Friday, January 5, 2007

Qui veut gagner des millions ?

   Via Randi's weekly Swift commentary I came across this video:



   For those who don't understand the French, the question is, "which of these objects orbits around the Earth? A) The Moon, B) The Sun, C) Mars, D) Venus." My favourite part is the look on the wife's face when she suddenly realises, "I'm married to a moron."
   My least favourite part is the fact that 52% of the audience got it wrong as well. It's a scary world we live in when half the people in it believe the Sun goes around the Earth, a theory that has been proven wrong for going on three centuries.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paul, that was really fun to watch! This is why somehow the French are funny. They only know what they need to know to make a living and they have no time for stuff like that for they enjoy life elsewhere with their families and friends, they travel, they cook and invite friends, go on holidays... the french are quite laid back... this was very funny though and I almost thought that was made up to test the population rather than just one guy. I did not know the French had the same game as we have here with the millionaire. Thanks for the laugh. I personally think that the French should continue being ignorant and happy.
Valerie

Anonymous said...

Scary, very scary.  What was the host saying at the end?  Was he patiently explaining the the Earth orbits the sun, not the other way around?  Poor man.  He actually looked like he really wanted to say "moon", but was confused because the audience was saying "sun".
Lori
http://journals.aol.com/helmswondermom/DustyPages

Anonymous said...

That reminds me of the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where Arthur first comes across the Black Knight despatching his foe.  When successful, the knight is petitioned by Arthur to join him on his way to Camelot, but is met with only silence at first.  Arthur eventually sighs, "You make me sad."

This makes me sad.  Especially that part about the audience.  Man...

There's also that famous Mark Twain quote, "Better to keep silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Simon

Anonymous said...

Considering the CRAP that gets put on television and the number of people who are glued to the Boob Tube each day, I'm not surprised.

Anonymous said...

OMG... 56%  said the sun!!!  I think the word 'orbit' apparently confounded them... which is really scary.  I love the wife... she looked like she would have slapped him silly!

be well,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

  In response to Valerie, I think it displays a significant amount of hubris to suggest that the result was because the audience was French, as if an American audience would have fared any better. I can't think of any reason why we would expect any different result here.
  The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire franchise appears in almost every country that has a television broadcast system. It originated on The UK, and has spread across the world.
-Paul

Anonymous said...

LOL.....I would have said the dark hole. ~Raven