# 8 Colors: Using the visible color spectrum as the basis for a new personality theory



## psychologic

First off, my intention is to make this theory a collaborative effort. It's incomplete and in need of revision. Any criticism offered, no matter how savage, is encouraged as it will help me improve it. 

I'm starting off my post with what I have of the 8 Color Theory so far, followed by commentary and reasoning on how I got to certain conclusions. I would really appreciate your thoughts and contributions, such as ideas for a theory name that's actually cool, thoughts on the colors selected, suggestions on names for the principles that represent the colors, etc.

[HR][/HR]





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The 8 Color Theory is a psycho-philosophical classification system which groups the major aspects of life and the universe in a way that people from all walks of life can easily grasp: by attributing them to colors we all recognize. It is a tool designed to shed light on your strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies so you may understand yourself as well as the people/world around you. 

Unlike the Myers-Briggs or the Enneagram, which categorizes and divides people and says you cannot change who you are, the purpose of the 8 Color Theory is to help people develop and improve themselves in order to achieve *balance* between all of the colors, not so people can identify with only one or two "types". With this system you are encouraged to change, learn, practice, and face the unconscious aspects of yourself that you may fear. It is all about achieving ultimate self-awareness so you may be able to find your unique purpose in life. 

Think of it like this: you are a beam of light, and the 8 Color Theory is the triangular prism which will illuminate the rainbow within you. Sweet, right? 

The 8 Color Theory comprises of 8 colors paired into 4 dichotomies, each of which represent a key principle or archetype: red-cyan , green-magenta , blue-yellow , and white-black . 

The selection of colors here is the result of combining a few things: 


the science/psychology of the visible color spectrum and how humans perceive these colors,
what we know of additive (RGB) and subtractive (CMYK) color models,
representation/meaning of the physical colors in nature, 
cultural symbolism of the colors which is consistent across many cultures, 
and probably more.
In short, these colors are the primary ingredients needed to make all the colors of the visible spectrum. This is how I figured I could approach this subjective concept as objectively as possible. There's more info on this further down my post. Here's an image of how the CMY and RGB color interactions work:






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[HR][/HR]
Here are descriptions for each of the 8 color archetypes and the dichotomies in which they belong:

*white* = order, good, control, obedience
*black *= chaos, evil, freedom, rebellion

Think of black/white as the overarching color dichotomy as it comprises of all (or none) of the colors: mixing RGB light on a black surface creates white, and mixing CMY pigment on a white surface creates black. This one is the simplest and most recognizable color dichotomies and can have many meanings. It is found in the symbol of Yin and Yang, and is easily described as the difference between dark and light. Black can often mean mystery, seduction, power, and magic, while white often means purity, goodness, happiness, and innocence. Black absorbs light while white reflects it. 

Here, it is most accurately summarized as the conflict between *order and chaos*, or safety and risk, which lives in all of us. We all naturally follow and uphold certain rules, while some of us are more comfortable breaking some of them. Some of us align ourselves with the morality of the collective majority which is mostly oriented toward safety, rationality, goodness, structure, and obeying the law. Others disobey the morality of the collective majority by challenging the established order, causing disorder or dissonance in society, and pushing the envelope of what is socially acceptable, and acting in a way that is generally disagreeable to the majority. In a sense, it is the difference between protection and vulnerability. It is roughly correlated to the concepts of Judging and Perceiving.

Rely too much on white and you may become self-righteous, risk-averse, and judgmental. Rely too much on black and you could become overly rebellious, immoral, and even dangerous to yourself or others.

[HR][/HR]
*red* = passion, dominance, determination, conquest, war
*cyan*= harmony, submission, cooperation, sacrifice, peace

Red represents energy, confidence, intimidation, desire, and impulsivity. It is hot and invigorating, the color of blood and fire. It is about going for what you want against all odds, persevering and ultimately winning. Cyan is a cool-toned and soothing color, similar to the color of ice and the sky. It represents community, sharing, oneness among humans, and getting along. It is not about losing per say, but instead surrendering the need to fight in favor of promoting peace.

Here, it is summarized as the conflict between *passion and peacefulness* within ourselves. While many humans strive to get along and blend in with others, helping when they can and allowing others to take the lead or make decisions, others are natural-born leaders, willing to stand out from the crowd and disrupt the peace in order to achieve one's own goals. It is roughly correlated with the concepts of Thinking and Feeling, but the colors take on new meaning here. 

Relying too much on red can lead to being domineering, overly selfish, brash, and hard to get along with. Relying too much on cyan can lead to becoming overly sacrificial, overprotective, unassertive, and a pushover.

[HR][/HR]
*green* = practicality, reality, literal, actual, usual
*magenta *= creativity, fantasy, abstract, ideal, unusual

The dichotomy between green and magenta is unique. Unlike the other colors, magenta does not have its own electromagnetic wavelength, outlined in more detail in the second half of this post. Because of this, it is the color which represents idea generation, creativity, ideals, and visionary thinking. It is titillating, bright, eccentric, the spectrum of the unknown. It is not often found in nature, appearing in many flowers and in some animals, but could be represented symbolically as the dreams we experience while we sleep.

Green has a much clearer representation in the world; generally we are surrounded by it, found in tall sturdy trees, grass, bushes, and vast forests. Green represents strength, still and unwavering to the point of being stubborn. It is about following the tried and true, structuring life, providing support for others, conforming, and upholding traditions. Green symbolizes being dependable and grounded, managing stress calmly and maintaining a realistic outlook about life. 

Green and magenta represent the conflict between *reality and imagination* in all of us. In life we often conjure up ideas, e.g. for art pieces, businesses, projects, dates, inventions, etc. but we counter them with the practicalities: how much will this cost? How much time will it take? How successful will my idea be? Often we blow off our ideas as impractical and dash them. However, others may naturally rely on their tendency for innovative thinking and pursue many of their ideas. This dichotomy is correlated with the concepts of Sensing and Intuition.

Too much green can lead to stubbornness, boredom, stagnancy, monotony, and reluctance toward change. Too much magenta can lead to flightiness, airheadedness, disorganization, unreliability, and inaction. 

