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Where
in the World is a Humble Atenean?
Survey
Says
Interviews
The
World
Survey
Says
Twenty-five
(25) Ateneans took our test. Of course we threw them off the
true purpose of our survey. Honesty is the best policy but we
didn't want to cheat ourselves of finding an authentic Humble
Atenean. So we told them it was a preparatory test.
Based on their answers we would give them another test and that test
would indicate their personal and mental capabilities.
It
goes without saying that this was not a scientific
survey. Far from it. All the items on our survey asked
each participant to rank himself from 1 to 9. They were to
answer based on how they perceived themselves. Please
understand that we were not looking for evidence of arrogance.
Instead we were looking for humility.
Therefore,
it would be wrong to interpret a response of 9 (Agree) to the
item "I see myself as intelligent" as an indicator
of arrogance. However, it would not be too much of a stretch
to assume the presence of humility if the answer had been 1
(Disagree). The further away from 1, the less humility
we inferred. As we said, this was not the most
scientific survey in the world.
Also,
when the item asked the participant to compare others favorably with
him, the inverse was true. The more favorable his response to
his fellowman (closer to 9), we gave him more "humility
credits".
The
items on our survey were:
I
am one of the most humble persons I know.
I
see others as more important than myself.
I
see myself as intelligent.
People
need me more than I need people.
I
am more attractive than most people.
I
have less athletic ability than others.
My
friends are lost without me.
I
belong to the upper 25% of the world's population.
If
nobody else can, I can.
I
am conceited.
The
results were disheartening.
This
was supposed to be the only test that we would use to find our
Humble Atenean. We had agreed that if any participant gave
himself a "low" score, we would anoint him. By
"low", we meant any unfavorable answer within three marks
of the most unfavorable answer.
For
example, if any Atenean had given himself a mark of 1, 2
or 3 on the third item (see above), our search would have
been over. Inversely, if any of our participants had given
himself a mark of 7, 8 or 9 on the second item
(see above), we would all have moved on to better things.
We're
still here. So you must know what happened.
That's
right. Not a single Atenean gave himself a "low"
mark. Shocking? That's not the top of it. Not
a single Atenean strayed away into "low" territory!
That's right, the most unfavorable (if you can call it that) mark
that anyone gave himself was a 5.
By
the time we had finished tallying the last item on the last survey,
we were all shaking our heads. Click here
for the complete results!
This
was supposed to be a one week affair... two weeks, tops. Now
we had to utilize a different method to find our Humble Atenean.
Interviews
Sometimes
people find it hard to put themselves down on paper. We
assumed that that was one reason why our survey method failed to
uncover our rare gem. That, and the fact that we had put way
too many numbers on the survey form. We don't mean to be
judgmental but Ateneans are known to be notoriously weak when
it comes to the ol' arithmetic.
Interviews!
That was the answer to our search. If we could question at
least ten (10) Ateneans and ten (10) non-Ateneans, surely the truth
would come out. There had to be at least one Humble Atenean
out there.
Atenean
Interviewees
Our
interviewees consisted of students, professionals and
"older" professionals (they had kids in schools already...
Ateneo, where else?). During each interview we chided with
them, exchanged some friendly banter and generally behaved as though
it was not an interview. Now and then, we would inject
questions such as "No... seriously, do you really think he's
going to make it -- I mean, based on your experiences?"
(Or something to that effect -- all our questions were modified, of
course, depending on who we were talking to).
We
would be treated to a range of varied responses. Here's the
gist: "He might. I don't think he's incapable.
But if it was me, I wouldn't doubt it at all."
It
didn't matter what we asked. As long as it was a question of
ability, the same last sentence (or something similar to it) would
pop out of their mouths. Yes, he can or No, he can't
and then the inevitable But if it was me...
Now,
if the statements that followed the three dots were "I wouldn't
be so confident; I haven't had much experience in that area"
then perhaps we could say that we have found traces of humility.
Alas,
that was never the case. Our interviews showed that while
Ateneans sometimes acknowledged the abilities of others (whether the
"others" in question was Atenean or not), they never
doubted their own capabilities.
This
was a disappointment.
One
Atenean had the gall to ask us "Are you blue-blooded all the
way? Did your Atenean education begin in gradeschool... as
mine did?" (This was one of the "parents"... It
must have mattered during his generation).
When
our researcher answered, "No, sir," he brushed the poor
guy away with this remark, "Then don't bother me with your
inane questions. You don't count."
Do
we need to add that we simply scratched him off the list of
potential Humble Ateneans?
The
other nine were definitely not so rude... but still none of them
could be classified as humble. Click here
for the complete results!
Non-Atenean
Interviewees
As
previously stated, we had intended to interview ten (10) non-Ateneans
but we stopped at four. Our original plan was to interview
these people, find who among their Atenean friends they thought was
humble and then proceed to verify this supposed Humble
Atenean ourselves.
Zero.
That
was our finding. We pressed and pressed but could get nobody
to accuse an Atenean of humility.
We
lowered our standards... "Okay, what if we need an Atenean with
average humility... you know, not too arrogant, not too
humble. Normal?"
Zero.
"Okay,"
we pressed further. "How about an Atenean who is less
arrogant than any... and we mean any... non-Atenean you
know?"
Zero.
"Please..."
we were getting desperate. "Don't you know of any person
or thing, living or dead, who may be more arrogant than any Atenean
you personally know?"
"Well...
I do know one person or thing that makes the Ateneans I know look
like saints."
Aha!
Success! "Wonderful," our researcher
exclaimed. "Who is this person or thing and who are these
Ateneans?"
"Well...
the person or thing is Satan and my Atenean..."
Never
mind.
This
was a waste of time. Apparently, no non-Atenean would
volunteer their Atenean friends for our search. Some
friends. Click here
for the complete results!
The
search will continue.
The
World
We
had been unable to consciously draw humility from any Ateneans.
At this point, we decided that we were going about it the wrong
way. Perhaps through simple observation, we would find our
Humble Atenean.
Our
researchers focused on their own areas: Work, Parties the internet.
Again...
if only we had hindsight to guide us from the beginning. It
had completely escaped us that the very reason why we were on this
search was because we had not encountered any humble Ateneans in our
everyday lives.
That
being said... now... the search continued then.
To
our credit, we deliberately made an effort to expand our
circle. We ventured into other departments (where, if rumors
were to be believed, a rather pleasant Atenean worked), we
socialized with different groups of friends at parties (a severe
test to our listening skills), and we delved deeper into
cyberspace. If there was not a single Humble Atenean in the
world, we would settle for one in cyberspace... even if he or she
was just a computer program.
As
stated three paragraphs earlier, we might as well have skipped this
method. Our efforts only succeeded in introducing us to
remarkably annoying people who seem to think we are interested in
listening to them talk. Yes, yes, we know. This is our
fault for actually initiating that first conversation. How
were we to know that an unassuming Atenean is just dirty-trick speak
for "we haven't spoken to him in a while... so he's OK"
Our
ventures into cyberspace were not more productive to any
degree. Well... maybe that statement isn't very fair. We
actually did manage to generate a few laughs among ourselves.
But just because an Atenean makes us laugh, it doesn't mean he or
she is humble. However, we are not averse to sharing these
laughs with you.
For
complete accounts of our ventures into the Real World and
Cyberspace, click here!
Finally...
on to our Conclusions!
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