Partner said he wishes I were more curious about the world

[Bzzzzzzz]

I am educated to Master's level, have lived in a couple of different countries and speak other Languages so I did think I was curious to some level at least. I read the news daily.
My partner doesn't have the qualifications and has mostly worked in 'menial' roles but he certainly reads a lot, has a lot of general knowledge and knows a lot about music.
I'd say I read more non fiction, I do occasionally read fiction but sometimes feel a bit embarrassed that I should have read a lot of the famous novels that I haven't.

Anyway I can occasionally be ditzy.
I was chatting to him yesterday and I said something about the topic of indigenous people. Looking back it was clumsily worded really, but I know what I meant.
He reacted as if I'd asked him to spell my own name. He said, "Omg seriously!!" "Like come on!!" "How on earth can you not know that!!" "What the hell!"
He was clearly annoyed, and I told him that I didn't think it had warranted such an angry reaction, I hadn't said anything controversial or offensive.
Later on we got into a discussion about it and I asked him if he'd have reacted like that if someone else had said it, i.e. a colleague or family member. I couldn't imagine him doing so. He said, "No, as I don't think they'd say something like that." He then calmly explained the mistake I'd made about indigenous people and I told him that's all that had been required.

His elderly aunt said she couldn't picture where NYC was on a map and he didn't say anything to her, but told me later on that he was frustrated at her 'lack of knowledge and curiosity."

Anyway during our discussion he did apologise for overreacting and then told me that I'm great but he "wishes I had more curiosity about the world."

I told him that I understood but I suppose now I'm second guessing. I like to travel, I watch a lot of travel documentaries, I'm interested in current affairs and happy to try new things. It's not the same as saying " You're great but I wish you did the dishes more." For instance.
Just interested to see what others think. I don't want someone to feel intellectually superior to me, though I'm probably just being too sensitive. Not sure what to do.

He actually sounds a bit narrow minded to me, in that he expects you to know what he knows rather than valuing what you know that he doesn't. Ask him how he'd feel if you started conversing with him in one of the languages you speak and snorted with derision when he didn't understand, or if you had a go at him for never having lived abroad - I mean how lacking in curiosity is he? etc. If you can be bothered, get him to understand that you and he have different gaps in your knowledge and different fields of expertise and that it is important to respect them. But I must admit that sort of petty intellectual one-upmanship would turn me right off a man.

He sounds like a pompous dick. I'd be getting curious as to what life without him would be like.

I think often with people like that, there's an element of projection.

Mentioning the qualifications was to show that OP does have some level of curiosity, not to prove any sort of superiority to him, oh dear God..

I sort of get it. My husband has zero interest in politics or the world. Literally we could be at war and he wouldn’t have a clue. He’s always the last to know key news. He has zero idea who any sports person is. He has no clue about the world… or how it works. Key questions in our life I have to do all the research and thinking on… should we fix our mortgage, which credit card is best, can we afford to move, which school is best, should we change energy providers, what are the covid rules this week.

he is only interested in one very small subject area (tv show) and that’s it. He knows everything there is about that. And spends a lot of time online researching that. But he won’t take part in conversations about politics, the world, sport, science, current affairs etc. when he tries it’s really awkward because he doesn’t know anything. My child knows more about politics than him.

it’s incredibly frustrating because it really limits our conversation and I get annoyed with him because I am forced to research all the stuff and move our life forward.

Nobody knows everything. You don't have to be a walking encyclopaedia to have a meaningful relationship. Bullying someone into being "curious" does not work. Teachers would know by now... I don't relate being curious with studying. But I see the overlapping to an extent. You both need to communicate better. He knows what he means, you know what you mean but it's not working is it ? If this has occurred more then once and you are not married and you did not have a calm resolution of this discussion, that would be a red flag for me. I would be watching it carefully. "You're stupid" does not pop up in a day if you see what I mean. In my experience IQ matches degrees. Does he have a talent, a specific skill that makes him a "master" of anything ? I would stay clear of someone who's ego trip is to put you down, man or woman. If you are married and it's out of character, maybe it's something entirely different that is actually putting both of you in this situation. Sit down quietly and have a talk about how things are going before getting to the point and fixing it. Boyfriend? I would openly push him to the brink to get to the end of this once and for all. (Was Reagan before of after Kennedy... or loosing at trivial pursuit for kids, or failing a little sudoku and quiz), I would need to know were I stand quickly. Imagine 10 years down the line he wants to ditch you for the next Phd on the block ? Not that it could materialise but you see what I mean. I met men like that. Though ridiculous it is still painfull to watch. Is he very basically cheating on you ?

Yeah I get that, but that's evidently not the OPs case is it

OP said she follows current affairs so the 2 aren't comparable here..

Id encourage him to indulge his ‘curiosity about the world’ by packing his bags and buying him a one-way ticket to Fuckoffsville.

Prick.

Did he mean he wishes you were more curious about other types of people in the world?
Because you could have an MBA, have lived in Geneva, read the FT daily, that might make you intelligent but really just about a certain sliver of the world.
I think it does matter what you said and it's telling you won't share it.

He's an arsehole. How long will you tolerate tiptoeing around your own husband so that he doesn't treat you like the village idiot in order to inflate his own ego?

Because it’s entirely relevant to whether the OP is actually curious about the world and / or intelligent.

