I'm wondering of this is a coincidence. Or maybe it's that I'm particularly gullible or weak-minded, but whatever it is, this worked on me. Try this exercise, and tell me how it works out.
quote: Are you part of the 98%?
This is for the Psychology majors...
Don't need pen or paper. Just answer as you go. Free will or synaptic wiring? You be the judge. Check out the following exercise, guaranteed to raise an eyebrow. There's no trick or surprise. Just follow these instructions, and answer the questions one at a time and as quickly as you can! Again, as quickly as you can but don't advance until you've done each of them ... really.
Now, arrow down (but not too fast, you might miss something).........
If not, you're among the 2% of the population whose minds are different enough to think of something else. 98% of people will answer with carrot when given this exercise. Freaky, huh?
Send this web page to all your friends so they can see if they are part of the 98% or among the 2% of the population.
Author unknown
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Tomato! ALL THE WAY BABY! Posted by Human (Member # 2985) on :
I thought of an avocado.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
First thing I thought of was an apple, because I honestly wasn't thinking straight (I have the flu). But then when I realized it said to think of a vegetable, I thought of a carrot.
Ah, to be a part of the collective...
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
What does it mean when you lose interest halfway through?
Posted by zeroemus (Member # 3169) on :
That you aren't human.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Yeah, I thought of a cucumber. Hmm, wonder what that says about me.
My son likes to give me the "are you an idiot test."
"Wanna take the 'are you an idiot test?"
"Okay."
"What are the three primary colors?"
"Red, blue and yellow."
"Who was the first President?"
"Washington."
"How old are you?"
"Too old."
"What was the first question I asked you?"
He always hates it that I get it right and is always amazed.
(By the way, for the slow people, the answer is, "Wanna take the 'are you an idiot test?")
Posted by Black Mage (Member # 5800) on :
I thought of a zuccini.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
I thought "Tomato" and then realized that it's actually a fruit, and said asparagus.
Actually, the first word that popped into my head was "Squid" which is pretty non-vegetable.
Gosh, I'm a goober. Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Tell me something I don't know.
(that post is a reply to many posts).
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
You put it in a salad and you put it on sandwhiches. In my book, the tomato is a vegetable. Don't care what science says! Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
It's definitely more like a vegetable than "squid" so you're still ahead of me. Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
You can put fruit in salads. Hell, there's even fruit salad.
You can put turkey on a sandwich. That doesn't make it a vegetable.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I thought chick, which isn't a vegetable, then I thought cucumber
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
I thought "six." What does that make me?
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Hmm...I thought of Reagan.
Oh well.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Wait a minute...turkey isn't a vegetable?
Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :
I thought tomato first too. Interesting that more people thought tomato than carrot so far.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I set up a different test to see if it's the association between carrot and sex.
All you fruit namers.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I thought "potato." Then I thought, "wait, is a potato a vegetable?" And then I thought, "if it isn't, I'll say 'carrot.'" And then I thought, "no, potatoes are definitely vegetables."
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
I thought carrot.
I feel so common.
Posted by Jaiden (Member # 2099) on :
I thought bean.... weird.
Posted by Enigma (Member # 4005) on :
Broccoli.
Posted by Happy Camper (Member # 5076) on :
hmmm, lettuce
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Not carrot. But I already knew I'm different.
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
I thought "string bean," then "no, that's not what I want...carrot"
Six? Six letters? Are we that predictable. . . . . . 12+17 . . . . . 32-3 . . . . . . . . 14+15 . . . . . . think of a philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . were you thinking..."antidistestablishmentarianism"?
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
The first thing I thought of was Turnip. I don't know if I believe that they've done actual tests with this thing. If it's true, I guess it shows how strange Hatrack is.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Speaking of 98% reactions, though, how many people, when confronted with this test, secretly hoped that they would be in the 2% that are different? I bet that's a lot closer to 98% than the people who thought of a carrot. I know I hoped I'd be different. If people are doing these tests, they ought to come up with one that will explain why people are so reluctant to believe that they have thought patterns in common with other humans.
