes target sane, IBM - blue box - frighten the target
Inventory otherwise: mandrake, skull, knucklebone, ring, eyebright flowers, cage, robes, knife, wolfsbane, shovel, plate armour, crowbar, talisman, black ball
Final Rating
Puzzles and Solvability
If we ignore the rather silly puzzle of monkey on the back and some of the more obtuse puzzles at the end of the game, all the puzzles were easy and solvable, once you knew what all the different spells did. Indeed, one might say that the biggest puzzle in the whole game was to learn how to use different spells and what effects they had. If I could have asked for something more, it would have been a more creative use of combinations of spells, since the rare times I had to do this (for instance, when creating an astral projection to cast spells in a room I couldn't access) felt very satisfying.
The problem is that the game allows the player to skip a lot of these puzzles e.g. with a liberal use of XAM and ZEN spells. It's one thing to provide alternative solutions and a completely other thing to let the player beat the game without solving puzzles, especially as solving these puzzles doesn't lead to a different outcome from not solving them.
I haven't spoken that much about the combat system, which the Price of Magik shares with its predecessor, Red Moon. Suffice to say that it serves even less function than in the previous game, since here no monsters need to be fought with. This means also that most of the spells, which often are meant to be used in combat, serve no purpose at all. Seems like a waste.
Score: 4.
Interface and Inventory
The interface is probably the best I've yet seen in Level 9 games. Just to name a few innovation, the game introduces (I think) the OOPS command you can use to correct your previous move, completely discards the need for stacking items by removing the inventory limit (finally!), allows for more complex commands in the style of Infocom and even lets me command other creatures. These additions are sufficient enough to increase the score from Red Moon.
Score: 5.
Story and Setting
The story is, to put it nicely, mostly irrelevant. You are told of an evil wizard in the manual and you finally face him at the very last room of the game, and in between you just keep exploring and augmenting your arsenal of spells. Well, to be fair, there are a couple more references to Myglar, but surprisingly few considering I am supposed to be walking in his home.
The house of Myglar is a good setting and has at least some thematic cohesion. The latter part of the game loses this cohesion, when you leave the house and the player has to trudge through yet another featureless cave system.
Score: 3.
Sound and Graphics
Graphics are what they have mostly been in Level 9 games: waste of disk space. At best they have some link to the room descriptions, often enough they don't, and constantly they are bland and boring to look at.
Score: 2.
Environment and Atmosphere
The premise and the mechanics of the game seem at first quite promising, since the mapping of Myglar's house makes for a relatively atmospheric experience. Then the player is sucked through a picture to Stonehenge, finds an IBM and uses it for magic. In the end, if you choose the "bad ending", it's all revealed to be a hallucination.
Score: 2.
Dialogue and Acting
Some reviews suggest that the text would have been better in a version with no pictures (or, I guess, in Amiga version). I can rate only what I see, and I see terse sentences with barely enough meat to make an OK room description. Not very engaging.
Score: 2.
4 + 5 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 30.
 |
| Underground |
Last time, I had just explored a house from top to bottom and defeated a giant slug with some salt. Beyond the slug opened up a completely new playing field. It seemed the game was funneling me towards some direction, since there were so many one-way connections between rooms (in truth, there was always a route I could backtrack to the house).
 |
| I love the decoration |
 |
| There's a union for every trade |
The FIN spell turned the target into a fish, and it came soon handy, when I arrived at a river. A ferryman took me to the center of the river, I turned into a fish and dived. My reward was another spell (SAN).
 |
| Rest of the underground |
Beyond the river I found a tunnel, the end of which was guarded by a bloodworm. Fortunately, my trusty bat friend scared the monster away.
Next, I came to an altar, on which rested a talisman, above which floated a 10 000 kg weight. If I tried to take the talisman, the weight crushed me. The simple solution was to cast FLY spell, which was enough to keep the weight floating, even if I took the talisman.
 |
| I didn't know cherubs looked like this |
A few rooms further I found a statue of cherub. The statue was holding a trumpet, which I knew to be a focus for BOM spell. I couldn't just take the trumpet, but I had an idea I could test what BOM would do (you don't need to be holding the focus for casting a spell, it just needs to be in the same room). To my delight, the spell turned the statue alive. The cherub was scared and left the trumpet behind.
 |
| Somewhere else |
I came to a glowing portal, where I had to offer a gift to Myglar, the evil wizard, before I could proceed. Myglar accepted any item as a gift, and then I could move through the portal to a grassy plain. The weirdest thing was that a brass monkey dropped on my back and refused to move. Taking into account that Brass Monkey is a cocktail and having a monkey on a back refers to being addicted, I think this is meant to be a joke. Ha-ha.
