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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

How can you not know?!

423 replies

TittyGolightly · 19/04/2017 19:52

I work with a woman (29 and a mother of one) whose lack of general knowledge I can't quite believe to be normal. Ask anything about TOWIE or IACGMOOH and she knows it (unlike me) but the following are just some of the things she hasn't known in the past couple of weeks:

that we aren't "doing cows a favour" by milking them
that tea grows on bushes (or that it's a leaf)
that coffee comes from beans
that bees are being threatened by modern farming practices and that if there are no bees we will have no plants (inc fruit and veg)
that reindeer are real
that early humans lived in caves
that a month isn't 4 weeks

She "has no idea" how anyone can know this stuff.

Is this normal now? My 6 year old knows most of this!

OP posts:

Thread gallery

MangosteenSoda · 20/04/2017 07:41

The volcanic eruption mentioned pages back was Tambora (not Krakatoa). It's also in Indonesia. Lots and lots of ash messed up global weather, harvests etc. 1816 in Europe didn't have a discernible summer. It was then that Mary Shelley was 'summering' at Lord Byron's villa on Lake Geneva and came up with the premise for the novel. Perhaps she would never have written it had they been able to get out and about in the sunshine.

One of my uni housemates asked if she could catch mad cow disease from eggs. We were pretty horrified by that because she was a medical student!

I'm terrible at music and film rounds in quizzes. I like both things, but can never retain any quizzable information.

I do know what kippers are though!

TinfoilHattie · 20/04/2017 07:44

Some people are thick. Some people are so shallow that all they are interested in celebrities and make-up and who is shagging who on Corrie.

I prefer to be friends with people who have a broader sphere of interest - they might love a bit of Corrie or talk about the latest makeup trend but have also travelled or know about politics.

I wouldn't be friends with the OP's colleague.

ElsieMc · 20/04/2017 07:46

Oh dear you dont work with my youngest dd do you? She is astonishingly dim about every day matters and is likened to Bridget Jones and the girl from Bridesmaids. Her poor partner recently had to persuade a ticket office to change them to another venue because she thought Milton Keynes was a suburb of Liverpool. Apparently is sounded similar.

She has a law degree and a responsible job, please just don't ever ask her to drive you to an away day.

I always thought those hairy, reddish Scottish cattle were called Haggis. But clearly not. Like mother, like daughter.

Noteventhebestdrummer · 20/04/2017 07:46

So what does drenching a horse mean?

KoalaDownUnder · 20/04/2017 07:47

Maybe she learned the word from a book instead of a kids' cartoon on tv hmm

It was a he, actually. And he was 42, so even he thought it was hilarious that he'd heard 'leopard' said out loud and not twigged that it was the same animal.

Thanks for the snark, though.

Gwenhwyfar · 20/04/2017 07:49

"I prefer to be friends with people who have a broader sphere of interest"

Having a lot of general knowledge doesn't necessarily make someone more interesting or more intelligent. People who remember trivia about the names of songs, actors in films and sports results. So what? It's what you can do with information that counts isn't it? You can get all the facts from Google.

Gwenhwyfar · 20/04/2017 07:50

"So what does drenching a horse mean?"

I don't know either and I don't think this is a good example of a hole in general knowledge. Surely, it's specialist knowledge for people who deal with horses.

Trills · 20/04/2017 07:53

In Our Time has a whole episode on The Year Without A Summer and Mary Shelley.

Another threesome with you and Byron? Nah, I'm going to go invent science fiction
(does not feature, it's the BBC)

pictish · 20/04/2017 07:54

I'm sure the OP's colleague would be gutted not to make your grade Tinfoil.

RedBullBlood · 20/04/2017 08:03

Oh, Ididn't mean everyone should know about drenching, it was just an example of someone (me!) misunderstanding it for years. I worked in stables as a kid, and would often hear people talking about having their horses drenched; as drenched to me means soaked through I envisaged the sheep dip scenario. It's actually a large dose of liquid (parafin oil and other stuff) that is pumped through a tube that goes from the horse's nostril down into the gut.
So there you go.

saoirse31 · 20/04/2017 08:06

Dont think you can blame the educ system completely. What about parents responsibility to raise children, which surely includes educating them? I used to be amazed at number of people who'd never watch news with kids, never discuss news, or geography, history , science etc, never bring kids to museums, never buy kids books other than story books etc.

saoirse31 · 20/04/2017 08:06

derxa · 20/04/2017 08:08

Breeding sheep so their coats grow until they over heat and die, then saying "but we're doing them a favour by shearing them!" NO! they were fine before we messed with them. Oh give it a rest.

morningconstitutional2017 · 20/04/2017 08:09

It depends on how curious you are as well as general cleverness or having a retentive memory. I had a colleague who was a department head - her only specialist subject was soap operas - anything which we would consider general knowledge was completely out of her range. She knew virtually nothing of the basics.

