Being a good detective isn't just about passing an exam. Being a detective is about latent talent and learned skill. The learned skills of the detective are the easy part, requiring only the discipline to commit to memory all the subtleties of basic crime scene examination, be that "crime scene" an actual crime scene, or be it a marriage where one half of the couple is suspected of cheating. Knowing what stand out details mean and which are important means knowing a lot about how the world of the detective behaves when everything is normal. Then, depending on the detective's specialty, he or she needs to learn the investigative procedures required to separate the clues from the noise and parse out truth.
The other qualities needed to be a detective are more complicated. They consist of a combination of IQ (raw mental processing power) and EQ (emotional sensitivity). It is one thing to know what to do, but quite another to know when it is the time to do it. EQ means noticing when the subject of questioning starts to make self-soothing gestures and being able to triangulate that with the other facts available. It means being able to empathize with people to understand their motives. This quiz will take stock of your skills and abilities, assess your talents and determine if you have the brain of a detective!
You've found a deck of playing cards. The box was opened with the clean stroke of a knife, and the deck is used, but immaculate. What does this tell you about the owner?
How do Bedouin culture and Chinese culture handle tea and guests differently?
If the Bedouins make you tea that is very, very sweet, it's their polite way of saying "Please stay." If the Chinese make you tea that is very, very sweet, it's their way of saying "Please leave."
If you are a guest in China and your cup of tea is not filled to the brim, it's a subtle way of being impolite. To the Bedouins, this is normal.
The Bedouins will serve a guest tea immediately upon their arrival, but the Chinese may not.
Trick question! The Bedouins and the Chinese just like coffee these days!
What is the most likely reason a mobile phone's plug hole is surrounded by scratches?
It means the phone is slightly old, since until USB-C and Lightning connectors, phone cables were asymmetrical and everyone had to fiddle with them to get the plug to fit.
It means that the phone was likely left in an upright position in the owner's pocket, on top of keys.
It can mean anything, and therefore nothing.
It means the owner is a drunk who struggles to plug in their phone every night.
What is the single largest distinguishing feature separating most fountain pen inks from most rollerball inks?
The more permanent the fountain pen ink, the lower its pH.
Fountain pen inks tend to wash away more easily, and can be readily removed from bank checks.
Fountain pen ink will likely be more beautifully applied, as users usually have better penmanship, and choose fountain pens to enhance their writing experience.
How reliable is fingerprinting as a means of criminal detection?
The existence of fingerprints can reliably prove someone touched a thing, but science shows they are not as reliable as we have been led to believe when it comes to positive identification.
Given that there is a set of a little less than 60 fingerprints that can, if all of them are tried, unlock any iPhone that uses fingerprint ID, not all that useful.
Fingerprints may lead to other clues, but cannot be relied upon on their own.
Fingerprints are a totally reliable way of proving who touched what, end of story.