You can tell a lot about someone by ...

[FauxRaiden]

I find that comedian preferences can tell you something about a person. I'll be honest, I've never been good friends with anyone that's liked Jeff Dunham. I get along with them and everything, but I can't be friends with them.

[bobtheenchantedone]

Can you tell a lot about someone from knowing they sing?

What about guitar and tin whistle? And, yes, real recorder? ; )

Question: how dedicated of a singer?

I'm not classically trained, not really, but I have had quite a bit of training. Mostly in Broadway and folk styles. I have had some classical, but not much.

This equates in my mind to someone who is either 1) Laid back and totally awesome or 2) Socially inept. I don't know which without more information.

Ah, well, mostly #2, to be honest. I would hope and like to be laid back and totally awesome, but I'm afraid I'm not quite there. ; )

[Commander Keen]

You can tell a lot about a person by the criteria they use to say what you can tell about a person.

[Indefinite Integral]

You can tell a lot about a person by the criteria they use to say what you can tell about a person.

Touche

Oh, and I agree.

[thebigcheese]

Some of these wouldn't work well on me because I basically don't ever watch TV, I don't own a lot of movies, I haven't bothered to update my music in the past few years, I only read occasionally (but I do own a lot of books), and I don't really like comedians. Makes me sound like I'm totally uncultured...I guess media just isn't for me. What do I do for fun, you ask? Take my bike apart! Or find a new trail! Or go running in the mountains! Or do some research and find cool gear to buy! Or build a website! Or draw something! Or play with Photoshop! Or play my guitar!

YEA-YUH.

Actually, I just had a thought. I said shoes because it's something that's important to me. To me, good shoes are an investment and a way to show your personality. Perhaps the rest of you are saying things like books because reading is really important to you personally. Perhaps you think of music because you are really into music! Perhaps you think of TV because your shows are what you look forward to every night! So anything that's personally meaningful to you is also the way you learn about and relate to other people. Anyone want to verify this?

[Laser Jock]

The reason I think pyjamas tell you a lot is that they are probably the item of clothing that people have the most control over. People might have to wear a uniform to work or dress according to a dress code. But when they're at home in their pyjamas you can wear whatever you want. So they can tell you what someone's favorite color might be, or what some of their interests are. They might have cat pyjamas or astronomy pyjamas or sports team pyjamas. How covered up people are in their pyjamas might also tell you how comfortable they are with showing their body, or whether they tend to be hot all the time or cold all the time.

Maybe this is more of a girl thing? Either that, or I'm just boring, because my pajamas usually are just a pair of shorts, or (in the winter) a random T-shirt and comfortable pajama pants. There's no reasoning behind patterns, and color rarely matters. Nor do any of them feature particular themes. Now, granted, that does say something about me: that I don't care how I look when I go to bed.

Actually, I just had a thought. I said shoes because it's something that's important to me. To me, good shoes are an investment and a way to show your personality. Perhaps the rest of you are saying things like books because reading is really important to you personally. Perhaps you think of music because you are really into music! Perhaps you think of TV because your shows are what you look forward to every night! So anything that's personally meaningful to you is also the way you learn about and relate to other people. Anyone want to verify this?

I think this is exactly right, and I think it's the same thing that other people have meant when they said that you can tell a lot about someone by the criteria they use to say what you can tell about a person. (Which says a lot about them, naturally.) For instance, judging someone by their shoes would never have occurred to me, because I just don't care. I pick shoes based on price and comfort and not looking hideous.

However, judging someone by what they read, or what their house looks like, or what they like to talk about resonate with me, because I consider those things important.

[Tao]

heh. How about by the words they freely associate?

vis:

ahem.
Trike, Sword, Spaceman., Motorcycle, Nosferatu, Leaps, mouse, microscope, Rent, Shower, flammable, Meat, Clown, physics, chic, spats, scale, Sundae, Free Bird, Harvey., Diamond, Museums., Animaniacs, Lamb Chop, scrapbook

bismark
THE 100 HOUR BOARD MESSAGE BOARDS

bobtheenchantedone
Betsy., greyhounds, secret, bean, Dinosaur Train, Goodreads, 22!, HOLY CRAP [GIOVANNI] YOU ARE SO ANNOYING, Awesome, REDWAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Bunnicula, fruit salad, cookies!!, Market, Jerk, bus, boy, guitar solo, Isabella, memories

C is for
persnickety, arrogant, Dinosaur train. dinosaur train.t-rex![time for a tiny ditty!], saxophone, Dr. Two-Brains., killer rabbits, jackalope, crunchy munchy honey cakes, house, electrons, silk, tent, Class, fedora, whitewash

Cognoscente
peons

Craig Jessop
Robert Byrd?, Muslims, Sharon Osbo(u)rne., The temple.

