The quest to answer life's random questions

What is a Learning Escapade?

Answer: a record of interesting facts, stories and "wow! I never knew that!" moments all wrapped up in one blog. As random questions pop up in life, I do my best to find answers and record them here.

Gandhi once said, "Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

This quote examplifies this learning blog. Rather than learn little facts and then promptly forget them, this blog attempts to capture those answers and explanations and store them for all to see.

Have you ever wondered how an airplane flies? Why Indian woman have dots on their foreheads or who the richest people in the world are? Questions like these have always interested me. Now with the help of wikipedia and other web resources, it is as easy as ever to find answers to those questions.

Each entry on this blog is a mini-escapade--an adventure that makes the world more fascinating and better understood at the same time.

If you have a question that needs answering or have an extrodinariy explination please let me know.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

My scores on the Big Five personality test

Openness to Experience/Intellect

High scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, complex; Low scorers tend to be conventional, down to earth, narrow interests, uncreative.


You prefer traditional and familiar experiences.
(Your percentile: 16)

Conscientiousness

High scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, careful; Low scorers tend to be disorganized, undependable, negligent.


You are very well-organized, and can be relied upon.
(Your percentile: 92)

Extraversion

High scorers tend to be sociable, friendly, fun loving, talkative; Low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet.


You are extremely outgoing, social, and energetic.
(Your percentile: 91)

Agreeableness

High scorers tend to be good natured, sympathetic, forgiving, courteous; Low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous.


You tend to consider the feelings of others.
(Your percentile: 79)

Neuroticism

High scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, worrying; Low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy.


You probably remain calm, even in tense situations.
(Your percentile: 3)

Generally, I think these attibutes are pretty close to reality.

The "Big Five" Personality model

These are the five main attributes that show up in the workplace. Having or not having some of these attributes can determine which jobs are right for different people.

1. Introvert/extrovert
Sales, marketing and management lend themselves to extroverts while finance, accounting or analysis or lab work is best for introverts

2. Agreeableness/Empathy
Sincere interest and care for other people and their feelings. Primary school teachers, physical therapists and counselors need high empathy, while some jobs call for a more calloused, results based attitude. In some jobs, high empathy can be a 'push-over' and not get assignments completed.

3. Openness/Creativity
Some are practical and focused, while others are creative and more care-free. Design, marketing need very open and creative people, while airplane pilots and other jobs simply need someone to do the job--not think of a new way of making it happen.

4. Natural Reactions/Emotionally resiliant/reaction to pressure
This attribute is how people deal with stress. Some are calm and relaxed under all circumstances. Others get emotional or cannot deal with stressful situations and deadlines.

5. Conscientiousness/work ethic
Some are focused and project driven, while others are more easily distracted and care-free. Many jobs require you to be dependable, on time and driven. Other lines of work might not value this skill quite as often.

Word of Day: recalcitrant

1. Adj, unruly, opposed, or difficult to manage or rebelious
2. Noun, someone who does not take orders well.

Converting between Celsius and Fahrenheit

From Celsius to Farenheit: divide by five, multiply by nine and add 32.

From Fahrenheit to Celcius, subtract 32, divide by nine and multiply by five.

Easy temperature conversions from Celsius to Fahrenheit:

38-100, 32-90, 27-80, 21-70, 15-60, 10-50