posted
Well, that makes for more amusing television, I guess. Like when Jay Leno does Jaywalking, they only show the dumb people 'cause it wouldn't be funny if they just knew the answers.
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posted
I've watched the show a half dozen times, and I got one question wrong because I didn't know that numbers were adjectives.
But when people believe that Alaska can't be more west than California because it's so far north, or have to ask for help because they aren't sure what the country to the north of us is... it makes me sad for the future of our nation.
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Do you know how they pick the contestants? I'd imagine that if it is random, they will eventually pick someone who has at least average intelligence, and then there goes the game.
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I was thinking the same thing, Xavier. I wonder if it is a Reverse Jeopardy sort of thing, where they pick you based on the number of answers you got wrong.
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I can tell you that I am smarter than a 5th grader, and many people I've talked to about this show are as well. The only question I was not able to answer was something to do with teaspoons and tablespoons, and that doesn't really bother me. I believe they make the contestants take a quiz and they take the people that don't necessarily score the highest. There's no other reason for someone not knowing what country borders the US to the north, or what continent is also its own country.
PS I still like watching the show to see how dumb people really are.
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posted
are numbers really adjectives? they don't describe the actual item. I don't agree that they are adjectives. not in the usual sense.
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Another thing you and I have in common Lyr. I made the same mistake. Who knew?
5th graders apparently, but the ones I teach don't even know what adjectives ARE, until I teach them in the course of my band class. No offense to any Hatrack english teachers out there, but it truly makes me wonder what the heck goes on in those other classrooms.
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I believe that more modern grammars classify numbers as determiners—a class of words including things like articles—not adjectives. The English taught in fifth grade is somewhat outdated, though.
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I've watched the show a half dozen times, and I got one question wrong because I didn't know that numbers were adjectives.
Huh. I might have gotten that wrong too. But how exactly did they ask that? Does it depend on context? For example in "There are 42 beers", its obvious that its an adjective. However, in "The meaning of life is 42", not so much.
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quote:Originally posted by Mucus: Huh. I might have gotten that wrong too. But how exactly did they ask that? Does it depend on context?
It definitely depends on the function of the word in the sentence.
quote:For example in "There are 42 beers", its obvious that its an adjective. However, in "The meaning of life is 42", not so much.
If you believe that numbers can be adjectives, then yeah, it's obviously an adjective in that sentence.
Unfortunately, my last grammar class was a few years ago, so I can't really remember the arguments against numbers being adjectives. I'll try to look into it.
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posted
I've never watched this show, but I think that several things about it are problematic. First of all, questions like are numbers adjectives is a little confusing and isn't something necessarily taught in fifth grade. A smart kid could probably figure out that the number is acting like the adjective in that sentence, as could an adult, but it's not a fact that's taught so it's more of a "can you think strategically given a certain knowledge level?" question.
Secondly I think this show raises a tension between raising the awareness of ignorance in the nation and glorifying/rewarding idiocy or a lack of thought.
It sounds like much of the knowledge should be acquired outside of the classroom simply by paying attention if it was not acquired/taught in class. If people do not know which country borders America to the North, they simply are not paying attention. A fifth grader may be confused about which is the North.
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When I play along with Jeopardy at home, I get about half the questions in the first round. When I was on the academic team in high school, I didn't get nothing right. You can't underestimate the stress of competing and knowing you'll look like a compete idiot on national television if you screw up. Even otherwise smart people might be freaked out by the cameras and audience.
Sure the Jeopardy guys manage, but they don't have a little kid on hand waiting to roll his eyes and correct them if they screw up.
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I've only seen two people on the show, and they both answered two questions each, but you can tell that the stupidity has nothing to do with being on TV. The comments they make before answering really do show that the people don't even have a basic grasp on common knowledge.
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Saw it last night. I feel sad for Jeff Foxworthy, having to pretend that he doesn't know any of the answers to make the contestants feel better. (Of course, this is assuming Jeff is a pretty intelligent guy, which I think he is...could be wrong.)
The only question I got wrong was "Density is mass divided by what?". And I really don't feel too bad about that one.
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We usually enjoy this show (although didn't watch it last night because BASKETBALL was on, duh!). Although I get very aggravated with the people second-guessing their gut instinct, or just being dumb.
