Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

[Tenshi no Ai]

Heh, I usually see people on the forums here make remarks such as "I've lost faith in humanity!" but until you've seen this show... just... wow.

I was just watching it last week and the contestent apparently goes to a community college, yet um, failed the show >_< Because apparently the Mexican border is larger than Canada's (which made me boo hoo all the more knowing that once again, us Canadians are foreign to the outside world v_v)

Other questions that were pretty tough also included "What do you get when you mix red and yellow?" and "what star is closest to the earth?" (ooo what a tough one that was too!)

Like oh my goodness! After watching 1 ep I was just SO surprised with what little common knowledge people know/remember today >_< My FAMILY was even having a hard time trying to figure it out :/ *kicks technology* Yeah let's continue blaming it^^ It is sort of funny how it shames people that if they give into the greed of money and loose it all because they HAVE to win the jackpot and not a large amount (which is another thing I won't get into^^), is that if they lose, they have to look at the camera and say "I am not smarter than a 5th grader". Sort of amuses me^^

*cough* So anyone else tune it?

[uc pseudonym]

Never seen it, and I don't intend to do so. However, I do have a few things to say on the subject that will hopefully not be out of place. One is that I'm often surprised by how little many people seemed to get out of their schooling before coming to college. I have peers that are befuddled by the metric system.

But as for the show, I think it has a somewhat flawed premise. I imagine that the vast majority of the 5th graders will not be able to answer those questions by they're the age of the program contestants. Most of us lose knowledge that we never use (though one would hope people know some incredibly obvious things).

[Alice]

I don't think they have that show in the US. But if they did, I'd like to see at least part of an episode. If it's not dirty, and it doesn't sound like it is. ^^ (A lot of times, unfortunately, those types of shows get disgusting pretty quickly. But maybe I'm just thinking of comedy short segments.)

[Puguni]

I don't think they have that show in the US. But if they did, I'd like to see at least part of an episode. If it's not dirty, and it doesn't sound like it is. ^^ (A lot of times, unfortunately, those types of shows get disgusting pretty quickly. But maybe I'm just thinking of comedy short segments.)

Nope! I think it's on NBC. My friend watched it and said that some of the people answering the questions were outrageous. Also, she said that they had some questions on information that she didn't learn in fifth grade, but learned in a later grade. Who learned the periodic table in fifth grade? Not me, definitely.

[Alice]

Woah, me neither! XD Maybe I will get a chance to watch an episode!

[Roy Mustang]

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

That will help understand the show.

The periodic table question was,

What is the name the element that is Na on the periodic table?


Which is Sodium.



Col. Roy Mustang

[livxamlis]

lol haha yeah i saw that same episode. i only saw some of it but i almost died of laughter when she got that cdn/mexican border question wrong and the little boy got it right. like come on...canada is like the second largest country so obviously it has the longest border with the US.

[Roy Mustang]

I do like the show, but there are some people that question the show.

Some people are calling the show a faud and saying that the kids are wearing ear pieces.

I watch all three eps and I haven't seen an ear piece yet on a kid.


But I know that the kids are child actors and not gifted 5th graders.



Col. Roy Mustang

[Puguni]

The periodic table question was,

What is the name the element that is Na on the periodic table?

Which is Sodium.
Col. Roy Mustang

Yes, but would you say you learned that in 5th grade? I barely knew what a protractor was then.

[Nate]

"what star is closest to the earth?" (ooo what a tough one that was too!)

How is that hard? It's pretty obvious that the answer is "the sun." o.o

[Warrior4Christ]

i only saw some of it but i almost died of laughter when she got that cdn/mexican border question wrong and the little boy got it right. like come on...canada is like the second largest country so obviously it has the longest border with the US.

Oh, I get it now! I misunderstood Tenshi no Ai - apparently I couldn't read the sarcasm in:

Because apparently the Mexican border is larger than Canada's (which made me boo hoo all the more knowing that once again, us Canadians are foreign to the outside world v_v)

I was thinking "wow, that's really deceiving though... you wouldn't think it is by looking at a map... that curvy border must really add a lot to the distance compared to the straight border, and then taking away the distance in the lakes...".

