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

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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?

Because they had the Elgin yoyo and need the marbles to complete the set

When people notice that their lack of knowledge is being ridiculed they often, hide their embarrassment by putting themselves down. It’s not always a badge of honour to be “ignorant”.

Not everyone has the capacity to retain information. They may have other desirable qualities, such as being a kind and thoughtful person.

I'm convinced that if people don't love reading, their general knowledge is going to be pretty poor.

My sister didn't know what the Breakfast in Tiffanys reference was about in a song that was popular a few years ago. That shocked me, it has to be said. She's pretty clued up about most other things though.

Is anyone else reading this with a second tab open & googling bits & pieces? I hate no knowing something so am forever looking up things.

My DM always said the best thing you can teach someone is how to find something out. This started by looking at encyclopedias at home & then going to the library if needed. Now it's mostly google but that's great!

My general knowledge & geography are fairly good (I read a lot & love maps) but there's always so much more to learn.

Years ago l worked with a woman who thought lamb (the meat) was sheep. She wouldn't believe me when l told her it was actually 'lamb' as in 'baby sheep', and not 'grown up' sheep. She was horrified when she realised. You're wrong and she's almost right

Poor education, big TVs and no books at home, parents who are not interested in anything intellectual, no one ever picking up a book, no debates or discussions on current affairs ,history and general knowledge. And lots of thick people on top of it all. It's disgraceful but seems to be the norm now.

What do you propose could be done about it?

We’re not all lucky enough to have parents who filled our brains up with knowledge.
Nothing to do with intelligence.

I do worry about the ability of the younger generation to select their own entertainment completely. Back in my youth choice was limited and we we’re forced to consume news and educational telly purely through lack of choice. Nowadays the combination of YouTube and iPlayer/Netflix means that you need never watch anything that isn’t exactly what you’ve chosen.

Mind you there are lots of people in their forties who may have been exposed to this stuff but took absolute none of it in.

I don't think a lack of general knowledge is down to lack of education or parental input. I have an extensive general knowledge which I think is due to being curious and downright nosiness. Unfortunately I think the internet and social media might satisfy that urge in younger people therefore general knowledge is quite poor in that generation.

It's certainly nothing to do with money, as my grandfather (both actually, but one in particular) showed. It's due to a simple desire to learn new things I think.

No.
This is england.

I'm 32 and had heard of Chernobyl and knew it was a nuclear disaster, I thought it was in Russia though not the Ukraine and didn't know when it happened, so was pretty ignorant about it.

I get amazed regularly too, and it's not like I'm very well travelled or super clever - but I know I'm blessed with a brain that simply retains the pointless information i hear or read (to the detriment of my shopping list or peoples names)

I thought the Elgin marbles were actually marbles of the small glass variety.

I think I assumed this too for many years!

But chenoble is probably an age thing, we lived it, the maps of possible radioactive fallout over wales due to weather patterns I particularly remember

When I was in college I was talking about my pet parrot that talks and was saying what things he says. I was beyond shocked when one of the guys in front of everyone was like "hahahaaha parrots don't actually talk you idiot, it's just a myth" a few people began to laugh at me because I 'thought' parrots could really talk as it's just something they animate on films (according to my college class) I was obviously beyond shocked by this as I literally have a parrot that talks and had no idea that some people wouldn't know this common knowledge and had to show them a video on my phone of my parrot talking 😐

My friend OAP told me she had bought a vanilla pudding but couldn’t eat it as there were little black dots in it.

I've looked up a few things through the course of the thread, for examples the follies on Windscale/ Sellafield power plant. No one is ever going to know everything in detail. But I am aware from my 80s childhood that there was a lot of concern about nuclear safety, particularly at that particular plant, and I could plot it on a map along the coast around the Lake District area. There is something for that knowledge to latch on to and the recognition to think "What's that, let's find out" and it only took highlighting the words, pressing down and pressing the link to investigate.

Some knowledge is generational. There is an awkward gap between current affairs and history. I was aware of Chernobyl from Newsround in my childhood. 30+ years on, it is begining to fall into modern history, but there is an awkward gap in the middle. The 9/11 attacks will be falling into it now. As I entered teaching, the kids were full of it. I recall a y7 obsessed with Osama Bin Laden. Now, it's just before they were born, old news and other major international politics is shaping the world. It's still important to how we got here today and the aftermath of Afghanistan/ Iraq is still shaping our political preferences to be more isolationist and avoid engaging in military action, particularly in the Middle East as we couldn't win with clear outcomes, created political vacuums for the likes of ISIS to exploit and tainted the Labour party to the point that it's contributed to an unpopular Conservative party staying in power longer than might be reasonably be expected (in addition to the credit crunch, Corbyn issues etc). In time, a bigger picture will emerge, fatigue will pass and it will become established history.

I have a reasonable grasp of what I know and my blackspots. Geography, history, science, languages, current affairs all decent. I do well on well on quizes because I have a decent "general knowledge" and can form good educated guesses from that.

My sporting knowledge is poor, but I could tell you key cultural facts like Fred Perry winning Wimbledon in 1938 or England scoring the winning goal of the 1966 world cup in the final seconds of the match against Germany. Who won the Premiership in 2015 tends to quickly lose relevance to many beyond the immediate fans and as someone with less sporting prowess than a wall (which has a much better rate of bouncing a ball back) I do struggle to hold a great interest in routine sporting events.

