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I'm a damn genius. Not about everything, of course. Just history. I know this because I recently passed a test that only 1 in 50 people are capable of completing correctly. I'd feel better about it if I wasn't so scared.

The test was administered online by Topix.com, which examines respondents on a variety of subjects, including technology, anatomy, health, celebrities and pets. You can't get more sophisticated than being tested by computer.

In the "offbeat" section is the following challenge: "Only 1 in 50 people can correctly name all of these world-changing historical figures. And, no, you probably won't even get close to answering all of these correctly. But don't be shy, take the quiz and see how you do."

I'm not the smartest guy in any room, including private bathrooms, but I do love history. I figured that I'd do well, but certainly not better than 98 percent of the rest of the public.

Anyway, the test. It showed a photograph of a historical figure and required choosing between two names as to his or her correct identity.

For example, the first picture was a black and white shot of a guy who obviously spent most of his life thinking too hard. The identity choices were Albert Einstein or Sigmund Freud.

I selected Albert Einstein and was rewarded with "CORRECT!" and then given a short explanation of Einstein's accomplishments.

Question No. 2 was a photo of a black man. Choices were between Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass. I chose King and was again right.

It didn't go to my head. I figured the first questions were intentionally easy and that they would become more difficult as the test progressed.

I was wrong. In fact, the questions got dumber. If 98 percent of people taking the test can't tell that an old painting of Elizabeth I is not the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, then there's something horribly wrong.

The same is true when it was suggested that a photo of Mohandas Gandhi might actually be that of Malcolm X. Really?

But I didn't lose all respect for the test until a photo of an extremely ripped Asian guy in a martial arts stance appeared and the choice was between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. I mean, come on. How many Asians are named Chuck? Probably a few, but Norris as well? It was here that the test had become an open insult.

For reasons I can't explain, I kept taking the test (successfully) all the way up to No. 81, when I got bored and started deliberately answering the questions wrong just to see what happened.

When a picture of Elvis Presley appeared, I incorrectly identified it as John Lennon. I was given an "Incorrect" and allowed to proceed.

I quit at question No. 102. I had to. It couldn't be long before I was asked to pick between Daffy Duck and Abraham Lincoln or between Adolf Hitler and Oprah Winfrey.

I quit mostly because I was bored. I was also tired of having my intelligence insulted — and more than a little frightened.

Such tests are really just click-bait for advertisers. Every question came with a new ad. If you're an advertiser, you don't want to scare off potential shoppers by making them feel stupid, so you keep the questions easy as a way of making them feel smart.

Here's the scary part: If only 1 in 50 people could really ace this test, then it's clear we're devolving as a species. It won't be long before we have a hard time telling the difference between fire and electricity.

Robert Kirby can be reached at rkirby@sltrib.com or facebook.com/stillnotpatbagley.