mentalism-examples

[mentalism-examples]

How to learn Blindfold chess

Recently I made it to a 2400+ rating in lichess puzzles.

I am very proud of this feat and thought it an apt time to make a tutorial on how to learn chess blindfolded. I would recommend starting to learn blindfolded chess around 1200 rapid rating, taking it very slowly.

Here is a clip of me playing blindfolded against two people at once, I have done up to three however the more boards, the slower and weaker I am.

Step 0. Know why you want to learn

Blindfold chess is hard. It takes a fair amount of practice, and will always lag behind your sighted skill significantly. My motivation was that I like to do everything mentally. Blindfold Rubik's cube solving, noughts and crosses, connect 4. I love it. I also was inspired by Sherlock in A game of Shadows and House. Having role models is very motivating. If it is just to show off, you might be disappointed. It will take a long time before you can show off to anyone, and you will likely only be able to beat beginners.

Step 1. Know your coordinates

Learn the names of the squares, make sure to say the moves you do out loud when playing sighted games. You will soon develop intuition for blindfold chess.

You can also find trainers such as this one that let you practice.

On a similar vein, know the colours of all the squares or be able to work them out

You can know if a square is dark or light by checking the party of them. Take A to be an odd letter, and B to be even and so on. Given any square, say C6, you will just view it as (odd,even) If they are different, it is white, if they are both the same, it is darker. Try it yourself. What colour is E5, H8, A6? Being able to rapidly deduce the colour of squares is useful when it comes to advanced chess strategy such as avoiding opposite colour bishop endgames and it helps you get more comfortable with the board. Step 2. Learn where each starting piece is and where it can move to

This is self explanatory, you should instantly know that white's lightsquare bishop is on F1, that your queens knight can jump to c3 or a3 and so on.

Step 3. Use the queen and knight game to get used to knight moves, diagonals and blindfold piece movement

The knight game is simple, a queen and knight are placed randomly on a board. You must, mentally, say the sequence of moves the knight needs to make to get the queen without the Knight being 'seen' by the queen. In the example above, the G file, 7th rank and the whole diagonal from A1 to H8 is off limits to the knight, as it would be seen by the knight. Also, the diagonal F8 to H6 is off limits.

I do have a program to do this, if you would like to use it. Here is an old video of me using the Python version of the game, the new version is in C

Step 4. Memorise a few games with openings that you know very well.

Having consistent openings is key to blindfolded chess, it saves a lot of mental effort if you just need to remember "we had a hyper-accelerated sicillian dragon, but then played h3 early which was weird" rather than each move as a single entity. Along with this, learning a few full games in the openings you enjoy will help your visualization skills tremulously. I'd expect 3 games should be enough, one as white, one as black against e4 and one as black against d4. Make sure to understand the reason behind each move deeply. A classic one every chess player should know by heart is The opera game Step 5. Try a weak blindfold game against a weak AI

A weak blindfolded game is when you can see the board, and the moves at the side, but not the pieces. This is less your memory skills, as you can see them at the side, and on your visualization skills, as you can see the board. The reason to play an AI here is to give yourself as much time as you need. This is just to ease into blindfold chess and may be slow and painful at first, but it will soon get easier. Lichess has a blindfold mode you can turn on in games if you would like to practice. Step 6. Blindfold Puzzles There are two ways to go about this. Use lichess on blindfold mode, and listen to the game up into the point where you need to solve the puzzle, or solve puzzles by reading fen notation. I find the former easier, but the latter is more efficient. At one point I had @sleuth2k7 painfully read me out where pieces were to try and solve puzzles. You will now be doing blindfold puzzles until you die. This practice is great, and you can also try these two variations. 1. Stop a sighted game, look away and try and calculate all of the variations without looking at the board. 2. Look at a hard puzzles, note where the pieces are, then look away and try and solve it mentally. This will be a pain at first, but when you are good enough it may be your preferred way to calculate. Step 7. Blindfold endgames This is exactly what it sounds like, by now you will know your openings very well blindfolded, now we skip to the end where there are few pieces. You should be well versed in endgame theory. Try setting up positioned on lichess's board editor, then playing against the AI blindfolded. Step 8. Play blindfolded chess

Here are some tips.

Have a separate account just for blindfolded games, so you can keep track of your rating and weaknesses.

Make a mental note as a reason for each move

Try and focus on one part of the board, or one tactic at a time. Trying to visualise the whole board the entire time can be tiring

Put on an actual blindfolded and talk your moves, you can turn on lichess typing mode and make it talk moves for this.

Do not feel bad if you lose, as you lost in style.

Hope this tutorial was helpful. Have fun

[mentalism-examples]

Some retrograde analysis puzzles

Here are some of my favourite retrograde analysis puzzles. As usual, we only care about legal moves and not moves that make sense, there are sometimes additional bits of information such as white has never castled and such.

These are from/inspired by The Chess mysteries of Sherlock Holmes

It was said Sherlock didn't like chess as a game, but he found the mental exercise of deducing previous moves and facts about what must of occurred in a position fun. It was also said he's the third best at retrograde analysis, behind Mycroft and Moriarty. I thought @sleuth2k7 and @froogboi would enjoy these types of puzzles. They do not require chess intuition, but pure logic, backwards reasoning and inference.

