{"id":44683,"date":"2025-08-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=44683"},"modified":"2025-08-14T10:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:06:13","slug":"psychobook-dharma-delight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/psychobook-dharma-delight\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychobook \/ Dharma Delight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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PSYCHOBOOK \u2013 LOOKS AT ALL KINDS OF RIDICULOUS PSYCH TESTS USED THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Psychobook: Games, Tests, Questionnaires, Histories<\/em>
by Julian Rothenstein (editor)
Princeton Architectural Press
2016, 192 pages, 8.9 x 12.1 x 0.9 inches (hardcover)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not afraid of toads. I do not like to see men in their pajamas. Someone has been trying to get into my car. I think I would like the work of a librarian. I do not always tell the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above statements are examples of what could appear on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a \u201cpsychometric test\u201d in which psychology patients must answer with only a \u201cyes,\u201d \u201cno,\u201d \u201ctrue,\u201d \u201cfalse,\u201d or \u201ccannot say.\u201d There is no place on the test to expand or explain your answers. The results of the exam help determine whether a test-taker is \u201cnormal\u201d or \u201cdeviant.\u201d This test has been helping to sort out the \u201ccrazies\u201d from the \u201cnormals\u201d since 1943, and yes, according to Psychobook<\/em>, it\u2019s still being used by some doctors today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychobook<\/em>, just released today, is a fun, fascinating, image-heavy book that looks at all kinds of ridiculous psych tests used throughout the centuries (some cancelled long ago, others still quacking along). Read about mental test kits such as: Lowenfeld Mosaic tests (make a design with colorful geometric toy pieces to see how carefree, thoughtful or anxious you are); the Szondi Test (see how your mind works by looking at portraits of men and guessing whether they\u2019re homosexual, a psychopath, a maniac, or some other such type); Pictorial Completion Test (find out if your kid has delinquent tendencies by having them fill in a drawing with objects that are missing from the scene), and dozens more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychobook<\/em> even offers lots of tests you can take right from the book. Nervously, I took the Rorschach inkblot test (staring at a blob on a page that\u2019s been folded in half so that it becomes symmetrical, and imagining what the image might be). I passed with flying colors, as my reading said I was \u201chighly capable, to put it mildly\u2026you master everything you turn your hand to\u2026\u201d I guess some of these psychotic tests really do work! \u2013 Carla Sinclair<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DHARMA DELIGHT: A VISIONARY POST POP GUIDE TO BUDDHISM AND ZEN<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Dharma Delight: A Visionary Post Pop Guide to Buddhism and Zen<\/em>
by Rodney Alan Greenblat
Tuttle Publishing
2016, 128 pages, 7.5 x 10 x 0.5 inches (softcover)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace of mind can be a hard-won trophy in the best of times. Other times, well, simply being may be the best we can do. Dharma Delight<\/em> is a visual diary of one man\u2019s journey into Buddhism. Author Greenblat takes the reader through the basic aspects of Buddhism, including its founding, its core tenets, a few of the more prominent teachers (er, Buddhas, not instructors), and a few basic zen practices all accompanied by his own bright, bold paintings and drawings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is somewhat slight, more of a primer than an in-depth examination of any one part of either Buddhism or Greenblat\u2019s relationship to it, but I found this to be the most engaging facet of the book. What I mean is, the book often lays out a single concept or story or koan on one or two pages, letting the reader focus on the idea being presented rather than stuffing loads of concepts and history into a confined space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By allowing the content so much room to breathe, each painting or set of paintings comes into clear relief. Greenblat squeezes lots of detail and tiny, almost hidden prose messages into each vibrant piece of art; his style is a distinct form of pop art, somewhere between the neon, day-glo of the 1980s and the comic book reproductions of Lichtenstein. Yet, for all the bright color and heady concepts, this book has found a permanent home on my bedside bookshelf. Its light touch and beatific illustrations help me find just enough peace of mind to get to sleep. Which is a small delight for which I am grateful. \u2013 Joel Neff<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Books That Belong On Paper<\/strong>\u00a0first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair.<\/em>\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get the issues a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Issue No. 80<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[31],"tags":[2398],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44683"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44703,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44683\/revisions\/44703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}