general knowledge

[pdust]

hows yours? do you think it matters how much general knowledge someone has? Someone i know was called stupid for not knowing a capital city that most people probably would have known..... but its not like it makes a person more intelligent, its just randomly storing facts.

Im one of those who cant remember a thing but i surprise myself watching silly tv quiz shows sometimes and loads of times when i dont know then they give the answer im like...'ah yeah'

[DaisyNonna]

define older, define everything.

[Duncer]

Is knowledge not the retention of facts, and intelligence how you process and make us of that knowledge?

[thenry]

older is the inevitable descent into decrepitude and everything is all those chances that could have prevented it (until this moment in time) ! Daisy

[Clanad]

Mrs. C says I'm a walking compendium of absolutely useless facts... If I ever find a market for the minutiae... we'll be millionaires...

[naomi24]

Ha ha! We're a bit like that, Clanad - but the knowledge is distributed about 50-50 in different areas.

[naomi24]

Keep at it Toes - eventually it will pay off. :o)

[FredPuli43]

No, it doesn't matter how much you have, over a certain basic level. Be like Sherlock Holmes and retain only what is useful to you. But I'm no Sherlock Holmes, unfortunately, and can't help remembering curious facts and odd gobbets of information, useless unless I need to converse with someone who's only interest is that subject (a bore, in other words), when I can feign interest and fuel the conversation with such gobbets.

Of course, like everyone else, I had to learn vast amounts of stuff in school, and also for my profession. Virtually none of it, including the professional exam stuff, have I retained !

And serious quizzers are something else entirely. Not so much intelligent and educated but people who have devoted their time to memorising subjects which are the subject of quizzes. .

[Duncer]

Response robots Fred, whose soul purpose is to regurgitate "facts". I briefly flirted with pub quizzes as an evening of fun, and then I spotted how seriously some people took it.

I heard a guy in the Ladnsdowne Hotel in Belfast berate his team mate for the "crime" of going to the bar, saying. "Why do you want another pint when we've worked all week for this".

That was the night I changed and decided that eugenics was acceptable in some cases.

[MarkRae]

As someone's who's heavily involved in the national / international competitive quizzing world, I can sort of sympathise with that, Duncer. Some of us do take it seriously. And it gets harder every year! I'm presently battling to retain my place in Scotland's B-team for the European Quizzing Championships in Estonia in November, but am fully expecting not to be selected as the standard is so high these days...

[Duncer]

Mark - same hotel, different night. Way before mobiles, we caught a team of teachers from St Patrick's Barnegegagh using the call box to phone home and get friends/relatives/whatever to resort to encylopedias for answers, and all because a team of thick footballers were whipping their asses. Nothing wrong with quizzing per se, as I have had many great nights out, but I do dislike the obsessives.

[Duncer]

While we're here - do you fancy coming through to Falkirk some night and helping out the not so bright in our local quiz?

[MarkRae]

That's why no serious quizzer takes pub quizzes seriously...

[Duncer]

But a £50 voucher for your local town centre boozer is very appealing to a part timer like me.


.................and the hard of thinking can always do with a little help?

[MarkRae]

Yeah, but unless the quiz is seriously run, then it's simply not worth it. The only pub quizzes which I enter need to meet the following criteria:

1) All SmartPhones must be put away during each round - any team member seen using one, for whatever reason, will automatically disqualify their team for the whole competition.

2) You can leave the quizzing room during a round if you absolutely must, but you can't come back in until the round is over.

[Answerprancer]

I think mastering a basic grasp of general knowledge about the world around us and life in general is important. Intelligence doesn't really come into it. If you're a bit thick you just have to swat up a bit longer !

[Duncer]

Sounds fair enough.

See you in Behind The Wall then?

I'm afraid it wouldn't meet your standards. Too many kids with smart phones.

[Mamyalynne]

Reminds me of a time when we were on holiday in Amble (sure you know it Mark ) the local club had quiz on, my eldest daughter and I attended the only other team were the rugby lads, straight off the field and sort of sweaty and a bit muddy (she was quite taken - I already was), We lost by one point , not bad considering there were 2 sports rounds. A good night out and a laugh.

[MarkRae]

I do indeed, Lynne - my first girlfriend came from Amble... :-)

[Mamyalynne]

A rum place, we got funny looks walking into local pubs - but amazing fish and chips, this was in 2000.