# Game show Jeopardy! = dispair 4 you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042 "2015-06-09T05:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/1 "2015-06-09T05:19:19Z")
I watch my share of said show and have done so for a while now, mainly because there’s not much else on at 7. One thing that’s always bothered me about the show is that I often find that after just a few minutes of watching it, a sense of depression/despair envelopes me due to seeing the contestants seeming to know everything about everything, while I’m lucky if I can get only a few questions/answers right. When the little kids do the show is when the aforementioned phenomena strikes me the hardest, like, for example, how on earth does a little 7th grader manage to instantaneously give the correct response pertaining to some obscure river in Italy? Anyway, do any of you folks also experience the same thing (or am I all alone again…)? ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/2 "2015-06-09T05:58:38Z")
No, I’m actually pretty good at it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/3 "2015-06-09T06:10:22Z")
I’m astonished at how much the contestants know, but, really, I take that as a good thing. Hooray for the well-educated! Rather than depressing, it’s uplifting. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/4 "2015-06-09T07:08:02Z")
Amen to that! I started watching the show when I was in sixth grade, and I learned a helluva lot more from it than I ever did in school. I wish more kids would watch it today and raise the national IQ a few points. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/5 "2015-06-09T14:32:36Z")
If the categories aren’t my cup of tea and I’m not coming up with many correct answers I find myself, not getting depressed, but simply not being as compelled to keep watching that round. I’ll still usually always stick around for Final Jeopardy. Remember that the contestants are not plucked randomly off the street. They go thru a fairly thorough audition and screening process. I’m usually more surprised (and disappointed) if they do badly in a round. Plus it makes for lousy viewing! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/6 "2015-06-09T15:05:12Z")
The only time I really feel bad about not knowing answers is in modern music categories. Not only have I never heard any of the singers/bands, I often haven’t even heard OF them. Makes me feel old… ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/7 "2015-06-09T15:08:51Z")
7th graders have to memorize a lot of obscure geographical facts you don’t remember when you’ve been out of school for years I’m actually highly intelligent so I know most of the answers on Jeopardy! and look down on the contestants who get wrong answers ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/8 "2015-06-09T15:11:07Z")
Not the teen matches, but I do find that I am far from good enough to compete on regular Jeopardy. I am reasonably smart and well-informed, but I just don’t seem to know enough answers to win the game, let alone know them quick enough to buzz in and win. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/9 "2015-06-09T15:16:56Z")
Learn to Live, Live to Learn. > **[How many on SDMB have been on Jeopardy! ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=149900)** > > I have and I think at least one other here has. Thus it is no less than 2. I bet out of about 30,000 people registered, there will be more than 3 and less than 30. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/10 "2015-06-09T15:22:38Z")
Yeah, while there are the occasional clues on _Jeopardy!_ where I will slap my forehead and think, “Why didn’t I get that?”, more frequently it’s the case that I’m amazed that three presumably bright and well-read contestants don’t get an answer that I think is thunderingly obvious. Like **Just Asking Questions** , I’m often stumped by the current music categories. I just don’t listen to Top 40 music at all these days. If I’m lucky there will be one name in those categories that I have vaguely heard of. But if I were ever going to be contestant you can bet that I’d do my best to bone up on it. I don’t know that I’d go so far as to claim that watching _Jeopardy!_ will help increase our national IQ–it is mostly trivia, after all. But I do appreciate that it’s a fairly intelligent and fast-moving game that manages (usually) to get through 60 questions plus the Final Jeopardy question, without all the “suspenseful” pauses you see in so many other game shows. “The answer is…” (Close-up of contestant’s sweating face) (Close-up of host) (Close-up of contestant’s loved one in the audience) (Close-up of game board) “…coming up right after this break!” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/11 "2015-06-09T15:28:17Z")