And sometimes it all has to do with what you have been exposed to and are familiar with. Like the question stihl referred to above dealing with teaspoons and tablespoons -- I got that right easily, while my brainiac son, who never cooks, didn't have a clue.
posted
Why are we confusing intelligence with knowledge? I'm sure there are a bunch of 5th graders who are genuinely smarter than me and a bunch of 5th graders who are dumber n' a box of rocks. The only difference between me and the average 5th grader is an extra 16 years of education and experience.
Knowing whether or not the US is in the Eastern hemisphere is less an indication of your intelligence than an indication of whether or not you can call up that kind of information while in an extremely stressful situation. People get really stupid on tests. Can you imagine how stupid people get when money is on the line? Can you imagine how much worse it gets when they realize that if the get it wrong they'll look really, really stupid?
Generally speaking, I'm a good tester, and I'd probably do alright on this show. But I've known some people who are really bright and really knowledgable that would look like a bunch of dumb hicks if they ever got near a game show, just because they freeze up on tests.
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quote:Originally posted by Boon: Case in point: I know North, South, East and West but still get right and left mixed up sometimes.
Yeah, I still sometimes have to do the left hand to remember which is left. As in your left hand, if you spread out your thumb, you see the shape of an L.
If only I knew a similar memory aid in Chinese.
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quote:Originally posted by Boon: Case in point: I know North, South, East and West but still get right and left mixed up sometimes.
Yeah, I still sometimes have to do the left hand to remember which is left. As in your left hand, if you spread out your thumb, you see the shape of an L.
If only I knew a similar memory aid in Chinese.
If you give somebody a high five or one of those complicated hand shakes to somebody do you use your left or right hand? if its your right try thinking "yo yo! whats up!"
quote:Basic map skills are usually taught in 1st or 2nd grade, IME.
What I mean is, sure pretty much everyone knows how to follow a map and such but applying that to the globe may be more difficult. You have to know that the globe is in fact usually oriented "like a map" and that North is up above the US.
Which begs the question, would people be more able to answer the question "Which country is above the US on the map?"
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I think there are a lot of hard questions on there. One of the high-level ones was "What geologic era are we currently in?" and I'd never even heard of the correct answer (Cenozoic). Another one was, essentially, "How many cups are in a gallon?", and while I got it right I had to guess on one of the necessary conversions.
It's a neat concept for a show, but it moves way too slowly.
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I think a lot of recent game shows (like, everything since Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) have been working from the mistaken assumption that long pauses always increase the dramatic tension. Compare that approach to Jeopardy's, where it's one question after another all the way until the Final Jeopardy round.
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The Eastern Hemisphere question? It's very Eurocentric. I had to think about it for a second because you almost never read the phrase "Eastern hemisphere" in adult non fiction and because I LIVE in the U.S. - West of me is Asia. Why isn't Asia in the Western Hemisphere?
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The adjective question was something like this:
"How many adjectives are in the following sentence? 'There were two glasses on the brown table in the big kitchen' "
That wasn't the exact sentence, but when I saw it I immediately would have said "TWO! DUH!" and been wrong. Ah well....
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: The Eastern Hemisphere question? It's very Eurocentric. I had to think about it for a second because you almost never read the phrase "Eastern hemisphere" in adult non fiction and because I LIVE in the U.S. - West of me is Asia. Why isn't Asia in the Western Hemisphere?
Think of your standard map of the world. North America and South America are on the left (west) and Europe, Asia, Austraila, and Africa are on the right (east). I suppose map makers had to ultimately decide which continents were going to be represented on which side of the map so that things wouldn't become confusing.
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Actually, there are plenty of maps available with other lines chosen as "center" -- there is no consensus. Certainly not worldwide, as you imply.
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Actually, there are plenty of maps available with other lines chosen as "center" -- there is no consensus. Certainly not worldwide, as you imply.
That's what the prime meridian is for. And the equator.
I bit on that question and would have gotten it wrong. For the most part, because I think of asia being to the west of the US and the US being to the east of asia. I'm not sure why that affects anything.
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Actually, there are plenty of maps available with other lines chosen as "center" -- there is no consensus. Certainly not worldwide, as you imply.
Hmm, yes. I'm sure there are different kinds of maps, but my point was that there must have been a certain distinction to which side of the world would be labeled "west" and which would be "east", at least in the U.S.
I was just supposing that that's why *most* maps you see (or, at least, most maps I see) have, for example, the U.S. on the left and Asia on the right.
