Ants on the Melon
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I am normally not a fan of the memes that everyone likes to do, but when I saw the Personal DNA test on Brett’s site I thought it looked interesting so I gave it a shot. Besides, its not really a meme anyway. The results are in: I am an Advocating Inventor, at least according to their formulas.

One problem with these types of tests is that it measures a persons perception of themselves, which isn’t always the reality of things. The Strengths Finder questionnaire also has this problem. In the past one coworker who took the Strengths Finder test ended up with one of the strengths related to being a good communicator, or working well with others. The only problem was that he was an awful communicator, but he thought he was great at it.

When I answer these questions I try to be as honest as possible, because even though I may like to think I have certain attributes, characteristics, or skills, that doesn’t necessarily mean I do. The only statement on my Personal DNA page that I might disagree with is “you are good at meeting new people.” While I enjoy meeting new people, I don’t think I am particularly good at it. I tend to wait for others to approach me before introducing myself, although this is something that I try to work on from time to time. Other than that, most of the statements under “you are an inventor” and “you are advocating” are right on, but one in particular stood out:

One of the reasons you enjoy conversation as much as you do is that you often learn about yourself while talking things out with a friend; you realize things about your own beliefs while discussing them with others.

Now, I realize that statements like these are probably written by the first-cousins of people who write horoscopes, and that they are generic enough that they apply to as many people as possible, but the above statement hit the nail on the head for me. I really enjoy talking to friends about ideas, philosophy, life, and the society we live in. Often these discussions force me to think about things that I would not have otherwise thought about, and in the process I continue to learn what is important to me. Some of my favorite memories involve sitting on a porch, smoking a cigar and talking with a friend about these very things.