Investigating the connection
I had my personality assessed recently. It was for work. They wanted to understand me better to find ways to enhance my performance, and hence their Return On Investment for paying my wage. I was assessed by a professional with lots of qualifications on his wall and an impressive number of acronyms after his name. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be accurate. But it was. I was impressed. I was also a little annoyed at how well I could be ‘pigeon holed.’ I’d always felt unique.
But that’s not the interesting part of the story.
In the same week, by complete coincidence reading hand lines, my girlfriend convinced me to have my personality assessed by a total quack! Or at least I thought she was a quack… until she gave me nearly an identical assessment to the guy with all the qualifications and acronyms after his name!
Were both or neither quacks? Or was it coincidence?
It got me thinking. How can an incense burning, robe wearing lady sitting on a pillow in a stall tell me as much about my personality as a guy in a suit that smelt of mothballs, glasses halfway down his nose, and a plethora of qualifications?
As I don’t believe in either conspiracy or coincidence I decided to investigate it further.
Assessment 1 was performed by a Psychologist. The Assessment was a Myers Briggs Personality Type Assessment. Assessment 2 was performed by a Palm Reader. The assessment was called, well, a palm read!
Assessment 1
The Myers Briggs Personality Type is one of the most widely accepted professional models for personality typing and preferences. The Myers Briggs Personality Type (MBPT) is based on 4 dimensions, which can produce 16 distinct and different personality types.
The MBPT is routinely used in business to help managers recruit and motivate employees more effectively, as well as to develop more productive teams and methods of communication. Therapists and Counsellors commonly utilise the MBPT to help analyse challenges with individuals; assist people gain greater personal insight; and help families and individuals communicate better.
Assessment 2
Palm Readers claim that Palm lines are shaped in the womb throughout the primary months of fetal development. For this reason, it is reasonable to assume (although practically impossible to make a scientific claim) that there is a predominant biological effect in the initial formation of such lines. “The hand lines are a genetic blueprint of the brain’s electrical signaling processes through nerves and other structures of the human body. Every thought, emotion, feeling, and action generates electrochemical transmissions within the brain – and hand nerves are sensitive and receptive to it. The intensity and incidence of energy transmission define the size, thickness and quality (visibility) of palm lines. The level of energy and intensity of people are closely related to this pre-defined structure of their lines. Analyzing the energy-flow ‘maps’ provided by the palm lines is the most prominent form, and axis, of professional palmistry” (Nicholai Llewellyn – Palm Mastery eCourse).
So, to quickly review:
- The MBPT defines personality commonalities based on outwardly identifiable personality traits. These traits are self-assessed by the individual completing the MBPT Assessment Instrument (a long questionnaire).
- Palm Readers claim they can identify common personality traits through the assessment of hand characteristics. Commonalities in hand characteristics relate directly to commonalities in personality traits (amongst other things). These patterns, and hence the traits they underpin, are produced genetically and electrochemically by the body, and specifically the brain – the core instrument defining our personality traits.
Is it Inside Out, or Outside In?
The MBPT is a self-analytic (predominantly) system. Individuals complete the MBPT Assessment Instrument, which comprises numerous hypothetical situations. The individual has to ‘best match’ their response on the manner they presume they would respond. The result of the assessment defines their MBPT, one of 16 predefined Types. Of course there is substantial flexibility within the system to make allowance for extremes and difference. No one likes to be pigeon holed after all!
In the world of the ‘less scientific,’ this flexibility is often referred to cynically as cold reading. (Note: A more precise definition of cold reading may take into account less factual evidence and a greater reliance on general commonalities and perceptions of individuals. However, in regard to palm reading, cold reading is often referenced by cynics as the primary means for assessment).
Palm Reading relies on someone else reading your hand characteristics to determine your traits. This immediately implies a more impartial assessment. Palmists vehemently argue that their readings of hand characteristics consistently and predictably identify common traits in people.