1 Jason Cheung Kory Copeland Ryan Fields Jill MullinsNikola Tesla Jason Cheung Kory Copeland Ryan Fields Jill Mullins
2 Introduction Notable Accomplishments Overview of LifeJuly 10, 1846-January 7, 1943 (age 86) Born in Smiljan, Croatia, Died in New York City Studied at the Polytechnic Institute of Austria, later the University of Prague Notable Accomplishments Invented the Tesla Coil, which is still used in Radio Technology today Invented the AC Current, which became the worldwide standard in electricity.
3 History Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia and was raised by both of his parents. His love of science was nurtured by his mother who liked to invent small household appliances. After he studied at the University of Prague, he worked at the central telephone exchange, until he moved to America in pursuit of his dream of creating his induction motor. Upon moving to America, he began working with Thomas Edison. This didn’t last long, and soon they were rivals of sorts, with Tesla’s AC current challenging Edison’s DC Current. While he did find success with his inventions at first, Tesla attempted to create a global wireless communication system. However, he was unable to complete this project before his investors lost interest, and he was forced to abandon it. After this, Tesla was never able to repeat the success of his Coil or AC current. His ideas became more and more outlandish. He died in New York City in 1943, bankrupt and reclusive. Pictured above is the Tesla Coil, one of his most famous inventions, which is still in use today.
4 Carl Jung Tesla’s ComplexCarl Jung found that within the unconscious of a person, core patterns of emotions, and perceptions develop around a common theme. If Jung psychologically analyzed Nikola Tesla he would likely observe a developed complex within Tesla. Tesla’s values were very characteristic. He highly regarded working on his inventions, choosing to trade off and sacrifice values like companionship. His love of science and inventing was likely born from by his mother who was a small time inventor herself. Jung found such joy and importance in the act of inventing he developed a distinct complex and life long commitment to his work. Carl Jung Tesla’s Complex
5 Carl Jung IndividualismCarl Jung founded and focused on analytical psychology. Primarily the concept of individuation. Individuation is the manner in which a person is identified, the distinguishing factors in which makes one unique. Nikola Tesla developed a very unique and distinguished individualism somewhat unconsciously. He was seen as a brilliant but reclusive man. He spoke intelligently but his interpersonal skills were lacking because his behavior seemed so odd to others. Tesla would lose his edge with his hand in business because of this. Securing patents for less than he deserved, he kept his mind focused on discovery. He would be misunderstood by others including his investors. Though seemingly outlandish, tesla was undoubtingly brilliant. Carl Jung Individualism
6 Carl Jung IntroversionTo say Nikola Tesla was Introverted is an understatement. Introversion is to have reserved and solitary behavior. Today we often use it unknowing that the terms introversion and extraversion were popularized by Carl Jung. Tesla’s level of introversion is rare within an individual, and usually crippling in some manner. Even more astounding was his ability to function at a high level of intelligence with severely low extroversion. Jung would argue Tesla’s introversion would hurt his ability to be social, and hinder his fulfilment. However, Tesla unusually preferred to indulge further in fulfilling his primary desire. His passion to create. Carl Jung Introversion
7 Carl Jung UnconsciousnessNikola Tesla’s passion, values and character are telling of a unique unconscious. Particularly one could observe the impact of Tesla’s passion, the weight of importance dominates his perception. As noted before, roots of his passion can be seen in observing his mother. His passion was nurtured by his parents. He is unconsciously confident he has found deep intrinsic meaning early in life. Deeper still, the joy of his first interactions leave deep psychological impressions to solidify his perception. Unconsciously, the joy of his first inspirations - like his mother - drive him to discover. Carl Jung Unconsciousness
8 Erich Fromm : What is a Nikola Tesla?Fromm would have described Tesla as a “Productive Hoarder.” Productive Hardworking, independent, and prolific though Tesla’s ideas proved to be, his ideas remained ideas. Hoarder Whereas his more successful counterpart Thomas Edison rushed to make money from the inventions his think tank produced (Inman, 2012), Tesla could not and kept his ideas to paper. Even so, Tesla filed no less than 260 patents, with the numbers considered to go up to 300, (Šarboh, 2006). Later in his life his behavior became more and more erratic, and he began to exhibit symptoms of personality disorder. (Inman, 2012)
9 Erich Fromm : Tesla’s Personality Disorders or, “199 ways not to invent a lightbulb.”The Incestuous Tesla Extreme Dependence on Mother Surrogate Tesla made a habit of feeding the pigeons. He came to recognize one pigeon that he’d claim, returned to him anytime he wished. “I had only to wish and call her, and she would come flying to me. I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.” – (Inman, 2012) The Narcissistic Tesla Benign An Interest in one’s own body. Malignant Anything not belonging to oneself is devalued. Hypochondriasis – obsessive attention to health, (Feist & Feist, 2013, p. 206). Tesla ran 8-10 miles a day, kept a strict vegan diet, and once fired an employee for being overweight, (Inman, 2012). (stock photo) Combined this shaped the public image of Tesla into something of a Mad Scientist. Fromm suggests that we suffer from two uniquely human conditions: Marketing and Freedom. Arguably in the western world, to have freedom one must have wealth. To have wealth, one must sell goods or service. In this sense, Tesla had neither wealth nor freedom.
