Jeopardy is the most popular game show in history for three simple reasons:
- We are amazed by people who know all the right answers
- We want to believe that we know all the right answers too
- Alex Trebek’s moustache
Today we are going to focus on the first two only. Sorry.
Knowing all the right answers matters. Not just in Jeopardy, but in life.
At least that’s what we were taught in school.
If you believe that schools are a microcosm of society, then knowing all the right answers is important in life. It separates the haves from the have-nots.
The people who know more have more opportunities. Period. Full stop. Plie.
[Editors Note: the plie is optional] In most schools, our grades – and, hence, our future academic opportunities – are based on doing well on tests where the sole purpose is to memorize and regurgitate all the right answers to miscellaneous questions.
The more schooling you have, the more we assume you know the right answers and the more we are willing to trust you and pay you.
That’s why we trust the answers of lawyers and doctors, even when our questions fall outside of their specialty.
Too bad always being right is not always right.