• 01 Aug 2008 at 10:43 AM

What’s Wrong With You?

I’m sure it doesn’t come as a shock for me to point out that many of you are socially awkward, often fail to demonstrate empathy for your peers, and are prone to restricted patterns of behavior such as hitting the submit button over and over and over again when trying to comment.* Which is to say, you likely all have a mild to major form of Asperger syndrome. Or do you? Take this quiz and post your results. It would be helpful and add a little more color to the situation if you also told us where you’re employed but no pressure on that end (I’ll just find out by checking your IP. Kidding?).
*Not a criticism, personally, I like it when you do this.

Comments (118)

  1. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 10:50 AM

    33

  2. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 10:50 AM

    You’re making me hungry, Bess. No I think I may have an assburger for lunch.

  3. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 10:53 AM

    A Canadian Asperger’s test? Totally lacking in credibility.

  4. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 10:55 AM

    15, lehman brothers.

  5. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 10:55 AM

    Ass Purger?

  6. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 10:56 AM

    I hope Canadians are better at writing psych tests than they are a running hedge funds, Brian Hunter.

  7. Posted by AJ | August 1, 2008 at 11:07 AM

    27, not quite there… does this make me like one of those guys with like an 80 IQ when the retarded cutoff is 70?

  8. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:12 AM

    I clicked the link, over and over again, but the test won’t load. I switched to IE and I clicked some more, and it still won’t load. Overloaded link? I’ll just keep clicking. and clicking. and clicking.

  9. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:13 AM

    Interestingly enough, the guy that developed this quiz is Ali G’s cousin. Per his IMDB page:
    His cousin, Simon Baron-Cohen, is a preeminent psychologist who became famous for his theory that autism is caused by an extreme male brain.

  10. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:14 AM

    Was going to reply but the server is fried.

  11. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:24 AM

    I”ve always considered Asperger one of my greatest assets.

  12. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:28 AM

    Service Temporarily Unavailable
    The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.
    Regards,
    Rain Man

  13. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:29 AM

    You need to be careful with the type of jeans you wear when you have Asperger syndrome. The wrong cut will make you look fat.

  14. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:32 AM

    14, which makes me sound rather more socially integrated than I’m sure is accurate.

  15. Posted by lemmerdeur | August 1, 2008 at 11:40 AM

    20!
    I work for a hedge fund.
    I still hate you all.
    I’m not sure if any or all of these data points are related.

  16. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:40 AM

    29, but as I filled it out I was contemplating how much better I’ve become since I was a scientist, much less since I was an undergrad majoring in math. People in financial services have always seemed socially adept compared to Engineering/Math/Science types. Ha, but then again I’m 3 points from Asperger’s.

  17. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:42 AM

    13, commodity trader

  18. Posted by To The Hilt | August 1, 2008 at 11:45 AM

    34.
    Apparently I’m autistic.
    Good to know.

  19. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:45 AM

    35

  20. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:45 AM

    35

  21. Posted by bank_teller | August 1, 2008 at 11:45 AM

    15, apparently i am an average woman.

  22. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:46 AM

    29 – Wachovia, for today at least, c’mon you cracker fucks sell us off already

  23. Posted by MuniShe | August 1, 2008 at 11:47 AM

    20

  24. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:51 AM

    22
    -BeckyBootFan

  25. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:56 AM

    12 – citi

  26. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 11:58 AM

    26

  27. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:01 PM

    18- a woman as an average man…not sure how I feel about this.

  28. Posted by girl | August 1, 2008 at 12:01 PM

    16- Lady of Leisure in Training
    @ 8, quite possibly

  29. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:03 PM

    33. Energy.

  30. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:08 PM

    if you eat too much Asperger doesn’t it make your urine smell funny??

  31. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:08 PM

    17 – average female scientist. As a male (former) physicist, I always worried that my social skills were holding me back . . .

  32. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:15 PM

    16 – sales at a bulge bracket

  33. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:15 PM

    12 – Quant Risk Modeling

  34. Posted by Anal_yst | August 1, 2008 at 12:15 PM

    19, apparently some people don’t quite understand that being smart is not always 100% correlated with being completely antisocial

  35. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:16 PM

    17, hf

  36. Posted by girl | August 1, 2008 at 12:19 PM

    @ Anal
    True. Sometimes it’s also 10% correlated to being ugly

  37. Posted by arioch | August 1, 2008 at 12:19 PM

    21. computer geek? funny. i majored in amateur pharmacology.

  38. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:21 PM

    25
    Higher than a female scientist.

  39. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:24 PM

    19 – Lawyer, but as it turns out, should have been a scientist.

  40. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:26 PM

    8 – Apathetic lawyer

  41. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:26 PM

    29, mortgage trading

  42. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:27 PM

    11

  43. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:29 PM

    8 – Apathetic lawyer

  44. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:36 PM

    24 – average math contest winner.
    I got the math prize at my 8th grade graduation. Suck my dick, anonymous commentariat.

