security questions and favorite things

[darkoshi]

Do most people really have lists of "favorite" things, which they can easily remember? So many "security" questions that websites let you choose from are of the sort which ask what your favorite book/movie/thing to eat/holiday/teacher/etc is.

I don't have many easily remembered favorite things, so that greatly cuts down on the questions I can select (assuming that I give true answers to the questions).

When I was a kid, I did have a favorite book, a favorite movie, and various other favorite things. As a kid, you often are asked what your favorite things are, so you think about it, and decide on answers. But as I got older, I slowly lost interest in my old favorites, and I came across various new books and movies that I enjoyed. It was harder to choose favorites. The older you get, the more things you experience... is it normal to always peg certain experiences as favorites? If I think long enough, I can come up with various books and movies I've enjoyed, but I don't categorize them in my mind as favorites. I don't even have a favorite author anymore.

Is this related to dysthymia (not experiencing much enjoyment in things), or a normal side-effect of aging (having experienced too many things, to bother choosing and remembering favorites)?

On a similar vein, I recently had a problem logging into an account. I had to answer the security question "Where did you spend your honeymoon?". Never having been married, it dumbfounded me. I tried entering various answers that I might have originally given, like "nowhere", "I didn't", etc., but none worked. I finally regained access to the account by another route, and promptly changed the security questions.

Comments

[3rdofjune]

I'm only like that with books. I have a favorite movie, video game, album, band, and comic, that I can point to as the biggest single influence on me out of everything in that category, but I don't have a favorite book. A lot of different books have influenced me in small ways.

That's a strange question to have by default. I'm guessing that the service skews older, but even older people haven't all been married.

I once had to answer a survey in a dance music magazine that included the question "do you use condoms?". That also struck me as... not the most inclusive.

[andrewducker]

I have the same problem - my favourite movies have changed, and in many ways I don't really _have_ favourite movies any more. Same goes for a lot of the questions they ask.

[passionrlsusall.livejournal.com]

I take choosing "favorites" all too seriously, and then once I have one set, I feel a loyalty to it, as if it can never change and helps to define me as a person. Even as I like many movies, t.v. shows, etc.

[darkoshi]

I was like that as a kid. For example, I had a favorite number... why did I choose that number? Dunno. I chose it, and that was it. Later when the number appeared in other special circumstances, it seemed to confirm to me that I had chosen the right number.