Voting Station

Hermann Rorschach

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Doctor

The Resume

    (November 8, 1884-April 2, 1922)
    Graduate of medicine in Zurich (1909)
    Experimented with inkblot testing (1911)
    Created the Rorschach Inkblot Test used to diagnose psychiatric patients (1921)
    Author of 'Psychodiagnostics: A Diagnostic Test Based on Perception' (1921)

Why he might be annoying:

    While working in an asylum, he bought a monkey to study patient's reaction to it and to entertain them.
    He wrote in a paper that some patients' love of watches was linked to a subconscious yearning for a mother's breasts, with the ticking representing heart beats.
    He started his test with 40 inkblots, then pared it down to 15 (the ones he liked/used most often).
    His technique was as much an interpretation of a patient's demeanor taking the test as the test itself.
    Since he never provided a comprehensive scoring system, his technique has been subject to controversy and criticism.
    The inkblot test is rarely used in modern psychiatry.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His childhood nickname was Klex, meaning 'inkblot.'
    Coincidence? Probably not. Klecksography was a game played by Swiss kids where an ink blot on paper was folded to form shapes of birds and butterflies.
    His father was a failed artist who died when Rorschach was 18.
    He grew up in poverty.
    He admired Sigmund Freud and based his techniques on the teachings of Carl Jung.
    He taught in Russia for a period of time, met a Russian woman and married her (1910).
    When he moved back to Switzerland his wife was detained from leaving Russia for a year by a declaration of war (1914-15).
    He wanted to publish his book with his favorite 15 inkblots, but publishers insisted he pared it down to 10.
    When the book was published, the quality of the pictures suffered. The colors were altered and the density had been poorly duplicated.
    Because of this, the entire edition went unsold and the publisher went bankrupt.
    Just months after its release, he suffered severe abdominal pains, was operated on, developed peritonitis and died prematurely at age 37.
    His work was the basis for the formation of the Rorschach Institute in New York (1938) and the International Rorschach Society in Bern, Switzerland (1952).
    Credit: Scar Tactics
    Joke: Guy goes to a shrink and says, 'Doc, I think I'm obsessed about sex.' The shrink says he'll use the inkblot test, shows him the first picture and asks him what he sees. The guy says, 'A man and woman in the missionary position.' The second picture is shown and he says, 'That's a man and woman doing it doggie style.' The third picture has him stating, 'That's a man and woman doing the 69.' The shrink says, 'You're definitely obsessed with sex,' and the guy says, 'ME? YOU'RE the one with the dirty pictures!'

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 70.59% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 30.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 15 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 25 Votes: 56.00% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 29 Votes: 44.83% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 38 Votes: 44.74% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 72 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 110 Votes: 60.91% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 349 Votes: 46.99% Annoying