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Botticelli – A fun questioning game
A recreational game, called "Botticelli" can illuminate features of the interrogative process. It will be useful to describe this game in detail.
"Botticelli" is best played with four or more people. One person is "it:' For convenience we will use the name Askee for this person. The Askee chooses some historical figure either living or dead. The historical figure should be someone with whom everyone participating in the game is already definitely acquainted.
The goal of the game is for the others to identify the historical figure by means of a prescribed method of questioning. Initially, the only kind of question that can be asked of the Askee is a question of the form, "Are you the person who . . ‑ “In the game these are called "stump questions" The part following the word who is filled in with some sort of description that would identify one or more historical persons. For example, "Are you the person who was president at the beginning of the War Between the States?" If the Askee has, in fact, chosen to be Abraham Lincoln, then she or he must admit this and the game is over. More likely, the Askee has chosen someone else, but she or he is still required to try to indicate who is being described in the stump question. In this case, if the Askee can successfully answer 'Abraham Lincoln," then another stump question must be tried. Another stump question would be, 'Are you the person who painted 'Venus Rising from the Sea' Perhaps the Askee won’t know the answer to this one! (It happens to be the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, after whom this game is named.) In order to keep these stump questions somewhat fair, it is often agreed that when the Askee is "stumped," that is; fails to give the right answer, then at least one other person in the game must know the answer in addition to the person who posed the question. Otherwise the question is disqualified. If the Askee has been stumped, then the person who asked the stump question has earned the right to ask a different kind of question.
In the game this new kind of question is called a "direct question." Direct questions must be formulated so that the Askee can answer either "yes" or "no' Direct questions are chosen so as to narrow down the range of persons under consideration. For example, the Askee might be asked, "Is your person livingly' The Askee must answer truthfully "yes" or "no." (You can see that the Askee should choose someone with whom he or she is reasonably familiar.) Notice that the answer to a well‑chosen direct question will usually help focus the search in a more narrow area. If the Askee answers "no' to "is your person living:' that will eliminate a lot of people. Perhaps in the next direct question we would ask, "Was
your person born after the year 15007" Such a question would again help us narrow our search. Many different kinds of direct questions are useful, about gender, about occupation, about homeland, and so forth. The goal is to be able to ask enough direct questions until we finally come upon the chosen person. Unfortunately, the right to ask a direct question has to be earned each time by posing a successful stump question. By the way, as we mentioned before, if a stump question happens to zero in on the chosen historical figure, the Askee is required to answer truthfully and end the game.
One other rule must be noticed. Stump questions have to be chosen from within the boundaries of what we know about the person. For example, assume that we have asked the direct question, "Is your person female?" Assume further that the Askee has answered "yes" Now all further stump questions must be about women. This makes it harder to find stump questions, but it also forces all participants to focus their attention more closely on the area where the chosen historical figure will ultimately be found.
We note in passing that this game can also be played with fictional characters rather than historical characters. Participants can also agree to begin in a more limited area. For example, it could be decided to play the game thinking only of living persons, or only of women, or only of sports figures, or whatever.
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