Crawl Across the Ocean

Friday, February 25, 2005

Who Am I?

I'm a Mandarin!

You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now. You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational. You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking. It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power. You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try.

Talent: 37%
Lifer: 41%
Mandarin: 74%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.


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Wow what a shocker that was :)

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Via Bound by Gravity

Paul Wells (who probably started this) has some interesting background on the guy who developed this test as well.

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posted by Declan at Friday, February 25, 2005

10 Comments:

  • Wait a sec, you worked hard to get where you are now?

    I'm a Lifer (almost a Mandarin):

    To you, a job is what pays the bills. You put in your hours, follow the rules, and then go home. Occasionally, you consider quitting, but then you think of how bad the job market is and you reconsider. Whatever happiness you get, you get from your life outside the workplace. Relationships, family, hobbies, and outside creative pursuits are what really matter to you. You're probably taking this test at work because you don't have anything better to do.

    Your scores:

    Talent: 37%
    Lifer: 52%
    Mandarin: 48%

    By Blogger Simon, at 2:17 PM  

  • Heh. I've been reading your blog for maybe a week and even before seeing this post I figured you were the blogger most likely to be a Mandarin. Must've been those posts on the budget. I still haven't figured out if you're really a lefty, though.

    By Blogger Shannon, at 3:40 PM  

  • According to the test, I'm a Talent:

    Talent 65%
    Lifer 35%
    Mandarin 38%

    I guess that makes me the anti-Declan (you always knew, didn't you :-) )

    Shaun

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:28 PM  

  • Ok, this seems kind of a self-involved first comment on your blog, but I guess I'm a mandarin too. So maybe we're not so incompatible (:

    Talent: 33%
    Lifer: 48%
    Mandarin: 56%

    Bettina

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:36 PM  

  • Touch and go, but I didn't quite have quite enough talent to be Talent...

    Talent: 63%
    Lifer: 19%
    Mandarin: 67%

    By Blogger Jon Dursi, at 9:38 PM  

  • Hi Declan - It looks like I am also a Talent.... I'm not sure if this is who I am or who I'd like to be?!

    You're a risk-taker, and you follow your passions. You're determined to take on the world and succeed on your own terms. Whether in the arts, science, engineering, business, or politics, you fearlessly express your own vision of the world. You're not afraid of a fight, and you're not afraid to bet your future on your own abilities. If you find a job boring or stifling, you're already preparing your resume. You believe in doing what you love, and you're not willing to settle for an ordinary life.


    Your scores:

    Talent: 56%
    Lifer: 37%
    Mandarin: 30%

    By Blogger the Mom, at 8:56 AM  

  • So I see that the way to get lots of feedback is to post quizzes - even my fellow mandarin girlfriend was lured into commenting.

    Simon said...

    "Wait a sec, you worked hard to get where you are now?"

    Yeah, that part of the description was a bit off but the rest was pretty accurate, although I imagine most people are frustrated when dishonest/incompetent people rise to power (except 51% of Americans, I suppose).

    I love that line on the lifer description, "Occasionally, you consider quitting, but then you think of how bad the job market is and you reconsider." I don't really feel that way in my current job so much, but I've been there.

    Shannon said...

    "I still haven't figured out if you're really a lefty, though."

    Rumours of me being a lefty have been greatly (OK, mildly) exaggerated. I figure you have to look at each issue on it's own, and not just say market bad/government good or vice-versa - but that's just the mandarin talking, I suppose.

    Shaun said, "I guess that makes me the anti-Declan (you always knew, didn't you :-) )"

    Actually, based on the results I've seen, it makes you a bit of a right winger ... (which I guess would be anti-me if I was a lefty).

    Bettina said...

    "So maybe we're not so incompatible (:"

    Was there ever any doubt? :)

    Zip said...

    "I am a talent? I really got to read more about this test."

    Consider that a lifer tends to be a union type attitude and that a mandarin's favourite day is exam day and you can see why maybe there's lots of 'talents' out there.

    Jonathan said...

    Touch and go, but I didn't quite have quite enough talent to be Talent...

    Actually based on the stats it wasn't a talent shortage (your talent score was higher than most talents) it was just a mandarin overdose. I don't knoe what you do for a living but it sounds like you enjoy it way too much - that can't be healthy.

    and finally Trish said,

    "It looks like I am also a Talent.... I'm not sure if this is who I am or who I'd like to be?!"

    I don't know, the description doesn't sound to far off to me...

    ---

    If nothing else, it looks like this blog has a more diverse readership than that Paul Wells guy, who wrote, "Attention test takers
    Is anyone not a Talent? I'm starting to think the test is skewed."
    (http://tinyurl.com/6fr7s)

    By Blogger Declan, at 3:30 PM  

  • Mandarins? Bah! Just a bunch of smartypants with an alphabet soup after their names who never went through a teenage rebellion...

    Talent: 67%
    Lifer: 37%
    Mandarin: 33%

    By Blogger Ian King, at 4:56 PM  

  • After reading through the article written by the creator of the system I started thinking of what Paul Martin and George Bush would be.

    I think they're both billed as Talents by their supporters, but I'm not convinced they actually are. Paul Martin's probably more of a Mandarin, while I think Geroge Bush leans towards a Lifer. Although, if you take into account the criticism Paul Wells mentioned in his blog, I think George Bush could be better described as a Legacy sold as a Talent by Lifers and Mandarins who would never otherwise get that close to that kind of power. (On further reflection, you could argue Paul Martin is in the same category)

    Shaun

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:55 PM  

  • say what you like Ian, but from where I stand, assuming the laws of supply and demand hold like usual, talent comes cheap these days :)

    Shaun - yes I think that when Paul Wells wrote:

    "I believe it was Pete Hamill in the Village Voice who suggested, for instance, that the Legacy should be added: A guy who simply got his job through connections, often inherited. I can think of at least two countries whose current leadership suggests Hamill may have a point."

    ...it probably wasn't Tony Blair and Vicente Fox he was referring to...

    By Blogger Declan, at 10:20 PM  

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