I thought of a blue hammer. I got close but I guess I'm not in the 98 percent.
Jason Robertson | 07.09.05 - 2:55 pm | #

IT worked for me. Wow...thats really freakish!
John Pouliot | 07.09.05 - 2:56 pm | #

Black Hammer - guess i'm "different"
mjg | 07.09.05 - 2:56 pm | #

OOPS...
Guess what They've been saying about me is right...
Thought of a purple cordless drill.
Ken | 07.09.05 - 2:56 pm | #

I must be a freak, because I got orange saw.
Monz | 07.09.05 - 2:56 pm | #

Hey, I'm a blue hammer, 2.
Diane | 07.09.05 - 2:57 pm | #

I just thought of a blue wrench, so I guess I'm in the 2%.

My guess is that it "works" because a hammer is one of the most common, everyday tools that everyone uses, and red is one of the most striking, visible colors. So it's an image that quickly comes to mind.

Or there's some deeper-rooted psychological reason I'm unaware of...
Master Jack | 07.09.05 - 2:57 pm | #

Blue channel locks
Citizen53 | 07.09.05 - 2:57 pm | #

Orange Screwdriver.
I am a freak too.
Pete | 07.09.05 - 2:57 pm | #

Blue hammer, here, as well.
Verchiel | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 2:58 pm | #

Must be cause I live in a blue state.
Diane | 07.09.05 - 2:58 pm | #

Red screwdriver here. But what is the point? What would have been the common answer without the math?
George | 07.09.05 - 2:58 pm | #

Another blue hammer here. I guess I can't associate with anything red (as in a red state).
So Cal Guy | 07.09.05 - 2:58 pm | #

red hammer

hate that
dad | 07.09.05 - 2:59 pm | #

red brush - perhaps puts me at the upper end of the 2%?
Rose | 07.09.05 - 3:00 pm | #

Nothing to it, really. The math problems have nothing to do with the answer--probably just added to make it seem like a freaky cause-and-effect, and to create a diversion. The reason 98% of people think of a hammer is because it's the most common tool, and I presume red (apart from being a popular color) is a more common color for tools than, say, aquamarine. I don't know about the claim that anything else is "abnormal," but if someone guessed "chartreuse Allen wrench," I would probably look at them a little funny.
liebestod | 07.09.05 - 3:01 pm | #

Ummm... blue vise.

From the postings here, I guess we can't conclude that the 98%/2% ratio is correct, can we?

All the best,

Amy
Amy | 07.09.05 - 3:02 pm | #

Blue Saw here
coloradorob | 07.09.05 - 3:02 pm | #

I said red hammer and it really is freaky ... but there has to be a llogical scientifically explainable reason as to why most people would say "red hammer"
esteban | 07.09.05 - 3:02 pm | #

Blue Hammer here. I guess my abnormality isn't all that abnormal, serveral other blue hammers here. But oh, those poor, orange saw people. LOL
Dennis | 07.09.05 - 3:02 pm | #

Just 1/2 of it: red trowel. According to John, my mind is then just 1/2 "abnormal", or is it that it is 50% more difficult to manipulate. Hey mjg, blck hammer is good too.
Christian | 07.09.05 - 3:03 pm | #

Pink Hammer. But I'm hung over....
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 3:04 pm | #

2%

orange hammer.


who is smarter? the 2%'ers or the 98%'ers?
Adrian | 07.09.05 - 3:04 pm | #

A blue hammer for me as well. It looks like there is a large subset of us. Maybe we need a Blue Hammer Society to go along with the Red Hats :)
TheMadBrewer | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:04 pm | #

Orange drill...and I've owned, and used many, many, many tools in my life...though never either a red hammer or an orange drill...
Crab | 07.09.05 - 3:05 pm | #

Blue hammer again... maybe there is something to that as well.
Greg | 07.09.05 - 3:07 pm | #

Royal blue needle-nosed pliar.
Pine Lake Larry | 07.09.05 - 3:08 pm | #

An orange George Bush. You did say a color and a 'tool', right?

Just kidding. I actually thought of an orange screwdriver. I'm abnormal. Tell me something I _don't_ know. :)
Mulehead | 07.09.05 - 3:09 pm | #

Blue screwdriver. But that's what I drank at the bar last night.
John | 07.09.05 - 3:09 pm | #

As soon as someone comes up with the logic behind this: please post. I mean RED hammers are not that common. And screwdrivers, for example, are more common around the average household.
esteban | 07.09.05 - 3:09 pm | #

Green Hammer. Guess I am really weird!
Horace C. Kirkman | 07.09.05 - 3:09 pm | #

Woo Hoo!!! Red hoe--I always knew I wasn't quite right ;P
kactus | 07.09.05 - 3:09 pm | #

Blue Hammer here, too.

Is it a gay thing?

:-)
Bob R. | 07.09.05 - 3:10 pm | #

I thought of a turquoise miter saw with charcoal highlights and a stunning, yet delightful, mauve carrying case.

Jeebus, my gay card is renewed for 20 years now.

(I thought of a purple hammer.)
Left of Arizona | 07.09.05 - 3:10 pm | #

orange screwdrivers rule.
justin | 07.09.05 - 3:10 pm | #

blue shovel
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 3:10 pm | #

Actually, Crab, I do have an orange Black & Decker drill.
Pine Lake Larry | 07.09.05 - 3:11 pm | #

Periwinkle torque wrench.

But I have a periwinkle torque wrench, and whenever there's torquing to be done, there's a song that goes with it:

Periwinkle torque wrench,
Ya ha deedle deedle,
Bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.

All day long we biddy biddy bum,
Torquing with the winkle wrench.

It seems quite unlikely that they would have known that.
Gavin M. | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:11 pm | #

Yellow hoe here!

Erm...

I mean...

I *THOUGHT* of a yellow hoe. C'mon. Stop looking at me like that. Go away. Cut it out.

:lol:
The Witch | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:11 pm | #

Blue Wrench
orchid | 07.09.05 - 3:11 pm | #

green screwdriver
God | 07.09.05 - 3:11 pm | #

Red Bush! Guess that puts me in the 2% as well...
Richard | 07.09.05 - 3:12 pm | #

2%

I saw a monkey wrench, with a yellow rubber gripped handle.
Mr. B Natural | 07.09.05 - 3:12 pm | #

blue wrench here too
ignu | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:12 pm | #

yellow screwdriver. I thought of yellow and the image of one those screwdrivers with a black and yellow handle (you know the kind) popped into my head.

Or maybe I though of a screwdriver because I had to move my screwdriver set aside to get to my car washing/waxing stuff.

I wonder what the purpose of the addition is. I can do addition in my head fast enough that I didn't have to pause in my scrolling.

*shrug*
guachi | 07.09.05 - 3:12 pm | #

Blue hammer, again. A hammer is definitely the most common tool an average person would be inclined to use. And, I suspect red and blue are the most common colors people think of.
MKT | 07.09.05 - 3:12 pm | #

i thought of a bright yellow hammer !
Wilson46201 | 07.09.05 - 3:13 pm | #

The point of the math is to distract you and get you on a particular train of thought -- it doesn't matter what the math is -- just something to get you in a "right brain" mode -- thenyou are hit "out of the blue," so to speak, with something that is "left-brain" associative.
S Thorens | 07.09.05 - 3:13 pm | #

Orange Hammer
Inside Beltway | 07.09.05 - 3:13 pm | #

Red Wrench for me :lol:
Brian Hamilton | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:13 pm | #

oh hi, goodmorning ... abnormal here please to meet you!
FunMe | 07.09.05 - 3:13 pm | #

Forgot to ask -- did the percentages come from a GOP Pollster?
MKT | 07.09.05 - 3:14 pm | #

Red Hammer.

G.
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 3:14 pm | #

You better watch out, John, or Inside The Beltway is going to be pissed at you for talking about something other than politics on this blog, like sex :) or tools.
Pine Lake Larry | 07.09.05 - 3:15 pm | #

ok, I am really odd because I saw the word tool and though "republican".
Jess | 07.09.05 - 3:15 pm | #

another blue hammer
Alleydog | 07.09.05 - 3:15 pm | #

tool = hammer = Tom DeLay
color = orange = jump suit
Turk Meister | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:15 pm | #

Hey, why aren't the gravatars working?
Pine Lake Larry | 07.09.05 - 3:17 pm | #

Blue hammer here. Blue is my favourite colour. (Oops, guess I gave away my nationality with the last two words, eh?)
cheryl | 07.09.05 - 3:17 pm | #

Note: It seems to me that if you named Bush as the tool, the color should be yellow.
Turk Meister | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:18 pm | #

Red saw. But I think a hammer came to mind first. :-)

This exercise just used up way too many brain cells, if you ask me, John.

Cheers!
La Sequencia | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:18 pm | #

blue hammer...
kalorama | 07.09.05 - 3:18 pm | #

blue hammer....what's wrong with us? Wait, i AM part of the Blue States...
Joeschmo | 07.09.05 - 3:19 pm | #

green powersaw here...
Will the Liberal | 07.09.05 - 3:19 pm | #

Blue hammer.
Rita | 07.09.05 - 3:19 pm | #

blue hoe
caleb | 07.09.05 - 3:19 pm | #

Orange Wrench. Now I know I am really a screw up. :(
PLAINDISGUSTED | 07.09.05 - 3:22 pm | #

I'm a 2%... Blue Shovel
Trixie Trash | 07.09.05 - 3:22 pm | #

Blue Hammer here as well. Must be a gay thing.
Joel from Rochester | 07.09.05 - 3:23 pm | #

What's with the 'gravatar' ?
George | 07.09.05 - 3:23 pm | #

Now the gravatar is gone. What does it mean?
George | 07.09.05 - 3:23 pm | #

Red Hammer--we're so predictable, that's why it's so easy for Karl Rove...
Linda | 07.09.05 - 3:24 pm | #

Count me in as another Blue Hammer
Nemo | 07.09.05 - 3:24 pm | #

I'm with you gauchi, yellow screwdriver for exactly the same reason.
Will | 07.09.05 - 3:25 pm | #

yellow wrench.
Duncan | 07.09.05 - 3:25 pm | #

I thought of a screwdriver, and then I thought of the color orange, probably because I associate the word "screwdriver" with the drink, and then I think of orange juice.

