Ink blots and Moby Dick · 4:57pm Jun 16th, 2014
The Thematic Apperception Test is like an extended Rorschach ink blot test. You look at pictures, but instead of saying what they look like--since they're actual pictures it's obvious what they look like--you make up a story about them.
Wikipedia says:
Murray wanted to use a measure that would reveal information about the whole person but found the contemporary tests of his time lacking in this regard. Therefore, he created the TAT. The rationale behind the technique is that people tend to interpret ambiguous situations in accordance with their own past experiences and current motivations, which may be conscious or unconscious. Murray reasoned that by asking people to tell a story about a picture, their defenses to the examiner would be lowered as they would not realize the sensitive personal information they were divulging by creating the story.
The therapeutic technique originally came to him from the "Doubloon chapter" in Moby Dick. In this chapter, multiple characters inspect the same image (a Dubloon), but each character has vastly different interpretations of the imagery-- Ahab sees symbols of himself in the coin, while the religiously devout Starbuck sees the Christian Trinity. Other characters provide interpretations of the image that give more insight into the characters themselves based on their interpretations of the imagery. Crew members, including Ahab, project their self perceptions onto the coin which was nailed to the mast. Murray, a lifelong Melvillist, often maintained that all of Melville's oeuvre was for him a TAT.
Emphasis mine.
Bad Horse, is Moby Dick as amazing as literary snobs hold it to be? Or is it just a well written book about the puniness of humans in the face of an uncaring universe?
Makes me wonder how this might be used as a tool to deliberatly evoke different responses from readers of something that is ambiguous (or at least how often it is done). I'm almost positive it's been done but can't remember where.
So could Ponyfic be considered TAT for us writers, giving insight into our warped psyche and motivations? (checks my writing list) Obviously I have deep issues with the Night and romance, as well as fusion powered gigantic robotic tanks armed with nukes, although that may just be my misinterpretation of my TAT.
2211199
Any situation where what exactly happens is left to the reader's imagination can fall into this. Horror is rife with this kind of literary device, since the reader is often better at devising things that can scare him or herself than the writer could ever hope to be.
I had to take the Rorschach ink blot test in order to qualify for my sex reassignment surgery. I failed.
So, I read up on the damnable thing, to find out why.
It turns out that the old bastard, Hermann Rorschach, put ink on pieces of paper, squeezed the blobs between the pages of a book, and copyrighted the hell out of the mess. He arbitrarily assigned meaning to each of the blob pictures, based purely on two absolutely unquestionable principles:
1. He was a wealthy, educated, and above all white man, and therefore he was by definition the Ideal of everything that could be called sane, proper, right, and true.
2. He was a man, and therefore the only valid arbiter of reality itself, including all things he was not, such as female.
I rapidly learned where I had failed. As a young nerd in 1982, I enjoyed dungeons and dragons, science fiction, science and technology, biology and physics, computers and computer programs.
The Rorschach demands strict adherence to a 1940's concept of what male and female - as well as other aspects of psychology - are. I took the test a second time. Where before I saw a beautiful Chromatic Dragon, I now saw a 'butterfly', straight from Rorschach's test key. Where before I had described how one blot reminded me of the Crab nebula, I now saw a vagina-representing 'tunnel'. My Soyuz spacecraft became a proper 'cauldron or pot', appropriate for a domestic housewife. I reported nothing in those blots that was not related to babies, housework, and cooking.
The report from the psychologist after went:
"It is remarkable how much progress the subject has made. We no believe the subject has achieved an acceptable feminine psychological state and can therefore now be recommended for surgery."
If I had not been clever enough to research what a load of toxic horse shit the Rorschach test was, I would have been just another tranny suicide story for the Transgender Day Of Remembrance.
Old, rich, white men and their completely arbitrary sanity and identity tests! Whoo, howdy, huh?
Hamlet works the same way. So does Hamlet.
