Do you know anyone that is oblivious to the world affairs/domestic affairs outside of

completedit · 26-10-2020 2:12pm

The weird thing I find is those people who seem to know every twist and turn to any development or happening. They seem to be experts on the housing crisis, clerical abuse, US elections, the conflict in Armenia, global warming, pandemics, the pros and cons of vaccinations, the dangers of big pharma, the threat of big tech, water charges. You name it they will have some sort of view.

Your Face · 26-10-2020 2:33pm

There's a gimp at work that thinks pushing political topics into work conversations is somehow intellectual when its a quite common thing to do.
He is a typical middle-aged sad-sack - he wears that Northface crap and ostensibly reads books in the canteen. Thick rimmed glasses on the prig completes the gimpyness

Church on Tuesday · 26-10-2020 2:46pm

Edward Rich Trigger wrote: »

ive started distancing myself away from a mate who keeps trying to bring trump and occasionally Boris into every conversation - on a night out, he'd try to turn the conversation towards them, when your going out for the pints with the lads, you dont want to give a **** about them...once i liked a meme taking the piss out of biden and he rings me urgently asking was i a trump fan (before anyone says it - no i am not) ...christ im/others are tired of his obsession, pity his poor missus but she's too busy trying to be an influencer and has him as a camera man[/QUOTE]

:D:D:D:D:D

murpho999 · 26-10-2020 2:47pm

TuringBot47 wrote: »

Yeah, defeating that alien invasion truly is a cause for celebration.

Well I'd say she probably knows that crappy film alright but how can you not make the link of the date?

Church on Tuesday · 26-10-2020 2:47pm

Nah, you want a healthy mix of ****e talk and "intellectual" talk. 60:40 really.

murpho999 · 26-10-2020 2:48pm

GarIT wrote: »

Voting is virtually pointless, the only impactful thing you can do is convince others how to vote.

I also doing get all the people encouraging others to vote. Unless you can be sure the group you are talking to mostly think the same as you then you should be encouraging as many people as possible not to vote.

But voting is not pointless.

I learnt that in Divorce referendum in 95. Yes motion was pretty much carried by one extra yes vote in each ballot box.

bitofabind · 26-10-2020 3:13pm

I think one of the best things you can do for your mental health and happiness is to stop consuming news media, delete all the breaking news apps etc. I say that as a former journalist who globe trotted following the depressing story du jour, from camping outside Westminster waiting for the latest Brexit update to interviewing eye witnesses after the terror attack in the Bataclan in Paris.

News is inherently depressing, catastrophic and cyclical. Consuming too much of it gives you a distorted sense of the world, a sense of doom and perpetual "what's next."I got all that in my career and eventually de-sensitisation and numbing set in. I couldn't connect or empathise with any of it. Would roll my eyes at the latest global disaster.

My sister is willingly ignorant to news and current affairs. Wasn't aware Leo is no longer the Taoiseach until last week. Used to think "Al Jazeera" is a country. She's also a medical professional in a very specialised area, so pretty smart and competent generally. Just doesn't give a flying shyte about what Boris is up to or what the current infection rate is.

Graces7 · 26-10-2020 4:04pm

paleoperson wrote: »

Nice to see some of the understanding replies here.

I do wonder sometimes when I look at or read the news - what the hell is the point?! I mean, there is almost nothing going on that's going to be of benefit for me to know, at least not that I couldn't know elsewhere. Irish politics in particular I only feel a sort of obligation to be familiar with it.

I'm not saying there is no point, I'm just raising the possibility. What if you were like that Playstation girl who didn't know where Phibsborough was (which I don't btw, but I'm not from Dublin).

What if you read the paper for two weeks every year? You'd see about Trump, you'd see about Covid, and so on.

I have no radio, TV or newspapers. I read the news here maybe 2-3 times a day. It is enough. More than enough. There have been times in my life when I have been totally immersed in other things and then got totally shocked by an imminent world disaster. I remember especially in 1962 when I was at university and studying in the Union near the street window. A demo came along the road and I had to ask what it was.

The Cuban crisis and there was a very real possibility the bombs were going to start imminently … Total shock and since then I have kept up even cursorily. No real interest in politics etc and I have not heard of most if any of the " famous names" that get bandied around here, and feel no need to. No interest in sport either... Each to his or her own.

.anon. · 26-10-2020 4:11pm

I completely switched off from American politics a long time ago. I know the election is next week, but I don't care whether Reagan or Mondale wins.

whisky_galore · 26-10-2020 4:45pm

pgj2015 wrote: »

what gets me is people who couldnt point out any country on a map or that dont know common knowledge things we all learned in school. like did they never listen or what?

Tbf I'd be pretty ropey on many of the -stans, the small countries east of say Poland, much of Africa esp the smaller ones, and South America.

A fair whack of countries that were around in school are called something else now!

pgj2015 · 26-10-2020 5:02pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

Tbf I'd be pretty ropey on many of the -stans, the small countries east of say Poland, much of Africa esp the smaller ones, and South America.

A fair whack of countries that were around in school are called something else now!

yes but im talking about people who cant find the likes of scotland or portugal on a map, they exist, i have met them.

whisky_galore · 26-10-2020 5:04pm

pgj2015 wrote: »

yes but im talking about people who cant find the likes of scotland or portugal on a map, they exist, i have met them.

