Shocking stupidity

WindSock

It's only the Terminology I get mixed up in. I can Honestly say that I couldn't explain the difference between Nouns, Pronouns and Adjectives, etc. So I'm thick, duuhhhhhrrr. At least I still have my speling skils :cool:

one-angry-dwarf

What you're talking about here has nothing to do with being smart or stupid. It's about remembering a single piece of information that few people out of school age use on a daily basis. It's mainly memory. If she had the definition of a verb in front of her at the time I'd say she could have pointed it out fairly easily. (I hope!) People almost never ask me to identify the verb in a sentence and I'd say I could probably get through the rest of my life quite easily if I didn't know. You'd be more accurate to say she was just ignorant rather than stupid.

Although having said that, saying the UK was made up of one country is a little bit inexcusable! It's not all that surprising though. I'm studying over in Wales and it's shocking the amount of people who believe that Ireland is part of the U.K/the island of Ireland is one country etc.

Lands Leaving

The contestants on that programme are always, always morons. One question was john sleeps 8 hours a day and works 10 hours a day. what is the smplest fraction that shows how much of the day john worked for.

And the question was worded a lot better than that too!

What a joke of a programme. I love shouting at the idiots on it though:rolleyes:

Dudess

The dumbing-down of language - not helped by the emergence of textspeak - reminds me of Orwell's Newspeak in 1984.

SUNGOD

also there is a big differance between been intellegent and having a good memory ,some people can memorize certain facts and figures but have no idea how to put them into practise .and in relation to the thread heading "shocking stupidity " i dont see how anyone is shocked that some people are stupid,if we were all at the same level of intelligence there would not be terms such as intellegent or stupid everyone would be normal,equal. so in order for one person to be classed as intellegent or above average there must be people who are stupid or below average otherwise average would not exist and therefore it would be impossible to excel in either direction....................................my head hurts im going for a lie down

Lands Leaving

The thing about that programme though sungod, is that the people on it nearly always claim to have degrees, and it stands to reason that someone who went to college can do simple maths and english. But then spend a day in UCD and you'll see just how stupid college students can actually be.

tech77

SUNGOD wrote: »

also there is a big differance between been intellegent and having a good memory ,some people can memorize certain facts and figures but have no idea how to put them into practise .and in relation to the thread heading "shocking stupidity " i dont see how anyone is shocked that some people are stupid,if we were all at the same level of intelligence there would not be terms such as intellegent or stupid everyone would be normal,equal. so in order for one person to be classed as intellegent or above average there must be people who are stupid or below average otherwise average would not exist and therefore it would be impossible to excel in either direction....................................my head hurts im going for a lie down

Shocking is in the thread title because it was shocking to see.

I know some people are stupid and I accept that.
But most times it's not shocking to witness.

When she was asked it I said there was no way she couldn't know that yet she surprised me.

Also ignorance vs stupidity:
I was loathe to just label it ignorance (which obviously it is- she's ignorant of what a verb is, of course).

But linguistics is so integrally related to intelligence (and not just some "memory feat" as somebody else here asserts) that it's hard not to call it stupidity as well.

I suppose if it could be shown that she knew what parts of a sentence fall into what grammatical groups without necessarily calling them nouns, verbs etc it would be forgivable.

Toto Wolfcastle

Dudess wrote: »

The dumbing-down of language - not helped by the emergence of textspeak - reminds me of Orwell's Newspeak in 1984.

To be fair, you'd want to be highly intelligent to be able to read some of the textspeak used these days. It's evolved so much since people started using it! My 16 year old brother can send someone a long message using very few letters, yet ask him what a verb is and he'll spend ages trying to differentiate between a verb and an adjective.

EDIT:

I just texted my brother and he knows what a verb is! And he texted back in proper English with the exception of a missing 'h' in 'think'. (When he was asking if I think he is stupid!)

SUNGOD

fair comment TECH77 and LANDSLEAVING to be honest i have not seen the show so just commenting on intelligence/stupidity in general.

Pigman II

I gather by the show title alone that they aren't inviting past University Challenge champions to compete? I haven't seen the show but I'm guessing the whole point of it is that they round up a bunch of half-wits and make fools of them for our amusement?

Besides, it is patiently obvious that is possible to function in society without ever knowing what a verb is (or many other things for that matter) so why are you 'constantly amazed' OP?

Dudess

janeybabe26 wrote: »

It's evolved so much since people started using it! My 16 year old brother can send someone a long message using very few letters.

