Bloody hell…

[LimeShade]

The woman on Tipping Point just stated that CS Lewis wrote 50 Shades of Grey

and

Ophthalmology was the study of the skeleton

and

The Royal Mile was one of the key streets in London

Where do they find these people?

That is actually quite frightening.
It does make you wonder how some people negotiate every day life when they have so many gaps in their knowledge

The Royal Mile was one of the key streets in London
I had assumed this was part of The Mall, which connects St James's Palace to Buckingham Palace tbh but google tells me it's not. However the other two? 😮

I guess if you don't know you don't know! I did actually know the answer that I ended up losing on when I went on the weakest link. The pressure got to me and I went blank, blurting out and answer I knew was wrong! So there's a slim chance that's what happened here? Else they really don't pick very smart people?

Jeezo!!

I bet there's plenty you don't know that we could laugh at you for.

How can anyone think CS Lewis wrote 50 Shades of Grey? He’s been dead for over 60 years! Like what?

Its entertainment innit.

I can understand why someone might guess London for the Royal Mile - if you didn't know where it was, you'd pick any plausible-sounding place.

It's even worse with the Celebrity versions of these shows. So depressing.

Not all celebrities! I watched celeb The Chase the other night and there was a football manager who was pretty good. The others? Presenters, a drag queen, etc. Hopeless, and embarrassingly so. Maybe celebs have less time to read and therefore aren't as well-read as normals. And maybe the normals you saw don't read either. How are you going to get general knowledge if there's nowhere you can pick it up from?

The Royal Mile thing is kind of understandable though, especially if they're under pressure.

Of course there’s plenty in the world I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure I know the basics like that!

The question was more what is X Road in London and it was The Mall as the answer

From observation and experience, knowing stuff isn't really a worthwhile life skill. Because it seems plenty of people who don't still get very far in life.

The Royal Mile is the most famous street in Scotland, connects the Castle to the Palace of Holyrood House.

I find it shocking that some people on here don’t know where it is. I shouldn’t be though I suppose, it’s just the usual English ignorance regarding anything Scottish.

There’s a page on Facebook where they film in a pub, with mostly young people answering half a dozen or so general knowledge questions, and whoever gets the most right wins a shot. The lack of general knowledge some of them have is absolutely shocking.
There’s another one where a guy goes around the streets asking people general knowledge and simple mathematical questions, and honestly some of the answers are unbelievable!

We commented on the ignorance of this contestant. Wonder why people with so little general knowledge or even the ability to make an educated guess go on these shows.

But knowing irrelevant/unconnected facts is not that useful.

To be fair the woman didn't know anything else either by the sound of it so don't tar all of us with the same brush! 🤣

If it makes you feel better, I know fuck all about Wales or Ireland either.

Most celebrities don't take quiz shows very seriously - they play for charity and the charity usually gets some money whether they win or not, so it's either a laugh for them or an act of self-promotion. So they are unlikely to do the kind of deductive reasoning that a serious contestant would do, if they don't immediately know the answer.

The question was more what is X Road in London and it was The Mall as the answer

The Mall vs Royal Mile when the question was effectively asking 'What is [the Mall] called' - 'Royal Mile' would be a more logical name to guess at if you didn't know the answer, as The Mall is well known to be the road to Buckingham Palace. Even if you knew the Royal Mile is in Edinburgh, it's not impossible that there might be more than one road in the UK named or known as that.

And they dumb down for celebs!

Bradley Walsh on The Chase

'Which member of the crow family, native to the UK has a bare face?'

Contestant 'Russell Crowe' 😂

I'm wondering if any of these will find their way to 'Dumb Britain' in Private Eye.

I only know where the royal mile is because I stay in hotel there for work sometimes! I’d never been to Edinburgh before and I’d never heard of the royal mile before I went either.
i reckon 10 years ago before I knew, if someone asked me have a guess at London for its royal connections!

I’m not sure Tipping Point has a stringent vetting policy with regards to general knowledge…

Don't underestimate the fear of being put on the spot and freezing.