I wonder if that makes me an alcoholic.
chris c | 07.09.05 - 3:25 pm | #

Blue hammer, as well.
Lou | 07.09.05 - 3:26 pm | #

It doesn't really need explaining....but OK

Quick, pick a fast food and a biting insect.

If you said anything other than CHEESEBUGER and MOSQUITO you're among just 2%...

Get it?

This technique was used extensively by John Edward of Crossing Over fame.

"I'm getting a 'D' sound.. Dave, Dennis, Darryl... and there's something red that's important..."
Ed N Sted | 07.09.05 - 3:26 pm | #

Freaky. I said Red Hammer.
Rob | 07.09.05 - 3:27 pm | #

red hammer.
corndog | 07.09.05 - 3:27 pm | #

A blue drill here . . . i'm sure Freud would have fun with that answer! :-)
Mike DC | 07.09.05 - 3:28 pm | #

Blue wrench.
KC | 07.09.05 - 3:28 pm | #

I thought red screwdriver.

I wonder how fundamentalist christians would answer?
HB | 07.09.05 - 3:28 pm | #

Red.....
























Wrench

:)
inLA | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:28 pm | #

orange screwdriver.
Rocky | 07.09.05 - 3:29 pm | #

green shovel here
icewaterchrist | 07.09.05 - 3:29 pm | #

obviously sent out by the red hammer coalition...

idiots.

they are the freaky ones.
justme | 07.09.05 - 3:29 pm | #

Blue Hammer.

Maybe it is as simple as the hammer being the most common tool or something. Dunno. But the exercises preceding the question are all simple addition. Could it be that the hammer comes to mind b/c it is typically a constructive tool, used for putting things together? If instead of a series of simple additions, what if you're asked to do a series of simple subtractions? Will most people still think of a hammer?

As for the color, I don't know. I'd be inclined to think red's associated more with subtraction. (When you're in debt, you're "in the red," for example.) But maybe there is another, or a more deeper association. There are people who associate numbers (or even sounds or letters) with colors; if they look at a page with a bunch of numbers written in black, each number will appear to them in a different color. (Synaesthetes, they're called.) I'm not suggesting that's going on with 98% of the people here. Rather, that phenomenon is a reflection of some deeper associations in the brain. Who knows what that is.

Can you tell I'm looking for a distraction right now?
yatdave | 07.09.05 - 3:30 pm | #

Blue powerdrill, although I saw a rectangular shade of blue next to the word "powerdrill."
drdreus | 07.09.05 - 3:30 pm | #

Blue hammer here.
mapKY | 07.09.05 - 3:30 pm | #

I agree - it is left brain, right brain.

G.
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 3:30 pm | #

Bwahahahaha Jess, when I saw tool, I thought of the press.

then I thought of a yellow hammer
sc | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:30 pm | #

All my beutiful green hammer people, STAND UP!!!!!
Anthony W | 07.09.05 - 3:30 pm | #

blue pliers
Bill | 07.09.05 - 3:31 pm | #

My first urge was to think "red hoe"...but resisted this as I'm somewhat test-wise (mindful of test purposes and twists) and then went "blue hammer"
Domitan | 07.09.05 - 3:31 pm | #

Cool quiz.
Blue hammer.
Heywood J. | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:32 pm | #

blue drill, got fucking liberal women on my mind
tofubo | 07.09.05 - 3:32 pm | #

This is the dumbest thing I've seen all day. Why do people clog up the internet with this crap? Viral emails are the chain letters of the net. Some idiot sent me one about a firemans day scheme that has been passed around since 2001.

Some of this stuff has viruses included. There is one going around right now claiming to include an "exclusive" video of the London bombing. Click on it and your PC is infected with trojans and spyware.

I'm tired of people calling me up to clean up this crap on their pc's.
DON'T CLICK ON EMAIL CRAP AND DON'T FORWARD IDIOTIC CHAIN LETTER TYPE EMAILS.
xeric | 07.09.05 - 3:33 pm | #

I see a red hammer and I want to paint it black.
Master Jack | 07.09.05 - 3:33 pm | #

here's another of these tricks..... follow the math




4+2







5+1








3+3




2+4



1+5


6+0



ok.......













think of a vegetable....






























was it a carrot? for most people it is
buckeye | 07.09.05 - 3:33 pm | #

Just did some quick research, and the major theories seem to be that red is the lowest color on the spectrum, and/or the first color most of us learn as children. Therefore, it's a popular choice. As to the hammer, it's also a basic tool we either learned early on, or have in our subconscious (before we had hammers, we hit things with rocks). So, after all the calculations take our mind in one direction, the questions about color and tool bring us back to the basics, so to speak. Sort of like Alzheimer's, one person on another blog suggested: recent events fade, early memories linger.

Who knows if these are true, I gleaned them from a number of other blogs, where people claimed to have discussed them with their psych teacher etc.
Inside Beltway | 07.09.05 - 3:33 pm | #

Red shovel
Abby Normal | 07.09.05 - 3:33 pm | #

Red & Hammer.

Red is not an adjective of hammer. There's no real trick to it that I can see. Just supply two unrelated words that come into your head while concentrating on something else, which means you're likely to just say the most basic or obvious of each. Red and Hammer.

Quick! Think of a fruit!



















Apple.


Get it?
Forked Tongue | 07.09.05 - 3:34 pm | #

blue hammer.
looks like a lot of 2 percenters here...
like, whatever | 07.09.05 - 3:34 pm | #

Hi John. Scotland is Great...Hope You had Fun.
I got a Yellow Hammer.
Modiney | 07.09.05 - 3:35 pm | #

You go from using one side of the brain to using the other suddenly.

You have no time to prepare for the answer - and red is a bright color that easily comes to mind and hammer is probably the first tool must of us learned about as kids.

G.
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 3:35 pm | #

black screwdriver , but then I've been reading about Rove and Miller all morning , so Mourning and being screwed are foremost in my cortex.
A.Scott ( canukistan) | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:36 pm | #

Green hammer. Count me among the elite 2%. It's lonely being among the MENSA elite. :-)
Marc | 07.09.05 - 3:36 pm | #

Red hammer. WTF?
Ariadne | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:36 pm | #

Oh, Pine Lake: just saw your snark. We disagreed on an issue threads ago, geez let it go already. I've commented on lots of non-political issues (Scientology, real estate, etc) so I don't know where you're coming from with that. Let...it...gooooo.
Inside Beltway | 07.09.05 - 3:36 pm | #

green screwdriver. we are nowhere near the 98/2% split here. is it the sample or the source of the stats??
smarty | 07.09.05 - 3:37 pm | #

red ax
hopeless pedant | 07.09.05 - 3:37 pm | #

yellow screwdriver no3 here I guess..

us non conformists pulled all you lazy red hammers out of the mud and figured out how to build houses and use fire...

orangey-yellow screwdrivers rule!
gryphon | 07.09.05 - 3:38 pm | #

Red shovel - but then I'm Irish and I have my bike outside (I guess I do think differently!!!)
Marti | 07.09.05 - 3:38 pm | #

I said red hammer, but I don't see why we need to do all that math.
shrink in sf | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:38 pm | #

Blue wrench. I always see/say Blue because it is my favorite color. I can't imagine picturing Red except if the question was in regards to books and then I might think about a red-walled library.
kathyp | 07.09.05 - 3:38 pm | #

Blue Hammer & a potato for the second test
JW | 07.09.05 - 3:39 pm | #

Linda said:

Red Hammer--we're so predictable, that's why it's so easy for Karl Rove...

Yes indeed. It's also why we need a much stronger emphasis on science, math and technology in our schools.

People who willful engage in magical thinking are much easier to control...
Ed N Sted | 07.09.05 - 3:41 pm | #

Green wrench.
tpx | 07.09.05 - 3:42 pm | #

Did anyone think 'Dubya' - he IS a tool afterall!!
Marti | 07.09.05 - 3:42 pm | #

White hammer here.

I'm guessing the % has zero to do with the maths questions before hand.
TheQuestioner | 07.09.05 - 3:43 pm | #

The purpose of the math is to distract the left side of the brain, the most dominant part for most people. It is a hypnosis technique.
tpx | 07.09.05 - 3:44 pm | #

Is anyone answering this after working on a car or doing something else with non-hammer tools all morning? Is hammer your answer?
tireiron chef | 07.09.05 - 3:44 pm | #

Lenin was clever adopting such obvious symbols sitting at the top of people's consciousnesses. KISS for the proles I suppose.

If you were asked, quick name a bird! - would you say Bald Eagle?
Forked Tongue | 07.09.05 - 3:45 pm | #

I'm so out of it that I didn't even equate the color to the tool.

