Pointless, but intriguing

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Saw this quiz and thought you guys would find it interesting:

>At the end of this message, you are asked a question.
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>Answer it immediately. Don’t stop and think about it.
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>Just say the first thing that pops into your mind.
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>This is a fun “test”… AND kind of spooky at the same time! Give it a try, then e-mail it around (including back to me) and you’ll see how many people you ;know fall into the same percentage as you. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among the 98% or the 2%. You’ll understand what that means after you finish taking the test".
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>Now. just follow the instructions as quickly as possible.
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>Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one…
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>You do not ever need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind.
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>You’ll be surprised.
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>Start:
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>How much is:
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>15 + 6
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>3 + 56
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>89 + 2
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>12 + 53
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>75 + 26
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>25 + 52
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>63 + 32
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>I know! Calculations are hard work, but it’s nearly over…
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>Come on, one more!
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>123 + 5
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>QUICK! THINK ABOUT A COLOR AND A TOOL!
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>Scroll further ! to the bottom…
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>A bit
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>more…
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>You just thought about a red hammer
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>! , didn’t you?
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>If this is not your answer, you are among 2% of people who have a different, if not abnormal, mind.
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>98% of the folks would answer a red hammer while doing this exercise.
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>If you do not believe this, pass it around and you’ll see.

I did, I thought of a red hammer!
That is so odd.

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Hmmm…I thought of a blue hammer…

3

OK, but way more intriguing if we knew why. Is there some sort of scientific experiment that goes along with this?

I’m reading “Stumbling on Happiness” by Daniel Gilbert and there are a lot of these sorts of puzzle type things. Gilbert notes that it’s not intriguing if everyone answered differently. It’s only intriguing if people answer mostly the same. And then he goes on to explain some of the reasons that our brain works the way it does and why we answer the way we do.

Oh, and red shovel here.

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orange hammer

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purple hammer

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Orange saw.

I’m sick, though, with a fever. So maybe it’s the fever talking.

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Blue saw.

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Red saw.

I’m guessing that people just think of the most common things. Red is going to be a common color, and hammer is going to be a common tool.

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Not in the version I saw. I wondered, too – perhaps someone who knows will post and enlighten us.

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I thought blue drill.

Did one of these things once while drunk. Shocked the guy because my answers to all his questions were not the usual ones (I’d never done it before though, so I had no clue what he was on about when he was asking me things). I forget the questions though.

ETA: He said it was something he’d learned recently in psych class, something about thought processes and creativity iirc.

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Blue wrench. Oh Og I’m so abnormal.

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Green screwdriver

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Red hammer.

Making me more normal than most Dopers, which is a rather odd thought. :stuck_out_tongue:

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yellow hammer :eek:

presumably if you mentioned the Beatles during the intro, you’d get more silver hammers…

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I thought of a red hammer, which I thought was odd for me because when asked a color I always say blue. But I do actually own a red hammer and that’s what popped into my mind first because I pictured my tool box and that’s always the first thing I see in it.

Could thinking of a red hammer mean we’re all communists at heart?

ETA: Another thought, math makes me see red and want to hit myself on the head with a hammer to make it stop.

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Green hammer.

There was another test like this and most people would say “carrot.” Anyone remember what that test was?

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Orange screwdriver. I didn’t get the carrot, either, guessed something else.

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Red hammer. :stuck_out_tongue:

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me too

(but I admit I cheated and didn’t do the math, just scrolled down to the question)

20

Purple Jackhammer. What percentile do I fall in with that one?