How Useful Are You? Take This Technology Quiz
There is a Twilight Zone episode where a businessman makes a pact with the Devil, which allows him to go back in time so that he can capitalize off of his knowledge about the future. It turns out though that the businessman’s knowledge about the future is all superficial and thus he is unable to jump start any technological advancements by traveling back in time. This would likely be the plight of most contemporary humans if they were sent back in time. While we rely greatly on technology, most of us don’t know much about how it actually works and where the materials to make it come from.
If you were to travel 2000 years into the past, how useful would you be in jumpstarting technological advancements? This 10 question quiz will help you figure out your technological usefulness. If you do poorly on the quiz, as most people likely will, then just let that inspire you to study up more on how things work and where raw materials come from.
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68 Trackbacks to “How Useful Are You? Take This Technology Quiz”
7/10: I just might be able to save us all in the event of a nuclear holocaust, so be nice to me.
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10 for 10, Im glad I watched all those BBC Connections Series videos
Actually this type of ‘quiz’ is precisely what’s wrong in today science/technology - the world is full of people that might score 10/10 but which can’t actually repair anything - and even less so invent something meaningful - and they very often get to be the managers of people smarter than them …
taking quiz
Interesting. But about half of these questions I was able answer correctly without really understanding the overall process behind the technology; for instance, in steel making, I don’t know what the flux might be, nor would I know exactly what materials are needed to make cement.
[…] found this little quiz, designed to determine “If you were to travel 2000 years into the past, how useful would you […]
I am techonlogically useful, starting from the year 0 i can advance a civilization all the way to the 19th century. Time to go play some Civ 4 ^^
Where are the answers! I can bring us up to the 19th century but no further
[…] could I? A new site, The Universe As, posted today a little technology quiz asking, “How Useful Are You?” Exactly how useful am I? Well I got 7/10 right, so I’m pretty useful. Dropped into the […]
[…] How useful are you? The Technology Quiz More: Quiz — Read (1) […]
Who wants to go 2000 years in the past? I just wanna go back 20. Man, if I re-lived my childhood, I’d be way better at the second time around.
But, to stay on topic, I rocked out 7 of 10. I’d say that’s decent.
Hmmm, 3 out of 10. I could get civilization to the 10th century. Not bad for someone who isn’t mechanically or scientifically inclined!
Well
I aced it
Ten out of ten
Curious indeed.
I agree with cucu. Most people I know in college may have above a 3.7 gpa but cannot fix a loose dresser drawer or even figure out how to connect a dvd player to a television. theory is useless without practice.
Anyone interested in this subject might like a series of books called the cross-time engineer series by Leo Frankowski. It’s about a Polish engineering student who gets dumped through time back to Poland ten years before the Mongol horde is due to destroy the place. That gives him ten years to turn Poland into the technological superpower of the middle ages. There’s lots of engineering information as he sets up a steel mill, etc.
This applet has an error for sure at least on replays!
I got 8/10. Retook it changing only the 2 questions I was unsure of and got 8/10. Retook a 3rd time changing the same 2 questions to the final available answers and got a 7/10 ?!?
The retake error was fixed (if there really was one) by getting rid of the retake feature.
Correct answers are listed at the end of the quiz.
colinnwn, it is possible for what you did to happen.
Consider if you missed another question that you were sure of.
1) one of the questions you were unsure of was originally right and one was originally wrong, giving you a score of 8
2) when you changed those two, you changed the wrong one to the right answer and the right one to the wrong answer, keeping your score the same 8/10
3) then when you changed them again, you changed them both to the wrong answer and thus had 2 wrong in addition to the one that you were sure about and still got wrong.
Obviously the flaw is not with the technology.
This was enlightening.
Nice quiz - looks like I do better in teams…
Yeah? Will I can advance the first century to the 10th xD. Im just THAT smart! :]
I got 5 out of 5. I feel pretty good about that. If I wanted to know the answer to any of those questions, I could find the answer by buying Encarta for $59 bucks. Or a $300 dollar set of Encyclopedia Brittanica if the world comes to an end. So if you got 10 out of 10, your worth somewhere between $59 and $300 bucks. lol
Google for the win!
I got 7 of 10. I will manage all of you nerds.
I’m 13 and got 6/10. So apparently I can help until the 15th century. Well, if I was going back 2000 years, I wouldn’t bother with the “knowing” crap, I would just bring some fun today stuff to wow them for money 8-D
a lousy 6 correct…funny i can write a convolution reverb software but cant tell a diesel engine from a combustion engine.
Well I’m only 13 and I could bring us back to the 17-19th century, think about what I can do in the future!
9/10 wonder which one I missed
Fun little test. I got an 8 out of ten.
All in all agree that this is not a good test of technological usefulness ;). There’s a big difference between knowing basic thermodynamics and being able to build a fridge, or between knowing the components of steel and how to actually make it. Still, it would make figuring things out a LOT easier. As compared to taking 2000 years to reach the modern day, you might cut the recovery down to a few hundred. All in all a win for civilization.
I was powned.
whr is the quiz link?
Hi there,
Nice idea for a quiz, but it could have done with feedback for each of the questions so that I knew which ones I got right and wrong.
I’d like to offer you a complimentary academic license for Question Writer if you’d like to add that kind of feedback for this or future quizzes. Contact me at above e-mail address if you’d like to take me up on the offer.
