Have you ever been cubed?

Currently I am a waitress in an old-style Irish pub. Working at the Toucan has given me the chance to interact with a number of characters too strange and wonderful to be fictional. In the past six months I have met a gold mine owner, a few ex-cons, wiccans, musicians, artists, professors, sex therapists, etc. Although all of these people had me entranced I recently had a very interesting conversation with some 'normal' students. What made the conversation so special? I was cubed.

If you have never been cubed this will be a fun game for you play. This is an imagination/visualization game that consists of a series of questions that will 'supposedly' reveal your true nature and your quintessential subconscious thoughts through interpreting symbolism in the game. This theory became mainstream when Annie Gottlieb wrote the book, The Cube: Keep the Secret

Are you ready? (Note: It is important after each question to ask where things are in relation and in proportion to one another).

Getting Started

Imagine you are in a desert and in the desert there is a cube. Notice what size it is, what colour is it? Is it solid or hollow? What is it made of? Where is it in relation to you? Is it on the ground or in the air?

Now imagine a ladder. Visualize the ladder, how tall is it? How many rungs does it have? Is it standing up supporting anything? What colour is it? What is it made of? Where is it in relation to the cube?

Now you notice a horse. What kind of horse is it? What colour is it? How big or small is it? Where is the horse in relation to you, the ladder and the cube?

There is also storm in your desert. Picture the storm, what kind of storm is it? How close is it? Is it dangerous? is it big? How does it affect you, the cube, the ladder and the horse?

Last there are flowers. What species of flower are they? Are there a lot of them? What do they look like? What colour are they? Where are they in relation to everything else?

You may hold this image in your mind as long as you like. Feel free to change your answers until you learn to interpret the cube.

Unveiling the Basic Symbolism of the Cube

The cube symbolizes how you see yourself. The ladder is a symbol of how you see your friends. The horse is a symbol representing how you see your significant other even if you don't have one. The storm represents what you perceive to be the trouble or conflict currently in your life. Finally, the flowers symbolize your children. They can be real or conceptual. The best part of the cube is that it offers limitless interpretation and endless conversation.

You are Not Less Complicated than a Rubics Cube

As fun and introspective the cube can be it is important to remember that it is not definitive of your character. When I cubed my parents my dad said his horse was a corpse since it was living in the desert. He also threw his ladder in a valley and his storm was epic. My dad adores my mom, loves his friends and has a great life. Thus, I don't consider his interpretation of the cube is indicative of his subconscious.

You also have to be careful of men who ask you if you have ever been cubed. There are websites dedicated to how pick-up artists should use the cube. One website promotes the usage of the cube as a topic of conversation to avoid boredom, 'hook women,' demonstrate their value and personality, build a connection with women, 'qualify women and make them feel desirable', learn about women, and leave women 'wanting more.'

This is a pickup method for a reason. People love quirky theories like this and they like to learn about them so they can personally say whether or not it is a hoax. With that said it's a great way to connect with strangers if used with good intentions. Try the cube!

More on the Cube as a Pickup Method

http://www.bristollair.com/2008/outer-game/pua-routines/deeper-rapport/the-cube/

Five Factor Model (FFM)

I learned about the five factor model in second year psychology. I thought it was really fun to test it on myself and my friends. Basically the five factor model is a model believed to be applicable to everyone. It contains five dimensions that are held to be a complete description of personality. In 1936 Gordan Allport and H.S. Odbert went through two of the most comprehensive dictionaries and extracted 27,953 personality-describing words, it was then reduced to 4,504 adjectives. In the 1940's Raymond Cattell eliminated synonyms, the list then sat at 171. He reduced it further to 35 and later 16, which led to the development of the 16PF personality questionnaire. In 1961 two air force researches used Cattell's data and found five reoccuiring factors. The five dimensions are O.C.E.A.N. or, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Exrtaversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Openness to experience- curiousity, adventure, ideas, experience
Conscientiousness- self-descipline, act dutifully, planned behaviour, achievment-aimer.
Extraversion- energetic, positive, surgency, stimuli seeker.
Agreeableness- compassionate, coopertative, not suspicious and antagonistic.
Neuroticism- experiences unpleasant emotions easily, anger, anxiety, depression, vulnerability.

These five factors are influenced by both heredity and environment. The test results are not necessaily constant but longitudinal and cross-sectional studies show data with a high degree in stability over time, a.k.a. test results usually don't significantly change over time. It is believed that if you score too low or too high on a certain category it could be a sign of a mental disorder.

Now out of 100 points each category could be divided equally into 20 points. So you have 100 points to designate to how you believe you are suited to each trait. 20 on one trait is average, 0 is low, and 40 is high.

To take the 16pf questionaire,
http://similarminds.com/cgi-bin/16sm.pl

My 16pf results,

Cattell's 16 Factor Test Results Warmth ||||||||||||||||||||| 66% Intellect ||||||||||||||||||||| 66% Emotional Stability |||||||||||| 38% Aggressiveness |||||||||||||||||| 54% Liveliness |||||||||||||||||| 54% Dutifulness ||||||||||||||| 42% Social Assertiveness |||||||||||||||||| 58% Sensitivity ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% Paranoia ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% Abstractness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% Introversion ||||||||||||||||||||| 70% Anxiety ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% Openmindedness ||||||||||||||||||||| 70% Independence |||||||||||||||||| 58% Perfectionism ||||||||||||||| 50% Tension ||||||||||||||| 42% Take Cattell 16 Factor Test (similar to 16pf) personality tests by similarminds.com