Transterrestrial Musings

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Man, I'm glad I don't recognize most of the "minor" politicians.

But evidently I shouldn't vote because I don't know what Tony Snow looks like, which is the stupidest criterion I can think of for judging political awareness.

(I know who he is, and what he does. Does it matter that I don't recognise his face?)

Posted by Sigivald at March 8, 2007 10:01 AM

What do you consider a "minor" politician? I didn't see any. Every politician and national leader in that test are people who matter.

Posted by Rand Simberg at March 8, 2007 10:06 AM

Rand I'm not quite as sick as you are.
I missed one question. (I miss identified Nancy Pelosi as Barbara Boxer...)

I agree that they should not have the actors.
On the other hand both Mr Sheen and Mr Ford played presidents on tv or film.

Posted by Paul Breed at March 8, 2007 10:42 AM

Hrmmm, picked up a "C" here.

What do you consider a "minor" politician? I didn't see any. Every politician and national leader in that test are people who matter.

Except that it doesn't matter who they look like especially when they're not from my district! :-P At least, the actors and actresses come from my state.

Posted by Karl Hallowell at March 8, 2007 10:43 AM

96%. I didn't recognize the new U.N Secretary General.

Posted by Steve at March 8, 2007 10:45 AM

The fact that Tony Snow was an anchor on TV for quite a few years, and is the "face of the Oval Office" would mean that, yes, I think you SHOULD probably know what he looks like.

Even if they used a bad picture of him.

Did anyone not know what Ari Fleischer looked like? I could still pick him out of a lineup. McClellan, on the other hand, I wouldn't know from Adam.

I still like that the grading is worded such that answering "I don't know" gets you a response "I'm sorry, but you're wrong". Actually, I'm right, because I DON'T know. It's just not the best choice answer in that case.

As far as the "Pop culture Icons", at least they used some people who portrayed the president in their lineups. That would, hopefully, catch a few people that couldn't separate fantasy and reality. But I'm not sure they needed the likes of Paris and Madonna...

Posted by John Breen III at March 8, 2007 10:49 AM

I agree that knowing what they look like shouldn't be important. It would be a better test if they simply gave the name of a person, and then asked who they were.

Posted by Rand Simberg at March 8, 2007 11:07 AM

I scored 70%, which was higher than I feared. I have deficient face-recognition software.

I often have difficulties in recognizing people's faces without more information. It often takes me a few minutes to place people I see perhaps every week or two if I see them in an unexpected place. I almost never notice when a co-worker gets a haircut or new glasses. There are people I have known on an email list for 10-15 years and whom I see once every year or two or three; I have a very hard time matching names I know well to the faces I almost but can't quite recall.

If I had been given a name and asked to match that to the title/description (or the other way around), I would have scored 100%.

Posted by MJ at March 8, 2007 11:10 AM

97% - Missed Olmert. I think the casual setting and the dog threw me off. I just answered "I don't know" I still got an 'A' though, so I guess I'll vote in 2008.

Posted by Stephen Kohls at March 8, 2007 11:24 AM

Aced it but not easily as I haven't watched television for years.

Got Moon only because that seemed the only good answer.

Realized I know nothing about Boehner.

Thought Aguilera an actress and not a singer.

Posted by D Anghelone at March 8, 2007 11:27 AM

I actually think the entertainers should be on there. They get put out in the media as if we should pay attention to their political opinions, so if you're going to vote you ought to be able to say to yourself "this person is an actor and there is absolutely no reason I should give any credit to their political opinions due to their acting ability."

I think a lot of people would dispute the acting and or musical ability of some of the people on the poll. "I don't know" looked like the right answer some of the time.

I got a 311/350 (I missed Mitch McConnel, the name of the UN Sec Gen, the stuff on Olmert and, embarassingly, Castro--I thought it didn't look quite like him and decided it must be Hugo Chavez, who I really have no idea what he looks like.)

I do disagree that we need to know what politicians look like (as opposed to knowing actors and signers so we can discount their opinions if they are not backed up). I read a lot more than I watch the news or talk shows, and I probably make some good estimates about Mitch McConnell's policy positions although I didn't recognize his face.

If I need to upgrade my knowledge to go vote, we are in serious trouble--I have a pretty good idea of how much I pay attention compared to someone else. I hope the "wisdom of crowds" stuff is right, and it applies to voting.

Posted by Jeff Mauldin at March 8, 2007 11:36 AM

I'm like Steve, missed the UN General Secretary, which is unsurprising to me. I do think the questions regarding Martin Sheen is appropriate, as well Alec Baldwin and Michael Moore. However, I don't know why anyone should know Christine Aguilera to vote.

Posted by Leland at March 8, 2007 12:08 PM

97% - Missed Olmert.

The newspaper.

Posted by D Anghelone at March 8, 2007 12:24 PM

The point has been made, but I'll add my voice to it. The fact that the test is based on recognizing the face of these people is stupid. It works well if you watch a lot of TV, but not if you get most of your information by reading printed words. I know the name and role of everyone they mentioned, but I had difficulty identifying every face.

It also has a People magazine celebrity-worship aspect I find unpleasant. I'm a better voter because I recognize Ehud Olmert? I don't think so. That just means I'm one of those obnoxiously smug public-radio junkies who feels my obsession with the personalities and careers of politicians is somehow fundamentally different from the obsession of Joe Sixpack with NFL personalities and careers. (And it isn't.)

I'd make a better voter if I could answer questions like these:

* How does one become a justice of the Supreme Court? (The procedure, not the qualifications.)

* What is the size of the Federal budget as a percentage of GDP?

