What are the easiest categories to learn?

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jgessie
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What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by jgessie »

As a relatively new player, I am curious to know which categories are the easiest to become good at/

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LHDoroschuk
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by LHDoroschuk »

I was a history player in high school but since I've been in college I've been trying to generalize my knowledge, so I think I can give a pretty solid rundown.

In my opinion, Literature is the easiest to become OK at quickly because you can maximize your title/author knowledge and then start building up deeper plot knowledge. History and science are different in that you won't see super fast improvement, but rather it'll be more of a long-haul effort. In literature you'll see a lot of growth early rather than later. Minor wise, anything with titles works the same way as literature, where you can get really good on lower level title clues but then have to do a lot of work with deeper information (looking at paintings, reading about philosophy, etc.). Mythology and religion aren't terribly difficult to get a good grasp with early on because of the fact that they are mainly stories you can internalize rather than just facts to memorize.

Obviously, you won't get great at this game without some long hours of study and playtime. I am in no way a master of this game, but that's my two-cents on how easy certain categories are to start. I could go more in depth if you want but that's the basics.

Now, in the case of actually tackling this game, I would suggest finding something you like and working at it. Finding a niche that you can be deadly at is an incredibly valuable thing in this game. Don't worry about covering everything (no one can do everything all by themselves), just find something you like and go hard at it. With me, that was history and RMP. With you, it can be anything.
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RexSueciae
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by RexSueciae »

Learning anything is a simple matter of picking up a book / looking at a website and absorbing the information. That being said, the categories that jump out at me as being "easiest" would probably be literature (poems or short stories can be learned quickly, and most of the notable ones are in the public domain), history (the subject that sources such as Wikipedia actually cover with some degree of depth and reliability), visual art (look at paintings and remember what they look like), geography (look at a map or read a travel guide or if you're really shameless hit up Wikipedia again) and current events (keep an eye on the news). The latter two are relatively minor categories compared to the others.

Religion and mythology are similar to literature in that you just need to read a bunch of stories (although religion questions may also cover practices and holidays, which requires a bit more studying). Philosophy and social sciences are niche subjects that also require reading but is generally less interesting to learn than the other stuff. I have never been good at music or science because I never particularly cared for either of them.

Hope that helps. Welcome to the forums. :grin:
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Maury Island incident
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by Maury Island incident »

Literature is not the easiest subject to become good at quickly. It is pretty easy to get OK at with title to author recognition, but there is a big difference between capable and good. The RMPSS subjects (religion, mythology, philosophy, and social science) subjects all have reasonably small canons and are fairly easy to learn. One of my teammates also learned fine arts really quickly last year. It really depends on what you're interested in and what you want to study. If you put time into any category, you can learn it.
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by Skepticism and Animal Feed »

Short answer: not science

Long answer: This depends on your particular skills and interests. It's easier to learn things that you are genuinely interested in, you'll do it for fun and not just for quizbowl, you'll dig deeper into the subject matter, etc.
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by Amizda Calyx »

Space geography.
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Bosa of York
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by Bosa of York »

The entirely useless answer is that the easiest category is the one in which you're the most interested.
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samus149
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by samus149 »

Skepticism and Animal Feed wrote:Short answer: not science
Blasphemy.
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Theodore
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Re: What are the easiest categories to learn?

Post by Theodore »

Corner Grocery Store wrote:
Skepticism and Animal Feed wrote:Short answer: not science
Blasphemy.
Science requires the most prerequisite knowledge. I can easily understand ACF nationals literature because any middle school student can understand the plot of a novel. In contrast, I barely understand ACF nationals chemistry because I actually require the prior background and foundation of high school and university chemistry for a decent understanding.

However, this effect is greatly diminished when one is playing solely on high school questions, so I definitely strongly agree with Eric:
Jonathan Franzen wrote:The entirely useless answer is that the easiest category is the one in which you're the most interested.
The main focus for new players is developing a strong love for the game. If you don't find something useful or interesting, you're not going to be motivated to learn it.
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