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Actually, there are plenty of maps available with other lines chosen as "center" -- there is no consensus. Certainly not worldwide, as you imply.
That's what the prime meridian is for. And the equator.
Those two are very different.
The prime meridian is an arbitrary line/circle, chosen centuries ago, which passes through the north and south poles. There are an infinite number of lines/circles which could serve equally well as a prime meridian. It only exists where it does because of consensus.
The equator comes from the geometry and motion of the earth -- it's formed from the intersection of the surface with a bisecting plane which is perpendicular to the axis of revolution. There is one and only one possible equator for the earth.
quote:Yeah, I still sometimes have to do the left hand to remember which is left. As in your left hand, if you spread out your thumb, you see the shape of an L.
That's not so helpful for someone who is even slightly dyslexic.
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"Think of your standard map of the world. North America and South America are on the left (west) and Europe, Asia, Austraila, and Africa are on the right (east). I suppose map makers had to ultimately decide which continents were going to be represented on which side of the map so that things wouldn't become confusing."
There is a "north-south" map which is often used in schools. Or at least in schools I have worked in. It is odd, because the continents appear longer and thinner. (actually, I think continents "appear" fatter and shorter on the "regular" maps."
I will see if I can find a link.
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quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head: The prime meridian is an arbitrary line/circle, chosen centuries ago, which passes through the north and south poles. There are an infinite number of lines/circles which could serve equally well as a prime meridian. It only exists where it does because of consensus.
The equator comes from the geometry and motion of the earth -- it's formed from the intersection of the surface with a bisecting plane which is perpendicular to the axis of revolution. There is one and only one possible equator for the earth.
I think that the point was that arbitrary or not, the concept of eastern and western hemispheres is fairly well established (at least in the American educational system, which is what's being tested in that show).
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Do world maps in Asia have Asia as the center? Do world maps in the Middle East have the Middle East as the center? Anyone?
The thing about the north-south map I cannot find a link to is that it shows the true dimensions of the continents as they would appear on a flat surface. To me, they seem way off. It made me feel sort of duped by my education when I saw it for the first time.
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I once had a map with the US in the center, and it showed more than 360 degrees around, so parts of the world actually appeared on both the left and right edges. (Hmm. We had a lot of maps growing up, now that I think about it. We even had a world map shower curtain. It still had the USSR on it.)
IIRC, the best one for preserving shapes and sizes is Goode's split projection.
The Prime Meridian passes through Greenwich England which is the site of the Royal Observatory, and you are right, they arbitrarily chose that place as the ZERO meridian (longitude). They said, 'we get to set the standard, and we set it here', from then on it was accepted as the world standard. So anything west of the Zero/Prime Meridian up to the 180th Meridian (also called the International Date Line) is in the western hemisphere. Any thing east of the Zero/Prime Meridian and up to the 180th Meridian is in the eastern hemisphere.
So, because the observatory in London discovered this method of marking and navigating the globe, it also set the standard, and was then accepted as the world standard. From that point on East and West were set.
Also, note that 'time' begins at the Zero Meridian. All time is measure plus or minus from this point. USA Central Standard Time is Greenwich Mean Time minus Six Hours (GMT-6:00).
For the record, I get about +80% of the question, and note that the question are in catagories of 1st grade subjects through 5th grade subjects. Fifth grade are the hard questions.
"What is the radius of a circle with a diameter of 4 inches?"
That was one of the questions. She didn't know; I almost cried.
Each contestant gets 3 'cheats' that they can use.
Also, note that most contestants are college graduates.
I also agree that the 'dramatic pauses' go on a little too long on nearly all the current 'quiz' shows. They think they are being dramatic and suspensefull, but really it's just annoying. I could see it later in the game when there was a lot at stake, but they drag it out for everything.
quote:I also agree that the 'dramatic pauses' go on a little too long on nearly all the current 'quiz' shows. They think they are being dramatic and suspensefull, but really it's just annoying. I could see it later in the game when there was a lot at stake, but they drag it out for everything.
Well, they do have to make the show last 30-60 minutes. Also, it gives people at home time to discuss what to do amongst themselves.
I die a little inside every time I see a category like "Mathematics" on Jeopardy. Sure, the contestants might know every historical figure that has ever existed, or every book ever written and by who, but they can't do fractions if their life depended on it.
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