Do other people ever astonish you with their lack of general knowledge?

[Ohnotanothernamechange]

Just recently I've spoken to a few people who expressed amazement when they disocovered that Chernobyl is a real place. I know that we all have gaps in our knowledge but how the hell you can not know about the Chernobyl disaster? It's a bit like the simpleton on a twitter some years ago who was amazed to discover that the Titanic was a real ship and not figment of James Cameron's imagination....

I remember one time a work colleague was going to Rome and when I told them I'd been they asked me if there was lots of stuff to see and do there. I was like well of course, it's Rome. And they asked me what they were. I then had to list the coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, The Vatican, the countless Roman Ruins etc not to mention the countless designer shops and fabulous restaurants. They genuinely had no idea what was in Rome. I was gobsmacked. This was someone I'd assumed was pretty intelligent as well.

I can't work out if I just know too much, or these people are just really ignorant?

I don't think travel broadens the mind nor does it improve knowledge of the place.

Bit of a sweeping statement considering there are so many different ways to travel from all inclusive package holidays to interrailing around Europe for months. With the former you wouldn't experience much but the latter you would. And if you're interested in learning about different places and make an effort to learn some of the languages, the history, visit historical sites and meet new people ... How could that NOT broaden your kind and improve your knowledge?

If you don't know about history, you can't possibly understand the world we currently live in. Basic things such as the Irish backstop as part of Brexit negotiations, why Israel and Palestine are at war, why we have lots of ruined monasteries in Britain. This isn't vague specialist knowledge, it informs the world we live in now.

You're saying she's being deliberately intellectually dishonest to defend the remark, rather than that she didn't think it through?

No

One thing I would dispute is the repeated theme in here that “if you don’t know about the holocaust, then how can you prevent it happening again”.

Well, if we accept for a fact that many people, especially governments, DO know about it, then it has made little difference to the many genocides that have occurred worldwide (even in Europe) since 1945.

You’re assuming that the holocaust is a widely known/discussed subject outside of Western Europe, which isn’t necessarily true. I have met people from outside Europe that know very little about the holocaust. How much does your average uk citizen know about the campaigns waged against China and Korea by japan in WW2? Probably very little and they were on a similar scale, if not quite as systematic.

You’re assuming that the holocaust is a widely known/discussed subject outside of Western Europe, which isn’t necessarily true. I have met people from outside Europe that know very little about the holocaust. How much does your average uk citizen know about the campaigns waged against China and Korea by japan in WW2? Probably very little and they were on a similar scale, if not quite as systematic.

You're illustrating my point.

But I would also add that the genocide in the Former Yugoslavia wasn't prevented by just knowing about previous genocides, and much of Europe just stood on the side lines watching and "tut tuting".

Eh, I would be astonished if people thought merely knowing about genocides meant they would never happen again. Has anyone said that?

I thought most people were suggesting that not knowing about past genocides means they are harder to prevent.

I don't quite see what you are disputing here.

She could educate me on the ins and outs of reality tv shows though! And I've never met someone with as much common sense, innate people management skills or spot on parenting or friendship instincts as her.

One of my friends is superlatively ignorant on current/world affairs, and exists entirely in her own narrow frame of reference. However, she's also got more general common sense that many people I've met and makes pinpoint accurate appraisals of situations that have nothing to do with being able to name anyone in the current government cabinet or work out WTF Donald Trump's on about in his mad tweets.

The difference between knowledge and intelligence is key here. Knowledge is the collection of skills and information a person has acquired through experience. Intelligence is the ability to apply knowledge. Just because someone lacks knowledge of a particular subject doesn’t mean they can’t apply their intelligence to help solve problems

If I was wearing a hat I would be doffing it to the above 3 posters.

They get directly to the heart of the matter, and perfectly illustrate that there are different types of knowledge, and it isn't all about book learning, but can also be about problem solving and being "streetwise" (for want of a better word).

It appears to me that general knowledge is only part of the issue...the biggest problem is the lack of critical thinking skills...

So much today is aimed at lowest common denominator...tv...'reality' shows ..social media...rubbish spouted as 'truth' and shared by people who are either incredibly naïve or stupid..you tube...conspiracy theories spouted as fact...

These threads always end up with loads of posters going on about general purpose history especially wars or politics. Am I interested in ethier-no. Am I going to Rome or any other foreign country no. Therfore do I want to spend my spare time researching random things or learning a foreign language. Also no. However should anyone want to know about avian extinctions since 1600 bd the reasons why I could bore you to tears. People learn about about things that are of interest or reLevance to them. That doesn't nmake them or me right or wrong.

Eh, I would be astonished if people thought merely knowing about genocides meant they would never happen again. Has anyone said that?

