A modern-day Rorschach test
The Rorschach test—often called the "Rorschach inkblot test"—is a psychological assessment tool developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921. It consists of a series of ten standardized inkblot images shown to a person one at a time. The individual is asked to describe what they see in each inkblot, and their responses are analyzed for patterns in perception, thought processes, and emotional functioning.
The key thing to note about a Rorschach test is that it’s considered a “projective” test - which means that people will project inner feelings, thoughts, and potential biases that they may have to determine what they see in each image presented.
Last monday, on inauguration day, Elon Musk was giving a speech at one of the ceremonies, and in the middle of an emotional flurry, he gave a hand gesture towards the crowd followed by saying “My heart goes out to you”. We’ve all seen clips of it at this point.
What did you see in the clip?
Did you see a Trump supporter give a Nazi salute in front of millions of people?
Or did you see a mildly autistic guy make an awkward hand gesture trying to profess his love to the crowd?
Two people can look at the same clip and see two totally different things. What determines the difference in what each of us saw? Our inner feelings, biases, news sources, and people and institutions we trust among other things.
People who think it was a nazi salute will point out that this a “right-wing” ceremony or that he has a history of making anti-semitic comments, or that he loves stirring the pot. While people who think it was a strange hand gesture will say he has autism which caused a spastic movement, or that he greatly supports Israel and even visited after October 7th, or that the ADL, a leading anti-semetic watchdog organization has come out and said: “No, it’s not a nazi salute”.
What did you see?