The Chip Report

theantidote:

Beth Cavener Stichter   “The Sanguine”

The Four Humors is a body of work spanning 2009-2010 which examines the history

of scientifically categorizing human behavior, specifically the particular theory of (mis)understanding human psychology invented by the Ancient Greeks. As the Wikipedia entry describes:

“Essentially, this theory held that the human body was filled with four basic substances, called four humors, which are in balance when a person is healthy. All diseases and disabilities resulted from an excess or deficit of one of these four humors. The four humors were identified as black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood…. When a patient was suffering from a surplus or imbalance of one fluid, then his or her personality and physical health would be affected.”

Simply stated, each of the four types could be characterized in the following way: 

• Sanguine -  Too much blood - Passionate, Bold, impulsive
• Melancholic - Too much black bile - Depressed, anxious, moody
• Choleric - Too much yellow bile - Irritable, hostile, bitter
• Phlegmatic - Too much phlegm - Passive, introverted, rational

I was intrigued with the idea that people could be emotionally and physiologically

evaluated based solely off of how much fluid they contained in their bodies.

(via cassandramelena: / devidsketchbook:)

(Source: devidsketchbook, via calyx)