This doesn’t really tell us anything… It is one thing to know trivia… it is another to be grounded in science, and its application, technology…
[…] construir las alas de un avin? Qu elementos necesitas para obtener alumnio? Descubre a travs de este test de 10 preguntas si alguno de tus conocimientos es realmente ltil o todo lo que tu cerebro atesora son saberes […]
as a reply to the guy who said `this is what’s wrong…we need people who can invent, repair stuff’
I think Joe Rogan put it best when he said `Let’s say I drop you off in the woods with a hatchet; how long before you can send me an email?’
For the 14 out of 30,000 people who haven’t been able to open this flash quiz, try this link.
Link
[…] me considere un emigrante digital estupendamente integrado. A través de La Tejedora encuentro este quiz para poner a prueba, en 10 preguntas, mis conocimientos sobre tecnología aplicada. Sí, esa que […]
I guess I’m only useful enough for the middle ages.
Oh well..
o/~Bring out yer dead o~/
7/10 … not too bad for an old guy: I might be able to advance mankind from Year 0 to the 19th century! Only problem is, there *is no year 0!*
I supposedly got 8 right, but I noticed some of the questions weren’t worded well. For example, a diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine. Some books to read are Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, or Harry Harrison’s Deathworld trilogy.
10 of 10, but then I like to real about industrial processes. They might have gone for more obscure processes - as an example making nitric acid is critical for a lot of industrial processes but not well known. Other things would be more critical - getting decent hygiene in place, mechanization of farming to get more labor available, things that are more concept than invention.
Some errors in the list - the question on making steel more properly should reference making cast iron, making steel uses cast iron.
See The Tech Quiz Follow Up Post
Yeah, the thing that doesn’t make sense about a quiz like this is that I don’t think I “knew” any of the answers-I guessed on every question and still got a 60%. There’s a reason people are experts in their fields. Ask me about the principles of design!
I got 5 out of ten, I’m only thirteen but at some point in my life I’m sure I’ve know each of the answers.
All very suspicious. I know the elements of an atom, but i don’t know what i would do with that information in the time of Augustus Caesar except maybe get myself killed. I do, however, know the ingredients required to make gunpowder. Some individuals might consider this a little more influential than refrigeration. I would also hi-jack the christian faith, maybe modify some of the texts to make sure those fucking pharisees never stepped on my toes again, maybe remove all mention of hell and revenge and see if i couldn’t avert the crusades. Just for laughs. I really wonder what i would do with a diesel engine without knowledge of petrol refinement, just as i am not sure what the purpose of an incandescent lightbulb would be without electrical current/electrical generators. Especially when i know the basics of cocaine and heroin manufacture, of poker and blackjack, of bourbon production and lotteries. More importantly, i know a bit about history and human fallacies and the power of propaganda. With these tools i would quickly bring the local population to a phase equivalent to what you would expect of Colombus, Ohio, or Philadelphia, PA. Pretty advanced, indeed. The only relevant thing the writers of the quiz got right was the steel-making process. And even then, neglected the superiority of the longbow.
This quiz tests a range of subjects to grasp a person’s range of knowledge. There is only so much that can be done in a little 10 question quiz. Thus, not every invention of history can be linearly covered. It is meant to be fun. So don’t take it too seriously.
8/10.
Question 3: Though your “correct” answer is workable, and the only possible choice out of your selection, isn’t it true that most air conditioners and refrigerators work by DECOMPRESSION of refrigerant?
Just semantics. By decompressing it, it evaporates.
[…] quickly as a result of a smelter accident…or maybe just looking at someone the wrong way. This quiz thinks I might be useful, though. Quite good. Starting from the year 0, you might be able to advance civilization to the 17th or even […]
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Actually, I got 6 right - but I think the quiz was prejudicial towards only one kind of technology/knowledge that could improve civilization. I know how to make paper, for example, weaving and other fabric arts and I know a great deal about health, food and healing - cleaning and preserving food. Think about telling them how to clean wounds properly - and most of all, and we all know this - that there are two new continents across the ocean ripe for colonization and what about historical knowledge -the reasons why the Roman Empire collapses in the 400’s - sell that to an emperor and advise him how to prevent it - knowledge about the future is very strong magic in any era- or tell him not to persecute the Christians because it will just make them stronger …. more so than how light bulbs work, helping to prevent the end of the Roman Empire could do much to change the last 2000 years & setting the world up to evolve quickly. That is, if you don’t get killed for being a witch - something the Romans mistrusted as much as their Christian descendants.
I got 8/10. This is surprising that I scored so high!
Quite good, i got told…i would have advanced civilisation to the 17th or even 19th Century..now i totally think thats a lie!! ha ha
I got 9/10
10/10.
only took 2 tries to memorize the answers.
I’m sure people cheated 2000 years ago, too!
Many of these actually tie together.
You would need knowledge of power generation, the steam engine, and lightbulbs to create electric lighting. In turn, you would need a knowledge of metallurgy(steel, aluminum) for the steam engine, generators and the bulbs themselves(tungsten filament). Atomic theory, while a nice aside, would be about the only unnecessary item, unless you are using it for the purpose of electricity.
Obviously I would be totally useless as I can’t even get the quiz to start! But then would being able to jump start technology and cause global warming 200 years earlier be a good thing anyway!
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