  45. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:38 PM

    7 – am I brain dead? there is no explanation of scores 12 and below.
    HELP! What does this mean?

  46. Posted by TheEngineer | August 1, 2008 at 12:38 PM

    15, and I bet you can guess what I do. Ouch.

  47. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:38 PM

    Did you know that 95% of statistics are made up on the spot?

  48. Posted by TheEngineer | August 1, 2008 at 12:40 PM

    Hey 12:38, I thought it was 75.3%

  49. Posted by HAM05 | August 1, 2008 at 12:41 PM

    24 – star of spellbound

  50. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:42 PM

    Thirty-seven.
    So explain to me how I failed college math.
    -DK

  51. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:44 PM

    5, Patrick Bateman in training…err value guy

  52. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:47 PM

    25 – Portfolio Manager

  53. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:47 PM

    18–retired scientist, now private investor

  54. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:47 PM

    14, yoga teacher
    -retail

  55. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:48 PM

    8- doesn’t give description of below 12?

  56. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:48 PM

    What happens if you’re just really stupid and really anti-social?

  57. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:48 PM

    @ The engineer
    You’re right… according to investorguy
    83% according to democratic underground
    79.48% according to cnx
    I could go on… and on…

  58. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:49 PM

    wasn’t comfortable taking the test – greeter at Walmart

  59. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:51 PM

    #57 Backoffice?

  60. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:56 PM

    16 – student at wharton. seems low though.

  61. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:58 PM

    12 – Syndicated Loans. We don’t do numbers, we do lunch.

  62. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 12:58 PM

    you have to be warped to get hired on Wall Street.

  63. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:01 PM

    22 – risk arb

  64. Posted by FUNdamental | August 1, 2008 at 1:04 PM

    of all the things to get blocked at the office that test magically got selected?
    Number available later – leader of romper room.

  65. Posted by TheEngineer | August 1, 2008 at 1:05 PM

    @12:48
    You must be making those numbers up.

  66. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:05 PM

    I have a friend with A.S.
    He wont look me in the eye when hes talking to me
    I dont trust him

  67. Posted by Anal_yst | August 1, 2008 at 1:05 PM

    As with most shrink-invented “tests” of this sort, this one is likely 50% bullsh!t, if not more, take it with a grain of salt.
    If these results were true, perhaps mortgage trader with a score of 29 and the quant risk modeler with a score 12, together, might just be indicitave of a few problems recently befallen wall street…

  68. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:15 PM

    Bess you should’ve done VALS testing or IAT

  69. Posted by Anal_yst | August 1, 2008 at 1:15 PM

    As with most shrink-invented “tests” of this sort, this one is likely 50% bullsh!t, if not more, take it with a grain of salt.
    If these results were true, perhaps mortgage trader with a score of 29 and the quant risk modeler with a score 12, together, might just be indicitave of a few problems recently befallen wall street…

  70. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:16 PM

    22 retail broker

  71. Posted by Anal_yst | August 1, 2008 at 1:19 PM

    crap my bad for the 2x post, effing IT guy get your sh!t together!

  72. Posted by hedgehog | August 1, 2008 at 1:20 PM

    11 – hedge fund equity analyst. my boss has always told me i need more attention to detail…

  73. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:20 PM

    eeek.. 46.
    -physicist at CalTech

  74. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:21 PM

    17 bikini line waxer. Bess call me.

  75. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:23 PM

    47…. wow….
    Maybe I should see someone

  76. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:24 PM

    2. is this right??
    - Motivational speaker

  77. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:25 PM

    12. You people are freaks.
    -Consultant

  78. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:36 PM

    24 Average math contest winner–actually did do math contests at the national level in the past and currently work for a laser company. Awesome.

  79. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:36 PM

    Hey – did anyone notice that comment # 58 was made at 12:48, and that # 59 was made at 12:49? Cool, huh? And the commenter’s score at 12:47, which is 14, when added to the comment number, 55, equals 69! What fun, huh?

  80. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:43 PM

    @ Sir Anal ~ 68,
    I think you might have nailed whats wrong with our crooked street…
    @ # 80,
    Back to the spreadsheet, you number monkey… and yes its cool how the number just flow like that, but we are not supposed to tell the rest of the people what we see…

  81. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:44 PM

    laser company is beyond awesome.
    -retail

  82. Posted by I am a Dude | August 1, 2008 at 1:45 PM

    F***ken quiz was from Borat’s cousin scored 35, Bess already knows what i do.
    no clue what thats supposed to mean

  83. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:45 PM

    50
    Assburger is a gift. Helps me think instead of wasting time with people.
    This is how I proved the Poincaré conjecture which surmises that any closed three-dimensional manifold where any loop can be contracted to a point and that it is really just a three-dimensional sphere.
    Grigori Perelman