Just thought of a color: blue (how I feel most of the time these days)

And a tool: hoe (have no idea why I thought of a hoe)

but I noticed upthread there was another blue hoe, so I guess I'm not totally alone in the world.
mer | 07.09.05 - 3:47 pm | #

Blue Hammer puts me in the 2% category.
Christopher's Partner | 07.09.05 - 3:48 pm | #

I must be really abnormal........blue jigsaw
lulubelle | 07.09.05 - 3:48 pm | #

Maybe the 2% number is for straights. Gay brains are definitely different.
cadejo4 | 07.09.05 - 3:48 pm | #

Red saw.
West Hollywood Guy | 07.09.05 - 3:49 pm | #

Blue hammer, here, too.
DavePgh | 07.09.05 - 3:49 pm | #

Another blue hammer from another blue state...
Brian in Seattle | 07.09.05 - 3:51 pm | #

I got a black chainsaw.
anonymous | 07.09.05 - 3:52 pm | #

i thought about my blue makita impact hammer drill. i just love power tools.

here try this one quick.

a famous philosiphers first name and a traitor.
bob in utah | 07.09.05 - 3:53 pm | #

yellow hammer
Sue Young | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:54 pm | #

Blue axe.
SIGN UP OR SHUT UP | 07.09.05 - 3:54 pm | #

Another blue hammer. Wierd.
SleepyWeasel | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:55 pm | #

i knew all of you were those two percenters. it is called a cohort effect. it means we are in good company.
bob in utah | 07.09.05 - 3:55 pm | #

The first I ever saw this test, I did answer red hammer. I wasn't aware that this was the same thing until I got to the bottom, and my thought was blue hammer this time (well, actually I thought of a whale, and then rememberd it's supposed to be a tool...although, come to think of it, my first answer makes about as much sense as this quiz).
Sporkey | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 3:55 pm | #

Blue seems to be a more common choice by people here than red.

Is this a gay thing?

Or a political thing?
Forked Tongue | 07.09.05 - 3:55 pm | #

Hmmmm. I got a green wrench. Was I SUPPOSED to think of a red hammer?
I don't get it.
2 legs better | 07.09.05 - 3:57 pm | #

i am not gay, so that cannot be it.
besides, that would be like saying there is some difference between a gay brain and a straight brain.
bob in utah | 07.09.05 - 3:58 pm | #

I must be one of those 2% ers.

I chose green and a wrench.
Butch | 07.09.05 - 3:59 pm | #

Blue Hammer
Al in NY | 07.09.05 - 4:00 pm | #

I think the prompts are the key (they're so deliberate and odd sounding) "I knnow, calculations are hard work" brings hammer to mind. "Quick! think of a color..."--there's where the red comes from.
I thought, blue, though...
Now can we all get back to hating Bush. I really can't be distracted...
stuu | 07.09.05 - 4:00 pm | #

Sorry, Beltway, I was thinking of someone else who complained of pictures of hot bobbies. My fault. Your name came up for some reason :)
Pine Lake Larry | 07.09.05 - 4:01 pm | #

Red Hammer here.

Sounds like the star of "Sleepaway Camp Part Sixxx"...

This question reminded me of the old math trick that's supposed to lead you to say Grey Elephants from Denmark.

For me, it was always snowy Egrets from Djibouti...
Jay Carolina | 07.09.05 - 4:01 pm | #

[ Blue seems to be a more common choice by people here than red.

Is this a gay thing?

Or a political thing?]

Probably just a thing. If you asked people to pick a color, blue and red would probably be pretty close to even--though I suppose it would depend on whether people are near a stoplight.
tireiron chef | 07.09.05 - 4:01 pm | #

Black Flogger

Another web site has answers to this quiz posted:
http://www.robrob8.com/pictures/math.htm
(warning obnoxious ads)

Results:
Red Hammer: 15
Blue Hammer: 13
Other answers: 87
Blue: 43
red: 35
hammer: 45
screwdriver: 21

If you multiply the probabilities of red (43/115) and hammer (45/115) with the number of entries, you get 17 which is very close to how many "red hammer" answers there were. Yeah, blue hammer should have been the winner but the difference is not statistically significant. For that
matter, it was hardly a controlled study but it provides a little hint
of what a controlled study might find.

People showed very little lateral thinking: One person out of 115 named a tool that isn't usually for mechanical repair or assembly: A penis. Only one named a color outside the 16 EGA colors. But there are many tools out there: A laptop is a tool. a compiler is a tool. So is a sex toy. A fork or a pair of chopsticks are a tool. So is a rock dropped on clams by a bird to break the shell. Or a stick used by a monkey to dig ants out of an ant hill.
The quiz didn't ask for a "hand tool".

So, the 98% figure appears to be a total lie. If 1 out of 7 people gets the answer red hammer and they are impressed, and spread the chain letter to more that 7 people on average, then the meme circulates widely even though 6 out of 7 people
shitcan it. Kinda like some bogus health remedy. 15% of people get well on their own but if they happen to be taking snake oil at the time they attribute the results to the snake oil.

If the email had said that 15% of people choose "red hammer" would you have been impressed? Would you have posted it here? At least on a public forum, it is exposed as a fraud.

Oh, and does the math have any affect
on the results? Perhaps it helps clear the mind of other things reducing the influence of recent activity. Perhaps it has no effect on the answers. But it may have an effect on the gullibility of recipients, who think the math problems somehow mystically influenced the results. If the math weren't there and you happened to guess "red hammer", you would be more likely to think big whoop - red is a popular color and hammer is a popular tool.
But the false claim of 98% combined with the confusing math leads one to think there is some psuedo-scientific mind control.

All the talk of red and blue states in the last election may have given those two colors an advantage as well. Blue seems to be really popular here, so far.

"If the only tool you know how to use is a hammer, all your problems tend to look like nails."
Mark Whitis | 07.09.05 - 4:02 pm | #

Another blue wrench from another gay reader...
devros | 07.09.05 - 4:03 pm | #

Blue hammer. Of course, I just put one down to waste some time on the blogs...
C | 07.09.05 - 4:03 pm | #

Sheesh...I got the yellow screwdriver too.

Think I'll make myself a blue margarita and think about this for awhile...

8)
GregOutWest | 07.09.05 - 4:04 pm | #

care ful stuu. you know what they say about all hate and no fun. it makes you a republican.
bob in utah | 07.09.05 - 4:04 pm | #

Blue screwdriver.

Then I thought about it, and said, "How often do I use a hammer?" I use a rubber mallet more than a hammer. Hammers are for breaking things. I work glass. You can see how the two don't compute so nicely.
Captain Oblivious | 07.09.05 - 4:05 pm | #

I'm with Pete, Orange Screwdriver -- but then I may have been thinking of the drink, all that math made me thirsty!
synuclein | 07.09.05 - 4:06 pm | #

blue & hammer. and it's not a gay thing either.
bluelib | 07.09.05 - 4:06 pm | #

Blue saw.
Stewart | 07.09.05 - 4:06 pm | #

Black dildo?
thomas | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 4:07 pm | #

I appreciate the retraction, Pine Lake. We may remain at loggerheads over whether bin Laden should be labeled sociopathic, but you can rest assured I would never, ever have a problem with pictures of hot bobbies.
Inside Beltway | 07.09.05 - 4:08 pm | #

2%
Blue spade.
john | 07.09.05 - 4:09 pm | #

Teal hoe
patroclus | 07.09.05 - 4:09 pm | #

orange pliers
irishsprite | 07.09.05 - 4:10 pm | #

Red hammer here. And its the first time I've been accused of having a normal mind.
Paul | 07.09.05 - 4:13 pm | #

Mark Whitis: Thank you!
Ed N Sted | 07.09.05 - 4:13 pm | #

My first thought was "orange" which shifted to "red" when I tried to think of a tool-which was drill. I own a yellow, corded DeWalt and a black, cordless Craftsman so I have no idea where that came from!
bronco214 | 07.09.05 - 4:14 pm | #

Bob in Utah: But hating Bush is great fun--a game the whole family can play!! It's like that other popular game--pin the blame on the Donkey!
stuu | 07.09.05 - 4:15 pm | #

blue hammer. i am different therefore i am.
bill | 07.09.05 - 4:15 pm | #

2% - A blue axe.
pandy | 07.09.05 - 4:15 pm | #

I thought orange wrench
OyToTheWorld | 07.09.05 - 4:17 pm | #

Steam powered dildo, polka dotted.


Blue hammer actually.
Steve Nichols | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 4:17 pm | #

purple hammer
kenzie | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 4:18 pm | #

Blue hammer here too. Wonder what it all means? oooeeeoooeeeeeee
cephas | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 4:20 pm | #

2% - a blue hammer as well. Interesting :)
Aaron | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 4:21 pm | #

Blue wrench. If there is any truth to the 98/2%, and I highly doubt it, I guess that means we have a highly unusual, free-thinking community here.
ExHack | 07.09.05 - 4:21 pm | #

Brown Hammer
Perry | 07.09.05 - 4:22 pm | #

If I had a blue hammer....must be a progressive thing.
my too sense | 07.09.05 - 4:24 pm | #

Red pliers.
Indigo | 07.09.05 - 4:24 pm | #

Blue hammer here as well, from the comments it seems a common answer, so maybe I'm in the most normal subset of the 2%er's. Freaky test.
Raoul Duke | 07.09.05 - 4:24 pm | #

Yellow hammer ... and corn
Greg in CT | 07.09.05 - 4:25 pm | #

Red showel. 2% it is...
Irene | 07.09.05 - 4:26 pm | #

bush sure ruined the color red for us. and i used to sorta like it...
elfranko | 07.09.05 - 4:27 pm | #

Blue Screwdriver, what does it mean?
Alison | 07.09.05 - 4:27 pm | #

WHOA. OK, now I'm officially freaked out. How does that work?!
jurassicpork | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 4:28 pm | #

orange screwdriver
D | 07.09.05 - 4:28 pm | #

I must really be a freak. I thought of weapons of mass destruction, the downing street memo, torture at Abu graihb, KKKarl Rove in prison, and WMD Bush before a military tribunal.