[HR][/HR]
*blue* = truth, knowledge, seriousness, depth
*yellow *= hope, joy, fun, light-heartedness, simplicity

Yellow is about positivity, fun, and entertainment. It represents looking on the bright side of life, sharing laughs and good feelings with all people whether they be strangers or familiar faces. It is most often attributed to the sun, radiating infectious warmth and inspiring others. Blue is not necessarily pessimistic, but has a tendency toward such. Blue symbolizes the wealth of knowledge, information, and truth which lays past the surface of any given thing. Blue is characterized by introspection, analysis, and questioning in search of pure objectivity. This can mean sacrificing hedonism and quality social interaction with peers, but to blue, the trade-off -- such as a lucrative career or doing cutting-edge research -- can be worth it. 

This dichotomy can be described as the conflict between *hope and truth* within ourselves. Think of the concept of faith: we may believe, or hope, that things will turn out a certain way in order to get a certain outcome. Let's say you want to get to know a certain person but they're a stranger. The yellow part of you says "things will turn out great" and has hope that you'll succeed if you pursue them, while the blue part of you says "how could this go wrong?" and assesses all information regarding the situation. This dichotomy is roughly associated with the concepts of Extroversion and Introversion.

Too much yellow can lead to conflict-avoidance, hedonism, escapism, anxiety, and avoidance of pain. Too much blue can lead to brooding, apathy, existential depression, overthinking, and self-blame.

[HR][/HR]
This sums up the 8 Fundamental Colors. No color is better than the other, even if we might have individual favorites (blue is the most popular color worldwide and purple is mostly only a favorite color among women). Likewise, the meanings of the colors all have the same value, as they are all present within us and are important to develop within ourselves.

I want to emphasize that the colors most definitely have subjective meanings for people. This can depend on personal experience, what it represents to your family, your culture, your country, etc. However, I'm on the search for the meanings which are most consistent across cultures, and this is the best I could do so far. Feel free to let me know how the colors or meanings should be different as this is only a rough collection of my ideas.

As a result of preference for certain colors (or the concepts attached to them), people may depend on one more than the other: for example, someone may depend more on cyan (being peaceful and harmonious) to get through life. It is fine to depend on one more than the other: the idea of balance is not that you use each one 50% of the time. Instead, it's that you have a healthy handle on all of the colors. If you depend on cyan, you would benefit to know how to assert yourself and assume leadership when it needs to be done. The negative side to dependence is it can weaken its opposing color: if you neglect your need to express yourself and boldly pursue a passion of yours, even if it's just a hobby, it can become an *insecurity*, so when you're faced with an opportunity to use red, such as through public speaking or performing a hobby, you might become flustered and veer away from it when in fact it is very good for you to face your fears. 

The key of the 8 Color Theory is to awaken you to your blindspots so you may improve upon them. 

You may be reasonably healthy in all of them already and see no need to change. The average, generally healthy person probably has a standard handle on all of the colors. Some people may be strong in a few while the others are average or lacking. Some people may only be strong in one or two while the others are average or lacking. Rare people may be nearly balanced in all of them. It's up to you to assess your ability of each concept and to decide whether or not you want to change that.

Some people may object to this theory by saying it is healthy to develop only a few characteristics and allow other people to complement you, for example marry someone who is strong in your weaknesses. I've talked to both men and women who said they didn't want to tap into their "opposite gender" energy because they liked themselves the way they are. And that's great! People should like themselves the way they are. Regardless, this system is for the person who wants to effectively change some part of herself, perhaps to obtain specific life goals or to achieve her true potential. Wanting to change/improve some part of yourself doesn't mean you don't like yourself. You are changing all the time every day anyway: this tool may be a useful way for you to assess and take control of your growth. 

There is a lot more I would like to say about this theory -- I have many ideas and correlations sitting around in my head that I'd like to speak about eventually -- for example, I have a hunch that RGB are "masculine" colors while CMY are "feminine" colors. One of my considerations for future modifications to the theory is to split the 6 spectral colors into 6 extra parts, making 12 colors. The 6 new colors will be the mixes in-between each primary color: orange, lime, turquoise, ocean, violet, and rose. The picture below depicts all 12 colors together with some different names:






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The meaning of the tertiary colors would be a fusion of the two main colors they're mixed with, roughly looking something like this:

orange (dominance + hope) = compassion, enthusiasm, "the talk show host"
lime (hope + practicality) = support, encouragement
turquoise (practicality + harmony) = public administration, societal foundations (schools, hospitals)
ocean (harmony + truth) = wisdom, guidance
violet (truth + imagination) = investigation, mysticism, "world-building"
rose (imagination + dominance) = experimentation, innovation, cutting-edge

To make things even crazier, I could incorporate a dark and light version of each color into the color wheel, similar to how they are depicted in the diagram below with light shades in the middle and dark shades on the outer rim, except there would only be one or two light and dark versions of each color.






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[HR][/HR]
What do you think of the theory? I want to gauge your opinions and criticisms so I can improve upon it. I will answer any questions you have, but more than anything I'm the one looking for answers. There are still so many things I don't know -- why does red have a longer wavelength compared to violet, and what significance does this have? How do connotations of color differ among global cultures and why? Etc.

Some may bring up the criticism that this type of classification system is flawed because the compartmentalizing never ends, as there are millions of colors. Every classification system is going to be inaccurate by nature, we can all acknowledge that. Yet we enjoy compartmentalizing people lol. Why do you think MBTI and Enneagram are around, and even the Big 5? This theory here is an attempt at making something similar which has a rough basis in scientific concepts and psychology.

What's interesting is I still have so much published material to explore, some of which approach the same idea established here but from a different angle. For example, I just found this system which uses the same concept of a color wheel broken up into archetypes. However, it seems to be more random and divergent from classical color symbolism, which in my opinion makes it less effective.


[HR][/HR]

Here's a recollection of my thought process which led me to organize all of this information into a "system".

Recently I've been reading a lot about electromagnetism as well as other personality systems that have been devised. I was especially taken aback by how many people in centuries past have tried to come up with 4-part personality systems as compiled in this Wikipedia link. It includes the classical elements of nature, the 4 classical temperaments, Keirsey's 4 temperaments, MBTI, etc. grouped together based on similarity, and it blows my mind how alike some of the categorizations are. Is that because the creators have influenced each other? I don't know, but it's interesting to me because you can see this 4-group pattern occurring in reality; for example, there are 4 fundamental states of matter, 4 fundamental forces of nature, etc. 