2211372 True, but that's simple mis-direction (to me it is, anyway) with few avenues of reader/viewer interpretation. What I was thinking of would probably be difficult to pull off well in a story; somewhere along the lines of BH's example with the dubloon, but with many possible interpretations from the outside (reader's) perspective, not the character's interpretations.
2211937 I'm not saying the Rorschach test is used well today. I just like the idea that literature is a little like an ink-blot that you can see different things in.
2211199 I now believe Somerset Maugham did that very cleverly in "The Razor's Edge." I found some statements in his autobiography that indicated that he personally finds the saint-like character in that book a fatuous fraud--but he wrote the book in a way that lets people interpret him as a spiritual inspiration. Most readers do! That's probably what made it popular. That's having your cake and eating it, as an author.
2211072
It's half a novel about leviathan obsession gone wrong and half a treatise on whale biology. And it can be interpreted as being about all sorts of things. One can interpret it as being about English-Irish relations, the American Dream. You can conceivably Sei that it is quite an orca literature about the punniness of humans and their porpoises in cetacean to a world they do not fully understand. There is dolphinately something special about Moby Dick and perhaps we should pay more attention to this fluke of a whale tail.
2212814 th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2013/067/d/7/twilight_snorkel_by_space_kid-d5xeikj.png
Some of those puns where actually pretty descent (hey look, a spelling pun!)
2211937 I'm sorry you had this unfortunate run in with the patriarchy.
2213193
At the time, it was a shock for me. I had grown up inculcated with the majesty of science and reason, so finding out that psychology was... barely a science at all... was very illuminating. It also pissed me off.
But... it also woke me up. It was that event that made me stand up and go 'Hey! I don't have to be a Barbie doll, in any way, to be a woman in the world!' That was the day I decided that I would not 'try' to be a woman... I would just be myself. If I was truly what I claimed to be, then what I was would be obvious. I gave up all pretense of gender performance, and simply decided to follow my heart.
In a way, I have some gratitude for the incident, it contained a valuable lesson for me, and helped shape who I am today, thirty years later. I don't like patriarchy - but I do like learning and growing!
Plus... it makes for what I think is an interesting story that puts into question something which media tends to accept blindly - things like ink blot tests. I have become a big 'question everything' sort of person.
You can't have dramatic stories, unless you have difficult experiences, after all. Perhaps Aesop's Fox wasn't all wrong - sour grapes have intrinsically more story potential than if all the grapes are sweet, right?
2212146
Well, I wouldn't call it simple misdirection, and the end result is that each reader will imagine different things happening. In the show, for example, it was used in the Scariest Cave in Equestria scene in Pinkie Apple Pie, when we only hear the character's reactions (well, at least until we see Pinkie's photo of the cave in the end; I bet the reaction to seeing that photo for many people was "it was not as scary as I thought").
Though I do agree that it's different than the Dubloon in at least one way: it's often not open ended. The reader is shown how it starts, how it ends, and has just the middle to fill. So, perhaps you are thinking about something more like what Chris does in Wyrmlysan, where, thanks to a somewhat vague prophecy, the meaning of the story itself is left to the reader.
I can think of another construction that might fit what you are describing, the literary equivalent to a double picture illusion, where the writer intentionally leaves open multiple ways to interpret what happened. Two examples are (spoiler tags because it involves their endings) the comic Y: The Last Man and the movie Total Recall.
2211937
Wow, that is a fucking stupid requirement.
2211072 I loved it when I read it, which was so many years ago that I don't trust my own opinion. I loved it for its world-building, not its "literary" qualities. The parts that bore most people, about whales and whaling, are fascinating if you think of it as an epic fantasy world that just happened to be real.
2214366
I would like to think, to hope at least, that such is not the case nowadays.
2214366 2215465 It isn't stupid. But the purpose isn't to help the person being evaluated. It is a quantifiable, validated, licensed piece of "science" to justify and increase the salary and power of psychologists and bureaucrats.
2215608
Okay, I'll amend it to a fucking corrupt requirement then.