My point exactly. Doubleplusungood

IzzyWizzy

The English education system is sh1t simple anyway, minimum standards are lower. Why do you think there are so many Irish uni students in the UK, yet im not sure ive ever met a Brit in our college system? I dont know what your standard of Irish is, but if it is poor an Irish speaker could say that it was laughable you could barely speak it having studied it for 12 years.

Are you joking? Literally half my class in college were English. The people who were lagging behind and had low standards in first year were almost all Irish students who sat the Leaving. I'm not saying they were all thick but I find it hilarious when people think the Irish education system is so great. My best friend's younger sister, who got a respectable amount of points in the Leaving (and got into college) asked my friend if Dutch people came from Sweden. This girl went to an expensive private school, comes from an educated family and has had every opportunity in life. People like that exist in every country. Do you really think this wouldn't happen on an Irish TV show?

Toto Wolfcastle

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

Are you joking? Literally half my class in college were English. The people who were lagging behind and had low standards in first year were almost all Irish students who sat the Leaving. I'm not saying they were all thick but I find it hilarious when people think the Irish education system is so great. My best friend's younger sister, who got a respectable amount of points in the Leaving (and got into college) asked my friend if Dutch people came from Sweden. This girl went to an expensive private school, comes from an educated family and has had every opportunity in life. People like that exist in every country. Do you really think this wouldn't happen on an Irish TV show?

Dear God please let it happen on an Irish TV show!

In fairness, the only English person I know is an idiot. But I'm sure there are as many Irish idiots as there are English.

This whole 'not knowing what a verb is' thing bothers me though. Sure, you can get through life without it, but it's drilled into us as kids!

But as long as not knowing what a verb is doesn't put anyone in danger, (and I'm sure it doesn't) it's all good!

Terry

Pigman II wrote: »

I gather by the show title alone that they aren't inviting past University Challenge champions to compete? I haven't seen the show but I'm guessing the whole point of it is that they round up a bunch of half-wits and make fools of them for our amusement?

Besides, it is patiently obvious that is possible to function in society without ever knowing what a verb is (or many other things for that matter) so why are you 'constantly amazed' OP?

Of course.

You're going to get people lining up in their droves to appear on TV.
They weed out the intelligent ones and keep the dumbasses.

Haven't seen it myself, but apparently there is a £10,000 prize or something.

It would be worth faking extreme stupidity to get on the show. If you had a degree or something.

Jesus Wept

A degree in Stupidity.

Jumpy

Terry wrote: »

Of course.

You're going to get people lining up in their droves to appear on TV.
They weed out the intelligent ones and keep the dumbasses.

Haven't seen it myself, but apparently there is a £10,000 prize or something.

It would be worth faking extreme stupidity to get on the show. If you had a degree or something.

Its 250,000.

Its about memory not about intelligence. I can answer half the questions max and I know I am smart.
I just simply cant remember all the nursery rhymes and the specific terms we used back in school.
Ill read three books in a week and I still dont know what a verb is. I knew once, but it isnt relevant to my life anymore, so I cant remember.
If you havent watched it, then you cant comment, if you can answer every question they ask in the stressful environment they are placed in then great. Go on the show (thats to everyone commenting, not Terry).

pickarooney

tech77 wrote: »

Also ignorance vs stupidity:
I was loathe to just label it ignorance (which obviously it is- she's ignorant of what a verb is, of course).

I was shocked to see you confuse an adjective with a verb in the above sentence.

Terry

Jumpy wrote: »

Its 250,000.

Its about memory not about intelligence. I can answer half the questions max and I know I am smart.
I just simply cant remember all the nursery rhymes and the specific terms we used back in school.
Ill read three books in a week and I still dont know what a verb is. I knew once, but it isnt relevant to my life anymore, so I cant remember.
If you havent watched it, then you cant comment, if you can answer every question they ask in the stressful environment they are placed in then great. Go on the show (thats to everyone commenting, not Terry).

That was you on the show tonight, wasn't it?

Jimbo

Jumpy wrote: »

Its 250,000.

Its about memory not about intelligence. I can answer half the questions max and I know I am smart.
I just simply cant remember all the nursery rhymes and the specific terms we used back in school.
Ill read three books in a week and I still dont know what a verb is. I knew once, but it isnt relevant to my life anymore, so I cant remember.
If you havent watched it, then you cant comment, if you can answer every question they ask in the stressful environment they are placed in then great. Go on the show (thats to everyone commenting, not Terry).

