Did You Know?

As a child, I was constantly bugging my parents with statements like: Did you know that Henry VIII had 6 wives? Did you know that Americans eat 75 acres of pizza a day? Did you know that the Greek national anthem contains 158 verses? Fortunately my parents were blessed with an extra helping of patience and tolerated my endless chattering.

I read two books this week that satisfied my urge for trivia. The first, while not necessarily dealing with trivia, does provide the reader with an interesting supply of facts: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt (the economist) and Stephen J. Dubner (the journalist). The second is totally trivial: Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs written by none other than Jeopardy's! greatest champion (and my hero) Ken Jennings.

Freakonomics is a fascinating book that explores the unexpected connections in this world. By sifting through mountains of data and correlating the results, Levitt has come up with some pretty interesting theories about crime, cheating, success in life, and use of information. These theories are presented in an eminently readable fashion in this book - Levitt and Dubner make the obscure clear. If I was an economics student at the University of Chicago (where Levitt teaches) I would definitely want to take one of his classes.

Usually when one thinks of economics, one thinks of charts, graphs, formulas, supply and demand, guns and butter (the usual two examples presented in my first year economics classes). This is not that kind of economics. Sure, there is analysis of data, but in this book we've moved beyond the traditional theories of economics to apply its principles to other sets of data.

Let me give you an example about sumo wrestlers. Yes, sumo wrestlers. Sumo is an ancient and honourable sport, but lately it has been dogged by allegations of cheating. Apparently sumo wrestlers fight in several matches per year, made up of 15 fights each. In order to move up in the rankings, a wrestler must win at least 8 fights. Levitt and Dubner analyzed the data of what happens when, in the 15th match, a sumo wrestler with a 7-7 record fights a wrestler with an 8-6 record. The 8-6 wrestler should win slightly more than half the time. Instead, the 7-7 wrestler wins nearly 80% of the time! Are the wrestlers throwing fights? The data suggests so. [See pgs. 30-45]

Levitt and Dubner also talk about why drug dealers still live with their moms, the surprising reason for the decline in crime, and why a name is more than just a name. This book was fascinating. I was intrigued and interested by the hidden connections between different variables that one would never suspect. And lest you think the authors are just alleging that X causes Y, they do discuss the difference between correlation and causation and exactly how the data is manipulated. Just because two variables change, does not mean that change is caused by one variable. There could be an external force at work.

This book was an excellent and informative read - along with being thoroughly entertaining. Anyone who has ever asked why will want to read this book. And anyone who has every said "Did you know...." now has a new army of facts in his or her arsenal!

Speaking of facts....Brainiac was FULL of trivia. Every chapter had its fair share of trivia, AND the reader got to play along. Throughout the book Jennings asked trivia questions marked by superscript numbers. The answers are given at the end of each chapter.

This book includes trivia, but it is really about trivia. For those of you who aren't obsessive Jeopardy! watchers (yes, I do shout answers at the screen!), you probably won't know who Ken Jennings is. Ken Jennings is the mild-mannered, computer programmer, Mormon who (as of the date of writing) has the longest winning streak in Jeopardy! history - 74 games. He finally lost in his 75th game, losing to Nancy Zerg (potential Trivial Pursuit answer!) and her correct answer of H&R Block. Jenning's answer: Fed-Ex. (It was a question about seasonal employment) I still remember watching that game and the collective gasp from the audience when Jenning's answer was revealed and we all did the math and found our champion was dethroned.

Brainiac is about Jenning's journey from ordinary citizen to Jeopardy! champion. It's also about the history of trivia and its place in American life. The two stories intertwine well, and Jennings is a terrific author: humble, self-deprecating, humourous, and a good storyteller. As a Jeopardy! nut, I enjoyed the inside look at all the behind-the-scenes action. Did you know that all the episodes for a week are taped in one day? The contestants have to bring a change of clothes to perpetuate the fiction that the game they are playing is the next day. Jennings chronicles his test to get on the show, "training" before his first game, his first game - and first (close) win. He had to live a strange double life before the episodes aired because he couldn't tell anyone about his win. He details his strange, sudden fame, and ultimate loss. I love the anecdote on pages 145-146 where Jennings details his thought process to get to the answer of a question - from ringing in before he consciously knew the answer, to suggesting and discarding multiple possibilities, to finally pulling out the answer from his subconscious; all in a matter of seconds.

Throughout, Jennings discusses the American obsession with trivia and its place in our lives. He talks about the college quiz bowl circuit which I'd never heard of and was really interesting. I don't think we have the same here in Canada, but there was a show on TV here that sounds like it would be similar. In quiz bowl, questions are read out to two teams. The team has to buzz in and answer before the other team does. The earlier into the question your team answers correctly, the more points your team gets. This can either lead to some staggering leaps of intuition (getting the right answer after one word of the question was read) or hilariously incorrect answers (saying "crack cocaine" when the answer was "pecan pie", for example). [See pg. 127] Jennings describes a match at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments with all the excitement and drive of sportswriting and you are immediately drawn into the match.

Jennings also covers the invention of Trivial Pursuit; types of trivia questions; bar trivia; the rigged trivia game shows of the 60's; question writers for trivia shows; the town of Stevens Point, Wisconsin and its April 54 hour trivia event; and trivia book writers. Did you know that trivia book/encyclopedia/dictionary writers would often put false entries in their works to check for plagiarizing? If the false entry began to appear in other works, the writer would know that the trivia book/encyclopedia/dictionary had been plagiarized. Fascinating!

Speaking of false entries, I hope the mistake on page 78 is such an example of a false entry: Jane Seymour was the mother of King Edward VI, not King Edward IV. Easy mistake to make with Roman numerals. I think I may be writing the publisher to point that one out - in trivia, after all, it's important that the fact be right!

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in trivia, Jennings, Jeopardy!, or how my brain works. I found it incredibly interesting and fascinating. But, my friends and family, be warmed. Now I am armed with an entire new collection of random facts to pull out and bore you with at parties. Hey, did you know that Merv Griffin composed the theme song for Jeopardy!? [pg.102]