Getting the monkey off was equally ridiculous, and I had to check the clues to get it. I had to backtrack to house - fortunately I could use the ZEN spell for quick movement - and go to its kitchen area, specifically to a cold room. After a few turns, the monkey got too cold, escaped and left me with a crystal and a black ball. The black ball wasn't that interesting - it was a sort of one-time protection to any spell - but the crystal ball was a focus for ESP spell, which let me send an astral projection to an adjacent room for one turn.
My mapping session ended, when I came to a portico, filled with giant ants. With no idea how to defeat them, I turned to test some of my new spells and items. I tried various things with the talisman I found and rubbing it sent me to a new valley, completely separate from the rest of the game. This place was almost empty, but I did find a riddle:
My father is dark
My mother's unknown
I dwell in high places
And where the ghosts moanReturning from the valley, I continued checking the spells. BOM was especially useful, since the house was full of things I could animate. Most of them revealed new spells, some unleashed monsters, and one gave me a spell focus (claw, focus for SAN). But the most interesting result came from a picture of Stonehenge.
 |
| It really took me there! |
 |
| Map of Stonehenge |
At the middle of Stonehenge I found a blue box with the spell IBM written on it. This scene broke the mimesis for me. Had I been transported from a nameless fantasy realm to Earth? Why is there, presumably, a computer in Stonehenge? Did IBM have blue computers? And what does it all have to do with the spell itself, which frightens its target? In any case, I could use IBM to scare off the giant ants.
 |
| The final rooms |
Beyond the ants I found new rooms. They were otherwise empty, but one of them contained a locked room. I could now try the ESP spell, which allowed me to project an astral projection of myself to some direction and returned me back to my body after one turn. Thus, I saw that beyond door there was a dead idol. I could not do anything physical in my astral form, but I could cast spells. Thus, it was only a matter of casting BOM to make the idol alive and of casting HYP to make it obey my command to open the door.
Next problem was an ice room that was too cold for walking through. The solution was simple - I just flew through it.
 |
| Is this supposed to be gargoyle or moonbeast? |
After few rooms I came across a gargoyle and a moonbeast. Moonbeast was more aggressive, so I decided to deal with it first. I had trouble figuring out what I was supposed to do to the beast, so I checked the official clue sheet. The solution was waving a mirror, so that the moonbeast would be scared of its reflection.
Gargoyle was more peaceful, but it also prevented my move forward. The gargoyle wanted me to solve a riddle - it didn't tell me what riddle, but since I had come across only one riddle in the game ( see above), I guessed that would be it. I had no idea of the solution, so I again turned to the clue sheet. Turns out, the correct answer was FEAR.
Only one more room to go! I entered the lair of evil Myglar - who instantly killed me with a lightning. I restored and sent instead my astral projection to the room. I tried casting SAN - a spell that makes a person completely sane - and it did make it impossible for Myglar to cast any spell, but he still had a dagger he could use. I then tested DED - a spell to "kill" all magic. After casting it, Myglar's magical enchantment of eternal youth collapsed, and the evil wizard died.
Somewhat surprisingly, the game gave me an opportunity to decide whether I wanted a good or a bad ending. In the good ending, I received all the powers Myglar used to have and led the world into a new era of magic and prosperity. In the bad ending, my supposed magical powers were actually just figments of my disturbed mind and I was sent into an institution where I spent the rest of my days imagining myself as a magical ruler over my fellow inmates. Now, that came out of left field.
Spells (if I've "officially" found them) - foci (if I own them) - what they do: ESP - crystal ball - send an astral projection to a room next to you, ? - candle - ?, ZAP - ashes - throw a lighting, DET - elder cross - detect danger, XAM - prism - checks if target is focus for some spell, ZEN - mirror - rapid movement, MAD - grimoire - make target mad, HYP - staff - hypnotises targets, FIX - valerian - heal the target, DED - wheel - cancels spells, FLY- broom - makes target fly, DOW - pendulum - check if target is magical, BOM - trumpet - turns statues and pictures alive, SEE - feldspar lense - finding secret doors, KIL - axe - makes target go berserk, FIN - silver mail - turns target into fish, SAN - claw - makes target sane, IBM - blue box - frighten the target
Inventory otherwise: mandrake, skull, knucklebone, ring, eyebright flowers, cage, robes, knife, wolfsbane, shovel, plate armour, crowbar, talisman, black ball
Final Rating
Puzzles and Solvability
If we ignore the rather silly puzzle of monkey on the back and some of the more obtuse puzzles at the end of the game, all the puzzles were easy and solvable, once you knew what all the different spells did. Indeed, one might say that the biggest puzzle in the whole game was to learn how to use different spells and what effects they had. If I could have asked for something more, it would have been a more creative use of combinations of spells, since the rare times I had to do this (for instance, when creating an astral projection to cast spells in a room I couldn't access) felt very satisfying.