Chain letters?

Must really be a slow news day.
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 4:29 pm | #

LOL

i said "blue screwdriver." i always answer wrong on these things - LOL! i never get this one right either:

http://dapatchy.com/chuckles/dot...es/ dotoday.html


Cedwyn | 07.09.05 - 4:29 pm | #

Woo! Yellow Hammer!
letimbo | 07.09.05 - 4:31 pm | #

chartreuse wirestrippers

not really,

yellow hammer
burro | 07.09.05 - 4:31 pm | #

Purple three-pronged cultivator.
Amazed | 07.09.05 - 4:35 pm | #

bravo stuu!
just keep in mind what master yoda said about hate. hate is just an expression of fear, and it leads to the dark side. they hate us because they fear us. i for one am not now nor have ever been afraid of assholes.
bob in utah | 07.09.05 - 4:37 pm | #

Cedwyn: your link nailed me, that was interesting.
burro | 07.09.05 - 4:39 pm | #

blue screwdriver
Keith Henry | 07.09.05 - 4:39 pm | #

Brown Hoe

I did a quick search, and found 7 other hoes, but only one other brown.

The whole 98% thing seems like bullshit to me, but it would seem pretty convincing if you DID say Red Hammer. And people also like to be in the minority, so people will want to believe they're in the 2%.
Detonator | 07.09.05 - 4:40 pm | #

Blue hammer. Damn.
Yasonyacky | 07.09.05 - 4:40 pm | #

Just ask Tom Cruise: Scientology is the answer.
Quentin | 07.09.05 - 4:42 pm | #

I think Mark Whitis has it nailed. The "trick" is the lie that 98% say red hammer. The answer could be anything. Either way you'll be all "wow, I'm in the 98%" or " another 2%'er here." Good trick, fooled me.

Interesting that the Internet both enables and debunks the same trick.
magurakurin | 07.09.05 - 4:43 pm | #

Another blue hammer here.
Marie | 07.09.05 - 4:43 pm | #

Red hammer.

In my own defense (assuming I actually need a defense), I have an old red-handled hammer sitting on the table next to me. No kidding... that's the freakish part. Plus, I just finished reading an article about Tom DeLay, who was given the nickname "The Hammer" because he's such a tool.
buddhistMonkey | 07.09.05 - 4:43 pm | #

I like buckeye's test better. :)

Love,
a red hammer gal
blogslut | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 4:46 pm | #

I was going to say "red shovel" and then in my mind changed it to "red hammer."
Teguix | 07.09.05 - 4:51 pm | #

Orange screwdriver here, too. I think we're quite a select bunch...
didntvote4shrub | 07.09.05 - 4:52 pm | #

Wow.... I feel so "ordinary".... it was a red hammer
JimNYC | 07.09.05 - 4:53 pm | #

green hammer
Steve M | 07.09.05 - 4:53 pm | #

red hammer.. equally freaked out until I read the comments.
Fluffydragon | 07.09.05 - 4:54 pm | #

And orange screwdriver here.
OH OH! | 07.09.05 - 4:54 pm | #

I said "red." But I'm not sure "hammer & sickle" counts as one tool. ;->

Now, quick: Name a man who looks like a monkey AND an illegal desert war. (Can't imagine a lot of 2-percenters on THAT one.)
Rotwang | 07.09.05 - 4:55 pm | #

2%

Yellow Drill (my dewalt that I was using this week)
House | 07.09.05 - 4:55 pm | #

For what it's worth, here's the board data through 4:43 pm.

Tool #

hammer 81 0.50
drill 6 0.04
saw 6 0.04
wrench 18 0.11
screwdr 22 0.14
brush 1 0.01
vise 1 0.01
trowel 1 0.01
pliers 4 0.02
hoe 6 0.04
shovel 9 0.06
axe 3 0.02
chainsw 1 0.01
dildo 1 0.01
cultiv. 1 0.01
Total 161

Color #

blue 73 0.45
red 32 0.20
black 1 0.01
purple 5 0.03
orange 18 0.11
pink 1 0.01
green 10 0.06
yellow 14 0.09
black 3 0.02
white 1 0.01
teal 1 0.01
brown 2 0.01
Total 161
cadejo4 | 07.09.05 - 4:58 pm | #

Red hammer! really! This freaks me out. uuuughhhhh....
mando | 07.09.05 - 5:00 pm | #

Green Saw. Is there a point to this?
JW | 07.09.05 - 5:02 pm | #

I saw a blue drill... alas... I'm a freak... *sigh*...
Tim | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:03 pm | #

Green Shovel

I'm jumping out the window!
Clovis, King of the Franks | 07.09.05 - 5:04 pm | #

I thought of a pink can opener.

No red hammer here.
Hephaestion | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:07 pm | #

Actually, I looked at all that white space and thought of the often predicted "Black Pixel Shortage."
Barry from Alaska | 07.09.05 - 5:10 pm | #

Blue Hammer here as well...
PSMscl | 07.09.05 - 5:12 pm | #

White wrench. Although I suspect that's because (a) the page on which the text is written is predominantly white and (b) I've been having plumbing issues in my house for the last few weeks.
Alan | 07.09.05 - 5:12 pm | #

I did *NOT* do the calculations and still picked Red Hammer! Sheeesh..


I think it's a commie plot...
Bobby | 07.09.05 - 5:12 pm | #

Yellow hammer .... ?
Wordsmith | 07.09.05 - 5:13 pm | #

red screwdriver
russ | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:15 pm | #

Blue drill.
gretchen | 07.09.05 - 5:20 pm | #

Pink Hammer... but I've been looking at porn.

Guess that makes me normul?
Michael Hawthorne | 07.09.05 - 5:20 pm | #

I've done these before and been dead on with what the answer would be, but it was always some sort of veggie.

This time.....orange shovel.

Orange does seem to be popular. I think most of us here are just adverse to red! The math was probably pulling for us to be red, but orange is as close as our 'true blue' selves would let us get.
//
ImpeachBush | 07.09.05 - 5:22 pm | #

Green pliers, last tool I used before I read the post.
G in Indiana | 07.09.05 - 5:23 pm | #

Red hammer. Freaky.

I think it's because they're all communist numbers.
earl | 07.09.05 - 5:23 pm | #

Pink screwdriver for me--Vive la difference!
Chris Finch | 07.09.05 - 5:25 pm | #

Blue wrench for me...

I must be somethin real special!!!!

Ya bunch of sheep!!!!!
Nazgul35 | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:25 pm | #

Blue screwdriver.

[PSA]

...and better to post that shit here than forward it around. 96% of the people that you forward this nonsense to don't want it and are annoyed... but they're too polite to tell you to knock it off.

[/PSA]
Scott | 07.09.05 - 5:25 pm | #

Addendum:

Since purple is my favoritest of colors, I’m torn between Ken’s answer {Thought of a purple cordless drill.} & ‘Left of Arizona's' because I could actually visualize “a turquoise miter saw with charcoal highlights” in its “stunning, yet delightful mauve carrying case.”

Then of course, there was this - "a teal hoe."
Wordsmith | 07.09.05 - 5:26 pm | #

Uh Oh. What does it mean that I thought of a blue hoe?
chrisBSF | 07.09.05 - 5:28 pm | #

I see many blue wrenchers here....

We should unite and crush these other nonbelievers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nazgul35 | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:29 pm | #

green pneumatic nail gun. HONEST!
mighty E | 07.09.05 - 5:30 pm | #

Green Hammer here.
ericb | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:31 pm | #

2%---I wouldn't have bothered posting after 231 comments already, but after my text search got no hits on chisel, well, I had to report, Green Chisel.
JimmyJeff | 07.09.05 - 5:32 pm | #

red trowell.

anyone going to compile the 2%ers?
ed | 07.09.05 - 5:40 pm | #

red hammer. how is that?
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 5:41 pm | #

I came up with a red shovel. ;)
Paul Taylor | 07.09.05 - 5:41 pm | #

Orange trowel here!
Gays just HAVE to be different!
john | 07.09.05 - 5:44 pm | #

I thought of a green trowel.
Wouje | 07.09.05 - 5:45 pm | #

Green hammer :)

...green is my favorite color...don't know why I thought of a hammer though.
Jewel | 07.09.05 - 5:48 pm | #

Green screwdriver.

Green is my favourite colour, and, well, my husband just got home and woke me up from my afternoon nap about an hour ago... :)
Jim Olson | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:50 pm | #

pop psychology answer:

1. doing addition in your head evokes childhood efforts/memories
+
1. being told to give an answer RIGHT NOW evokes childhood trials/memories
=
2. red hammer is a memorable childhood toy -- evoked by a childish exercise


2%, schmoo-percent, if I'd come up with a pink power drill, Freud would offer a different interpretation...
Sally Swift | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 5:51 pm | #

green wrench
roxtar | 07.09.05 - 5:56 pm | #

Green hammer. As to why the math--I used to see lots of red marks on my math tests in school....
cesiumK | 07.09.05 - 5:57 pm | #

orange hammer (I am left handed)
fats | 07.09.05 - 5:57 pm | #

Heh... Blue Screwdriver for me. Actually, I think a mental picture of a crescent wrench popped in my mind, but I said 'screwdriver' out loud.

