Mind Mirror

Timothy Leary’s Mind Mirror is software program that Tim created with Bob Dietz and Peter Van den Beemt back in 1985. It runs on the IBM PC with a CGA graphics card in 4 color mode, on the Apple II, and on the Commodore 64. It requires a floppy drive. It was published by Electronic Arts and sold about 65,000 copies over the course of about two years.

Mind Mirror was created by Bob Dietz and Timothy Leary in 1982.
EA wanted to capitalize upon the good doctor’s wild & zany notoriety, and Tim obliged. It is based on Tim’s work on psycho-metrics from the 1950’s and allows users to define, compare and role play personalities. One of the most innovative ideas about the program is that role playing someone else will teach you about yourself and others.

The limitations of the 1985 computers forced many compromises on the presentation of the text and graphics. Electronic Arts abandoned the program many years ago and Timothy’s Estate recently sold its rights in Mind Mirror to the original developers and programmers. They are working with Edward Craig, who has licensed the product, to extend its capabilities to modern computers and the Internet.

Here’s a little movie of this program in action.

Edward Craig had these comments:

“At the core of the program is the concept of the Interpersonal Circle (IPC) aka Interpersonal Circumplex. It provides a visual motif that allows users to plot their behavior and compare it with others in terms of 16 character types in four aspects of human personality.

It is a model detailed in TL’s 1957 tome, “Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality.” IDOP is my bible and inspiration. So, while we cannot replicate the personal stamp TL put on the old program, we can transplant its beating heart into a new body — one with cyber-social networking capabilities and virtually unlimited processing and storage capacity for statistical modeling.

We like to think of the IPC as a bit of TL’s intelligence that will find a new home in cyberspace where it will provide insight and understanding for all. Mind Mirror has numerous applications as a psychological tool in the personal and professional realms: self-help and coaching, character development for writers, team-building, personnel hiring, negotiation and sales, market and political polling, etc. We do not have a fixed release date for the new Mind Mirror, but we hope to have it done within a year.”

For more information about Mind Mirror, visit http://www.mindmirror.com.