There was an old DOS program called Mind Reader that gave you a list of pairs of adjectives about you; you picked which one was more accurate. You had to fill out several pages of this, then it gave you pages of psychoanalysis about your school life, your sex life, your interpersonal relationships, your working life, etc. It was really cool, and often surprisingly accurate. I used to be able to find this program on abandonware sites, but I can’t find it ANYWHERE. If anyone knows how or where to get it, please let me know. I will pay money for it if anyone’s got it. (It helps to have it on a format other than 8-inch floppy disks, although hopefully I could find a way to work around that, too.)
So, does anyone know where to get it? Or even just want to share some memories of it?
I have a legitimate copy of an old DOS program called Dr. Shrink - sounds similar. With this one you rate a person against big list of adjectives on a sliding scale.
I thought it was interesting in that when you rated a person, the report it generated would reveal that person as you saw them, and if that person then rated themselves it might produce a completely different report, nonetheless utterly accurate in how that person saw themselves.
I found it also included a “top secret sexual fantasies” report which couldn’t be disabled so the program was not suitable to mess around with on your coworkers at lunchtime in any sort of professional work environment.
Mind Mirror is most definitely not-it and a half. It’s kind of interesting, but honestly it kind of feels like Dr. Leary playing a big joke on me. I imagine I might enjoy it if I were Terrence McKenna. Anyway, that’s a topic for Cafe Society.
I don’t think Dr. Shrink is it, but it’s incredibly, unbelievably close if it isn’t. The only reason I think it isn’t it is because I remember the GUI being different; it was white-on-blue, using the whole screen instead of sectioning it off with red borders, the text was bigger and you saw more adjectives at once, and I remember each section of the report being longer, and a section on work/career life was also included. It also seemed less tongue-in-cheek and a little more self-important. But this is really close, because the premise is exactly the same and the results are strikingly similar.
I feel pretty lame for making three posts in a row here, but my research into this matter led me to this Java (I think) port of an old DOS game called Alter Ego, where you could simulate a life entirely. Like The Sims except a lot more realistic, older, and more based on psychological study. Totally badass.
That’s the one. AmbushBug sent me a link to the resume of the guy who wrote it. I haven’t had a chance to read it and see if I could contact him or anything, though…
I don’t know if the original author still retains the rights, or if he’s released it to public domain, but there are a lot of places with copies available for download. The legality would depend on the copyright status, obviously.
Update: I did find Mind Prober, and it’s exactly as thoroughly awesome as I expected. I’m considering starting a “share your Mind Prober profile” thread.