The puzzles

These positions were made in my simple chess app, all by memory so some may not be exactly what you'd find in the book I learned retrograde analysis from.

We will start with some monochromatics, which means no pieces moved from one colour square to another. This has some weird implications, like pawns can only move once, the double space at the start or move via capture, and knights cannot move at all.

Monochromatic Puzzle One

The monochromatic above was attributed to Moriarty. The question is, which square is the bishop on, e3 or e4. The answer to this is very abstract and logical. You see, the question can be rephrased as "there is a piece between two differently coloured squares, which one is the piece on" and you can answer with confidence "the dark square" The reason for this is almost a leap of intuition, note that the white king has not moved the entire game, he isn't allowed on a white square so is trapped. Now note that the black king must of taken the last white piece on a light square, leaving nothing behind on the light squares apart from the black king. So by similar reasoning, the white bishop is on e3, the dark square, as it must of mopped up the last black piece on a dark square. You can ignore the white squares completely, and think of just an army of black and white pieces on dark squares all eating each other, only one thing will remain, and there it is clear it's the white bishop. If the white king was free to roam, then it'd be different story. Monochromatic Puzzle two

Above is another monochromatic. The question here is, what colour is the pawn on g3. Have a minute to think about this. First question that an intelligent observer may ask, is how did the king get out of e1? It cannot go on light squares, the answer being it castled. It must of castled kingside, as queenside the rook on a1 would on moves to a light square from a dark square which is illegal. So visualise the king castling kingside so it is now on g1, the pawn on h1 must of been pushed to h4 at some point, to allow the king to get to h2, and the pawn on g2 must of been pushed to g4 at some point to allow the king to go to g3. There is another option however, that the pawn on h3 took on g3, but that would trap the king in forever, so we know that didn't happen. This is to say, the g3 pawn must be black, as the white one moved.

Promotion Puzzle one

The story here was about Sherlock walking by and seeing a game similar to this one and noting that black promoted a piece, that was still on the board. This is a rather elegant puzzle I think. The first thin to note is that black is missing two pieces, the c8 lightsquare bishop and the h7 pawn. We also note white took a dark squared black piece on c3. As neither of these pieces could of made it to c3, we have proven there is an extra black piece that was taken on c3. This is all we need to prove black promoted at some point, however how do we know the piece is still on the board? Well, the pawn capture on c3 allowed white's dark square c1 bishop to escape. The pawn on h7 that promoted must of walked down the h file to h4, taken white's dark squared bishop on g3, then promoted on g1. That means white took, a black piece on c3, say a knight, then the white darksquare bishop was taken on g3, black promoted to another knight replacing the one that was taken, and moved back. Very pretty. Now it's your turn

Moriarty Promotion Piece

It is said Moriarty saw this position, after white castled and said "there is a promoted piece on this board" after three minutes, but could not say if it was a white or black promoted piece. Sherlock Holmes also tried this, however it took him twenty minutes. You have to show that the promotion took place, and it is still on the board.

Moriarty threat

When Sherlock was on the run from Moriarty, he received this threat, "you certainly have a capacity for making yourself invisible, Holmes, nevertheless, I can mate you in one move" In this puzzle, you have to show where the white king is, and show there is a mate in one. It is said that if you overlay this board on a map of London, where the white king is mated is where Sherlock's next hideout was. It was bombed shortly after this threat.

This isn't anywhere close to all the types of retrograde analysis puzzles, or the extent of fun you can have with them. I encourage any intellectual to become a chess detective and try these out yourself

[mentalism-examples]

[mentalism-examples]

Amazing show. Amazing character. Amazing fan art.

Another Moriarty sketch cause y'all are THIRSTY

[mentalism-examples]

Women in chess

This topic continually aggravates me, people in the chess community are often very sexist and see women as worse. Chess is a nice area to focus on to show the sexism, as unlike STEM fields, CEOs and deduction, there are actual statistics and an empirical way of measuring skills (ELO) however most points are transferable to other areas. The main points are as follows 1. Due to a lack of support, encouragement and social expectations, women are not given the tools needed to succeed in chess in the critical period of time when they are young 2. Women who are given said support, or join later, are discouraged due to sexism, views of women being inferior, and sexual harassment which often happen around male dominated competitions 3. Women who are given full support, tend to do very well. There is no biological evidence women are worse. Literally none. To prove that, you would need to have a study of 1000 men and women, train them the same, have them compete in safe spaces, and see if men out perform. This would at least show a gendered correlation, then you would need to prove some mechanism to show causality or show good chances of causality with statistics. 4. The result of this is that there are far more men in the top of competitive play, which means more men at the top. If there is a 99.999% chance of not being a GM, and there are 300,000 men and 3000 women. you'd expect 3 men GMs and no women ones. Many prominent chess figures, and online pseudo intellectuals claim women are naturally worse at chess. Some even use this for evidence that women are overly emotional or not as smart as men. If you believe this, you are wrong. This is not a matter of opinion. Facts don't care about your feelings of superiority. You are incorrect. Allow me to explain why, and hopefully change your mind:

How are elite chess players made

Out of 605 million chess players, only about 10 will be elite.

