To think a lot of people are completely stupid?

[blaisealex]

Someone posted a photo on a Facebook group of a Fabulosa product that is mean to keep artificial lawn clean and smelling nice. Said product is rammed full of toxic chemicals that are harmful to humans, animals and the environment. Hundreds of comments of people praising the product, tagging their mates in it. Lots of people going to be buying it, damaging the environment, probably harming their cats and dogs in the process. So bloody stupid. This cleaning craze of fabulosa and zeflora is beyond stupid.

Saw another post where people where complaining about paper straws and posting links of where others could purchase plastic straws. I mean, sure, I preferred plastic straws. They didn't go soggy and disintegrate half way through a drink but really, it's a small sacrifice to make. It's stupid and selfish.

Spoke to several people recently, ages varying between 20s and late 50s. None of them aware of who the suffragettes were.

So AIBU to think that so many people really are just stupid?

Whilst I do think there are a significant number of fairly stupid people out there, I'm quite impressed by how clever they actually are. They've learnt to talk, read and write and have far more in common with other people than with the next nearest animals - chimps or bonobos.

I'm not sure what chimps think about artificial grass and plastic straws. My gut feeling is that they'd prefer real grass but would like plastic straws.

Irony is burning dear

I must admit I have noticed over the last 15 years or so a real increase in those who are very educated but have quite a poor general knowledge

I've worked with younger people with first class or 2.1 degrees in strong subjects who literally don't have a clue about what I would thin is very basic knowledge. I do remember asking a couple once and the general answer seemed to be that why do you need to know this stuff, just use google

I read that modern people’s brains are actually getting smaller because we rely so much on technology and we are not the ‘jack of all trades’ that our ancestors were. So in the old days you might have had to do more mental arithmetic (no calculator) and fix house appliances as they were not cheaply replaced. I do think autocorrect has made me rubbish at spelling and for fear of becoming even more useless refuse to use Alexa!

[quote Bluebird2021]@blaisealex what’s the harmful component of the artificial grass cleaner[/quote]
Ah shit sorry I'm quoting you again because the screenshots were blurry but for anyone interested follow the product specs link. It's honestly shocking how bad for humans, pets and the environment some of this stuff is.

myfabulosa.co.uk/product/lavender-artificial-lawn-disinfectant-deodoriser-1ltr/

Counterintuitively - people NOT knowing things in the age of information is more likely. Because of the absolute deluge you can’t tell what’s important and what’s not. Also having too information causes cognitive overload so people just tune it all out.
Unless it’s something basic taught in school or all over the news people are not dumb for not ‘knowing things’.
They are however dumb if they have no common sense or critical thinking skills.
I don’t think the proportion of dumb people has increased, it’s just on public display now.

*too much

@OlympicProcrastinator

Wait, is zoflora stupid??

Well I tried to teach mine the alphabet, but it was having none of it.

Well, if ever a word didn’t need to know its letters A to Z it’s Zoflora. Or should that be Z to A?

It makes me mad too @blaisealex

I saw a sad article on the BBC about a horse mad girl whose body had been found. Her best friend was arranging a balloon release in her memory. A balloon release which are well documented to be bad for the environment and have caused the death of horses!!

I don’t know if it’s stupidity or a complete lack of awareness. I guess all we can do is try and tell people the dangers 🤷🏼‍♀️

I like plastic straws

I like cleaning stuff that smells nice

Not really a big fan of the smurfs or smurfettes, but I know their history.

You'd be amazed at the number of people who have an IQ below average...

As it goes you can be really intelligent but still really ignorant. Like the guy I went to university with who got a first but didn't know if a penguin was a bird, fish or mammal.

I don't think its about being stupid a lot of the time. Its about having the opportunity to learn and the interest in a particular issue or subject.

I once read in a Sociology textbook that in this present age “ anything goes but nothing matters anymore” it has stuck with me and seems so true.
I also agree with pp that a large majority of people just don’t care about the environment or anything else, they just live for the day.

You're not wrong, people are thick.

So hold on…..those fabulosa data sheets are no different than for any other household cleaner! Cif, febreeze,flash all the household favourites….they are just the same and we ALL know cleaning products should be used with caution

So people are thick,arrogant,stupid…… so what? They are still people, and could be any one of your own family,dc included

As an employer, I can tell you the young people coming through our doors need A LOT of training. Simple things like filling in forms, basic training, ordering there uniforms….they need more and more help with these basics …. Could these young people be your children?

OK, I am in my 50s. All my friends have reasonable knowledge of suffrage, ecology etc.

Birds of a feather flock together - if you are not that type of bird....

And you cannot change them - start with yourself.

I don't think peple are stupid as much as ignorant, in the sense that they only interest themselves in things that generally affect them and do not look any further than their "world".
A lot of people never watch the TV News or read newspapers and if you gave them a map of the UK could not show you where Wales was (for example) they couln't tell you the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or name the President of the US.
I overheard a conversation recently where one person was commenting that Boris Johnson was very hard working as he was both PM and Mayor of London!!

The difference between normal cleaning products and zoflora etc is that people don't tend to spray cif all over their plastic garden, or drape bleach soaked tissues all over their radiators.

Most people are stupid.

@Bluebird2021

So hold on…..those fabulosa data sheets are no different than for any other household cleaner! Cif, febreeze,flash all the household favourites….they are just the same and we ALL know cleaning products should be used with caution

Admittedly not looked at all cleaning product data sheets, but do they all say “Don’t allow to enter drains”?

Nobody can know everything about everything but that doesn't make them stupid or ignorant.

Yanbu most people are dumb.

Pink stuff,cif,flash…. They are all available in sprayable form

Let’s just say it’s diversity! If everyone was “smart” you would be relatively less smart. However the threshold of basic knowledge, educational attainment and emotional intelligence is remarkably challenged. The average public threshold of intelligence and knowledge is probably pretty low. However on a global scale I would probably place Brits near the middle of the first world on the intellectual scale with fortunately some of the elite intellectuals here in UK being world leading bringing up the overall average grade. Given the pandemic those here involved in the University of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccination medical research and development springs to mind.

I don’t know if it’s fair to say stupid. Lacking in curiosity describes it better for me.

I remember when the Brexit referendum was happening and I was chatting with a girl at work and she literally had no idea what any of it was about. She thought it was ‘boring’ and ‘not really her thing’.

I also remember speaking to a girl at college once about the US president and she didn’t know who I meant. When I was like WTF? She said that it was none of her business who the president of the US was.

Astonishing.