By the way, if the majority of the people that took this test thought of a carrot, the next logical question is whether they would have thought of a carrot anyway, even without the prelude of "6"s.
[ November 16, 2003, 12:12 AM: Message edited by: Speed ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Dang! Carrot.
But I think Speed has a point -- my fridge has far more carrots in it than any other vegetable.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I thought of Tomato when I read the other thread associated with this one... then it said to go read this one...
While I was changing threads, the thought occurred to me that a tomato is not a vegetable. Silly, that. I live in New Jersey, so tomatoes are on the brain.
So, I noticed the numbers were different this time around, and I figured - "hey, a tomato's not a vegetable... and it doesn't end in "e", either..." So I chose...
...carrot.
Friggin, fraggin, grumble, grumble.. Posted by ana kata (Member # 5666) on :
I'm inclined to believe it's bogus. Hardly anyone thought of a carrot. Me = broccoli.
I wanted to be in the 2%, but I didn't try to do anything deliberately odd to get there.
Posted by Brenuine (Member # 5891) on :
I thought carrot too, but my friend's response was elderberry. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I think she created her own percentile.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Tomatoes are vegetables (they are ALSO fruits -- one is a usage definition, one botanical), but elderberries are not.
Posted by Mazer (Member # 192) on :
I thought of a carrot , because they say that everyone thinks of carrots in these tests, so if someone says blahblahblahblahblahblahblahthink of a vegetable, I don't think "carrot", I think, "I'm supposed to say carrot."
I think the first time someone asked me that I said "mixed"
What does that mean?
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
I thought grapes.
But then cucumber.
Posted by Marlozhan (Member # 2422) on :
I thought carrot, and so did Unicornwhisperer. Why do I somehow feel like I have lost some intelligence? Posted by Koryu (Member # 5922) on :
I thought orange first... (hits self in head)
But then carrot. Because it's an orange vegetable. I'm sort of lacking oxygen right now, that could be part of it.
~Ryuko~
[ November 16, 2003, 02:24 AM: Message edited by: Koryu ]
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
Heh...I've gotten so many of these as e-mail forwards. And the answer is always "carrot". I was thinking "carrot" before I even started counting down.
I'm sure it has as much to do with carrots being one of the most--if no the most--popular vegetables than it does anything else. I think the chanting (or other distractions suggested in the other times I've seen this sort of thing) just gets our mind on something that has nothing to do with vegetables whatsoever. Carrot is just the first thing that pops into the head.
We did this experiment in high school, after a few of us got the stupid forward. We didn't do any chanting, but we asked a few random history and math questions before the test question. And we used a timer.
Every single person who answered in less than a second answered "carrot". Everyone who blurted out another vegetable took over a second to do so. There were a few who answered "carrot" who took over a second, but we marked that down to stupidity.
Anyway, I think our results were skewed because we knew what was being tested beforehand, and everyone was trying to be in that "elite" 2%. For all we know, this could be a test for acute autism, and the 2% who couldn't think of a simple word like "carrot" are the ones bordering on mental retardation. Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
We should all do this experiment tomorrow: just walk up to random people and ask them to name a vegetable.
Posted by Hazen (Member # 161) on :
I thought watermelon. I wonder why so many people thought of fruit?
Green pepper was next, but carrot was up there.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
I'm with you on this one TomD... potatoes all the way
(though that might because I was just thinking about peeling potatoes...)
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Ok, asking (non-Hatrack) people on AIM seems to yield . . .
.
.
.
.
.
CARROTS! Posted by Jill (Member # 3376) on :
I thought cucumber, realized it was a fruit, then switched to asparagus. Random.
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
We should try this test in a culture that has carrots, but has never watched Looney Tunes cartoons ...
