Twenty Questions

Has anyone been to this website? http://www.20q.net It’s pretty interesting. Basically, you think of an object and the site asks you questions about it starting with “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral…”. It can be surprisingly accurate. Out of the 30 items I’ve tried so far, it correctly guessed almost half. Among the correctly guessed things were a wedding ring, a CD, cocaine, the bible, beer, a car alternator, a cat, a house key, a condom, the human mind, love and (heh) a dildo. It uses AI and records answers to reflect popular opinion on an item. Even if it doesn’t guess correctly, a lot of times you’ll see the answer contained in the “probable objects” list at the bottom of the screen. It’s kind of funny when you think you’re picking something pretty obscure (i.e., a dildo, a car alternator) and it actually wins.

Oh, pretty neat! I tried a window screen and won, but mostly because I contradicted some of the data it had. I think a window screen CAN affect you (it provides partial shade so you don’t sweat as much. It keeps mosquitoes out so you don’t scratch so much from bites, etc.).

Thanks for the URL!

my original “object” was “your mom” but as the game went on i decided that was too cute and that i would settle for “a wife,” or even a woman of some sort. at different points in the game, it offered “woman,” “wife,” and “girlfriend” as “probable objects.”

but this is hilarious: question 26 is “is it a type of human being?” to which i answered yes. the game follows with the obvious “can it be used by a cowboy?”

Heh. My object wasn’t in the database, so it asked me to clarify:

ROFL!

Object Lemonade

Question Does it have a siren?

and it guessed correctly!!!

It also got Brittany dog, bran muffin, and id badge

Stumped it on tanning bed, syringe,

Damn. So far I stumped it on screen saver (although it asked me a lot of irrelevant questions), clydesdale, and vibrator (which wasn’t even on their list). And I just stumped it with mixed drink, which also wasn’t on the list (although it came close by guessing a margarita). And now Satan wasn’t on the list either. Neither was a colostomy bag. Or a tampon.

There, it finally got one!

One of the cool things about it was that only two years ago, its success rate was around 4.9%. Now since more people have been playing, it’s up to 35.89%. I love the “spontaneous knowledge” it comes up with. The object was a contact lens. It guessed correctly and then ‘realized’ the following:

Things it didn’t know:
Silk does not eat shellfish.

It guessed earthworm in 15 guesses! I picked that because I thought It probably couldn’t guess it.

oh yeah…

things it didn’t know…

An earthworm is not a type of dog.

An earthworm does not eat birds.

i stumped it with tracing paper, though it got close with blueprints… eventually it gave up.

tracing paper is not a pest [though that is matter of personal opinion]
wayne greztky could [probably doesn’t] use it

and i forgot the rest…

It got a lot of spontaneous knowledge about abortion, which I might consider using as found poetry…

I picked “a fuse”, as in an electrical fuse, 8 times in a row and it couldn’t figure it out. Also beat it with “antler” and many others.

The only thing it guessed in 20 was “a moose” and I got these contradictions:

It seems I’ve stumped it again:

Rather poetic, in a weird sort of way.

I was just playing again and my object was " a penis". The 10th question? “does it come in a box?” :slight_smile:
How should I answer?

My object? (surprise) A race car

CONTRADICTIONS:
You do know any songs about a race car. (How do you know whether or not I know something? You’re just AI, not psychic.)

THINGS IT DIDN"T KNOW:
A race car is not a type of fungus. (Oh, you didn’t know? Your ass better call somebody!!!)

LOL
I got that, too. I tried “lemonade” like mojo did and one of the contradictions was “You do love lemonade.”
How does it know? :confused:

Contradictions
You would not find a pizza on a farm Really? We had pizza at my grandparents’ farm more than once.
A pizza cannot be used by a cowboy

Things I didn’t know
A pizza does not bounce
A pizza is made of multiple parts

Contradictions
Peanut butter is probably not something you bring along
Peanut butter cannot be used for recreation
You don’t use peanut butter at work

Things I didn’t know
Peanut butter could be found in a classroom
Men might not find peanut butter erotic
Peanut butter cannot protect your eyes

:confused: But…if they thought all men find peanut butter erotic, how can they think it can’t be used for recreation?

I can’t play…it keeps saying “no such address” :frowning:

I’m sure there’s people deliberately feeding the database false information.

Anyway, I got my current .sig line on the snopes MB from 20q.net:

(It was a things I didn’t know)

A human corpse does not eat bananas.