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

[pennypinchh]

I am totally rubbish at all quiz shows, trying to play along on the couch and never know anything! But I don't understand why my family say I'm not that smart just because I don't know some obscure fact about the TV show Frasier, which I've never even seen! Has anyone else been shamed because of this?

There is no definition of intelligence. Even IQ tests don't actually give a level of intelligence, psychologists can't agree on what it actually is. So I think you're correct in saying it doesn't necessarily indicate intelligence levels, it depends what you're defining intelligence as.

@pennypinchh

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?

Have you heard of Marmalade?

chomalungma- yes, I agree, failing formal education in Latin and Greek (!), general knowledge about Classical roots helps you deduce a lot. That comes from wide reading, nowadays.

The R in Denmark, is it Rodkilde?

@pennypinchh

No I just buy bog-standard oranges, I've no idea where they come from xD

Seville oranges are sour, so they are used to make marmalade.

(Marmalade has been used for centuries to help with seasickness - that's what the word means. It comes from the French mer malade)

Mine of useless information, me

RoSkilde

I haven't had marmalade since I was about 5 xD what's that got to do with oranges?

blacksax I thought it was treatment for scurvy.

@pennypinchh

No I just buy bog-standard oranges, I've no idea where they come from xD

I think this hits the nail on the head. It’s not just about memorization of facts. It’s curiosity. For example (and this is not an example I’m trying to use to make you feel badly), but you say you just buy bog-standard oranges. Whereas someone who would do well on a quiz show might notice they were buying Seville oranges and think, “Hmm, that’s interesting, I’ve never been to Seville, wonder what else is there,” and just browse it on Wikipedia on their phone. My husband and I are the kind of people who get a lot of quiz answers for random-info quizzes right when we play along at home (NOT a boast, because I believe there are a lot of types of intelligence, and for example, I’d be absolute shite at playing along at any math-related shows) but we’re also people who are constantly Googling things or pulling up Wikipedia to find something out, probably a few times a day. The best part of the invention of smartphones was that it often meant the instant end of arguments because we could have answer immediately (the lyrics to a song, the capitol of Montenegro, if it was true that there was a Japanese WW2 soldier who didn’t surrender until the 1970s or if that was an urban myth) and didn’t have to wait to Google it until we got home.

BUT as I said, I do think it’s ridiculous to assume that people who do well on those shows are all hyper-intelligent, and vice-versa, that if you do poorly, you’re thick as mince. Yes, some people will possess that in addition to lots of other types of intelligence and some won’t. You’ll find extremely respected university lecturers at the best-rated unis who barely know anything outside their subject; they just know their one subject incredibly intimately and can communicate it well. I wouldn’t call them thick, but some of them would maybe do even more poorly than you on a quiz show.

I didn't know marmalade was made from oranges! The more you know

Marmalade has been used for centuries to help with seasickness - that's what the word means. It comes from the French ^mer malade

Now that's a good question.

Which fruit based preserve derives from the phrase 'seasickness' in French?

@pennypinchh

I didn't know marmalade was made from oranges! The more you know

Ummm. what did you think it was made from?

Yes I could do the maths round on countdown quite well, but never the letters round

I read somewhere that iQ tests just measure how good you are at doing iQ tests. I guess the same applies to quizzes.

@Gooseygoosey12345

There is no definition of intelligence. Even IQ tests don't actually give a level of intelligence, psychologists can't agree on what it actually is. So I think you're correct in saying it doesn't necessarily indicate intelligence levels, it depends what you're defining intelligence as.

There's no absolute definition, afaik, it's all comparative. Whatever the average in the cohort is, its set at 100. Relative levels appear to be stable, something like 80% are a couple of points each side of the average, and the other 20% are trailing outliers to the challenged side or the genius side. Not sure, but I think they have found that average intelligence levels are rising through the generations.

I've honestly never thought about what marmalade was made from, it wouldn't cross my mind to look it up. I think what a previous poster said was right, it is about curiosity. But I look up scientific facts and information all the time, I just have no care for other stuff

@MeringueCloud

The R in Denmark, is it Rodkilde?

Roskilde

Apparently they have a rock festival there.

One of the answers was Rotterdam. Which is not a Danish city.

@pennypinchh

I haven't had marmalade since I was about 5 xD what's that got to do with oranges?

Marmalade is made from oranges and sugar.

Seville oranges, normally.

This is why tests/exams in school aren’t necessarily a way of measuring actual intelligence per se but rather an ability to memorise, retain and make links between bits of information.
And as some have pointed out, life experience helps too. In the case of a child, one who has been taken to a variety of places and had a variety of experiences has an advantage in tests over one who hasn’t.
I’ve taught children from families whose parents leave them to it/have little input into their lives but who have clearly got natural born intelligence. I’ve also taught children who get taken on holiday to interesting places, to museums, galleries etc but who don’t have a natural intelligence.
Both types of child can do equally well on a test but for differing reasons.
It’s not black and white as has been mentioned!

I also think the schooling system killed my curiosity - I look up scientific stuff because it's important for work, but if I don't HAVE to know something I won't bother to look it up. The same methods we adopted during exams

I think a lot of times, especially pub quizzes, it’s the same questions that do the rounds. So if you go often enough you get better at them.
I think it shows a certain capacity for learning, but I certainly wouldn’t dismiss someone as thick just because they didn’t know who had the number one hit record in Germany, in 1996.

@pennypinchh

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?

Not trying to be horrible but it’s because Seville oranges are a well known type of fruit. It’s general knowledge. Fun TV quizzes about Frasier etc aren’t general knowledge, they’re just fun/pop culture. Your family are being ridiculous to “shame” you but you also seem to be getting cross about QUIZ questions when you don’t know the answer...

“Intelligence” is a bit of a catch-all word for a lot of different things. However quizzes test recall of facts, general curiosity about the world, and reasoning (to some extent). Intelligence is often used as a shorthand for ignorance or a lack of intellectual curiosity—I think this is what quizzes measure more than anything. If you’re bad at quizzes then yes you’re ignorant about the world and lack intellectual curiosity, and possibly (but not 100% definitely) intelligence.

“I would only know the answer if it was a product I bought” is a perfect example of lack of intellectual curiosity. I have no clear memory of how I know the answer is Seville, but it’s something that an intellectually curious or just generally aware late teenager would know. Whether through language, through seeing it in shops, through films or whatever. An intelligent and intellectually curious person would know a lot about countries they have never been to.

Some shows like Only Connect take it a step further and test intelligence by getting more abstract, requiring you to not only know the information but also process and manipulate it. Two people who do well at memory quizzes might have vastly different outcomes here.

I have never heard of Seville oranges

xD sorry I got a little too invested