Not enough women are encouraged at an early age

The stereotyping effect

Thankfully I have a paper from Smerdon, D., Hu, H., McLennan, A., von Hippel, W., & Albrecht, S. (2020). Female Chess Players Show Typical Stereotype-Threat Effects: Commentary on Stafford (2018). Psychological Science, 31(6), 756-759. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620924051

and the data shows that women do play worse against men online, if they know they are playing them. If the names are obscured, they play better. This is an example of the stereotyping effect. If a group is stereotyped as worse, they perform worse.

Sexual harassment

Many great women players, or potential players experience sexual harassment then quit.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/women-chess-players-publish-open-letter-denouncing-sexist-behavior

Lack of role models

This issue has recently been fixed by the queen's gambit a little, however there are still a lack of female role models in chess, especially at the top level. There has never been a woman world champion for example.

History of discrimination

Above is an art work of real things the female chess player artist has heard from male players during competitions.

Biological differences

There is zero evidence of biological differences between men and women relating to chess. No casual evidence what so ever.

Gendered titles

the requirement for a woman GM is less than a male GM, this causes a lot of sad men online to bully WGMs for not being 'real' GMs. I never got this argument, as semantically, WGM is a type of GM, the same way an International master is a type of master.

Below is an expert from an article that explains some of this far better than me:

The stereotype threat effect Despite Judit Polgár’s success, stereotypes about female chess players remain. Her older sister Susan, a former women’s world champion, noted: When men lose against me, they always have a headache… I have never beaten a healthy man. The American Bobby Fischer, on whom The Queen’s Gambit’s lead character is largely based, once said women are “terrible chess players”, later opining that “I don’t think they should mess into intellectual affairs; they should keep strictly to the home”. Another former world champion, Garry Kasparov, said in a 1989 issue of Playboy Magazine that “there is real chess and women’s chess”. These sorts of beliefs may induce a “stereotype threat” that can explain part of the performance gap. Stereotype threat is where minorities underperform solely because they’re aware of a stereotype that people of their group do worse. Confidence flags, interest wanes and a vicious cycle of self-fulfilling prophesy follows. The stereotype threat effect has been observed in experiments involving women and mathematics performance and in studies on lower representation of women in leadership positions. In one study, researchers pitted male and female chess players against each other online. The sexes performed equally when identities were anonymous, but when the sex of the opponents was known, female players performed worse against male players and better against other female players. Using a dataset of more than 180,000 players and 8 million rated tournament games, my colleagues and I recently found evidence to support a stereotype threat effect for female chess players. Female players tend to perform worse against male opponents than against female opponents, even after accounting for chess strength. The performance drop is roughly equivalent to a woman giving her male opponent the advantage of the first move in every single game.

Check out a video on a similar topic here

Conclusion

Very few women are initially exposed to chess, when they are, they have many factors discouraging them. These things compound into far fewer women chess players. There is no evidence to support a biological difference.

[mentalism-examples]

Retrograde analysis

I recently discovered a beautiful form of chess puzzle.

Unlike most chess puzzles which are focused on controlling the future, finding checkmates or winning material. These puzzles ask you to think backwards like a true detective. For example, the puzzle on the cover of that book asks for the last move of blacks, and last move of whites, given that black moved last. The solution is that black was previously on a7, and a knight was on b6. White moves their knight to a8, giving a discovered check from the bishop, and the black king took the knight on a8. These types of problems are uniquely difficult as you have to imagine pieces that are no longer there, consider en passant, and often times the problems are even more creative. For example, you may be given a board without a king and asked to deduce where the white king must be, Or given that a piece is on either e3 or e4, and you must logically deduce which. The types of puzzles I have solved thus far fall into a few categories.

Which side is which

What are the previous moves

A piece is covered, work out what is must be

Has there been a promotion this game

Prove that a side cannot castle

Given that the game in monochromatic (No piece moved from one coloured square to another) prove something else about the position

There was even a puzzle where you could prove there is a checkmate in two, but could not show what that mate in two is.

[mentalism-examples]

Memorizing the bones of the human body

Image taken from completing the sporcle quiz

I tend to run through the loci and point to the parts on my body of each bone. There are 206 bones in an adult human body.

