Why do our peers have no general knowledge? (1 Viewer)

[Calculon]

Originally posted by George W. Bush
This thread started with no merit and has somehow lost merit as it progressed.

Kinda like your presidency

 

[crazyhomo]

Originally posted by Calculon
Kinda like your presidency

haha, owned

 

[George W. Bush]

I've gotta be better than Woodrow, c'mon.

 

[lengstar]

whats wrong with ten news? it goes for an hour rather than a pathetic half by nine. i avoid nine new its so full of crap. i think its better to watch more than on new report: first at 5 with 10, then sbs 6:30, with abc at 7. and always read the smh.

 

[Enlightened_One]

no general knowledge award, goes to a girl I heard an extension 2 day ask "What's a demountable?"

And that's just the point, because she went to a rich private school she had never seen, or indeed heard of a demountable building before. Even though most public schools are made up of them, she wasn't aware what they were. And it's because she didn't need to know.

And that's the point I'm getting at. Most people in life have no need to know who Stalin was, for example. He wasn't mentioned in any of my history classes (I didn't do Modern History, wanted to), and he was only mentioned in connection with Animal Farm.

Most of my class, if I asked them now who Stalin was, wouldn't remember or care. It's about what people need and want to know. Everyone on this forum is interested in news, politics etc, and therefore such information interests us. And Modern History figures and issues are also amongst out general knowledge because we want them to be.

How many of you can tell me the chemical formula of table sat off the top of your head. Most of you don't care or need to know such stuff.

I know people who can recite the entire periodic table of elements, but can't recall who our governor general is.

That is probably the best explanation I can give you. It's like something Sherlock Holmes said. "The brain is like an attic. It starts out empty and only has so much room. You store up there only what you need otherwise it becomes cluttered." And by the way that's not a direct quote, but it's something like he said.

Oh, and then there's the people who knows something about anything, and anything about something, and eventually they know everything about nothing, and nothing about everything, and then they call themselves experts.

 

[olay]

Originally posted by *Katie*
Ok has anyone noticed that some people are so ignorant of what's going on in the world, of important historical events etc.
In my ext eng class people had never heard of Stallin, Roosevalt, Churchhill..............they hadnt even heard of Musilini for christs sake
And the other day a girl asked me who Mark Latham was...........hmmm...........are others finding they are surrounded by dumb asses?
Cmon people we should care

dumb asses?

 

[Generator]

Given the ever changing nature of the english language, we will have to accept the word 'ass' for the word 'arse' if we are to ever talk about something of value (I'd say that arguing for arse is of great value, but eh)...

Or you may have been noting something else. Ah well.

 

[Sarah168]

Originally posted by lengstar
whats wrong with ten news? it goes for an hour rather than a pathetic half by nine. i avoid nine new its so full of crap. i think its better to watch more than on new report: first at 5 with 10, then sbs 6:30, with abc at 7. and always read the smh.

You started off bad but you get better toward the end by reccomending the SMH

Channel 10 "News" is rubbish. It hardly consitutes as news!! I can't say this without crediting Ziff ( or he will kill me) but Ten News is like, "Tim Bailey's Weatherhour with occasional news"

They spent a full 5 minutes on a newpiece about a Rose Garden Festival or some shit a few weeks back, with the journalist reporting on the advantages of mulching FFS!!

 

[CM_Tutor]

Enlightened_one, leaving aside my knowledge of the formula for table salt )), what about the notion that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them?

Surely we see in Iraq, and the Middle East generally, a good example of why some general historical and social knowledge is valuable?

 

[Sarah168]

yes, esp in understanding cultural references in stand up comedy!

 

[Nick]

Jimmy Carter said he learnt more history during his time in the White House than the rest of his life

now if only Bush could read..

 

[Sarah168]

or speak properly...or write..or hold a book up the right way when he is reading it to 6 year olds...

 

[Xayma]

Originally posted by CM_Tutor
Enlightened_one, leaving aside my knowledge of the formula for table salt )), what about the notion that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them?

Or the fact that you are partly responsible for binging those in to power who will repeat history *cough* ALP and the economy *cough*.

Hmm so what if I know the formula for table salt and who the Governer-General is?

 

[rubylotus11]

I've noticed a lack of general knowledge too. I hadn't thought about the fact that quite a few people haven't done any history since Year 8. And if you only studied the topics you learnt in school then you would still have a pretty narrow view of history. I think it really comes down to having an interest in the world and the reasons why it is the way it is, and then bothering to do your own learning through history books.

 

[glycerine]

okay there is no excuse for anyone from class of 04 onwards not to know when ww1 was and who was involved, considering australian history is now compulsory and that's one of the topics

 

[lengstar]

i know heaps about ww2 but not ww1

 

[Calculon]

Originally posted by glycerine
okay there is no excuse for anyone from class of 04 onwards not to know when ww1 was and who was involved, considering australian history is now compulsory and that's one of the topics

1914-1918
First to declare war was Austro-Hungarian Empire, after Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbians, although Germany is considered to be the main aggressor.
Largest losses were on the western front, near France
Major axis powers: Germany, Turkey, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy
Major allied powers: USA, Britain, Russia, France
Ended with the Treaty of Versailles.
Ok I'm done now.

 

[Ziff]

Italy wasn't really an axis power. They chickened out and went "nah, we're with the Allies now". Hence, some textbooks refer to the "Big 4" which was the Italians (Orlando), French (Clemenceau), USA (Woodrow) and British (Lloyd George).

However, most textbooks only refer to the "Big 3" which is everyone bar the Italians.

 

[Enlightened_One]

Originally posted by CM_Tutor
Enlightened_one, leaving aside my knowledge of the formula for table salt )), what about the notion that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them?

Surely we see in Iraq, and the Middle East generally, a good example of why some general historical and social knowledge is valuable?

You sound like my seven/eight history teahcer. She used that quote alot.

I never said general knowledge and history wasn't valuable. I have a hell of a lot of general knowledge about all sorts of things (including a few chemical formulas), and find it very useful.

I was simply explaining why not everyone appears to have as much. I wasn't saying it was a good thing, or a bad thing. I was simply stating why some people had heaps of general knowledge, and why alot of people are so dumb when it comes to that sort of stuff.

 

[Enlightened_One]

Originally posted by Xayma
Or the fact that you are partly responsible for binging those in to power who will repeat history *cough* ALP and the economy *cough*.

Hmm so what if I know the formula for table salt and who the Governer-General is?

How the hell did I bring the ALP to power? You make not very much sense. And I mentioned the table salt thing to make a comparison. I figured not many people here would know chemistry