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
Of course, I suspect that most of us here make it their general practice to give the most unusual possible answer to any question they're asked. I don't think we're an accurate corss-seciton fo the population.
That said, I was trying to go along with the whole spirit of the test, and I did say "Carrot" Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
When I read the other thread first, I thought:
"Banana! [AJ on my mind?] Oops. Squash. [will be making a pumpkin pie today]"
Then reading this thread, I got "Zucchini!" But I've been making a decided effort to switch my food base to a variety of veggies lately, and I'm making a shopping list this am.
Posted by ae (Member # 3291) on :
I think it's a cultural thing. I thought of bean sprouts. And then I thought cabbage (not that I was trying to think of something else, mind).
Posted by Maccabeus (Member # 3051) on :
Why, oh why, would I think of artichokes?
I've never even seen an artichoke.
Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :
I thought of a rutabaga.... Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
I thought 'pencil.'
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
I exclaimed, SIX! *giggle* And then realized I should be naming a vegetable, which prompted the mundane carrot. Ugh.
Posted by BYuCnslr (Member # 1857) on :
I'm wondering why seemingly if not 98% of the people say carrot, at least a larger majority of people say carrot in adverse to any other vegetable (or thing that might be mistaken as a vegetable). But why? I went back to look at the original post for clues...and then noticed that when it asks you to think of a vegetable, it tells you to "arrow down" in adverse to scroll down, I'm not sure about how other people think, but I personally imagined an arrow pointing down when it said that (as I imagined the number six in the back of my head earlier), and I matched a vegetable that fit the shape of the arrow...the first that came to mind was the carrot, I suppose the reason I thought of a carrot in adverse to say a turnip or a white radish is because it's either more popular, or because right before I was thinking of how many I needed to put into the beef stew that I'll be cooking for dinner tonight...any other thoughts? Satyagraha
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I've been asking people on AIM: "Don't think about it! Just say a name of a vegetable!" and I keep getting carrot.
I don't think the sixes or arrows have anything to do with it -- carrots are simply ubiquitous in our culture. A Google search pulled up 1,430,000 results for "carrot"!
Posted by BYuCnslr (Member # 1857) on :
Then what about other vegetables? Google pulls up over 4,000,000 when you look for tomatoes (I know, fruit), and potatoes. Though my argument is shot to high hell because that's how you asked people online. Though the sixes come into play as it completely clears your mind of anything else... Satyagraha
[ November 16, 2003, 12:44 PM: Message edited by: BYuCnslr ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Oops, I forgot to do comparative searches -- bad Rivka!
And tomatoes ARE vegetables. The fact that they are botanically fruit is irrelevant. "Vegetable" is not a botanical term.
[ November 16, 2003, 12:47 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by Ethics Gradient (Member # 878) on :
I read Pooka's thread first, got tomato, then thought "Is that a vegetable? Hmmmm... Should have thought carrot - that's a vegetable." So gues what I thought of when reading this thread?
Posted by Julie (Member # 5580) on :
I saw a picture of a carrot in my mind, but I couldn't find the word, so I said potato. I'm part of the 2%, but am I also senile? Because if so I'm scared. 16 is too young to be senile.
Posted by raphael (Member # 5870) on :
i thought of cabbage. does this have anything to do with me not being american? maby like, chineese people think differently or something?(i'm not chinese either but thats not the point
Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
Zuccini here. Hey Kayla- wanna start a club? Posted by fos4snt (Member # 5935) on :
I don't know why, but I thought of a rutabaga, and I have never even seen one in my life. But, I always think of the weirdest things when asked spur of the moment questions like that.
Hmmm...
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
Tomato here. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I find it interesting that everyone who said "potato" had second thoughts about it. Is a potato inherently a wishy-washy sort of vegetable?
Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
Cucumber.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Tom, it has far less nutritional value than your average vegetable. And that's before it's fried, slathered with butter, or anything else.
