I am not smarter than a freakishly gifted automaton fifth grader. Over the weekend, I watched a few minutes of "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" Don't ask me why I did it, I just did. I had never seen the show before, so it took me a while to figure out how it worked. For example, I thought the show was about a competition between the fifth grader and the adult. I was wrong. Apparently, the fifth graders sometimes get to assist the adult by allowing the adult to peek at their papers, steal their answers, or copy their answers. OK . . . sounds like a good example for our children.
Anyway, I soon learned that either I went to an incredibly bad grade school or these kids are not real fifth graders. How many actual fifth graders know the answers to these questions? I am sure I didn't know the name of Zeus's wife when I was in fifth grade. I do now, but I proably didn't learn that until high school humanities class. I am also sure I did not know that a "fathom" was a unit of measurement for depth in fifth grade either. Or which country controls Easter Island.
But the question and answer that caused me to turn the channel was "Which century was the artist Pablo Picasso born in?" which was classified as a fourth grade art question. You know, when I was in fourth grade, I am pretty sure we were still working on the color wheel in art class. Anyway, back to Picasso. I knew he was born in the 19th century but I know I didn't know that when I was 9 years old. But what did the fifth grader on the show say? Her answer was, "1881 - 19th century."
Are you freaking kidding me?? What fifth grader knows the year of Picasso's birth? Seriously. I didn't even know the exact year he was born.
Maybe I will just switch over to NBC's "1 vs. 100." I mean, that is one dumbass mob. I saw 23 adults miss the question, "What color do you get when you mix yellow and blue?" While scary in its own respect, somehow I am much more comfortable with the idea that the average adult is not that bright than the idea that there are these mini-genuises making fairly intelligent adults feel like idiots.
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4 comments:
I hate most game shows and definitely all "reality" shows. Love your blog, however!!
Have you ever tried to watch "deal or no deal?" It's excruciating...
Amazingly, we have watched "5th grader" twice and my kids did do better than I did. Either they're learning a lot more in grade school than I did, or I forgot a lot of stuff...
Yes...the show should be called:
"Are you smarter than the baby genius gifted 5th grader..."
Some of the questions are way to advanced for an average 5th grade student...yes.
I do better at Jeopardy, honestly.
Thats why about the only TV I watch anymore is Discovery Channel. Network TV is so tragic these days.
I've watched that show a few times....and I feel dumber each time I watch it. I am starting to think that my grade school education blew. On a major scale.
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