NIKOLA TESLA

JASON CHEUNG
KORY COPELAND
RYAN FIELDS
JILL MULLINS
 INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW OF LIFE
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• JULY 10, 1846-JANUARY 7, 1943 (AGE 86)
• INVENTED THE TESLA COIL, WHICH IS STILL USED
• BORN IN SMILJAN, CROATIA, DIED IN NEW YORK IN RADIO TECHNOLOGY TODAY
CITY
• INVENTED THE AC CURRENT, WHICH BECAME THE
• STUDIED AT THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE OF WORLDWIDE STANDARD IN ELECTRICITY.
AUSTRIA, LATER THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE
 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.
 CARL JUNG FOUND THAT WITHIN THE
UNCONSCIOUS OF A PERSON, CORE PATTERNS
OF EMOTIONS, AND PERCEPTIONS DEVELOP
AROUND A COMMON THEME. IF JUNG
CARL JUNG PSYCHOLOGICALLY ANALYZED NIKOLA TESLA
HE WOULD LIKELY OBSERVE A DEVELOPED
TESLA’S COMPLEX 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 FOUNDED AND FOCUSED ON
ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY. PRIMARILY THE
CONCEPT OF INDIVIDUATION. INDIVIDUATION IS THE
MANNER IN WHICH A PERSON IS IDENTIFIED, THE
CARL JUNG DISTINGUISHING FACTORS IN WHICH MAKES ONE
UNIQUE. NIKOLA TESLA DEVELOPED A VERY UNIQUE
INDIVIDUALISM 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.
 TO 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
CARL JUNG AND EXTRAVERSION WERE POPULARIZED
BY CARL JUNG. TESLA’S LEVEL OF
INTROVERSION 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.
 NIKOLA TESLA’S PASSION, VALUES AND
CHARACTER ARE TELLING OF A UNIQUE
UNCONSCIOUS. PARTICULARLY ONE COULD
OBSERVE THE IMPACT OF TESLA’S PASSION,
CARL JUNG
THE WEIGHT OF IMPORTANCE DOMINATES HIS
UNCONSCIOUSNESS 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.
 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)
 ERICH FROMM : TESLA’S PERSONALITY
DISORDERS
OR, “199 WAYS NOT TO INVENT A
The Incestuous Tesla
LIGHTBULB.”
The Narcissistic Tesla
Extreme Dependence on Mother Surrogate
Tesla made a habit of feeding the pigeons.
Benign He came to recognize one pigeon that he’d
An Interest in one’s own body. claim, returned to him anytime he wished.
Malignant “I had only to wish and call her, and she
Anything not belonging to oneself is devalued. would come flying to me. I loved that
Hypochondriasis – obsessive attention to health, pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she
(Feist & Feist, 2013, p. 206). loved me. As long as I had her, there was a
Tesla ran 8-10 miles a day, kept a strict vegan diet, purpose to my life.” – (Inman, 2012)
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.
 ERICH FROMM : EVALUATING TESLA’S NEEDS.
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.
Transcendence – His attention to his work, literally losing sleep over it, fits the creative requirement.
Relatedness
Tesla remained celibate, turning down many female
callers. In doing so, he would never fully attain love,
a necessary ingredient of self-realization.
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.
 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.
NIKOLA • MASLOW’S THEORY IS CENTERED AROUND THE HIERARCHY OF
NEEDS. MASLOW TAUGHT THAT THE NEED FOR LOVE,

TESLA AS SEEN FRIENDSHIP, AND INTIMACY BECOME IMPORTANT AFTER THE

BASIC SAFETY AND PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS ARE MET. TESLA
DEEMED THE NEEDS OF LOVE AND INTIMACY NOT AS
THROUGH MASLOW'S IMPORTANT AS HIS NEED FOR CREATIVITY, HIS NEED TO INVENT.
EYES 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.
MORE FROM MASLOW'S
PERSPECTIVE • ACCORDING 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.
MORE FROM MASLOW'S
PERSPECTIVE • TESLA 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.
MORE FROM MASLOW'S
PERSPECTIVE
• TESLA 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.
 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.
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 http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla
• Krueger, Joachim I Ph.D. Maslow on Creativity. Sep 8, 2013. Blog Entry.
www.psychologytoday.com.
• Šarboh, S. (2006, October 18). Papers: Sixth International Symposium Nikola Tesla. Retrieved from Sixth
International Symposium Nikola Tesla: http://web.archive.org/web/20071030134331/http://www.tesla-
symp06.org/papers/Tesla-Symp06_Sarboh.pdf
• 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, 1891. Volume 03 Page 34.
from the “The Tesla Collection”. Rudinska, Iwona, Editor.
(http://www.teslacollection.com)--. (2).jpg. .
• www.biography.com/people/Tesla
• www.libraryofcongress.com.http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85058130/1897-06- 27/ed-
1/seq-17
• www.livescience.org/OCD/symptoms
• www.nndb.com/people/910/000031817/
• www.pbs.org
• www.psychologytoday.com. Maslow on Creativity. Blog Entry By Joachim I Krueger Ph.D. -
Sep 8, 2013