My Caveman DNA

What it asks

It asks about the points where primitive instinct breaks through modern life: your judgement when hungry, the tension of being dropped among strangers, how fast you register a danger signal, and how you choose between a reward now and a larger reward later.

Eight core questions build up scores across six strands — instinct, judgement, senses, adaptability, body and tribe — and their total sets how much primitive wiring you have. Whether you lean hunter, gatherer or firekeeper isn't asked directly; it is read from the way your scores tilt. The ninth question is an unscored closer, just for fun.

What you get

Eight caveman types, each with three variations, give 24 results. The Pure Caveman has instinct almost entirely intact. The Waking Wild keeps instinct and reason both alive. The Hardened Hunter has converted instinct into skill.

Further along the range, the types become steadily better optimised for city life. No verdict is passed on which end is better — each type simply performs well in a different environment.

Who it's for

Anyone curious about evolutionary psychology, or about where their own gut reactions come from. Nine questions, about three minutes.

Available in Korean and English. The Japanese version currently translates the interface only; questions and results are still being translated.

All 24 results

Every result this test can give you. Open any title to read the full result — the character's story and the advice that comes with it.

• The Pure CavemanYou hold the spot like a fire that never goes out. Everyone who gets to waver is already standing behind you.
• The Pure CavemanYou see it first, and your hands stay steady after you do. That combination is the scary one.
• The Pure CavemanThe sound of a plan collapsing is what wakes you up. Chaos is not an accident; it is your hunting ground.
• The Waking WildEven when everything has to go, you already know what stays. That is why you rarely break.
• The Waking WildWhen the hunch lands, that is the decision. The reasoning catches up later, and it usually checks out.
• The Waking WildNo path means you make one. While everyone is still reviewing, you are already halfway there.
• The Hardened HunterOn a normal day you barely register. The moment something goes wrong, you are the first call.
• The Hardened HunterYou do not waste a motion. It is not that you are slow; you just never create work you have to undo.
• The Hardened HunterYour body knows before your head does. You cannot explain the call, and you are almost never wrong.
• The Useful OneYou notice who is missing first. It never shows up in the numbers, and the day you are gone, everyone feels it.
• The Useful OneYou take a second look where everyone else walked past. You find it, then time your move until it is gone.
• The Useful OneNobody beats you off the starting line. The first hundred meters, anyway. Let us not discuss the finish.
• Half and HalfYou feed everyone and forget yourself. Your own plate is always last in line.
• Half and HalfYou diagnose other people perfectly. Diagnosis only. Your own prescription has never once been filed.
• Half and HalfSet the stage and nobody touches you. With the conditions met you win; on bare ground you will not start.
• The TamedAlone you cannot start. Put one person beside you and you go all the way — you run in pairs.
• The TamedYou know, and you stay anyway. The alarm is definitely going off; you just never reach for the exit.
• The TamedYour heart is always at the front line. In your head you have succeeded three times; your body has not left yet.
• The Faded InstinctYour good intentions run a beat late. The urge to help keeps arriving just after the moment does.
• The Faded InstinctThe right answer always shows up on the way home. The thing you should have said, right there on the bus.
• The Faded InstinctYou live on plan A alone. If the place is closed, you just stop right there on the sidewalk.
• The Fully ModernAsked to make fire, you open a search bar. Your fingers are far more capable than your hands.
• The Fully ModernYou know exactly what the problem is. There is just nobody to work through it with.
• The Fully ModernYou politely decline the wheel. Other people navigate better, and the passenger seat is genuinely nicer.

Further reading

• The Caveman in Us: Taking the Instinct Joke Seriously

  There is a running joke that we stockpile snacks and leave crackling-fire videos on because we are still cavemen at heart. This is a note on building My Caveman DNA — how far to trust that joke, and where to leave it as play.

Results from this test are entertainment content. They are not a medical or psychological diagnosis, nor professional advice.

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