Here's a question that has been bugging the heck out of me.
Who comes up with all these quizzes that tell what color you are or which storm best represents your personality or which pasta you would be if you were pasta.
I don't know who started it but Buzzfeed has a program that allows anyone to write a quiz that is then posted on the Internet. People can spend all day answering crazy questions as they look for a deeper meaning to life.
If you aren't well acquainted with social media such as Facebook and Twitter, you may have missed this trend. It is part of my job, however, to be on Facebook and Twitter several times a day.
No, seriously. It is.
These quizzes usually include five to 10 of the most innocuous questions you can imagine, then tell you what kind of pasta you would be if you were pasta, or what color your inner self is.
It is really, really hard to keep from taking these quizzes -- who doesn't want to know what color their inner self is? (Yellow -- my least favorite color.) Or what about what kind storm you would be? (A thunderstorm -- I was hoping for a hurricane; more dramatic, you know.)
What I find interesting are the questions the quiz writers come up with to determine these deep, dark "facts." Here are the questions asked by Quizony to determine what one's brain is good at:
• I like to relax by: solving a puzzle, reading a novel, listening to music.
• The best way to get to know a new romantic interest is: quietly observing how the person behaves over the course of several different activities; having a nice long chat over dinner; going to a club to listen to music together and dance.
• When I am feeling bad about something: I put on my earphones and go for a jog; I talk my friend's ear off; I carefully consider the problem from all angles.
• I believe that children: need to be outside as much as possible playing in the fresh air; should be raised according to a specific parenting philosophy; should be surrounded by stories and music.
• When I get dressed in the morning: I think about how others will perceive me; I hardly know what I am putting on my body; comfort and ease of movement are my first priority.
• I am easily distracted by: movements seen out of the corner of my eye; whispered conversations; loud or irritating noises like traffic sounds or a crying baby.
• As I go about my day: I often find myself humming and or fidgeting; I am constant pondering a seeming unsolvable problem; I stop to chat with other people as much as possible
There were suppose to be nine questions -- I only got seven -- nonetheless, I was decreed a philosophical thinker.
As such I "tend to ponder big questions like the meaning of life and these questions are as important -- or more important to you -- than smaller matters like what you should have for dinner. You aren't concerned with issues you consider superficial (even though your friends and family might disagree about their importance) and you value ethics more than practicality. You are a "big picture," long-range thinker."
I gave up on the meaning of life, long ago. Maybe I needed to answer those other two questions.
What kind of sweet am I? A lollipop. What country should I live in? Monaco.
Seriously, had I known how easy it was to learn the secrets of life, I would have take a lot more of these quizzes.
There are many other quizzes on the Internet. My excuse for taking them is that it keeps my mind sharp.
Like, my favorite, from Buzzfeed: naming all 64 colors in a box of Crayolas. I used to know them all, then, Crayola decided to change the names. Make them more relevant to kids' lives -- or something like that.
I mean, seriously, who names a color "Mac and Cheese"?
Anyway, I think people should be forgiven for trying to keep their minds sharp. Let them take quizzes, I say.
Did I mention that if I were a character from a book I'd be Curious George? And what career should I actually have? A writer.
Seriously.
Commentary on 05/29/2014