Dumbed down game brings insult to idiocy
Sat, 2007-03-24 04:50
#1
Dumbed down game brings insult to idiocy
Sat, 2007-03-24 04:50
#2
Love the Heather!
quote:
I have seen the future and it is stupid.So that you don't have to, I watched an episode of the Fox Network's massively popular (among Americans) new game show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? The answer to the question is, of course, no you aren't.
The show pitted six contestants against each other. Five were charming little kids and one was an American adult with a college degree. He chose Grade 1 English and was asked “How many times does the letter e appear in the following phrase: 'Pledge of Allegiance?'” For all us Canadians, that's something Americans recite every day in school.
The crewcut, bull-necked young white male contestant struggled, his wife and child watching in the audience. Painful is not the word.
That's the truth. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgLzEqhtXuE&eurl=]Here's a YouTube clip of this poor sucker trying to count the e's in "Pledge of Allegiance".[/url]
[url=http://defamer.com/hollywood/fox/arent-we-all-dumber-than-a-5th-grader-w...'t we all dumber than a fifth grader, when you really think about it?[/url]
Sat, 2007-03-24 04:54
#3
And [url=http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=58130] here's [/url]Heather! [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2007-03-24 04:59
#4
Ack! I was just coming back to do that!
Sat, 2007-03-24 05:19
#5
Beat ya to it. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2007-03-24 06:59
#6
TemporalHominid
I think what I get from Heather's article is to remember not to become enamoured by one's self-perceived exceptionality.
I make mistakes everyday that a kindergartener can catch, and they often do... in teaching I make mistakes and this is after I prepare the lesson plans. I make mistakes daily at home that my son can point out. I forgot to pack his pool cue yesterday as we headed to the youth centre, but he remembered.
I was at the store the other day and I miscalculated the GST on the items I bought. Just yesterday I miscalculated how much the total cost of the haircuts were going to cost for my son and I; I assumed it was $21 dollars each, but the total was only $37.
If I was on a game show, I'd be nervous, my body would be flooded with hormones, I'd be out of my element, I might be exhausted by the adrenaline, by the 6 hour flight or drive I just had... I would be making a lot of mistakes as a result. I know I would because I perform music and songs I write at gigs, and I make mistakes singing my own material, and I have 11 years of experience of being in a classroom with the tools to communicate ideas to students and colleagues.
I would like to add studies have been done on intelligence and the correlation to being fooled, and they found that people with that did not go on to college are less likely to be fooled than someone who has completed college or who has a Ph.D or a Masters. They theory is that people with less education are more cautious, have more street smarts, and are generally more skeptical of claims.
As another aside, In my experience I have found 5 years olds are harder to trick using magic tricks /sleight of hand than adults, I think because adults.
[ 24 March 2007: Message edited by: TemporalHominid ]
Sat, 2007-03-24 13:51
#7
quote:
I think because adults.
... don't finish their sentences?
Personally, I don't think any of us will ever be as quick and clever as we were when we were 12 years old. Physically speaking, everything works a lot better when you're that young. I know for myself, that at this age I had a memory that was nothing short of phenomenal. Of course, the real value of age is experience, and it's a valuable thing indeed. Most adults are "smarter" than fifth-graders. They know more things, they've learned more lessons, and they seen more scenarios. They probably can't count "e"'s quicker, but that's not really what being smart is all about.
Sat, 2007-03-24 14:25
#8
Cueball
I am a habitual misspeller so I will refrain from comment on this.
Sat, 2007-03-24 14:36
#9
N.Beltov
Show-off. I have to look up "misspell" every time because I forget what I found out the last time. Sheesh.
Sat, 2007-03-24 14:39
#10
Cueball
Did I get it right. It was only an intuitive guess.
Sat, 2007-03-24 14:41
#11
TemporalHominid
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6535
Should win some great award for most modest poster at babble. And a humour award for giving a great example of making mistakes....I think because adults (habitually do?).
Cueball has trouble spelling? Who knew? [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2007-03-24 14:42
#12
Cueball
Trouble? I wouldn't call it trouble, I would say that I don't bother with it.
Sat, 2007-03-24 19:16
#13
quote:
Originally posted by Cueball:
[b]Did I get it right. It was only an intuitive guess.[/b]
You got it right. But you forgot the question mark?
Sat, 2007-03-24 19:52
#14
Cueball
Yeah I sae that. Then I'd have to open up the post and edit, and then there would be the edit tag... and it was really just a missive about misspelling?
Sat, 2007-03-24 20:07
#15
Either I'm missing deadpan, or the planet is screwed.
Comment from the Youtube video by Sneakersmom:
quote:
Well, for the most part, I laugh at the adults struggle to answer these questions, whilst the childeren have no worries. However, I remember, (like most reading this probably do as well) saying to my teacher, parent etc. "when will I use this in my lifetime?" [i]It is also frightning that the currrent leaders of our country (the adults) do not even know that the U.S. is in the Western Hemesphere, or that [b]the continent of Africa is also a country.[/b][/i]
Sat, 2007-03-24 20:08
#16
Heh. Did anyone else notice this at the comments section of the You Tube link:
quote:
Well, for the most part, I laugh at the adults struggle to answer these questions, whilst the childeren have no worries. However, I remember, (like most reading this probably do as well) saying to my teacher, parent etc. "when will I use this in my lifetime?" [b]It is also frightning that the currrent leaders of our country (the adults) do not even know that the U.S. is in the Western Hemesphere, or that the continent of Africa is also a country.[/b]
Biggest frickin' country in the world man! Oorah!
[ 24 March 2007: Message edited by: siren ]
Sat, 2007-03-24 20:09
#17
Wow. Scooped by West Coast Greeny by ONE minute.
Sat, 2007-03-24 20:14
#18
[img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2007-03-24 20:14
#19
Cueball
If they don't know that, that is a good thing.