Why is "being a bit thick" seen as somehow "cool"?

[hunkermunker]

Why isn't knowing stuff cool when you're young? Does it get more "cool" as you get older?

(I'm aware that cool is slightly cringy, btw - but can't be arsed to think of a better way to put it...)

Think somehow this is very English. Can't remember that it was cool to be thick in Wales years and years back. It isn't cool here either.

Dust where, Pruni?!

" why is being in capapble an excuse foreverything"
crap parenting criminal activities etceetc

spoddy kids are fine if happy, relaxed and encouraged to do other things by parents

spoddy kids are painful when parents bleat on about how stressful it is having a brainy kid and the kid is wrapped in cotton wool

Have come to the miserable conclusion that it all comes back to the tragedy of 'sleb culture'. Did you see Love Island? (just the kind of intellectually stimulating viewing I thrive on) Each and every one of them was DUMB, and seemingly proud to think that Snowdonia was in Poland, and not know where China was on a map etc etc. It was aaaagonizing. Especially in view of the fact that these are the people our children see as role models.

was just in school wathcign a class in governoly role.
kids came in 30 mins late - missed allt he set up nad instructions and the story they are woring on ( reception)

turns out the parent rang up fisrt thing saying she had "been to A and E last night and didnt feel up to bringin the kids to shcool"

she lioves like a 2 minute walk away.

head" cna no one bring the kids to shcool"
no. so head says well thast no good really ( thinking if she lets her get off now then she will do ti every morning.)

Kid comes in.
WHY IS BEINGF CRAP AN EXCUSE?

cult of mediocrity. Take Beckham - all the pro footballers I know say he's ok at his level, not the best, not the worst just ok. Yet he's the superstar. Spice girls - really the best music of the time or just the least challenging? X factor - really the best singers... or just the ones that sound like stuff we are already comfortable with? Ikea - well though through design or cheap copies of things that work? etc etc

I value intelligence highly, very highly. Education and knowledge give you options, choices, decisions, challenges, power over yourself. Choosing to be thick limits those options. I don't understand why people would want to do that.

adn imagine if i did htat
larks
was bad enough taking kid to Paris

'cult of mediocrity' always sounds soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo snobby and pretentious

sorry

i'd say David Beckham was a pretty good footballer tbh!

thats the point tho Enid - he is a good footballer, you can't dispute that but he isn't the best according to those in his profession. Can't remember the names that these guys gave as the best because I hadn't heard of them before. Same with Henman - he's celebrated as a tennis star for coming 5th consistently. Yay. Would we do the same for a surgeon who removed almost all the tumour? We seem to have accepted an "alright" result rather than aimed for the best.

(and you're right it is wanky as an expression but sums it up)

I really don't know this either Hunkermunker
I grew up in a family where finding stuff out, having an enquiring mind and making the most of your education was strongly encouraged as both my parents had fragmented childhoods with a lot of sadness, so missed out on many years of schooling.
My children are being encouraged along the same lines. The ability to identify, process and retrieve information appropriately for later usage, whether it is about Biker Mice or Theseus and the Minotaur, is a life skill that I see as the antithesis of uncool. If you are endlessly curious about life you will never be bored or boring.
Hand in hand with dealing with what you read/see comes emotional intelligence - "reading" other people and responding to them sensitively. I am surprised at how many children of my acquaintance, mainly boys I have to say...who need it more IMO...seem not to be getting guidance on this

who cares who is the 'best'?

how daft, it changes on a weekly basis

and it is utterly subjective

ok am not being clear - the reason I care whether our sporting heroes/singers strive for the best possible result is because I constantly get "oh that'll do" or "its not great but its ok" when people present ideas/proposals to me at work.

And NO it won't do ffs, NO,its not ok. If you work then your work represents you at some level, do you really think so little of yourself that "it'll do" is the way you want to show yourself to the world? Do you really think clients should pay for adequate when they could have excellent? Isn't it better to make sure there aren't typos in that letter first? or that the burger is actually in the bun? [rant... oops]

I just think its a shame and a disappointment when people settle for less than they're capable of, when they don't take care over what they do whatever that is whether its changing a nappy or changing government policy.

well I think as far as footballers go david beckham is good enough

I think there's a balance between striving for the best and knowing when to say "this is good enough".

Too many girls and women feel they are never good enough, whether it be at exams, being slim, mothering, work, sex, whatever, and keep themselves in a state of mad competitiveness which can lead to mental illness imo. Isn't anorexia nervosa linked to the quest for perfection? I don't really know how to encourage doing your very best without giving children the message that they're only worthy if they get 10 out of 10 in their spelling test every single week. (Had exactly this problem this weekend with DS's homework - might start a thread)

yes agree wholeheartedly caligula

I agree Beckham is good enough, in the sense that he's up there with the best footballers in the world. And he's better looking than the rest of them.

....ok Enid he's very good at kicking a bag of air around a field with lots of other people watching.... I get. Was an EXAMPLE not an attack..

its not about ten out of ten though is it? its about doing the best YOU can and not saying "well its cool to be a bit thick" so I won't bother trying as per the OP. 5 out of ten? great if you made the effort. 5 out of ten when you made no effort, not so great.

meowmix - bit unfair on Henman, I think. He's won 11 tournaments. Not major ones, but the point is he's someone who does HIS best, and is a good role model for young sportspeople. He peaked at 4th in the rankings - not many other people are the 4th best in the world at what they do. Dito with the England football team - their FIFA ranking is always somewhere around 10, so to get to the quarter-finals IS an achievement.

I think emotional intelligence is greatly underestimated.

My children are dyslexic, so although reading and writing will always be a struggle, they are bright, confident, intelligent, and have developed coping strategies for whatever situation they find themselves in.

My friend's children have no learning differences, and she pushes them very hard academically, so that they are about 2 years above their peers in most subjects.

These children have little emotional intelligence though; it is all about winning, no matter what the cost. They constantly make comments that make other people feel self-conscious or unhappy, but they don't even seem to notice.

Worse still, their parents never challenge them about it; they seem to find the sarcasm of their offspring rather amusing.

Yet these children have little awareness of how to look after themselves; the eldest is 12 and his mother still lays his clothes out for him everyday, still helps him with his homework, still expects no help from him or his siblings around the house.

What point is there in having a brain the size of a planet when you can't dress yourself or boil an egg?

I would much rather be around people with average intelligence, who also possess emotional intelligence, than superbrains with no sense of how to behave appropriately.

I believe a willingness to learn no matter what your age is the key to success, and the key to intelligence - whether that is academic, social or emotional learning.

True intelligence is measured by so much more than exam results IMO.

Good post Humphrey

I remember a boy at university - 18 years old. Had not discovered the basic principles of laundry, ie that it is necessary to dry the clothes after washing them before putting them back with other clothes so that they don't make everything in your room smell mouldy. Also, it's good to take a shower every day as it will stop you smelling and being unpopular. Also, if you take fresh ingredients, heat them up and add a can of tomatoes, you'll generally get something edible and if you don't, you can buy a book which gives you step by step instructions on how to fend for your fking self when you are considered old enough and clever enough to do a degree. Even at the age of 18, I was horrified by how fking stupid other students appeared to be about the basics of functioning without their mothers wiping their arses for them. I can remember saying they shouldn't be allowed to come to university until they'd passed a test for cooking/ laundering/ basic hygiene!

Agree totally Humphrey. Some of ds' classmates are very thoughtless and insensitive to each other and one child in particular. If I caught ds speaking to or about someone in that way I'd do some pretty major intervening.