Psychological effect noted by psychologist Bertram R. Forer in 1948, under which any fairly large and diverse group of people may come to believe that a tenuously balanced personality reading (especially one which, for the purpose of the test, is copied and handed out for them to ponder individually) applies strongly to each of them as individuals. Later studies have shown that the effect tends to be strongest when the recipient is given to understand that the reading has supposedly been tailored to them as an individual, that the person making the propositions is an authority they feel they can trust, and/or that most or all of the personality traits listed are positive ones, in other words flattering. The Forer effect may be of import in understanding the popularity of such pseudosciences as fortune telling or astrology.
Personality reading used to illuminate the Forer effect (thanks to Wikipedia):
You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.
Now ... how does this apply to YOU?
You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.
Now ... how does this apply to YOU?
by Fearman March 11, 2008
Very self-righteous vegetarian. Incisor-bearing organism in serious denial. Thinks all meat-eaters are scum and constantly refers to various forms of repast as "dead pig", "dead cow", "dead shrimp", and so on. Typically (and fittingly) weedy as hell. Likely to tell you that "you are what you eat" ... so, where do they store their chlorophyll?
A: It's not all a kooky cult, you know, many famous people down through history have been vegetarians ...,
B: Name one.
A: Ummmm ...,
A: How about Adolf Hitler? He was a veget-type Aryan, wasn't he?
B: Name one.
A: Ummmm ...,
A: How about Adolf Hitler? He was a veget-type Aryan, wasn't he?
by Fearman August 03, 2007
Expression used in resentment as a reason for doing something deemed unethical when one knows one is going to be accused of doing that thing anyway, particularly when there is much to be gained by doing it.
They are going to accuse me of doing nothing and/or of working and drawing the dole at the same time, so I might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb.
by Fearman November 29, 2007
Someone bought more burgers and fries than they could eat at a drive-thru McDonald's in the boondocks. Thirty miles down the road they tossed the leftovers out the window. The leftovers fermented in the sun and five days later a great big dog wandered by, thought the mess smelled appetising and ate it. The meal played havoc with the dog's nervous system and it went quite wild. The next time a car came by the dog took a flying leap through the windscreen at a relative speed of almost a hundred miles an hour, killing itself and likely the driver and sending the car out of control. The car flipped over four times and lay on the road, subsequently catching fire and burning out. A milk lorry came over the top of the hill and crashed into the mess, and was followed by five or six more vehicles before the authorities got the faintest notion what was going on and partitioned the area off. Shortly afterwards a Boeing 747 carrying, among other things, a few large containers of yellow paint suffered a blowout and had to descend. The paint squirted out of the plane and splashed down on top of the pile-up. A hitch-hiker came by with a camera and thought the whole thing looked intriguing. He took some pictures and downloaded them onto his computer later on. The pictures were Photoshopped to look a little spooky and later printed in this new form on T-shirts. The photographer's girlfriend wore one of these to an art gallery and he photographed her pulling faces and balling her fists while wearing the T-shirt. Later on, these photographs were projected onto a screen in a display room in another gallery and a painter executed a painting of people in the room watching the slide show. Shortly afterwards everyone involved in the production of all this art - the hitchhiker photographer, the girlfriend, the painter, and all - had the good sense to overdose on cocaine at a party and die shortly thereafter, thereby sensibly removing themselves from the means of production and terminating their financial interest in the process. The painting was sold for £300,000 at Sotheby's and artie journalists claimed it was emblematic of the ultimately existentiallistically meaningless search for meaning within the postmodernist aesthetic.
by Fearman March 05, 2008
Game played using wooden blocks three times as long as they are wide. The blocks are stacked in a square tower with three side by side in each floor, aligned at right angles to those above and below. The players take it in turns to remove one block per turn from the tower. The loser is the one who makes the tower topple.
by Fearman April 12, 2008
by Fearman April 01, 2008
1. Drop-dead gorgeous babe who turned from the ways of evil to become a warrior princess in ancient Greece (televised version), and fought off various sneaky types and CG divinities. Played by Lucy Lawless, who is almost as gorgeous. Fought with a ring-shaped discus weapon and her own considerable wits. Had a girlfriend, Gabrielle, played by Renee O'Connor. You became Xena's lover with the skill of a champion and the luck of the gods, and if you messed her about she'd slice your head off and feed it to the Minotaur.
2. 1500-mile diameter dwarf planet orbiting the Sun at 38 to 98 times Earth's distance every 557 Earth years, accompanied by at least one moon called Gabrielle in honour of the undying couple of the TV series. So named unofficially on their discovery; these objects have since been renamed Eris and Dysnomia, after a Greek goddess and her daughter demon of lawlessness, indicating that the International Astronomical Union has at best a subtle sense of humour.
2. 1500-mile diameter dwarf planet orbiting the Sun at 38 to 98 times Earth's distance every 557 Earth years, accompanied by at least one moon called Gabrielle in honour of the undying couple of the TV series. So named unofficially on their discovery; these objects have since been renamed Eris and Dysnomia, after a Greek goddess and her daughter demon of lawlessness, indicating that the International Astronomical Union has at best a subtle sense of humour.
1. If Xena comes to kill you, consider yourself honoured.
2. It's colder than a polar bear's ass on Xena.
2. It's colder than a polar bear's ass on Xena.
by Fearman May 24, 2008