What makes a trivia question truly great? It’s more than just being clearly written and accurate; it needs to resonate, to be “gettable” for a reasonable number of people, while still offering a satisfying challenge. And crucially, the best trivia questions are definitively answerable, leaving no room for ambiguity or multiple interpretations. But according to Shayne Bushfield, the founder and sole operator of LearnedLeague, a thriving online trivia community established in 1997, a truly excellent trivia question should also point to something inherently worthwhile knowing, something of genuine importance. “Trivia is really a misnomer,” Bushfield explained. “Because trivia technically refers to things that are trivial, or not worth knowing, and for us, it’s quite the opposite.”
The very notion that trivia answers hold intrinsic value has been a subject of debate since the popularization of trivia itself. The concept of quizzing each other on diverse subjects as a form of entertainment is a relatively modern phenomenon, emerging as a fad around 1927 with the publication of “Ask Me Another! The Question Book.” As noted by “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings in his book “Brainiac,” this book was the brainchild of “two out-of-work Amherst alumni” in New York City who were surprised to find their prestigious degrees weren’t an automatic ticket to employment. Their book became a sensation, paving the way for newspaper quiz columns, following the crossword puzzle craze of the early 1920s. Quiz shows soon followed on radio and television a decade later. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1960s that the term “trivia” truly stuck, thanks to a pair of Columbia University undergraduates who popularized their version of the game. They first shared it in the school’s Daily Spectator and later in their successful quiz book. This iteration of trivia embraced the seemingly inconsequential – the Lone Ranger’s nephew’s name, the snake from “We’re No Angels.” Its appeal, according to one of the Columbia creators, was strongest among “young adults who on one hand realize they have misspent their youth and yet, on the other hand, do not want to let go of it.” The joy of this trivia was in the satisfying “aha!” moment of recalling seemingly useless information, “an effect similar to the one that might be induced by a pacifier.”
The satisfaction of knowing things is likely timeless, but the specific appeal of trivia as we know it today hinges on two relatively recent societal shifts: the constant flow of new information via mass media and the rise of mass education, creating a populace that learns a lot of things they might not strictly need to know. (College enrollment began its steady climb in the 1920s, exploding after World War II.) While some question whether the internet age, with its instant access to information through Google and Siri, will diminish trivia’s appeal, the very factors that fueled its rise – information overload and widespread education – have only intensified. If anything, trivia seems more popular than ever. In a world of effortless online answers, there’s a unique gratification in retrieving a near-forgotten fact from your own memory. This is the space where LearnedLeague thrives, offering a platform for this rewarding mental exercise.
The LearnedLeague Approach to Trivia
Shayne Bushfield, the architect of LearnedLeague, crafts and delivers nearly 650 trivia questions annually to its dedicated players. These questions are distributed across four 25-day seasons. Beyond accuracy and importance, Bushfield believes the final crucial element of an outstanding trivia question is its layered approach, offering multiple pathways to the answer. These questions encourage a process of mental “noodling,” leading to a delightful “eureka!” moment when the solution clicks. Consider this example from LearnedLeague: “A 2013 book by design expert Jude Stewart is subtitled An Exceedingly Surprising Book About Color. What is this book’s main title, which is the name of a made-up person also associated tangentially with the pattern that appears on the LGBT pride flag? Note, full name with middle initial required.”
Bushfield explains that with questions like this, he aims to create a sense of encouragement, as if he’s personally guiding you, saying, “You can figure this out, you know this, don’t get discouraged!” He carefully calibrates the difficulty of his questions to ensure the LearnedLeague community’s average score hovers just below fifty percent. This balance, he believes, ensures that “really good players are still challenged occasionally, and the very bottom players still get some right.” This careful balance is a key part of what makes LearnedLeague so engaging for a wide range of trivia enthusiasts.