What you may also notice is a recurring pattern of using 4 colors -- mostly red, yellow, green, and blue -- to represent the groups. And in fact, the 4 colors often have the same archetypes attached to them. There is a direct correlation to the 4 classical elements, and a few classification systems (like DiSC and Insights Discovery) have already made this connection. For a rough example:

red (fire) means passion, dominance, determination; 
yellow (air) means joy, positivity, fun, inspiration; 
green (earth) means strength, support, stability, foundation; 
blue (water) means peace, wisdom, maturity.

But, this is not representative of the true color spectrum. What about the other colors like pink, purple, white, black, and orange? What about a distinction between light and dark blue? It seems clear to me that systems with more groups than 4 (like MBTI, Enneagram, astrology, etc.) are more popular than the ones with only 4, and understandably so, because more classifications means more accuracy. 

I imagine most of you internetphiles probably know about this already, but red yellow and blue are not the true primary colors for mixing paints, and in fact they're actually magenta yellow and cyan. This makes sense because in terms of light mixing, red green and blue light (RGB) create magenta yellow and cyan (CMY) (see diagram below), and our eyes have three types of cones that are sensitive to red green and blue. RGB is used to create all the colors you see on your computer or phone screens. 






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So, this wheel suggests that there are 6 "fundamental" colors in life rather than 4, compiled into two key groups, RGB and CMY. Each color has an opposite which belongs to the other group (red-cyan, green-magenta, blue-yellow). Each group can create the colors of the other depending on if you're mixing light or pigment. 

But then I got to reading about electromagnetism and I came to realize that magenta isn't even on the visible spectrum of color and doesn't have its own wavelength. In fact, it is a color which humans conjured up psychologically as the mix between red and blue. On a typical depiction of the visible color spectrum, you will find approximately 5 distinct colors: red, yellow, green, cyan, and blue. Violet is barely detectable but would be the 6th color, and there is no magenta. Violet seems to be a weird color because it is only sometimes visible in nature -- you may see it in rainbows but when you shine light through a triangular prism, you can't often see it.

This led me to believe that there is something "special" about the color magenta, as well as the shades of purple which exist between blue/violet and red. Our recognition of the color magenta is a result of the creativity of the human mind. Knowing green and magenta are opposites on the color wheel, I made an interesting connection: green, being the symbol of earth and physical reality, stands in direct contrast to the *imaginary* color magenta, which could then symbolize creativity, the unknown, and immaterial reality. 

Green represents what is, while magenta represents what could be -- much like the difference between Sensing and Intuition in Jungian typology. 

I had already attempted to find a connection between Jung's 4 cognitive functions and the 4 elements before, which I posted about in the subreddit r/MBTI maybe half a year ago. What seemed to make the most sense was:

earth = sensing
air = intuition
water = feeling
fire = thinking

While there was no argument over earth and air, there was argument over water and fire, as fire could represent the passionate, emotional energy which one might attribute to a feeler, and water could represent the composed, logical thought process of the thinker. In my mind, fire represented the methodical determination and confidence of Thinking, and water represented the peaceful and unifying force toward harmony that seems to characterize Feeling. 

But now, I'm not so sure the connection between Feeling/Thinking and water/fire (and subsequently blue/red) can be made anymore. In fact, I think the idea of Feeling and Thinking could be completely wrong -- or perhaps revised.

From there with magenta and green, I was left with blue/yellow and red/cyan. Taking into account the symbolism of the colors in nature as well as the culturally established "temperature" of the colors, among other things, I attached principles to the colors that made the most sense. You may notice that the cool-toned colors are all tied to concepts which seem similarly toned-down, while warmer tones appear more extroverted and energetic. 

Also, notice that the range between the two colors of greatest variance in wavelength (blue having the shortest wavelength and red having the longest) has a more chaotic "amplitude" in that the blue and red are so far apart from each other on the spectrum, while the spectrum between yellow and cyan is much closer. The more leveled-sounding concepts -- harmony, practicality, hope -- are next to each other while the more dramatic ones -- truth, creativity, passion -- are also near each other. So someone who is strong in red magenta and blue may be more of a dramatic, intense character while the person strongest in cyan green and yellow is generally a grounded, consistently positive person.


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## TricoFeathers

Interesting and complex idea, I like it. But I am also a simple creature; do you have a test for it for us to determine our color? :wink:


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## psychologic

TricoFeathers said:


> Interesting and complex idea, I like it. But I am also a simple creature; do you have a test for it for us to determine our color? :wink:


Welp. I haven't gotten that far yet. I wanted to be sure the concepts behind it were stable, but I was so caught up with that that I didn't think to create a way for people to figure where they are on the scale lol. I suppose it'll be awhile before that is published since there are a few aspects I want to add to the system, but I'll let you know when I have done that.


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## Blazkovitz

How would these contrasting pairs relate to your system?

sensuality - intellect
gregariousness - solitude
frivolity - discipline (related to Conscientiousness in Big 5)
classical - romantic
saint - psychopath


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## Varyafiriel

I‘m a violet! No doubt.


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## Varyafiriel

And for me this correlation makes more sense: 
Red - Fire - Intuition 
Green - Earth - Sensing 
Yellow - Air - Thinking 
Blue - Water - Feeling


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## psychologic

RoseTylerFan said:


> How would these contrasting pairs relate to your system?
> 
> sensuality - intellect
> gregariousness - solitude
> frivolity - discipline (related to Conscientiousness in Big 5)
> classical - romantic
> saint - psychopath


Right off the bat, here's how I'd group each contrasting pair:

sensuality - intellect = *orange/azure*. I first thought yellow/blue because blue fits well, but hope isn't exactly synonymous with sensuality. Then I considered rose/turquoise. Rose is the combo between instinctual desire (red) and imagination (magenta), theoretically resulting in a drive to seek sensual gratification. But turquoise doesn't fit as well being the combo between practicality and harmony; practicality covers the rational side of intellect but reasoning is a better fit for blue. So orange/azure could be a good fit -- instinctual desire and a drive for fun is the perfect recipe for hedonism and sensual expression, while azure is a combo between truth (blue) and harmony (cyan), resulting in a drive to develop mental objectivity... but cyan is still a reach. 
So, while orange/azure fits well, I wonder if I should change the meaning of cyan. But, I also question if sensuality and intellect are necessarily polar opposites. 

