Micah Tillman

So I was taking this personality test thing, see. [For earlier political and theological personality tests of me, see here and here.]

It’s of the “Five Factor Model of Personality” school.

Didn’t know there were different schools of personality theory, did you?

Well neither did I. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as personality theory.

Anyhoo, I’m always trying to follow the Delphic Maxim, and thought maybe this newfangled theory of personality might help me do so better.

The problem with any psychological test that I’ve encountered, however, is when you know exactly what “they” are trying to do.

For instance, in this test, every statement is phrased in four or five different ways. This is smart. They want to make sure they’re getting your reaction to the real meaning of the statement, not to some accident of word-choice.

But once I realized this, I couldn’t let myself react naturally to each new version of a question. I had to try to keep my answers consistent.

But then with each new phrasing of the question, it becomes ever more clear exactly how you’re supposed to respond to each question, given the usual personality types.

First phrasing: “I think crime should be taken seriously.”

Second phrasing: “It’s bad to ignore crime.”

Third phrasing: “Crime should be punished.”

Fourth phrasing: “Leniency in sentencing is a moral outrage.”

Fifth phrasing: “Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Me: (Quoting Peter Griffin): “Oh. Now I see what you’re drivin’ at.”

When the test-taker gets to analyzing the test, it can’t help the reliability of the final score. There was manipulation going on (by me).

But worse than this, two of the questions were put in the first-person plural!

(NOOOOOOoooo o o o !!! !! ! ! !)

One said something like, “We are too soft on criminals.”

But only people in The Criminal Justice System can speak of how “we” treat criminals!

So I had to answer “Strongly Disagree.” Even though I don’t “strongly disagree” with the claim that people in The Criminal Justice System are, in general, too soft on criminals. I don’t have much of an informed opinion at all on the subject.

But, of course, I know what answer the test-makers “wanted” me to give, so I could fit neatly into their little boxes. Bah! I say. Humbug!

Stupid WEeds, ruining my attempt to follow the Delphic Maxim.

Tags: Personality, Tests, WEeds

Yesterday was both Mothers’ Day and Pentecost. It was a strange combination; but The Wife informs me that “Spirit” in both Hebrew and Greek is a female noun. So there was some connection, I suppose.

Our associate pastor, Adam, gave the sermon. Though inspired by Pentecost, it wasn’t a “usual” Pentecost-type sermon. It had to do both with “tongues” and group-inclusion. Specifically it had to do with Mennonite singing.

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Mennonites, in general, like to sing four-part harmony. Often a cappella. Adam pointed out that, among other traditional Mennonite practices, this style of singing can not only be an expression of unity in the Body of Christ (it takes at least four people to sing one song!) but can create an insider-outsider feeling. After all, not everybody knows how to sight-read and sing in parts.

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Tags: Friedrich Nietzsche, history, Mennonites, Mothers' Day, Pentecost

From the Prologue:

This week’s volume of the WEeding Awards shows us that people on both sides of the political aisle can express diametrically opposed views while committing the same mistake.

First, it highlights WEeds by two commentators who are for — and by a Democratic presidential candidate who is against — the Iraq war. (”What’s wrong with weeds?“)

Then it pokes gentle fun at a group of editors for using WEeds to take responsibility for defeating the Nazis and the Soviets, and at a Canadian for speaking in the first-person plural about Americans’ activities.

And finally, it ribs a magazine bureau chief for seeming to think he knows what he doesn’t, and a noted journalist for thinking he doesn’t think what he thinks.

There’s nothing more fun than a new volume of the WEeding Awards, so read away!

The National Climactic Data Center’s preliminary report:

For the contiguous United States, the average temperature for April was 51.0°F (10.6°C), which was 1.0°F (0.6°C) below the 20th century mean and ranked as the 29th coolest April on record, based on preliminary data.

Unfortunately, I don’t know how useful these data are, given the disclaimer:

All temperature and precipitation ranks and values are based on preliminary data. The ranks will change when the final data are processed, but will not be replaced on these pages. As final data become available, the most up-to-date statistics and graphics will be available on the Climate Monitoring Products page and the U.S. Climate at a Glance Web site.

But if you click on the link in the first quotation above, you get the following graph:

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(Speaking of religion and the environment . . . .)

Iain Murray writes, tongue-in-cheek:

Even the American homeless emit twice as much carbon dioxide as the world average, the wastrels.

He cites a new MIT study, reported by EPOnline:

“Regardless of income, there is a certain floor below which the individual carbon footprint of a person in the U.S. will not drop,” says Timothy Gutowski, professor of mechanical engineering . . . .

My favorite line from the EP article, however, was:

While it may seem surprising that even people whose lifestyles don’t appear extravagant–the homeless, monks, children–are responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions, one major factor is the array of government services that are available to everyone in the United States.

Notice the word “responsible.” Let us all pause together and ponder this concept. Hmmmm . . . .

And then there’s this:

[T]he “floor” below which nobody in the U.S. can reach, no matter a person’s energy choices, turned out to be 8.5 tons . . . .

Remind you of Isaiah? Or Paul? Or Paul? Or Paul? Or Calvin?

It’s at this point that we need a Messiah to sweep in and offer us salvation by grace through faith, since we can do nothing to help ourselves.

Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Environmental Protection Online, Ian Murray, Isaiah, John Calvin, Paul

I’ve got a new article up at The Free Liberal. You can read it here.

Michael Hirsh, whose “How the South Won (This) Civil War” won the inaugural WEedy, has apologized for certain language he used in said article.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the article’s WEediness that he apologized for.

Oh well. One can dream.

Tags: Michael Hirsh, WEeds

. . .  when you insult people online.

Or rather, it’s not what usually happens. Usually you get ignored, or insulted back.

I’ve got an update to the “Stupid Radio Commercials” post. It’s under the “Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing” section.

Fascinating.

Tags: Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing

I have two questions. But first some background:

The Wife and I have been watching season 1 of Six Feet Under on DVD. Michael C. Hall, a fav of ours from Dexter, is one of the stars. Frances Conroy won a Golden Globe and a SAG award for her excellent work.

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That got me thinking. Ms. Conroy clearly decided to become an actress rather than an undertaker’s wife. And yet, as an actress, she chose to play an undertaker’s wife, did it excellently, and won awards for it.

It was a life worth acting, for her, but not worth living.

(Not that she had the opportunity to marry an undertaker and chose the stage instead, of course. But bear with me.)

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Tags: Acting, Charlize Theron, Dexter, Frances Conroy, Michael C. Hall, Monster, Nicole Kidman, Six Feet Under, The Hours, Virginia Woolf

Thanks to the interwebs acumen of The Wife, I now have a new home for the WEeding Awards! Click here.

UPDATE:

And the WEeding Awards have a new banner thing too! It looks sweet, if I do say so myself.