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Some of my earliest memories were of watching Jeopardy with my dad when I was a kid. Alex and all the hard working staff on the show helped to inculcate in me,

Some of my earliest memories were of watching Jeopardy with my dad when I was a kid. Alex and all the hard working staff on the show helped to inculcate in me, at a very young age, a deep desire and passion to always learn about and explore the world around me. Though it’s called “trivia” there’s really nothing trivial about it. People who have no interest in these facts often express deep ignorance of the world and people from other cultures and places. I think people would come closer together and learn to reconcile our differences if we all took more of an interest in trivia. Alex, you brought so much professionalism, dignity, and gravitas to the game show business. Your strength of voice and sincerity, together with the show’s simple format, elevated the game above the usual sensationalism and addictive patterns we see in other formats. Your tireless and selfless commitment to charity has made a difference to so many people around the world. Thank you and Rest In Peace.

TravHatesMe 6y ago
> People who have no interest in these facts often express deep ignorance of the world and people from other cultures and places. I think this is an unfair statement. Certainly there are facts that are not interesting to a large majority, doesn't mean that they are ignorant. Personally my brain does not work well with remembering specific facts, I always admire people who can recall so easily. Anyway I do not want to take away from the thread, just a bit surprised at that sweeping statement, unless I misinterpreted it.
- chongli 6y ago
  I qualified it with the word "often." Perhaps I should have said "sometimes." At any rate, I am only speaking from experience based on the people I've met. I have personally been ridiculed for expressing an interest in trivia facts, on more than one occasion.
  - Satam 6y ago
    Either you're hanging out with complete assholes, or you're presenting yourself in a pretentious way.
- GavinMcG 6y ago
  I think you're mixing up interest in the facts with interest in recalling and performing them. In other words, even if you have no answer to the question, a curiousity or interest in the world makes Jeopardy appealing. People who lack that curiosity may "express deep ignorance of the world and people from other cultures and places," as the comment put it.
- JohnBooty 6y ago
  Personally my brain does not work well with remembering specific facts, I always admire people who can recall so easily. Well, aside from Alex's masterful job of hosting, that's the brilliance of Jeopardy. It's "trivia", but it does not thrive on facts that may be memorized by rote, such as "in what year was Napolean born?" or some such thing. Notice that the "answers" are referred to as clues; it is really a game of inference and connection-making. Here's how you play: you think about the clue, and think about the fact that nearly all of the correct responses are things you have heard of. For example, if the clue is, "This New York Yankee once said: [insert amusingly mangled malapropism here]" you can think: well, there are perhaps ten New York Yankees who might be considered household names to the average middle-aged American. But only one of them is known for malapropisms: Yogi Berra. So, it's probably him, even if you've never heard that particular quote. And the show stays honest to this unspoken conceit: they will generally not try to "trick" the player. It's not a test of whether or not you memorized quotations by baseball players, or read a book about Yogi Berra. It's a test to see if you can make that connection. You can see the contestants on the show making educated guesses like this, frequently, usually multiple times per game. Again, that's why it's also a game of wagering. You are not stating unequivocally that you know the correct response; you are essentially assessing your confidence level in your response.

TravHatesMe 6y ago

> People who have no interest in these facts often express deep ignorance of the world and people from other cultures and places. I think this is an unfair statement. Certainly there are facts that are not interesting to a large majority, doesn't mean that they are ignorant. Personally my brain does not work well with remembering specific facts, I always admire people who can recall so easily. Anyway I do not want to take away from the thread, just a bit surprised at that sweeping statement, unless I misinterpreted it.

chongli 6y ago
I qualified it with the word "often." Perhaps I should have said "sometimes." At any rate, I am only speaking from experience based on the people I've met. I have personally been ridiculed for expressing an interest in trivia facts, on more than one occasion.
- Satam 6y ago
  Either you're hanging out with complete assholes, or you're presenting yourself in a pretentious way.
GavinMcG 6y ago
I think you're mixing up interest in the facts with interest in recalling and performing them. In other words, even if you have no answer to the question, a curiousity or interest in the world makes Jeopardy appealing. People who lack that curiosity may "express deep ignorance of the world and people from other cultures and places," as the comment put it.
JohnBooty 6y ago
Personally my brain does not work well with remembering specific facts, I always admire people who can recall so easily. Well, aside from Alex's masterful job of hosting, that's the brilliance of Jeopardy. It's "trivia", but it does not thrive on facts that may be memorized by rote, such as "in what year was Napolean born?" or some such thing. Notice that the "answers" are referred to as clues; it is really a game of inference and connection-making. Here's how you play: you think about the clue, and think about the fact that nearly all of the correct responses are things you have heard of. For example, if the clue is, "This New York Yankee once said: [insert amusingly mangled malapropism here]" you can think: well, there are perhaps ten New York Yankees who might be considered household names to the average middle-aged American. But only one of them is known for malapropisms: Yogi Berra. So, it's probably him, even if you've never heard that particular quote. And the show stays honest to this unspoken conceit: they will generally not try to "trick" the player. It's not a test of whether or not you memorized quotations by baseball players, or read a book about Yogi Berra. It's a test to see if you can make that connection. You can see the contestants on the show making educated guesses like this, frequently, usually multiple times per game. Again, that's why it's also a game of wagering. You are not stating unequivocally that you know the correct response; you are essentially assessing your confidence level in your response.