Bravery Tests

I find an incredibly effective way to quickly get the measure of a person is to have a cleaving conversation with them. Examples of cleaving conversations I often use are:

• Are there genetic racial differences in IQ
• Was Muhammed/Moses a Rapist/Rapist by Proxy
• Should childlike sex dolls for pedophiles be legal

I think these kinds of topics are useful because they quickly answer two questions about a person: can they think and are they brave?

They key here is asking a question where one of the answers is socially prohibited but plausibly true. You can then see how someone reacts. Are they even willing to consider the controversial answer? Do they consider it but only to dismiss it out of hand or rationalise it away? Or do they genuinely try to seek out the truth, either experiencing no discomfort because they don’t care about taboos or pushing through any discomfort they do experience.

Whatever happens, the signal is valuable.