The problem is that the game allows the player to skip a lot of these puzzles e.g. with a liberal use of XAM and ZEN spells. It's one thing to provide alternative solutions and a completely other thing to let the player beat the game without solving puzzles, especially as solving these puzzles doesn't lead to a different outcome from not solving them.
I haven't spoken that much about the combat system, which the Price of Magik shares with its predecessor, Red Moon. Suffice to say that it serves even less function than in the previous game, since here no monsters need to be fought with. This means also that most of the spells, which often are meant to be used in combat, serve no purpose at all. Seems like a waste.
Score: 4.
Interface and Inventory
The interface is probably the best I've yet seen in Level 9 games. Just to name a few innovation, the game introduces (I think) the OOPS command you can use to correct your previous move, completely discards the need for stacking items by removing the inventory limit (finally!), allows for more complex commands in the style of Infocom and even lets me command other creatures. These additions are sufficient enough to increase the score from Red Moon.
Score: 5.
Story and Setting
The story is, to put it nicely, mostly irrelevant. You are told of an evil wizard in the manual and you finally face him at the very last room of the game, and in between you just keep exploring and augmenting your arsenal of spells. Well, to be fair, there are a couple more references to Myglar, but surprisingly few considering I am supposed to be walking in his home.
The house of Myglar is a good setting and has at least some thematic cohesion. The latter part of the game loses this cohesion, when you leave the house and the player has to trudge through yet another featureless cave system.
Score: 3.
Sound and Graphics
Graphics are what they have mostly been in Level 9 games: waste of disk space. At best they have some link to the room descriptions, often enough they don't, and constantly they are bland and boring to look at.
Score: 2.
Environment and Atmosphere
The premise and the mechanics of the game seem at first quite promising, since the mapping of Myglar's house makes for a relatively atmospheric experience. Then the player is sucked through a picture to Stonehenge, finds an IBM and uses it for magic. In the end, if you choose the "bad ending", it's all revealed to be a hallucination.
Score: 2.
Dialogue and Acting
Some reviews suggest that the text would have been better in a version with no pictures (or, I guess, in Amiga version). I can rate only what I see, and I see terse sentences with barely enough meat to make an OK room description. Not very engaging.
Score: 2.
4 + 5 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 30.
This lands the game somewhere close to Red Moon and Emerald Isle, which seems quite appropriate.
Is The MBTI Pseudo-Science?
After finding out my personality type (and more specifically preferences in the way I perceive and judge things) and finding the MBTI/Jungian concepts of cognitive functions deadly accurate, Google searches into these systems of personalities led to many articles debunking and criticizing MBTI and Jungian personality types as pseudo-science.
On the flip side, the Big Five Personality Traits are considered scientific and verifiable.
Indeed, taking the MBTI online tests, my personality flitted between J and P, and even after learning about the Jungian cognitive functions, which is more reliable, I still couldn't tell what my personality type is.
For instance, I really couldn't tell what my dominant function is, since we use it automatically without thinking. However, it was obvious to me (without having to take the test) that I prefer extroverted intuition for sure, meaning when I think about things I like to come up with tons of ideas, sometimes not necessarily connected. So I'm definitely Ne. As for the other functions of my personality type, introverted sensing and extroverted thinking, I couldn't tell. In fact, in medical school, I could see myself thinking that I was Te dominant since I was on point with the schedules, even exercising 5 times/week.
However, when I took the Big Five Personality Trait at multiple different online sites, the percentage may change by a mere 10% or so, but it was always consistent, leading to the empathic idealist profile. This made me chuckle, since the INFP sounds very much like the empathic idealist.
So is the MBTI and Jungian cognitive functions psuedo-science?
As I'm not a scientist, I had to go back to the basics. Exactly what is science? Science is a systematic way of organizing empirical data, that can be tested and replicated, to explain and predict patterns of the universe.
The scientist comes up with an idea, and through experiments and collection of replicable data, if the large amount of data confirms the idea, time after time, this idea becomes a theory.
Science is highly esteemed because you can either prove or disprove a theory using the same experiments, over and over again. You can also critique whether the experiments being used are actually testing what you are evaluating. Finally, can the question that you're investigating be measured in the first place?
For instance, supposed I want to prove my idea that cats are superior beings, and because I want to make sure this idea is in fact true, I could "make up"an experiment that really doesn't test that idea, but may "sound" like it does.
In this example, we can say that superior beings don't follow instructions and "do their own thing" since they don't follow the herd. Therefore, my experiment collects data in calling my cat to come to me. They stare blankly at me 100% of the time. We then test that with millions of other cats, and it tends to be true 99% of the time with 5 billion collection points.
There are the rare cats that do know their names and even so, they may or may not come to their owners (only when they want to), proving even more strongly that cats are "superior" because they do what they want to do, when they want to, on their own terms.
