# The Singularity is Near! (Internet 20 questions) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308 "2010-01-25T02:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/121 "2010-01-26T20:19:16Z")
I got it with Berry Hay, singer for Golden Earring, and Thomas Johnson the first governor of Maryland. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/122 "2010-01-26T20:53:19Z")
There is a ton of stuff in there… it even got the little blue and red alien guys from Sesame Street ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/123 "2010-01-26T21:06:14Z")
I stumped it with Rod Carew, a member of the baseball Hall of Fame. It was not in the database. ---
**Author:** ![Gesturing\_Mildly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@Gesturing\_Mildly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gesturing_Mildly)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/124 "2010-01-26T21:16:50Z")
Wow. 17 guesses to get Egon from Ghostbusters. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/125 "2010-01-27T00:17:56Z")
Some of the questions are a bit “off”. Did your character ever leave a team? Well almost any pro athlete left their school team when they graduated. Does your character come from the internet? Nobody “comes from the internet” except a fictional comic strip character or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/126 "2010-01-27T01:40:38Z")
One way to prolong the agony a bit is to change the entity you have in mind so that you avoid giving it specific information. For example, it just asked me if it was an adult male, so I switched from “Jim Rockford” to “The Bionic Woman,” as anybody who is not an adult male could be either a male child/teen, or a female of any age. It then wasted a question asking me if it was a male (of any age). You just need to make sure that whoever you switch to is consistent with the previous choices. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/127 "2010-01-27T01:50:38Z")
I eventually, after several more choices, settled on Polly Sherman from Fawlty Towers, and stumped him even after 3 tries. On the subsequent attempts he seems like he forgets prior information, asking me if she was British again. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/128 "2010-01-27T01:52:46Z")
It got Saul Tigh in 20 questions. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/129 "2010-01-27T02:06:51Z")
Dayum. Got Princess Clara (Drawn Together) in about 15 guesses. Molly Weasley in 20. And the one I thought would _really_ stump it: Lazarus Long - got it in 20. Ditto Miles Vorkosigan. I did finally stump it with Dr. Ethan Urquhart (main character of Ethan of Athos, also by Bujold). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/130 "2010-01-28T00:26:40Z")
It got the Grim Reaper in 20, first guess. Well actually I was thinking of the skeleton bandleader from the Black Parade album but I gave it to him. But people said he was an adult male: umm, no, he’s a skeleton or spirit, not an adult male (both of them) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/131 "2010-01-28T04:04:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Interesting, it gave me both of those in less than 20. > > What surprised me was that it actually got Deep Blue. I would have thought that it’d get confused about a character that really exists and is made of metal. Nope, that just helped it nail it on the bullseye the instant you confirmed both qualities. I will say, even tho I win maybe 1 out 3 games, it often does seem to be reading my mind. I was doing Heinz Guderian, and right after several vague questions, on like #9 or thereabouts it asked if he was a German General. Jaron Lanier-same thing-on #11 it asks if he is involved in computers, after a bunch of general questions I mostly answered negative to. I know part of that is confirmation bias, but it is still unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/132 "2010-01-28T04:18:07Z")
only read 1st post defeated it with Speaker To Animals ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308/133 "2010-01-28T09:31:28Z")
A lot of this might be down to how well you know your subject. Some of the questions I had to google. In the case of the op-art artist Bridget Riley, one of the questions was ‘Does she have small breasts?’ Huh? I have no idea. That might have the crucial clue, and my answer of ‘I don’t know’ might have been the reason it couldn’t come up with the right answer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-singularity-is-near-internet-20-questions/526308.md?page=6)