University Challenge ?

[J4CKO]

Just watched it, can answer the odd question but how does it work ?

How do people that young know all that stuff, some of it is pretty obscure, do they have the Daily Mirror Book of Facts ? do they revise specific areas having been prompted or are they just freakishly clever ?

I know some clever people but they dont seem to be able to name paintings or random bits of classical music with the accuracy of a 23 year old with mad hair, they dont know who some 11 century poet was by a short excerpt of their work or everything on the periodic table and how it fits together.

Am I just really thick and need to get up to speed on political uprisings, wars, monarchs, palaeontology and chemistry, am ok on 80s pop music, IT and cars but they dont come up that much !

[J4CKO]

OMITN said:

Clever people who are interested in, and retain the information to, lots of things.

The info the know is very useful for winning at University Challenge, but less handy for getting laid by a townie in exchange for a bag of chips.

It just seems kind of strange that folk that age know all those subjects to that depth, I get being interested and retaining info but its so diverse and they are so young in the main.

[J4CKO]

I get a few questions right but largely due to either guessing or knowing it not from a classical education, but as it was referenced in a 1980s computer game or something.