Assign a Form, a Multiply question test or plain question exam in front of a random group of people and most likely that most would be able to participate and fill it up, with different kind of accuracy, with no real problem. after all, we are programed to fill in form and to answer question from the day that we are born. (mind you that by saying participation we are not trying to evaluate the quality of the results but the participation by itself).
Assign a blank page in front of the same group with a mission such as “describe yourself” and you are opt for puzzled faces, nervous movement within the chairs and a general feeling of uncertainty. The effect just get stronger if there is no main subject nor reason related to the question, while “about me” for a certain purpose (ie and interview for a company or a facebook entry) would gather some puzzlement, a very general and abstract mission would emphasis the nervous feeling in the room. Somehow it is not in our basic nature (of most of us) to answer questions that are abstract and are not well defined within a context. we do know how to describe ourself in relation to a well define reason or examiner but to do it on an open page where the reader of this future description is unknown would put us in fear and nervousness, being scared from the unknown. One can describe himself in so many different ways depending on the occasion and the listening party, but what about a general description,where the audience is unknown, and the expectation from the description are in the dark.