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?

OK- to be more accurate when walking down the street 😁. She did disapprove of entering pubs though, but back then "respectable" women didn't frequent them.(1950s)

Gosh I’ve had this recently. A (distant) relative (related through marriage) is convinced the earth is flat - the discussion was bought on by the NASA updates.

Honestly I’m in shock.

I think it’s not easy when you realise there are more people without common sense, than those with.

I have to go to our satellite office in Bedfordshire about once a fortnight and I drive past a house with a flag outside that says “Stop the boats.” I always wonder what the owner thinks this sends as a message especially given the distance from any boats at all, save for the odd barge maybe.

No, not quite. Averages work by adding the total then dividing by units. This works even if the spread is uneven
Think you mean the median, which sits exactly in the middle of a distribution.

And I see that it's been explained in much greater detail upthread, so 😏

No that is the mean - the average can be mean, median or mode.

Well no, not quite.
’Average’ isn’t a precisely defined mathematical term. While its commonest usage is as a synonym for the mean, which is what you describe, it can also be used for other statistical measures such as the median or mode.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average

Not true. I was automatically given this label when I went over 1K followers on FB. I didn’t even realise until a while later! And I’m definitely real and post nice things not clickbait.

fear of using anything apart from stock phrases and answers

Yes, I find people's reliance on clichés on MN (which is where I get experience of more people than RL) really irritating.

I wish people would think for themselves.

I dumped an ex because he'd get arsey when I used a word he didn't know. He was a copper, funnily enough.

I’ve always wondered what would happen if they had a genuinely intelligent person on something like Love Island. I mean, they’d never make it past vetting; the entire point of Love Island and all the shite like it is to keep people drunk 24/7 so you can hopefully catch them acting in the most dramatic way possible.

I’ve seen 15 year olds today who are a hot mess - they can barely type, they can barely spell, and EVERYTHING is a huge fucking drama to them. They’re like… the post-TOWIE generation? They’ve spent their whole lives watching people act stupid and get paid for it and live glamourous, idiotic lives. So, not a big surprise that they assume it’s fucking tickety boo to be lacking intelligence and imagination.

On the surface, it does sound stupid; BUT to be fair to Pamela, it isn't necessarily. By confirming that she's been able to book for the summer of 2027 already, might she not be intending to clearly convey that you definitely can book in the spring of one year for a holiday in the summer of the next year, and don't need to wait any later than that?

After all, if poor Pam had simply said "They/at least some will be on sale by spring 2027 at the latest", somebody would probably reply and demand to know how she can know that - and then she's left giving her own extrapolable experience as 'proof' anyway!

Why do bots want to earn all that money, though? What does a bot even have to spend money on?!

I'm not usually one to criticise bad grammar on MN threads, but just a little hint to at least two people on this thread: it's probably better to avoid using 'alot' as though it were an actual word when commenting on how thick people are!

I did not realise how stupid most people were until I got a job as a library assistant (age 16) and began working with the public. And those were the ones who could read! Well they borrowed books so I assume they read them.

Even if they do venture to try to read them, they're probably still the ones who use a rasher of bacon or a cheese slice intended for a burger as a bookmark!

I was once lucky enough to find a £10 note bookmark.

I don't even think they get as far as deciding that intelligence is overrated; it's just that, if you've never known or been able to understand something, it simply may as well not exist in the first place to you.

It's a bit like trying to discuss the mechanics and ethics of compound interest with a newborn baby; although at least there's a chance there that the baby will understand the concept at some stage in the future!

That's just as mad, though! Surely most people would have an old receipt, shopping list or other scrap of paper around somewhere - long before they would even think to effectively hide a tenner in a place where they very well may not see it again!

On the other hand, I suppose it could be a deliberate act by a local philanthropist hoping to brighten up a random person's day; or it could be a genuine sign of cognitive decline or somebody otherwise vulnerable

I've just had a post suggested to me on Facebook about a house swap. It goes like this (with details edited for privacy)

2 bed house near Big Shopping Park wanted 3 bed house near Big School.

Comments
Your house is messy (well yes but it's overcrowded see sentence above) and if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all (all done on an anonymous account e.g. GreenLlama234)
Tag person has a 4 bed in Middle Place (close to Middle School but not Big School)
I have a 3 bed in Little Town (which is further away from Big School that current 2 bed house!)

I really feel for 2 bed person as they have to scroll through the rude comments and thick as replies.

To be fair to the late Jade Goody, I expect she was exploited by the programme who no doubt edited her comments

I wouldn't blame her personally for the many thick celebrities on TV - she was an uneducated working class girl who made good copy and died very young

Watch any episode of House of Games and you’ll see “thick” in action.

People Born and Educated over here that can’t point to London on a map, think James 1st was on the throne in 1860, don’t know the dates of WW2.. the basics of History and Geography passing them by.

Whats worse is that the basic lack of knowledge is seen as funny.. when it really isn’t

Yes, I always find myself watching those rounds where they're asked to write down the date of the Battle of Culloden or put a dot on Paraguay on a world map through my hands.

Though I mean, it's a mild comedy programme, with mostly comedians and the odd sportsperson or TV presenter playing -- they're not going to cast someone who would take getting it utterly wrong in any way seriously.

Take a look at our Government front bench.

What more is there to be said!

The general thickness of many people never fails to amaze me.

As above. The general thickness of many people never fails to amaze.