10 Erich Fromm : Evaluating Tesla’s Needs.Relatedness Tesla remained celibate, turning down many female callers. In doing so, he would never fully attain love, a necessary ingredient of self-realization. Rootedness Fromm called humans Freaks of Nature, Tesla went a step further and invented machines that set man apart from Nature. Fromm supplanted invention for nature. His work was his fixation. Frame of Orientation Tesla’s goals grew gradually more irrational. While he started with rational goals: A/C current, Radio, Wireless Communication Desperation led him to seek irrational goals: Death Rays, Earthquake Machines. Sense of Identity He was very selective about his employees; indicating he knows who will get along with him. Solid goals, a strong work ethic; those were his strong suits. He had a strong sense of self, but it was very attached to his work. Transcendence – His attention to his work, literally losing sleep over it, fits the creative requirement.
11 Erich Fromm : Nikola Tesla Among Revolution.Karl Marx Sigmund Freud Revolutionaries Of five important influences on Fromm, Marx and Freud are #2 and #3. (Feist & Feist, 2013, p. 195). The achievements of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud changed their fields dramatically. Karl Marx gave the world the Communist Manifesto and challenged the field of economy and politics. Freud needs no introduction in this course, nonetheless, psychoanalysis still challenges our understanding of the mind. I would imagine Fromm would have recognized the revolutionary potential of Nikola Tesla.
12 Nikola Tesla as seen through Maslow's eyesMaslow’s Theory is centered around the Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow taught that the need for love, friendship, and intimacy become important after the basic safety and physiological needs are met. Tesla deemed the needs of love and intimacy not as important as his need for creativity, his need to invent. In 1891 Tesla gave an interview to the New York Times. Where he stated, “I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success...such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.” Tesla bypassed the emotional needs and embraced the esteem (the intellectual or creative needs) that are higher up on the pyramid. These are the needs that you fulfill when you have a feeling of accomplishment. Tesla believed his need to invent was so important that he gave up things that most people would deem just as important. Tesla gave up marriage and sex because he was convinced that it would take away from his drive and ability to invent and create. Tesla remained celibate, but was a brilliant man. Nikola Tesla as seen through Maslow's eyes
13 More from Maslow's perspectiveAccording to the teachings of Maslow if certain needs are not met we will attempt to compensate for those unmet needs. When a need goes unfulfilled there are typically three responses that can be expected--- abandonment, substitution, and maladaptive behavior (behavior that reduces anxiety but is unproductive)*. People who have unmet emotional needs usually behave in one or all of the four predictable ways. These individuals usually have a need to feel superior to others; to show status, money, or fame; to compete with others and attempt to be the fastest, the smartest, the best; or to manage, control, or manipulate others. * Krueger, Joachim I Ph.D. Maslow on Creativity. Sep 8, Blog Entry.
14 More from Maslow's perspectiveTesla showed signs of compensating for his unmet emotional needs when he ordered subordinates to go home and change their clothing, when he declined to shake anyone’s hand, and in his constant boasts of importance. And even earlier in his life when he was a student Tesla constantly challenged his professors on the scientific theories taught at the time Tesla’s insistence that his emotional needs were not as important as his creative and intellectual needs resulted in him showing maladaptive behavior. Today we would recognize some of these behaviors as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder behaviors (OCD). These OCD behaviors made anyone having even a simple dinner with Tesla a challenge. A Dinner with Tesla would begin the evening with his companions watching him polish his silverware, glass ware, and dishes until they gleamed. Then he would estimate the weight of his food before he began eating. Once he began eating he would then count how often his jaw moved while chewing. Additionally If Tesla was at a dinner party and saw a guest who was wearing round jewelry, such as pearls, Tesla would demand to not be seated near her.
15 More from Maslow's perspectiveTesla unconsciously used these unusual behaviors in attempt to fulfill a deficiency in his emotional needs. Whether tesla created his needs to be unmet due to his singular focus on his work or if tesla’s brothers early death began his journey to suppressing his emotional needs the result is the same. Tesla ignored his emotional needs. Instead of trying to meet the very real emotional needs of love and intimacy, Tesla instead chose to focus on his work. This decision resulted in Tesla never being truly emotionally fulfilled. Tesla chose to focus on the intellectual and creative needs and as a result the bright, creative and brilliant Tesla remained alone until his death in 1943.
16 Summary Nikola Tesla was a brilliant individual with a very unique personality. Jung would most likely describe Tesla as a highly introverted individual. He often exhibited odd behavior, and was rather reclusive. Tesla was a narcissistic man, with an attitude that Fromm would consider hypochondriasis due to his extreme dedication to health, and slight distaste for unhealthy people. While Tesla was able to successfully bring to life many ideas he came up with, such as his induction motor, Maslow would not consider him to be a self-actualized individual. Despite his accomplishments, Tesla bypassed emotional needs in his life in order to meet his esteem needs. Overall, Tesla was a brilliant, but flawed person.
17 References: Carlson, Bernard Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. Princeton University Press. MAY 2013 Cheney, Margaret. Tesla: Man Out of Time. New York: Dell Publishing, 1981. Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2013). Theories of Personality (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Inman, M. (2012). Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived. The Oatmeal. The Oatmeal, Seattle. Retrieved from Krueger, Joachim I Ph.D. Maslow on Creativity. Sep 8, Blog Entry. Šarboh, S. (2006, October 18). Papers: Sixth International Symposium Nikola Tesla. Retrieved from Sixth International Symposium Nikola Tesla: Strangest Man in New York," The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, UT), June 27, 1897, Page 17, col. 4-6. Thomson, Elihu. “A Talk by Nikola Tesla." New York Times. May 3, Volume 03 Page from the “The Tesla Collection”. Rudinska, Iwona, Editor (http://www.teslacollection.com)--. (2).jpg. . 27/ed-1/seq-17 Maslow on Creativity. Blog Entry By Joachim I Krueger Ph.D Sep 8, 2013