15 Comments
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Grace Louise  Williams's avatar

I don’t understand any of it

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nika's avatar

Hi Grace! I would love to explain! What do you not understand? 😊💓

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Grace Louise  Williams's avatar

Thanx

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Grace Louise  Williams's avatar

But I will it just that I always need time to understand things

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nika's avatar

Take your time! If you have any questions, ask away! 🫶🏻✨

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Grace Louise  Williams's avatar

Thank you 😊

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Grace Louise  Williams's avatar

I don’t understand how people can have four different types of temperaments! I thought it was like 8 or 9

Onm I think I figured it out

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rewsnatcerroc's avatar

is it bad if i identify a lot with choleric?</3

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nika's avatar

absolutely not! all the four types are equally special and great! don't feel guilty about identifying with choleric and being yourself. you should be proud of your personality traits, such as active, outgoing, assertive, ambitious, focused and so so so many more! my dad is a choleric and he's the best person ever ! <3

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rewsnatcerroc's avatar

oh wow that is so sweet. thanks, niki<3

i guess im still affiliating those traits as negative at times and forget how amazing they are when done right. love this!

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The Humane Sapiens's avatar

As a kid, I was definitely Choleric, but now I’m Phlegmatic most of the time 🙏

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nika's avatar

That's a beautiful story of change! I would consider myself a Phlegmatic too! 🤍

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The Humane Sapiens's avatar

Yes, I agree! When I think about it, folks I met on Substack so far should mostly be in that group, hehe 🤍🫶

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Alex Jenkin's avatar

Cool piece.

One could argue that treating the whole person has always been an element of traditional healing practices and modern medicine is only just heading that way now..

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Matt DiGeronimo's avatar

Really interesting breakdown—and I love how you opened with that deceptively simple question: “Describe yourself in three words.” I’ve found that the people who answer quickly usually pull from who they want to be… and those who pause are often trying to tell the truth.

The four temperaments always fascinate me because even though Hippocrates’ “body fluids” theory doesn’t hold up, the personality archetypes still show up everywhere—from ancient philosophy to modern enneagrams to coffee shop astrology memes. It makes me wonder: are we just hardwired to want neat categories? Or do these frameworks actually help us grow?

I’d be curious to hear—how do you think these ancient temperament types compare to the Big Five personality traits used in psychology today? Is one more useful than the other when it comes to actually understanding ourselves—or maybe even changing?

Thanks for sparking such a fun rabbit hole to think through.

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