Does anybody ever wonder why we care what these silly tests call us? Who knows who writes them, it’s doubtful if there’s any real psychology involved in creating them, yet we seem to put stock in their results. I know that no one (well, almost no one) is going to really evaluate their life based on an internet “what character are you” test, but I noticed that both Kn*ckers and I kind of winced when it came up with Spock. Why is that the case for what should be just a silly but fun test?
Please note: I have no real answers to the above questions. They’re just sort of random thoughts that are most likely due to too little sleep. But am I the only one that finds our fascination with these things interesting?
Um… sorry, I dunno. It’s kinda funny, I guess.
Upon further consideration, I see your point (humorously, I initially mistyped that as “pointy,” which MUST have been a Freudian slip). It’s an interesting means of being defined as something we are not (namely, characters in fictional TV series), and - perhaps more importantly - we ourselves are not doing the defining.
Which is illogical (damn). If we insist on personifying these characters (or, rather, the traits that identify them) it would make far more sense for us to choose for ourselves which we best resemble. Because we know ourselves far better and far more completely than does a brief, indifferently rendered online quiz (though in my case, I think the quiz was right).
But why use a quiz? I mean, yeah, it’s fun, and that’s all well and good, but WHY is it fun? Is this part of the escapist fantaasy that leads us to take refuge in science fiction in the first place, or is there more to it? I think that enjoyment of similar self-exploration activities is not specific to sci-fi geeks. In fact, I expect it’s an integral part of human introspectiveness, and thus of human nature itself. But I’m darned if I can figure out why.
So, yeah, Linus, I understand what you’re getting at, and I think it’s curious, too. Maybe just our Vulcan sensibilities taking over, though.
Another question: What’s wrong with being Spock? Don’t know why it perplexed me, since I think it’s spot-on. And Spock’s not a character I dislike, so I can’t imagine why I should find this result unsatisfying. Unless I was hoping the quiz would identify me as having traits I wish I had (spontaneity, sociability, etc.). So, the result just reminded me that I’m an emotionless, cold-hearted alien, which I might prefer to forget. Hmph.
And yet, when one is on the verge of completely identifying their very own Id, Ego, and Superego, one is left with a profound sense of the incompleteness of any such endeavor.
For, knowledge of self is only a very smal part of understanding the reality of which we are a part.
Take a tree, for instance. Is it self aware? Or aware on any level? All one has to do is ask. Reach out through your mind to feel the tree. Observe life through its awareness. Enjoy the goodness of being rooted, digging your tendrils deep into the Earth, devouring any nutrients that dissolve into your skin. Feel your branches streaching upward and outward, freeing the mundane need for movement. Breathe in the atmospheric gases that surround you while exhaling the very thing that non plants need for mere survival. Worship the Sun with the chloraphyll of your leaves, knowing that it is, in fact, the Sun which feeds the animals feasting on you.
So…, Why do we examine and attempt to quantify and qualify our own selves?
And yet, when one is on the verge of completely identifying their very own Id, Ego, and Superego, one is left with a profound sense of the incompleteness of any such endeavor.
For, knowledge of self is only a very smal part of understanding the reality of which we are a part.
Take a tree, for instance. Is it self aware? Or aware on any level? All one has to do is ask. Reach out through your mind to feel the tree. Observe life through its awareness. Enjoy the goodness of being rooted, digging your tendrils deep into the Earth, devouring any nutrients that dissolve into your skin. Feel your branches streaching upward and outward, freeing the mundane need for movement. Breathe in the atmospheric gases that surround you while exhaling the very thing that non plants need for mere survival. Worship the Sun with the chloraphyll of your leaves, knowing that it is, in fact, the Sun which feeds the animals feasting on you.
So…, Why do we examine and attempt to quantify and qualify our own selves?
I just got home from work. I go back in three hours. I’ve had maybe five hours of sleep and had to get those from sleeping pills which have left me groggy all day.
