Basic knowledge

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At school so many, many years ago, a lad asked me how to spell LA. He thought it was summick like Ellay. He genuinely didn't see any connection with Los Angeles.
 


Kent_Mackem said:
Is it really down to schools or just the lack of reading?
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Its a lack of reading, or infact a lack of desire to want expand your knowledge & any attempt to do so is viewed with negativity.

If I put on an Attenborough programne or something like Horizon, our lass will quip 'why've you put this on, its boring'
But then ask how I know stuff when watching quiz shows.

Its also similar when it comes to money in that people who earn more than you being skint a few days before payday then twisting like owt about it. Then deriding you for not being in the same position cos according to them good housekeeping with a long term plan to improve your life is a bad thing.

I really dont get it.
 
legend7 said:
Beggars belief man.
Heard something on the radio years ago of a recording to asda or somewhere that the pizza he had bought had no topping on when he took it out of the box, after 5 mins on the phone turns out he was holding it upside down.
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Prank call

 
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Jap Stammer said:
A lass at work was convinced that dartboards were made from the hair shaved off coconuts and that was why they made such a fuss about scoring 180 - because they won another coconut which then got sent away to help make more dartboards.
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That has to be a pisstake, surely nobody is that stupid.
 
monkeytassle said:
You what there mate.
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taipeisafc said:
That has to be a pisstake, surely nobody is that stupid.
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Gospel.

Apparently an ex-boyfriend of hers, who played darts, convinced her that was the case.

Mind you, we once had her in tears after telling her that haggis were small rodent-like creatures that were chased out of the heather by haggis-beaters where they were then corralled and beaten to death before having their legs torn off in preparation for the discerning Scottish diner.

Then there was the riderless horses.....
 
Jap Stammer said:
Gospel.

Apparently an ex-boyfriend of hers, who played darts, convinced her that was the case.

Mind you, we once had her in tears after telling her that haggis were small rodent-like creatures that were chased out of the heather by haggis-beaters where they were then corralled and beaten to death before having their legs torn off in preparation for the discerning Scottish diner.

Then there was the riderless horses.....
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One like just isn't enough
 
Horley Chorley said:
My mate and his missus were on holiday in Spain, and he was talking to an older fella who worked at the hotel they were staying at.
The old fella was talking about past times and said how he felt that life was terrible under (General) Franco, and that life was much better without him.
My mates missus, oblivious or ignorant to the ongoing conversation, asked my mate "who's Franco ? Was he the hotel owner ? :eek: :rolleyes: :lol:
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To be fair I reckon a lot of people will be unaware of Franco and what Spain was like until mid 70s.

alicante mackem said:
Our lass who is a teacher, has a masters degree and is Spanish thought Christopher Columbus was also Spanish.
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Another one not that bad, IMHO.
 
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Harry Angstrom said:
To be fair I reckon a lot of people will be unaware of Franco and what Spain was like until mid 70s.



Another one not that bad, IMHO.
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I don’t know nearly enough about Franco and pre-EU European history, and I’m 42. I also don’t know much about the circumstances under which Germany was reunified or the Balkan war. We just weren’t taught it, or it was happening around me at the time but I was too young to really understand why it was happening.

Unless you have a love of history and want to read about stuff like that, I can see why people don’t know much about it.

I’m listening to a podcast series by Jeremy Bowen (bbc ME politics journo) about all the stuff that led up to the gulf war, including the Israeli PM assassination - I literally didn’t know it had happened.
 
HellsBells said:
I don’t know nearly enough about Franco and pre-EU European history, and I’m 42. I also don’t know much about the circumstances under which Germany was reunified or the Balkan war. We just weren’t taught it, or it was happening around me at the time but I was too young to really understand why it was happening.

Unless you have a love of history and want to read about stuff like that, I can see why people don’t know much about it.

I’m listening to a podcast series by Jeremy Bowen (bbc ME politics journo) about all the stuff that led up to the gulf war, including the Israeli PM assassination - I literally didn’t know it had happened.
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Agreed. I think I'm fairly well read and know a fair bit of rubbish but certain areas of my knowledge are scant at best.
My podcast listening is sorted with Melvyn Bragg and In Our Time. Great format.
 
Having just spent 35minutes trying to teach a 19 year old how to read a map, it's not just knowledge that people have gaps on, but basic life skills.

There are a whole generation of people who are reliant on technology for the simplest of things
 
Redandwhitedust said:
Having just spent 35minutes trying to teach a 19 year old how to read a map, it's not just knowledge that people have gaps on, but basic life skills.

There are a whole generation of people who are reliant on technology for the simplest of things
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Arguably, technological advances mean they don’t need those skills anymore. In the same way that sailors don’t need to know how to use a sextant to calculate longitude* nowadays. What constitutes basic life skills changes relatively rapidly.

*(Or is it the other one?)
 
HellsBells said:
Unless you have a love of history and want to read about stuff like that, I can see why people don’t know much about it.

I’m listening to a podcast series by Jeremy Bowen (bbc ME politics journo) about all the stuff that led up to the gulf war, including the Israeli PM assassination - I literally didn’t know it had happened.
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Aye. If you don't read (books, newspapers, magazines) listen (radio, other people, teachers, podcasts), watch (television, films, theatre, documentaries) etc you'll not know much about anything and everything will come as a surprise. It's all relative. I expect I know very little in the whole scheme of things but I know lots of stuff about things that happened before I was born that apparently people on TV quizzes, and occasionally Jeremy Vine are astounded by. If people limit themselves to Facebook or Love Island they won't necessarily engage with or access a lot of informative media.

Fair enough; they can use other senses like breathing, eating, heart-beating, drinking, farting, shitting, pissing and voting for Nigel Farage so no problem about knowing fuck all about anything.












I'm joking
 
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