Posted by Rappin' Ronnie Reagan (Member # 5626) on :
rutabaga. what IS a rutabaga?!
Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
I thought of a carrot, but ask me to think of a vegetable a hundred times and I'll say carrot a hundred times because that's the only vegetable I ever think of.
Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :
I've gotten this test before on e-mails, and I always forget the ending. Each time I've been in the 2% though. I guess I'm just weird.
Is squash a vegetable? Or is it in the freak fruit/vegetable category?
Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
On yahoo, there were 900,000 for carrot and over 3 million for tomato. Of course tomato doesn't count because its a fruit.
Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :
*whispers* I love broccoli! Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
What I find amusing is how many people aren't "different" so much as they are "idiots".
Name a vegetable, Ralph. Pencil!
Ok, it's not from the Simpsons, but it sounds like it could be.
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
I thought swordfish...I bet no one would have ever thought of swordfish.
Posted by Vána (Member # 3262) on :
I got carrot - and I hate carrots. So strange.
I asked Dan to "quick, name a vegetable!" and he said okra. We never eat okra!
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
The first time I did this, many moons ago, I said "asparagus." I had just had some to eat, though, which could have skewed the results. This time, it was around the second addition question that I thought, "Oh, I'm supposed to think of a carrot." So my results were skewed this time, too.
I'm skeptical of nearly every percentage that sounds untrue. Someone tried a "tell the gender of the child" formula and claimed it was correct 96% of the time. So when it's wrong once, it's correct for 24 other people? Get any random sample of 25 and I guarantee it's wrong more than once. And get any fifty people, Hatrackers or no, and more than one will say something other than a carrot.
56% of all statistics are made up, you know.
--Pop
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Cucumber.
Oh dear.
Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :
I thought "potato." Then I thought, "wait, is a potato a vegetable?" So then I thought "broccoli." (sp?) And then I thought, "no, potatoes are definitely vegetables," but I decided I liked "broccoli" better anyway, so I stuck with that.
I think you may be onto something, Frisco, with that autism thing and response time (even though you were mostly joking). I tend to process very slowly, and I often come up high on some of those autism tests.
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
Um, beet.
Are carrots really vegetables?
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
Cucumber
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Well the arrow down theory would actually apply to cucumber too.
I must have had some sort of free assosciation going on in my brain. I saw orange and my first thought was an orange, then I went wait, that's a fruit, ok carrot.
AJ
Posted by Coccinelle (Member # 5832) on :
I thought apricots...then realized that wasn't a correct answer and thought tomato. Then I thought, is it a fruit too? But then I thought that while it's a "fruit" we use it in cooking as a vegetable so that's my final answer. Tomato.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Cucumber.
Not a veggie? Never heard that before. As someone else said earlier (maybe not about cukes, but it fits) - It goes on a salad? It's a vegetable.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Okay, it looks like cucumber is winning for Hatrackers.
Why on earth? Did everyone have a salad yesterday?
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Salad. Yeah. That's why you thought "cucumber."
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
I'd just like to point out (in support of the "arrow down" hypothesis) that the words "carrot" and "arrow" share a common substring (whose length is left as an exercise for the reader).
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
to Moose.
I think I thought of cucumber because I'm moving, and I looked through the fridge yesterday, and I realized that the only fresh vegetable I own is a cucumber in the bottom drawer, and now I'm scared to open the drawer because I have no idea when I bought it.
[ November 17, 2003, 01:42 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
stupid carrot!
Posted by Jedi_Kyle (Member # 5939) on :
First I tought of a carrot. Then I thought of a ferrit. Then Barret (from FF7.) Then the word merit. Posted by Kyle Katarn (Member # 3567) on :
Hey, I'm Kyle Katarn, Jedi. And don't you forget it!
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
quote: I thought carrot too, but my friend's response was elderberry. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I think she created her own percentile.
That was hilarious.
I expected Bob to make me laugh. I like this response better.
