NSG

In keeping in the same vein as my last post, recently I've discovered I love all these on line quizzes that assign you a type based on something from pop culture. They're a lot like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, but without the pretense to scientific accuracy. I must say, I'm pleased that on the "Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in" quiz, that my crew is that of Serenity, but I'm not quite sure what to think about being most like the Green Lantern, according to the "Which superhero are you" quiz.

Of course, these things are fun when you take them for what they're worth, but I heard a story on the weekend from a friend of mine that illustrates how quizzes of little more value can be taken too far. This friend works for a large financial institution where all of their employees have undergone some type indicator test, and now they must list their type in all emails that they send so that colleagues will know how to respond to them. What the hell? I doesn't take a genius to see that these quizzes operate using binary axises that don't account for human complexity and ambiguity, and are based on self perception and even wishful thinking. In the case of a test administered by an employer, I know I would "cheat" by skewing my answers toward the qualities that my employer would find most attractive. First you put people in a literal box, and then a categorical box... That must do wonders for morale.

In any case, this is just a small bit of the consultant driven madness that he has to deal with. Of course, he's got to sort out his own problems and escape the cubicle farm on his own. As someone who has, to use Douglas Coupland's term, escaped the "veal fattening pens," I'd like to show my support for my friend, so for the rest of today I'm going to attach the acronym NSG to the subject line of all my emails: Nerd / Serenity / Green Lantern.