Per scientific methods, this is trash. One, you can't measure if something is in fact superior (i.e. what is superior? how do you measure that?), and the experiment, while easily replicable, doesn't really measure anything.
Using these criteria, the MBTI test itself isn't valid because your personality type constantly changes even when you take the same test twice - I took the official MBTI two times and then the online ones so many times to figure out if I were a J versus P as discussed here.
Even the official MBTI test is problematic. In the typing of Stephen Colbert, who tested as an INFP, you saw how his eyes lit up (which mine did as well) when the tester asked if he's more attracted to witty, creative, imaginative, incisive wit (this is supposed to be "N" or intuition), or if you find someone who can make others comfortable in practical ways ("S" or sensory):
As soon as I heard the second choice, I chose the "wrong" answer for my type. I'm infinitely more impressed by people who make sure that when you come into their homes, that you're warm and toasty, making your favorite cheese and fruit platter, and providing your favorite matching wine.
In fact, almost everyone would be more impressed by someone who is thoughtful and kind, over someone who is "just" a "smart ass". Of course, ideally, someone like my best friend Todd has both where he would combine various statements I would make and instantly come up with a joke, parody, imitation in unexpected surprising ways, but also makes sure that I'm cozy, comfortable and taken care of.
However, if you're forced to be in a relationship with someone who can only have 1 trait, 100% of people would chose the "S" option.
A better way of seeing if someone is an N or S is by asking if they think about things by considering open-ended possibilities (N), or seeing things in a structured, logical systematic manner (S). I'm very "N" so I'm not sure if I used the correct wording for "S" types and how they think.
Indeed, even the much-touted, "psychologist approved" Big Five Personality Traits, you can come up with your wrong personality type. You may notice that it's not "good" to be neurotic and irritable (even if you are) and then answer the questions where you get strongly "agreeable" when you should have scored the opposite, in the high neuroticism range.
In other words, it's hard to measure personality, because the person may second-guess, or may not know themselves very well, making personality inventory testing problematic. Even more highly tauted "psychologist approved" tests such as the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, though that is used to screen mental disorders) can be problematic.
You can see how an extremely intelligent Narcissist or Antisocial person would answer such that they're healthy. Which is why psychologists use this as a screening tool, not as a diagnostic tool.
Perhaps the question should be, given all the problems of knowing yourself, or knowing yourself, but preferring the opposite since "opposites attract" leading to incorrect choices and wrong typing, the question should be this instead:
If you're in fact typed correctly, is the MBTI useful? At least for me, it's extremely useful, because I can use my personality to accomplish what's most important to me, that's natural to who I am, without backlash.
When I try to solve things by being so fed up by my disorganization that I set up very rigid schedules and trying to organize my living space "to perfection", I end up being very critical of myself because I invariably fail and get overwhelmed.
Because of the failure and overwhelm, I get very grouchy and irritable, which leads to me becoming critical of others who aren't "pulling their weight" in terms of organizing and cleaning. Being critical and judgmental of others, as opposed to being accepting and open-minded, is one of the traits I hate the most about myself.
In MBTI/Jungian terms, this is my inferior Te function at work when I use it as my primary, ignoring my dominant and auxiliary functions that I use naturally (Fi and Ne). Forcing yourself to be something you're not almost always leads to disaster and/or is short-lived, because you can't be someone you're not.
On the flip side, if you find out that you're the opposite of me where you have extremely strong Te, using your Te dominant is the right thing to do, because you're good at it, and you use Te in a mature, healthy manner that's actually quite compelling and refreshing.
However, if I use my cognitive functions based on who I truly am, I tend to be very successful. For instance, when I was in a rut and every day's the same and there's a sense of dissatisfaction, I was able to come up with solutions.
One of my values (the jargon is Fi, introverted feeling at work) is to grow and be challenged, it makes sense to use my auxiliary Ne (extroverted intuition) to come up with possibilities and to think outside the box. I came up with Twitch streaming due to love of video games, and the extreme challenge of being entertaining (since I never had to use that skill), and wanting to create a warm, accepting community all fit my values (Fi) and what I found right to me based on my past experiences (Si).
Then, I use Te in the "right manner". Knowing that streaming fits my values and the challenge will jolt me out of the daily grind, I know I need a schedule, otherwise I would never stream. I set up a schedule, researched the in's and out's of streaming, finding practical ways to make streaming work for me.
The burn-out indeed came when I used my Te in the wrong way where I was results-oriented thinking about numbers. But renewed interest in streaming came about when I thought deeply about whether streaming is meaningful and fun. Does it make me happy, does it fit my values, and once I realize it has been helpful and rewarding, and ignore the number-driven results, I stopped being burned-out.
Another way in which knowing your personality type is seeing your blind-spots. I'm basically a slug, because I know myself very well. I know I'm 100% going to like something or not, so I close myself off to dreadful experiences such as going to frat parties, learning how to cook, learning how to garden, because I know 100% that these activities will lead to dread.