... of course, just yesterday I was wrestling with some tiny screws, so that might have something to do with it.
Sunhawk | 07.09.05 - 6:02 pm | #

Black drill. Hmmmmm. I must be extremely abnormal. Which is frighteming as I'm going for a pshycological evaluation on July 18.
Chuck | 07.09.05 - 6:04 pm | #

Red saw.

I'm only half normal, I guess. :lol:
TR | 07.09.05 - 6:05 pm | #

I thought of a red hammer without doing the math.

This is a good example of the Texas Sharpshooter effect (fallacy of selection). It's most statistically common for people to think of a red hammer, especially if they get lazy after doing some trivial math problems. When it happens people think it's freaky. When it doesn't, you discount them as not being of the freaky majority (but 98%? I doubt it). That way you tend to count the hits and ignore the misses.
Rev. Mykeru | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:08 pm | #

YELLOW HAMMER was my answer, so technically I would fall into the 2% category.

However, analyzing it a bit further, I would be in half of the "98%" category and half of the "2%" category with my answer, ergo, I really am in the 50% group (49% + 1% = 50%). LOLOL.....talk about being anal retentive ;-)

BTW...the YELLOW color came from reading a post about George Bush, right before taking the test!!

Best regards....

Harriet
HsLdyAngl | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:09 pm | #

You were set up to pick red because the exercise causes excitement and drama within your mind as you wait with expectation for the result of the experiment.
From http://www.trendlines.com/glitter.asp :
"Red is the ultimate color for suggesting excitement and drama."

Although this site is for marketing using color, one can extrapolate that the mood causes the color choice as well.

There used to be quarter machines in the mall that would describe your mood to you after you rated several colors from most-appealing to least-appealing. Your color choices change with your mood.

I think several of us on the blog are focused on NOT choosing RED, so we replace red with BLUE (think states!), however, if we had not been set against red by the republicants, more people would choose red.

As for the hammer, it's just the most commonly thought of tool.

oh... Red Pliers - I'm an odd one too!
-TII
Terry In Iowa | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:09 pm | #

Blue shovel -- I see a few others are queer like me too. Thank you baby jeezus.
Kit Watkins | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:10 pm | #

Blue rake...but then I've never been normal. In my sick mind, that's a positive.
GottaLaff | 07.09.05 - 6:11 pm | #

Blue Hammer here.

I don't think the math is relevant. It's just a probability of saying hammer combined with tool colors, which are mostly red, blue, black or silver. I think people don't think of black or silver (as in metal) as colors, so it comes down to red or blue.
Jersey Jay | 07.09.05 - 6:12 pm | #

Yellow hammer. But I'm partially colorblind. It would be interesting to know the color choices of others who are partially colorblind. For me, red does not have a lot of impact. Yellow and blue have much more. Since most colorblindness is red/green, I would guess that yellow or blue would be thought of first.
Rich | 07.09.05 - 6:14 pm | #

Red wrench. I needed a wrench the other day. Maybe that influenced my choice?
Maggie Boogie | 07.09.05 - 6:18 pm | #

Blue Chainsaw - yeah, I'm abnormal. Gotta' problem with that?
Thomas Ware | 07.09.05 - 6:19 pm | #

I thought of a green hammer. Always knew I was "different" :-)
CaptainFirst | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:21 pm | #

Blue Screwdriver for me. But it is cocktail hour.
lxxf | 07.09.05 - 6:22 pm | #

orange screwdriver for me
Lynn | 07.09.05 - 6:23 pm | #

Red hammer--because you rushed me. If I had more time, I could have been creative.
Teri DiCicco | 07.09.05 - 6:25 pm | #

funny to see the various groups here.... the "took it seriously" group;
the "terrified by the red hammer coincidence" group;
the "jesus christ this is stupid" group;
the "it must be explained! think about this logically!" group;
and the "explain it away as a pointless, meaningless coincidence justified by the fact that it was wrong, like i knew it was going to be" group.
For the record, blue and hammer. (i did not see a color for the hammer. it was an outline, i guess; I just thought "hammer".)
joseph thorne rainmound | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:26 pm | #

okay, I'm aby normal... no surprise there.

I thought of red shovel
Jason in Idaho | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:27 pm | #

yellow screwdriver

but then, i've seen similar exercises b4.....
cdj | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:28 pm | #

More pop psychology. The color we're all looking at as we scroll down through the quiz is blue. As others have noted, the authors are trying to evoke a "red" response by putting pressure on to give a snappy answer. There are few "outdoor" tools on the list (hoe, rake, trowel, cultivator, chainsaw, axe, etc.), which might we're more urban here.
cadejo4 | 07.09.05 - 6:28 pm | #

Yellow Screwdriver but that's probably because I had to pack my tools to go to a convention in San Diego next week and that's what I'll be using. A lot.

Dr. Frankenstein: "Well then whose brain did you get?"
Igor: "An Abby someones. Uh Abby Normal"
Pidomon | 07.09.05 - 6:29 pm | #

i'v had thi email before as well, I'm a red hammer girl!!!
Molly | 07.09.05 - 6:29 pm | #

green wrench. Colonel Mustard. in the Conservatory.
Left Coast TreeHugger | 07.09.05 - 6:30 pm | #

98%/2% is off.

I thought of blue hammer.

Obviously red has become a taboo color for many here.
pdx | 07.09.05 - 6:32 pm | #

I guess Im in the 2%, I thought turquoise and hammer.
gretchen | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:38 pm | #

Hey, didn't Ken Blackwell put a lot of useless math on the Ohio ballot right before they asked for the first "president" who leapt to mind?

I thought of the color orange, but it was mostly a verbal thing; then I thought of this strange garden implement that sort of looks like an evil, pointy screwdriver (I think it's a weeding tool of some kind), but when I couldn't come up with a name for it, I fell back on to "hammer" as well.

I think this is how Frank Luntz does his stuff, too.
Bill Batson | 07.09.05 - 6:38 pm | #

Count me in the "I can't believe there is anyone here taking this seriously group."

Blue hoe.

Quick, without thinking, pick a one-digit number.

Did you pick 5?

You did? Wow, that is statistically probable!
brian | 07.09.05 - 6:38 pm | #

I went blue screw driver, man I'm weird.
Lance L. | 07.09.05 - 6:40 pm | #

ps-I actually got a turquoise patch with the word "turquoise" spelled out and then saw a black pink floyd looking hammer.
gretchen | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:41 pm | #

I defintely thought red hammer .... freakish ... wonder how that works ?
Nuke | 07.09.05 - 6:43 pm | #

Hmm. I tried posting this responce once already and it didn't take. Maybe cuz I'm full of merde?

Here's one explanation a psychiatrist friend of mine gave me.

But I agree with those who think the 98/2 split is way off. I'm perfectly willing to believe most people will give a particular answer under the circumstances of the test, but no way it's a 98/2 split.

(And if this response doesn't "Publish", then obviously somebody somewhere is trying to tell me something, and so I'll give up.)
corpuscle | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:44 pm | #

You did? Wow, that is statistically probable!

Ha! Ah, so true.

Hey, wanna see something real scary?

http://www.timwike.dircon.co.uk/...co.uk/ card.html
Bill Batson | 07.09.05 - 6:46 pm | #

Blue Spanner

I did some plumbing today. The mass of hair and plasticized toothpaste had a blue tint to it, now that i come to think of it.
BC | 07.09.05 - 6:48 pm | #

OH GOD!!! I'm freakin' ABNORMAL. I thought of a red handled channel locks. Just call me Abby.
kpinvt | 07.09.05 - 6:50 pm | #

Black hammer for me, so does that mean I'm only halfway abnormal?
dave golbitz | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:50 pm | #

Uh-oh, I'm a 2% 'er.

I thought of a green garden hand shovel. I had been using one earlier in the day out in my garden and maybe that's why. But even so I don't think I would have thought of a red hammer. That answer kind of suprised me.

I'm also left handed and it may have nothing to do with it, but it would be interesting to see how many of the 2% of people are left handed.

Left handed people make up 12% of the population and most (but not all) left handed people are right brain (spacial, non-verbal) dominant as opposed to right handed people who are left brain dominant. So it would be interesting to see if being left handed accounted for any of the difference in brain function between the 98% red hammer group and the 2% "other" group.
Roxanne | 07.09.05 - 6:51 pm | #

Interesting, Roxanne. I'm left handed and thought of a yellow hoe.
The Witch | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 6:53 pm | #

Uh, blue wrench.

It's a bullshit test.
bikepsycho | 07.09.05 - 6:53 pm | #

Green hemostats.

'Course I was smoking a spliff while doing the test.
Sarcastro | 07.09.05 - 6:56 pm | #

Green hammer.
Goofy Bint | 07.09.05 - 7:03 pm | #

Blue Wrench---strange...I've never seen one..
Harry | 07.09.05 - 7:11 pm | #

red wrench
Jamie | 07.09.05 - 7:11 pm | #

So, is someone going to analyze this thread and see if it is 98% - because it looks like more than 2% answered something different?
Jamie | 07.09.05 - 7:12 pm | #

So how abnormal is thinking of a blue power drill?

And what is it about those numbers that makes a person think of a red hammer?
JAS | 07.09.05 - 7:13 pm | #

An orange George Bush. You did say a color and a 'tool', right?

