coprolite Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 11 hours ago, Funky Nosejob said: What’s smart about learning a mathematical ratio to a degree of accuracy that would only be used in interstellar astronomy, where you would rely on a computer to do the calculation anyway? I can recite the alphabet backwards. It’s a useless skill and doesn’t make me smart. It just means I was really bored one Sunday morning when I was a child and decided to learn the alphabet backwards. 1 hour ago, Fullerene said: Combining your two comments, I know Pi to ten decimal points because it was something I learnt at school and I doubt I will ever unlearn it. Some people use a nmemonic such as "How I wish I could recollect Pi easily today". (I wish I could always remember how to spell "nmemonic"). However I find 3.14 is usually close enough on most occasions. Like you, I see little point knowing more decimals for Pi. I can name the 50 states of America because I once made an effort to do this and again I am not likely to unlearn them. Not much use unless you also know where they are, how big they are, rivers, cities and so on. Occasionally I try to learn the elements of the periodic table. Not so good. Not much use unless you learn something about them. For example in one part of the table the sequence is not toxic, very toxic, very very toxic, extremely toxic, not toxic, toxic, and toxic. These all sound like fantastic ways to impress the ladies. And to do well on pointless. Not mutually exclusive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Richelieu Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Funky Nosejob said: Agreed. Like my alphabet backwards, these are fun “party tricks” that might impress someone down the pub. The pub when Funky is expected. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 For some reason I memorised the square root of 21 to 8 figures when I was about 12 or something. It'll come in handy any day now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 Oooft, over 80% now. No wonder so many threads turn into a condescending sh*tshow when 8/10 posters perceive themselves to be in the forum's elite. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullerene Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 2 hours ago, coprolite said: These all sound like fantastic ways to impress the ladies. And to do well on pointless. Not mutually exclusive. Not entirely true. I recall one night out where I mentioned that I knew all the US states and their capitols as well. This one bore then asked "okay, what is the capitol of New Hampshire?" "Concord", I replied. "Okay then, what about South Dakota?" You can see where this is going. Despite me saying repeatedly that I knew all of them, he just kept asking one after another. Everybody else was thoroughly bored. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullerene Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 2 hours ago, welshbairn said: For some reason I memorised the square root of 21 to 8 figures when I was about 12 or something. It'll come in handy any day now. Must be frustrating when someone asks for the square root of 22. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Connolly Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 minute ago, Fullerene said: Must be frustrating when someone asks for the square root of 22. √22 HTH 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coprolite Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Fullerene said: Not entirely true. I recall one night out where I mentioned that I knew all the US states and their capitols as well. This one bore then asked "okay, what is the capitol of New Hampshire?" "Concord", I replied. "Okay then, what about South Dakota?" You can see where this is going. Despite me saying repeatedly that I knew all of them, he just kept asking one after another. Everybody else was thoroughly bored. What state capital would you go for on pointless? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 6 minutes ago, coprolite said: What state capital would you go for on pointless? New York maybe? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101 Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Hedgecutter said: Oooft, over 80% now. No wonder so many threads turn into a condescending sh*tshow when 8/10 posters perceive themselves to be in the forum's elite. That's incredible. Anyone ever done an IQ test 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Connolly Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, welshbairn said: New York maybe? It's not the capital, Albany is. You should have a better chance now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathematics Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 15 hours ago, welshbairn said: Statistician - there are 7 billion people on the planet, only 1800 are killed by tigers. Think I'll go and say hullo and maybe stick my head in it's mouth, I'm more likely to be struck by lightning than something going wrong. That’s far too exciting a sentence for a statistician to make. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathematics Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 4 hours ago, Funky Nosejob said: , yet we still insist on teaching them the 11 and 12 times tables. No we don’t. Not universally anyway. I know of primary schools that don’t do times tables at all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullerene Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 24 minutes ago, coprolite said: What state capital would you go for on pointless? Obviously one of the ones where most people think it is somewhere else. Salem. I would not expect to win. Even if nobody in the audience knows all of them, at least one person will know each of them 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullerene Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 27 minutes ago, mathematics said: That’s far too exciting a sentence for a statistician to make. More people die taking a selfie than are killed by sharks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coprolite Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 5 minutes ago, Fullerene said: Obviously one of the ones where most people think it is somewhere else. Salem. I would not expect to win. Even if nobody in the audience knows all of them, at least one person will know each of them You credit the British public with too much knowledge. I'd guess there would be pointless states, nevermind their capitals. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 7 minutes ago, Fullerene said: Obviously one of the ones where most people think it is somewhere else. Salem. I would not expect to win. Even if nobody in the audience knows all of them, at least one person will know each of them They don't even know Albion Rovers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullerene Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 24 minutes ago, coprolite said: You credit the British public with too much knowledge. I'd guess there would be pointless states, never mind their capitals. Not really. I have seen these sort of questions on Pointless - States that have a coastline, States that don't have a coastline, West of the Mississippi, East of the Mississippi, that border Canada, border Mexico, end with a vowel, don't end with a vowel. Always someone that knows one of them. I feel sorry for the guy who appeared on Pointless and said his special subject was Middlesbrough Football Club. He reached the final and was asked to name a former captain of the Scotland team. He failed. He was then asked if he knew of a player called Stephen McManus. He replied "My Dad is going to kill me." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, 101 said: That's incredible. Anyone ever done an IQ test It's not the actual IQ score I was interested in, more the attitude towards others. I suspect that most posters will consider themselves to be nothing particularly special, but think of others as relatively moronic. Folk will then end up fighting over a point, convinced there's a good chance they're in the right. Referring back to the OP, you can have rather intelligent people finding themselves at any stage of that Dunning-Kruger curve, particularly the high-confidence/low-ability part. One might argue that's where they end up most on GN when they assume that they must be knowledgeable about at most things (given a little data or a Wikipedia page) because they have expertise in something completely unrelated. Edited July 17, 2021 by Hedgecutter 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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