However, using my auxiliary extroverted intuition (Ne) and being open to things, I force myself to do them because I see the value of experiencing these things, confirming what I already know, and using these experiences to laugh about with friends.
As a complete introvert, I can go months without talking to my friends. This is a huge blind-spot and is definitely hurtful to others because they think, appropriately, that if you don't call them, you must hate them, don't value their friendship at all, and/or they did something wrong, even though that's far from the case. Strangely, I think about my friends all the time, but never call (talking on the phone makes me cringe), and I'm content to be alone for weeks on end.
As this causes clear problems in relationships, I use my inferior Te this week in fact, and actually set up a schedule to check my messages daily. I hate schedules, but this is meaningful to me, so it's been working. My daily activity list has things I want to do because they're meaningful to me and adds value to my life.
So I add things to that list such as making my bed. At night, I like the immediate gratification of crawling into sheet and blankets perfectly smoothed and evened out, distributing the warmth equally, as opposed to pulling the blankets on me, and ending up with clumps of warmth and cold spots. Since I highly value being comfortable, making my bed makes sense.
However, if you find that making your bed is a hassle, and you don't care about comfort, then do not make your bed, do not even waste your time thinking about it and feeling guilty about not doing so. In fact, there are scientific studies showing that making your bed may increase dust mites. Luckily, since I'm getting allergy shots, I've been making my bed so dust mites aren't going to cause problems.
Folding clothes adds no meaning to me, because it's just as easy to fish out the clothes I need, then spend hours folding. Further, the clothes are clean so it's not going to cause any sanitary problems if you don't fold.
However, if you find organization truly soothes your soul and gives you peace of mind (clutter can be soul-sucking), and you love it when all your clothes are neatly hung up and in drawers, then by all means fold the laundry!
Washing dishes, vacuuming, steam mopping the floors, washing the bathrooms are a must for sanitary reasons.
Knowing who you are, and accepting who you are, you can find ways that lead to happiness, productivity and meaning.
The MBTI/Jungian classification seems to be the one personality inventory that helped me figure this all out in a systematic, logical manner. As opposed to my having a hunch that being rigid doesn't work for me, but why not!, there must be something wrong with me, because it works for almost everyone else.
Indeed, American society operates this way, where being productive is to make sure you show up on time at work, follow the regimented schedule, and you find out if you're doing well if you get the results (this is very Te). So naturally, I think that if it works for the majority of Americans, it should work for me...but it never does.
Now knowing why using my Te (extroverted thinking) out of order is problematic, I know how to use my Te in the right order, thanks to understanding cognitive functions and stacking.
So it's very difficult to find your true MBTI type, unless you're very honest with yourself and insightful, but once you do, you see how it can be extremely helpful. But is it pseudo-science?
I'm not sure how to characterize the MBTI, except that at least for me (n=1), it's extremely accurate, and a very helpful therapeutic tool. Perhaps the MBTI is more philosophical in that it seeks to explain how you perceive and think about things. That doesn't mean that there's no truth and no value in MBTI. Just the opposite, it seems to be very accurate and honest. In fact, I found that the Taoist philosophy is in many ways more truthful than a lot of science. But, you can technically say that Taoism is a pseudo-science, because you can't really use experiments to prove if Taoism is scientific.
Everyone uses things that can't be proved by science, but nevertheless hold truths. Controversial topics such as people finding meaning and purpose in having faith and going to your place of worship for affirmation, love, support, interdependence, even though spiritual matters, can't be proved to be "correct" by science. And, controversy again, quite a few people find religion and spirituality "psuedo-science", which is the code, pejorative word for "bull-shit".
However, for a lot of people, having faith is not only extremely valuable but life-affirming, and leads to positive community building, lifting people out of depression, despair and despondency that can come from being disconnected.
Likewise, why throw MBTI out the window? For me at least, it's the personality system that not only makes the most sense to me, but also the most useful. I finally understand why I do the things I do in a systematic manner. As opposed to having a vague hunch about why I fail if I operate in the typical "American" results-driven way and berate myself as a result.
I can now leverage this concrete information to be a more productive and happy person, as opposed to using the cookie cutter method of "just be more organized" and "just do it" which would work for quite a lot of people, but not for me.
In fact, I was often critical of myself because of my procrastination and how I can't just plunge in and do the things that I need to do! Now I am better able to accept myself, and solve problems in a more cohesive and enduring manner.
Conclusion:
The question, "Is the MBTI Pseudo-science?" is the wrong question to ask. Rather, the question posed should be, "is it helpful?" If you manage to get consistent results even on the flawed online MBTI tests, knowing your cognitive function and stacking will help you to accept yourself, and find more cohesive and effective ways to solve problems based on how you operate.
