To think some people are so thick it’s almost beyond parody

[Annecydrone]

Photo on local history Facebook group. A beautiful Georgian mansion, taken in the 1930s. The post clearly explains that the mansion was demolished in the 1950s after a devastating fire destroyed most the structure, at which time it was in private hands. There’s a second photo of the shell of the building post-fire, clearly showing all but one wall standing.

Comments underneath include people
blaming the council for not preserving the mansion, demolishing it for “profit” at the behest of “developers” (despite the council not owing it, selling it or giving permission to build on it); how the failure to preserve the mansion was “woke” and shows the left’s disrespect for our heritage; several entirely serious posts about the land probably being used for a Mosque.

The land where it stood is still empty and still privately owned (as far as I can see).

Are people genuinely this stupid or are they keen to shoehorn their political views into literally anything?

The people on fb who repost competitions that blatantly don’t exist, along with the sob story of why they should win it.

’We deserve this caravan holiday because in 1983 my Uncle’s cousin had his tonsils out, he was never the same, my dog has no legs and is in a wheelchair and I have one leg shorter than the other. So please can we win as we’re all survivors’.

Then someone replies: it’s fake Judith.

I agree, these days it's cool to be thick. Like all the people who proudly say "I can't do Maths, me!" Like some demented badge of honour.

And reality TV, I have not watched whole episodes of Love Island but some of the clips I have seen seem to indicate that it is almost a badge of honour to be ignorant. Ironically, we have a world of information at our fingertips but people seem loathe to use it.

But very few would say they struggle to read.

There's an awful lot of bottery (is that a word?) playing on nostalgia for racist ends in my view. History pages posting pictures of say, London in the 60s, and comments always include things like 'it was so wonderful then, you wouldn't recognise it now' (with the inference that there were only white people around then).

Made me laugh the other day when there was a host of similar comments under a post about slums (by a real person, who subsequently pointed out how dreadful it was to live under those conditions).

Interesting link about weaponised nostalgia here: Weaponized Nostalgia: How the Past Became a Political Tool

I see a lot of this online. I don't know whether it's badly programmed bots or people not really engaging with the details of posts. I shared something e.g. an Easter parade in the town centre starting at 3pm. The comments I got included 'they never do this in [town] only [nearby other town' despite the fact it literally says it's in town. 'They never do anything for Easter only [other religious festival] despite the fact it literally said Easter. And the rude 'Where and when' no please or thank you.

I honestly despair at people's ability to engage with even the simplest of language.

Some people are so caught up in their own agenda they can’t see the facts.

And yes I do understand the irony of posting that statement on MN 😘

I think, though bots clearly exist and are used to some extent on FB and the like, you only have to listen to vox pop interviews on the telly or radio to realise that many many people are thick, uninformed, wrongly informed and/or horribly bigotted. Local TV and radio are by far the best at finding the worst of the worst to interview and they manifestly aren't bots. They walk among us, folks.

Some of what I read on MN makes me think how some people are getting through life.

I agree, and it is of course psychologically much more comfortable to blame anyone else but yourself if your life hasn't turned out the way you wanted. I have an ex (for a reason!) who has turned into the most rabid Reform supporter, completely on board with the idea of a Muslim 'invasion' etc etc and full of misty-eyed thoughts about an idyllic past that really never existed. He had a council house with the right to buy (and didn't because he never had the money as he was on benefits even though he was more than able to work - this was in the 80s when it was easier to claim). So now in old age, he is still renting and extremely bitter. If he had managed his life sensibly, he would have been sitting pretty, but he isn't and it's all the fault of them forriners (and 'Liebour').

Many people's reading comprehension is shocking, you see it on here all the time.

I agree that Facebook is worse and it's infuriating. I'm on a group where someone was asking "when will Summer 2028 holidays be on sale?" and many of the responses were "I'm already booked for July 2027." That's lovely for you Pamela, but not what was being asked!

Exactly.

The issue with social media and the internet is that it gives everyone the same opportunity to allow their opinion to be seen by large numbers of people.

This creates the impression that everyone's thoughts and opinions are equally valid, whether they are expert opinions backed up by data and research, or the rantings of an uninformed crackpot.

Before social media opinions would be spread by newspapers, radio and TV. Of course those aren't perfect media, especially tabloids, but it would mean that the local thickie Joe Bloggs would have his ridiculous thoughts restricted to his friends, family, the local pub, perhaps at a push the letters page of a newspaper if they decided to publish. Many of them would tell him to shut up and stop talking utter rubbish.

Nowadays he can spout his ramblings all over social media, using his terrible grammar and spelling, enabling him and others of a similar ilk to think what he's saying has validity, and putting it in the exact same space as someone who is a world renowned expert in the subject. Many people are too stupid to realise the difference.

It is extremely, extremely rude to call people thick, stupid
Also it could be held to be disablist and abusive
I find it incredible that people posting here are not aware of that
So YABU as are all the posters agreeing with you - being 96 percent or so which I find both shocking and not shocking at the same time

It would have been better if you had written "unbelievable how many people post rubbish and nonsense and don't bother to read things properly" as that is what you meant, your insults, abuse, name calling were not be necessary to make your point. HTH

It would only be disablist if the person being described as 'stupid' had an intellectual disability, surely?

Looking at the latest figures for voting intentions, I can't disagree with you.

The irony is this is an incredibly bot-ysounding comment, which completely encapsulates what OP is annoyed about- a desperate grasp to shoehorn some nasty judgement in and air your views on a section of the population you feel superior to despite it having absolutely to relevance to the topic at hand, nor making any sense in and of itself.

What's wrong with someone tagging a friend in something that might be of use to them? Why on earth would you assume what they might be eating while doing so, and how is the cost of the brownie you've got absolutely no evidence they were actually consuming, relevant at all? The woman eating the hypothetical brownie might not have kids or already have their uniform sorted - either way I doubt the place selling the uniforms would exchange them for a brownie in lieu of cash.

Complete nonsense but as long as you can get your kicks in.

YANBU - it appears the movie Idiocracy was potentially a documentary about the future 😩

It would be great if all mankind woke up and realized that social media (this site included), is largely now driven by bots and just stopped using it altogether so we could all go back to a life less ordinary. How the human race ever actively 'evolved' to seek out pictures and opinions of vacuous, preening airheads is beyond comprehension

There’s a whole subgroup of people who go through life putting their energy into getting other people to do things for them. It never occurs to them to, for example, learn how to change a lightbulb, put a plug on, bake a cake or knit a hat. (These are all things I’ve been asked to do by other people). The fact that NOBODY was born knowing these things and everyone learned at some point just passes them by.

There is great thickness on facebook, especially amongst those who take a political stance and wave flags.

Oh god, yes! Drives me nuts.

Yes unfortunately.

Was informed by a local idiot racist, that something has been pulled down to make a carpark near a local Mosque. No. 1930s house with damaged roof due to storms and bad subsides due to tree roots etc and shallow foundations was pulled down. I new structure is waiting on planning permission.

If he closes at random times throughout the day, whether or not he was open earlier isn't really useful information.

Was watching an old film with a friend the other day and it turned out that she thought the battle of Waterloo was fought on the site of the London station.
Maybe that's a reasonable mistake to make? I don't personally think so but I can be a bit judgy.

You get that a lot on Facebook and it's annoying. I once asked if anyone in my city had issues getting hold of a certain medication / where's best to go. Explained where I'd tried. Person one suggests somewhere. Person two just replied with "ooh, another person from <city>". And?

I've lost count of the amount of times I've asked a question and put some information in my post. There's always someone who hasn't read it properly and asks about something I've already mentioned