Damasta
Dude., urinal, Thomas Covenant

Dead Cat
Crunchy., Nickelodeon., Screaming children., No, Buzz. I am your father., Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Franchesca Banana Fanna Bobesca the Third, For Narnia!

Dragon Lady
Running, SPRING!

FauxRaiden
Waldo, Aids, Top ramen, Tiny seats

Gimgimno
stomachs., fat-bottomed girls? (they make the rockin' world go 'round), Gio. (ha!), vain, Halloween., cake.(like a urinal cake, just to clarify), Carmen Sandiego., fruity oaty bars., hamster

Giovanni Schwartz
petty people., DIGIMON, employees, MLIA, Uncle, Grandpa, and Cousin, Chess., The Princess Bride, Me., Burritos., children, Lady, Thrice, Mother, fruit snacks, PBS, Pure Devotion, 8 out of 10 women, cALVIN AND hOBBES, Birthdays, Olddddddddddd., Uffish Thought, Chuck, Farewell talks., Burlington Coat Factory (Actually, this should be Marshall's, but I thought of Burlington first for some reason.)

Imogen
sexy

Indefinite Integral
Plastic, Luke Skywalker, 3rd Grade, "Whatcha doin'?", Grandma

Marduk
parsimonious, Kang and Kodos., huskies, president., Gio., Pink Floyd, Mr. Goodbar., Vorpal., Existentialism., Thomas the Train., Commissioner., cantaloupe., yummy yummy., Bender., Women., girl., Strom Thurmond., Han Solo., Tom Sawyer., Hegelian wheel of history, boobs.

Marzipan
Vests

NerdGirl
gluten, parsnip, a board with a nail in it, Tramp, stegosaurus, Sean Connery, Slithy toves., Hansen's disease, Steve Urkel, Louse, Airplane, dinosaur, "Good things don't end in -eum. They end in -mania. Or -teria.", Don't hassle the Hoff., CS Lewis, Chicken pox

Non Denominational Mormon
Natalie Dee

Random
barbershop quartet!

Tao
Scissors, Tear, Rush(kekekeke), For PONY!

TheAnswerIs42
sister-in-law, Metro, sappy love songs, short skirt and a long jacket, Chick., fish, little canoe, rough, Wheel of Morality (turn turn turn), red-headed twins

thebigcheese
purple monkey dishwasher, saggy, TK, Online bookshelf

Unit of Energy
cow, doll, flowers, Finals, Carly Simon, rice, conspiracy, church, dadaism, mouse, bounds, starvation, Iron Chef, babies, flamboyant, mass, splat, school, weight, moonlight, Sunday, family, babies, Zurg, mud, katydid, Aladdin, Charlie Horse, marriage

UnluckyStuntman
bigfoot, scooby doo, The Tick

Wisteria
small boys, fluoride, Arthur, moustache, vomit, battle hares, church, camping

xkcd ***
ballerina., 1970s, Gordon., Did I do that?, caress, Spoon, flying solo, hell

yellow m&m
blender, crying, talk

[Tao]

While it is easier to make guesses with more info, even the single responses give some amazing insights.

bismark likes the board board though Cognocente sees us all as peons.

Imogen is sexy, Marzipan prefers wearing vests.

And Non Denominational Mormon is actually Natalie Dee listening to a Random barbershop quartet.

[Katya]

Piano, organ and recorder? Hmm....that's a toughie. I'd say you're fairly dedicated, because you took time to learn organ in addition to the piano, but not crazy because you never made it to a "performance ensemble" instrument (this statement could be negated by you being a virtuoso on any of the aforementioned instruments).

"Not crazy" in the sense of . . . not crazily devoted to being a musician? (I guess that's fair, although maybe I'm just a loner who doesn't like ensembles. )

The fact that you listed recorder tells me you just want to throw me off, because, really, it's a recorder. Unless you play something other than the plastic version you get in 4th grade.

