"Jean-Luc Picard: An accomplished diplomat who can virtually do no wrong, you sometimes know it is best to rely on the council of others while holding the reins," says "Which Fantasy/SicFi Character Are You?" re our fantasy/scifi character double.
According to this, I'm Jean-Luc Picard, writes Captain Ed re the latest online "personality test":
Hindrocket over at Power Line is Yoda, as is Hugh Hewitt; and Lileks is Duke Paul Atreides from the Frank Herbert novel Dune.
We took the test and came up, like Captain Ed, as Jean-Luc. A handsome devil, that Patrick Stewart (above photo). 'Course some of the questions didn't offer choices we really agreed with, so we had to squeeze our eyes shut and just make a "choice." Plus, anyone who knows us -- other than Tiny and Baby, who think we're the best thing since sliced shrimp -- would never mistake us for "a diplomat who can virtually do no wrong."
A couple of things that ring true. We are closer in worldview to the Cap'n than either Hindrocket or Hugh, and if there is a Messiah of the blogosphere, it surely would be Lileks. Our toes curled at the moral-equivalency mindset of the good folks who put the test together, though:
There are no right or wrong answers, merely virtues and traits you most adhere to. You will then be matched with the fantasy or science fiction character that you have the most in common with.
Isn't that nice?As with astrological pronouncements, of course, so with online personality tests. The mind -- human or otherwise -- is designed to read meaning into everything -- it's a Darwinian survival strategy that can often go off the tracks -- from entrails on down (or up). Our Yahoo astrology "reading" this morning is a perfect example of the suggestibility of it all (you read into it what you want to read into it):
When your imagination takes over, the things you conceive of are out of this world!
Out of this world? Space cadet or visionary? Eye of the beholder. It reminds us of TigerHawk's space cadet/visionary post this morning re standing in line at Barnes & Noble with his kiddies last night (what an out-of-this-world dad!):
It is easy and evening tempting to heap scorn on the Harry Potter phenomenon, but J.K. Rowling has done a wonderful thing by insisting that the books be sold in one vast book burst (hey, if nobody has used the noun "book burst" first, I claim the coining of it!). "One book one city" campaigns are now commonplace and widely recognized as both fun and constructive, but only Rowling and her publisher have managed to come up with "one book, one country." In truth, her promotion extends beyond the United States into the U.K., Australia and Canada. How about "one book, one Anglosphere"?
Perfect, as far as he went, but we challenged him, in his comments, to think "out of this world":
"One, book, one Anglosphere" is fine and dandy, big time, but maybe J.K. is GW's secret weapon, winning the coveted "hearts and minds" of our fellow Muslim-Americans/Brits/Aussies/Canadians? I wonder what little Mohammed and Musheera Jr. are reading this morning?
Hey, you Pew guys, let's have a poll on where the younger generation of our fellow citizens of the Muslim persuasion stand in all of this. Not to mention younger denizens of the "Arab Street," for whom enthusiasm for Osama seems to have been wearing thin of late in some quarters. Perhaps it's time -- despite Benedetto's concerns -- for a new champion of good against evil that we can all embrace.
Your post motivated me to investigate whether previous Harry Potter books have been translated into Arabic. My very quick search indicated that it had and was available in Egypt, at least. It is probably too subversive for Syria, though...
Posted by: TigerHawk | July 16, 2005 at 09:43 AM
'Don't know about Syria, but apparently the books are off limits for United Arab Emirates kids on accounta they're "too violent, anti-family and go against the Islamic religion." Don't you love the "too violent" part?
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:MbOMryzXR3MJ:www.hpana.com/newsbrowser.cfm%3Ftid%3D114+harry+potter+arab+kids&hl=en
Posted by: Sissy Willis | July 16, 2005 at 10:21 AM
You don't wanna know what happens when my imagination takes over! ;)
Posted by: PureMood | July 16, 2005 at 11:55 AM
HA! I'm like Elrond. However, I didn't like let a guilty person go free or convict an innocent man. Both of those are equally abhorrent. So I chose the innocent man being convicted, because perhaps he'll be protected against the crazies in society :P
Posted by: andophiroxia | July 16, 2005 at 02:12 PM
I had the same dilemma as you, andophiroxia, with that question, and I made the same less-than-perfect choice. :)
Posted by: Sissy Willis | July 16, 2005 at 03:00 PM
Yes, it was a relativist test, was it not?
Posted by: andophiroxia | July 17, 2005 at 12:26 AM