To think that 45 year old British citizen should know what I'm talking about.....

[Bekindtoyourknees]

when I mention the wars in Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia etc?

His excuse: 'I wasn't there, so why should I know about them?'

I thought there was nothing left to shock me at work, seems I was wrong

Anonymai - You weren't aware of the conflict in the Balkans? You failed to notice the genocide that took place in Srebrenica?

Dear God, please let it be that you're under 25 and at least have some excuse for your ignorance?

YANBU but there are plenty of people who avoid bad news and stay in their teeny bubble.

I'm 26, does that excuse my not knowing?

I'm not sure how I don't know but at the same time not sure how I would unless I watched the news everyday I suppose.

I remember a friend saying at the time that the war in Yugoslavia shouldn't have been allowed 'because people go there on holiday'

But don't you read books? Listen to Radio 4? Read articles in newspapers and magazines?

It's like saying you don't know about the Holocaust, or D-Day, or the Vietnam War. I just cannot get my head around it.

YABU.

I don't know anything about them. Bosnia I recognise as having an issue at some point, although I can't remember when.

I stopped studying history when I was 13. Up until that point I had been repeatedly taught about ancient history (my primary school was obsessed with the Egyptians) and then a very poor level of detail from that point up until the Tudors. It was news to me when I was about 30 that Britain had ever had a civil war. These topics are just not on my radar.

I don't read the newspaper daily, usually just on a sunday. I watch the news a few times a week if that.

However, all this living in a bubble thing is ridiculous. I've travelled extensively, lived abroad, speak 3 languages, and am knowledgeable on some subjects. I can't be expected to know about everything, I'm busy, I'm not going to spend time seeking out information on subjects that I don't find interesting and don't enhance my life in any way.

Apart from being able to have known what you were talking about, how would your colleague's life be improved by a knowledge of the conflicts?

kim147 yes, I am aware. Your point is?

YANBU.

I still recoil at the thought of the rape camps, in particular.

I disagree that such knowledge won't enhance your life in any way. Studying conflicts, genocides, wars is crucial to understanding society and trying to prevent further conflict. Look at any current humanitarian crisis caused by conflict and you'll find parallels throughout history.

I never studied the Balkan conflict - I sought out information and continue to do so, in the same way I do about Rwanda, Sudan etc.

freckledLeopard I fear you may be fighting a losing battle with 'ignorance apologists'.

Maybe we can form our own little splinter group? Or stay on thread banging head against brick wall...

YAB a bit U in that you're making sweeping assumptions that lack of knowledge equals lack of depth or caring.

I'm 29 and could tell you that it happened and roughly when, but not give you details. I was four when the conflict started. Not remembering details of something I was far too young to understand and haven't come across since doesn't make me selfish or only interested in my own 'bubble'. Anything major that happened after about 1995 I could give you much more detail on for the simple reason that I was old enough to understand it.

Sometimes it is actually healthier to not know much of war.

I believe some people just can't handle it. That is not their fault, nor a lack of intellect.

I'm aware of most conflicts/war. I have a working knowledge of some of them. I have greater and deeper knowledge of war and conflicts that my family have been directly involved with.

I'm no expert, that is for sure.

Oh, and I am very knowledgeable about other periods of history - which I have chosen to study. I expect I'll get around to the 80's and 90's when I'm done with those. I think knowledge is helpful and does enhance our understanding of current events. I just don't think it's fair to expect everyone to know everything about everything iyswim I'm not explaining myself very well

But. The OP was merely opining that it should be expected that a person who was in their 20s at the time should know about a major war that occured in Europe. That is the AIBU. In my opinion it is shocking. I can't make or expect people to care.

I am an intelligent woman of 51 but i have scant knowledge of most wars throughout history. I am aware they happened but not all the minutia regarding them. I didn't study history in school after 2nd year and i don't read new papers.

I do look every day at BBC news website and i see things are happening all over the world but i choose not to read these articles. I have no idea why this is, i just don't.

I am neither selfish nor living in my own bubble but i guess i just can't get my head around what humans will do to other humans in the name of religion, greed or power.

I recently downloaded a kindle book recommended on MN about North Korea and i know i am stalling reading it. I want to know, but at the same time i don't want to know. I just can't seem to get past this. It doesn't make me ignorant though.

Mr Kucinovic is no more relevant than Mr S'busi to many people. To some Mr S'busi chimes more of a chord.

Is it ok for someone not to know of the Balkans war as long as they know about the situation in Western Sahara?

It's like what charities you support. They (pretty much) all are good causes but you choose which ones are of particular interest to you because you can't support all 500k charities in the UK.

www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

The most depressing example of this kind of attitude was when the BBC went into meltdown because of the thousands of complaints about Antiques Roadshow being cancelled to broadcast the release of Nelson Mandela < sad but true >

But Freckled why have you sought out information on those topics? Presumably because they interest you or you feel they are of importance?

I understand seeking out information and independently learning about something, but surely there has to be a motivator to investigate a specific topic.

War, genocide, rape camps etc aren't something I'd be looking at for pleasure and don't enter my professional life.

I spend the majority of the time I get to read, learning about my interests.

Plus I don't know how anyone remembers all these things, maybe I have a shit memory. At the time I'm normally loosely aware of whats going on. For example, I currently understand what's happening in Ukraine, in the same way that I knew quite a bit about Iraq and Afghanistan or Syria, or the Arab Spring, when they were happening but in 5, 10, 15 years, I can normally only remember one particular thread of the situation and not in much detail.