My middle school had a recorder ensemble and we competed in state competitions. I specialized in alto recorder, but also played soprano, tenor, and bass. (I think we also had a sopranino knocking around, but I don't recall ever performing on it.)

If I'd really wanted to throw you off, I would have mentioned the 4 years of violin lessons. (Those say more about my mother than they do about me, though.)

[C is for]

You can tell a lot about a person by the criteria they use to say what you can tell about a person.

You can tell a lot about a person by whether they say the exact same thing as someone previously.

C is for
persnickety, arrogant, Dinosaur train. dinosaur train.t-rex![time for a tiny ditty!], saxophone, Dr. Two-Brains., killer rabbits, jackalope, crunchy munchy honey cakes, house, electrons, silk, tent, Class, fedora, whitewash

This makes me look so childish. (I'm also embarrassed by how much I've contributed to this. I hate the Free Association. Gimme the Oppressed Association any day.)

[NerdGirl]

NerdGirl
gluten, parsnip, a board with a nail in it, Tramp, stegosaurus, Sean Connery, Slithy toves., Hansen's disease, Steve Urkel, Louse, Airplane, dinosaur, "Good things don't end in -eum. They end in -mania. Or -teria.", Don't hassle the Hoff., CS Lewis, Chicken pox

That actually does say a lot about me, especially considering how many of those things are Simpsons references.

[Imogen]

well, i think the word "sexy" pretty much sums up my life. i like to look sexy, i like to have sex, i like to look at sexy men. also, i like to describe things as sexy.

[Whistler]

I think you can tell a lot about someone by their age, geographical location, and religion.

[Commander Keen]

You can tell a lot about a person by the criteria they use to say what you can tell about a person.

You can tell a lot about a person by whether they say the exact same thing as someone previously.

You can tell a lot about a person by whether or not they can really read what someone posted previously and see the clear differences between the two posts.

And how much they hate on others for insignificant things.

[Dragon Lady]

The free association thing fails halfway for me. I love SPRING! but I hate running. So… maybe I'm an extremist in my emotions?

And I think you can tell a lot about a person by what they find funny.

[C is for]

You can tell a lot about a person by the criteria they use to say what you can tell about a person.

You can tell a lot about a person by whether they say the exact same thing as someone previously.

You can tell a lot about a person by whether or not they can really read what someone posted previously and see the clear differences between the two posts.

And how much they hate on others for insignificant things.

Forgive me, I was in a snit about Germany. I'm not calmer (*sob*, USA) but can recognize when I was ... wrong. Even though I still don't see major differences between the posts.

I'm glad Dragon Lady and I think alike.

[Commander Keen]

You can tell a lot about a person by whether they say the exact same thing as someone previously.

You can tell a lot about a person by whether or not they can really read what someone posted previously and see the clear differences between the two posts.

And how much they hate on others for insignificant things.

Forgive me, I was in a snit about Germany. I'm not calmer (*sob*, USA) but can recognize when I was ... wrong. Even though I still don't see major differences between the posts.

I'm glad Dragon Lady and I think alike.

I, Commander Keen, hereby officially rescind all posts that could possibly be construed as copying someone else, even though I only gave the thread a very cursory glance before posting something. All glory, laud, and honor be to FauxRaiden.

[Carrapicho]

I think you can tell a lot about someone by their blog, Facebook page, or any other kind of online profile they keep (if they even have one, which also says a lot). Do they focus on their kids? Their dating life? Their school work? The latest party? The books they're reading? It can be pretty eye-opening...

That's about all I got. I like and agree with some of your ideas. I'm glad Katya asked why you pick them and what they say to you.

So anything that's personally meaningful to you is also the way you learn about and relate to other people. Anyone want to verify this?

I would totally agree with this, and props to tbc for pointing it out. I probably used the online profile idea because I tend to blogsurf and skim my Facebook news feed more than once daily, but I rarely change my own. Is that odd? It's like I would prefer to read about what other people are doing and therefore know about their lives than share my own. Does that make me nosy? I don't think I am...anyway...

To the people who said you can learn a lot by looking at how well kept the bathroom and living room is: bah humbug. Mine says "I have toddlers and no time to clean".

Amen.

[bismark]

type of computer
type of cellphone
blogging platform

[Dead Cat]

You can tell a lot about a person bythe state of their sock drawer.