Kokology 18 Poem by Hajime Midori

You are an eminent scientist who has been working to develop a new species of plant. You have spent years in your laboratory experimenting, and now your efforts have begun to show results. As the ultimate test of the hardiness of your creation, you plant 100 seeds of the new strain in an inhospitable desert location.


How many of those 100 seeds sprout? (Give a number from 0 to 100.)
Answer Key (Click link below)
The number you gave as an answer correlates to your self-confidence level. In this story, the scientist stands for feelings of confidence and even pride. On the other hand, the hostile desert sands represent a difficult challenge or test and therefore elicit feelings of doubt and uncertainty. People who answered with higher numbers felt greater affinity with the scientist and have high confidence levels. Those who answered with lower numbers felt the challenge was too great and have correspondingly lower self-confidence.

Scale

99-100. It’s an understatement to say you’re self-confident; maybe a better word would be “vain.” Sure, it’s important to believe in yourself, but you tend to dismiss the challenges of the rest of the world. Don’t forget that one of the truest signs of strength is accepting one’s own weaknesses.

81-98. You radiate confidence in yourself and your own capabilities, but somehow it doesn’t come across arrogance. Those around you generally feel it as a sense of cool certainty, making you a natural leader wherever you go.

61-80. Maybe you’re best described as a cautious optimist, hoping for the best but always prepared for the worst. That realistic philosophy keeps you grounded when others might lose their heads in the clouds.

41-60. Your self confidence is in the average range-neither too cocky nor too unsure. Maybe you’re still finding out what it is you’re best at, or maybe you just have a healthy respect for the difficulties that stand before you. Believe in yourself and the world will follow suit.

21-40. While you don’t doubt yourself entirely, you tend to overestimate the challenges confronting you. You may excuse this tendency as a simple resignation to the facts, but your pessimistic outlook affects the way other people see you. The only way for you to inspire confidence in others is first to have it in yourself.

1-20. It’s one thing to be humble, but you need to focus on developing a better sense of your own value. There’s nothing wrong with believing you can achieve great things, and with a little hard work you can. The only thing holding back is you.

0. What looks like an utter lack of confidence is actually a sign of perfectionistic pride. You can’t tolerate the thought of being proven wrong or even making a mistake, so you pretend that everything is too difficult for you. If you don’t learn to face those fears, you may fool the world into thinking you’re just a ne’er-do-well, but you’ll always know that you never even tried.