[quote name=\'gameshowsteve\' date=\'Feb 27 2004, 04:49 PM\'] There are people out there (at least two in my town of 43,000) for whom game show winnings are a primary source of income. Surely, the ability to correctly answer game show questions is of prime importance for some completely-sane individuals, isn't it? [/quote]
I don't think our resident curmudgeon was dispensing actual mental health advice (I don't believe he has a license), so let's tread carefully if we're actually disecting "sane" versus "not sane" for this subject. Furthermore, I'm sure that a certain amount of knowledge I've retained over the years is stuff that I've picked up watching game shows, so I certainly see the truth at the core of Steve's and Alex's point.
Still, as with a lot of stuff here, it's a question of scale. If you're counting on game shows winnings as a "primary source of income", I think even the Leszek Pawlowiczes and Kevin Olmsteads of the world -- people who really have won a life-changing amount of money -- will tell you that's probably not such a "sane" idea. And even if you were, there are better and more efficient ways of gaining information that will serve you well on a game show than by watching other game shows.
I watch Jeopardy every night, and I probably have a more vested interest in doing so that the average person. Still, I would never say that it's "important" to watch Jeopardy. "Useful" maybe, but even then only in the most unusual of circumstances.