Is it just me, or do there seem to be more and more issues you have to deal with daily in your life that are so complicated that you can’t wrap your arms around them? Your only option seems to be to give up, feign indifference or act like you know something that you don’t.
This applies to many things. For example, when you look at the change in your medical plan on an annual basis, who the heck can figure out which of the three options clearly makes the most sense? Not me. Sure, you can take an educated guess. You have a slight inclination that one choice is better than the other, but do you write down the 23 coverages involved in each and what causes the clauses to kick in and measure each against the other? Of course not.
You muddle through, not really understanding. You have a gut feel for it, but you don’t know or understand the full details. You easily could get hosed when you have to go in for a procedure and find out you must pay $4,563 out of your pocket before the surgeon will touch you with his implements.
These complications hammer us in multiple parts of modern life. From signing papers for a mortgage to figuring out how to set up a new computer, we are often expected to master information and technology that we have no background in.
Most recently, my wife and I have watched “Jeopardy” on TV. Listening to the questions is what got me started on the idea for this column.
Five or ten years ago, I would have said I could have done much better on “Jeopardy” than I believe I could today if I was a contestant? Why is that? As my wife and I discussed, it’s because the questions have gotten so complicated and esoteric that half the time I don’t even know what the categories mean, much less how to pose the questions to the answers that pop up under each selection.
The other night as we watched, I probably was able to definitively come up with the questions on five or six of the choices. Some of that is due to the specific categories being arguably ones that I know nothing about.
But it was also frequently that they dug so deeply into a historical, scientific or artistic endeavor that I couldn’t even begin to process the material. Am I that stupid? Have I slowed down that much? Or is everything so much more complicated that only people who study up on all the nuances of the world can do well on these types of shows?
Part of the reason they have to make the shows harder is because we have so much more information and ability to dig into it these days. Google, the smart phone and the internet drive this. Because of access, the quiz show makers have to come up with tougher and tougher standards.
I also think that there’s an element of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) in the people who do well on these shows. Their personalities are driven by a razored personality that digs and delivers data in seconds. They read, comprehend and regurgitate rapidly. And they win at “Jeopardy.”
I’m not that guy. I think I’m reasonably intelligent and know some weird stuff that others don’t. Years ago, I might have been able to win a “Jeopardy” session. That ain’t happenin’ today. But maybe I can surprise with a response culled by my brain from years ago and basic knowledge from my old school days. It still feels good when you get it right and no one on the show had the answer. Face.
This applies to many things. For example, when you look at the change in your medical plan on an annual basis, who the heck can figure out which of the three options clearly makes the most sense? Not me. Sure, you can take an educated guess. You have a slight inclination that one choice is better than the other, but do you write down the 23 coverages involved in each and what causes the clauses to kick in and measure each against the other? Of course not.
You muddle through, not really understanding. You have a gut feel for it, but you don’t know or understand the full details. You easily could get hosed when you have to go in for a procedure and find out you must pay $4,563 out of your pocket before the surgeon will touch you with his implements.
These complications hammer us in multiple parts of modern life. From signing papers for a mortgage to figuring out how to set up a new computer, we are often expected to master information and technology that we have no background in.
Most recently, my wife and I have watched “Jeopardy” on TV. Listening to the questions is what got me started on the idea for this column.
Five or ten years ago, I would have said I could have done much better on “Jeopardy” than I believe I could today if I was a contestant? Why is that? As my wife and I discussed, it’s because the questions have gotten so complicated and esoteric that half the time I don’t even know what the categories mean, much less how to pose the questions to the answers that pop up under each selection.
The other night as we watched, I probably was able to definitively come up with the questions on five or six of the choices. Some of that is due to the specific categories being arguably ones that I know nothing about.
But it was also frequently that they dug so deeply into a historical, scientific or artistic endeavor that I couldn’t even begin to process the material. Am I that stupid? Have I slowed down that much? Or is everything so much more complicated that only people who study up on all the nuances of the world can do well on these types of shows?
Part of the reason they have to make the shows harder is because we have so much more information and ability to dig into it these days. Google, the smart phone and the internet drive this. Because of access, the quiz show makers have to come up with tougher and tougher standards.
I also think that there’s an element of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) in the people who do well on these shows. Their personalities are driven by a razored personality that digs and delivers data in seconds. They read, comprehend and regurgitate rapidly. And they win at “Jeopardy.”
I’m not that guy. I think I’m reasonably intelligent and know some weird stuff that others don’t. Years ago, I might have been able to win a “Jeopardy” session. That ain’t happenin’ today. But maybe I can surprise with a response culled by my brain from years ago and basic knowledge from my old school days. It still feels good when you get it right and no one on the show had the answer. Face.
