Why do our peers have no general knowledge? (1 Viewer)

[lilkatie]

Ok has anyone noticed that some people are so ignorant of what's going on in the world, of important historical events etc.
In my ext eng class people had never heard of Stallin, Roosevalt, Churchhill..............they hadnt even heard of Musilini for christs sake
And the other day a girl asked me who Mark Latham was...........hmmm...........are others finding they are surrounded by dumb arses?
I think we should care

 

[iambored]

Originally posted by *Katie*
In my ext eng class people had never heard of Stallin, Roosevalt, Churchhill..............

umm, i've finished school. i don't mean to be ignorant, i would love to know that stuff, but my short memory, coupled with the fact that i haven't done history since year 8, makes it hard. if someone wants to explain who they are or give sites they know with basic descriptions i will be more than happy to expand my knowledge.

so tell us, where have you learnt about these people?

 

[Sarah168]

hmmmm maybe you could get your spelling of the people correct first katie

THAT may be a first step toward banishing ignorance....

 

[Sarah168]

Originally posted by iambored
umm, i've finished school. i don't mean to be ignorant, i would love to know that stuff, but my short memory, coupled with the fact that i haven't done history since year 8, makes it hard. if someone wants to explain who they are or give sites they know with basic descriptions i will be more than happy to expand my knowledge.

so tell us, where have you learnt about these people?

just do MH for two senior years and you're set for life

also the news might help provided it is not channel 10 news....

 

[chepas]

Mmmm. the gold medal for the "no general knowledge"-thing goes to the girl in our MH class last year who went "What's the UN? Is it, like, the United Kingdom or something, or part of it?"

 

[Ziff]

Originally posted by Sarah168
hmmmm maybe you could get your spelling of the people correct first katie

THAT may be a first step toward banishing ignorance....

Maybe you can get your grammar right first and capitalise the correct words, it might be a first step in banishing your ignorance

 

[iambored]

so if you have all learnt it from modern history - i have no hope
also, i don't watch the news, maybe i should, half if it is useless crap anyway, who cares if they *might* bring in hand signs to combat road rage,

 

[Ziff]

Watch the first 10 minutes of the ABC News at 1900. It's got the best and least sensationalised coverage.

 

[Generator]

This is a general problem of sorts (it has been reported in the media before), and it is likely to be caused by people not taking note of anything beyond their own little educational or social world... Perhaps if people realised that general knowledge is quite important then it would not be such a problem...


'so tell us, where have you learnt about these people?'

It is called opening up the encyclopedia or history book for the sake of reading, playing educational games for fun rather than study (eg Carmen Sandiego), watching the news, reading the paper, etc, etc. All of that takes place overtime, too. It is far from being as hard you believe, and it is not linked to history classes at all.

I miss the good old day of running Encarta and going along any old tangent for a few hours... It may not have been the greatest source of information, but, when you are only seeking a broad overview with electronic links, it was great.

 

[Sarah168]

Originally posted by Ziff
Maybe you can get your grammar right first and capitalise the correct words, it might be a first step in banishing your ignorance

dont get smart

 

[rumour]

my friend didn't know about the sep. 11 attacks!!!
we had to tell her @ school!!!!

i think it's cause they stopped showing "sale of the century"!!!!!!!!

 

[MouNtY]

Originally posted by *Katie*
Ok has anyone noticed that some people are so ignorant of what's going on in the world, of important historical events etc.
In my ext eng class people had never heard of Stallin, Roosevalt, Churchhill..............they hadnt even heard of Musilini for christs sake
And the other day a girl asked me who Mark Latham was...........hmmm...........are others finding they are surrounded by dumb asses?
Cmon people we should care

it's not so much that they're dumbasses, but my peers do seem ignorant. It's not like they have to be full nerds or anything, but i thought these things were just general knowledge. But obviously not.

 

[CM_Tutor]

I had a Chemistry student who thought that it was unreasonable for an exam question to expect him / her to know that World War 1 took place in the early 1900's, and involved Germany.

 

[Loz#1]

Originally posted by *Katie*
And the other day a girl asked me who Mark Latham was...........hmmm...........are others finding they are surrounded by dumb asses?
Cmon people we should care

The other day my friend at college overheard these two girls talking about the government. But this was their conversation:

Girl 1: "I don't even know what government is in power. Is it labour?"
Girl 2: "Yeah, I think so."

We're doing journalism for fucks sake!

 

[Xayma]

Originally posted by iambored
so if you have all learnt it from modern history - i have no hope
also, i don't watch the news, maybe i should, half if it is useless crap anyway, who cares if they *might* bring in hand signs to combat road rage,

I havent touched MH ever, but have read significant amounts on World War 2.

But yes the problem is pretty bad, if you want some real fun ask random people who is the GG.

 

[Alexander]

Of course you're bound to get a few drop outs at school who dont know the lingo, but as long as they get their jobs in the factory or cleaning industry, they dont need to know...i dont loose too much sleep worrying about what my friends know.
General knowledge and thought process also relate to a person's capacity to 'learn to learn', this is achieved thru taking the HSC seriously, but mainly thru. being constantly grilled at uni.
The important thing is that the people who need to know the info, know it very well, and they're out there....apart for maybe the current leader of the free world.

 

[santaslayer]

Originally posted by CM_Tutor
I had a Chemistry student who thought that it was unreasonable for an exam question to expect him / her to know that World War 1 took place in the early 1900's, and involved Germany.

Was this test Science related?..If so then he/she had a right to complain!

 

[Sarah168]

ok, knowing that WWI began in the early 1900's is not essential but if you don't at least know that it involved Germany, then you have no right to complain

 

[CM_Tutor]

Originally posted by santaslayer
Was this test Science related?..If so then he/she had a right to complain!

The question was on a CSSA Chemistry Trial. It asked students to assess the impact of the discovery of the Haber process on society in the early 1900's. There is a syllabus dot point specifically on this issue.

For the non-Chemists, the Haber process was developed by a German scientist in 1908, and together with Bosch (another German), was scaled up for industrial production by 1914. It is a process for making ammonia, which is used to make fertiliser and explosives. It would have been more difficult for the Germans to wage WW1 without it, and so it is virtually impossible to make a decent attempt at this question without a mention of WW1.

And: Yes, the teacher should have discussed this (and probably did), but in any event this student had a serious lack of general knowledge, IMO.

 

[George W. Bush]

This thread started with no merit and has somehow lost merit as it progressed.