Wiki Golf

Several friends recently introduced me to a game (which we later found out wasn't new as we thought). It's very simple to play: pick two Wikipedia articles, and try to jump from the first to the second in as few links as possible.

It's a good source of procrastinatory interest, as it requires some measure of knowledge, creativity, and the ability to form a mental picture of topic structures. In many cases, there are also wildly divergent ways to get from A to B, and a particular strategy and choice of links can really give insight into someone's character and personality.

To get started, try:

• Large Hadron Collider to Sabre Tooth Tiger
• Prostitute to Ostrich
• Space Lego to Fountain (Duchamp)

Of course, the game is most fun if you're playing against friends.