The answer is yes, it has been helpful to me and many others, which is why MBTI still endures despite all the flack.
The How of Happiness Review
On the flip side, the Big Five Personality Traits are considered scientific and verifiable.
Indeed, taking the MBTI online tests, my personality flitted between J and P, and even after learning about the Jungian cognitive functions, which is more reliable, I still couldn't tell what my personality type is.
For instance, I really couldn't tell what my dominant function is, since we use it automatically without thinking. However, it was obvious to me (without having to take the test) that I prefer extroverted intuition for sure, meaning when I think about things I like to come up with tons of ideas, sometimes not necessarily connected. So I'm definitely Ne. As for the other functions of my personality type, introverted sensing and extroverted thinking, I couldn't tell. In fact, in medical school, I could see myself thinking that I was Te dominant since I was on point with the schedules, even exercising 5 times/week.
However, when I took the Big Five Personality Trait at multiple different online sites, the percentage may change by a mere 10% or so, but it was always consistent, leading to the empathic idealist profile. This made me chuckle, since the INFP sounds very much like the empathic idealist.
So is the MBTI and Jungian cognitive functions psuedo-science?
As I'm not a scientist, I had to go back to the basics. Exactly what is science? Science is a systematic way of organizing empirical data, that can be tested and replicated, to explain and predict patterns of the universe.
The scientist comes up with an idea, and through experiments and collection of replicable data, if the large amount of data confirms the idea, time after time, this idea becomes a theory.
Science is highly esteemed because you can either prove or disprove a theory using the same experiments, over and over again. You can also critique whether the experiments being used are actually testing what you are evaluating. Finally, can the question that you're investigating be measured in the first place?
For instance, supposed I want to prove my idea that cats are superior beings, and because I want to make sure this idea is in fact true, I could "make up"an experiment that really doesn't test that idea, but may "sound" like it does.
In this example, we can say that superior beings don't follow instructions and "do their own thing" since they don't follow the herd. Therefore, my experiment collects data in calling my cat to come to me. They stare blankly at me 100% of the time. We then test that with millions of other cats, and it tends to be true 99% of the time with 5 billion collection points.
There are the rare cats that do know their names and even so, they may or may not come to their owners (only when they want to), proving even more strongly that cats are "superior" because they do what they want to do, when they want to, on their own terms.
Per scientific methods, this is trash. One, you can't measure if something is in fact superior (i.e. what is superior? how do you measure that?), and the experiment, while easily replicable, doesn't really measure anything.
Using these criteria, the MBTI test itself isn't valid because your personality type constantly changes even when you take the same test twice - I took the official MBTI two times and then the online ones so many times to figure out if I were a J versus P as discussed here.
Even the official MBTI test is problematic. In the typing of Stephen Colbert, who tested as an INFP, you saw how his eyes lit up (which mine did as well) when the tester asked if he's more attracted to witty, creative, imaginative, incisive wit (this is supposed to be "N" or intuition), or if you find someone who can make others comfortable in practical ways ("S" or sensory):
As soon as I heard the second choice, I chose the "wrong" answer for my type. I'm infinitely more impressed by people who make sure that when you come into their homes, that you're warm and toasty, making your favorite cheese and fruit platter, and providing your favorite matching wine.
In fact, almost everyone would be more impressed by someone who is thoughtful and kind, over someone who is "just" a "smart ass". Of course, ideally, someone like my best friend Todd has both where he would combine various statements I would make and instantly come up with a joke, parody, imitation in unexpected surprising ways, but also makes sure that I'm cozy, comfortable and taken care of.
However, if you're forced to be in a relationship with someone who can only have 1 trait, 100% of people would chose the "S" option.
A better way of seeing if someone is an N or S is by asking if they think about things by considering open-ended possibilities (N), or seeing things in a structured, logical systematic manner (S). I'm very "N" so I'm not sure if I used the correct wording for "S" types and how they think.
Indeed, even the much-touted, "psychologist approved" Big Five Personality Traits, you can come up with your wrong personality type. You may notice that it's not "good" to be neurotic and irritable (even if you are) and then answer the questions where you get strongly "agreeable" when you should have scored the opposite, in the high neuroticism range.
In other words, it's hard to measure personality, because the person may second-guess, or may not know themselves very well, making personality inventory testing problematic. Even more highly tauted "psychologist approved" tests such as the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, though that is used to screen mental disorders) can be problematic.
You can see how an extremely intelligent Narcissist or Antisocial person would answer such that they're healthy. Which is why psychologists use this as a screening tool, not as a diagnostic tool.
Perhaps the question should be, given all the problems of knowing yourself, or knowing yourself, but preferring the opposite since "opposites attract" leading to incorrect choices and wrong typing, the question should be this instead:
If you're in fact typed correctly, is the MBTI useful? At least for me, it's extremely useful, because I can use my personality to accomplish what's most important to me, that's natural to who I am, without backlash.
