# Internet Mind Reading Test **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337 "2013-05-14T18:48:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/41 "2013-05-15T06:50:26Z")
I never heard of St. Swithun’s Day, but then, I’m not religious. I thought of Cinco de Mayo. Probably because it’s the nearest holiday. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/42 "2013-05-15T09:54:26Z")
Rosh Hashanah. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/43 "2013-05-15T10:00:04Z")
Spring Bank Holiday for OP, Bastille day for Shagnasty. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/44 "2013-05-15T10:47:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Rosh Hashanah. Me too, followed by Independence Day ETA: And Flag Day for **Shagnasty** (actually I wanted to say Ruination Day but that’s not a holiday). ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/45 "2013-05-15T11:35:00Z")
First thought was Noruz ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/46 "2013-05-15T12:14:30Z")
I had Haloween but I’m Dutch, my Dutch holiday was Sint Nickolaas ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/47 "2013-05-15T13:34:01Z")
Thought of Ramadan ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/48 "2013-05-15T14:26:52Z")
I just got done re-watching Joyeux Noel last night soooo, the first thing that popped into my mind was Noel. But that’s the same as Christmas and thought it might be cheating, so I went with my second thought, which was Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/49 "2013-05-15T14:40:53Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Not a single person has gotten it right so far. That doesn’t sound good but there is an opposite confirmation of ESP. It can be confirmed when a person gets something right much less often than is statistically predicted. I think it is safe to say that **The Controvert** has this ability and that is no less remarkable, although less useful in the real world, than being able to predict the responses with any accuracy. I think we are looking at a true gift here. It is time to get [James Randi](http://skepdic.com/randi.html) in here for the $1,000,000 challenge. > > If he can predict 1,000 rolls of the dice and get none of them right, I think we have a winner. You may be on to something here. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, psychic abilities can’t be used for personal profit except for charging the gullible for readings. Any attempt to cash in on Randi’s prize would result in the OP’s loss of psychic failure ability. I think the best way to employ those abilities would be for the profit of others. For instance have him go to a casino and place a bet on all roulette numbers except one. That one left will likely hit quite often, so long as the OP is using his own money and received no share of other’s winnings. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/50 "2013-05-15T15:17:15Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Halloween was mine. Mine too. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/51 "2013-05-15T16:49:08Z")
Let’s see, Christmas, no, Labor Day, no, Memorial Day, no… Presidents Day Not sure why I thought of them in that particular order. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/52 "2013-05-15T16:52:44Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > After that came to mind, I did a little bit of thinking to make sure that there wasn’t only one holiday with an ‘n’ in its name, and came up with Ramadan. Not a holiday. It’s an entire month, similar to Lent. The corresponding holiday would be [spoiler]Eid al Fitr [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/53 "2013-05-15T17:06:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You didn’t match me, but I was thinking of Arbor Day. > > 😃 > > Regards, > Shodan There’s no f in Arbor Day! (Nor an N for that matter…) Edit to add: I thought of Boxing Day myself - and I’m not even Canadian! ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/54 "2013-05-15T19:16:51Z")
My first thought was Veteran’s Day ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/55 "2013-05-15T21:18:18Z")
My first thought was President’s Day then to be a wise guy, I came up with Hannukah and Cinco de Mayo Eventually I settled on the Commonwealths’ favorite holiday: Evacuation Day. Known colloquially as Marathon Day, which I guess also has an N I think Shagnasty and Tripolar are on to something, with The Convert’s anti-ESP ability. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/56 "2013-05-15T22:13:35Z")
MLK Day. It’s the second holiday on the US calendar. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/57 "2013-05-15T22:48:12Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Not a single person has gotten it right so far. That doesn’t sound good but there is an opposite confirmation of ESP. It can be confirmed when a person gets something right much less often than is statistically predicted. I think it is safe to say that **The Controvert** has this ability and that is no less remarkable, although less useful in the real world, than being able to predict the responses with any accuracy. I think we are looking at a true gift here. It is time to get [James Randi](http://skepdic.com/randi.html) in here for the $1,000,000 challenge. Nope. He biased the results by giving us plenty of time to think. We had enough time to analyze the question and try to not think of a common holiday (and/or an uncommon name for a common holiday). If he’d just said to use your first thought, mine would have been Thanksgiving, the third holiday I thought of. (I also thought of Christmas and the one below.) I also went with Independence Day because the more common name for the holiday was the first holiday I thought of, since it’s the biggest one coming up. And I’m American and have never heard of St. Swithun’s day. In fact, I thought that was someone thinking of an odd holiday to beat the system. I’d have put even S(ain)t. Patrick’s Day above that, one you normally wouldn’t think of due to the common spelling. I note that both Google and Firefox think I spelled Swithun’s wrong, even though my research shows that is the proper spelling of the holiday. So it can’t be too common. I’m still wondering if I was whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/58 "2013-05-16T00:59:11Z")
Whitsun Do you even have that in America? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/59 "2013-05-16T01:24:57Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Another IMR failure. Mine was: Canada Day Was also thinking of this day. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337/60 "2013-05-16T03:20:46Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And I’m American and have never heard of St. Swithun’s day. In fact, I thought that was someone thinking of an odd holiday to beat the system. I’d have put even S(ain)t. Patrick’s Day above that, one you normally wouldn’t think of due to the common spelling. > > I note that both Google and Firefox think I spelled Swithun’s wrong, even though my research shows that is the proper spelling of the holiday. So it can’t be too common. I’m still wondering if I was whooshed. You’ll notice that St. Swithuns is [referenced often in literature and drama,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Swithun_in_popular_culture)often with a comical twist. It’s a funny sounding name and he’s an obscure Anglo-Saxon saint on top of that. It is overwhelmingly spelled Swithins for some reason. I’m not sure but I think I heard the first reference ages and ages ago on a episode of the British show Doctor in the House. Hard to believe you’ve never noticed the annual celebration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-mind-reading-test/658337.md?page=4)