gregariousness - solitude = *yellow/blue*. The difference between yellow and blue is roughly one of extroversion/introversion. It could also fit under lime/violet. 

frivolity - discipline = *magenta/green. *Frivolity fits under yellow, yet discipline fits perfectly under the green-turquoise spectrum. This has led me to question yellow's connection to lightheartedness (lack of seriousness) and wonder if that fits better under magenta. Magenta is the flightier color, busy considering possibilities rather than dedicating the consistent practice and effort needed to methodically obtain goals. So here, magenta/green fits best. 

classical - romantic = can you explain the dichotomy here? I'm not sure about this one. 

saint - psychopath = *white/black*.


Phew, that was a mental exercise!! But it gives me something to think about, especially the current meanings of cyan and yellow. What do you think?


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## psychologic

alyara said:


> I‘m a violet! No doubt.





alyara said:


> And for me this correlation makes more sense:
> Red - Fire - Intuition
> Green - Earth - Sensing
> Yellow - Air - Thinking
> Blue - Water - Feeling


Haha, no doubts for sure. Somehow violet fits your vibe perfectly ;P 

I'd love to hear your further reasoning on fire being Intuition and air being Thinking. I thought I had read that Carl Jung actually paired intuition with fire, but I can't find any reputable sources to back that up. I have also read multiple sources which pair air (and consequently yellow) with intelligence, intellect, and rational thinking. 

When I consider the placement of colors on the color wheel, I see how red could have a strong connection to intuition because when you combine red and blue, you get the imaginary color magenta. If we imagine fire = Intuition and water = Feeling (in Jungian terms), then theoretically we get "imagining the future possibilities of our values". In my system, magenta is creativity and abstraction, but isn't specifically related to values but instead the realm of ideas as a whole. 

In terms of my definitions, red being the drive for success/dominance and blue the drive for truth and knowledge, you come to a similar conclusion about magenta. Humans have a drive to be successful, but also to acquire knowledge; combine the two and you get something like this: "what knowledge must I acquire to gain success?" This combination leads to the creation of magenta, the world of ideas and possibilities. You don't know what you don't know until you learn it, so magenta is about brainstorming to create a bridge between the two drives: should I talk to this person? Go to this place? What is the answer to this question? (But you can't sit in magenta for too long because you must balance it with planning and deliberate action, aka green).


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## Blazkovitz

psychologic said:


> classical - romantic = can you explain the dichotomy here? I'm not sure about this one.


Classical corresponds to civic generational archetype, romantic to the prophetic.

Classical/civic archetype is interested in rational thinking, technology and teamwork. It values maturity. As for a political expression, look at the Enlightenment and nobler parts of Marxism. 

Romantic/prophetic archetype is interested in emotion, spirituality and individualism. It values youth. It's more readily expressed in artistic currents like the Transcendental and Countercultural movements.



> yellow = hope, joy, fun, light-heartedness, simplicity


IDK if hope fits there, it can be about very serious things as well.


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## InfiniteLightvoid

You should check out my topic on Classpect Theory I just made. Because this "Color Theory" seems like a very rudimentary form of the same system. Also, there are more colors than we can percieve, and some life forms see less. So by and large color itself is arbitrary, the idea of spectrum and shades however is indicative of something more fundamental.

Still you can see Classpect's aspects as a "spectrum" of Reality's qualities, very much akin to the color wheel. But since there are 12 of them, there are more fundamental Aspects of reality than there are colors in the color wheel, unfortunately.


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## psychologic

InfiniteLightvoid said:


> You should check out my topic on Classpect Theory I just made. Because this "Color Theory" seems like a very rudimentary form of the same system. Also, there are more colors than we can percieve, and some life forms see less. So by and large color itself is arbitrary, the idea of spectrum and shades however is indicative of something more fundamental.
> 
> Still you can see Classpect's aspects as a "spectrum" of Reality's qualities, very much akin to the color wheel. But since there are 12 of them, there are more fundamental Aspects of reality than there are colors in the color wheel, unfortunately.


Just checked it out. I will post comments specifically about Classpect Theory over in your thread.

Yes, color is infinite, but there are fundamental spectrums of color which are clearly distinguishable from the others. Red, green, and blue are the most fundamental because they correspond with the 3 types of cones humans, and many other animals, have. Add to that their opposites and you get 6 key colors. White and black are unique and correspond to lightness/darkness (rod cells), and can be a mix of either all of the colors or none of them. 

Some life forms have more or less photoreceptors than we do, but that doesn't mean there are more fundamental colors. Often, animals with more photoreceptors still have cones that correspond to RGB. For example, the bluebottle butterfly has 15 photoreceptors, but 5 of them are stimulated by red light and four by green. Some animals can also see ultraviolet and infrared, but that still doesn't mean there are more fundamental colors since UV/IR corresponds to two ends of the same spectrum.

I will also mention that my focus is to actually have 12 colors as part of the system: RGB/CMY are the fundamental ones while the extra 6 are the result of mixing equal parts of adjacent colors. The easiest example of this is orange (red + yellow), which if you think about it is actually 3/4 red 1/4 green. Add to that the fundamental colors black and white, and you get 14 colors. Perhaps there is room for overlap between these 14 colors and your 14 classes?


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## psychologic

RoseTylerFan said:


> Classical corresponds to civic generational archetype, romantic to the prophetic.
> 
> Classical/civic archetype is interested in rational thinking, technology and teamwork. It values maturity. As for a political expression, look at the Enlightenment and nobler parts of Marxism.
> 
> Romantic/prophetic archetype is interested in emotion, spirituality and individualism. It values youth. It's more readily expressed in artistic currents like the Transcendental and Countercultural movements.
> 
> IDK if hope fits there, it can be about very serious things as well.