And yes, I thought of Carrot. Happy. Must mean I'm not in the elite 2% of the carrot hating culture. Well, I like carrots (some say a little too much, but hey, keep my private life out of this discussion, besides, it was single and free on a Saturday night and I needed someone to take to the Prom, but I digress). I like Carrots, and I'll say carrots as often as I like. If the Tomato Lobby, or the Squid Squad think they are better because they were more original, well I don't care what you Asparagus Nazi's say. I'm a Carrot Lover and proud of it.
Ooops, apparently its time for my medication.
Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
I can think of three possible explanations: 1) The correlation between the number six and the number of letters in "carrot". (This would cover those who said "potato" and "tomato" as well) 2)The visual that "ARROw" has four letters in the smae sequence as in "cARROt". 3)The correlation between the word "arrow" and "carrot"(ARR-ow, cARRot, talking about sounds here - those who said tomatO and potatO might have been focusing on the O in arrOw).
Considering the 98% thing(assuming it's true), I think it would be a combination of of 2 and 3. I just flat out don't believe number 1 because I don't think there's an association between six and all the words in my brain that have six letters.
Btw, I said tomato.
Posted by Julie (Member # 5580) on :
quote: I find it interesting that everyone who said "potato" had second thoughts about it. Is a potato inherently a wishy-washy sort of vegetable?
First of all, don't potatoes need washing more than most other vegetables, accounting for the wishy-washity? Second, I didn't have seconds thoughts when I picked potato, I just couldn't think of the word for carrot! Posted by Law Maker (Member # 5909) on :
I have never seen one of these before. On the other thread I thought of Carrot. On this one, I thought of Potato. I think it had something to do with the numbers, though. I always associate the number 7 with carrots for some reason.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
I thought, "Uhh... a vegetable... Cucumber!"
Then I thought, "Gee, I wonder what that says about me?"
Then I read the rest of the thread and saw that Kayla had already made that joke.
Then I was sad.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
The cucumber is winning.
What does this say about Hatrack?
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
By the way, I don't buy the whole "if it goes on a salad" criterion. One of my favorite salads (I first had it at my father-in-law's restaurant) is baby field greens, toasted walnuts, roquefort cheese, green apple slices, with a raspberry vinaigrette, and I think you'd have a hard time calling walnuts or apples vegetables.
OK, so I've now described my favorite salad, properly spelled the word "vinaigrette," and thought of a cucumber. I'm sure that there must be a pattern here, but I don't know what it is.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Hmm, I dunno about patterns, but I think I'll make cucumber salad and Waldorf salad for the next Shinda. Posted by butterfly (Member # 5898) on :
i thought of a tomato, even though i've known for a while that a tomato's really a fruit. wonder what that's about .... Posted by supercomplicated (Member # 5160) on :
Cucumber.
About the comments on the number of letters in a word - I totally do that, probably because I'm a math person. When I can't remember someone's name, I can always seem to remember the number of letters in their name... weirdness. Oh well.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
You got me. I said carrot.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
I also though "Rutabega". I blame it on Frank Zappa.
Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :
Technically tomatoes are fruit. However, there was some sort of lawsuit, and it was determined that legally (for import/export/tax purposes) tomatoes are a vegetable. So it's both. Technically fruit, legally vegetable. Um...Yeah. *tries to comprehend*
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Using botanical definitions, tomatoes (and cucumbers, peppers, melons, etc.) are fruit.
Are you a botanist? Cuz I'm not.
quote: The confusion comes in from the more common usage of the terms fruit and vegetable, which are more related to how the produce is consumed (related to nutrition and food preparation). Most folks think of fruits as something sweet, often used as desserts, while vegetables are generally used as a side dish or combined with other foods in salads, casseroles, etc. So here the definitions are more subject to interpretation by the individual.
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All you fruit namers.
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But, I always think of the weirdest things when asked spur of the moment questions like that. ![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)