I teach "critical thinking" and "sociology" and "interpersonal communication," and I am APPALLED at the students' incredible lack of knowledge of current events, and also at the incredible rate at which they buy into conspiracy theories and crap like "mermaids" and "haunted houses." I make it my life's work to help them realize that what sneakers Kobe Bryant wore this week, or what Beyonce said last night, IS NOT ALL THAT IMPORTANT! I try to flood them with information that is really valuable. I give a little "quiz" at the beginning of each class, to give credit to those who get there on time. (It's very effective, by the way.) I include questions like "How many inches in a foot?" "How many weeks in a year?" "What state is just north of Florida?" "How many nickels in ten dollars?" "What is the freezing point of water?" Most of them don't know anything, but they seem to enjoy acquiring this random knowledge. We joke about using it "the next time you go on Jeopardy," but it brings home to them how little common, everyday information they actually know. Last week I handed out a map of the USA and had them try to fill in the states. Class average was eleven. They joked about using GPS, but a lot of them were truly glad to have the practice again.