Loci 1. (Frontal, Nasal, Vomer) = Nose vomits fonts at the park

Loci 2. (Inferior Nasal Conch, Maxilla, Mandible) = Conch shell is picked up by max, the man eater. At the exit of the park

Loci 3. (Parietal, sphenoid, ethmoid) = Parrot on a sphere is drinking hand soap On the road

Loci 4. (Lacrimal, zygomatic, Temporal, Occipital) = A latent criminal zygon gets in their time machine made of eyes In the car

Loci 5. (Palatine, Hyoid) = Palpatine is high On the steps

Loci 6. (Malleus, Incus, Stapes) = A mall that sells only ink and staples In the post box

Loci 7. (Lunate, Pisiform, Triquetrum, Hamate) = Moon pissing on a triangle made of ham Inside the building

Loci 8. (Scaphoid, Capitate, Trapezoid, Trapezium) = A scaffold of bottle caps in the shape of two trapezium Inside my old neighbour's room

Loci 9. (Metacarpus, Proximal Phalange, int phalange, distal phalange ) = A meta car drives a distance to the phallic statue on the stairs

Loci 10. (Calcaneus, Talus, Navicular) = A talos priest navigates to a canine at the top of the stairs

Loci 11. (Cuboid, Lateral cuneiform, Int cuneifom, Medial cuneiform, metatarsal) = A cube with an inscription in cuneiform writing covered in tar In the kitchen

Loci 12. (Scapula, Clavicle, Sternum) = A scalpel dissects from the collar bone to the breast On the settee

Loci 13. (True ribs, False ribs, floating ribs) = There is a door to the rib-cage with three guards, one always lies, the other always tells the truth and one is fucking flying. In the window

Loci 14. (Humerus, Radius, Ulna) = A dyslexic Luna tells jokes about circles On the lamp post

Loci 15. (ilium, pubis, ischium ) = A ill man unzips his trousers and he is scum. On *thee* chair

Loci 16. (Fermur, Patella, Tibia, Fibula) = A furry Postman pat has a heart attack and needs defib, sadly he is lying. Inside the master bedroom

Loci 17. (Cervical Vertibrae, Throacic Vertabrae, Lumbar Vertebrae, sacrum, Coccyx) = A sacred cock (the animal) touching Thor dressed as a lumber jack who is called sir. Inside the en suit bathroom

[mentalism-examples]

Not so humble that I won't share this and say thank you! This means so much

This is Sherlly.

Sherlly is a genius mentalist, chess player, magician, entertainer, programmer and puzzle solver. Quick-witted and multifaceted, he is a clever and talented deductionist, as well as a Data Scientist and Solutions Architect.

He is an incredible teacher, kind, intelligent, and very patient. Sherlly is knowledgeable on many subjects, and able to master anything that comes his way.

He can do amazing things with math, memorize large numbers in short amounts of time, solve incredible iq puzzles, talk intelligently on many subjects, play piano, make the coolest websites and is a phenomenal chess player. The list goes on.

He can solve and reverse solve a rubiks cube blindfolded and has beaten three people at once in a game of blindfolded chess; and can list every bone in the human body and the entire periodic table.

Sherlly is witty, open-minded, and always thinking. He's an absolute bloody genius and still very humble. He's a good man and an even better friend.

[mentalism-examples]

My friend Sherlock

It's rare to meet someone so genuinely smart, with such a fitting name and a warm heart.

@deepseagoon is amazing. A polymath. An artist, philosopher, a musician and a genius. He is wise, kind, clever and curious. Able to learn almost anything. He has high energy and endless ingenuity. If you ever need a problem solving, of almost any kind, I'd have faith he can solve it. He is so incredibly talented, and yet humble. Both physically and mentally capable with an open mind. Not to mention, funny, so incredibly entertaining. In the brief time I've known him, all of these traits and more are self evident. I think he is a lovely person who deserves the world. He is also the only person I've ever met to use mind palaces properly. @ Sherlock, You mean a lot to me. Please stay safe and enjoy the world.

[mentalism-examples]

aww I'm a friend

A friend helped me learn the braille alphabet this morning. Here's how we did it :)

Brialle is a language comprised of dots, these dots filling spaces in two columns, each column with 3 dots.

The first 10 letters (A-J) use only the top two rows of dots, and by adding to the bottom row, we get the others, with the exception of W. So, for instance, A is made by filling dot 1, and K is dot 1 and 3. B is made by filling dots 1 and 2, and L is made with dots 1,2, and 3.

Now, to get the next 10 letters (K-T), you're going to add a dot in dot 3, and for U-Z, add to dot 6.

Like this:

This makes groups for each of the letters, based on their dot configuration. Here are our groups.

AKU

BLV

CMX

DNY

EOZ

FP

GQ

HR

IS

JT

Now, how do we use a memory system to memorize this? Simple. We've already made associations between certain letters and put them in groups, so now we need to memorize those. We do this by making those groups into pictures and put those pictures in a mind palace. Here's mine as an example.

AKU - A bunch of soldiers forming a Coup, as it sounds similar (A Coup)

BLV - Boulevard

CMX - Carmax

DNY - Do Not Yodel, like the DNI, but for yodeling

EOZ - this one makes less sense to anyone other than me, but I associate this with the EZ Freeze yOgurt of Portland Oregon

FP - a Face Page, just a page with a face on it.

GQ - God's Quarters, God with a ton of Quarters at Aldis (for non Midwesterners, you have to insert a quarter to get a cart from the grocery store, Aldis)

HR - I think of HRT, but for trans women, no testosterone, hence no T

IS - just the word is, but then it's IS is, which is ISIS

JT - JT music (specifically that one undertale song, but thats not terribly important.)