Quite a few have said it (and the following are only going back 2 pages)

We learnt about the holocaust so that the same situation cannot happen again, not making sure your kids are aware of this and other events is just failing to equip them.

If you don't know and don't care what the Holocaust was, and how it came about, and you don't care about politics, then your vote might well usher in a far right political party who would set us on the road to another holocaust. It did happen within living memory.

"Because if everyone thought like you, we'd have another holocaust on our hands before we knew it."

And another one (although this one is generally agreeing with what I said, only a bit more in depth)

But for things like the holocaust it's incredibly important, as these mistakes are still on going, we're (the world) are turning a blind eye to a lot or in some cases being involved negatively (Frances role in Rwandan genocide), by learning about, understanding, kids going to the old concentration camps, it's educating a new generation to be like stop with this shit and as others have said see the warning signs, why we need to act on them, not to spread hatred as this is where it ends up.

That’s also precisely why we stepped into Kosovo though, after seeing what happened in Bosnia. Also, it’s knowledge within a country- there is a limited amount a foreign government can do. I have no idea what was taught about ww2 history in Yugoslavia (as was) but I bet it was pretty different to here.

Anyway, we digress. My every working day is affected by the Holocaust as I work in clinical trials. We work to very strict standards around how patients are recruited, informed of and treated in clinical trials and these international standards were drafted directly as a result of the Nuremberg trials following WW2 (where nazi doctors were found guilty of performing horrific experiments on captives including people from concentration camp). So a very good example of how an event that happened over 70 years ago still has a very real impact on my life (and yours, if you take modern medications) today. I had to learn about this for my job but I’d love it if it was more widely known.

I’d actually quite like to know about bird extinctions post 1600! Another rather fascinating set of examples of mans innate ability to fuck stuff up.

PigeonofDoom -your name would be apt. Theres quite a few pigeons on the list!

And to be fair my research on this topic does lead into history/geography and even war. (Japanese invasion of wake island did for the endemic Rail).

That genuinely sounds fascinating to me. I know about the passenger pigeon (there’s a stuffed one in our local museum), that’s it for me an extinct pigeons The link with human history is so interesting though. I recently read some historical fiction about a famous murderer in Florida that had the hunting of the snowy egret as a backdrop and how that relates to fashion in London, Paris, New York. Everything is so much more connected than we realise!

I know a bit about various bird extinctions and it is fascinating.
But I do think there is a basic level of general knowledge that any reasonably intelligent person should know.

Purely by coincidence, driving on my way home from work today there was a documentary on Radio 4 about some sightings of a thought extinct bird called the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.

The claimed sightings were in Florida and Arkansas.

Very interesting documentary.

Replying belatedly to replies to my comment.

Of course you could look up what's in Rome but I took the OP to be saying this was just the kind of thing people should know by general cultural exposure.

I didn't know the Golden Gate Bridge was in San Francisco till I went there either 😜

There have been rumoured sightings of the ivory billed woodpecker for years. I hope it is still out there, lurking in the backwaters.

I would expect people in Britain as part of general knowledge to have an idea of where key things are such as the coliseum.

I do like the point that JonSnowIsALoser made on Sunday. So much of education these days seems to be focused on the eventual exams, and it seems there really isn’t the time to read around a subject or to explore the connections between apparently disparate subjects. For example, the history of science is interesting because so much of scientific progress is bound up with what’s going on at the time. But there isn’t the time in a crowded curriculum to even mention that. Which means students don’t get the idea that they can (are permitted?) to go off-piste and have a meander around.

But I do think that underpinning all this is a kind of classism. The history of state education in this country was all about equipping the “masses” with enough basic education to be useful employees. And then of course there was the split at 11+ between secondary modern and grammar schools, which was the case when I was young. There was a lot of resentment towards those who “passed” the 11+ and therefore had more opportunity to go to university. Even though comprehensive schools have been around for a long time, I think there still is that kind of resentment towards people who know stuff, as well as people not having the confidence (permission?) to seek out knowledge for themselves.

"the campaigns waged against China and Korea by japan in WW2?"

Korea was already under Japanese rule by 1939. It was colonied in 1910.

Not that they treated them well by any means but they weren't actively campaigning against them in a war sense.

I would expect people in Britain as part of general knowledge to have an idea of where key things are such as the coliseum.

Why? And why does it matter if they don't?

Much more important to know some history and current affairs as other ppl have said. That's about being a responsible citizen of a democracy.

Why does it matter? Surely if you knew anything about the Roman Empire you would know that Rome was key and that there are some important Roman ruins there such as the Coliseum.

I know that, a close relative lived under Japanese occupation in Korea prior to the war (the pictures of them at that time- you could tell they were living under famine conditions ). However, atrocities ramped up during the war and occupation ended with the defeat of japan at the end of the war so they are connected.