Usual shite
Your above him by leagues and this is the only niche he can find to bring you to his level

Insecure twat
Run

Your partner needs to spend some time around people who really are shallow and dim. Bit like my sister in law and her husband. They don't travel, read, ever leave their home town.They go to work in the same jobs they have done since leaving school, and watch telly. No curiosity about anything and talking to them is like wading through treacle.

This.

He sounds incredibly pretentious, patronising and clearly has a pretty big chip on his shoulder. I have had relationships in the past with men who were simultaneously arrogant and extremely insecure and it's a recipe for disaster. They want a DP who is intelligent, educated and well travelled because they think it reflects well on them, but they also feel threatened by it. I remember one of my boyfriends presenting me with a copy of what he obviously thought was quite an obscure novel, telling me it would "change my life" and then being irrationally angry when I said "oh thank you so much, that's really thoughtful but I've actually read it", he even accused me of lying about having read it. Put simply, they want a DP who is almost but not quite as intelligent as them.

Undermining and criticising you to make himself feel superior is a big red flag IMO. Tell him you are curious about the world actually, so much so you're leaving to see what else, and who else, is out there because you deserve better than to be condescended to by this pompous twat, OP.

I suspect you have areas of expertise that he knows little or nothing about. Start talking about them. When he demonstrates either that he doesn't know about them or isn't interested, point out to him that you could have reacted the same way he did but that you haven't because you're a grown-up and realise no-one knows everything about everything.

Everyone is telling you he's a twat because this is MN.

But if you've used the words 'indigenous people' and 'British history' in the same sentence, it sounds like you may have said something quite dodgy, bordering on the racist.

And you're refusing to tell us what it was.

Also, do you tell him his job is 'menial'?

He’s over compensating from a place of insecurity and putting you down to make him feel better.
I’ve had exactly the same experience in a relationship. it was doomed. I ended up doing verbal acrobatics to avoid setting him off. so unpleasant to have to do!

He's punching intellectually op and he knows it. In fact...he's probably punching in general.

Bog standard abusive twat behaviour, sadly. I imagine there are lots of other red flags too, if you reflect on the relationship a bit. Does he need his ego stroking a lot? Sounds a lot like my abusive ex.

His comment about naming the oceans and telling you he thought you could do "better than that" is just setting up some invisible and impossible standard that he's going to hold you to, without ever telling you what it is, only that you fail to reach it because you're not curious, whatever the fuck that means.

Op he sounds deeply insecure. What he said to you and how he reacted tells us more about him than you.

I am educated to post grad level and so is DH we are both interested in the world and politics, but I have largely checked out of current affairs, outside my job which is intense and deals with people in crisis situations. I have read the classics, I have better historical knowledge, I am wider read and engaged with films/ arts etc. DH is on top of current affairs, music and sport together we are equally ignorant on science topics and for that we rely on ds. We respect each others intelligence and would never belittle each other for a knowledge gap or an error. I am really terrible with names, everyone is whatisname, I can't get the children's names right so we laugh about that.

The conversation you described was deeply uncomfortable - if your DH respects you he should be reminded that he needs to treat you with respect. If his insecurity about his lack of a degree is affecting him so much he needs to face up to that. Or he is just a dick who thinks it is ok to make his partner feel like you did. I am sorry op.

Oh god goodness sake. So the correct reaction was to scream at somebody? I highly doubt it was racist.
The OP was giving context into their backgrounds, that he may not have a Degree or a professional level job but that he's very intelligent.
Stop picking

I was chatting to him yesterday and I said something about the topic of indigenous people. Looking back it was clumsily worded really, but I know what I meant. He reacted as if I'd asked him to spell my own name. He said, "Omg seriously!!" "Like come on!!" "How on earth can you not know that!!" "What the hell!" He was clearly annoyed, and I told him that I didn't think it had warranted such an angry reaction, I hadn't said anything controversial or offensive.
Later on we got into a discussion about it and I asked him if he'd have reacted like that if someone else had said it, i.e. a colleague or family member. I couldn't imagine him doing so. He said, "No, as I don't think they'd say something like that." He then calmly explained the mistake I'd made about indigenous people and I told him that's all that had been required.

Anyway during our discussion he did apologise for overreacting and then told me that I'm great but he "wishes I had more curiosity about the world."

Im sorry but I’m on team it really matters what you said regarding indigenous people. You won’t say what you said despite being repeatedly asked. Which has also led me to think it may actually be offensive, and if about indigenous people outside the British Isles, possibly xenophobic or racist. In which case his reaction wouldn’t have been an over-reaction imho. The “more curiosity about the world” may really a very polite way of saying “educate yourself”.

I also note you haven’t mentioned what your Masters degree is in? So it’s unlikely it’s one where you’ve been educated to a higher level than him on indigenous peoples.

Also the comparison to his 80yr old relative who said she couldn’t picture where NYC is on a map is a self-deprecating joke one makes about geography skills. It’s not really comparable to saying something about “indigenous people” that then causes shock, disgust and anger,

He sounds like a right knobhead.

So she could have been asking what happened to the indigenous people of Angola when the British invaded

... It's hardly racist but I rather think the French took Angola... so might class as dim

But it's nothing about curiosity - curiosity is asking the question , continually expanding knowledge , what he seems to be complaining about is what facts you do/don't know

Which does feel like an inferiority problem