Do people pretend not to know who people are in order to seem intelligent?

[coulditbeme2323]

Do people pretend not to know who people are in order to seem intelligent?

This question is prompted from reading comments online re The Met Gala?

Now let me prefix this by saying I have no interest in reality tv, Showbiz mags, etc - but surely there are some people who you know who they are because everybody does!

There were people saying "who" on a photo of Kim Kardashian. I have never seen an episode of the show, have no interest in her, but of course I know who she is - because how can you not?

Another British example is Jordan/Kate Price. No interest in her, but she has literally been headline news in The UK for 20 years. If you live in The UK - surely its impossible to not at least know who she is?

That's the one
He's a convicted sex offender

"... I also find it very hard to believe that someone could not name one single Taylor Swift song, or that they thought Taylor was a man until last year! Unless you live in a cave and have never used the internet, I find all this unlikely."

I'm afraid I think your incredulity shows more about your very limited life experience than it does about the knowledge or ignorance of others.

I do happen to know - no idea why - that Taylor Swift is a female who could be described to a judge as "I believe she is a singer of popular songs, m'lud", but I certainly couldn't name one of her songs.

She'll be forgotten in 20 years.

I'd be more impressed if you could find somebody who could name a Taylor Swift song but couldn't name a Beatles' song

Just saw the headshots for new Celebrity Traitors. Out of 21 photos, I only recognise 10 of them 🤷🏼‍♀️

I assume the rest are fairly well known for the BBC to cast them, but I don’t care enough to look up.

Love the show and looking forward to watching it. Just irrelevant who is on there imo.

The 'It's a Knockout' Stuart Hall was the convicted sex offender.

Professor Stuart Hall was a sociologist, cultural theorist and political activist. It was his misfortunate to have shared a name with the former bloke.

Sorry that's who I meant the it's a knockout one
I've obviously missed a bit.
That'll teach me to read it all

From what I've just searched online about Swift her target audience is apparently teenage girls. Given I'm a 6 Music and Radio 3 addict: an extremely uncool aging rocker who likes metal, goth, some 80s synth bands, a variety of west coast prog rock banks like The Doors and the Mac, and a goodly smattering of classical recitials and opera (they can keep the Proms, though!), then it's hardly surprising if people like me are not exactly her target listeners!

Ye gods.

What I also saw during my www search is that apparently she's a distant relative of the brilliant Emily Dickinson. But from a cursory examination of her command of words I can clearly see which was the better lyricist.

Now I really will get me coat ....

I'd likely know the song yet not know it was her.

No worries at all. Being a former lover of 'It's a Knockout' I'm clearly showing that my age is probably why half these so-called celebs have completely passed me by.

I'm a dinosaur!

This 😂

I cant name any Taylor Swift songs but could name and sing the lyrics to most of the Beatles songs. I can also sing the lyrics of Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice.

I'll see myself out.

‘I’m far too interested in intellectual pursuits to know who these people are. Unless they’re world class artists or surgeons or philosophers then I’m afraid I shall not lower myself to the level of the ordinary knowledge base a pleb has. So I shall sit here and refuse to google who they are for doing so will make me, a lofty intelligent intellectual, a pleb just like everyone else. And what could be worse than being ‘like everyone else’?’

Its all very…..‘I am not the sort of person who buys his own furniture’ I think.

I don’t watch Love Island because I fear it might show itself to be very addictive because it’s not my kind of thing but I know how to google and if I wanted to join in with a conversation about a contestant I wouldn’t hesitate to google them and educate myself.

I saw a quiz once to find out your class, and one of the things that you got ‘points’ for was knowing a wide range of different types of people from different places, different genres of music, relationships (friend etc) with people with different education levels, jobs etc., knowledge of different cultures etc. Being a Radio 3 fan who visited art galleries did not get you many points but attending a rap gig AND a classical music concert did get points.

(and I’ve just seen something about not knowing any Taylor Swift songs - I don’t think I do, but I certainly know who she is, her DP, her tours, her air travel, etc.)

I think there will be some snobbery like you say, but as you see on this thread, plenty people just have zero interest in celebrities and some even in current affairs at all. And that’s ok isn’t it, we can have different interests? Like you said you know nothing about football but know David Beckham - isn’t that mainly because he’s a celebrity? There will be many footballers you’ve never heard of because you don’t follow it. Same with other people and celebs.

I’ve heard of Kim K but couldn’t pick her out as I’ve never watched the show and wouldn’t be interested in reading an article about her. Know all the other ones youve mentioned though.

Depends on what how the conversation goes.

If you talk about KK and use her name I would be able to have a half hearted conversation with you.

If you showed me a picture of her, I would be non the wiser and the same goes for most Celebs.

I couldn't name any of the others in the family with the exception of Jenner.

@Hillsmakeyoustrong I can also sing the lyrics of Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice.

Is he the one who was on that farming reality show which ended with Rebecca Loos ‘encouraging’ a pig to give a sperm sample? 😂

#LoweringTheTone

Yes, she was a black woman who was a mathematician and worked for NASA. Quite impressed with myself for remembering. (I haven't seen the film, I should do, because it looks wonderful.)

