Why do people love to do quizzes. I think it has many appeals. Firstly there is the ability to show off to friends how knowledgeable you are. In this information driven age knowing stuff is of a premium. We are judged these days by what we know rather than what we do.
TV and media quizzes are divided into two. Firstly there is the intellectual quiz. This is best personified in the UK by Mastermind and University Challenge. They don’t carry cash rewards and are usually the domain of the public broadcaster. These are popular as people like to see experts at work and try to answer some of the questions themselves.
The other type of quiz is the commercial one. They might still have difficult questions but will often be multiple choice. This gives the weaker contestant the chance to guess. They also consist of lots of bells and whistles. Flashing lights and complex game rules make up for the trivial questions presented. They usually carry cash rewards and are are attractive to commercial outlets. They normally subject specific focussing on popular areas whilst avoiding much general knowledge.
Private quizzes are somewhere in between. They do not normally provide financial rewards are usually team based and have become very popular in pubs. When straight answers are required they can be asked by the quizmaster but if a multi choice or visual element is offered the quiz will be handed out in test and picture form.
People like to compete as individuals and also like to compete as teams. Finally quizzes improve peoples general knowledge and their thinking ability stretching the brain power and for all the above I advocate participation by one and all.
If you are looking for a totally random quiz book which is not limited to certain subjects I recommend my book GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR INNER QUIZMASTER available on Amazon. See link on this website.
Peter.