Johnson O’conner a pioneer in the study of the individual and his/her Aptitudes. The Midrash of God vs the coin maker, who makes identical coins while God makes each of us unique, with our own unique patterns of aptitudes.
Aptitudes are natural abilities
Aptitudes are natural talents, special abilities for doing, or learning to do, certain kinds of things easily and quickly. They have little to do with knowledge or culture, or education, or even interests. They have to do with heredity. Musical talent and artistic talent are examples of such aptitudes.
Some people can paint beautifully but cannot carry a tune. Others are good at talking to people but slow at paperwork. Still others can easily repair a car, but find writing difficult. These basic differences among people are important factors in making one person satisfied as a banker, another satisfied as an engineer, and still another satisfied working as an editor.
Through their testing, I discovered that I had the following aptitudes:
Favoring of Visual Perception and Structural Visualization with a tendency to diagram ideas and relationships.
A marked ability to create ideas and scenarios
Foresight which enables the seeing and developing possibilities and solutions
Analytical Reasoning which fosters organizing of similar and diverse factors
What I also learned was that happiness and personal contentment for me is based on being able to activate these aptitudes on a daily basis.
check out their book on aptitudes:
https://www.jocrf.org/aptitudes/book-understanding-your-aptitudes
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עולם מלא ומפני שלום הבריות שלא יאמר אדם לחבירו אבא גדול
מאביך … ולהגיד גדולתו של הקב”ה שאדם טובע כמה מטבעות בחותם אחד כולן דומין זה לזה ומלך מלכי המלכים הקב”ה טבע כל אדם בחותמו של אדם הראשון ואין אחד מהן דומה לחבירו לפיכך כל אחד ואחד חייב לומר בשבילי נברא העולם…
Sanhedrin 37a:13-15
“Therefore the first human being, Adam, was created alone, to teach us that whoever destroys a single life, the Torah considers it as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a single life, the Torah considers it as if he saved an entire world.
Furthermore, only one person, Adam, was created for the sake of peace among men, so that no one should say to his fellow, ‘My father was greater than yours….
Also, man [was created singly] to show the greatness of the Holy One, Blessed be He, for if a man strikes many coins from one mold, they all resemble one another, but the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, made each man in the image of Adam, and yet not one of them resembles his fellow.
Johnson O’Conner Aptitudes
“Think of aptitudes as individual building blocks that can work together to form a structure you can use to reach your goals in life.” P. 9
- Structural Visualization
“Structural Visualization -Drawn to taking things apart and putting them back together, building things, designing things, and figuring out how things work” -P. 7
“The ability to visualize in three dimensions” P.8
- Inductive Reasoning
“The ability to sense a unifying principle running through miscellany or a gift for synthesis as compared to analysis.” P 14
“Though Inductive Reasoning is often defined as a diagnostic sense, it can also be a gift for critiquing, evaluating, and decision making…the ability to formulate a conclusion or build a theory from a restricted number of clues is another salient feature of this aptitude.” P. 14
“The seeing of relationships often occurs so quickly that a person might be unable to explain how the conclusion was reached.” P 14
“People who score low tend to be careful, deliberate and methodical in reaching conclusions…Thinking of this as style, people who score low are often characterized by their thoroughness and accuracy.” P. 16
“People who score high in Inductive Reasoning should not see their careers in terms of jobs but in terms of interesting problems to solve.” P. 17
- Ideaphoria
“Creative imagination” “Quantity, or rate of flow of ideas” p19
” Consider opportunities in fields in which producing a rapid flow of ideas is integral to your work…Brainstorming often proves extremely satisfying for those with Ideaphoria.” P 20
“Work that moves from project to project or otherwise requires a constant influx of new ideas should keep the person with Ideaphoria challenged and fulfilled.” P 21
“Changes from the routine usually stimulate a person with this divergent thinking aptitude.” P 22
“A low score does not indicate a lack of ideas, just a slower rate of flow…Often, it can be more important to have a constant level of concentration rather than a multitude of ideas.” P. 22
- Graphoria
“Clerical speed” “Number checking” “Those who score higher in Graphoria are far more likely to flourish in work settings in which attention to detail and checking forms and records predominate that are those who lack this aptitude.” P 25
“Those who score low…feel the weight of paperwork more often. Pencil and paper tasks are often arduous and distasteful.” P. 27
“Play to your strengths…and don’t let low-graphoria issues stop you from pursuing something you want.” P 27
- Analytical Reasoning
