The Knowledge Underground (Scientia super Sapientia)

[jonsonite]

I miss knowledge bowl. I miss college bowl too. It saddens me that now that I'm out of school the only academic competition I can expect is the mishmash they dish out at pubs.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and there's no reason we can't have knowledge bowl for grownups. Therefore I'm forming a league of my own. I've talked this idea

Comments

[bayashi314]

I find myself wondering why I haven't attempted to regress to a high school maturity level and rejoined the knowledge bowl again.

Perhaps I never achieved said level of maturity or some such witty self-deprecating comment.

I'm game.

Possible interesting variations - play it like rotating DM from D&D - team A can come up with a set of questions for Week A. They host the event and ask the

[bayashi314]

Hrm. I hit tab and enter.

Again from the top:

I find myself wondering why I haven't attempted to regress to a high school maturity level and rejoined the knowledge bowl again.

Perhaps I never achieved said level of maturity or some such witty self-deprecating comment.

I'm game.

Possible interesting variations - play it like rotating DM from D&D - team A can come up with a set of questions for Week A. They host the event and ask the questions and such. For Week B, team B creates questions and so on and so forth.

Also, I kind of like the idea of questions with variable answers. Something like "how many moons are in our solar system [according to some reasonably authoritative source]?" since this answer changes every few months, it requires continued perseverance in a field of knowledge. Something *like* that. That is only an example.

Super interested I am.

B

[jonsonite]

Your comment cut off mid-sentence.

One thing I'm trying to avoid is the mixed bag of question quality/diversity that you sometimes get at pub trivia nights. I figure I ought to be able to get hold of enough actual knowledge bowl/college bowl questions to keep the standard high. There's nothing worse than being really good at science questions only to find that the MC that night just cares about pop-culture and history.

[jonsonite]

Oh, and then you fixed it while I was commenting.

What are you knowledge strong suits?

[jonsonite]

Oh, and this will be totally open to current students as well. Unlike knowledge bowl and college bowl, I only discriminate on the basis of awesome, not educational status.

[mya_in_ab]

Huh...so by "knowledge" you don't mean random trivia questions?

[jonsonite]

depends what you mean by "random trivia questions". As I recall knowledge bowl leaned more towards information that seems worth knowing.

[triath]

I wish you lived closer.

Two things: I have a set of questions about urban legends that you can photocopy the next time you're down here.

I've been meaning to volunteer for high school knowledge bowl just to be around it. Maybe next Fall.

[jonsonite]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing! I live a block away from Bishop Blanchet High School, but my schedule is so hectic--I'm not sure I could be the stable presence they need. Also, they may not have a knowledge bowl team.

I'm trying to avoid the entire "set of questions" issue--I don't want to have a round about urban legends, I want a good mixture of questions all the time. Do you think high schools might let me borrow packets?

[triath]

They pay serious money for them. It depends on how much of an "in" you have with the high schools.

Check the Internet. I know that college bowl (Quiz bowl) has a ton of questions on the internet. But they're in the lame format, if you ask me. :]

[jonsonite]

Oh, that internet comment below was to you. I found the Stanford Quiz Bowl Archive. There's so much there!

[rdbelcher]

Aw, but stupid trivia is where I excel. Still, I'd be glad to participate, assuming my future, unknown schedule works with such a thing.

Love the motto, and "The Knowledge Underground" simply screams Seattle. It makes me dream of a future where this is taken nationally with each city having its own league name.

[jonsonite]

Sweet!

Yeah, there's usually a certain amount of stupid trivia worked in...

[rdbelcher]

But you spoke so disdainfully of pop culture. I'd never cop to knowing anything about "popular" culture, but I can talk old movies till I'm blue in the face.

[jonsonite]

I don't mind a certain amount of culture questions--they just tend to eat the whole event if they aren't carefully regulated.