How to Analyze People on Sight by Elsie Lincoln Benedict (best contemporary novels txt) 📖

for the loaf of bread that was found lacking just as they were ready to sit down to dinner—only to wait hours and then have him come back with a book under his arm, no bread and no realization of how long he had been gone.

Inclined to be Unorthodox

¶ Other types tend to follow various religions—according to the individual's upbringing—but the Cerebral composes a large percentage of the unorthodox.

The Political Reformer

¶ Because all forms of personal combat are distasteful to him the pure Cerebral does not go out and fight for reform as often as the Muscular nor die for causes as often as the Osseous types.

But almost every Cerebral believes in extreme reforms of one kind or another. He is a comparatively silent but faithful member of clubs, leagues and other kinds of reform organizations. He may never star in them. He seldom cares to. But his mite is always ready when subscriptions are taken, even if he has to go without breakfast for a week to make up for it.

This type is usually sufficiently intelligent to know the world needs reforming and sufficiently conscientious to want to help to do it. He is not bound by traditions or customs as much as other types but does more of his own thinking. Without the foresight and faithfulness of the Cerebrals very few reforms could have started or have lived to finish.

The Social Nonconformist

¶ Ask any small-bodied, large-headed man if he believes in the double standard of morals, anti-suffrage, eternal punishment, saloons, or the "four hundred!" This little man with the big head may not openly challenge you or argue with you when you stand up for "things as they are," for he is a peaceable chap—but he inwardly smiles or sneers at what he considers your troglodyte ideas. He sees a day coming when babies will be named for their fathers whether the minister officiated or not; when the man who now talks about the "good old days of a wide open saloon on every corner" will himself be a hazy myth; and when society idlers will not be considered better than people who earn their livings.

The World's Pathfinder

¶ The Cerebral therefore leads the world in ideas. The world is managed by fat men, entertained by florid men, built by muscular men, opposed by bony men, but is improved in the final analysis by its thinking men.

These thinkers have a difficult time of it. They preach to deaf ears. And often they die in poverty. But at last posterity comes around to their way of thinking, abandons the old ruts and follows the trails they have blazed. Therefore many great thinkers who were unknown while alive became famous after death. More often than not, "Fame is the food of the tomb."

Indifference to Surroundings

¶ A wise man it was who said, "Let me see a man's surroundings and I will tell you what he is." The Cerebral does not really live in his house but in his head, and for that reason does not feel as great an urge to decorate, amplify or even furnish the place in which he dwells.

Step into the room of any little-bodied large-headed man and you will be struck by two facts—that he has fewer jimcracks and more journals lying around than the rest of your friends.

In the room of the Alimentive you will find cushions, sofas and "eats;" in that of the Thoracic you will find colorful, unusual things; the Muscular will have durable, solid, plain things; the Osseous will have fewer of everything but what he does have will be in order.

But the pure Cerebral's furnishings—if he is responsible for them—will be an indifferent array, with no two pieces matching. Furthermore, everything will be piled with newspapers, magazines, books and clippings.

Often Die Young

¶ "The good die young" is an old saying which may or may not be true. But there is no doubt that the extreme Cerebral type of individual often dies at an early age.

The reason is clear. An efficient but controlled assimilative system is the first requisite for long life, and the pure Cerebral does not have an efficient one. Moreover, he is prone to neglect what nutritive mechanism he does have, by irregular eating, by being too poor to afford wholesome foods, and by forgetting to eat at all.

Physical Assets

¶ By reason of his deficient physicality the Cerebral can not be said to possess any decided physical assets. But two tendencies which help decidedly to prolong life are under-eating and his refusal to dissipate.

It has been said many times by the best known experts that "more deaths are caused annually in America by over-eating than by any other two causes." Under-eating is a very necessary precaution but the Cerebral carries it too far.

The Cerebral, lacking a large alimentary system, is not tempted to overload his stomach or overtax his vital organs. And because he is a highly evolved type, possessing little of the instincts which are at the bottom of most dissipation, he is not addicted to late hours, wine, women or excitement.

Diseases He is Most Susceptible To

¶ Nervous diseases of all kinds most frequently afflict this type. His nervous system is supersensitive. It breaks down more easily and more completely than that of the more elemental types, just as a high-powered car is more easily wrecked than a truck.

Music He Likes

¶ "Highbrow" music is kept alive mostly by highbrows. While the other types cultivate a taste for grand opera or simulate it because it is supposedly proper, the Cerebral really enjoys it. In the top gallery at any good concert you will find many Cerebrals.

Entertainment He Prefers

¶ The serious drama and educational lectures are other favorite entertainments of the Cerebral. He cares little for vaudeville, girl-shows, or clap-trap farces.

