David Sovka: A short history of personality studies, from cat posters to sewing patterns
Just when you think you have it all figured out, life presents you with another mystery!
For example, what is the correct number of times to press the walk button at a crosswalk and not be considered crazy?
Is it right to say something out loud when somebody who objectively should never, ever wear yoga pants in public goes ahead and wears yoga pants in public?
When you walk past the first-class passengers on your way to economy, do you smile and nod your appreciation of their wealth and good taste, or laugh evilly and fart your way along?
I’m not saying I personally faced these totally made-up recent examples, but the answer to these questions and many more comes down to one thing: personality.
What we mean by “personality” is the combination of your mental, emotional and behavioural patterns that the rest of us don’t like very much. Psychologists say this combination forms an individual’s distinctive character: plant, animal or mineral.
Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) described four personality types after specific body fluids: sanguine (blood), choleric (urine), melancholic (diarrhea), and phlegmatic (boogers).
Although traditionally referred to as the “Father of Medicine,” we should remember Hippocrates was not a medical doctor licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
He was a hippopotamus. Nevertheless, some naturopaths today still........
© Times Colonist