I'm curious if these two types of civic archetypes are necessarily opposite of one another. The romantic archetype aligns well with the magenta-violet spectrum, even some red. The classical archetype aligns with the blue-cyan spectrum with some turquoise with mentions of rational thinking (blue) and teamwork (cyan), while the cooler tones in general denote calm, aka maturity. But again, I'm debating what the principle tied to cyan should be, but overall, this seems to fit well for now. 

Yes that makes sense for yellow. Besides as a symbol for caution (on road signs, life jackets, bees, etc.), what else would you say yellow symbolizes in relation to seriousness?


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## InfiniteLightvoid

@psychologic 

I just don't buy the idea of associating people with colors. Color psychology is very real, I think colors have psychological influence on us in very specific ways. You could say the color itself, like Red, causes so and so expression of so and so quality.

But people don't typically associate that strongly with a single color even if they have a "favorite", and determining someone's personality based on their favorite color or the color they surround themselves with most. Just sounds very elementary to me.

I can really get behind color psychology, I have a wardobe that covers almost the whole spectrum because I choose what I wear based on how I want my psychology to be influenced and it seems to hold true to the typical things that are said in regards to that color.


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## psychologic

InfiniteLightvoid said:


> @psychologic
> 
> I just don't buy the idea of associating people with colors. Color psychology is very real, I think colors have psychological influence on us in very specific ways. You could say the color itself, like Red, causes so and so expression of so and so quality.
> 
> But people don't typically associate that strongly with a single color even if they have a "favorite", and determining someone's personality based on their favorite color or the color they surround themselves with most. Just sounds very elementary to me.
> 
> I can really get behind color psychology, I have a wardobe that covers almost the whole spectrum because I choose what I wear based on how I want my psychology to be influenced and it seems to hold true to the typical things that are said in regards to that color.


I don't believe I ever alluded to the idea that one's favorite color, or the color they surround themselves with most, determines their personality, but correct me if I'm wrong because you need to kick my ass if I actually said that. Maybe there's a correlation between what color(s) you're attracted to and personality, but for now there has been no proven connection made and it's questionable whether a connection _can_ be made. 

As you mentioned, there are common, consistent concepts tied to specific colors. Red has been scientifically proven to make a person appear more sexually attractive and/or more intimidating. My train of thought is that there must be more associations like this with other colors that humans make that just haven't been studied extensively. This doesn't mean there isn't variation among individuals though. However, pure colors always have the same single wavelength all the time. If red can provoke a consistent response, perhaps the other colors can as well.

Also, the theory isn't really about identifying with one color (though people can certainly do that) but instead understanding every color's principle and seeing them as aspects of yourself. The colors and their principles are designed to be a reflection of how society predominantly views the colors, while the overarching point is that you are all the colors to some degree. So being "strong" in a certain color doesn't necessarily mean you will express that color preference externally. 

To bring up a portion of Classpect Theory -- upon reading through some of the aspects, red could be said to correlate to Blood and Rage, with Rage having aspects of black in it. That's just a shallow association though of course. And it isn't to say that everything can be so easily simplified. But it's possible that you could make connections between the colors and some of the categories you created.


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## ricericebaby

It won't work. According to the internet, someone already patented rainbows for the ENFPs.


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## psychologic

ricericebaby said:


> It won't work. According to the internet, someone already patented rainbows for the ENFPs.


Damn. I can't argue with that because it's true. They are rainbows. 

My theory = the path to becoming an ENFP


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## The Veteran

I don't think I go with this.


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## psychologic

RumellINTJType1and5 said:


> I don't think I go with this.


Care to elaborate?


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## The Veteran

psycho said:


> Care to elaborate?


It just doesn't make any sense. And it is quite confusing. I don't see how it has relation to the MBTI dichotomies which I can see that is what is doing. I see limited correlation, especially with red/cyan and blue/yellow. I do not think it is as structural as the MBTI or The Enneagram is. There are a lot of inaccuracies, flaws and plot holes in this test.


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## Sour Roses

I'm ultraviolet 


In this section, you have a lack of congruity;



> *Blue = truth, knowledge, seriousness, depth
> yellow = hope, joy, fun, light-heartedness, simplicity*
> 
> Yellow is about positivity, fun, and entertainment. It represents looking on the bright side of life, sharing laughs and good feelings with all people whether they be strangers or familiar faces. It is most often attributed to the sun, radiating infectious warmth and inspiring others. Blue is not necessarily pessimistic, but has a tendency toward such. Blue symbolizes the wealth of knowledge, information, and truth which lays past the surface of any given thing. Blue is characterized by introspection, analysis, and questioning in search of pure objectivity. This can mean sacrificing hedonism and quality social interaction with peers, but to blue, the trade-off -- such as a lucrative career or doing cutting-edge research -- can be worth it.
> 
> This dichotomy can be described as the conflict between hope and truth within ourselves. Think of the concept of faith: we may believe, or hope, that things will turn out a certain way in order to get a certain outcome. Let's say you want to get to know a certain person but they're a stranger. The yellow part of you says "things will turn out great" and has hope that you'll succeed if you pursue them, while the blue part of you says "how could this go wrong?" and assesses all information regarding the situation. *This dichotomy is roughly associated with the concepts of Extroversion and Introversion.
> *
> Too much yellow can lead to conflict-avoidance, hedonism, escapism, anxiety, and avoidance of pain. Too much blue can lead to brooding, apathy, existential depression, overthinking, and self-blame.


See bolded parts.

Here you've mixed extroversion together with feeling preference, and introversion with thinking preference. Probably an unconscious bias. Blue sounds exactly an like INTJs function process.

The yellow people sound like a combo of extrovert and enneagram 7s. In other words, what a type 5 INTJ thinks of as most "not me".

What might fix this is separating the E/I distinction from yellow/blue... and keeping in mind that extroverts can be thinkers, and introverts feelers.


Otherwise, I think your theory model has promise... as long as I can be ultraviolet (oooh, maybe Ni in general? hehe)

Why not integrate this, found it on MBTI, that way you can work with the existing structure and keep relatability for people. Since you want it to encourage growth, you could spin the name as something to do with illumination, keeping it in line with the colors theme. prism or something


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## Blazkovitz

I can give you my political colour symbolism for comparison.

