(Untitled)

[sharlabacchus]

http://www.sporcle.com/games/elements.php

i'm ashamed to say i only got 47 the first time and 68 on the second try. i'm mortified, and have printed out the periodic table, which i will commit to memory as soon as possible :0)

Comments

[platypuslord]

I am pretty sure I would do worse. On the other hand, I'm not really ashamed about it. ^_^

I mean, seriously, I don't even know my own cell phone number.
If I ever needed to know my phone number, I would look it up in my cell phone.
Why should I hold this number in brain-cache when my electronic cache is sitting right there?
For a map of the globe, or the periodic table, this is even more true.

It's true that, if I ever get chronoported back in time and stranded in a primitive civilization, I'm going to feel rather foolish for not knowing how to make gunpowder or build a radio. I think this is unlikely enough that I can live with the possibility.

[sharlabacchus]

my shame is mostly due to the fact that i'm a chemist by education, you see. i feel i ought never to be unable to fill at least the first 36 elements in by heart.

[lexiphanic]

49, but I don't think I have the will to try again, heh. I was hoping for at least an even 50. perhaps I also need more Tom Lehrer (though at least one line of that song netted me a couple I might have otherwise missed!)

[sharlabacchus]

*THAT* is really impressive!

[ext_75102]

i'm not even going to try. i know about 60% of that song by heart, but that doesn't mean i know where everything goes...

[sharlabacchus]

actually, you don't need to know where they go, just how to spell the names. the song got me neodymium :0)