The questions we ask reveal who we are, according to Google's 2015 year-end video. If that's true, then it appears we're a benevolent bunch of globally minded folks who want to know about the terrorist attacks in Paris and Cecil the lion's death but still can't figure out the color of "the dress" or fully master the Nae Nae.
The two-minute video, which joins a growing list of 2015 recaps coming from tech and media companies, curates highs and lows—the Black Lives Matter movement, the same-sex marriage law, David Letterman's farewell, the pope's U.S. visit—to a voiceover from Caitlyn Jenner's acceptance speech at the ESPY Awards.
The short film comes from Los Angeles ad agency 72andSunny and Google's head of brand creative Michael Tabtabai in their first collaboration.
It's a moving piece of work that's intended to reveal "our struggle for identity," the ad agency said, with questions about human rights, gender equality and the European refugee crisis. It's also part of a larger treasure trove of data from Google that looks back at massively popular people (Lamar Odom topped two lists), musical artists (the ubiquitous Adele), politicians (yes, Donald Trump was No. 1, but Deez Nuts also ranked in the top 10) and TV shows (more searchers wanted to know about quiet drama Better Call Saul than brash Empire or highly rated The Walking Dead).
"Questions are such a powerful storytelling tool," said Matt Murphy, partner and group creative director at 72andSunny. "They reveal not only individual curiosity but much larger statements about who we are as a collective whole. In reflecting back on 2015, the questions we asked created a bigger, more impactful story of acceptance and coming together, which is what the world needs more of right now."
Google reportedly used trillions of queries to come up with the results it's presenting as raw numbers, downloadable datasets and interactive elements. It's a data geek's dream, though it shows, via the popular query "What is 0 divided by 0?" that we still sadly can't do math.
See the video above, and go here for a deeper dive into the year in search.