Conquer Club

March 15. THINK IM GONNA MAKE IT THIS TIME?!?!?! (I'm 0-2, tried out for the college one last year and the teen tourney two years ago)

I'll try to save some of the questions and post them here afterward

Have you watched the Teen Tournament? Those questions are easy as hell, even for high schoolers. It's money in the bank. I regret not trying out when I was in high school.

Yea, that's what I thought too, but the test for it was harder than the adult Jeopardy questions. The college one last year was tough as f*ck. I used to do something called Quiz Bowl in High School (my friends did it too and we just fucked around the whole time) which is essentially team Jeopardy so I really don't think I'll have that much trouble if I have to audition head-to-head. The test is so hard though.

You should see some of the questions on the quiz show University Challenge in the UK. That stuff is tough:
Sample Questions

I'll just post the ones from question 7, as they're completely US related. (If your team gets the main question, then they get three bonus questions on a similar topic for 5 points each)

7 Your starter for 10: A senator for 47 years, Edward Kennedy, who died in 2009, lost his only attempt to secure the Democratic presidential nomination against which opponent, who was also the incumbent president?

Three bonus questions on US politicians:
(a) To what political office was Dean Rusk appointed in 1961, as a result of which he played a leading role in the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year?
(b) Which Secretary of State resigned from Jimmy Carter’s administration in 1980 over the failed attempt to rescue US hostages in Tehran?
(c) Who was appointed Secretary of State under Richard Nixon in 1973, holding the post concurrently with that of National Security Advisor?

I got (a) and (c) right. Had no idea about (b) and the "starter" was kind of a toss-up...I'm no good with American politics between Eisenhower and Reagan.

Army of GOD wrote:I got (a) and (c) right. Had no idea about (b) and the "starter" was kind of a toss-up...I'm no good with American politics between Eisenhower and Reagan.

The questions on that quiz are really tough- but I should have added that you get a team of three people from your university or college to answer them. Have a look at some of the others if you like, but a few of them are British-centric. I'm interested to see how I'd do on college Jeopardy.

Symmetry wrote:

Army of GOD wrote:I got (a) and (c) right. Had no idea about (b) and the "starter" was kind of a toss-up...I'm no good with American politics between Eisenhower and Reagan.

The questions on that quiz are really tough- but I should have added that you get a team of three people from your university or college to answer them. Have a look at some of the others if you like, but a few of them are British-centric. I'm interested to see how I'd do on college Jeopardy.

Yea, I noticed there was one about "Mrs. Thatcher" and the conservative party. I also wonder how much the school curriculum between there and here differ on things like European history and stuff. Those questions seem harder than average Jeopardy questions (adult Jeopardy questions).

Army of GOD wrote:

Symmetry wrote:

Army of GOD wrote:I got (a) and (c) right. Had no idea about (b) and the "starter" was kind of a toss-up...I'm no good with American politics between Eisenhower and Reagan.

The questions on that quiz are really tough- but I should have added that you get a team of three people from your university or college to answer them. Have a look at some of the others if you like, but a few of them are British-centric. I'm interested to see how I'd do on college Jeopardy.

Yea, I noticed there was one about "Mrs. Thatcher" and the conservative party. I also wonder how much the school curriculum between there and here differ on things like European history and stuff. Those questions seem harder than average Jeopardy questions (adult Jeopardy questions).

They're much harder than any other quiz show I've seen. Not just in the UK. Not much of this stuff is on the British school curriculum though. I would say none of it really, but there might be a couple of questions. But yeah, it really is a brutal quiz.

Still, and I say this as gently as possible, Americans really could do with knowing a bit more about the history of other countries (and British people are almost as bad).

Symmetry wrote:Still, and I say this as gently as possible, Americans really could do with knowing a bit more about the history of other countries (and British people are almost as bad).

Why? Would it help us in day to day life?

Metsfanmax wrote:

Symmetry wrote:Still, and I say this as gently as possible, Americans really could do with knowing a bit more about the history of other countries (and British people are almost as bad).

Why? Would it help us in day to day life?

I suppose that depends on your day to day life, but go on...

Obviously knowing the history of European countries isn't very practical, but things like that interest me. Same with world geography. I don't even know why, but I enjoy it.

Army of GOD wrote:Obviously knowing the history of European countries isn't very practical, but things like that interest me. Same with world geography. I don't even know why, but I enjoy it.

Why isn't it practical? If you enjoy it, then learning about other cultures adds something to your life, no? Most knowledge can be put into practice.

Why not learn about other countries?

I don't see how knowing that Isabella was a queen of Spain helps a cashier at McDonalds in any way, shape or form.

Army of GOD wrote:I don't see how knowing that Isabella was a queen of Spain helps a cashier at McDonalds in any way, shape or form.

That seems pretty sad. Should we all educate ourselves only to the bare minimum of our jobs? Or a bit further if we want a promotion.

Is knowledge just about helping with jobs?

Remember, we're talking about practicality. The only time the knowledge of Isabella being a Spanish Queen is necessary for me is when I watch Jeopardy.