* How much of the price of a gallon of gas is taxes? How much is profit to the oil company? What does it cost to build an oil refinery, and how many years does it take to recoup that investment?

* By what percentage would the amount of oil the US imports decline if everyone in the United States bought a Prius hybrid?

* What is the average wait time between diagnosis and surgery in the case of an uncomplicated diagnosis of breast cancer in countries with and without national health care?

* How long does it take to develop a new drug, and how much money does it cost, and how do these compare to (1) the duration of a patent, and (2) the profit on a blockbuster drug?

* What percentage of the Federal budget is underwritten by taxpayers making less than the median US income?

I'm sure other folks here would have other interesting suggestions...

Posted by Carl Pham at March 8, 2007 12:45 PM

I got 349/350 (couldn't tell Jessica Simpson from Paris Hilton) but I am with the crew who thinks it was way too visual. I don't watch network news because, IMHO, it contains negative information, so I rarely (if ever) see pictures of any of these people, although I read what they say and do frequently.

P.S. You can get a much higher score if, when you don't recognize the picture, look through the names and titles and see if any match up. That's how I figured out who Snow was, among others. Didn't work to distinguish the blonde bimbos, though.

Posted by Annoying Old Guy at March 8, 2007 12:47 PM

Correction: Rand, you're qualified to run for office everywhere except Oklahoma. ;^)

Posted by Jay Manifold at March 8, 2007 12:47 PM

> The fact that Tony Snow was an anchor on TV for quite a few years, and is
> the "face of the Oval Office" would mean that, yes, I think you SHOULD
> probably know what he looks like.

You're assuming a positive correlation between the amount of television a person watches and how well informed that person is.

Many would argue there's a negative correlation.

When our nation was founded, most voters could not be expected to recognize any politician they had not met personally (with the possible exception of George Washington, depending on how accurate those oil paintings were). Voting qualification was determined by the ability to read and write, rather than celebrity recognition. Of course, those were less enlightened times.

Posted by Edward Wright at March 8, 2007 12:48 PM

I missed Aguilera (sp?) and Mitch McConnell. The test is clearly broken, because it rewards guessing and punishes admitting you don't know something. "I don't know" should be zero points, and a wrong answer should be something like -10. Since the point of the test is to tell you how much you know, it should punish pretending to know.

Posted by Ashley at March 8, 2007 01:23 PM

I managed to get 314/350 or 89.71%. People I missed included Mitch McConnell, Tony Snow and Ehud Olmert. A few -- like the new Secretary General of the UN -- were educated guesses.

I do know who all these people are -- I just don't watch much TV. I find it boring. Some people have had their pictures in the Washington Post. That's how I recognized SecDef Gates.

I was really surprised that over 90% recognized the photo of Ehud Olmert. Is he on TV a good deal? Many more people recognized him than Harry Reid. That surprised me.

To me this isn't a particularly good test -- even though I got an A-. It is too visual. Understanding current affairs is much more important. TV doesn't do too good a job at that.

Posted by Chuck Divine at March 8, 2007 01:58 PM

I agree with Edward. I haven't watched TV on a regular basis since around the mid 80's. And Tony Snow is a press spokesman. Come on. That's as important as Paris Hilton's job. If she has one, that is. Finally, I think I need to reemphasize that any test which erroneously scores me as a "C" has some sort of inherent grievious flaws in it though I cannot be bothered to puzzle out what those no doubt numerous flaws would be.

Posted by Karl Hallowell at March 8, 2007 02:04 PM

100%

Newspaper gave Olmert away.

Posted by Mike Puckett at March 8, 2007 02:04 PM

Ghees. I aced it to. I had to think a little on Moon. I don't watch much TV either but I do watch CSPAN and press conferences simply because its rare to find transcripts of things like that readily available.

A space themed one would be cool...

-MM

Posted by Michael Mealling at March 8, 2007 05:47 PM

156/350 F

Test program suggested I move to France.

Posted by john hare at March 8, 2007 06:32 PM

Missed one. The blond chick, I guess she was Aguilera. I can live with not recognizing her, actually I think it's a plus that I didn't, but I think it had to do with the fact that in the picture was wearing more cloths than I had every seen her wear before..

Posted by Cecil Trotter at March 8, 2007 06:54 PM

splendid test...350 out of 350

I wonder how many people thought President Bartlett was there?

Robert

Posted by at March 8, 2007 10:10 PM

splendid test...350 out of 350

I wonder how many people thought President Bartlett was there?

Robert

Posted by at March 8, 2007 10:10 PM

Maybe there is an advantage to not being familiar with the faces from TV. The focus shifts from trying to remember who they are to trying to reason who they are.

Posted by D Anghelone at March 9, 2007 01:16 AM

The focus shifts from trying to remember who they are to trying to reason who they are.

And there were a few where I had to do that. I didn't know until taking this quiz what Ehud Olmert looked like, but the only other possible option in the "name" question didn't have a plausible counterpart under "title."

I took a guess on Ban Ki-Moon, because I didn't know what either of the Japanese guys named look like.

Posted by McGehee at March 9, 2007 07:36 AM

an "A" big deal I vote in every election since 1996 when I was 19 I only missed 2 out 30. hey I am tooting my own horn.

Posted by christopher coulter at March 9, 2007 11:05 AM

rats. I didn't know the UN General Secretary. I remember the previous one and some of the news associated with him and his family, but I haven't caught up there. I have to settle for 96%.

Posted by Alfred Differ at March 9, 2007 09:19 PM

"Correction: Rand, you're qualified to run for office everywhere except Oklahoma. ;^)"

Zeus help us.

Posted by X at March 10, 2007 08:18 PM

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