How democracy works...or not...the pub quiz angle...

Do you go in for pub quizzes? We do, quite a bit as it happens. I'm not sure it's because we're quiz fanatics or whether it's just a good excuse to go to the pub, as if one were needed. But the dynamics of your average pub quiz team are often fascinating and can teach us a lot about the democratic process and especially the failings thereof.

 

The weaknesses of our old friend democracy have been something of a theme on this blog. We've seen how the poor souls in Greece, who gave us the word democracy for goodness' sake, have been sold up the river as a consequence, not to mention the general economic mess that much of the so-called developed world continues to thrash around in. But nothing demonstrates so clearly how democracy can lead to sub-optimal outcomes like a pub quiz team.

 

"Come on - you're the bloody geography teacher - what's the capital of Bhutan?"

Anyone who's been in a pub quiz team knows how it works. You get half a dozen or so "friends" together, some of whom are dead keen and some of whom have been dragged along under protest by their other halves. The problem is that some of the dead keen ones may also be dead thick and some of the reluctants may know a lot of stuff but are probably staring into space or acting the shrinking violet and not speaking up. So you get situations where one of the keanos loudly asserts "I'm 100% sure Everton won the cup in 1961...I remember my old dad telling me and he was there" whereas a shrinking violet is pretty sure the answer's Tottenham but is unwilling to contradict Mr 100% Certain. All the while the bloke with the pen in his hand is wavering, pen poised; he knows nothing about football but experience tells him that when Mr 100% Certain is in uber assertive mode, he's very often wrong. Finally, with the question master now spouting forth with the next question, Mrs S. Violet mutters almost inaudibly into her pinot grigio something about thinking it might be Tottenham but it's too late - the man-with-the-pen has to write something and with Mr Certain now almost purple with rage that his answer's still not been taken as gospel, he scribbles down Everton. The correct answer, inevitably, is Tottenham. The team lose by one point and several of them never speak again.

 

Our recent equivalent of this scenario concerned the number of motorways in the UK. Someone (OK, it was me) surmised that there's bound to be more than you think...ooh, say around 50? Everybody else thought it was a lot less. A minute or two of canvassing ensued with yours truly on the hustings, trying to convince the team of the infallibility of my logic while some team members (teachers of course) tried to do a list. In the end we went for the usual British compromise and stuck down a figure of about 35. Now this was actually quite an important question as there was a round of drinks on it. In due course, with the tension rising to fever pitch the question master gave us the answer: 50. Not about 50 but exactly 50. One round of drinks evaporated.

 

Luckily, being mature adults, this failure did not result in blood on the carpet, noisy exits with the words "you never listen to me you bastard!" hanging in the air or the end of friendships; only a deeper hole in someone's wallet (probably mine, just to rub it in.)

 

So what does it tell us about democracy? That the majority view is often the wrong one. It also tells us that squeaky wheels get the most oil, i.e. those who make the most noise get the most attention. Neither of these things is ideal and leads to career politicians often cocking things up, where our beloved but elusive benign dictator might make a much better job of it. Whatever, one can conclude that just because a decision's been reached democratically, this does not necessarily make it better than one which hasn't.

 

Anyway, there's a music quiz at our local tonight so let me leave you with a little musical teaser. This one I think is obscure enough that even Google won't help you (and I knew you were going to cheat). The teaser is: Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", aside from being a rip off from some old bluesman, is very heavily based on a version (recorded in about 1965) of the old blues song in question by which British recording artist?

 

Get those answers flooding in!