Who wants to be a millionaire

[Jean-F]

I think that I’m reasonably intelligent, certainly no rocket scientist, sometimes I get one or two right on University Challenge, but rarely more.
However, sometimes I’m genuinely amazed at people who I imagine to be way more intelligent than me, not knowing answers on “Millionaire” that I consider to be common knowledge.
e.g., recently on an old WWTBAM, John Stapleton, the broadcaster, and Lorraine Kelly, Scots TV presenter were asked, “Which country did Great Britain fight in the war of 1812?”
I couldn’t imagine anyone not being aware that it was the U.S.A., and Mr. Stapleton is a much travelled journalist, but they agonised, then flipped the question for an alternate one.
This was “With which industry do you associate Carl Junkers?”
I forget the exact options, but there was yachts, airplanes, and two others.
Even my wife, who’s no dumbo, but doesn’t take much interest in the show, said, “Weren’t they German bombers in WW2?”
They had no idea, and took the £8000.

 

[robfosters]

I think that I’m reasonably intelligent, certainly no rocket scientist, sometimes I get one or two right on University Challenge, but rarely more.
However, sometimes I’m genuinely amazed at people who I imagine to be way more intelligent than me, not knowing answers on “Millionaire” that I consider to be common knowledge.
e.g., recently on an old WWTBAM, John Stapleton, the broadcaster, and Lorraine Kelly, Scots TV presenter were asked, “Which country did Great Britain fight in the war of 1812?”
I couldn’t imagine anyone not being aware that it was the U.S.A., and Mr. Stapleton is a much travelled journalist, but they agonised, then flipped the question for an alternate one.
This was “With which industry do you associate Carl Junkers?”
I forget the exact options, but there was yachts, airplanes, and two others.
Even my wife, who’s no dumbo, but doesn’t take much interest in the show, said, “Weren’t they German bombers in WW2?”
They had no idea, and took the £8000.

I feel your pain. That show winds me up. You get people with good education and good jobs yet their general knowledge is embarrassingly bad, often laughable. I don’t know if they’re genuinely clueless or whether they get frozen by nerves and doubt everything too much to risk it.

 

[Bickaxe]

.
e.g., recently on an old WWTBAM, John Stapleton, the broadcaster, and Lorraine Kelly, Scots TV presenter were asked, “Which country did Great Britain fight in the war of 1812?”
I couldn’t imagine anyone not being aware that it was the U.S.A., and Mr. Stapleton is a much travelled journalist, but they agonised, then flipped the question for an alternate one.

I didn't know that and I do not recall it being taught at school. My first thought was France seeing as the Napoleonic war was ongoing at the time.

Intelligence is relative to exposure and memory though I guess.

 

[SixTwoSix]

I would certainly fall over at anything vaguely sport related, I am totally clueless in that regard and sure i'd have folks hurling things at the screen on 'easy' sport questions I wouldn't know.

 

[whitecrook]

either you know it or you don't. I didn't know either of those 2 questions, I'd have guessed france, and I don't assoicate junkers with any industry. I'd have taken the £8K as well. Give your self a big pat on the back for knowing though.

 

[xb8browney]

either you know it or you don't. I didn't know either of those 2 questions, I'd have guessed france, and I don't assoicate junkers with any industry. I'd have taken the £8K as well. Give your self a big pat on the back for knowing though.

Yeah I'd go with pretty much this.

 

[jaybee]

Don't know the answer to either of the OPs questions. I doubt Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos know the answers to either of them either yet they are the richest men on earth. What does that say about the importance of general knowledge and pointless historical dates, kings, queens, sayings bla bla bla.
Winning on that show is a lottery. You can be highly intelligent and asked about the name of Justin Bieber's latest single. You can be asked about football when you don't watch it etc, but let's all prejudge people for being "dumb" not knowing stuff.

 

[Cleisthenes]

I think that I’m reasonably intelligent, certainly no rocket scientist, sometimes I get one or two right on University Challenge, but rarely more.
However, sometimes I’m genuinely amazed at people who I imagine to be way more intelligent than me, not knowing answers on “Millionaire” that I consider to be common knowledge.
e.g., recently on an old WWTBAM, John Stapleton, the broadcaster, and Lorraine Kelly, Scots TV presenter were asked, “Which country did Great Britain fight in the war of 1812?”
I couldn’t imagine anyone not being aware that it was the U.S.A., and Mr. Stapleton is a much travelled journalist, but they agonised, then flipped the question for an alternate one.
This was “With which industry do you associate Carl Junkers?”
I forget the exact options, but there was yachts, airplanes, and two others.
Even my wife, who’s no dumbo, but doesn’t take much interest in the show, said, “Weren’t they German bombers in WW2?”
They had no idea, and took the £8000.

