To think general knowledge quiz shows do not give a measure of intelligence, just of memorisation skills?

It’s not all memorisation. There’s a lot you can figure out especially on shows like university challenge. For example by knowing about etymology and what various prefixes and suffixes mean and how they influence words in our language

Anyone else watching this show on itv right now about Who Wants to be a Millionaire???

I agree that there is a correlation between memory and intelligence, though not exact. I agree with those who say it's about making connections.

It also depends on the quiz. When I was in my 20s, I used to go to quite a few pub quizzes. One we could win probably one week in three; another we were lucky if we even came in the top 3, let alone win it. The quiz-setter in the first obviously had more similar interests to us than in the second, as we had less guessing.

I googled it and Seville came up - how the hell am I supposed to know that? I've never even been to Spain so how could that be a measure of my intelligence

I wouldn't be at all surprised at a lot of people not knowing that about Seville, but I can't imagine why you'd think you need to have visited a country to know things about it. I have been to Spain, but that's not how I knew about Seville oranges. It's general knowledge though, not a measure of intelligence.

You clearly are not widely read either, have no interest in fresh produce, and that you have never made marmalade.

Hence, I do think YABU

I think having knowledge like this is more a case of being well-informed than intelligent per se, but IME people who are intelligent actively make effort to be better informed.

Intelligence and memory skills are not the same thing, but I'd say it's pretty unusual for someone to have a really good memory for facts and information without being reasonably intelligent. Equally it's probably quite unusual to be really intelligent and not have a decent memory for at least some kinds of things. I'm not great at remembering facts, directions or numbers, but I'm very good at remembering words or memorising large chunks of text etc.

Or a picture of Peru.

You could have a picture of Paddington station (not including its name)

Having a good memory and fast recall are features of intelligence. They aren’t the be all and end all, and you can be clever in many other ways, some more important in different contexts - but then extremely intelligent people are probably just as good as you at those other things, too, but they have the added advantage of a superb memory and fast recall on top.

Or to put it another way, some people pick up concepts and remember things with apparently very little effort, possibly because they have wider interests than you and enjoy collecting facts like magpies collect shiny objects/are more curious about the world around them than you are, and possibly, just possibly, because they are generally more intelligent than you are. They could also be better educated, but education alone does not make you interested enough in the world to remember everything you are taught.

The colour brown (5 points)
Peru (4 points)
Marmalade (2 points)
A bear (1 point)

I have got into the way Only Connect thinks

But I can't think of a 4th picture.

A slice of toast?

I know what marmalade is and what it’s made of. I did before this thread.

I’m just saying that I can understand someone living their life without stumbling across it.

And FWIW, I’ve never read any Paddington Bear books. I do have a vague memory of an animated Paddington Bear series on the TV though.

Chomalungma Lady Marmalade Moulin Rouge perhaps

Ever read Paddington Bear as a kid? You really shouldn't have to eat Marmalade to have a vague awareness of it

If this was Only Connect, it would be:

a) A picture of Seville
b) A picture of Paddington Bear
c) A picture of an orange

But I can't think of a 4th picture.

Ican go months without going down the jam aisle in the supermarket, so I can understand how someone might never have noticed marmalade and wondered what it’s made of.

Ever read Paddington Bear as a kid? You really shouldn't have to eat Marmalade to have a vague awareness of it.

Knowledge and intelligence are of course separate characteristics. Intelligence is a prerequisite for acquiring any depth of meaningful knowledge on a subject of interest, but a lack of knowledge in certain subjects doesn't indicate a lack of intelligence. An absence of any desire to acquire knowledge, however, would usually indicate the absence of an intelligent mind.

Not knowing where Frasier is based is less a sign of low intelligence, and more a sign of having better things to do with your time than watching TV.

Nope. I barely ever watch films. Yet I've answered many a quiz question about films I've never seen. Because I read newspapers/digital media, I hear people talking about films they've seen, and I see publicity material about them.

This sort of snobbery about 'worthy' and 'unworthy' knowledge really pisses me off. An intelligent person should be interested in knowledge for its own sake, and that includes popular culture.
Anyone can know a lot about the things they like. The real curiosity comes from exploring the subjects that you wouldn't normally come across.

Also saw Pontless Celebrities. I got Seville correct - no problem. Had no idea about mer malade though. That pointless factoid has now been committed to memory (even if it's a load of shite).

I don't think I'm intelligent but I'm curious and enjoy facts.

I can do exams: I have no emotional intelligence at all and I am not cunning. I wish I were. I think it would be more useful.

It was on Pointless Celebrities

Ah. I never bother with celebrity versions of quizzes because the celebrities rarely seem to take them seriously. I hate the part of quiz shows that consists of gassing with the contestants, and that bit's always worse in the celebrity shows.

I didn't see this, but it's possible the contestant's mind went blank and she blurted out the first thing that came into her head

It was on Pointless Celebrities.
She made a big thing about 'not being intelligent' and then about not understanding the questions - which were basically clues to European cities and the first letter of the name of the city.

Although I can’t help feeling judgy about the contestant giving Scotland as an answer to the question which Spanish town beginning with S is famous for oranges.

I didn't see this, but it's possible the contestant's mind went blank and she blurted out the first thing that came into her head.

One rule about quizzes - unless there's a penalty for a wrong answer, it's always better to say something than nothing - even if your answer is a wild guess. In this case the 'guess' was ridiculous, but no one would have thought much of it if she'd just said 'pass' - yet 'pass' is the one answer that's never going to score a point.