The Afterglow of a Bonafide Know-It-All

We live in a world with a vast amount of knowledge, so for someone to claim to be a “know-it-all” is fairly preposterous.

Ken Jennings, however, would have a legitimate shot at this admittedly absurd title. Jennings is a Jeopardy legend, winning 74 games in a row between June and November 2004, raking in more than $3 million in prize money.  

Ken Jennings annihilating the competition

Despite this unprecedented feat, Jennings would dismiss the “know-it-all” label on two grounds: 

1. It’s impossible to “know all” given the staggering growth of the amount of information in today’s world – doubling in quantity every 18 months or so. 
2. It’s a worthless title because in this age of mobile phones, search engines and ubiquitous internet, knowing is less important since we can just look it up. 

The half-life of uranium? The MVP of the 1953 baseball World Series? The meaning of the Latin term “habeas corpus”? The origin of the term chickpea? It’s all there on your trusty phone.

I listened to Jennings deliver a spirited, funny and insightful keynote address this week in Austin to kick-off mLearnCon, a conference to explore the massive growth and future potential of mobile learning. During his remarks, which were highlighted by photos of his Jeopardy glory days, Jennings essentially declared that the “I Know” world is dead. For him personally, as a man heralded as arguably the best game show contestant in history, this has been a somewhat humbling reality.

“I was no longer a special little snowflake,” he told the audience of more than 1,000 learning and technology professionals assembled for the 2-½ day gathering.

Jennings’ status as special certainly started early and was by no means accidental. At the age of 10, after many months of savings, he purchased a world atlas and slept with it every night. As a kid living in South Korea, he religiously watched Jeopardy – aided greatly by the fact that it was a feature program on the one English-speaking TV channel available. In the 1980s, young Ken was wildly obsessed with the game Trivial Pursuit.

He was a self-confessed knowledge junkie. Despite his success and clear prowess, Jennings knows that computers are better at remembering information than humans. They are built to remember and do so quickly, accurately and consistently (for the most part).

Two brains and an IBM computer

He recounted his 2011 return to Jeopardy to face a menacing IBM computer named Watson. The high-powered string of servers was specifically designed to beat the pants off of mere mortal Jennings. And it did.

Computers can just do some things better than humans, and Jennings used this moment to speculate that computers will continue to render obsolete other knowledge-based jobs in our economy.  Computer-filled prescriptions, he pondered, could eliminate or lessen the need for pharmacists. Computers could do the research paralegals do, he offered. What about long-range truck drivers replaced with driverless rigs controlled by technology like Google maps?

Not only is it possible technologically, but the finances look attractive considering computers don’t get tired, need vacations or require health care benefits. They also don’t need those pesky pensions that seem to be crippling just about every state and municipality these days.

But Jennings stopped short of painting a picture of a gloomy, computer-dominated world. He suggested that in this world of abundant, accessible, ever-growing knowledge, our challenge as humans is determining what to do with it. Computers may recall, but they are much less adept at creating, making connections and being creative.

He recalled that in his epic computer smack down, Watson incorrectly answered “What is Toronto?” when Jeopardy host Alex Trebek stated, “Its largest airport is named for a World War II hero; its second largest for a World War II battle.” Ken and his other human opponent, Brad Rutter, correctly answered “Chicago”. They both could make the connection. The computer, despite its memory, circuitry and speed, could not.

Data input does not compute...

We humans have an unparalleled ability to tie information together and draw conclusions. We know, for example, that the question to answer, “Drop 1 letter from the type of creature sonic is in video games and you get this, one who monopolizes the aisle seat” is “edge-hog.”  We are creative. We can continue to put together knowledge in service of creative thinking and innovation.

Jennings also noted that we have the advantage of observation and timing. While computers are marvelous, we humans can use our brains and knowledge in ways that are impossible to predict and at moments that might prove incredibly timely.

He recalled the story of 10-year-old Tilly Smith from the UK. In December 2004, she was on the beach in Thailand with her mother, father and sister. While staring at the ocean, Tilly noticed it was behaving strangely – receding and also frothing near the shore. 

This triggered a geography lesson she’d just had on tsunamis two weeks earlier. Convinced that a tsunami was coming, a vocal Tilly proceeded to throw such a fuss, she convinced her parents and the lifeguards to clear the beach, saving nearly 100 lives before the massive tsunami soon hit.  

In his post-Jeopardy glow, Jennings has moved on to become a best-selling author, including a series of children’s books called, “Junior Genius Guides” on a range of topics. He is still an admitted knowledge junkie and is unapologetic for calling for us to adopt continual learning as a way of moving through the world.

In concluding his talk, Jennings quoted little known 18^th-Century theologian and thinker Dr. Samuel Parr as saying, “It’s always better to know a thing than not to know it.”

He believes in unbridled curiosity because he knows despite what you know, there is always more to discover.  Specifically what we discover and what amazing connections we will make is entirely up to each of us.

Yours truly in an awkward face-off with Ken