In entertainment, who is snogging who on Love Island doesn't usually make much lasting cultural dent. If someone does establish a broader media career from it long term then it may be more likely to fall on my radar. Entertainment also ages rapidly. I'm highly unlikely to end up watching comedy material from the 1950s. The proportion of Monty Python/ Two Ronnies type material that ages better through the decades is small. Media ages rapidly.

It's attitude that really matters. An amount of self-awareness of what you know or don't know. A willingness to plug the gaps, even if temporarily is healthy. Living in an "ignorant" bubble where you have little awareness and interest in anything beyond your front door is very disempowering. Voting Labour because you believe in Corbyn's vision for improved social mobility and state services fine. Voting Labour when you haven't heard of Corbyn and it's just a tribal habit that you do like your dad and granddad, not fine. (Feel free to apply to any political party/ leaders). Actions have wider consequences. One that winds me up is failing to distinguish the layer that you are voting for local council/ MP/ Europe. I'm not supportive of my local MP, but her party do a more competant job of running the council than the main opposition. In the European Parliament, I want a different policy again. Having to endure an inept council ruining the city because of tribalism and people not liking what's going on in Westminster is infuriating.

I think we have passed the peak of "general knowledge" being most accessible to assimilate with low effort. Too many diversions. Less interest in reading books/ newspapers. Too much choice on TV/ catch up. Quiz shows being dumbed down and gimmicky. The education system is too much based on teach to the test without enough time building secure foundations of "low-level" descriptive, general knowledge for the details to stick to later. The number of GCSE Geography students who can't define a continent is truely depressing. I once had an A-Level student ask if Paris was the capital of France. (She did think it was, but was so insecure about the state of her general knowledge that she wasn't sure). Primary schools are too focused on their survival at SATs and the KS3 curriculum doesn't address holes that can remain from the primary years if a school is too focussed on teaching to SATs.

Everyone had gaps in their knowledge, but a closed mind with the shutters up tight is not a healthy way to be. What was it Sir Alan Sugar said to a disgraced apprentice, "You don't know what you don't know because you don't know it" (I can do a little populist afterall )

Did you know strawberries aren’t a berry? However bananas are berries.

Bet you didn’t know that.

30+ years on, it is begining to fall into modern history

Beginning to? I studied Thatcher ism as part of my history degree, and she'd only gone out of power the term before. It wasn't a new course, either, so it would have been completely current for the years above.

I have a good general knowledge - I know a little about a lot of things and a lot about a few things. I was brought up that if I don't know something, I should look it up, and I still do that. I listen to a lot of Radio 4 and watch quite a lot of TV documentaries and I read a lot.

I do have gaps - I grew up without a TV, but I have filled in a lot of gaps by having sat through a million conversation's on, "Do you remember Bagpuss/the Clangers/the Magic Roundabout/etc?" My music knowledge is pretty solid up to about 1985, but is progressively weaker since then. I was quite astounded that a colleague who is older than I am had never heard a Beatles album (one of his areas of knowledge is prog rock. And he has listened to a couple of albums now.) It wouldn't surprise me at all if younger people didn't have much knowledge of the Beatles, though.

I find it difficult to understand how people don't know the dates of WW I & II, given that we seem to be constantly having anniversaries. I was shocked the other day when a colleague asked if the Netherlands had been involved in WWIi (we work with people in Amsterdam every day.)

I wouldn't recognise many current celebrities, and I have a pretty superficial knowledge of sport - but I seem to have far fewer gaps in my knowledge than a lot of people.

I think people should know who the prime minister is or their MP is. You can find out in about 5 seconds, and that sort of lack of knowledge I am very judgemental about. People can't know everything, but these days, you can look up almost everything. Ignorance about some subjects is to be expected, but I will never accept wilful ignorance.

There are some smug people on this thread. But luckily there are some others who don't judge people on what they don't know. Thank goodness!

Slightly hmm by someone organising holiday to Rome and appearing to have done no research as to what to see in the city, that just seems a bit daft.

Not as daft as my mum's coworker who went to the canary islands on holiday and due to a problem with the airport had to take the ferry to another island to fly home. He described how choppy the mediterranean sea can be.

If I'm going on holiday I know where in the world I'm going but some people are just not bothered.

I suspec the eingangsstrasse poster means an Einbahnstrasse, which is a one-way street

The ones that get me are people who go on Come dine and therefore presumably identify as foodies, but then have never heard of bechamel sauce or whatever.

I can't get too excited about people not knowing stuff, everyone has gaps in their knowledge. A lot of people didn't grow up with books in the house. I feel like a lot of stuff is just lodged permanently in my brain because I always read from a young age and we always watched the news. My parents weren't that educated or anything but reading and being informed in a general way was normal.

On the other hand, I know people who did literature degrees who'd never heard of Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte, but what can you do?

As a Scot, you can't imagine the number of English people who have no idea about how the UK is formed, about the Troubles in NI, that we don't have separate passports, that we used to be separate countries or that we aren't actually ruled by England. I mean, it's literally like 90% of English people I meet.

The only one that really shocked me was a woman I know who'd never heard of Hitler.