Can I Use a Lifeline?

Last night, the winner of Mastermind 2005 was crowned in the U.K. Mastermind is a trivia show that gives a handful of contestants two rounds to answer questions, and the contestant with the most correct answers wins. Round one is made of questions on a topic chosen by the contestant, like Vermeer, penguins, or the Icelandic family sagas. And yes, the contestants make up the categories. Offering contestants the Icelandic family sagas as a choice would be cruel. The second round consists of general knowledge questions.

The winner of Mastermind 2005 won't mean much to Americans since most will never see the show. That's probably good, because the show would just make us feel stupid. The general knowledge questions on Mastermind make our quiz shows, like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, look like a 2nd grade pop quiz. Mastermind has questions about world geography and U.S. history that would make most halfway-intelligent Americans shrug and flip the channel to According to Jim. Of course, the rest of America was already watching According to Jim.

My point is this: Americans are stupid. Not can't tie your own shoes stupid, just really disconnected from the rest of the world in an embarrassing way. Just because everyone in the world drinks Pepsi and wears Nikes, we seem to feel like we don't have to be innovators and that the world will just naturally want whatever we have to offer. Worse, we don't think that the world has anything to offer us.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to all Americans. But it does make me sad to think that for many of my fellow citizens, buying the newest, biggest SUV takes precedence over international travel. Right now, I'm sitting in a cafe a few blocks away from a 700-year-old castle. I'm not too concerned about what Katie Holmes is wearing or whether I can afford a Hummer H3.