Finding Out Who You Are
Tagged as: Nov 14When you hear a word or phrase and you don’t hear the entire context you are very prone to make a mistake about how it’s actually being used. You will apply your own thoughts and feelings and create a new context. And yet this is also a fun way to test out certain aspects of yourself.
Judging by what you think of the following, you can find out what kind of a person you are. So see what you’re made of!
List of ambiguous terms
- DB
- Apache
- Coupling
- CA
- Perl
- Python
And so think about this list and what you’ve thought about for each. Here are some of the possibilities that I’ve come to think of for each of them:
Possible definitions for ambiguous terms
-
Diamond Bar, CA
The city is a possible definition that would indicate that you’re aware of this Los Angeles County city.
Database
This is what I think of usually since I’ve become more and more knowledgeable about them.
Decibel
Well usually it’s actually dB, but who’s checking?
-
American Indians
This is likely one of the more popular thoughts. It was the first result on Wikipedia anyways!
Courtesy of Flickr user DavePearson.Attack Helicopter
Used during the latter part of the 1900’s and even currently, it is a pretty well-known and well-loved machine used on the front lines.
HTTP Server
That means it is the software used to serve you web pages. You see it everyday and don’t even know it as it is reported to serve nearly 50% of all web pages!
-
Some arbitrary connection between 2 pieces
Used to identify the connection between any of a whole slew of objects, including those used in automobiles, between train cars, other mechanical devices, etc.
Well…sex
There is a good possibility this is what you thought of. Unless you thought of…
Good computer science practices
Good coupling in computer science is the loose dependence of a particular module on another module. This lends itself to the objected-oriented methodology that is predominant in programming today.
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California
Almost everyone in the United States will think of this unless you’re…
From Canada
In which case you’ll think of your lovely country. However another one that is a possibility is…
Certificate Authority
Used for authentication as a trusted third party, this is very popular in cryptography. When you visit a website prepended by “https” instead of “http” you look for that little lock icon in your browser. Well that lock indicates that a Certificate Authority has provided the website with a digital certificate and you are trusting that the CA has performed due process before you submit your important information to the website.
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Misspelling of pearl
Maybe the person just forgot the “a”.
Programming language
A popular scripting language that can be used for a wide variety of tasks. Often it’s extremely quick to construct usable scripts with this language and it provides constructs for easy text processing. There are plenty of modules available to do just about anything that you want to do. It has the distinct pleasure of allowing the programmer the write the most disgustingly hard to read code ever because its philosophy of allowing the programmer many ways to do the exact same thing. Super.
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Courtesy of Flickr user ricmcarthur.A snake!
Generally not dangerous to humans, they are intimidating for their large size. They kill their prey by constricting them and thus are extremely strong.
Another programming language
Focusing on readability, it’s rather a joy to work in compared to other languages. This high-level programming language sits over C/C++ and allows for all types of extensibility. It also sits in contrast to Perl because it strives to only have a single method, and preferably only that single method of doing something. It is easy to learn and easy to read although it allows great functionality if you so desire. Can you tell that I like it?
Conclusion About Me
So what do all of these things have in common? I’m sure that if you’ve read them all (which, thank you very much for doing so!) you’ll notice that there is a disambiguation that tends towards the nerd in me. That’s right, they can all be nerdy. Haha I wonder if anyone else out there thought of the nerdy options for those phrases.
yes all of your ambiguous terms were quite nerdy since they all had to do with your computer stuffs..
Haha did you know they were about computer things before the conclusion?
I looked at the entire list and thought of it from a computer/programming point of view FIRST but I did think of alternatives like Apache as an American Indian tribe and coupling as, uh, sex. Except for PERL. That was all scripting language for me.
Think about the word “Resistance” - there’s a LOT of meanings for THAT!
Well I guess that if you go into it thinking that it’s going to be about programming, it will probably skew the results. Do you think that you’d normally think of most of these in a programming context if you were presented them individually outside of this context?
As for Perl, I think that I was initially thinking that it was much more of an auditory word that would cause confusion. If you said the word Perl to many people, they would think of a pearl.
Yeah I think that there are many words out there that have multiple meanings that will change from person to person based on their beliefs and experiences. It’s a rather interesting idea, wouldn’t you say? Have you encountered/thought about it much before?
Oh! You forgot about “Java”!!
Yes, I have pondered how everyone has their own filter. Pondering about how others think and what they think about is my kinda thing! I filtered your word list based on what I already know about you (computer background) as well as my own background (computers). If you were an artist or sculptor, I may have interpreted your words differently yet again.