Mulehead | 07.09.05 - 3:09 pm

Green hammer.

Numbers are a distraction. It could be a pop culture quiz, you'd get the same final answers as if you just asked people for a color and a tool. And it would vary culturally and economically. This goes to the most basic strata of cultural experience.

Unless you're an artisan or a craftsperson, you're not tool sophisticated, so you're going to default to the first thing you can "mentally pick up and handle" -- which is for most people, HAMMER.

Red has the most strong associations -- fear, blood, death, emergency vehicles, so of course it pops into mind first for most people.

When asked to draw something, most people draw either a stick figure of a person or a house. Same thing.
Robustus | 07.09.05 - 7:18 pm | #

Ok I said a Green Hammer. I always new I was abnormal. :-)
C&L | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:21 pm | #

Red hammer
JDS | 07.09.05 - 7:21 pm | #

Yes, you are right. I thought of red hammer. What gives? Please explain. Its uncanny
Lani | 07.09.05 - 7:22 pm | #

blue chainsaw here. I don't think this e-mail is telling the truth. 98% my ass.
Expat Teacher | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:25 pm | #

Weird, I got the red hammer too.
Jackie | 07.09.05 - 7:25 pm | #

i'm a purple hammer...guess that's what i get being a blue gal in a red state.
doeadeer02 | 07.09.05 - 7:25 pm | #

I just thought of a blue wrench

Blue wrench here too. Actually, blue and an adjustable wrench.

But why does that make me (us) abnormal? Is it really true that most people think of a red hammer? Where does that come from?
Bruce Garrett | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:26 pm | #

red drill. I've been hanging around the Home Depot too much...
RacyMind | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:27 pm | #

I had yellow wrench
BelmontShore | 07.09.05 - 7:28 pm | #

purple hammer, so that must make me only half average, or in the 49% group. Right? math not my good. me bad adding and multiply stuff.
Josh | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:28 pm | #

Another blue hammer to the number
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 7:30 pm | #

I thought red hammer. I believe that both red and or blue come up the most because they are the most popular colors and all who picked different colors have more imagination than the rest of us. Fun test thou.
samantha | 07.09.05 - 7:34 pm | #

Because I'm an OT VII, I said cobalt chisel.
The Original Tom Cruise Parody | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:36 pm | #

Blue hammer for me.. and I had my friend sit down in front of the computer and do it with me watching. He blurted out red hammer before scrolling down..

About crapped my pants..
thomas | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:40 pm | #

Blue hammer here. HEY!!! Is'nt that a W.M.D. Maybe we should start a war with Home Depot!
mike | 07.09.05 - 7:41 pm | #

I did the math....of the responses....
68 red hammer
52 blue hammer
318 pink awl
jp | 07.09.05 - 7:41 pm | #

Orange hammer. I've seen a couple of us - should I assume that we're the elite of the elite??

hee
Mike | 07.09.05 - 7:47 pm | #

yellow screwdriver. First yellow, then a screwdriver.
LEN | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 7:51 pm | #

Good one doeadeer. Makes sense.
samantha | 07.09.05 - 7:51 pm | #

blue shovel for me, but I was just gardening.
Wonderful | 07.09.05 - 7:52 pm | #

I thought of a brown hand plane....What does that mean?
SusanA | 07.09.05 - 7:54 pm | #

I guessed red wrench. What does this mean about me?
Joe Bua | 07.09.05 - 7:55 pm | #

I thought red hammer, one reason i think my mounthly is here and id like to hit the man with a hammer who made me go thru this every month.....
me | 07.09.05 - 8:02 pm | #

Yellow Wrench
Kid Zemo | 07.09.05 - 8:03 pm | #

dang....i said fucia glue gun
Phormerly Pharmboy | 07.09.05 - 8:06 pm | #

Red terror alert... because I'm suppose to be afraid everyday in my country.
kerplunk | 07.09.05 - 8:07 pm | #

Close I thought red and a hoe, maybe I'm only different by half...lol
Chrysalis | 07.09.05 - 8:08 pm | #

I should mention that the yellow wrench I saw in my mind while taking the quiz (see above) was a crude wooden wrench from my 3 year old's toy tool bench set.
Kid Zemo | 07.09.05 - 8:14 pm | #

I thought of a green shovel!!!!!
Why? Green is my favorite color and I like gardening and use a shovel a lot.
Paul Hoffman | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 8:14 pm | #

yellow drill here
I guess that makes me not normal...which I always knew anyway
macster | 07.09.05 - 8:15 pm | #

Blue jack-hammer.
Neil | 07.09.05 - 8:15 pm | #

Yellow wetsaw.
But hey that's me.
Toker | 07.09.05 - 8:20 pm | #

I saw a yellow hammer, but it was the kind that comes with the toy tool bench toddlers play with.

"Playchool," I think they're called.

Big deal, I already knew I was childish.
Moonbat | 07.09.05 - 8:23 pm | #

Nice math, jp! =)

I find this a bit strange, I took this "test" earlier and said red pliers, I came home from work and gave the test to Russ and he also said red pliers...how ironic is that?

-TII
Terry In Iowa | 07.09.05 - 8:29 pm | #

Blue rake.
rlgilson@fuse.net | 07.09.05 - 8:35 pm | #

Yellow screwdriver.
Gary(FL) | 07.09.05 - 8:35 pm | #

I thought of a blue hammer too!
Jeremy | 07.09.05 - 8:37 pm | #

Green hammer. Does that make me half normal? I hope not. I've sort of got use to being different.
Mike in the Tundra | 07.09.05 - 8:39 pm | #

Orange drill
android | 07.09.05 - 8:44 pm | #

A Red Screw-driver

God! Am I sex starved?
Champ | 07.09.05 - 8:45 pm | #

blue excel.

thinking software.

what does that make me???

oy vey maria
mol | 07.09.05 - 8:50 pm | #

yellow hammer here.....
Scott | 07.09.05 - 8:53 pm | #

Well I'm among the abnormal 2% I thought of a blue vice grips!! How the hell does that work??
Pam | 07.09.05 - 8:55 pm | #

Wife....yellow hammer.
Myself...blue hammer, course I'm into blue, so to speak.
bluesman | 07.09.05 - 8:56 pm | #

Purple power drill.

I wanted harder arithmetic problems.
Married in Massachusetts | 07.09.05 - 8:58 pm | #

Blue hammer -- though the actual first words were "blue ball", then I gorped for a tool and found hammer.
Scorpio | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 9:00 pm | #

Red came to mind first, but I switched it to blue because I like blue better. Then I thought of a shovel.

Well, I never thought I was normal anyway.
oblio | 07.09.05 - 9:01 pm | #

Me: red hammer
Wife: blue shovel
ChetBob | 07.09.05 - 9:05 pm | #

I thought of a yellow hammer.
FranSeaLou | 07.09.05 - 9:07 pm | #

blue saw
ulla | 07.09.05 - 9:12 pm | #

Silver Hammer, as in Maxwell's...
chadwig | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 9:14 pm | #

Green hammer. I'm with Mike in the Tundra! (I love snow.)

Still, pretty weird that I thought of a hammer....and did red flash through my mind? Can't recall, maybe just a flashback ....
jawbone | 07.09.05 - 9:20 pm | #

And yet another blue hammer. I am making a LiveJournal community for the blue hammer people alrighty?
Hehe. freakish indeed.
Annika | 07.09.05 - 9:26 pm | #

All those blues, I'm in heaven.
bluesman | 07.09.05 - 9:34 pm | #

http://www.livejournal.com/commu...y/blue_hammers/

Alrighty.
This is for all you Blue Hammers out there who use Live Journal.
Have fun and please post.
Annika | 07.09.05 - 9:36 pm | #

I came up with a red "ratchet."

I'm not even sure what a ratchet is, (short for ratchet set)?

But, that's what I thought. So sue me.

AC
andy | 07.09.05 - 9:39 pm | #

A brown trowel,

Being used a a saucy wench in a French maid's uniform, working diligently on her knees in my garden, with her...


well, you get the picture.
Downpuppy | 07.09.05 - 9:50 pm | #

Pink Hammer here. Mostly because my daughter is obsessed with pink currently.

Red is one of the most important colors in all of biology. Without the color red, evolution would have gone a very different direction. Many animals rely on red to govern their hunting and gathering. So I'm not surprised people think of red first.
Mr Blifil | 07.09.05 - 9:52 pm | #

The arithmetic is merely a ruse. Most people think of red as the color and hammer as the tool. If I wrote "piece of furniture", most would think chair, or "flower", most would think rose.
Alfred | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 9:54 pm | #

I'm a 2%er hammer, but blue
Corey | 07.09.05 - 9:55 pm | #

Color was Purple, Hammer.