Almost anyone could read three books in a week, surely thats not a measure of intelligence.
An intelligent person would be able to remember basic facts

Jumpy

jimbo78 wrote: »

Almost anyone could read three books in a week, surely thats not a measure of intelligence.
An intelligent person would be able to remember basic facts

Actually you will find the majority of the population would be lucky to finish three books a quarter.
They are not basic facts. They are facts relevant to the curriculum you are studying. You will find most people watching will go "Ohh yeaaaaah, thats right" when the answer is revealed, but had no clue to that point.
My workmates were having the exact same conversation about how they would so win it easily, then I asked them "What was the name of Moses wife?".
None could answer. Without googling, can you answer that question?

Jumpy

Terry wrote: »

That was you on the show tonight, wasn't it?

I was hiding in Noel Edmonds hair doing research.

Jimbo

Jumpy wrote: »

Actually you will find the majority of the population would be lucky to finish three books a quarter.
They are not basic facts. They are facts relevant to the curriculum you are studying. You will find most people watching will go "Ohh yeaaaaah, thats right" when the answer is revealed, but had no clue to that point.
My workmates were having the exact same conversation about how they would so win it easily, then I asked them "What was the name of Moses wife?".
None could answer. Without googling, can you answer that question?

I dont ever recall knowing who Moses wife was, on the other hand, terms of the english language is something we all learned at some stage and all probably come across from time to time

Jumpy

jimbo78 wrote: »

I dont ever recall knowing who Moses wife was, on the other hand, terms of the english language is something we all learned at some stage and all probably come across from time to time

The only time I have ever been required to know what a verb is since school, is when I started reading this thread.

humbert

jimbo78 wrote: »

I dont ever recall knowing who Moses wife was, on the other hand, terms of the english language is something we all learned at some stage and all probably come across from time to time

Exactly! Obscure trivia versus component of language you use every day. Also fair play for reading three books a week. I wish I had as much zeal for reading, but it's got diddly squat to do with intelligence.

Snarler

What was the name of Moses wife?".

Who the fook is Moses?

They should do a program showing up 10 year olds for the little retards they are. Lets see them answer questions on politics, sexuallity, business etc.

And anybody who reads three books a week does not lead a very interesting life.

humbert

Snarler wrote: »

They should do a program showing up 10 year olds for the little retards they are. Lets see them answer questions on politics, sexuallity, business etc.

That'd be brilliant. Little smart ass kids.

Jumpy

Snarler wrote: »

Who the fook is Moses?

They should do a program showing up 10 year olds for the little retards they are. Lets see them answer questions on politics, sexuallity, business etc.

And anybody who reads three books a week does not lead a very interesting life.

For the record, I didnt know either, it was a question that was asked to one of the 250k winners.
lol to the interesting life comment. Although it has got a lot quieter over the past years.

Latchy

leninbenjamin wrote: »

yeah. i hate this culture that exists that seems to almost celebrate and revel in the stupidity that's prevalent in society.

It's like that horrible Jeremy Kyle show were al these dysfuctional familys / people are paraded on stage to air there dirty laundry , like the mental patients on view in victorian times , in front of an audience (usually middle class student types ) , and what's annoying is creepy jeremy is up for a ' best programme' award soon.The programme targets the lowlifes and the weakest in society for entertainment

Stupidty in society indeed ....:(

beanyb

Having watched the show, I can honestly say that in general it is not a measure of intelligence. I do think it's pretty shameful that someone wouldnt be able to pick out a verb, butthe show measures your ability to remember useless information that you were taught in primary school.

Some categories are worse than others. Does not knowing the second verse of Jack and Jill measure my literacy skills? No. It just measures my ability to remember an utterly useless nursery rhyme. It doesnt make me less intelligent than a ten year old, it just means I know different things.

Dudess

|Cookies wrote: »

i dont know that a verb is either, but i dont need to as it serves no perpose to me!

Yeah, in fairness, unless you're a language teacher or a sub-editor, why would you need to know what a verb is? I've a very good knowledge of grammar but I don't work as either of the above, so it's really not much use to me! In fact, I did some freelance work as a sub-editor but didn't get called back - so my knowledge of grammar and punctuation obviously wasn't considered as important as my ability to edit copy quickly (I was too slow) or my ability to write headlines (most of them got changed ).