If You Get California or Texas Wrong, Seek Counseling (and/or Sue Your Elementary School)
OK, I should go to bed, but I saw Cache tonight, and I’m waiting for the creepiness to wear off. (It’s definitely worth seeing, but the expertly maintained psychological eeriness throughout isn’t really paid off at the very end. It’s Hitchcockian up to a point, but Alfred would have tied a ribbon around it. As it stands, a solid B+ for the first 112 minutes, but a C- for the last five.)
Anyway, nothing cures lingering creepiness like geography nerdiness. I came across this quiz on Living the Scientific Life, and despite never being particularly adept at knowing which states go where, I took a shot. And surprised myself -- I placed 31 out of 50 states exactly for a 62% rate of perfection (including Missouri, which was probably as much blind luck as anything I’ve ever accomplished in my life, and that’s saying something; when Missouri came up, I thought, "I have a better chance of placing Guinea-Bissau"). My average distance off base for all 50 states was 59 miles.
Let me reiterate that I’m not good at geography, and like most things I’m not good at (meaning most things), it doesn’t usually hold my interest, but this was pretty entertaining. (I might only be saying that because I’m a bit sleepy and, really, making macaroni sculptures of every U.S. president would be equally fine right now if it meant outrunning the creepy.)
If you’re man or woman enough, take a stab at the map and record your results in the comments section.
Anyway, nothing cures lingering creepiness like geography nerdiness. I came across this quiz on Living the Scientific Life, and despite never being particularly adept at knowing which states go where, I took a shot. And surprised myself -- I placed 31 out of 50 states exactly for a 62% rate of perfection (including Missouri, which was probably as much blind luck as anything I’ve ever accomplished in my life, and that’s saying something; when Missouri came up, I thought, "I have a better chance of placing Guinea-Bissau"). My average distance off base for all 50 states was 59 miles.
Let me reiterate that I’m not good at geography, and like most things I’m not good at (meaning most things), it doesn’t usually hold my interest, but this was pretty entertaining. (I might only be saying that because I’m a bit sleepy and, really, making macaroni sculptures of every U.S. president would be equally fine right now if it meant outrunning the creepy.)
If you’re man or woman enough, take a stab at the map and record your results in the comments section.
posted by JMW at 1:55 AM
3 Comments:
Like a fool (and a geek) I took your challenge. I got 40 percent, an embarassing 20 out of 50 states, and did it in 606 seconds.
I consider myself to be geographically correct, so I fully expected to get a perfect score. However: 74 percent, 37/50 states correct, avg. distance off: 34 miles. I totally blew the Plains states. This is yet another instance where a higher score only means you're more of a dork.
29 perfectly placed for 58% accuracy, and 96 miles average error. my theory that i'm smarter and better than you at, well, pretty much everything, has been destroyed. what a thing to find out under the cold fluorescent lights of my day job with three more hours to have to hide the pain...
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