More Than Just a Game: Community and Connection
In our daily lives, we are bombarded with information, much of which quickly fades from memory. LearnedLeague, at its core, offers small victories, moments of mastery in the form of a game, often with minimal or no individual stakes (there are no cash prizes). Bushfield envisions trivia, particularly within LearnedLeague, as a generous pursuit. It celebrates curiosity and reminds us of the vastness of the world beyond our immediate concerns. A seemingly insignificant detail in a question might hold immense importance for others, highlighting the interconnectedness of knowledge and perspectives.
LearnedLeague fosters a strong sense of community. In a Zoom call, Bushfield showed a thick stack of papers containing two seasons’ worth of drafted questions from his Seattle office, where he lives with his family and bulldog puppy. His question-creation process involves browsing reference books, jotting down question ideas sparked by interesting facts, and tucking these drafts back into the books. This analog approach results in stacks of books overflowing with potential trivia. He demonstrated, pulling out notes that would eventually become a question about Mornay sauce, a culinary detail that might seem obscure but becomes a point of engaging inquiry within LearnedLeague.
From Trivial Pursuit to LearnedLeague: A Personal Journey
Bushfield’s passion for trivia began in his childhood in a small town near Indianapolis. Trivial Pursuit’s release in 1981 ignited his interest at age nine. As an only child, he played the game solo, meticulously writing answers, checking his accuracy, and tracking his progress across categories. Maps adorned his bedroom walls as he memorized states and capitals. He later joined a quiz bowl team in high school, achieving victory on a local quiz show, “Brain Game,” during his senior year. Bushfield studied history and economics at Notre Dame before moving to Hoboken, New Jersey, and taking a temporary job at a Manhattan law firm. He ended up managing a team of temps in a satellite office, working on document review for a major tobacco company.
To alleviate the monotony and ethical ambiguity of their work, Bushfield and his colleagues created diversions. “We assuaged our own guilt in a few different ways,” Bushfield admitted. “One was by working a lot of hours but not working very hard.” Using the office whiteboard, they began playing Balderdash with legal jargon. This evolved into other word-based games like Balderface, Baldermovie, and Baldercheese. This group of temps became, in the words of colleague Bill Lambertson, “a little fiefdom away from the evil corporation.” Eventually, Baldertrivia emerged, marking the unofficial first season of what would become LearnedLeague, with 20 participants. The following season, Bushfield renamed it LearnedLeague, inspired by his high school friend and Hoboken roommate, Eric Learned.
Bushfield left the law firm for business school in 1999, but LearnedLeague persisted. He taught himself HTML to build a website for the game, ensuring its continuation. Growth was organic, driven by referrals, as LearnedLeague operated on an honor system, requiring new members to be invited. Bushfield held positions at Pfizer and Microsoft, relocating to Seattle, all while nurturing his trivia community. By 2004, LearnedLeague had 100 players; by 2012, it reached 1,000; and by 2017, it exploded to 10,000. A profile in the Washington Post in 2014, titled “The Coolest, Weirdest Internet Community You’ll Never Be Able to Join,” brought further attention. LearnedLeague transitioned into Bushfield’s full-time occupation. A modest annual membership fee was introduced, solidifying its sustainability.
Inside the League: Structure and Competition
Today, LearnedLeague boasts over 23,000 members, organized into 100 divisions, each with five skill-based brackets called “rundles.” A separate group exists for newcomers. During each season, players are matched daily against a rundle opponent in a round-robin format. Matches have a strategic element: opponents determine the point value of each question for the day. Players can view their opponent’s username, gender, location, alma mater, and trivia stats across 18 categories, from classical music to world history. Competitive players can even analyze their opponent’s question history to identify strengths and weaknesses, perhaps discerning their expertise in specific TV decades or sports knowledge. Bushfield drew inspiration from the detailed baseball statistics site, baseball-reference.com, when designing the LearnedLeague website, aiming for a similar level of granular data. Seasonal performance dictates rundle movement, creating a dynamic and engaging competitive environment within the LearnedLeague community.
LearnedLeague offers a unique space for those who value knowledge for its own sake, fostering a community of curious minds engaged in the rewarding pursuit of trivia. It’s more than just a game; it’s a testament to the enduring appeal of intellectual curiosity and the joy of learning.