When I try to solve things by being so fed up by my disorganization that I set up very rigid schedules and trying to organize my living space "to perfection", I end up being very critical of myself because I invariably fail and get overwhelmed.
Because of the failure and overwhelm, I get very grouchy and irritable, which leads to me becoming critical of others who aren't "pulling their weight" in terms of organizing and cleaning. Being critical and judgmental of others, as opposed to being accepting and open-minded, is one of the traits I hate the most about myself.
In MBTI/Jungian terms, this is my inferior Te function at work when I use it as my primary, ignoring my dominant and auxiliary functions that I use naturally (Fi and Ne). Forcing yourself to be something you're not almost always leads to disaster and/or is short-lived, because you can't be someone you're not.
On the flip side, if you find out that you're the opposite of me where you have extremely strong Te, using your Te dominant is the right thing to do, because you're good at it, and you use Te in a mature, healthy manner that's actually quite compelling and refreshing.
However, if I use my cognitive functions based on who I truly am, I tend to be very successful. For instance, when I was in a rut and every day's the same and there's a sense of dissatisfaction, I was able to come up with solutions.
One of my values (the jargon is Fi, introverted feeling at work) is to grow and be challenged, it makes sense to use my auxiliary Ne (extroverted intuition) to come up with possibilities and to think outside the box. I came up with Twitch streaming due to love of video games, and the extreme challenge of being entertaining (since I never had to use that skill), and wanting to create a warm, accepting community all fit my values (Fi) and what I found right to me based on my past experiences (Si).
Then, I use Te in the "right manner". Knowing that streaming fits my values and the challenge will jolt me out of the daily grind, I know I need a schedule, otherwise I would never stream. I set up a schedule, researched the in's and out's of streaming, finding practical ways to make streaming work for me.
The burn-out indeed came when I used my Te in the wrong way where I was results-oriented thinking about numbers. But renewed interest in streaming came about when I thought deeply about whether streaming is meaningful and fun. Does it make me happy, does it fit my values, and once I realize it has been helpful and rewarding, and ignore the number-driven results, I stopped being burned-out.
Another way in which knowing your personality type is seeing your blind-spots. I'm basically a slug, because I know myself very well. I know I'm 100% going to like something or not, so I close myself off to dreadful experiences such as going to frat parties, learning how to cook, learning how to garden, because I know 100% that these activities will lead to dread.
However, using my auxiliary extroverted intuition (Ne) and being open to things, I force myself to do them because I see the value of experiencing these things, confirming what I already know, and using these experiences to laugh about with friends.
As a complete introvert, I can go months without talking to my friends. This is a huge blind-spot and is definitely hurtful to others because they think, appropriately, that if you don't call them, you must hate them, don't value their friendship at all, and/or they did something wrong, even though that's far from the case. Strangely, I think about my friends all the time, but never call (talking on the phone makes me cringe), and I'm content to be alone for weeks on end.
As this causes clear problems in relationships, I use my inferior Te this week in fact, and actually set up a schedule to check my messages daily. I hate schedules, but this is meaningful to me, so it's been working. My daily activity list has things I want to do because they're meaningful to me and adds value to my life.
So I add things to that list such as making my bed. At night, I like the immediate gratification of crawling into sheet and blankets perfectly smoothed and evened out, distributing the warmth equally, as opposed to pulling the blankets on me, and ending up with clumps of warmth and cold spots. Since I highly value being comfortable, making my bed makes sense.
However, if you find that making your bed is a hassle, and you don't care about comfort, then do not make your bed, do not even waste your time thinking about it and feeling guilty about not doing so. In fact, there are scientific studies showing that making your bed may increase dust mites. Luckily, since I'm getting allergy shots, I've been making my bed so dust mites aren't going to cause problems.
Folding clothes adds no meaning to me, because it's just as easy to fish out the clothes I need, then spend hours folding. Further, the clothes are clean so it's not going to cause any sanitary problems if you don't fold.
However, if you find organization truly soothes your soul and gives you peace of mind (clutter can be soul-sucking), and you love it when all your clothes are neatly hung up and in drawers, then by all means fold the laundry!
Washing dishes, vacuuming, steam mopping the floors, washing the bathrooms are a must for sanitary reasons.
Knowing who you are, and accepting who you are, you can find ways that lead to happiness, productivity and meaning.
The MBTI/Jungian classification seems to be the one personality inventory that helped me figure this all out in a systematic, logical manner. As opposed to my having a hunch that being rigid doesn't work for me, but why not!, there must be something wrong with me, because it works for almost everyone else.
Indeed, American society operates this way, where being productive is to make sure you show up on time at work, follow the regimented schedule, and you find out if you're doing well if you get the results (this is very Te). So naturally, I think that if it works for the majority of Americans, it should work for me...but it never does.