Once you've made your own pictures for them, stick them somewhere, and you know the braille alphabet! Enjoy!

[mentalism-examples]

Loved that!

Art Advice

Ok, so here's some art advice I wish I'd gotten when I was younger. Hope this is mildly helpful. This is just general, I'm working on a more in-depth post that is more sort of tutorial-ey, but here's this for now :)

This first ones gonna sound really cliche and basic because literally everyone says this, but I really needed this pounded into my thick skull as a kid. So here: Make. Art. For. You.

Dont think about how much anyone else will or won't like it. Don't think about what other people would want to see. Instead, look into you and make what you want to see. Doesn't matter how weird, how "silly" how whatever. Because when you create something that feels real and true and makes your heart sing, that is where the beauty will come from. The best art was not made with thoughts of how other people would feel about it.

Next up, everyone says "practice" as their first advice. This is generally good, but you really need to know what to practice. So decide where your going with your art, what you'd like to improve, and start there. Try these.

-Anatomy

-Facial Expressions. The weirder the better.

-Clothing. Something funky.

-Style. Are you going Anime? Maybe realism? Fuck around with it.

-Colouring

Number three, PINTEREST IS YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND. Drop your side hoes, pinterest is about to be the only one your spending the night with. Seriously, Pinterest has amazing references for poses, outfits, anatomy practice, colouring, and backgrounds. Literally an artists dream. So go there, find something interesting, and practice drawing it!!!

Something that I find helps is music. This might just be me, but if I'm being real, Pinterest and Spotify are my go to's and I genuinely couldn't live without them. And it helps to be in the same mood as your piece, so if your creating something cool and badass, maybe listen to something that inspires that.

Figure out style! Your art style is unique and grows with you as you develop your skill and can be modified at any time, but it's good to know what you're planning on doing. So go to pinterest and collect a board of all of the art you admire, and study it. What do you like? Maybe one artists sketchiness or another's colouring job, or another's eye drawing style. Figure out what you like and try drawing it, and don't feel afraid to copy a bit. Obviously, we're not talking posting a copied work as your own, but for the sake of learning, it's ok.

Buy a sketchbook, and do challenges. It's so much more motivating if you've got something to work on or some idea of something to do. Go on pinterest (or google) and look up art prompts/challenges and do one daily. Even if it sucks. (Like those little lists, the kind that say Day one: anger and roses or something like that idk if you want some suggestions just ask)

Make it fun! If you're not enjoying yourself, you're doing it wrong. Creation is for joy. Something I love to do is make it a challenge or a game. So ask a friend/family member to give you a colour (or several) or animal and an aesthetic and see what you come up with!

Doodle!!!! Doodle, doodle, and doodle some more. Not every piece has to be a full fleged masterpiece you spent hours on. Every little bit counts, and doodling can feel a lot less stressful.

And last but not least, have a nice cup of something hot. Or cold. Something yummy, you'll feel wonderful afterwards I promise.

Happy creating!

[mentalism-examples]

Quick guide on identifying shark teeth

This isn't a full list, just some of the more common teeth.

Here's a list of terminology so you know which bits I'm talking about.

Common Thrasher:

Easy to identify due to its very defined V shaped root, thresher teeth are long, thin, and smooth edged. They may be lightly curved as well. Their teeth can be up to 2 inches long, depending on the age of the shark.

Dusky shark:

Dusky shark's upper teeth are fat, short, and serated on both sides. Lower teeth are usually thinner and less serated. They have a fair basal dip, but not extreme, with a small transverse notch.

Lemon Shark:

Lemon Shark teeth are very fine and thin, with no serrations. They differ from Thrasher teeth in their base, the base of a lemon's is less dramatic. These teeth are generally about .75 inches long.

Night Shark:

Night Shark teeth are wide and not very long, with a pronounced transverse notch. Both upper sides are serrated, with a more clean bottom half. They are usually curved, and about an inch long.

Nurse Shark:

Nurse Shark teeth are thick and wide, with pronounced cusplets. Most are sharper than this, with about two sharp cusplets per side. These teeth are usually about and inch long.

Great White:

Great White teeth are broad and triangular in shap, and finely serated on both sides. Getting up to three inches long, great white shark teeth are fairly large.

Mako Shark:

Mako teeth look very similar to Lemon or Thrasher, but the blade slope is less pronounced and so is their base. Mako teeth have no serrations, and are dagger like. The front surface is fairly flat, curving slightly inwards. Mako teeth are about an inch long.

Happy shark teeth hunting!

@deduction-tutorials maybe u can use this if you find shark teeth

[mentalism-examples]

Sherlock MBTI

Sherlock Canon: INTJ

This was a tough one, and a big one.

In the books, I believe he is an INTJ, just a very well rounded one.

Ni dominant:

We often see him in most actions orientated situations, however his first port of call is always to think deeply, and often for a long time.

He collects his thoughts, and often focuses on narrowing down and connecting possibilities.

