Are you smarter than a 5th Grader?
I saw this show last night because the online TV guide said that Psych was on in that timeslot. Morbid fascination soon took over. This has got to be the worst advertising for the USA around. A more apt name would be "are you dumber than a pile of rocks?". Do they pick dumb people so everybody doesn't win? Is this really giving the international community a good impression of Americans?
I saw them ask 10 questions (in between doing more important things). Seven I could answer immediately. Two took a few seconds thought. One I couldn't answer because it was about American presidents. American history rates here higher than French history and a whole lot lower than Egyptian history.
One guy was asked how high a triangle would be if it had an area of 16 and a base length of 8. His answer would have been ONE. Even the less mathematically adept of you should notice that 8 times 1 is less than 16. So even if it was a rectangle instead of a triangle it would still be too small. And triangles are smaller than the equivalent rectangle.
A woman was asked what the closest star to Earth is. As she mused on it she said (and I quote) "...is the Sun a star? I don't know...". Good god. The one that she lost $100,000 on was "which country has the longest border with the USA?". She chose Mexico because she remembered hearing about all the border control problems. Uh huh. Have you ever seen a map, lady? Then again, I'm not entirely surprised, as I have seen many a map of the USA which is ONLY of the USA, not even Canada or Mexico. There be dragons. ;)
On the flip side, given the choice between "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" with it's ball-bustingly hard multi-choice questions and "Are you smarter than a 5th Grader?" with questions most kids could answer, I know which I'd choose. They both let you win a million dollars.
Edit
From the application form for contestants:
"The Producer is not obligated to select anyone, even if someone meets all eligibility requirements and all criteria for selection. The Producer’s decisions regarding the selection of contestants is final and not subject to challenge or appeal. The Producer is not obligated to have any contestant appear on the Program and the Producer shall have the right at all times and in its sole discretion to remove or replace any contestant for any reason or no reason. Even if a contestant appears in the Program or any part thereof, the Producer is not obligated to broadcast or otherwise use or exploit the Program, contestant’s participation therein or any part thereof."
Hmm... can we say "kick you out because you're smart"? The wording that really gets me is "the Producer shall have the right at all times and in its sole discretion to remove or replace any contestant for any reason or no reason". Does that mean if you're winning they can kick you out mid-show? Or is that what the clause "Even if a contestant appears in the Program or any part thereof, the Producer is not obligated to broadcast" is for? Maybe if you're smart they just give you your money and don't broadcast it (unless you're a contestant all the viewers will be rooting for).
I saw them ask 10 questions (in between doing more important things). Seven I could answer immediately. Two took a few seconds thought. One I couldn't answer because it was about American presidents. American history rates here higher than French history and a whole lot lower than Egyptian history.
One guy was asked how high a triangle would be if it had an area of 16 and a base length of 8. His answer would have been ONE. Even the less mathematically adept of you should notice that 8 times 1 is less than 16. So even if it was a rectangle instead of a triangle it would still be too small. And triangles are smaller than the equivalent rectangle.
A woman was asked what the closest star to Earth is. As she mused on it she said (and I quote) "...is the Sun a star? I don't know...". Good god. The one that she lost $100,000 on was "which country has the longest border with the USA?". She chose Mexico because she remembered hearing about all the border control problems. Uh huh. Have you ever seen a map, lady? Then again, I'm not entirely surprised, as I have seen many a map of the USA which is ONLY of the USA, not even Canada or Mexico. There be dragons. ;)
On the flip side, given the choice between "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" with it's ball-bustingly hard multi-choice questions and "Are you smarter than a 5th Grader?" with questions most kids could answer, I know which I'd choose. They both let you win a million dollars.
Edit
From the application form for contestants:
"The Producer is not obligated to select anyone, even if someone meets all eligibility requirements and all criteria for selection. The Producer’s decisions regarding the selection of contestants is final and not subject to challenge or appeal. The Producer is not obligated to have any contestant appear on the Program and the Producer shall have the right at all times and in its sole discretion to remove or replace any contestant for any reason or no reason. Even if a contestant appears in the Program or any part thereof, the Producer is not obligated to broadcast or otherwise use or exploit the Program, contestant’s participation therein or any part thereof."
Hmm... can we say "kick you out because you're smart"? The wording that really gets me is "the Producer shall have the right at all times and in its sole discretion to remove or replace any contestant for any reason or no reason". Does that mean if you're winning they can kick you out mid-show? Or is that what the clause "Even if a contestant appears in the Program or any part thereof, the Producer is not obligated to broadcast" is for? Maybe if you're smart they just give you your money and don't broadcast it (unless you're a contestant all the viewers will be rooting for).