Sunday, November 26, 2006

20 Questions

I think technology is getting a little too smart, and it's actually starting to frighten me. Today I bought one of those little 20 Question balls as an add-on to my sister's Christmas gift (she actually mentioned wanting one; I wasn't totally reaching there and putting no thought into her gift whatsoever). Before I wrap the thing up and hand it off to her, I decided to give it a try myself.

The first round I went a little too easy, I guess; the game had no trouble at all figuring out I was thinking of a potato. So for the next round, I tried thinking of something far more specific and obscure. I went with "my ex-boyfriend."

I didn't actually expect the 20 Questions ball to come back with his first name... Really I don't know what I thought it would guess; I just knew the guess would be wrong. What I did not expect, though (and what I find almost unsettling) was the final question the 20 Q ball returned:

"I guess you are thinking of a soul mate?"


Not quite. Not at all, really, but that's a damn eerie guess nonetheless.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

My brother's girlfriend's daughter (got that?) got a 20 Questions game last Christmas, and we quickly hijacked it and amused ourselves by trying to make it guess "poop."

I think we officially lost it when it asked us "Is it man-made?"

Yep, we're all twelve.

Red said...

I tried to make it guess penis. It guessed finger. Bottom line: I'm dirtier than 20 Questions!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, those things freak me out. Evil, but available for purchase in the Toy Department.

Anonymous said...

I've never seen this thing, but I just like that you were thinking of a potato.

Anonymous said...

I have never heard of this game! And now, of course, I MUST HAVE IT. NOWWWWWW.

Stefanie said...

Nabb--Did it come back with the right answer?

Red--You know, I actually thought about trying that one... You know that the 20-Q ball actually knew exactly what you were thinking of but just couldn't put it on the display, right?

Other Girl--I know. Just like Ouija boards, right? (Did I spell that wrong? I'm too lazy to look it up.)

Darren--Yeah, I don't know how I went from "potato" to "ex-boyfriend." I think I was just trying to think of something there's no way it could guess. I tried lip balm and business card next and it got those with no problem, too. Seriously, the thing is eerie. How it got "lip balm" (it said "chap stick," actually) without even asking anything about lips is beyond me.

GG--You're funny. They have them at Target for $9.99, so swing by the electronic games aisle next time you're there. I would add it to your Christmas list myself, but I can't send a present to someone whose address I do not have. :-)

Anonymous said...

It said "feces." How polite!