I have a strange affinity for personality (or other kinds of) quizzes. I’ve had this fascination since before online quizzes existed–remember magazines? Yeah–fun stuff. Now, before you warn me about the dangers of hacking, I never take the quizzes where I would have to give them my email address or access to my Facebook profile. I just do the ones that pop up randomly, and were probably written by some freelancer who has less life experience than I do. Like, last night, I took one that claimed to be able to tell me which combination of Death Eater and Order of the Phoenix member I am. I don’t know how accurate it was (I got Remus Lupin & Fenrir Greyback), but it was mildly entertaining. (Find out YOUR result here!) I don’t know why I’m so drawn to these quizzes, but I suspect there are two main reasons.
First, I’m still figuring out who I am and what I want, and I really don’t know that I’ll ever definitively know who I am or what I want. I mean, of course, I want to make a positive impact in the world in some way. I want to keep learning and growing. But as for specifics? Eh. No idea. Well, actually, ideas aren’t the issue–I have plenty of ideas. I just have a hard time deciding on one (or even a few) to focus on. Of course I want to be a good granddaughter, daughter, sister, spouse, friend, citizen, PERSON. But I don’t always succeed–I’ve limited my news consumption the last couple years, because of the hopelessness that consumes me when I’m more in the know. I’ve said and done some things I’m not proud of. But, overall, I think I’m better than I used to be, and I hope I’ll always be able to say that I’m better than I used to be.
Secondly, quizzes serve as mindless entertainment when I just want a little mindless entertainment. There are lots of terrible things happening in our country/world, and focusing on them just ends up with me feeling hopeless. I don’t function well in a state of hopelessness, so I sometimes distract myself with things that don’t matter in any way to bring me out of those feelings, and then I’m able to do (and be) better.
And it’s not like I take these quizzes thinking they’re going to change my life or give me some profound nuggets of wisdom on which to base all future decisions. But, really, what’s wrong with taking a couple minutes to find out which decade I actually belong in? (According to the quiz, I belong in the ’20s–find out which decade YOU belong in here!) And what’s the harm in knowing what dog breed matches my personality? I took one quiz that said Jack Russell Terrier, but I think that one was garbage. So I found a different one to take, and it said Newfoundland, which actually kind of fits. (If you want to find out YOUR dog breed personality, take the more accurate quiz here!) The Bearded One often rolls his eyes when I take these quizzes–he doesn’t think they have any value. I KNOW they don’t have any value–they’re novelties. But, as most novelties do, they serve some kind of purpose for me–whether it’s to take my mind off the world, get some (very limited) insight into my own psyche, or just be entertained for a couple of minutes.
Emma Watson is credited by goalcast.com as saying, “Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do or achieve. Do what you want to do and be who you want to be.” She’s a wise one, that Hermione. “Brightest witch of her age.” And I believe that’s really the end goal for us–to figure out who we are, who we want to be, and how to get there. And, even if these dumb quizzes don’t have an ounce of truth to them, I believe the act of self-examination is valuable. So I’ll probably keep on taking them.
growingmoxie.com 