He often speaks of intuition, has an almost mystical belief in it and it works far faster than his reasoning (Ni more than Ti)

He can sometimes rely too much on his intuition rather than actual and would rather be contemplative than active.

Te auxiliary:

Often manipulates others and plans traps. Shown in his attempted manipulation of Irene, faking illness to trick a killer into revealing his hand, smoking copious cigarettes to cover the floor in ash to find where a killer was hiding.

This is different to most Sherlocks who are more distant or active puzzle solvers, rather than manipulating gamers.

Talks in a professional and polite manner as that'll help him achieve his goals. Often seen manipulating people, dressing up and the like.

Ignores intellectual pursuits not profitable for his goals, something an INTP or similar type wouldn't do.

Will often judge others and things based on how externally effective they are with an impartial manner.

Often delegates tasks to others

Fi third:

Deep love of the arts, of his friendship and has many deep morals that he puts above the law.

Ni Fi loop can cause him to become overly emotional, arrogant or biased.

Unconventional morals rather than trying to cause harmony.

Se last:

Action orientated at a last resort and honed his sensory skills.

A drug decency is often present in weak Se individuals. This changes later in his life.

For more general INTJ traits.

He is wise, soft hearted and speaks formally. Has a soft egotism, that is hidden behind politeness.

Heavily future focused for someone generally solving past crimes. He will directly interact with and lure criminals.

He is often described as a machine, due to his ability to disconnect himself from cases and his intense work ethic.

He gives the impression of a very well rounded INTJ like Gandalf, rather than the edgy INTJs of many other media.

Can be arrogant to his own detriment and puts plans in place to stop that repeating and rely too much on intuition at times.

Sherlock BBC and Sherlock & Co: INTP

Ti dominant:

This is fairly obvious. Less action orientated than most incarnations, much colder, fairly emotional but dislikes it (weak Fe).

Strips down situations to their most fundamental elements and uses logic to deduce from that.

He enjoys building a web of logic and understanding things completely, which Te cares little about. Te only cares for the how, not the why.

Thinks a lot faster than other incarnations owing to the Ti dominance.

Ne auxiliary:

Generates lots of possibilities from stimuli then feeds that into Ti to be filtered. This can be seen in some places where he generates almost a comical amount of possibilities.

Si third:

Uses past cases and attention to details a lot.

Details keep him grounded and balance the Ne nicely.

Sometimes gets into a Ti Si loop requiring Ne creativity in the form of a case to solve the issue.

Fourth Fe:

In this incarnation is appears undeveloped with his aloof and arrogant manner, unlike say Senku, a healthy INTP, he can use his weak Fe with exertion to manipulate others and the deep love he has for his friends.

General notes:

He is more unhealthy than other incarnations however highlights the differences between the Ni Te of the INTJs and the Ti Ne of INTPs. A good typing system always tells you what you are not as well as what you are.

INTJs often decide on a goal, or get a flash of intuition, then use Te as a tool for future planning. Perfect for strategy.

INTPs build up a logical filter for everything, and see many possibilities rather than their singular goals. Perfect for puzzle solving.

He has a broad range of interests and is well educated.

Sherlock Elementary: ISTP

Ti dominant:

This is clear similar to the above.

His first thought is always to turn within himself and logically deduce.

Se auxiliary:

Almost comically sensory, always licking, sniffing and touching things. Heightened senses.

The classic cold Ti dominance that is fed continuously in the moment by Se. This incarnation is far more action orientated than almost any other incarnation.

Ni third:

This is shown by his slower intuitive thoughts he often draws on when cases are unable to he solved via quick thinking and action.

This can lead him going into an unhealthy Ti Ni loop, as you can see when he judges himself very harshly.

Fe fourth:

Shown similar to BBC sherlock. The cold nature and displeasure with feelings. This does grow considerably throughout the series.

Sherlock, Moriarty the patriot: ENTP

Ne dominant:

This is super clear here. He often is jumps from possibility to possibility. It is his dominant function by far.

His humour matches what you'd expect of this type. He is perceiving first which is also evidence and often follows his many intuitive whims.

Ti auxiliary:

While similar to a more jovial and loving BBC Sherlock, as his Ti is strong, he is also very enigmatic and charming.

His Ti second makes sense, as it isn't his first reaction to judge based on internal logic, but use his internal reasoning later on to judge situations and build his web of logic.

Fe third:

Shown clearly by his emotional connection needs. He is just as emotional as Canon sherlock but shows it more openly and desires more connection.

Unlike every other incarnation, he readily calls people friends such as Moriarty.

General points:

Almost stereotypically ENTP at points, especially with the total lack of Si that other Sherlocks rely on greatly. He does not mention previous cases, or past experiences in general and is incredibly forward focused and creative.

Watson Canon: ISFJ

Si dominant:

Very honorable, detail orientated and studious as shown by his academic background. Si is basically the academic function.

Fe auxiliary:

He is the classic Fe balance to Sherlock's cool manner. His morals are based on community and harmony. Ti third: He has an internal set of logic that he uses to evaluate certain things after his morality and past experiences. This can be shown by his initial skepticism and continued fascination with the mind of his Sherlock.