  84. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 1:58 PM

    Commenter 45 got a score of 24, which, when added together equals – tah dah – 69!
    freaky geeky

  85. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:06 PM

    32-HF Summer Intern

  86. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:09 PM

    21 – crane operator

  87. Posted by Finnegan | August 1, 2008 at 2:19 PM

    Very diabolical, this particular best post, and here is the backstory:
    Carney: Our sales team wants some additional information to present to advertisers about readers. There is some debate about the quality, and whether they are truly on the Street. Bess I just don’t know what to do! Any ideas?
    Bess: A geek test where I ask them their scores, what they do, and where they work.
    Carney: Bess, your brilliant, like a young Barbara Stanwyck in “Christmas in Connecticut”. It’s just crazy enough to work and save our asses. But will it?
    Bess: I don’t Carney. It’s a chance we have to take. The fate of DB, and our jobs, rests on it.
    Carney: I know Bess. I know.
    That said, I got a 22, which may or may not explain my unemployedness although I wish I scored high and was perhaps autistic which would land me on 60 minutes for being able to miraculously play symphonic music on the piano while being unable to manage the poop process. Rain Finnegan Man.

  88. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:22 PM

    “Carney: Bess, *your* brilliant”
    but Finnegan is not.

  89. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:39 PM

    32- mayo eater

  90. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:41 PM

    Not all bankers are Aspies.
    Just the ones that are worth a shit.

  91. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:41 PM

    20, asset manager.

  92. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:43 PM

    you’ll find more slightly autistic people in hedge funds than banks, i would imagine.

  93. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 2:51 PM

    @92
    by asset manager…do you just mean retail broker?

  94. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 3:00 PM

    94:
    no, i’m buy-side so i don’t have to deal with humans. too many of them are cocksuckers. Like you (no offence)

  95. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 3:04 PM

    ahhh but is the cocksucker the “callee”…or the “caller”

  96. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 3:09 PM

    25, lawyer.

  97. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 3:12 PM

    7 – DC Lawyer

  98. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 3:19 PM

    11; atheist attorney.

  99. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 3:57 PM

    Never trust a guy who can count to 1024 on his fingers.
    –Calgary Schmooze

  100. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 3:59 PM

    36, commercial finance lawyer.
    Second the “ask the hedgies” comment.

  101. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 4:12 PM

    7, Marine

  102. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 4:44 PM

    35, Patent attorney.
    I couldn’t get the piepalace test to work. Does anyone have the list of rankings and what each means?
    Grassyass.

  103. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 4:47 PM

    24; mensa member, playing sudoku at the moment, just waiting for happy hour.

  104. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 5:04 PM

    access forbidden-i must work at GS

  105. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 5:46 PM

    I clicked the link and got 404. And an error. I work at a port or something

  106. Posted by Anal_yst | August 1, 2008 at 5:52 PM

    enought with this nonsense!
    where is the beer, god damnit, that is the only important question (the answer being not in my hand/liver…yet)

  107. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 8:47 PM

    You can take the test at
    http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html
    I scored 24 and work at UBS, which stands for I Used to Be Smart.

  108. Posted by guest | August 1, 2008 at 10:44 PM

    24
    Compliance guy (for now, fucking kill me)

  109. Posted by guest | August 2, 2008 at 10:31 AM

    76 – what a fcuking dumb test!
    - The Guy From Delaware

  110. Posted by guest | August 2, 2008 at 11:27 AM

    I didn’t score-typical
    Institutional Sales

  111. Posted by guest | August 2, 2008 at 6:24 PM

    24 – Budget Analyst for huge mid Atlantic state. (Currently planning hostile take-over of New Jersey.)
    TOGFD

  112. Posted by guest | August 4, 2008 at 12:25 PM

    38
    - desk-bound wonk.

  113. Posted by guest | August 5, 2008 at 7:00 AM

    4. I’m a bulge bracket, prop desk-managing male. I’m clearly too empathic and socially attuned for this job. But I’m great at math…go figure.

  114. Posted by guest | August 5, 2008 at 9:21 AM

    24 – lawyer; I telecommute because I’m so bad with people. Clients put up with it because I’m skilled, but they probably wish I weren’t such a schmuck.

  115. Posted by guest | August 5, 2008 at 1:43 PM

    19 – software manager.
    just anal enough to get the job done

  116. Posted by guest | August 7, 2008 at 10:15 AM

    25: banking-monkey-turned-private-equity-monkey

  117. Posted by guest | September 2, 2008 at 5:33 PM

    9 – sr. executive assistant who is actively job seeking…away from current employer UBS

  118. Posted by guest | September 2, 2008 at 8:10 PM

    8- BB Research Associate……I guess next stop is sales or PWM

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