On OKCupid's model is questions. Thousands of them. Some are created by the staff, but the overwhelming majority are created by other users. I've got to admit that I have found those questions a bit addicting - to the point where I have answered over 1500 of them (!).
Why? Honestly, less to reveal myself to others than the chance at introspection. I have had an interesting journey watching my own responses, and my own answers. Many of the questions are redundant, and they serve in loose way as validators would on a more formal survey instrument. I become aware of my own inconsistency, as well as the topics I am unsure about or uncomfortable with.
One thing that surprised me is how adamant I am about atheism. I have always felt I was benignly ambivalent about strongly held religious beliefs. Now I have to look in the mirror and admit, nope, that isn't true. Faced with pretty strong evidence to the contrary I have to admit that I am not ambivalent at all, about religion or people who try to spread a non-logical belief system. It is a truth I am glad to embrace, and doing so reduces a lot of internal stress.
The other thing I am learning is that I am struggling with how I define myself. Thanks to a few pretty deep message exchanges with another member I came to realize just how much I define who I am by what I know, or what I know about. In other words, I have always liked the fact that I can hold up my end of a pretty deep conversation across a pretty wide spectrum of topics. If I am confronted by something I don't know, the Google fingers are working and I am finding out.
I can embrace that too, but I am also trying to change it. I guess embracing it is the first step.
Don't get me wrong - I truly would never give up my geeky side. I love to think, I love to be provoked to think. I want to understand how things work. Now I am turning that onto myself.
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