Ne fourth:

He finds Sherlock continually fascinating without getting bored or adapting too well to his creative and unconventional methods. Often fails to see multiple possibilities. Has moments of brilliancy showing he is working on his Ne, with any Ne strong Sherlock it seems like he admires him for his proficiency in his weakness.

Note:

I did struggle with Si first as he often made simple detailing errors in his writing, however he also obscures a lot for national security reasons so that'll be my explanation.

For example, he gives a day, says it is a certain day when it isn't.

Irene Adler Cannon: ENTJ

Te Dominant:

Superior planning and calculated behaviour. Always looking forward into the future as a first port of call.

She has been shown to be able to outfit Sherlock courtesy of her Te dominance.

Ni auxiliary:

Admittedly weak evidence for this, this is more how you think, and we don't get to see that too much other than her desires to be free of influence and safe. She is very artistic and clever, this lends itself to Ni creativity. Se third: She is rather action orientated, a master of disguise and falls back onto this in moments of panic. Her lavish lifestyle and love of adventure lends itself to this being her third function. Fi fourth: She has remarkably well developed Fi, and seems to know what her goals are in this area. She is not morally deficient like a lot of young ENTJs.

Mycroft Canon: INTP

Almost a classic INTP, although is more lazy and less goofy than the stereotype, however most INTPs I know in real life are pretty cold. Ti dom will do that.

It seems he is stuck in a Ti Si loop, constantly doing the same habits.

Moriarty Canon (and almost all others): INTJ

Moriarty is the classic INTJ.

The spider that weaves a web and achieves all their goals.

Almost stereotypical. We are often given descriptions of him rather than points of view of the man himself. There are a few books from that perspective, and in Moriarty the patriot you get to see a particularly healthy and moral Moriarty.

I would venture to say even BBC Moriarty is an INTJ, just a particularly flamboyant one.

The reason INTJs fit so well is that they make big plans, and it is interesting watching them mastermind a plot like a game, and then a detective, usually an INTP, solve it like a puzzle.

They also care about results more than understanding why the tools they used worked or how moral the means are. They will understand things to the point that they can exploit it but due to a pack of Ti get little appreciation for the underlying structure of things.

This generally speaks to INTJs living in the future while INTPs focus on puzzles in the moment or past.

Although INTJ villains are pitted against many different types.

Augustus Milverton, Canon/Magnussen BBC: ENTJ

A cartoonishly evil one, the worst blackmailer of them all, while similar to an INTJ, they have inferior Fi so tend to find morals even more tiring and hard to make and use.

He is pragmatic with strong Te that surpasses even Moriarty as his goals are smaller (second Ni) but well executed (Te first)

The ENTJs third function is Se, which there is some evidence for with this quick witted nature and desire to personally deal with some victims.

[mentalism-examples]

I love this art

@billiamsquilliam Did this amazing art piece for me Near is dear to my heart. I relate to his INTJ nature, the way he plays with his hair when he thinks and using toys to express his thought process. And he wears baggy white shirts, the classic uniform of pre 2016 Sherlly. This art was amazingly done by Billy as a commission, Near is playing my favourite opening, the Vienna gambit and there are references to my memory systems in the cards. I love it very much.

[mentalism-examples]

We played this in the "deduction class" at school, it wasn't a deduction class, but we had a few deductionesq things, like going on the reddit deduction forum and posting deductions, having people come in and we guess their profession, and this game included. We had longer than a few seconds, and I always crushed with a mind palace. However in a group, I suggested coordinating areas, so we only have a small section of items to worry about.

A Game to Help with Observation Skills

Here's a fun game I used to play when I was little. It's good for practicing using your brain to notice and remember things, as well as its a lot of fun. We used to play with several people, but I'm going to present it like your playing this with you and a friend.

The idea is to set up a table with several objects, such as sticky notes with lists, dates and times, receipts, pill bottles, random objects, several playing cards or pens. You cover the table with a cloth, and your friend lifts the cloth for about 10-20 seconds, (this time is very customizable, do as many as needed and work your way to shorter times) before placing it down again. You then leave for about 5 minutes (this trains your ability to retain said information) and when you come back, try to list everything you observed on the table. The objective is to remember as many details as possible. What was on the sticky notes? Which cards were the playing cards? How many pens were there? What other objects litter the desk? Are there any candy wrappers? What kind?

My advice is to start simple, but in depth. Prioritize quality of info versus number. So instead of 5 sticky notes, 3 playing cards and 7 pens, try listing what the notes said, what suits the cards were, or what type and colour the pens were.

Pretend to draw it in your head. Look at it like you have to paint it, take note of shapes and types. And in the five minutes you're away, draw it out using your imagination. I've found it helps with recall if I actually pretend to draw it all out.

Or you can mentally list it, like say to yourself "1 queen of hearts, 2 aces, spades and diamonds, 3 BIC pens, and 2 butter knives" and just repeat it while you wait.

Or visualize the list, pretend like you are writing it down in your head, or typing it.