When you get to your ripe old age you pick up this knowledge I'm sure

 

[Trig]

Surely there is a difference between intelligence and just knowing stuff, I know a girl who is academically clever, but has no street smarts and once said she thought Transylvania didn't exist as she thought it was simply the made-up place, that vampires came from, and as vampires are not real, makes Transylvania not real also..

 

[Trig]

Also, I woudlnt say I was overly intelligent nor smart, but I would have put Junkers with aeroplanes as I have an interest in planes.

 

[whitecrook]

Surely there is a difference between intelligence and just knowing stuff, I know a girl who is academically clever, but has no street smarts and once said she thought Transylvania didn't exist as she thought it was simply the made-up place, that vampires came from, and as vampires are not real, makes Transylvania not real also..

huh. Shes' right though.

 

[Thekwango]

worst 'i knew a couple of questions on who wants to be a millionaire' - i'd not have known either of those but more often than not get other questions contestants give up on or get wrong. not sure if that makes me a genius or idiot?!

 

[Hades]

I probably would have got the 1812 question wrong and put France in the Napoleonic wars. Britain was fighting several countries at the time. I seem to recall it was because we were engaged with other battles around that period that we could not focus on keeping those damn upstarts in America in line

But I would have got the Junkers question correct, after building an Airfix Junkers Ju88 model as a kid.

 

[Reality|Bites]

Yeah Jean but you know fine well if you had been in the hot seat after bumming yourself up feeling over confident etc....You would get that one question you just didn't know huh?
Maybe like the name the film from the picture thread we could have an ask the question thread? but people would cheat and google huh?

An OCUK shop run who wants to win 10 bags of Haribo thread?

 

[Jean-F]

huh. Shes' right though.

About vampires she is, but not Transylvania, that’s in Central Romania.

worst 'i knew a couple of questions on who wants to be a millionaire' - i'd not have known either of those but more often than not get other questions contestants give up on or get wrong. not sure if that makes me a genius or idiot?!

As I said, I’m not intelligent, but I read trivia about history voraciously, that’s probably how I knew those answers.
The British burned the White House in Washington during the War of 1812, and it was during our shelling of Fort McHenry in Baltimore in 1814 that Francis Scott Key penned the Star Spangled Banner, the U.S. national anthem.
For Canada, the War of 1812 was a successful defence of a small colony against attack by a much larger neighbour.
Got to go, I want to read about Norway becoming independent from Sweden in 1905.

 

[whitecrook]

About vampires she is, but not Transylvania, that’s in Central Romania.

lol central Romania. Nice one. Like that's a real place

 

[Jean-F]

lol central Romania. Nice one. Like that's a real place

Not sure if serious, I’m getting worried about you, how about Transylvania is a region in the middle of Romania, bordered to the East by the Carpathian Mountains, is that better?

Yeah Jean but you know fine well if you had been in the hot seat after bumming yourself up feeling over confident etc....You would get that one question you just didn't know huh?

That ONE question? Try 4 or 5 questions.
I can usually get up to £4000, maybe £8000, then crash and burn, but occasionally I’ll know a £64,000 or £125,000 one

 

[Jean-F]

When you get to your ripe old age you pick up this knowledge I'm sure

You may have typed that tongue in cheek, but you’re very likely bang on the money with that

 

[whitecrook]

Not sure if serious, I’m getting worried about you, how about Transylvania is a region in the middle of Romania, bordered to the East by the Carpathian Mountains, is that better?

Oh yeah, some sort of island or something off south of Australia, I know it - wasn't there a cartoon based on Transylvanian Devil. Gotcha.

 

[Jean-F]

Oh yeah, some sort of island or something off south of Australia, I know it - wasn't there a cartoon based on Transylvanian Devil. Gotcha.

You mean Taz the Tasmanian Devil, and thankfully now I know that you were kidding