The Original Sims

Alter Ego was a video game released by Activision in 1986. The brainchild of psychologist Dr. John Favero it allowed players to play out an entire lifetime as if it were a Choose Your Own Adventure novel by playing out events based on hundreds of interviews conducted with people about their lives. Now you can play a very faithful reproduction online.

Dæmon, Dæmon , burning bright.

[via Roll back... and mix]

Taboo - The Results

Take the test here.

How did you do compared to other people?

Taboo has been played 31482 times.

Your Moralising Quotient of 0.33 compares to an average Moralising Quotient of 0.20. This means that as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned you are less permissive than average.

Your Interference Factor of 0.25 compares to an average Interference Factor of 0.10. This means that as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned you are more likely to recommend societal interference in matters of moral wrongdoing, in the form of prevention or punishment, than average.

Your Universalising Factor of 0.50 compares to an average Universalising Factor of 0.34. This means you are more likely than average to see moral wrongdoing in universal terms - that is, without regard to prevailing cultural norms and social conventions (at least as far as the events depicted in the scenarios featured in this activity are concerned).

Send them down the mines

In a Grumpy Old Man moment, I previously remarked the young people today seem to have too much self-esteem leading to an inflated sense of entitlement and general rudeness. While I had nothing to back up my opinion it turns out that my rant was at least close to the truth.

An extensive study of 16,475 college students from the United States has revealed narcissism has risen steadily among that population since 1982 due to the last couple of decades' obsession with promoting self-esteem.

Is it my turn to call for national service to be reintroduced?

The study is due to be published in April and, of course, the author has a blog. Ironically the blog is hosted on Livejournal - home of the narcissistic, illiterate, and rude youth she highlights.

One elbow patch

Having attempted a piece of minor madness I've got my first year's results back. I was hoping for a bare pass in the exam just so I could have a couple of month without worring about a resit, instead I got 60%.

One year down, another five to go.

The Yoof of Today

Every year the mindset list looks at the world through the eyes of the current set of entrants to Universities. This year, those young minds would have grown up never knowing the Soviet Union, always with a mouse in their hands, and thinking that Google has always been a verb.

It doesn't seem to mention that generation's general lack of social graces and entitlement complex though. What that lot need is less self-esteem, not more.

[via Metafilter.]

Who do you think I am?

A Johari window is a metaphorical tool intended to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.

This is my one that only has my own comments so I'd ask as an experiment for you to add your own here and you can see it change as it's added to.

Arena (known to self and others) complex, sentimental, silly	Blind Spot (known only to others) able, accepting, cheerful, friendly, giving, idealistic, independent, intelligent, knowledgeable, logical, loving, modest, observant, searching, sympathetic, tense, trustworthy, warm, wise, witty
Façade (known only to self) helpful, reflective, self-conscious	Unknown (known to nobody) adaptable, bold, brave, calm, caring, clever, confident, dependable, dignified, energetic, extroverted, happy, ingenious, introverted, kind, mature, nervous, organised, patient, powerful, proud, quiet, relaxed, religious, responsive, self-assertive, sensible, shy, spontaneous

All Percentages

able (16%) accepting (16%) adaptable (0%) bold (0%) brave (0%) calm (0%) caring (0%) cheerful (16%) clever (0%) complex (50%) confident (0%) dependable (0%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (16%) giving (16%) happy (0%) helpful (0%) idealistic (33%) independent (16%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (50%) introverted (0%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (16%) logical (16%) loving (16%) mature (0%) modest (16%) nervous (0%) observant (50%) organised (0%) patient (0%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflective (0%) relaxed (0%) religious (0%) responsive (0%) searching (16%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (0%) sentimental (16%) shy (0%) silly (16%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (16%) tense (16%) trustworthy (50%) warm (16%) wise (16%) witty (33%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 6.3.2006, using data from 6 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view djryan_ie's full data.

[via Someone Else's Horoscope]

Psychometric Bias

So this test reckons I'm a male to female cross dresser. Looking at the questions and the site it's easy to see their bias.

S.A.G.E. Test Results

Your Raw Score is: -515, which indicates that overall you are Androgynous

Your appearance is Masculine

Your brain processes are mostly that of a Androgynous person.

You appear to socialize in a androgynous manner.

You believe you have normal doubts about your gender identity.

You indicated your were born Male.

ANALYSIS:
Male to Female Crossdresser