I can't believe people don't know that?

[Doingtheboxerbeat]

Does anyone else get annoyed when people ask this? To me, It's sounds so smug and ignorant at the same time.

Now I understand Google is free and that we have answers to all things at our fingertips, but you would need to have starting point first. You can't just tap on your device Google, fill in the gaps in my knowledge or tell me all the things I don't know, about the history of everything.

We can't know everything and this is so different from those who don't want to know stuff.
Like the guy I went on a date with last year - I made a throw away comment about us being typical Gen Xers and he asked me what tf is a Gen Xer and when I tried to explain he promptly stuck his tongue in my mouth 🤭 he didn't give a shit, obviously. Like I said, that's a bit different.

I went to RoI pre Euros and practically everywhere were incredibly happy to take UK currency, once my English accent was clocked they would tell me I was welcome to pay in sterling (I understand it was worth more than Punts at the time). I had changed currency, it was just the rapidity of the offer of taking Sterling, only for my convenience, of course!.

im repeat offender of sudden (sensible)revelations known as "common sense" ....spoze i just kind of accept minimal intrest info,without query,question,or give any thought at all so ...unlimited history of...updated actual factullys.
Most recent ds2 pointed out recently installed defriblirator installed on wall at local shop. Told me-thats where get defirbilator in a hurry. usual..brely a thot-i sid,,hmff am sure they must believe is life save equipment,needed by community...but i dont drive-zakli how am i spoze drag a near corpse two streets away to use the bloody thing? in the heat of emergency respondering.
hes 14. i think he said fuck off, you are crazy. emergency services give you code to unlock the case-take device to the patient.
how have you got this far in life without a full time carer...if.IF event re emergency ever occurs.make lots a noise, wake entire street...send lassie for help......
is funny (ish)cos we know exactly what ida done.
how does he know these things.....it doesnt say that on stickers.

It's usually white pollock and why you wont find crabsticks labelled as such anymore and rather the more generic "Seafood sticks"

I think it depends on the topics though doesn't it. I know nothing about cricket and would struggle to name a player apart from Ian Botham. I am not interested in film and couldn't really tell you who was in which film, or who directed it or anything like that.

But that's really more about interests or preferences. It's a whole other level from thinking Canada is in the United States, not knowing who the Prime Minister is, or not knowing the capital of France. That is basic knowledge and you have to work hard to not know that sort of thing.

Having said that, some people wear their "never watch the news, never read a book, school is for losers" attitude like a badge of honour.

They are hopefully made out of fish though

"You have to work hard not to know that sort of thing" is solid gold and spot on 👌.

I don’t know. Some things that should be basic core knowledge

But what people think should be basic core knowledge differs.

I agree that people should know that Ireland is not the same country as the UK and that they should know where Jersey is.

But I remember young people being mocked on here a couple of years ago for not knowing Freddie Mercury was dead. I am not sure that is "core knowledge" especially if you aren't a Queen fan.

People are interested in what they are interested in. I like history and geography so think they should be core knowledge. I know very little about popular culture because I am not interested.

Like other posters, I think it depends on what it is.
I like @DrZaraCarmichael 's suggestion about there being some things you'd have to work hard to not know, and those people who wear ignorance as a badge of honour being a very different scenario from facts about things that don't particularly interest us, or that are from another era or another culture.

There's also something about the tone of the astonishment of finding out someone doesn't know something that seems pretty obvious to you.

I do think it a lot, but I don't say it. Especially about food. Do people really not know that meat comes from animals, and from which animals it comes? That milk comes from cows (and goats and sheep) and that almond/rice/oat milk is a completely different substance? And what vegetarians can eat, and the same for a vegan (but more what they CAN'T eat). And what carbohydrates are, at a basic level. And what vitamins are... even if they don't know what foods they are in and what they do.
I often read about Americans not knowing that people from different countries speak different languages, and that Mexico and Spain are different countries. I know this isn't a representation of all Americans but really isn't this basic knowledge? Apparently not. I am so thankful that I have a curious nature and like finding things out, and that I had a mother who read and was interested in things.
I am very aware that I have good general knowledge simply because I read and am interested in things and that others are not as lucky/interested/don't have that opportunity and I try not to judge... but I do, a bit, inside.

My answer to them usually is!
Just because you find it interesting doesn't mean everyone else does!
I've no interest in that so have never needed to know it.

I think there are some things to do with the way the world or society works that I'd expect people to know.

Like, the basics of the germ theory of disease, and why that means you should wash your hands after using the toilet and before preparing or eating food.

Or how compound interest works and so why it's good to pay off debts quickly.

I think there are a few things like that where I'd be surprised to meet someone who didn't know about them.

I was going on holiday to Krakow and mentioned to a colleague I would be visiting Auschwitz during the trip, she responded with “What’s that”? This is a woman in her 40s. I was polite but astonished.

It depends. It doesn't matter if you don't follow popular culture or know the ingredients of a cocktail. If you don't know who is prime minister or how to safely handle raw chicken then that's a bit more of a problem

People who do this lack the emotional intelligence to understand that what they consider ‘basic, core knowledge’ is not something that everyone has had access to during their lives, for many multi-layered, multi-factorial reasons.

i only know that because of the tsunami in 2004
But I’m pretty sure that if I was sunbathing on a beach now or in the future and saw water withdrawing dramatically I would be up and running off that beach quicker than a donkey 😂

Yes I only know that because of the 2004 tsunami too.

But I did see it in a film too, but it was after 2004.

On the tsunami thing - if you live around the Pacific you'd know that as a tsunami is a real risk. Not so much in the UK.

Still not on the same level as not knowing who the PM is, or where Cardiff is.

I always think people who say that aren't the sharpest tools in the shed themselves, know it deep down and try to feel better at other people's expense. They give themselves away by confusing knowledge, which is really just exposure to, and the ability to and memorise facts, with intelligence. Which is something entirely different.

10000 people a day, worldwide, discover that the Titanic event actually happened and wasn’t just a story.

Nobody knows anything until they do. It’s a bit unreasonable/unkind to expect everyone to know what you know, and you don’t get people to find out more by patronising them.

As a proud Cardiffian, I not only know where it is, but encounter people daily who don’t know that Wales is a separate country and not part of England.

I also hate it when people say ' oh you'll know, this you did history.' And then act all surprised when I don't know.

I didn't do a degree in every second of anything that's ever happened so no, I might not know which king died in 1182.

My MIL also says flatly, in the same tone, every single time anything to do with geography comes up. 'Oh I should know that, I did A Level Geography.' Makes me want to poke my eye out.

Anyway - my husband and I actually had the conversation about prunes the other day and neither of us knew what fruit they were. So reading this thread, we now do! (We didn't know as neither of us like them).

There's plenty out there that I don't know. I do a highly technical job, and know loads about that. I have pretty good general knowledge. But on topics I am not interested in, there's plenty of obvious stuff I don't know!

Well, you know, historically Wales did become part of England. There was an Act of Parliament during Henry VIII's reign that had all English law apply in Wales, and the Kingdom of England incorporated Wales.

Legally this was very different to the Act of Union that created the Kingdom of Great Britain by unifying the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland. That is why there's no part of the Union flag that represents Wales, while there are elements that represent England, Scotland and [Northern] Ireland.

It is, however, not hard for me to believe that you don't know that because lots of people don't know the nuances of the history.

The currency example is fair enough, but I can definitely see why saying “I can’t believe you didn’t know that” about Jersey is along the same sarky vein. I know where Jersey is because my mum visits frequently, but it’s definitely not on any school syllabus that I’ve ever studied, so I wouldn’t blame anyone I went to school with for not knowing it.