The kind of program that keeps the fat man's smile spread from ear to ear takes the Cerebral to the box office for his money.

A Steady Patron at the Movies

¶ The Cerebral goes to the movies more than any other type save the fat man, but not for the same reasons. The large-brained, small-bodied man cares nothing for most of the recreations with which the other types amuse themselves, so the theater is almost his only diversion. It is oftentimes the only kind of entertainment within the reach of his purse; and it deals with many different subjects, in almost all of which the pure Cerebral has some interest.

Don't Laugh at Same Things

¶ But if you will notice next time you go to a movie it will be clear to you that the fat people and the large-headed people do not laugh at the same things. The pie-throwing and Cutey Coquette that convulse the two-hundred-pounder fail to so much as turn up the corners of the other man's mouth.

And the subtle things that amuse the Cerebral go over the heads of the pure Alimentives.

Cares for No Sports

¶ But the fat man and the large-brained man have one trait in common. Neither of them cares for strenuous sports. The fat man dislikes them because he is too "heavy on his feet." The Cerebral dislikes them because he is too heavy at the opposite extremity. He expends what little energy he has in mental activities so has none left for violent physical exertion.

Likes Mental Games

¶ This type enjoys quiet games requiring thought. Chess and checkers are favorites with them.

The Impersonal

¶ The Cerebral is the most impersonal of all types. While the Alimentive tends to measure everything from the standpoint of what it can do for him personally, the Cerebral tends to think more impersonally and to be interested in many things outside of his own affairs.

Lacks Pugnacity

¶ Primitive things of every kind are distasteful to the Cerebral. The instincts of digestion, sex, hunting and pugnacity are but little developed in him. He is therefore a man who likes harmony, avoids coming to blows, and goes out of his way to keep the peace. Such a man does not go hunting and seldom owns a gun. He dislikes to kill or harm any creature.

The Cleverest Crook

¶ The Cerebral is usually a naturally moral person. But when lacking in conscience, either through bad training or other causes, he occasionally turns to crime for his income. This is because his physical frailty makes it difficult for him to do heavy work, while his mentality enables him to think out ways and means of getting a living without it.

Though the clumsy criminal may belong to any type, the cleverest crooks—those who defy detection for years—always have a large element of the Cerebral in their makeup.

Big Brains in Little Jobs

¶ There are two kinds of work in the world—head work and hand work; mental and manual. If you can star in either, life guarantees you a good living. But if you are good at neither you are doomed to dependence. The Cerebral's physical frailty unfits him for the manual and unless he is school-or self-educated he becomes the sorriest of all human misfits. He falls between the two and leads a precarious existence working in the lighter indoor positions requiring the least mentality. If you will keep your eyes open you will many times note that the little waiter in the high class restaurant or hotel has a head very large for his body. Such men are much better read, have a far greater appreciation of art and literature and more natural refinement than the porky patrons they serve.

Social Assets

¶ A fine sense of the rights of others and natural modesty and refinement are the chief social assets of this type.

Social Liabilities

¶ Lack of self-expression, too great reserve and too much abstractness in conversation are the things that handicap the Cerebral. His small stature and timid air also add to his appearance of insignificance and cause him to be overlooked at social affairs.

Emotional Assets

¶ Sympathy, gentleness and self-sacrifice are other assets of this type.

Emotional Liabilities

¶ A tendency to nervous excitement and to a lack of balance are the chief emotional handicaps of this type.

Business Assets

¶ This type has no traits which can properly be called business assets. He dislikes business, is repelled by its standards and has no place in any of its purely commercial branches.

Business Liabilities

¶ His inability to "keep his feet on the ground," and his tendency to "live in the clouds" and to be generally impractical unfit this type for business life.

Domestic Strength

¶ Tenderness, consideration and idealism are the chief domestic assets of the Cerebral type.

Domestic Weakness

¶ Inability to provide for his family, incapacity for making the money necessary to meet their needs, and his tendency to spend the little he does have on impossible schemes, are what wreck the domestic life of many splendid Cerebral men. Her inability to make one dollar do the work of two is a serious handicap to the Cerebral wife or mother.

Should Aim At

¶ This man should aim at building up his body and practicalizing his mental processes.

Should Avoid

¶ The Cerebral should avoid shallow, ignorant people, speculation and those situations that carry him farther away from the real world.

His Strong Points

¶ His thinking capacity, progressiveness, unselfishness, and highly civilized instincts are the strongest points of this type.

His Weakest Points

¶ Impracticality, dreaminess, physical frailty and his tendency to plan without doing, are the traits which stand in the way of his success.

How to Deal with this Type Socially

¶ Don't expect him to be a social lion. Don't expect him to mingle with many. Invite him when there are to be a few congenial souls, and if he wanders into the library