I also worked with a young woman who couldn't tell you where she went on holiday as her hubby booked it, she just sat back and enjoyed the lack of responsibility, "Oh I don't know, it was an island somewhere," was her reply to any query about it.

Neither would achieve much in a quiz team. The former got to her position due to focusing on her job and the latter was obviously not very bright - but they were both lovely people.

TinfoilHattie · 20/04/2017 08:16

It's not like I set prospective friends a test, is it? But if you meet someone who shoots you a blank look when you comment about a General Election or who doesn't know who won WW2, then I'm not going to think "wow, you're a person who I want to spend a lot of time with". Similarly, someone who wants to talk about reality TV and cricket isn't going to find me particularly interesting either.

I do think there is a culture of celebrating being thick. Princess Di constantly went on about how stupid she was because she didn't do well at school, but she clearly was curious about the world and knew lots of "stuff". On the other hand you have someone like Jade Goody who became famous purely because her knowledge was so lacking. Being knowledgeable and informed is not valued, especially in women.

I also totally disagree with it being down to schools. A tiny percentage of what I know comes from school. I know random stuff because I've travelled, watched stuff on telly which isn't just reality TV, read the newspaper, read novels, visit places, and am just generally interested in what is going on around me.

Things like knowing what "drenching" means in terms of horses is pretty niche, I don't know much about horses at all. It's not on the same level as thinking France is attached to the UK or not knowing who the PM is.

Gwenhwyfar · 20/04/2017 08:17

Didn't know where she had been on holiday? That sounds like she just didn't want to tell you. She must have seen a sign on the plane or boat.

LadyTennantofTardis · 20/04/2017 08:18

There are two definitions for the difference between a pony and a horse. You can describe a pony as under 14.2 as an adult (mostly used for showing). But a horse or pony can describe different breeds, physiologically, pony breeds have slightly different skeletons to horses.

SoftlyCatchyMonkey1 · 20/04/2017 08:24

IACGMOOH = I'm a celebrity get me out of here

The general election announcement came on the tv at work, one of the receptionists asked me what it meant. I said it's a general election. She said "what's a general election?"
(She is born and bred British and in her early twenties)

frumpet · 20/04/2017 08:29

Isn't it when you pop medicine in their mouths Gwen ?

frumpet · 20/04/2017 08:31

Like wormers , actually saying 'pop' makes it sound easy , in reality you need arms of steel , goggles and to remember to keep your mouth closed when doing it . That might have just been my horse though

frumpet · 20/04/2017 08:39

Red I bow down to your superior equine knowledge

I do think if a lot of people born in the UK were made to sit the citizenship exam , they would fail . A friend has been going through this process and I know I would have to put in some serious revision to pass .

Fleurdelise · 20/04/2017 08:39

I can win this: three years ago my MIL came over for dinner and asked us if we've heard of that Austrian Archduke being assassinated, "it was in the news did you hear?"

Yes you guessed right, it was the 100 years anniversary of WW1 and she was watching the news reporting on the facts 100 years ago.

Did I win?

NurseButtercup · 20/04/2017 08:48

I'm in the final year of studying to become a nurse and I'm still puzzled by my peers, that don't understand the concept of CPD. They believe that once we're qualified, that's it no more studying. But in order to deliver the best care, using the most up to date/researched methods ongoing studying is essential.

Yesterday three women I work with admitted that they didn't know Theresa May was Prime Minister and David Cameron was still in charge! I was very judgemental about that

nigelforgotthepassword · 20/04/2017 08:48

My exh genuinely believed a Duck was a type of (smaller) Swan.He couldn't compute, no matter how many times I explained it that they are different things.He has a very senior job and is very good at maths-he is very clever in some ways.But he never reads...bar the sports section really.I can only put his poor general knowledge down to that, as we went to the same schools, have the same degree etc, but my general knowledge is good (I read a lot) whilst his is non existent.

Gwenhwyfar · 20/04/2017 08:55

Re. the duck and swan, that surely comes from The Ugly Duckling.

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