Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

[ScottieK]

This show reminds me of Jay Leno's "Man on the Street" and Street Smarts. Those shows never cease to amaze me. FWIW, I got the last three right, but I have no idea when Columbus Day is. I'm not a government employee or a fifth grader.

And Foxworthy is the host? Heh.

http://www.fox.com/areyousmarter/

I played the trivia game, got 9 of 10 right.

ScottieK

[aheravi]

[ QUOTE ]

I will give you some equally easy questions from another perspective that any Canadian 5th grader would know (Canadian)

1) The Canadian north was transformed in the late 1890s when some 100,000 prospectors poured into the Yukon hoping to "strike it rich". What name was given to this colourful period?

2) The Hudson’s Bay Company is the world’s oldest chartered trading company, having been in business for 335 years. What product gave this company its start?

3) Canada has experienced political scandals throughout its history. In 1873, John A. Macdonald’s government was brought down when it was discovered he awarded lucrative railway contracts in exchange for campaign funding. What was this scandal called?

4) When did Canada eliminate the one dollar bill and replace it with the Loonie coin?

5) What major Canadian economic policy of Pierre Trudeau’s government sparked the creation of a bumper sticker proclaiming “Let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark?”

6) In 1911, Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals lost the federal election because of their support for what agreement with the United States?

7) After more than a decade of construction and a string of political scandals, what great Canadian engineering feat was completed in 1885 with the hammering of the Last Spike?

8) What major historical event brought over 1,000,000 women into the Canadian workforce?

You guys are working under the assumption that there is one basic set of knowledge and curriculum that everyone should draw on because that's what is taught in US schools.

[/ QUOTE ]

Who cares about Canada?

[TomCollins]

This show clearly shows how useless the information they teach in school is, how much is based on memorization, and how little is based on reasoning and thinking. Memorization rarely lasts a long time, which proves its uselessness even more.

I am a trivia buff, so I tend to remember a lot of useless information, but it really doesn't help me beyond trivia contests.

[CrazyEyez]

He made a tactical blunder going with "peek" instead of "copy" on a true/false question.

tdarko -
I don't think anyone is really arguing that the guy is dumber than a fifth grader. I would say though that there is decent evidence of the guy being dumber than his peers.

[CrazyEyez]

All -
It seems that more people here got columbus day wrong than Andrew Johnson. I'm suprised.

I thought Columbus day was fairly easy. I'll admit I didn't know Johnson, though I claim partial credit for at least knowing it wasn't Nixon.

[Slow Play Ray]

We can wax intellectual about whether knowing these answers makes you "smart" but my point was, no matter how you slice it, this show makes people look STUPID (so far, anyway).

[TomCollins]

[ QUOTE ]
All -
It seems that more people here got columbus day wrong than Andrew Johnson. I'm suprised.

I thought Columbus day was fairly easy. I'll admit I didn't know Johnson, though I claim partial credit for at least knowing it wasn't Nixon.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where do you live? A lot of places don't celebrate it at all. Do you know when Loyalty Day is?

[CrazyEyez]

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All -
It seems that more people here got columbus day wrong than Andrew Johnson. I'm suprised.

I thought Columbus day was fairly easy. I'll admit I didn't know Johnson, though I claim partial credit for at least knowing it wasn't Nixon.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where do you live? A lot of places don't celebrate it at all. Do you know when Loyalty Day is?

[/ QUOTE ]
I live in Minnesota, raised in San Diego. I've never heard of loyalty day.

[BCPVP]

[ QUOTE ]
This show reminds me of Jay Leno's "Man on the Street" and Street Smarts. Those shows never cease to amaze me. FWIW, I got the last three right, but I have no idea when Columbus Day is. I'm not a government employee or a fifth grader.

And Foxworthy is the host? Heh.

http://www.fox.com/areyousmarter/

I played the trivia game, got 9 of 10 right.

ScottieK

[/ QUOTE ]
9 out of 10 here. A "gross" of pencils? Wtf?

edit- Also knew the 2,3, and 4 from the OP. Screw obscure holidays that no one celebrates.

[Dominic]

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This is just another stupid show that equates memorizing facts as being smart.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fair enough for the impeachment one (I didn't know it either) and maybe Columbus Day, but the triangle question is far from a fact and anyone with a high school education should be able to solve it easily. And you have to be completely inept to think polar bears eat penguins - it even sounds stupid.

[/ QUOTE ]

I got the other three easily, but why would I know if a polar bear eats penguins? They eat seals, right? So why not a penguin? Or is it because polar bears and penguins are not native to the same areas of the Earth?

Obviously, I do not know much about polar bears, except that they are white and fuzzy with jaws of death.