Are you smarter than a, uhm, a kindergartner?

[moribundman]

So I caught by chance a TV show where people can win up to a million bucks by answering a number of elementary level questions with the assistance of a 5th grader. Now, the premise, "are you smarter?" is of course silly, because all the questions are in regard to common knowledge, which has nothing to do with being smart, but has only to do with learned knowledge.

Question: "Which continent is also a country?"

The contender decided to list all continents in an effort to figure out the correct answer. The best part was when she said "Well, North America is a country. They [the continents] are all countries!" Luckily she wasn't sure about her answer. She walked with the money that she'd won until this point.

Is there another place on Earth where lack of the most basic knowledge is in fact rewarded as long as the person makes some lucky guesses?

 

[Lonnie]

If you want a similar experience watch the Tonight Show's Jay Walk. For the 4th of July only one person knew what country we gained our freedom from and I don't think anyone knew the year.

 

[moribundman]

I don't want more of that.

Leno's Jaywalking can be found on YouTube.

 

[Shannow]

CNNN did a question session where they asked people to put a pin in their "nastiest" country...was a real eye opener.

 

[Pablo]

I saw that show!! The kids watch it sometimes so I decided for the first time to sit through the whole show.

I think it's rigged. Although the blond WAS pretty stupid. Her name was Avis? Last name?

The fact that she couldn't name Australia was good, but she still had a re-do to use and she still opted to "flunk out"????? She could have missed it used her card and continued on. Still SHE won $500,000.

She had zero idea on the mass question, or radius. She seemed to know what an adverb is. But couldn't spell YAK. (needed help)

Worse was the gal before her. She had a BA in business. She was stuck on the 5th grade algebra problem. I believe it was: Given y=3x and x=12/3, solve for Y. She flunked out with $50,000.

It's entertainment. Sort of. Kids already know there are a whole bunch of adult dummies out there. Maybe THAT is a good thing. Sort of.

 

[Pablo]

Quote:

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CNNN did a question session where they asked people to put a pin in their "nastiest" country...was a real eye opener.

---

I'm sure it was the USA in most cases.

 

[MarkC]

Now, now, let's not be paranoid.

 

[Pablo]

Naw - just guessing based on lack of knowledge.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Quote:

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I I believe it was: Given y=3x and x=12/3, solve for Y. She flunked out with $50,000.

---

It was actually even easier: if y=3x and 3x=12, then what does y equal? And her gut feeling was telling her that the right answer was '4'.

And in a previous question I think the same lady answered "True" to the statement "USA is in the Eastern hemisphere."

But let's be honest. I think one of the reasons why the US is still in one piece is due to the fact that there are a lot of dumb (m)asses willing to be told what to do by the very few that are in power. If majority of the population was too intelligent, it would make it too difficult to make them follow without objections. But I digress...

 

[John_K]

Quote:

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But let's be honest. I think one of the reasons why the US is still in one piece is due to the fact that there are a lot of dumb (m)asses willing to be told what to do by the very few that are in power. If majority of the population was too intelligent, it would make it too difficult to make them follow without objections. But I digress...

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And that's why Washington really doesn't want us to know what is going on! Score yourself 20 bonus points.

John

 

[Pablo]

Quote:

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Quote:

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I I believe it was: Given y=3x and x=12/3, solve for Y. She flunked out with $50,000.

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It was actually even easier: if y=3x and 3x=12, then what does y equal? And her gut feeling was telling her that the right answer was '4'.

And in a previous question I think the same lady answered "True" to the statement "USA is in the Eastern hemisphere."

---

That was it.

I think the show is designed so BITOG'ers can feel smart.

 

[BrianWC]

It's amazing the common facts that people just don't know. Geography is certainly a weak point in our educational system.

 

[rshaw125]

We spend more $ in this country per student on education than any other country. Most of them think the significance of Memorial day is when the pool opens.

 

[BrianWC]

Yes we do spend a lot of money. Sadly, many parents seem to think that abolishes them of any responsibility....

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, I think that most who don't get a "well rounded" education are going to focus on applying their intelligence (or lack of it) in areas that interest them or out of need. I have little need to "know" geography. I can look it up on a map. Just like I have little need to know lots of stuff (that's within my ability to grasp) and will have little use for it beyond having casual conversation with someone who may have a working knowledge of such things.

All the street interviews, at least on Letterman, only show you the dumb bimbos who could care less about whatever topic they ask them about.

Problem solving ability is how intelligence is measured. Knowledge, especially given our current information overload, can be quite selectively intense at the expense of being broad.

 

[CivicFan]

It's a TV show for ____'s sake. The contestants are screened, hen coached, and then the whole show is edited to keep the juicy bits.

How long do you think they film Jaywalk? A day, two maybe? Then they edit it to 5 minutes leaving the most ignorant answers. And if you know that it's for Jaywalk, don't mind being seen dumb and want to be on TV, you come up with a dumb and juicy answer to get on the show. If you are good at it, you may even end up on the contest between the dumbest ones.

 

[BrianWC]

I'm sorry. I don't care if a person is the greatest problem solver in the world, if they can't point to France on a map, I have little respect for their "education." A broad-based education is more than just learning facts and trivia. It's about knowing who we are and how we got here. When I was in college, I scoffed at the "Scholar's College" revved-up honors program based at my university. But those folks got a broad exposure to Western Culture AND were still able to go on to focus on subjects like chemistry, physics, and engineering if they chose. I think they had hit the nail on the head. Otherwise, college is just an expensive vo-tech.

 

[MarkC]

I knew where to find nearly every country in the world and what it's capital city was before I was in 2nd grade.
Wanting to learn is more important than whatever educational system there is.

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, my point was that those who don't get to the university where they're somewhat compelled to be well rounded, aren't typically going to seek out knowledge outside of their interests or needs. It doesn't mean that they're stupid. It's that "forced feeding" that prevents college from being an expensive vo-tech ..and allows it to also be a place to get your MRS degree. Very few degree programs are one dimensional and the vast majority aren't aligned along the technical/scientific pathways. It's a socialization process where you may actually learn some useful stuff.

 

[BrianWC]

I have a bachelors and masters in a liberal arts area, myself, and still feel the core curriculum could have been better. My wife, with her MD, got exposed to practically nothing outside the sciences after her first year and a half of college. Don't get me wrong, she's brilliant! But it pains me when I am the only one who can have an intelligent conversation with her grandfather, a Pacific theater vet. That's the type of stuff that I just wish we were taking the time to teach our kids. Instead, it seems like our schools spend more time on confidence-building and diversity training. I'm not trying to be political, but man what gives?