I hope you find fun in this game, and enjoy the rest of your day/night!

[mentalism-examples]

Chess is cool

To get good at chess, it is not one formula, or algorithm, but a slow processes of systematically and rigorously shaping your intuition to be faster than your mind and more accurate. Chess grandmasters think about the same amount of potential moves as chess beginners, but their intuition guides them to the correct moves. However they can also calculate, many many moves in their minds. Sometimes whole games with intense focus and intellectual skill.

The feeling of when things finally click, when you have practice and internalized patterns, tactics, and strategy gives you a sense of not only being able to learn a difficult thing, but also the confidence and proof you can change your own brain structure to improve yourself. On top of that, proving yourself wrong is essential, emotional regulation and ego regulation. These lessons are not limited to chess though, shogi, go, sudoku even, most things that are easy to learn, hard to master give this amazing insight into what you are capable of.

[mentalism-examples]

This reminds me of Fermi estimation!

also called "back of the envelope" calculations.

you can use your powers of estimation and using exponents to solve a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve exactly, by estimating to the nearest power of 10 It's easier to show by example How many times does the average person’s heart beat in a lifetime?

estimate average heart rate: Assume one beat per second estimate average lifespan: Assume 80 years estimate number seconds in 1 year: This is hard in itself, we can't use a calculate, so let's assume a year is 400 days, 20 hours in a day with 4000 second in an hour. Multiplying we get 3 x 10^7 how do we get 10^7? more estimates. 365 days/y x 24h/d x 3600s/h is BASICALLY the same as 400 days x 20 h x 4000 s/h = 4 x 10^2 x 2 x 10^1 x 4 x 10^3 = 32 x 10^6 and we know scientific notation so we write this as about 3 x 10^7 s/y Number of heartbeats in a lifetime: (80 years) x (3 x 10^7 s/y) x (1 beat/s) = 240 x 10^7 = 2.4 x 10^2 x 10^7 = 2.4 x 10^9 ≈ 10^9 heartbeats, which turns out to be about correct. Here are some more questions you can try for homework @deepseagoon: Feel free to look stuff up, just found to a sensible nice number. I stole some of these, so you can find example solutions online :)

How many piano tuners are there in London?

How many sheets of paper stacked would reach the moon?

What is e to the power of 12?

How many kilograms of rice were consumed by people living in the U.S. last year?

How many dice does it take to equal the mass of the average human?

What number of basket balls would you have to lay on the surface area of a swimming pool?

How much rubbish (in kg) does the average family produce in two years?

What volume of air do you breathe in one day?

How many hairs are on the average human head?

If we could brew tea in swimming pools, how many pools would we need to satisfy the need for tea in china?

How many pennies would it take to make a stack the height of the Empire State Building?

Quick guide on how to guess the number of marbles/gumballs in a jar. This works with any round object. Keep in mind it's approximate, but it should get you close enough and quickly. (Also, this isn't for jellybeans, this is for round stuff, i.e., gumballs, bouncy balls, marbles, jawbreakers)

OK, so say for instance, you have a jar full of marbles, and you count seven marbles in the first row, (the x axis), six marbles in the first column (y axis) and and 5 marbles in the z axis. Therefore the "volume" will be approximately 7×6×5= 210 marbles.

The smaller the marbles the more accurate you'll be. This is because any simple area (and the corresponding volume) can be approximated by the area of a rectangle, including a circle or an ellipse. If the jar is an odd shape, just take it apart and apply the method to each part. This technique is a discovery of the Greek Archimedes. (This method ((i believe)) is called the method of exhaustion) Using triangles improves the method, but their volume isn't as easy to calculate.

And if said jar is full of something irregular like jellybeans (ew) or MnMs (yum), you can use another way. For instance, say the jar is 12 inches high and 6 inches in diameter its volume is roughly 339 cubic inches.

12 × pi × (6/2)² ≈ 339 cubic inches

(I don't have a pi symbol or ability to make fractions, but thats six over two) Keep in mind that the jar is probably not completely full, so measure the contents, not the jar. (Also dimensions should be interior dimensions if the glass is thick but it's usually pretty thin)

Now to figure out how many jelly beans (or other items) per cubic inch, experiment. Take a pack of jelly beans and see how many fit in a one cup measuring cup. One measuring cup is 14.4375 cubic inches.

If you don't have the time or the inclination to do so, you can estimate by counting the number you can see on the surface. For instance, the example jar we calculated has 226 square inches of surface. So count the beans on the bottom third of one side of the jar (one sixth of the total surface area, or about 38 square inches) say it's about 100 jelly beans and maybe the layer is half an inch thick, that's 100 jellybeans in 19 cubic inches.

Now this holds room for error, but it should get you somewhere close, or at least give you an idea. And some idea tends to give a better than a wild guess, and that's really all this is for as we cannot quickly get the exact number, so we make an educated guess. That being said, I've won several of these, most recently a jar of mini skittles (which were delicious) so it works at least a bit.

If this needs to be explained better, just lemme know and I'll try! I hope this was comprehendable and mildly useful. Good luck!