Red - communism, trade unions
Purple - counterculture, postmodernism (Besides politics, I strongly associate purple with frivolity and fantasy)
Yellow - capitalism
Black - traditionalism, theocracy
Blue - nationalism, militarism, neoreaction


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## psychologic

RumellINTJType1and5 said:


> It just doesn't make any sense. And it is quite confusing. I don't see how it has relation to the MBTI dichotomies which I can see that is what is doing. I see limited correlation, especially with red/cyan and blue/yellow. I do not think it is as structural as the MBTI or The Enneagram is. There are a lot of inaccuracies, flaws and plot holes in this test.


Could you expand on the flaws and plot holes that you see? I will use your feedback to improve upon the theory. 

Structural as in organized? Yes, I'm trying to figure out how to make the categories and the system as a whole simpler and more structured, especially by having one word to summarize each group, like what MBTI does.

I might have forgotten to mention it in my post, but red/cyan roughly correlates to Te/Fe while blue/yellow roughly correlates to Ti/Fi in terms of cognitive functions, Fi/yellow being the least correlated. But it wasn't designed to fit perfectly with MBTI's Thinking and Feeling.


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## psychologic

RoseTylerFan said:


> I can give you my political colour symbolism for comparison.
> 
> Red - communism, trade unions
> Purple - counterculture, postmodernism (Besides politics, I strongly associate purple with frivolity and fantasy)
> Yellow - capitalism
> Black - traditionalism, theocracy
> Blue - nationalism, militarism, neoreaction


This is interesting. What led you to classify each political system into the groups here? Seems like there's a correlation with purple (or the magenta spectrum in my case) being connected to fantasy and perhaps eccentricity. Black definitely strays from how I had described it in my post, as does blue. Do you make a distinction between blue and cyan?


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## psychologic

Sour Roses said:


> I'm ultraviolet
> 
> 
> In this section, you have a lack of congruity;
> 
> 
> 
> See bolded parts.
> 
> Here you've mixed extroversion together with feeling preference, and introversion with thinking preference. Probably an unconscious bias. Blue sounds exactly an like INTJs function process.
> 
> The yellow people sound like a combo of extrovert and enneagram 7s. In other words, what a type 5 INTJ thinks of as most "not me".
> 
> What might fix this is separating the E/I distinction from yellow/blue... and keeping in mind that extroverts can be thinkers, and introverts feelers.
> 
> 
> Otherwise, I think your theory model has promise... as long as I can be ultraviolet (oooh, maybe Ni in general? hehe)
> 
> Why not integrate this, found it on MBTI, that way you can work with the existing structure and keep relatability for people. Since you want it to encourage growth, you could spin the name as something to do with illumination, keeping it in line with the colors theme. prism or something


Based on my large sample size of 2, it seems the violet spectrum is popular with Ni users 

You're right, I definitely mixed some Feeling/Thinking descriptors in yellow-blue. So by separating I/E, do you mean keeping that distinction and removing the Thinking/Feeling influence from it?

Thanks for the feedback. So far it is pretty strongly influenced by MBTI, and though the intention isn't to make it a carbon copy of MBTI except with color, I will look into the current descriptors I have for the colors to see if I can make it more accessible to people by relating it more strongly. And hey, if ultraviolet is your color then it's your color  You might have competition in the future though. I mean, it's a pretty sick color.


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## Blazkovitz

psychologic said:


> This is interesting. What led you to classify each political system into the groups here? Seems like there's a correlation with purple (or the magenta spectrum in my case) being connected to fantasy and perhaps eccentricity. Black definitely strays from how I had described it in my post, as does blue. Do you make a distinction between blue and cyan?


*Yellow* is gold. Gold, money, capitalism. I think it's quite intuitive. Libertarians prefer gold money to government-issued money.
*Purple* is fantasy and frivolity, as I said, and I view the countercultural movements as supporting frivolity. Then purple is also a very feminine colour and was often used by feminists.
*Black* is the colour of Catholic priests' cassocks. In Islam, war flag of al-Qaeda is black, but there is also white flag of their Islamic Emirates. And the Saudis of course use green. I chose black, as I wanted the symbolism to cover both Christian and Islamic traditionalism. Still, black is also connected to Satanism and Hell, so I'm not really happy with it. 
*Blue* is viewed as a "masculine" colour, and many nationalist types view themselves as very masculine.

The five groups are based on core values: self-expression for purple, equality for red, non-coercion for yellow, tradition for black, strength and social cohesion for blue. Centrists, who don't have strong connection to any of five basic orientations, are white:

https://i.postimg.cc/FsHqzjPm/compass.gif

Cyan is more green than blue for me. I don't associate it with anything specific except the planet Uranus.


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## strawberryLola

Interesting! I always love a new take on the old theories. There are some really cool Youtube vids (fun tests) that's pretty cool too.

However, a note on blues and greens- supposedly those colors are associated with more than just practicality and stability. 

Blues and greens especially stimulate creativity. Blue has a shorter wavelength. The shorter the wavelength would likely, IMO attribute to hyperactivity, the need to create.


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## Forest Nymph

RoseTylerFan said:


> *Yellow* is gold. Gold, money, capitalism. I think it's quite intuitive. Libertarians prefer gold money to government-issued money.
> *Purple* is fantasy and frivolity, as I said, and I view the countercultural movements as supporting frivolity. Then purple is also a very feminine colour and was often used by feminists.
> *Black* is the colour of Catholic priests' cassocks. In Islam, war flag of al-Qaeda is black, but there is also white flag of their Islamic Emirates. And the Saudis of course use green. I chose black, as I wanted the symbolism to cover both Christian and Islamic traditionalism. Still, black is also connected to Satanism and Hell, so I'm not really happy with it.
> *Blue* is viewed as a "masculine" colour, and many nationalist types view themselves as very masculine.
> 
> The five groups are based on core values: self-expression for purple, equality for red, non-coercion for yellow, tradition for black, strength and social cohesion for blue. Centrists, who don't have strong connection to any of five basic orientations, are white:
> 
> https://i.postimg.cc/FsHqzjPm/compass.gif
> 
> Cyan is more green than blue for me. I don't associate it with anything specific except the planet Uranus.


Pink was originally associated with baby boys in the late 19th century due to it being a "strong" color associated with red. It's likely someone associated it with women due to their internal reproductive organs, nothing more.


