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Well, see, it depends on how the question was asked. Was it part of a test that the student thought would be graded? When I was in college, every once in a gre

by rajat 17y ago

Well, see, it depends on how the question was asked. Was it part of a test that the student thought would be graded? When I was in college, every once in a great while, I'd be stopped on the street and asked some question, usually by a psychology student. I'm not necessarily happy today with the smart-aleck I was then, but my answers were always completely off the wall. Q: Who's the Vice President? A: Paul Newman. Q: What's to the north of the U.S.? A: Africa. (I'm making up the questions. They were about general knowledge, but I no longer remember what they were). I mean, there wasn't anything at stake. Why the hell wouldn't I give completely off the wall answers? So, somewhere, there are a bunch of people laughing at stupid American college students at least partially because of my answers. Ok, so if someone asked me a question like that in the street today, I would probably answer exactly the same way (haven't matured all that much apparently). Wouldn't you?

lotharbot 17y ago
If you've watched Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segment, you've seen this phenomenon. He asks people on the street a bunch of questions and looks for hilariously dumb answers. I think some of his responders really are that dumb, but some of them are just going for lulz (Example: "What is the opening line of the Bible?" "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.") That said, the page said pretty explicitly that the question was asked on actual quizzes, which presumably means the students expected to be graded. On the positive side: they presented 40 of the 48 wrong answers they got. 34 of the 40 came from first-semester physics or astronomy. So at least it appears the majority of second semester and higher level students got it right.
- klipt 17y ago
  "What is the opening line of the Bible?" "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away." Only in my dreams ... only in my dreams.

by rajat 17y ago

lotharbot 17y ago

If you've watched Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segment, you've seen this phenomenon. He asks people on the street a bunch of questions and looks for hilariously dumb answers. I think some of his responders really are that dumb, but some of them are just going for lulz (Example: "What is the opening line of the Bible?" "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.") That said, the page said pretty explicitly that the question was asked on actual quizzes, which presumably means the students expected to be graded. On the positive side: they presented 40 of the 48 wrong answers they got. 34 of the 40 came from first-semester physics or astronomy. So at least it appears the majority of second semester and higher level students got it right.

klipt 17y ago
"What is the opening line of the Bible?" "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away." Only in my dreams ... only in my dreams.