I am straight, not gay, but I am abidextrious. Oh and I am under a lot of stress right now, studying for bar exam.
bubbles | 07.09.05 - 9:57 pm | #

Blue screwdriver here.
jezebel | 07.09.05 - 9:58 pm | #

Blue hammer. Good lord, bombs going off in London, the Catholic Church retreating to the Dark Ages, the US knowingly torturing people in the name of freedom...and this gets more responses than virtually any other post we've done. Oy.
Michael in New York | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 10:03 pm | #

Blue Pitchfork

I guess I'm abnormal
nevin | 07.09.05 - 10:03 pm | #

blue hammer for me

kind of proud of it
john | 07.09.05 - 10:09 pm | #

Blue power drill for me.
There are a lot of us in the 2%.
Kbwa | 07.09.05 - 10:10 pm | #

Purple wrench.
JoshA | 07.09.05 - 10:10 pm | #

definitely a red hammer. I am scared.
ross | 07.09.05 - 10:11 pm | #

Yellow Hammer....I'm happy and like to hit stuff?
alicia | 07.09.05 - 10:23 pm | #

stupid (blue drill)
and the point would be???????????????
bob | 07.09.05 - 10:24 pm | #

I thought of a blue nail. what the hell does that mean?
depends | 07.09.05 - 10:37 pm | #

I saw yellow wrench, but I don't it's so much that I'm different as that I spent the whole afternoon trying to loosen a stubborn bolt on my bike. Where the yellow came from, I don't know.
sara | 07.09.05 - 10:38 pm | #

Orange and black B&D sander I just bought. I don't think I've ever seen a red hammer.
MsL | 07.09.05 - 10:49 pm | #

Red hammer. What's funny is I tried to be different by picking red, which is a color I don't like.
Erin | 07.09.05 - 10:50 pm | #

Blue Wrench, I'm going to collect the names of all the "right thinking" people who thought blue wrench. We can surely overthrow the proletarian masses of red (and blue) hammer people with our overwhelming mental superiority.

Red hammer, hah, I spit on your red hammer, ptui...
Big Time Patriot | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 10:58 pm | #

Green Screwdriver.
Katherine | 07.09.05 - 10:59 pm | #

Blue hammer for me ...

... one of the proud 2%rrs!

And the wingnuts would tell us that anyone who wasn't a red hammer was Godless Commie Monkies.

DB
DB | 07.09.05 - 11:00 pm | #

Blue crescent wrench.

But I've always been a little weird.
Stevelaw | 07.09.05 - 11:05 pm | #

white hammer...close
Joe | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 11:12 pm | #

blue Sawzall. I don't understand this test at all. But if I'm in the abnormal 2% I guess I wouldn't?
Mike | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 11:17 pm | #

I got the same answer I would have got if they'd just asked the question without the calcuations. Nice bit of misdirection though.
DrBB | 07.09.05 - 11:17 pm | #

wow

I thought of a red hammer first then tought "that is silly there is no such thing as a red hammer" then I scrolled down

Freaky!
Dave in SF | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 11:23 pm | #

It must be time for a drink. I came up with yellow screwdriver.
Dotty Gale | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 11:29 pm | #

I also thought of a blue hammer
Misplaced Patriot | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 11:34 pm | #

red wrench.
Anonymous | 07.09.05 - 11:44 pm | #

Blue hammer cuz I live in a blue state.
hannah | 07.09.05 - 11:52 pm | #

Purple screwdriver...what was I thinking?
Don Coyote | 07.09.05 - 11:52 pm | #

sorry, my hammer was blue too. Guess it's because Oregon is such a BLUE state! Also I am left handed -- a bit more than %2, but still we think of ourselves as unique!
Barbara York Baker | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 11:52 pm | #

Blue hammer for me...

Blue versus red seems to be the main difference here
Pastor Tobin maker | Homepage | 07.09.05 - 11:58 pm | #

blue spade
BearDoc | 07.10.05 - 12:01 am | #

Guess I'm a 2 percenter...
vern | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 12:03 am | #

Blue screwdriver.

Like I needed to know that to know that I have an abnormal mind. Hah!
Art | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 12:04 am | #

Blue pliers.
notanumber | 07.10.05 - 12:07 am | #

Red trowel.

Is there a logical reason for this?
Sandy-LA90034 | 07.10.05 - 12:08 am | #

I thought of a blue shovel... go firgure
Anonymous | 07.10.05 - 12:22 am | #

I took the test and said red hammer.

My brother said blue hammer.

John, this quiz is freakishly weird.
Chris Woods | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 12:26 am | #

Silver Ice Pick.

.
The Second Witness | 07.10.05 - 12:28 am | #

Red Hammer! Lousy Demo commies all!

God Hates Conservatives.
GoD | 07.10.05 - 12:30 am | #

Blue hammer bitches, that is crazy though!!
lynch03 | 07.10.05 - 12:31 am | #

I was right on the color, red, but the tool that I chose was the ever-handy adjustable wrench, just because I use one all the time. If you're always thinking of hammers, everything else starts to look like a nail.
Stentor | 07.10.05 - 12:32 am | #

I thought of White and Bush.

What do I win?

GoD hates Conservatives!
GoD | 07.10.05 - 12:33 am | #

Red hammer. Freaked me out.

Does this mean I am a Commie and don't know it, like the new Cylons in BSG?

Great. As if I needed one more problem to wrestle with in life. "No, sorry, Mr. Chertoff. I was simply playing this mindbending game when I felt the urge to declare my home town a Soviet republic and grow a pointy goatee."
Moses | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 12:40 am | #

Yellow Cordless Drill.

Hooray for the 2%.
Frogmajick | 07.10.05 - 12:49 am | #

Why do you people waste your time with these stupid, time-wasting quizes like the ones I get emailed to me every day when there are much more important issues to focus on?














tan hammer
Dave | 07.10.05 - 12:49 am | #

WOW
Red Hammer.
I hate being Normal !!!
Voxefx | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 12:58 am | #

Red hammer for me, too.
Katty | 07.10.05 - 12:59 am | #

blue hammer also
irish red | 07.10.05 - 1:16 am | #

White President.

That's a color and a tool, correct?
Fred | 07.10.05 - 1:25 am | #

red hammer

carrot

apple
TroutGrrrl | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 1:38 am | #

The explanation that the most common tool is a hammer and probably the most common color is red gets it for me. That's what I picked.
Pierre | 07.10.05 - 1:50 am | #

Wow, I must be REALLY WEIRD...

I thought color: turd brown
and "tool": George W. Bush

Just kidding:

I thought "blue spade" AND it just proves how absolutely NUTS I am!

BWAH hahahahhaaa!
cowboyneok | 07.10.05 - 1:54 am | #

green screwdriver. John, why did you waste our time with this?
Profbacon | 07.10.05 - 2:04 am | #

Red spanner.

with e-mails like this going around no wonder sometimes the internet is slow :)
arnott | 07.10.05 - 2:05 am | #

It would be interesting to see the results if the post had ended "Congratulations, you are one of the 98% of red blooded he-men who answered "red hammer" - if you chose any other colour/tool combination you are either mentally deficient or a homosexual".

My guess is that the number of "puce screwdriver" answers would be reduced significantly.
Phillip | 07.10.05 - 2:06 am | #

Blue Hammer for me too...freeeeaky!
Sula | 07.10.05 - 2:15 am | #

I don't think this is a waste of time, I find it quite interesting.
Ellen | 07.10.05 - 2:23 am | #

RED HAMMER (scary)

Carrot

Pear
EB in DE | 07.10.05 - 2:37 am | #

blue hammer here
and by bf laying beside me was blue hammer, too
Walt in L.A. | 07.10.05 - 3:06 am | #

I said yellow screwdriver but only because I was trying to think against the grain. would I have said red hammer? I don't know, cause I've been drinking since 3:00. I think you have to bring in a drunken' clause to really see what's going on. I definetley felt more beligerant, like... there's no fucking way way I'm gonna say red hammer you comnmie mother fucker! and then I punched out my computer.
ted velvet | 07.10.05 - 3:15 am | #

Red Hammer. Crazy.
Darien | 07.10.05 - 3:17 am | #

Blue hammer, y'all.
J.Ro | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 3:54 am | #

I thought "blue shovel." Who says that the 98%/2% "split" is accurate in the first place? Are we to believe that someone did an actual scientific study involving hundreds of people to determine this?

Also, what do the math problems have to do with the "color and tool" part? Those, I believe, are nothing more than a red herring to make the thing look "spooky."

Critical thinking, people. Critical thinking.
Bob | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 4:21 am | #

Yellow chef's knife -- I must be channeling Jason.
Disgusted in St. Louis | 07.10.05 - 4:43 am | #

blue screwdriver...count me as one of the 2% I guess
treelovinhippie | 07.10.05 - 5:09 am | #

I just had sex so I was still thinking about my pink tool.
Anonymous | 07.10.05 - 5:25 am | #

green hammer.

man, all these hammers, scary.
pepper | 07.10.05 - 5:56 am | #

How about "white" and "carson daly?"

Or, "white" and "matt drudge"?

Or, "yellow" and "michelle malkin?"

Or, "black" and "armstrong williams?"
Anonymous | 07.10.05 - 7:48 am | #

Purple screwdriver
But I like being different.
ElyseNYC | 07.10.05 - 8:46 am | #

Red hammer! Can't believe it!!!!
New Hat | 07.10.05 - 8:55 am | #

The weirder thing is that before I took the test, I actually bought 4 red hammers!
fireblazes | 07.10.05 - 8:59 am | #

Yellow Hammer... amazing how many people thought of hammer...
Mich | 07.10.05 - 9:26 am | #

black (a non-color) drill

I love being in the 2%'ers, just like at A&M
Sinequanon | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 9:30 am | #

Blue hammer for me, too.

