Some of you have had a go at my Facebook Quiz. I deliberately made it difficult, as one of the things that most frustrates me is any kind of quiz/riddle/puzzle (on TV or otherwise) which is so easy that everyone will get full marks. In particular, those stupid multiple-choice questions where you can win something on TV, and *all* you have to do is phone this £2-a-minute phone line. No, for me, a quiz is not worth taking part in if it doesn’t actually make you think. And a quiz about me needs to separate the wheat from the chaff somewhat, so I designed it so that only those who are the most attentive would get more than 50%.
What I found most interesting though was that, because you can view everyone’s answers, you can get an idea of what kind of person your mates *think* you are. Or maybe the kind of person people expect you to be, I don’t know.
So, here follows the 12 questions, each of the 4 options with the number who voted for each in brackets, with the correct answers in bold and my comments after each. Needless to say, I’ve removed the Quiz now to prevent any cheats trying to get to the top of the list. I’ve also cut out some of the less exciting questions.
#1 Which career have I never seriously considered? Actor (4), Architect (11), Doctor (9), Graphic Designer (6) // Fairly straightforward first question where the most popular answer was the correct one.
#2 Which is my preferred radio station? Classic FM (5), Radio 1 (10), Smooth FM (9), XFM (6) // Hmmm. A bit offended that so many picked Smooth FM. But most way off. I love classical music; I’m very picky with music as there’s so much rubbish out there.
#3 In which university dept. did I take my degree? Anatomy + Developmental Biology (20), Contemporary Media + Communication (5), Ancient Languages with Linguistics (4), Performance Arts (1) // I just can’t believe anyone went for the ancient languages one!
#4 Which Philip K. Dick film adaptation do I hate? A Scanner Darkly (4), Blade Runner (11), Minority Report (8), Paycheck (6) // What??? 8 people think I detest one of the greatest Sci-Fi films of all time?
#5 Which Nativity character did I like playing most? Innkeeper (10), Joseph (6), Shepherd (3), Wise Man (11) // Yeah, I thought I’d catch some of you out on this one: shepherds were easily the best because you got to wear a teatowel on your head. Interesting so many thought I aspired to be a wise man…
#6 If someone wanted to thank me, the best thing they could give would be: Chocolate (6), Flowers (0), Vouchers (9), It doesn’t matter as long as there’s a card (15) // Totally, totally wrong, everybody. Cards? They suck! Most people don’t bother to write anything longer than a sentence. Don’t bother sending me any Christmas cards – save the forest instead. Vouchers are great, but don’t show a lot of imagination. Chocolate is boring. Flowers are awesome. And yet blokes never get given flowers…because they’re not manly? Hmph.
#8 When I was 5, in a school assembly which colour did I say was my favourite? Blue (3), Bogey Green (those exact words) (19), Red (4), Pink (4) // Flowers, and now pink. No, I’m not gay. But can people honestly see me being the kind of joker who’d say “bogey green” aged 5?
#9 What annoys me most (of this list)? Dangerous drivers (2), Dishonesty (7), People that won’t relax the rules (1), Superficial chitchat or gossip (20) // I hate gossip too, but dishonesty is way ahead. So, don’t lie to me, I guess!
#11 Which starter OR dessert would I go for? Pate + Cress (1), Camembert + Mango Coulis (7), Cheesecake + coffee liqueur (8), Rhubarb Crumble with no accompaniment (14) // I’m allergic to cress, I HATE coffee, and I can’t stand any crumble or pie without custard or icecream.
#12 What would I like to call my (future) daughter and why? Arwen – LOTR (11), Lily – grandma’s name (15), Marina – old friend (2), Tabitha – biblical (2) // Whilst I like the name Arwen, it’s a bit obvious.
All of this has got me thinking about how people see me. There’s a social awareness tool called the Johari window that lets you work out how you and others see you – you can check it out at http://kevan.org/johari?name=MattLittleInvestigates if you fancy it.
Oh, well done to Sam, Janine and Josie for coming joint top 🙂
Macroscopic Life 