One of the more popular genres on the net is personality tests, and I stumbled across an interesting variation on digg this morning.  This particular test consists of about a dozen pages with a simple statement at the top such as “Art Is…”.  Below that are fifteen images such as the Mona Lisa, a tattoo, a fashion show and others.  You click on an image that most closely matches how you would finish the statement.  Then the test moves on to other statements and images.  At the end it gives you an analysis of your personality, which is presumably only as accurate as you are honest in your responses.

The problem with all of these various tests, whether they are online or in some magazine, ore is that you are relying on the programming of some anonymous developer or writer to tell you all about yourself.  The question is, why would you expect anyone else to know more about what you are like, than you do?  Why do people seem to need to have other people tell them who they are?  I admit that some of these tests can be quite entertaining if they are well done and this particular one was pretty good.  Maybe I’m asking the wrong question.

Does anybody really take a test like this to learn about themselves? or are they just curious to see if the test creator can actually accurately analyze someone’s personality just by asking a series of questions?  In my case it’s the intellectual curiosity.   I certainly hope no one would actually rely on some quiz to tell them something they should be able to determine just by taking a look at themselves.