I have a feeling those percentages should be changed to read: 49% red hammer, 49% blue hammer, 2% other.
Donna in Rome | 07.10.05 - 10:00 am | #

black power drill
anonymous | 07.10.05 - 10:03 am | #

BLUE Hammer :)
ZTAURUS | 07.10.05 - 10:36 am | #

Yellow hoe?
gilly | 07.10.05 - 10:45 am | #

Blue. And a battery operated rotating cutting tool.
Frank Furillo | 07.10.05 - 10:47 am | #

yup, red hammer.
geraldo | 07.10.05 - 11:21 am | #

I'm a blue hammer too. We've got LOTS of hammers.......popular tool I guess.
Mz Kleen | 07.10.05 - 11:29 am | #

blue hammer. that's too cool.
pop renaissance | 07.10.05 - 11:35 am | #

pink hammer. does that mean i'm only party "normal?"
Marblex | 07.10.05 - 11:37 am | #

yellow screwdriver, for a minute there I thought this was about brunch drinks...
An Other Greek | 07.10.05 - 11:39 am | #

Yep! Red hammer.
ziggy - yeah, stardust! | 07.10.05 - 11:40 am | #

Red Pecker, here.
David | 07.10.05 - 11:42 am | #

Blue hammer...still pretty freaky
Mike | 07.10.05 - 11:46 am | #

Orange screwdriver.

Glad to see I have some company.
soopadoopa | 07.10.05 - 12:08 pm | #

I thought blue hammer.
aCanadianreader | 07.10.05 - 12:24 pm | #

Yellow Screwdriver. No drinking, no drugs, I guess that I think different. Oh yea, I use a Mac.

I'm a 2%er
Gary Secondino | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 12:26 pm | #

Orange power drill...
Chica | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 12:30 pm | #

I think the 98% 2% figure was pulled out of a hat.

By citing those extreme figures (especially before you take the "test") the "test" then will either make you feel "ooh! freaky" if you get it "right" ("Gee 98% of people think like me... weird!"), or make you think "I'm Special"! Because supposedly only 2% of people will think of something different.

What I'd like to know is who did the controlled, placebo, double blind etc. etc. study to get those figures??? I bet no-one ever did.

BTW I thought of a red screwdriver.
Brigid | 07.10.05 - 12:36 pm | #

Others have made this comment, but they've long ago scrolled away:

"Red hammer" is probably the most common answer regardless. Unless a different series of calculations resulted in a substantively different distribution of answers, this is essentially an experiment with no control. Meaningless.

Also: The idea that it's 98% is probably bunk. What's the source? Given the deficient scientific methodology of whoever initiated this idea, I'm betting that number is made up. But that is just a guess on my part. The point in the last paragraph is the one that I'd defend.
Chris Patil | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 2:07 pm | #

orange wrench
voxd | 07.10.05 - 4:49 pm | #

So, after all the calculations take our mind in one direction, the questions about color and tool bring us back to the basics, so to speak.

That's probably correct. It's kinda like asking someone to do 100 pushups then telling them to sit down: most likely they're just going to sit on the floor rather than searching for a chair.

It might also have to do with left vs. right brain. Or perhaps lizards.
Fishosaur | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 6:13 pm | #

Math is hard!

And then I thought of a green screwdriver.
Larry Wilson | 07.10.05 - 6:23 pm | #

I got purple hammer.
Anniethena | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 6:51 pm | #

I got red hammer.
Anonymous | 07.10.05 - 7:29 pm | #

i wonder if blue hammers are so predominant here because blue is the color of the links just above this post, and more subtly along the sides. so when you are asked to think of a color, the last color you saw above was bright blue, and you have dark blue lines on either side of the question. seems to me when you're actually looking at blue, that might influence the results of what color you think of.

and yeah, the math is just a mental palate/palette cleanser (har har).

and maybe we think of hammer because delay has been in the news so much. he's definitely a tool.
scott crawford | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 7:39 pm | #

I came up with blue wrench...no suprise there. I use a wrench at work more than any other tool, and I dream of an America covered in blue.
LayedBackGuy | 07.10.05 - 7:42 pm | #

A green cold chisel?

I'm a very small bit of the 2%.
pre.dawn.leftist | 07.10.05 - 7:42 pm | #

blue power drill
Anonymous | 07.10.05 - 7:57 pm | #

I'm a blue hammer. so i'm in the 2%. but there seem to be a lot of blue items, and a lot of hammers.
Sam | 07.10.05 - 7:59 pm | #

Silver Wrench. Stupid post. Please go back to your regular programming.
Pragmatist | 07.10.05 - 8:24 pm | #

Wait a second, are the Republicans nominating someone to the Supreme Court while we're all distracted?
Billy Batson | 07.10.05 - 9:49 pm | #

Hmm. I picked "red hammer" - and I almost never would say red. Think it's the "QUICK!", etc. puts one in a suitably urgent state of mind to pick red.
Jake Nelson | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 9:56 pm | #

Blue spade...0.23%?
mtnwoman | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 10:02 pm | #

2%
blue hammer, blues my favorite,
must go load firefox
D. McLeod | 07.10.05 - 10:03 pm | #

blue wrench. 2%. Wish I could be in the majority for once....
greyghost | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 10:13 pm | #

red hammer.

After reading everything upthread though, I don't feel so freaked out anymore :)
Bronwyn | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 10:37 pm | #

Yet another Blue Wrench here...
type-in-stereo | Homepage | 07.10.05 - 11:48 pm | #

Thought of white immediately, and thought "hammer, nah, jigsaw"... then scrolled down.

So, that's a 50% working for me.
Nate | 07.10.05 - 11:54 pm | #

Red Hammer...........
Steve | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 12:09 am | #

blur hammer...
there are alot of us hmmmmm...
redjb | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 12:16 am | #

I came up with a red lawnmower because I have one and I just finished mowing the lawn.
FreedomFarter | 07.11.05 - 12:53 am | #

I thought red hammer. Pretty strange.
Ben Parsons | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 1:03 am | #

Green Hammer here
Chris from Ca | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 1:54 am | #

Orange drill here. And a carrot. Does that make me 50%?
Bathos | 07.11.05 - 2:06 am | #

blue hammer

seems it should have a % note for said blue hammers....
elena | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 4:06 am | #

I also thought of "Blue Hammer."

I wonder what the psychology behind this is? Why does this test make people think of hammers?
doinkicarus | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 9:09 am | #

Blue hammer here too.

But who'd want to be normal anyhow?
metalsguy | 07.11.05 - 9:25 am | #

blue sheep shears. color me weird.
a shizzle | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 10:42 am | #

Green hoe, Ive been gardening all AM
Anonymous | 07.11.05 - 3:48 pm | #

green wrench.
i've never seen a red hammer, why would i think of one?
Alla | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 11:16 pm | #

pink wrench. from the looks of it, your comment section is better "science" than that of the people who made up the test. sure, if you say red hammer, it's nice and freaky and you pass it along. but it's more like 6% than 98% who seem to be saying it.
jami | Homepage | 07.11.05 - 11:26 pm | #

Blue-Dremel

I guess Liberals/Progressives think "Outside the Box"
Ann User | 07.13.05 - 10:38 am | #

I thought of the color blue. And then my brain sort of flashed between my old oil wrench and a hammer. But they were just metal, with no colors. Am I bad?
Avedon | Homepage | 07.13.05 - 4:33 pm | #

My Explanation:

I was a red hammer as well.

I think it
A) Depends upon your enjoyment of fast computations
B)Depends upon how quickly you did the computatons
C)Depends upon what you played with as a kid (I had a red plastic hammer).

I felt like I had to come up with a quick response because I was giving quick responses for the computations. I don't normally like being in that situation so when I HAD to think of a color and then a tool I thought of the first color that came to mind and the first tool that came to mind (which I was coached to do because I was thinking of adding two particular numbers ). I didn't try to "picture" a tool in a particular color as it sounds like some of you shifted gears in your thinking immediately and "pictured" a colored tool.

Cool test ;)

PS- This doesn't make me any less a progressive ;)
Elizabeth | 07.14.05 - 11:26 am | #

2% Blue hammer I like being different
peter | 07.15.05 - 7:52 pm | #

Orange screwdriver here.
Lefty | 07.17.05 - 7:37 pm | #

Nope, I thought about saphire color and scissors
Svetlana | 01.30.06 - 11:35 pm | #

Pink Penis

Now what in the hell does that mean?
Black_Dot | 03.21.06 - 7:38 pm | #

i thought of a blue hammer weird
Theresa Ulick | 10.17.06 - 12:23 am | #

98% my ass, lol, don't go calling me abnormal.

"Okay, according to Stephen, the deal is that repetitive tasks bring you into the now and bring you away from preconceptions. Under those circumstances, when told unexpectedly to think of a color and a tool, you are more likely to come up with the statistically most common responses.

In other words, the boring long list of caluclations are pretty much irrelevant except for the fact that they are boring and repetitive tasks which serve the purpose of bringing you "into the moment", making you disinclined to ruminate on what your answer to the color/tool question will be. And once your mind has been so preset, when you are asked the color/tool question, you will go to the answer that is statistically most common. It doesn't have to be a color and a tool. It could be a pet (likely "dog", I should think), or a bird (I've no idea what would be the likely answer here).

There's nothing magical about "red" or "hammer". And there's nothing magical about the specific calculations you are asked to do. It's simply that if you ask people, after a series of repetitive tasks to name a color, 98% of the people you ask will say red. If you ask for a tool, they will, usually, say hammer."

From:
http://www.thecorpuscle.com/ 2005...ammer_thin.html
Ian | 11.16.06 - 5:47 pm | #

i thought of a blue hammmer too.
Cynthia Garcia | 11.30.06 - 1:50 pm | #

damn... red hammer...

www.myspace.com/djexpander
Dudu Pop | Homepage | 01.19.07 - 8:03 am | #

Red Hammer... so I ended up here looking for the answer
Wood | 03.22.07 - 5:40 pm | #