The knowledge that Jeopardy contestants tend to have is trivia. And while there’s nothing wrong with knowing trivia, it’s not some testament to your overall intelligence. There’s a difference between intelligence and memory. The first book I’ve noticed that got the difference is actually a Harry Potter fanfiction _Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality_. In it, Harry gets a huge intelligence upgrade, as if he was a trained rationalist of well more than his 11 years. But he is not Hermione, who has a really good memory for facts and information. She may have all the textbooks memorized, but that doesn’t mean she’s quite as intelligent as Harry. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/12 "2015-06-09T15:33:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The only time I really feel bad about not knowing answers is in modern music categories. Not only have I never heard any of the singers/bands, I often haven’t even heard OF them. Makes me feel old… QFT. I can pretty much run the categories most nights, but Pop music since the mid-80s is a blank spot for me. Despair? Maybe, but usually at what I consider to be “stupid” contestants. “How could you not know that, dummy?” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/13 "2015-06-09T15:39:34Z")
I’ll keep watching until they start dumping green slime on contestants who give wrong answers. Or questions, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/14 "2015-06-09T15:46:14Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > But I do appreciate that it’s a fairly intelligent and fast-moving game that manages (usually) to get through 60 questions plus the Final Jeopardy question, without all the “suspenseful” pauses you see in so many other game shows. > > “The answer is…” > (Close-up of contestant’s sweating face) > (Close-up of host) > (Close-up of contestant’s loved one in the audience) > (Close-up of game board) > “…coming up right after this break!” Oh god yes. If there’s anything that depresses me it’s the pace of something like Fifth Grader or Millionaire, and the utter stupidity of some of those contestants. Jeopardy…I don’t play well, but I get enough right to have fun. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/15 "2015-06-09T15:59:02Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Oh god yes. If there’s anything that depresses me it’s the pace of something like Fifth Grader or Millionaire, and the utter stupidity of some of those contestants. Indeed. I despair way more over the stupid people in the world than the smart people. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/16 "2015-06-09T16:03:12Z")
Actually, I find that the answers are almost general knowledge for someone familiar with that category heading. For example, if the category is Psychology related, one answer will be Freud, one will be Jung, etc… There’s also usually 2 clues in each answer to help contestants take an educated guess. One is the information included, the other is a hidden in the wording and/or with a pun, a homonym, etc. Usually I can run most boards, but at a lot slower pace than the show since it takes me a few seconds to process the clues. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/17 "2015-06-09T16:29:31Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Actually, I find that the answers are almost general knowledge for someone familiar with that category heading. > > For example, if the category is Psychology related, one answer will be Freud, one will be Jung, etc… > > There’s also usually 2 clues in each answer to help contestants take an educated guess. One is the information included, the other is a hidden in the wording and/or with a pun, a homonym, etc. > > Usually I can run most boards, but at a lot slower pace than the show since it takes me a few seconds to process the clues. Right, it’s not exactly trivia, it’s more general knowledge, with some of the higher money ones being harder. [The Jeopardy Archive](http://www.j-archive.com/) is a good resource, showing all the questions ever been asked. You can see that there tons more questions regarding George Washington and Abraham Lincoln than Millard Fillmore. There are some trivia games where you might need to second guess yourself and not go with the obvious answer, but for a lot of Jeopardy questions, the obvious answer is the one they are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/18 "2015-06-09T17:08:31Z")
The average question is embarrassingly easy. The way to make it fun is to guess the answers from just the category. I can usually get the FJ answer that way at least every month or two. English Lit (X% of the time, it’s going to be Dickens). It may be a little bit like crossword puzzles. The first time I tried to do the NYT CWP, I couldn’t get one singe answer right. But once you play around with it for awhile, you learn how to play. It’s a skill. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/19 "2015-06-09T17:11:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The average question is embarrassingly easy. The way to make it fun is to guess the answers from just the category. I can usually get the FJ answer that way at least every month or two. > > English Lit (X% of the time, it’s going to be Dickens). Likewise, if it’s “Female Scientists,” the answer is **always** “Marie Curie.” ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042/20 "2015-06-09T17:56:01Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Likewise, if it’s “Female Scientists,” the answer is **always** “Marie Curie.” Similarly, the answer to any clue having anything to do with Norwegian playwrights is “Ibsen.” (Often, “Ibsen” is one of the the answers in any category related to Norway _or_ plays.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-show-jeopardy-dispair-4-you/722042.md?page=2)