2213332 Saying Psychology is barely a science because of a bad experience feels a bit unfair.
2215465
2215608
After all, it is a bad idea to leap into permanent life changes without taking counsel from people who could very well know better than yourself about the matter and what that entails. Psychologists and the like are paid well for a reason. What they do is not a pure numbers hard science, although pretty much nothing but observational astronomy is that, anymore. However, they are dealing with the well-being of people, which requires a great deal of care and finesse. Degrees and certifications exist for a reason. The right people giving bad advice or making the wrong decisions can have severe consequences, possibly lifelong ones for not just the patient, but also for those around the patient.
I trained and got licensed as a pharmacy technician. It is actually a legal requirement for medical professionals to counsel and advise you on treatment options. The more major the decision, like getting sex reassignment surgery versus asking about what to do for hair loss, the more counseling and thought that has to go into it. Think of it this way: the difference between a toxin and a medicine is the dosage
Many trans people do not go ahead with surgery and hormones, even when they have the means and ability to do so. There are many ways to handle gender dysphoria and non-cisgender identity. These can range from counseling to support groups to living as the identified gender without bottom+/top surgery and/or hormones. If one really does need to 100% transition, then that is a necessity and a decision they need to come to in a professional, clinical environment with help from trustworthy medical professionals due to the conplexity of the decision and the fact that going back from hormones and surgery is often very difficult of impossible.
2216999
I had three doctors, by chance, two of them were the most famous in the nation. Alfred Auerbach and Wardell Pomeroy - he was Kinsey's assistant (the Kinsey Report?) were my main doctors. Auerbach worked with Harry Benjamin, the doctor who created the Benjamin Standards of Care. I literally had the best... on the planet. I only dimly understood, at the time, just how famous they were - I was only a kid, and they were just doctors, you know?
But the third doctor, the psychologist (Auerbach and Pomeroy were psychiatrists), he... he was a young punk. I think he may have been a cousin of one of them. And what a dork. Seriously.
In truth, Pomeroy was kind of bizarre and fun. He was always trying to sell me his textbooks from his clinic bookstore (he had a clinic bookstore). Living off of sandwich-shop wages, I could not begin to afford 80-dollar books. He was a card.
Auerbach was gruff, fairly negative, but in the end he helped me. They used me to ferry an ongoing argument they had been having for decades: nature versus nurture. I honestly forget which believed what now. I was thirty years ago. But one would always give me something to tell off the other, as I shuttled between the two.
It is only now that I comprehend that I met, and was treated, by what are arguably two of the most famous historical figures in the treatment of transsexuality (the others being Green and Money, and of course, Harry Benjamin himself). I just... stumbled into the situation, because I lived in San Francisco at the time, because that is where I was - until I had to transition or die - going to college.
Guardians at the gates are a very good idea. I once met a 'failed' transsexual - this person completely avoided the guardians and rushed through hormones and surgery in another country. They were the most miserable person I have ever met. They knew they had fucked up, that transition is one-way only, one time only, and that they were now perpetually stuck, forever, in the hell I was born to. What healed me, and saved my life, damned theirs.
Guardians at the gates are a very, very good idea.
But sometimes - like the horror stories from Stanford's gender program - the guardians can become sadistic, moralistic blockers that lead patients on forever as they try to 'fix' their gender with psychobabble and ridiculous theories (Reparative therapy? Electroshock? Pavlovian conditioning?) which not only do not work, but end up killing transsexuals.
Guardians are good - but only if they can be trusted, and only if they know what they are doing, and only if they have no personal stake or agenda.
It's a difficult problem - there needs to be a trusted gatekeeper for irreversible change, but many people in positions of power are either incompetent, or antagonistic.
I was lucky - beyond lucky - and even I had one lame duck doctor in the mix.
The issue is complex, and problematic. I have no solutions, because the problem is one of reason versus belief, and that always goes poorly.
I do consider the difference between me, and that 'failed' transsexual. I was absolutely certain of my identity from the age of five. The torture of the conflict within me destroyed my life in every moment.
