The Three Question Test.....

One advantage of getting older is that there is a tremendous amount of "stuff" stored in your head. Important things, history, and interesting tidbits. But also ridiculous pieces of information and useless trivia are stored as well. I mean, is it really important to know what actor played Thurston Howell III on the old TV sitcom Gilligan's Island? (You don't have to Google that. It was Jim Backus. But the point is for me, that isn't even a stretch.)

Thurston Howell III, and his wife Lovie.

One disadvantage of getting older is that there isn't much opportunity to share all that crap you know. Most people I deal with are much younger than me.  I am one of the oldest employees where I work. Some days I get a feeling of isolation. I have very little in common with most of them. Yet, I do enjoy interacting with kids when I can. I can learn from them too. (Did you know Drake is known as @champagnepapi on social media?) On rare occasions I can even act as a mentor to the kids. Or at least they're polite enough to make me feel like a mentor.

But in a work environment it's rare to have the time to have an in depth conversation with someone. So I needed a way to find out what sort of person I work with. Not an intelligence test, but a test to determine a starting point of general knowledge. So I came up with the Three Question Test.

I actually gave this some thought. I came up with one geography question, one question on government, and one question on literature. I didn't want them to be considered hard questions. But just enough to get an idea of that persons general knowledge. My daughter Kristina, the microbiologist, thinks these are way too easy. But she's way more smart and worldly than average. My young friend Aaron is a sharp guy. He argues that I ask the wrong questions, or that they're not important. (More about that later.) Anyway, here's what I came up with.

Rafting on the Colorado in the Grand Canyon makes my bucket list.

1. What river is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon? The Grand Canyon is one of the best known and beautiful places on Earth. It was formed mostly by erosion from the Colorado River over millions of years. That's the ribbon of water flowing way down at the bottom.

2. How many Senators are there in the United States Senate? This actually requires you to know that there are 50 states in the United States. Also, that each state has 2 Senators, regardless of size. So that would be 100 Senators. It's a nice round number.

I tried to find my original copy. I couldn't, but I guarantee
it's in my basement somewhere.

3. Who wrote The Catcher in the Rye? This is a classic piece of American literature. It's just a great coming-of-age story that I, and most of America read in high school. It was J.D. Salinger's master work. Salinger became famous for that book, and becoming a recluse. He fiercely protected the rights to his property. There has never been a movie made from this great book. One side note. Way, way back in the day, I had a girlfriend that loved this book. We would talk about it all the time. In fact, when we spit up, she used as one of her reasons the fact that we disagreed about one of the characters.

The answers I get from the 3 questions are interesting. Unfortunately, most of the people I ask them to are clueless. Sometimes I think it's a good way to find out who was sleeping through high school. One young lady I work with is pursuing a medical degree in college.
She's obviously pretty smart. She answered correctly, although struggling at first with the Senators question. Another young lady I work with is also in college. She's a lot of fun, and I enjoy talking with her a great deal. However, she may hold the record for the stupidest answers to the questions - ever.
What river is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon? "The Yosemite?"
Number of Senators? "I dunno. 300?"
Author of The Catcher in the Rye? "I didn't read that book. But my brother did."

Then I remembered what Aaron had said. That the answers weren't important. Maybe so. Maybe knowing facts aren't important anymore. The answers are as close as your smartphone. You can answer those questions in moments.

But it would seem to me that by that time in your life there should be some topics that interest you. Something you are developing a passion about. Something that you are becoming an expert in, and only want to look it up in order to learn more facts.

I know life is more than just a game of Jeopardy. It's not just important to know what the answers are. But maybe those answers will also make you curious as to why, or how that became the answer.