But don't give up on humanity until you've seen.. Quizmania. (groan..) Late night quiz shows are even worse.

[Tenshi no Ai]

How is that hard? It's pretty obvious that the answer is "the sun." o.o

*shrugs* Ask the contestent^^ "I THINK it's the sun... is the sun a star?" I guess in a sense it could be confusing, since it's not like we refer to the sun being a star, but like, come on!

I was thinking "wow, that's really deceiving though... you wouldn't think it is by looking at a map... that curvy border must really add a lot to the distance compared to the straight border, and then taking away the distance in the lakes...".

The contestent was going on about "Well, I here about Mexico being pretty big alot..." It's just interesting how the general population knows SO much more about Mexico than the bigger northern cousins^^ Well, I know many Mexicans come up to work and so there's the huge Spanish influence on learning the language and making more Taco Bells, but still... Canada still feels like one of those old medieval maps, where there's one big blank spot that hasn't been filled in yet, with the image of a leviathan swimming around because of it's mystery v_v

[ChristianKitsune]

ROFL!! I just started watching this game show (which btw is hosted by Jeff Foxworth I think)

I gotta say I love it, but I would totally win if I were on it XD.

But like the last episode they asked questions like what is NA on the periodic table...there is no NA on the periodic Table... it's Na (BIG DIFFERENCE) also they said that the Polar bear is the BIGGEST SPECIES of bear. First off there is no "SPECIES" of bear there is BREEDS. Next the Polar bear is the HEAVIEST not the biggest that belongs to the Kodiak bear...

It's still funny despite it's flaws, and the kids are really cute..

but yeah, I would totally win if I went on it. ^^ I think most americans would.

[Roy Mustang]

First off there is no "SPECIES" of bear there is BREEDS. Next the Polar bear is the HEAVIEST not the biggest that belongs to the Kodiak bear...

Sorry, but bears are class as a species of bear and not by breed.

Kodiak Bear is a subspecies of the brown bear.

Polar Bear has it's own species name.

So, the question to the answer was more or less right.

Yes, the Kodiak Bear largest type of bear, but its a subspecies and they were asking for species of bear.

Since the Brown Bear would have been the species, then the Polar Bear is the largest type of bear as a species of bear.


Col. Roy Mustang

[wingedfox]

i love that show. it's funny to see how useless a lot of the stuff you learn in gradeschool is.

[uc pseudonym]

but yeah, I would totally win if I went on it. ^^ I think most americans would.

While I'd like to believe that, I wouldn't bet on it. The average human being is really fairly ignorant.

However, that does lead me to wonder if they choose the adults carefully. As cynical as I may be, I wouldn't think that in an average collection of adults there wouldn't be a few that would utterly outclass a 5th grader's level of knowledge. Are there a few winners every show or mostly losers? It would seem to me the show is somewhat based on feeling superior the contestants, so they'd be motivated to pick poor ones.

[macguy]

*shrugs* Ask the contestent^^ "I THINK it's the sun... is the sun a star?" I guess in a sense it could be confusing, since it's not like we refer to the sun being a star, but like, come on!

To be more specific, what type of star? It is a star speaking in vague terms. I'm not surprised though. People who go to college and look back wouldn't exactly say that the time was wasted but that a lot of the knowledge simply went into the trash can. There are methods to keep it in your memory without using it a lot which is a mixture of speed reading and recalling strategies by association.

[Rocketshipper]

I saw two episodes, and so far the only question that stumped me was "who was the first president to be impeached". I knew it once before (we did a mock trial about it in 11th grade history) but I forgot. I didn't learn the periodic table till high school ^^;;.

[mitsuki lover]

Andrew Johnson.
btw:The only three Presidents to be impeached or face impeachment were:
Andrew Johnson,Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.

[Corkyspaniel]

The first episode, I got all of them right. As they progress, I am getting fewer and fewer correct. ^_^ But yes, I love the show.

[mitsuki lover]

I haven't seen it.Though it does sound interesting,kinda like a grade school version of Beat The Geeks.