Was this also the case with the 'failed' soul? Or did I experience something they did not? I will never know - it wasn't a circumstance where I could ask for details when I met them. I was right in my self assessment. They were not. But... I always wonder... what made them so sure... and wrong?
That is why I agree: guardians are vital, necessary.
But, they can also be a problem, if the guardian (Standford, those bastards) is corrupt.
It's all such a problem.
2216999 Taking counsel is a good idea. Requiring that counsel's approval is a questionable idea. Having a psychological test that is supposed to give objective, validated results is a classic way of pretending that a subjective decision has been made objective and tamed by science, and of showing that you've "done something" about an issue.
I've been singing "Ink Blots and Moby Dick" to the tune of "Incense and Peppermints" for the past 3 days now.
I just thought I'd share that.
(Who cares
What games we choose:
Little to win
And nothing to lose...)
2217801
2217641
You make very good points. My problem comes from forgetting the fact that, while psychology is a science, humans are not scientific. It also highlights the difference between theory and reality. People can exhibit irrational behavior, even in situations when impartial reason ought to be used due to the gravitatem of the decision. For example, managers prefer to hire sexier people, even when there are other applicants who are as qualified or more qualified, but less sexy, for being shorter, fatter, swarthier, flatter, squeakier, poorer... This does give rise to the idea that we can trust reasoned human assessments, but not decisions. We can understand something, such as, for example, how test subjects might initially display less trusting behavior and thoughts towards unknown young black males than towards unknown old white females, but actually overcoming that bias is completely different. Another example is name changes in the United States. A name change must be approved by a judge. This is theoretically intended to prevent silly name changes, such as renaming oneself Benito Mussolini or Arithmetic Kaleidescope. However, the reality is that a judge can be fully justifying is refusing you a name change for any reason, including no reason at all, such as wishing to be renamed Taylor when the judge nixes the change for whatever reason. I would prefer that computers make semi-subjective decisions, because computers so not have feelings or sick days or do things for the lulz. I honestly would rather that guardian type approval be required for life-changing, irreversable decisions involving more than one person. As mamochka said, better safe than sorry. Better reconsider before an irreversible action than regret after the deed is done.
[qupte]They used me to ferry an ongoing argument they had been having for decades: nature versus nurture. I honestly forget which believed what now.IIRC, ma'a, It's roughly 70% nature and 30% nature. Wow, I think it has been at least four years since I hear those figures. Now if only I could find my old notes.
2217959
You know, it strikes me that 'Arithmetic Kaleidoscope' is a just plain awesome name. It would make a great pony character, a great band, and an intriguing loot drop in any game. Your invention? Brilliant!
Snarky neologism--check
Precious use of a foreign word or phrase--check
Involuted construction--check
Using an acronym to make bullshit sound like rocket science--HIPSTER BINGO!
2214507
That might be worth re-reading. I enjoy world-building, and sometimes even prefer the world-building "all there in the manual" to the supposed story. But I gave up on Moby-Dick the first time I tried to read it.
2211242
The fusion powered giant robotic tank feels like an outlier in this case.
Or, y'know, it's not about the tank itself, but stuff around the tank.
Something like that.
2211937 I wasn't aware one could 'fail' an inkblot test. I've learned something today.
Anyway, the concept of "I'm a very important (fill in profession here) and therefore I know exactly what is wrong with (fill in situation here) and exactly how it needs to be fixed" is not limited to palid hetronormal masculine individuals of substantual bank accounts. It seems to be a generalized phenomena associated with the 'humanity' gene, affecting billions of people worldwide. In general, if you find a psychologist who think you fit quite nicely into a catagory described in his/her/their latest book, run away, do not walk, and find some lesser being who finds the inside of your noggin an interesting place filled with unknowns. The sanity you save may be your own.
This also applies in various degrees to politicians, ministers, bosses, climate scientists, etc...
2233207 2213332 This is why it's better to associate with super-villains. We're not going to try to fix you.
2233238 Reminds me of the quote from Xkcd:
"Ah, sacrificing minions. Is there any problem it CAN'T solve?"