I don't know how that helps in my major (physics) at all, nor how that knowledge can help me get a job, maintain a job, etc. in physics.

We all maintain this illusion that being cultured and knowing your history is important. But in reality, that knowledge is important only for people who attempt to shape public policy or social discourse. Even Sherlock Holmes knew that remembering facts for the sake of remembering facts is stupid.

Army of GOD wrote:Remember, we're talking about practicality. The only time the knowledge of Isabella being a Spanish Queen is necessary for me is when I watch Jeopardy.

I don't know how that helps in my major (physics) at all, nor how that knowledge can help me get a job, maintain a job, etc. in physics.

Fair enough, but I would say practicality is more than just what you can practice in a job. It's also about what you can enjoy in life as a whole, no? It certainly won't help you in your major, but knowing it will help you enjoy a visit to Spain. And, it might also help you get a job in Spain in your field.

Metsfanmax wrote:We all maintain this illusion that being cultured and knowing your history is important. But in reality, that knowledge is important only for people who attempt to shape public policy or social discourse. Even Sherlock Holmes knew that remembering facts for the sake of remembering facts is stupid.

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, and everything he did was fictional. I'm not sure how he comes in to the "in reality" side of the argument.

Still, when you argue with me, aren't you attempting to shape social discourse?

I'm pretty sure knowledge is important to everyone, no?

No, knowing all these random tidbits of knowledge isn't practical, but that's only bas if you assume that being practical is the absolute best method to get anything done, which it isn't.

If you want to know everything there is to know on how tobaggons are made but never build one yourself, good to you. Your decision. A pursuit of knowledge can strengthen your brain and sometimes, surprisingly, make other things that may seem unrelated make sense.

It might just be me, but when I seem to know more about what has/will/is happened/happen/happening in the world, I feel more comfortable living in it.

-rd

Symmetry wrote:

Metsfanmax wrote:We all maintain this illusion that being cultured and knowing your history is important. But in reality, that knowledge is important only for people who attempt to shape public policy or social discourse. Even Sherlock Holmes knew that remembering facts for the sake of remembering facts is stupid.

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, and everything he did was fictional. I'm not sure how he comes in to the "in reality" side of the argument.

Still, when you argue with me, aren't you attempting to shape social discourse?

I'm pretty sure knowledge is important to everyone, no?

I wouldn't say it's important to everyone. I enjoy knowing things, but part of that is only so I can know I'm smarter than people. hahaha

Army of GOD wrote:

Symmetry wrote:

Metsfanmax wrote:We all maintain this illusion that being cultured and knowing your history is important. But in reality, that knowledge is important only for people who attempt to shape public policy or social discourse. Even Sherlock Holmes knew that remembering facts for the sake of remembering facts is stupid.

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, and everything he did was fictional. I'm not sure how he comes in to the "in reality" side of the argument.

Still, when you argue with me, aren't you attempting to shape social discourse?

I'm pretty sure knowledge is important to everyone, no?

I wouldn't say it's important to everyone. I enjoy knowing things, but part of that is only so I can know I'm smarter than people. hahaha

But why do you equate knowledge with intelligence?

Metsfanmax wrote:

Army of GOD wrote:

Symmetry wrote:

Metsfanmax wrote:We all maintain this illusion that being cultured and knowing your history is important. But in reality, that knowledge is important only for people who attempt to shape public policy or social discourse. Even Sherlock Holmes knew that remembering facts for the sake of remembering facts is stupid.

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, and everything he did was fictional. I'm not sure how he comes in to the "in reality" side of the argument.

Still, when you argue with me, aren't you attempting to shape social discourse?

I'm pretty sure knowledge is important to everyone, no?

I wouldn't say it's important to everyone. I enjoy knowing things, but part of that is only so I can know I'm smarter than people. hahaha

But why do you equate knowledge with intelligence?

Knowledge is a branch of intelligence. If you know anything about me, you'd know that I'm booksmart as f*ck but am a complete moron in other areas. Oh well, it's fun showing off to people when watching Jeopardy and shit.

Army of GOD wrote:Knowledge is a branch of intelligence. If you know anything about me, you'd know that I'm booksmart as f*ck but am a complete moron in other areas. Oh well, it's fun showing off to people when watching Jeopardy and shit.

I don't think that knowledge has anything to do with intelligence. Knowing that the Magna Carta was issued in 1215 is useless if you don't have an understanding what it did for English society and government.

^ those are both facts that you can learn in a textbook, though. they aren't really "intelligence".

btw i challenge anyone to an online iq test contest. pick your test and bring your best!

feeling competitive today lol...

john9blue wrote:^ those are both facts that you can learn in a textbook, though. they aren't really "intelligence".

btw i challenge anyone to an online iq test contest. pick your test and bring your best!

feeling competitive today lol...

Well I was bored so I spent 20 minutes doing the most "professional" image based iq test I could find.
Once I finished I realized they don't actually give you your IQ unless you pay a few quid.

Given the fact that I didn't think to check for this I think it's safe to say that you win.
Congrats!