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## The Veteran

Which one would I be?


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## Lakigigar

alyara said:


> And for me this correlation makes more sense:
> Red - Fire - Intuition
> Green - Earth - Sensing
> Yellow - Air - Thinking
> Blue - Water - Feeling


Huh

Air - Intuition - Green
Fire - Feeling - Red
Earth - Thinking (down-to-earth) - Yellow
Water - Sensing - Blue

makes much more sense

Or:
Fire - SF - Red
Air - NF - Yellow
Earth - NT - Green
Water - ST - Blue

If i have to use SP and SJ

Fire - SP - Red
Water - SJ - Blue

If i had to assign colours to types

INFJ = violet / purple
INFP = yellow
ISFP = Green
ENFP = blue
ESFP = red
ENFJ = orange
ESFJ = red as well
ISFJ = white

INTJ = black
INTP = grey
ISTP = green
ESTP = blue
ENTP = dark blue
ENTJ = brown
ISTJ = lime green
ESTJ = dark green


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## psychologic

RoseTylerFan said:


> *Yellow* is gold. Gold, money, capitalism. I think it's quite intuitive. Libertarians prefer gold money to government-issued money.
> *Purple* is fantasy and frivolity, as I said, and I view the countercultural movements as supporting frivolity. Then purple is also a very feminine colour and was often used by feminists.
> *Black* is the colour of Catholic priests' cassocks. In Islam, war flag of al-Qaeda is black, but there is also white flag of their Islamic Emirates. And the Saudis of course use green. I chose black, as I wanted the symbolism to cover both Christian and Islamic traditionalism. Still, black is also connected to Satanism and Hell, so I'm not really happy with it.
> *Blue* is viewed as a "masculine" colour, and many nationalist types view themselves as very masculine.
> 
> The five groups are based on core values: self-expression for purple, equality for red, non-coercion for yellow, tradition for black, strength and social cohesion for blue. Centrists, who don't have strong connection to any of five basic orientations, are white:
> 
> https://i.postimg.cc/FsHqzjPm/compass.gif
> 
> Cyan is more green than blue for me. I don't associate it with anything specific except the planet Uranus.


How did you come to decide those core values? 

An interesting thing I found out about purple is that it is essentially a darker shade of magenta, sometimes mixed with blue. And you're right, polls show that purple is a popular color for women. Magenta appears pink, so it makes a little more sense culturally why women like purple more than men... but I wonder if men's indifference to the color is merely cultural.

I've since revised magenta and yellow so that magenta has more of the lighthearted, "whimsical" association (but primarily imaginative and fantasy-oriented), while yellow is more associated with sociability and being bright, alert, and persuasive (the antonym for coercion is persuasion, which fits well with the core value you assigned to capitalism, though it isn't my goal to associate the colors with political ideologies). 

Blue is also interpreted as a calming/soothing color though, and it's associated with the democratic party, if that says anything. Do you say it's masculine because of the whole blue for boys, pink for girls thing? Isn't red considered fairly masculine as well?

That's really interesting about cyan because to me, I definitely interpret it as more blue than green! Yet in reality it's an equal mix between green and blue. 

What do you think about black being connected to power and revolutionary thinking? Black is a difficult one because as you showed with the Catholic clothes, it has links to tradition, and of course death in the Western world. Overall I'm trying to focus on an association for my system that is as universal as possible, for example, black is associated with darkness (e.g. a dark room with no light), which all people have experience with. But what exactly that association is, I'm not sure yet. Things that come to mind are mystery, fear, the unknown, vulnerability, etc.


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## psychologic

strawberryLola said:


> Interesting! I always love a new take on the old theories. There are some really cool Youtube vids (fun tests) that's pretty cool too.
> 
> However, a note on blues and greens- supposedly those colors are associated with more than just practicality and stability.
> 
> Blues and greens especially stimulate creativity. Blue has a shorter wavelength. The shorter the wavelength would likely, IMO attribute to hyperactivity, the need to create.


Thanks for your comment. Could you point me to some of those YouTube tests you're talking about? I actually have plans to create a YouTube video (or series of videos) about my theory here, but since the theory itself is still in the works, I haven't gotten there yet. 

When you mention blues and greens, do you mean the whole spectrum of green to blue (including cyan)? 

Honestly, I've really been trying to figure out what significance and effect the wavelengths of colors have on humans. Red is known, and blues are said to be soothing and calming, but not much else is clear. Do you have any studies to show that the spectrum of blue and green stimulates creativity? If wavelength is associated with hyperactivity, then my association for blue _might _have to be revised. At the moment I have blue as *reserved*, as well as analytical, contemplative, and truth-seeking; however, one could make the argument that it represents hyperactivity of the mind. It also reflects how the effects of UV rays are undetectable by humans, yet carry immense power and potential to cause harm. 

I do admit that green isn't only associated with practicality and stability, so I've since added "supportive" to the mix, but it certainly could use revision. At the moment, it stands in direct contrast to the meaning of magenta since they are opposites on the color wheel. 



Forest Nymph said:


> Pink was originally associated with baby boys in the late 19th century due to it being a "strong" color associated with red. It's likely someone associated it with women due to their internal reproductive organs, nothing more.


Going by that logic, we should all be associated with the color pink. Aren't we all pink (and red) on the inside lol?


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## psychologic

Psychologist said:


> Which one would I be?


Whatever colors you want to be lol. No but in all honesty, probably a paler tone given your sig. Other than that, I don't know you and I haven't devised a test yet so it's hard to say. Also, I'm trying to emphasize with my theory that you aren't just one color, but are an inevitable mix of them. In reality, you might be an interesting shade of purple-ish pink, or a soft blue-ish green, who knows. My idea is that your color result after taking the test will be a composite of all the colors put together, or perhaps a circle with three colors within it corresponding to your scores on the blue-yellow, green-magenta, and red-cyan scales. 