Now knowing why using my Te (extroverted thinking) out of order is problematic, I know how to use my Te in the right order, thanks to understanding cognitive functions and stacking.
So it's very difficult to find your true MBTI type, unless you're very honest with yourself and insightful, but once you do, you see how it can be extremely helpful. But is it pseudo-science?
I'm not sure how to characterize the MBTI, except that at least for me (n=1), it's extremely accurate, and a very helpful therapeutic tool. Perhaps the MBTI is more philosophical in that it seeks to explain how you perceive and think about things. That doesn't mean that there's no truth and no value in MBTI. Just the opposite, it seems to be very accurate and honest. In fact, I found that the Taoist philosophy is in many ways more truthful than a lot of science. But, you can technically say that Taoism is a pseudo-science, because you can't really use experiments to prove if Taoism is scientific.
Everyone uses things that can't be proved by science, but nevertheless hold truths. Controversial topics such as people finding meaning and purpose in having faith and going to your place of worship for affirmation, love, support, interdependence, even though spiritual matters, can't be proved to be "correct" by science. And, controversy again, quite a few people find religion and spirituality "psuedo-science", which is the code, pejorative word for "bull-shit".
However, for a lot of people, having faith is not only extremely valuable but life-affirming, and leads to positive community building, lifting people out of depression, despair and despondency that can come from being disconnected.
Likewise, why throw MBTI out the window? For me at least, it's the personality system that not only makes the most sense to me, but also the most useful. I finally understand why I do the things I do in a systematic manner. As opposed to having a vague hunch about why I fail if I operate in the typical "American" results-driven way and berate myself as a result.
I can now leverage this concrete information to be a more productive and happy person, as opposed to using the cookie cutter method of "just be more organized" and "just do it" which would work for quite a lot of people, but not for me.
In fact, I was often critical of myself because of my procrastination and how I can't just plunge in and do the things that I need to do! Now I am better able to accept myself, and solve problems in a more cohesive and enduring manner.
Conclusion:
The question, "Is the MBTI Pseudo-science?" is the wrong question to ask. Rather, the question posed should be, "is it helpful?" If you manage to get consistent results even on the flawed online MBTI tests, knowing your cognitive function and stacking will help you to accept yourself, and find more cohesive and effective ways to solve problems based on how you operate.
The answer is yes, it has been helpful to me and many others, which is why MBTI still endures despite all the flack.
The How of Happiness Review
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Friday, February 14, 2020
Les fraudes documentaires en milieu bancaire
|
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Brave Browser voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019
Out of all the privacy-focused products and apps available on the market, Brave has been voted the best. Other winners of Product Hunt's Golden Kitty awards showed that there was a huge interest in privacy-enhancing products and apps such as chats, maps, and other collaboration tools.
An extremely productive year for Brave
Last year has been a pivotal one for the crypto industry, but few companies managed to see the kind of success Brave did. Almost every day of the year has been packed witch action, as the company managed to officially launch its browser, get its Basic Attention Token out, and onboard hundreds of thousands of verified publishers on its rewards platform.
Luckily, the effort Brave has been putting into its product hasn't gone unnoticed.
The company's revolutionary browser has been voted the best privacy-focused product of 2019, for which it received a Golden Kitty award. The awards, hosted by Product Hunt, were given to the most popular products across 23 different product categories.
Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt said:
"Our annual Golden Kitty awards celebrate all the great products that makers have launched throughout the year"
Brave's win is important for the company—with this year seeing the most user votes ever, it's a clear indicator of the browser's rapidly rising popularity.
Privacy and blockchain are the strongest forces in tech right now
If reaching 10 million monthly active users in December was Brave's crown achievement, then the Product Hunt award was the cherry on top.
The recognition Brave got from Product Hunt users shows that a market for privacy-focused apps is thriving. All of the apps and products that got a Golden Kitty award from Product Hunt users focused heavily on data protection. Everything from automatic investment apps and remote collaboration tools to smart home products emphasized their privacy.
AI and machine learning rose as another note-worthy trend, but blockchain seemed to be the most dominating force in app development. Blockchain-based messaging apps and maps were hugely popular with Product Hunt users, who seem to value innovation and security.
For those users, Brave is a perfect platform. The company's research and development team has recently debuted its privacy-preserving distributed VPN, which could potentially bring even more security to the user than its already existing Tor extension.
Brave's effort to revolutionize the advertising industry has also been recognized by some of the biggest names in publishing—major publications such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, NDTV, NPR, and Qz have all joined the platform. Some of the highest-ranking websites in the world, including Wikipedia, WikiHow, Vimeo, Internet Archive, and DuckDuckGo, are also among Brave's 390,000 verified publishers.
Earn Basic Attention Token (BAT) with Brave Web Browser
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