Nonmetal · element 34
Selenium
Turns light into electricity. Also turns up in shampoo.
Only 0.5% of people are Selenium. (estimated)
If you're Selenium
You react to light: brighter around bright people, dimmer alone. Useful in surprising places and easy to overlook until something needs you.
Selenium conducts electricity better in light than in dark, which made it the heart of the first photocopiers and light meters.
How to get along with Selenium
Do
- Bring light; they work better in it.
- Put them where they're useful, not where they're seen.
- Accept that their energy tracks the room.
Don't
- Don't leave them in the dark for long.
- Don't expect the same output at midnight.
When it goes wrong: In the dark they stop conducting. Open the curtains before the meeting.
Atomic profile
Every element is placed on six personality dimensions derived from its chemistry. Your answers are placed on the same six, and the closest element wins. How the scoring works
- Reactivity
- 5
- Sociability
- 7
- Stability
- 8
- Energy
- 5
- Rarity
- 5
- Warmth
- 5
Selenium in literature
- Harriet Smith — Emma, Jane Austen (1815)
- Feste — Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare (1602)
- Sissy Jupe — Hard Times, Charles Dickens (1854)
Characters from public-domain works, chosen for the same traits. Company, not a verdict.
Closest personalities
The elements whose profiles sit nearest to Selenium's. If you got Selenium, one of these was probably your runner-up.