Lakigigar said:


> Huh
> 
> Air - Intuition - Green
> Fire - Feeling - Red
> Earth - Thinking (down-to-earth) - Yellow
> Water - Sensing - Blue
> 
> makes much more sense
> 
> Or:
> Fire - SF - Red
> Air - NF - Yellow
> Earth - NT - Green
> Water - ST - Blue
> 
> If i have to use SP and SJ
> 
> Fire - SP - Red
> Water - SJ - Blue
> 
> If i had to assign colours to types
> 
> INFJ = violet / purple
> INFP = yellow
> ISFP = Green
> ENFP = blue
> ESFP = red
> ENFJ = orange
> ESFJ = red as well
> ISFJ = white
> 
> INTJ = black
> INTP = grey
> ISTP = green
> ESTP = blue
> ENTP = dark blue
> ENTJ = brown
> ISTJ = lime green
> ESTJ = dark green


I think it's funny that you assigned green to Intuition and NTs, and then in the same breath assigned it to ISFPs lol. Were these more intuitive choices? I'd certainly like to hear your reasoning. I also associate INTJs with black somehow.


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## Lakigigar

psychologic said:


> Whatever colors you want to be lol. No but in all honesty, probably a paler tone given your sig. Other than that, I don't know you and I haven't devised a test yet so it's hard to say. Also, I'm trying to emphasize with my theory that you aren't just one color, but are an inevitable mix of them. In reality, you might be an interesting shade of purple-ish pink, or a soft blue-ish green, who knows. My idea is that your color result after taking the test will be a composite of all the colors put together, or perhaps a circle with three colors within it corresponding to your scores on the blue-yellow, green-magenta, and red-cyan scales.
> 
> 
> 
> I think it's funny that you assigned green to Intuition and NTs, and then in the same breath assigned it to ISFPs lol. Were these more intuitive choices? I'd certainly like to hear your reasoning. I also associate INTJs with black somehow.


they were intuitive choices!!!


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## Blazkovitz

psychologic said:


> How did you come to decide those core values?


For purples, it's self-expression, self-actualization, basically being yourself. Their politics is individualistic, but in a non-commercial way. Some choose a market economy (Rajneesh), others socialism (Marcuse) or going back to nature (Rousseau), but always with self-expression of the individual in mind. Frivolity comes into play when you regard how those movements oppose all restriction on human sexuality. Fantasy is what countercultural art tends to focus on.

For reds, the core value is equality, and economic equality is more important than other aspects of it. 
For yellows (libertarians), the market is everything. I think it's obvious.
For blacks (traditionalists) number one is traditional righteousness and piety. They also have certain ascetic quality to them, black is an ascetic colour.

For blues (nationalists) it's rough power. Again a longer explanation is needed. Nationalists often believe in a social-Darwinist competition between nations, and that the strongest nation has the right to subdue the weaker. They also want to foster "masculine" and "military" virtues among citizens so that the nation becomes strong.



> yellow is more associated with sociability and being bright, alert, and persuasive (the antonym for coercion is persuasion, which fits well with the core value you assigned to capitalism, though it isn't my goal to associate the colors with political ideologies).


Being bright, alert and persuasive pays off on the free market. Good choice.



> Blue is also interpreted as a calming/soothing color though, and it's associated with the democratic party, if that says anything. Do you say it's masculine because of the whole blue for boys, pink for girls thing? Isn't red considered fairly masculine as well?


Yes I was thinking about "blue for boys"  Red can be masculine as well, if you look at "red", proletarian revolutionary movements, they were almost always male-dominated and had a certain machismo quality evident in figures like Lenin or Che Guevara.



> What do you think about black being connected to power and revolutionary thinking? Black is a difficult one because as you showed with the Catholic clothes, it has links to tradition, and of course death in the Western world. Overall I'm trying to focus on an association for my system that is as universal as possible, for example, black is associated with darkness (e.g. a dark room with no light), which all people have experience with. But what exactly that association is, I'm not sure yet. Things that come to mind are mystery, fear, the unknown, vulnerability, etc.


Black is the favourite colour of punks, goths, emos and other "dark" subcultures as well. Punks are indeed revolutionaries, but goths and emos are more escapist. It has an ambivalent meaning, from anarchism to totalitarian Islamism.

See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_colour


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## The Veteran

Lakigigar said:


> Air - Intuition - Green
> Fire - Feeling - Red
> Earth - Thinking - Yellow
> Water - Sensing - Blue
> 
> makes much more sense
> 
> Or:
> Fire - SF - Red
> Air - NF - Yellow
> Earth - NT - Green
> Water - ST - Blue


I agree.

I would add

ISFJ - Pink
ESFJ - Red
ISFP - Peach
ESFP - Orange

INFJ - Cream
ENFJ - Yellow
INFP - Olive
ENFP - Gold

INTJ - Lime
ENTJ - Green
INTP - Turquoise
ENTP - Teal

ISTJ - Cyan
ESTJ - Blue
ISTP - Lilac
ESTP - Purple


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## no013

By the colours to types chart, I should be yellow; but according to the political chart, I'm a purple. 

Google says if you mix those two colours, you get gray. Using the colour prisim chart on the 1st page, rose is in the middle of yellow and purple: imagination + dominance = experimentation, innovation, cutting-edge. The opposite side of that is spring green, which as of now does not have a description.


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## TricoFeathers

brightflashes said:


> What about those of us who are colorblind?


They have special glasses for that now.


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## Pippi

Psychologist said:


> ENTP - Teal


:exterminate:


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## Pippi

psychologic said:


> sensuality - intellect = *orange/azure*. I first thought yellow/blue because blue fits well, but hope isn't exactly synonymous with sensuality. Then I considered rose/turquoise. Rose is the combo between instinctual desire (red) and imagination (magenta), theoretically resulting in a drive to seek sensual gratification. But turquoise doesn't fit as well being the combo between practicality and harmony; practicality covers the rational side of intellect but reasoning is a better fit for blue. So orange/azure could be a good fit -- instinctual desire and a drive for fun is the perfect recipe for hedonism and sensual expression, while azure is a combo between truth (blue) and harmony (cyan), resulting in a drive to develop mental objectivity... but cyan is still a reach.
> So, while orange/azure fits well, I wonder if I should change the meaning of cyan. But, I also question if sensuality and intellect are necessarily polar opposites.


Yeah, that's sexy.


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## The Veteran

Pippi said:


> :exterminate:


So you like this colour? I knew you would.


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