# DON'T STUMP the OTHER guy with average knowledge **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 29, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400 "2007-10-29T02:33:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/1 "2007-10-29T02:33:42Z")
Well, per the rules of **cmyk** ’s very fun [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441590) I have won the dubious honor of having my own ignorance displayed to the Dope, and the world. The rules for this are simple: The goal is to ask me trivia questions that I _can_ answer. Assign a point value for each question, based on its difficulty, from one to ten. I will use no outside resources to answer your questions: No Googling, no asking friends, no going to reference books. Just my unaided walking memory. If I get the question right, you get that point value added to your score. If I get it wrong, that point value is subtracted from it. The goal, of course, is to get as high a score as one may. Post your scores in green if they’re positive, and red if they’re negative. The person with the highest score will get a properly appropriate SDMB prize. (I’m thinking of a Get-Out-of-Goating-Free, card) The loser… well, let’s just say that I see no reason to be kinder than **cmyk** - the loser gets to start his or her very own thread. Now, in case you’re not familiar with my background - I’m a 39 yo caucasian male. (With spelling that’s tolerable, at best.) I am going to be proven nearly ignorant of popular culture or sports very quickly, so I’ll suggest that you avoid those topics. Well, let the questions begin! ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/2 "2007-10-29T02:44:49Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Now, in case you’re not familiar with my background - I’m a 39 yo caucasian male. (With spelling that’s tolerable, at best.) I am going to be proven nearly ignorant of popular culture or sports very quickly, so I’ll suggest that you avoid those topics. [/QUOTE] So, with that caveat, who is playing in the World Series this year? (2pts) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/3 "2007-10-29T02:49:28Z")
[QUOTE=fachverwirrt] So, with that caveat, who is playing in the World Series this year? (2pts) [/QUOTE] Oddly enough I can answer this one. I’ve got a friend who is a die-hard BoSox fan. And she made sure I knew that they were playing against the Rockies. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/4 "2007-10-29T02:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Oddly enough I can answer this one. I’ve got a friend who is a die-hard BoSox fan. And she made sure I knew that they were playing against the Rockies. [/QUOTE] Yay! 2. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/5 "2007-10-29T02:57:37Z")
Uh oh - from one to ten, or one to three like the last thread? I’ll do 1-3 for now, and revise if necessary. Well, you asked questions on myth before, so maybe you’ll get these. 3 points: Who is Odysseus’ wife? 2 points: Who is Artemis’ brother? 1 point: Who is the queen of the Greek gods? 3 points: Who are Zeus’ parents? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/6 "2007-10-29T03:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=Helen’s Eidolon] Uh oh - from one to ten, or one to three like the last thread? I’ll do 1-3 for now, and revise if necessary. Well, you asked questions on myth before, so maybe you’ll get these. 3 points: Who is Odysseus’ wife? 2 points: Who is Artemis’ brother? 1 point: Who is the queen of the Greek gods? 3 points: Who are Zeus’ parents? [/QUOTE] 1. Nausicaa is Odysseus’ wife 2. Apollo is Artemis’ twin brother, IIRC 3. Hera was the often powerless queen of the Olympians 4. I’m less sure of this, but wasn’t it Chronos and Gaia? ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/7 "2007-10-29T03:10:26Z")
Aiee! 2 and 3 are right, but Penelope is Odysseus’ wife - Nausicaa is just some girl he met along the way. He didn’t even sleep with her (unlike pretty much all of the other girls he meets along the way). Cronus (so close!) and Rhea are Zeus’ parents. -3 ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/8 "2007-10-29T03:12:36Z")
Let’s try some history: For four points: Name the last ten presidents (including the current one) of the United States. For eight points: Name the last ten vice-presidents (including the current one) of the United States. (I’m assuming that we are indeed doing 1-10 points. Otherwise adjust point levels to 2 and 3, respectively.) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/9 "2007-10-29T03:13:02Z")
[QUOTE=Helen’s Eidolon] Aiee! 2 and 3 are right, but Penelope is Odysseus’ wife - Nausicaa is just some girl he met along the way. He didn’t even sleep with her (unlike pretty much all of the other girls he meets along the way). Cronus (so close!) and Rhea are Zeus’ parents. -3 [/QUOTE] Rats. Rats. And Rats again. I really thought that Nausicaa and Penelope where cognomens, like Odysseus and Ulysses. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/10 "2007-10-29T03:15:45Z")
OK, for two points, who first broke the sound barrier? Hint: it was in an airplane. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/11 "2007-10-29T03:18:02Z")