The more you try to understand others, the more you’ll try to see the world from their point of view. That’s how I began to see how we all interpret things differently. Everything is up for interpretation! A thing is in an of itself neutral, neither bad nor good but we put meaning on it. Gun. Fire. Wood. Mouse.
I’ve studied NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and it discusses how we interpret our world. Kinesthetically,audio, etc. and how we can change how we interpret it to “create better outcomes” or change limiting thought patterns.
I am fascinated by the mind and the mind-body connection. Stressed people have health problems. Angry and resentful people usually have health problems. Our bodies tell us things, that’s for sure!
SO yeah, I think a bit about the various meanings people attach to just about anything. What do you think about when you read the word, “Rubber”? When I first thought of it, I thought “eraser” - in a different context, I might have thought “rubber tree” or “tires” or “ball” or “condom”!!
Another reason I’ve been thinking so much about…thinking is that I know that if you change how you think, you change your world (and yourself!)
Just FYI that you can respond to particular comments on my blog since they’re now threaded.
It sounds like you’ve thought about this issue quite extensively! I’m impressed that you’ve actually gotten into a study of the entire field. What made you get interested in it? Was it a particular experience or mainly just something that came into being?
That whole idea about thinking about your thinking seems to be similar to those self-fulfilling prophecy type of actions. Not that it’s bad, but the mind sure is a powerful thing. Would you say that since you think so much you tend to be somewhat of an introvert?
Nope.
That is, I don’t think that since I think so much I tend to be an introvert! When testing for intro or extro - version, I “tend towards” extroversion but not by much. I like my alone time and I like people. I just don’t like crowds or teeming masses!
I first started out being interested in psychology - read a lot of John Bradshaw books. This was over 20 years ago! My interest started out more with emotions and relationship to self and others. Over time my interested in psychology changed to personal development and increasing my potential or rather, accessing my potential.
What made me interested in it? A friend has been studying NLP for years and trying to use it to overcome some fears. It didn’t sound all that interesting to me at the time - I mean “Neuro-Linguistic Programming”??? Yawwwwwn. Then I came across it in various personal development blogs and now that it’s in my consciousness, I’ve found references to it’s uses in many psych books as well as seen it mentioned on motivational coaching sites.
My simplistic explanation of NLP is that it helps you to get into a more resourceful state. You use physiology, visualization and language to get you there. Some examples of this are:
You feel depressed. Sit up straight, raise your head and take a deep breath. Usually you feel better. Conversely, you feel great. Slump down in your chair, breathe shallowly and tuck your chin in. You feel tired, sluggish, lower energy…
You’re scared of something. When you’re scared, it seems sharper, bigger, it looms large in your mind. Take that same image, shrink it, make it black and white, make it look far away. This type of visualization usually reduces the fear.
Let’s say you have some emotional extremes. Think of the words you use. Most people who are easy angered may say, “I was incensed!” “I am totally p*ssed!” If you changed your words to, “Well, that was a bit annoying.” or “I’m a tad peeved.” It’s hard to feel as angry.
Anthony Robbins (”Unlimited Power”, “Awaken the Giant Within”) which got me interested in NLP as well. It all fits in with the “thoughts become things” Law of Attraction belief system.
What I like is Robbins idea that we have a “life metaphor” - how we see life. Some see life as a game so they use a lot game-terminology - it’s about winning and luck or whatever.
Some people see life as a gift so they live their lives in that manner.
The words you decide to use and the metaphor you choose for your life - they are powerful!
I suppose that I tended to think that you were an introvert based on the amount of thinking that seem to go into your posts and comments. But there must be countless other aspects that I have no idea about!
Good info about all of this stuff that intuitively makes sense but which I’ve never thought much about in depth.
That’s a lot of topics and authors which I have no idea about.
How has this changed (if anything) for you? I know that for me it would make me at least have something that I could force myself to do in dire (or just bad) situations. In fact, that’s what I’ll do!
derek wong, you’re…interesting.
Ha maybe it’s because I study computers instead of biology.
Hey you forgot a TRAIN coupling for those of us that love transportation! Also, that snake looks just like my friend Gigi’s!
You know, that’s often how I think of coupling even when I think of it in a computer science sense. But I figured that went under the mechanical connections thoughts.
haha where’d you even come up with those words? and it’s funny how articles on “who we are” can be about such different things… or in this case have such different associations.
and in reply to your post on 11/26… yay for platonic love?
Hm the words were just ones that I thought of through random encounters with them. I would think of the word in a Computer Science context and then realize that they would have other meanings. I thought that it was an interesting idea so I tried to think of more, and lo and behold a post came out of it!
Well I suppose that we are many things, aren’t we? Hence the need for posts and opinions on all types of ways that we are.