Fancy Store-Bought Dirt

Yourself, Myself, or Scott Adams, in One Word

Scott Adams has discovered an interesting phenomenon that might actually have a simpler explanation than he (directly) mentions.

Suppose you had to pick one word to describe yourself. Your first reaction, I assume, is that it is impossible. You are so many different things, in so many different contexts. No one word can capture more than a tiny slice.

Now suppose I ask you to think of people you know, and see how many of them you can describe in one word.

You can describe people you know in one word, because you happen to know them in one context (rather than the many contexts of your own experience).

Not to sound arrogant but I probably have a lot of acquaintances whose one-word description of me would be "smart" (or some synonym); you all probably also do. But if you actively seek out the company of extremely intelligent people, suddenly that word isn't so useful as a label for any given person within that group.