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?

General knowledge is not a measure of intelligence per se ,but someone with good general knowledge often reads a lot and follows the news etc I know all know all kinds of obscure facts ,I read anything and everything though.

It comes from the French mer malade)

Yep this is bollocks!

This thread reminds of the community activist, who when interviewed by a newsreader and asked if Churchill's statue should be removed, she said that she doesn't know if he's racist as she hasn't personally met him.

As a result of this thread, I now know a lot more about marmalade than I need to

Apparently Valencia oranges are popular as well.

www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-marmalade-1807033

@CounsellorTroi

It is fine to not know much about popular culture before you were born. It is not so fine to not know much about significant historical events before you were born. As Richard Osman said, “before my time” does not cut it then.

I’d agree with that.

Shaming people for their lack of knowledge about particular TV shows, even currently popular TV shows, is daft. A lack of knowledge about a TV show has nothing to do with intelligence. PP have mentioned seeing things like trailers for Frasier, but even trailers for shows can be missed if you’ve never watched the right channel at the right time.

I also wouldn’t shame people for a lack of knowledge about marmalade or Seville.
I can 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. And I only knew that Seville’s a Spanish city through playing too much Civilization 2 when I was younger.

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.

Knowing that Scotland is a country that makes up part of the U.K. (rather than a Spanish city!) is really, really basic common knowledge for any adult living in the U.K.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chomalungma Lady Marmalade Moulin Rouge perhaps

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.

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

A slice of toast?

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

I have got into the way Only Connect thinks

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.

@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?

It's not about having been to Spain though. It's an interest and knowledge of food. I'm sure even Tesco's have Seville oranges for sale.....

@chomalungma

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.

Wellington Boots.

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

@WitchesSpelleas

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

Or someone staring.

Or a picture of Peru.

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.

@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?

If, as an adult, you’ve never been to Spain, then that is an example of how limited your life experience has been.

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.

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.