Stupid not to know what you don’t know.
Everybody is ignorant in some field of knowledge. Not knowing the answer to a question others might consider easy, is neither a crime nor something to be embarrassed about.
However, it really bugs me when a person does not know when they are wrong about a factual matter. That is really stupid and the person should be embarrassed.
Recently I noticed and corrected an erroneous post about installing hard drives. This is not the first time I have seen erroneous posts to forums at this and other sites, although it is not a common occurrence.
My girl friend enjoys Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and I sometimes watch it with her. The audience lifeline often astonishes me. I have seen responses like 35%, 30%, 25%, and 10%. At least 65% of these people must be wrong. I have seen times when the plurality answer was wrong. When somebody could win or lose a huge amount of money, it is outrageous to give an answer if you are not certain.
I often see questions where 80% to over 90% of the audience is correct. This indicates that there is no large group which deliberately gives wrong answers because they are envious of somebody who might win big.
When over half the audience is wrong, it is because the no good, rotten a**oles do not know they are wrong, or worse they are willing to hurt the contestants’s chances by guessing.
I admit to having some (but very damn few) pieces of erroneous data tucked away in my memory.
However, an audience made up of people like me might have 25% to 75% abstaining and probably less than 1% giving wrong answers. Almost every question would have over a 95% vote for the right answer. The audience should be the best lifeline, and it is often the worst.