Hey, I’m impressed you knew that name at all. It’s a sophisticated level of confusion, at least. I’ll try to redeem myself (or possibly guarantee myself my own thread). Again - do you want the 1-3 scale or the 1-10? 1: How many provinces and territories are there in Canada? 1: Which province is furthest west? 2: Who is Canada’s prime minister? 3: Up or down 5 million, how many people live in Canada? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/12 "2007-10-29T03:20:30Z")
[QUOTE=fachverwirrt] Let’s try some history: For four points: Name the last ten presidents (including the current one) of the United States. For eight points: Name the last ten vice-presidents (including the current one) of the United States. (I’m assuming that we are indeed doing 1-10 points. Otherwise adjust point levels to 2 and 3, respectively.) [/QUOTE] Last ten presidents.. This could get tricky George W. Bush Bill Clinton George H. W. Bush Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford Richard Nixon Lyndon B. Johnson John Fitzgerald Kennedy Dwight David Eisenhower Vice Presidents… I know I’m going to mess them up, but let’s try: Dick Cheney Al Gore Dan Quayle George H. W. Bush Walter Mondale Spirow Agnew? Gerald Ford Hubert Humphrey Lyndon B. Johnson Horace Q Placesetter? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/13 "2007-10-29T03:21:39Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] OK, for two points, who first broke the sound barrier? Hint: it was in an airplane. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Wasn’t that Chuck Yeager? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/14 "2007-10-29T03:26:45Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Last ten presidents.. This could get tricky George W. Bush Bill Clinton George H. W. Bush Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford Richard Nixon Lyndon B. Johnson John Fitzgerald Kennedy Dwight David Eisenhower Vice Presidents… I know I’m going to mess them up, but let’s try: Dick Cheney Al Gore Dan Quayle George H. W. Bush Walter Mondale Spirow Agnew? Gerald Ford Hubert Humphrey Lyndon B. Johnson Horace Q Placesetter? [/QUOTE] Presidents: exactly right. Vice-presidents: oh so close! You reversed Agnew (Spiro, not Spirow) and Ford (not that I would have counted it against you) but you missed Nelson Rockefeller, Ford’s vice president. So, plus four, minus eight, leaving me at -2. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/15 "2007-10-29T03:27:10Z")
[QUOTE=Helen’s Eidolon] Hey, I’m impressed you knew that name at all. It’s a sophisticated level of confusion, at least. I’ll try to redeem myself (or possibly guarantee myself my own thread). Again - do you want the 1-3 scale or the 1-10? 1: How many provinces and territories are there in Canada? 1: Which province is furthest west? 2: Who is Canada’s prime minister? 3: Up or down 5 million, how many people live in Canada? [/QUOTE] I don’t mind a 1-10 point scale. Of course, I’ll probably blow the ten pointers. 1. Hooo boy. I’ve even lived in Canada. I _think_ there are 14. Don’t ask me to name them all 2. I want to say The Yukon, with a small possiblility that British Columbia has protrusions further west. 3. er… I’ve actually known that in the past. Right now the name is completely escaping me. I’ve even read some of the threads about complaints about his treatment of gay rights, I think it was, in Ontario. But this is a complete miss. 4. I’d say 27 million people. ISTR that it’s about 10% of the population of the US. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/16 "2007-10-29T03:29:19Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Wasn’t that Chuck Yeager? [/QUOTE] Two points,Dude! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/17 "2007-10-29T03:40:00Z")
Ahh HAH! It’s so nice to be on this side of the barbed-wire fence. You’re doing a great job so far. OK… and for the wind-up: 3 points (on a difficulty scale of 1-10): What’s the brightest star in earth’s sky (besides the sun)? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/18 "2007-10-29T03:42:51Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] 3 points (on a difficulty scale of 1-10): What’s the brightest star in earth’s sky (besides the sun)? [/QUOTE] D’oh!!! You got the edit in there just in time. I believe Sirius is the brightest distant star. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/19 "2007-10-29T03:44:00Z")
Oh man, I’m sunk. 13 provinces and territories, Yukon isn’t a province and therefore the wrong answer (BC was it), Stephen Harper and - the worst - 33 million, just 1 million off the 5 mil margin of error. It’s a good thing I didn’t use the 10 point scale. I’m already at -10 points! I’m retiring for the night. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400/20 "2007-10-29T03:46:51Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] D’oh!!! You got the edit in there just in time. I believe Sirius is the brightest distant star. [/QUOTE] Whoo hoo! Nice job, starting out in the green. **cmyk = +3** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-stump-the-other-guy-with-average-knowledge/424400.md?page=2)