I can name one Taylor Swift song! Never felt so in-touch.

😁yes especially when it is followed up with I am not interested in celebrity gossip when they have shown an interest

I think you're both wrong actually. I think there are lots of people who couldn't name a Taylor Swift song and the primary reason for that is nothing to do with snobbery, it's age. Most of us develop our musical tastes in our youth and basically stick with them. My children have introduced me to a few modern artists but as none of them are Taylor Swift fans I have never heard any of her music. Well not knowingly anyway, I guess I might have heard it in shops etc and not recognised it. I don't listen to the radio much and when I do it is to stations that play my era music, like many people do. I am not sure exactly why anyone would expect people who are not the target audience of a particular artist to know their music. My Mum and Dad didn't know much about the bands I was into in the 80s - same with me and TS.
However, I don't think she is an inconsequential musician. She's been recording for over 20 years already so is no flash in the pan and clearly has a huge fan base. I know she has won lots of awards and is generally well regarded. I doubt she'll be forgotten in 20 years. Maybe I would like her music if I listened to it but to be honest I have so much that I already enjoy listening to that I can't really be bothered. But it's perfectly possible to have no personal interest in someone and still recognise that they are of musical/cultural/sporting etc significance. I'm aware of TS as she is a famous person who gets mentioned on the news sometimes but to be honest I am not even sure what style of music she performs - not because I'm a snob (I wouldn't say my musical tastes are particularly high brow) but because I'm old!

I'm a Goth/metalhead nearing middle age. Of Taylor Swift's songs I quite like Anti-Hero and Look What You Made Me Do (the latter because someone years ago did a Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy lip sync and dance to it.😅)

Growing up with face blindness and in a household with little exposure to social media, I failed to recognise famous people often. The ridicule I received as a result led me to decide it was better to be proudly and consistently ignorant than trying to fit in. So yes inverted snobbery happens (and I would put the commenters in that category) but so does genuine lack of recognition.

It's also important to recognise that our online exposure is very different - going through my socials you'd wonder who wouldn't recognise Brennan Lee Mulligan or Matt Mercer but I recognise that people who don't have just got different feeds!

I enjoyed some of the crazy fashion from the met gala but had very little knowledge or recognition of the people wearing it. I find people who are basically famous for being famous very tedious. I wouldn't dream of posting who? but also couldn't be bothered googling.

Yes, why on earth would I recognise Kim Kardashian? I’m not sure we hat she does, so probably she only appears in celebrity things which I don’t buy:look at. Otherwise where would our paths cross, on the other hand I could tell you the inside leg measurements of numerous members of bands the OP has never heard of, the tarot correspondences to the Kabbalistic tree of life (along with the angels) and could discuss Romantic poets for days. I don’t care the OP couldn’t, why would I? She simply has different interests. So I’m entirely with you (and used the words couldn’t pick her out of a line up cos I genuinely couldn’t)

What I find worrying is that the OP ( like so many others just simply can’t imagine anyone not having the same points of reference, interests and views as her)

@NoCommentingFromNowOn 😂 i didnt see that programme but according to Google yep.

When that song first came out I was 13 and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Along with my acid top and dungarees 😂.

I think age, interests, music taste, use (or not) of SM along with how different brains are wired accounts for what data gets filed away or deleted. You can't label everyone a snob just because they cant name a Taylor Swift song!

I wouldn't recognise Kim Kardashian at all. I've heard the name but no idea what she looks like

Both of these women have had massive amounts of plastic surgery and are barely recognisable as their previous selves. They're also well past their peak of cultural relevance - in 2016 Kim K was still everywhere and I think you'd have a point, but in 2026 I think even Kendall and Kylie are fading out of relevance to teens. The Kardashians have had their day, and all you have to do to be in ignorance of Katie Price is avoid the tabloids. It's not that hard to do.

I really think that's all it is. Their stars have faded. I remember not knowing who Jason Donovan or Peter Andre were in the 2000s. Not a clue!

think you're both wrong actually. I think there are lots of people who couldn't name a Taylor Swift song and the primary reason for that is nothing to do with snobbery, it's age

Only up to a point. The Taylor Swift fans I know who went to the Edinburgh concert are in their mid to late 50s and early 60s.

Off the top of my head 4 of my favourite contemporary non classical artists post date Taylor Swift either in age or first career recognition. There are many more. A huge amount, perhaps most, of my non classical music collection is well beyond "my youth" .

You’ll definitely get people who think that commenting “WHO?” or something along the lines of “nobody cares” shows some sort of superiority.

Personally, I know of the Kardashians but I couldn’t pick one out in a lineup and have no idea what they have achieved in life that makes them worthy of being called celebrities. But if one was announced for Strictly, for example, it would be a name I knew.

On that note, people commenting on announcements for programmes like Strictly always make me laugh when they appear so affronted that they haven’t heard of a particular “celeb”. The lineup isn’t put together just to keep you happy, I remember I had no idea who Hamza Yassin was, as I’m not his target demographic, but for me part of the joy of it all is finding somebody new that you really like!