“This innate sense of order and system indicates that people who have this aptitude are able to fit a given string of words into a constraining pre-determined pattern with dispatch.” P 29
“The common thread is work that requires the ability to select and organize relevant information for a solution of a problem.” P29
“Those who score high in Analytical Reasoning often demonstrate the ability to organize ideas and concepts in their minds, without the use of exhaustive, step-by- step instructions. They love the challenge of creating more efficient ways to do things, mapping out systems that work more economically, or solving logical problems.” P30
“Analytical Reasoning is our name for the ability to naturally and quickly organize information, activities, or steps in a process. To capitalize on this ability, seek out ways to create systems, craft strategies, and be involved in planning.” P33
“If you scored low or average, this is not to say you can’t be organized or can’t plan out activities, just that it might be more of a deliberate effort and that you might need more time.” P 33
“Those scoring high may well lack the temperament to express themselves in an orderly way outside the mind.” P 33
- Numerical Aptitudes
“Number Patterns”, “Being able to see meaning in numbers is useful in fields that involve analyzing and/or interpreting numerical information.” P 36
“Number Facility”: “People who score high on this test have a facility for doing arithmetic quickly and accurately.” P36
“Number Memory”- “Memorizing multiple numbers”
- Auditory Aptitudes
“Tonal Memory, an ability to remember sequences of tones, is often thought of as the central music aptitude; after all, most people mainly associate music with melody. It is the ability that causes some to come home from a musical or a concert singing that great new song.” P40
Pitch Discrimination, measures the ability to distinguish between different frequencies, or pitches, of sound. People with this aptitude are more likely to notice mistakes in music, whether they are their own slightly sour notes or those of the person behind them in the chorus.” P41
Rhythm Memory is similar to tone memory, but relates to the ability to learn and remember rhythms or beats rather than tunes. Those with Rhythm memory might find themselves turning up the bass on their stereos or tapping their fingers or feet along with the drum line.” P 41
- Silograms
Named after a researcher Kim Margolis, Silograms is her last name spelled backwards…If your have this aptitude, you may find that repetitive memorization is not a burden for you when learning languages or any type of specialized words. A high score on Silograms should encourage you to explore the rich world or foreign languages and cultures.” P 45
“Having a facility for learning new words easily can be a great asset whether your career involves international communication or keeping up with ever-changing technical lingo.” P 48
- Memory for Design & Observation
“As Memory for Design measures the ability to quickly absorb and reproduce abstract line diagrams, those who score high on this test may have an advantage in remembering charts, graphs, electronic schematics, molecular diagrams and other patterns or designs. People with the aptitude often notice that they are more aware of styles and trends in visual fields from fashion to architecture.” P 50
“Since Observation is the ability to notice and remember small visual details, it is helpful for inspectors, detectives, appraisers, antique dealers, or anyone else who is responsible for monitoring or evaluating quality or consistency.” P 51
- Color Discrimination
- Visual Designs
- Dexterities
- Foresight
“Examinees are presented with a simple arrangement of lines on a screen and are asked to generate possibilities about what each design reminds them of or suggests to them. P59
“If you scored high on foresight, you see possibilities, lots and lots of possibilities. For some, the sheer number of possibilities may make it difficult to choose a direction. Having long-term goals to help focus these possibilities is very important. P59
“Though high foresight suggests the need for long-term goals, it does not automatically provide them.” P60
“To avoid some of the frustrations that can come with not having an outlet for this aptitude, spend some time thinking about what is important to you in a more general way. Are there themes that you return to in your conversations, reading, activities, and experiences? What would those closest to you describe as your strongest interests?”P61
Low scoring in Foresight? “You may prefer working in the here and now rather than trying to set your sights on something years in the future. Instead of saying “It could be”, you might be more inclined to think, “It is”…Breaking goals into small steps makes it easier to measure progress.”P62
“High and low Foresight can both be advantageous; one makes long-term planning highly satisfying once a goal is envisioned, and the other helps in getting things done in the here and now. Wherever your score lies, make your plans so they suit your natural tendency to focus on the future or the moment. P64