As long as there’s psychological stuff going on…Let’s have some fun with it:
Recommended Self-Help books for Archer:
Stop Being Co-Dependent, Vol. 1: You and Your Dog
Stop Being Co-Dependent, Vol. 2: You and Your Chief Engineer
It’s Time to Move On: No More Incessant Yakking About Daddy or Water Polo
Be a Leader, Not a Pal
You’re Wrong More Often Than You Think, So Just Admit It Already
Stop Whining in 12 Steps or One Week, Whichever Comes First
Add to the list if you like.
NCB-style non-sequitur: A PPO agent asked me on the phone today, “And what is your current age?”
I told him.
But then I thought, What does he mean, my “current” age? As opposed to what? My future age? Some age I was years ago? Maybe he should check with Future Guy.
Hairstyles of the 22nd century
Insense and covering nasty smells
Painting Ear Points, the New Vulcan Logical Fad!
A Logical Hypothesis on The Whereabouts of My Cheese and Who was the Culprit in Moving said Cheese by Surak
Reed:
Things That Go Boom!
Sacrificing Yourself For the Greater Good
Sacrificing Yourself For no real reason
The Big Book of British Smiles
Tucker: Anger Management
More Anger Management
How to Count to Ten Instead of Turning Red and Smashing Aliens
Fighting Big Eared Aliens in your Underwear for Fun and Profit Catfish Recipies by C. T. fish
Mayweather: Be Noticed! How to Speak Attracting Attention to Yourself Why Boomers are Pimps by Lando Calrissian
Phlox: Ugly Animals
Uglier Animals
Really Uglier Animals
Eye of Newt Weekly
Grinding Up Denebulan Slime Devil Toenails…for Dummies
Where the Wild Things Are
Hoshi: Keeping your Clothes on, a Beginners Guide
Keeping your Clothes on, an advanced guide
How to Staple your Clothes on
Fine, Run around Naked, Your Father is too Stupid to Understand What you are doing anyway, fifth Ed. How to Avoid Creepy Internet Martian Stalkers
@%#$TEGeG3q$y4q5yqhg’q34y’q3YHQ$"35y’q5y"Q$%G"q35g’q3’Gq34"gq3’gQ#$GQ#%G45g’45q by 4 v#v3@c34%346fg$7hfgkMfgmgHnBbvs, in the original %@#6veGVvgj hjfgJfgJdFSHs-ian Harry Potter, entire set.
Amusingly enough, the first thing I thought after posting that was, “Dang. I am Spock.”
I get about 2 of these tests a month sent to me by e-mail and the vast majority of them are science fiction or fantasy related. I guess there were a couple of reasons why I posted what I did:
Reason # one I posted it:
I noticed Kn*ckers having the same reaction that I did. “Spock. Eh.” And it got me thinking. We do things like internet personality tests because its fun, or we’re bored, and we really don’t care about them, or so we say. Yet we care at least enough to be disappointed if we get a less than flattering result. So, why is that? I think that one of the reasons is the same reason that we’re all fans of SF - we like to lose ourselves, however temporarily in a world of imagination. Let’s face it: if we can suspend our disbelief for some of the Trek episodes, temporarily believing a stupid little quiz is a piece of cake. And, while we’re in that moment, we want the results to tell us what we want to believe about ourselves - that we’re smart, funny, and cool.
Reason # two I posted it:
I didn’t get nearly enought sleep last night, was a little loopy this morning, and was posting the random thoughts as they hit.
Back from work and I feel like NCB probably did while he was all doped up on medication. I’ve been working nothing but four hour shifts for about a year now (I’m a slacker) and this thirteen hour split shift has turned my brain into mush.
And going back a bit, after thinking it over, I am Odo. Not so likeable, sorta stoic, a loner, and all that stuff but a big ol’ softie and romantic at heart. Yep… that’s me.
Plus, with his abilities, I can get any woman I want.
