Friday, March 21, 2008

PM America

.....This morning, I read an interview of a former Jeopardy champ—he won $2.5 million—who visited “the OC” yesterday: 'Jeopardy' champ Ken Jennings tests O.C.'s knowledge.
.....It turns out that Jennings is a funny guy:
Q: How did you prepare to be on "Jeopardy," other than making flashcards?

A: The flashcards really helped. But "Jeopardy" tends to quiz on the same things over again such as capitals and mixing cocktails. I guess if I run out of Jeopardy money I could be the world's best Mormon bartender….

Q: What was the hardest part of being on "Jeopardy"?

A: Coming up with 75 anecdotes to share with Alex every day. I started making things up at the end….

Q: It seemed Alex Tribek was rooting for you throughout the show, was he?

A: You know, I wondered about that. Sometimes, yeah, he'd act like he was rooting for me. But some days he'd be all Tribek: cool and detached. …

Q: Will you return to "Jeopardy"?

A: I hope so. Once you've been on "Jeopardy," they have past champions back on show. Maybe I'll get invited to the 50th anniversary show when Alex is just a head in a jar.
.....I was talking to a friend last night. I was telling her that you’ll never go wrong thinking of the “public mind” (PM) as an idiot. I was thinking of the PM as that great fictional American that we all “participate” in to some extent. PM is the guy who represents what America thinks and does. He voted for Bush. Twice.
.....That guy is plainly a dolt.
.....Take Jeopardy. Lots of people understand that it’s just a fun trivia game. But many more people—i.e., America—seems to think that it is a contest of intelligence. America also thinks that spelling bees are IQ tests.
.....I was telling my students the other day about how I was watching the news the day before Katrina blew into New Orleans. There was some official guy in that town saying, “This could be the big one we’ve been warning about for years. This could be an unbelievable disaster!”
.....But the PM (and its cheerleader, the President) said, “Yeah, whatever.” Later, New Orleans essentially drowned, and the PM was astonished: “How come nobody told us this might happen?”
.....What's next for America?
.....Next time: America doesn't understand why everyone doesn't love it.
President Dwight Eisenhower express[ed] astonishment and alarm on discovering that fully half of all Americans have below average intelligence! —Carl Sagan

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"... fully half of all Americans have below average intelligence!"

Based on what rubric - the IQ test? C'mon, we all know that measuring intellectual acuity is a multifacted process and the standard IQ test has inherent bias.

Chunk - As a self-described intellectual and educator why are you so condescending? Elitist you are, leader you are not.

Anonymous said...

Don't confuse the American public with Bush. And don't bash Jeopardy. Go eat a boiled egg or something.

Roy Bauer said...

Do I have to spell everything out? The Eisenhower quote is infamous because half fall below 50% BY DEFINITION. Hence Dwight's remark is, well, idiotic (though that's not saying that Ike was an idiot, obviously).

Sheesh.

And I didn't bash Jeopardy. If I bashed anyone, I bashed those who think that Jeopardy involves displays of intelligence.

Learn to read!

torabora said...

Scott Adams (aka Dilbert) has been making bank off these kind of observations for years Chunk. You gotta make room for morons.

One of my favorites is the pointy haired boss who wants to know why 40% of the employees sick days fall on a monday or friday.

Anonymous said...

We had the same discussion at the negotiating table a few years ago. Management was having a hissy fit over the fact that nearly faculty members were abusing sick leave since nearly half of the sick leave days taken fell on Monday and Friday. Even when we did the arithmetic for them, they wouldn't shut up about it.

As Chunk says, "Sheeesh."

--100 miles down the road

Anonymous said...

Matt 28:5-6 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

Matt 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the dose of the ghost, 8:08

Bohrstein said...

Chunk what do you think about ELP (Emerson Lake & Palmer)?

Roy Bauer said...

I was a fan of ELP's early albums. By the late 70s, ELP, with it's pyrotechnics, endless piano noodling, drum solos, etc., had earned a reputation for wretched excess. So I can't imagine listening to that stuff today.

I agree with the widely-held notion that, in the early to mid-seventies, rock was at one of its low points. There was some fine music then--Mott the Hoople, "Exile"-era Rolling Stones, and Big Star come to mind--but there was also much that was pretentious and experimental in way that now seems unfortunate.

Thank God punk came along!

Anonymous said...

I agree with the statement on excess, but certainly there were more than a handful of talented artists, specifically in the mid-to-late seventies who found their "niche" in the rock community and produced some of their own best albums: Rush, Bowie, Floyd, Queen, AC/DC, even late Zep.

??

Roy Bauer said...

Rush? Queen? Bowie? There's some lasting music in there, I suppose (Rebel Rebel, etc.), but why put up with technique-for-its-own-sake and posing and florid theatrics when ROCKING and GREAT SONGS (Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones) are available? Bowie was a better producer (and actor) than artist, I think. His guitarist (Mick R) has had a more lasting impact than he has.

So saith lots of us oldtimers, anyway.

Excess can be good. I still listen occasionally to Focus' "Hocus Pocus." Good grief!

But I rarely admit it.

--Old Fart

Bohrstein said...

Ah, but excess can be beautiful when it all works together - such is the beauty of an orchestra!

Like a flock of birds, or a god damned tree!

E.g., Bare trees aren't as cool as their fully leafed autumn friends with their bouquet of colors.

A lone duck isn't as impressive as that cool flying V...

And Palmer is more interesting playing drums whilst blowing a harmonica and pulling a gong with his teeth...all at the same damned time.

AOR said...

I've heard that much more than 50% of drivers believe they're better than the average driver. I'd be interested in knowing what the percentage is of Americans who think they're in the above-average intelligence bracket.

Anonymous said...

Please do not ever use the word "rubric" ever again.

Anonymous said...

I'm a "self-described intellectual"? When did I describe myself in that way? I wonder if 8:08 knows what "self-described" means.

Is it elitist for an educator to bemoan the silliness in thinking that Jeopardy and spelling bees are contests of intelligence? Well, if so, call me an elitist.

Please note that I did not criticize Jeopardy. There's nothing intrinsically objectionable about games of trivia- or factoid-retention.

I know who designed the cowling on the German FW190. I can tell you why the T34 is often identified as the greatest tank of all time.

Gosh, I must be a genius.

--CW

Anonymous said...

Having a working knowledge of history and facts is a good sign of a person's acumen, though, isn't it? I mean, some people now think that WWII was fought against Russia.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...