How to Improve your General Knowledge, Trivia and Overall Cleverness while having Fun
Posted: Sunday, January 10, 2010
by Connor Davidson
Would you like to be Mr Know it all? Be able to list facts off the top of your head without any difficulty? Or even complete a game of Trivial Pursuit in under an hour? If you do, this article is for you.
Thus, I've compiled a list of things that you can do to expand your knowledge. You can choose to do all of these to get the maximum results or just choose a few that suit you. It's your choice.
Reading is one of the best ways to expand your knowledge. I'd say that books are probably the best source of knowledge. You should read a large number of non-fiction books on a variety of subjects. You should also read classics as questions on literature are very common and if you've read the book they tend to be easy.
We'll since your already on SearchWarp; you may as well flick through the writings here and learn from the writers.
Write
Writing for me has been a great way to expand my knowledge. Before I even start to write an article I go out and do some research, which leads me back to my point about reading.
The other advantage with writing is that it allows you to consolidate your knowledge. If you know a lot about a subject and you write about it your putting all your knowledge in one place which you can refer back to.
Q and A Sites
There are many good Q and A sites such as : Yahoo Answers, Wiki Answers, The Answer Bank and, of course, SearchWarp's very own Q and A.
These sites give you specific things that you can go and find out about. By answering questions that you already know the answers to you are revising. The more you revise what you know the less likely you are to forget things.
Documentaries
TV is not all bad. Yes, we have reality TV dumbing it down, but at least the documentary still exists. These programs are fantastically clever and are often wonderfully made and highly entertaining - you could watch a David Attenborough with the sound off.
Quiz Shows
What better way to learn answers to quizzes than to watch them? I like to watch quiz shows in fast forward to cut out all the chatting and get straight to the questions.
Play Quiz Games
Most of the quiz shows I discussed earlier, are available in game format - board or electronic. Select the ones you like and have a go at the games. The best website I found is called FunTrivia.
Random Wikis
Open up Wikipedia and go to any old page. Then click on the in text links to find out about a wide range of topics. In half an hour I went from Abraham Lincoln to tribal art!
Talking Non-Stop
One of the best ways to gain knowledge is to talk to knowledgeable people. The more you talk the better.
Keeping up to date with News
Todays news is tomorrows history. If you know what all the major events of 2009 are, and can talk about them in detail, then ten years down the line you'll be able to answer questions on them.
The best way to keep up with news is to read a quality newspaper - tabloids lack depth and reliability. Otherwise, you can watch the news on TV or listen to the radio.
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If you follow all these steps you'll soar at quizzes and be generally cleverer. It's pretty simple to do and, I'd say, enjoyable.
Connor Davidson is a UK based writer. He writes on wide variety of topics with his main interest being science, maths and engineering.
Feel free to reprint these articles on your website by using the reprint button. If you have any questions or comments please post them below - I read all comments.
You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter or Google+
Feel free to reprint these articles on your website by using the reprint button. If you have any questions or comments please post them below - I read all comments.
You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter or Google+
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Great article Connor. My favorites are Wikipedia, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Public Radio stations, Documentaries as well as our SW Q&A. Thanks for sharing these very useful tips. Well-written piece. ~Nenita~Thanks for the comment.
Good article, and some great tips!Wikipedia is a great way to broaden your knowledge, and because of its potential unreliability due to mischievous edits, it's a great starting point from which to go and check other sources and verify information for yourself.Thanks for the comment.
Thank you for a very informative article. Linda DThanks for the comment.
Good article with some solid information. When I was a kid, the neighbors thought my family was strange...we'd all be sitting around the tables at lunch time...reading encylopeadias. We thought that was normal...They were just jealous of how cools you all were.Thanks for the comment.LOL...naw we were nerds.
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