You did say "any country", not Europe specifically.

pgj2015 · 26-10-2020 5:10pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

You did say "any country", not Europe specifically.

not knowing obvious european countries is worse.

Rodney Bathgate · 26-10-2020 5:21pm

completedit wrote: »

The weird thing I find is those people who seem to know every twist and turn to any development or happening. They seem to be experts on the housing crisis, clerical abuse, US elections, the conflict in Armenia, global warming, pandemics, the pros and cons of vaccinations, the dangers of big pharma, the threat of big tech, water charges. You name it they will have some sort of view.

Rarely their own opinions though.

Justin Credible Darts · 26-10-2020 5:26pm

Graces7 wrote: »

I have no radio, TV or newspapers. I read the news here maybe 2-3 times a day. It is enough. More than enough. .

I am very much the same in that whilst I have a tv, it is only on when its something we have planned on watching.

We have no kids so its not like it would be on otherwise. I enjoy not concerning myself with global happenings unless it is something i could do something about. I am more concerned about my wife, my family, my dog and friends, than I care about the economy, god, trump or global warming.

Those things will still be debated about long after I am gone and forgotten

DeanAustin · 26-10-2020 5:26pm

pgj2015 wrote: »

yes but im talking about people who cant find the likes of scotland or portugal on a map, they exist, i have met them.

Went out with a girl, who is probably above average intelligence and who has done very well in life, who thought Africa was a country and that Nigeria was a city in it.

I was stunned. She wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination, just ignorant. There are lots like her.

pgj2015 · 26-10-2020 5:29pm

DeanAustin wrote: »

Went out with a girl, who is probably above average intelligence and who has done very well in life, who thought Africa was a country and that Nigeria was a city in it.

I was stunned. She wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination, just ignorant. There are lots like her.

I remember a quiz on the radio last year, some woman was asked the capital of France and she answered Italy. :pac:

completedit · 26-10-2020 7:12pm

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Rarely their own opinions though.

Yeah; my view is these topics are mostly complex, nuanced and information dense, if someone is claiming to be an expert on all these topics then something is amiss.

eviltwin · 26-10-2020 7:18pm

Some of the people in college with me have no knowledge of politics and current affairs but what’s worse is they are almost proud of the fact.

completedit · 26-10-2020 7:21pm

eviltwin wrote: »

Some of the people in college with me have no knowledge of politics and current affairs but what’s worse is they are almost proud of the fact.

Thing is you can be perfectly employable/functional without having a care in such things.

Our society doesn't value this stuff anymore. In a world of specialization, why bother with stuff that is fairly inconsequential? There's have only so much bandwidth you can allocate to certain things and CA involves far too much brainpower imo. What's nearly worse is people who have strong opinions without actually dedicating enough time to verse themselves on issues. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: democracy simply doesn't work

eviltwin · 26-10-2020 7:23pm

completedit wrote: »

Thing is you can be perfectly employable/functional without having a care in such things.

Our society doesn't value this stuff anymore. In a world of specialization, why bother with stuff that is fairly inconsequential? There's have only so much bandwidth you can allocate to certain things and CA involves far too much brainpower imo.

We work in an industry where a basic knowledge of politics would be considered important. Some aren’t even registered to vote. How do you get to your mid twenties without registering to vote?

Justin Credible Darts · 26-10-2020 7:48pm

eviltwin wrote: »

How do you get to your mid twenties without registering to vote?

very easily.

might be too busy screwing, drinking, sleeping, working, socialising and other things that were more important to them.

mfceiling · 26-10-2020 8:00pm

Yeah that's my oul lad.

No interest in politics or current affairs in general. More interested in the weather and what the local wildlife is up to.
Barely reads a paper and yet he seems to know enough to pass himself.

71 and still goes to work every day. Any day that he has off he will go to one of his brothers house (they all live nearby) and will find a few odd jobs there to keep him occupied.

Loves when my daughters come to visit him and he can walk them up the back lane and point out the different trees, the animals that live in the fields and how many counties you can see from the highest point in a nearby field.

Genuinely can say he's very content with his life.

saabsaab · 26-10-2020 8:03pm

Met quite a few like that. No clue about much outside their own parish. Not just found in quiet country places but cities too. You only have to listen to some of the simple TV/Radio quiz questions answers that some give!

murpho999 · 26-10-2020 8:57pm

pgj2015 wrote: »

I remember a quiz on the radio last year, some woman was asked the capital of France and she answered Italy. :pac:

Stupid alright especially when we all know the answer is 'F'.

emeldc · 26-10-2020 9:00pm

murpho999 wrote: »

Stupid alright especially when we all know the answer is 'F'.

RIP Larry Gogan

Hyperbollix · 26-10-2020 11:21pm

The problem with being clueless to current affairs/politics etc is you may not make informed decisions when voting, or you may not vote at all because you don't care about any of that stuff. We only have to look at the Trump and Brexit phenomenon to see how badly a country can go wrong, with potentially devastating consequences, when large swatches of the electorate are oblivious to reality.

An informed individual who shows a small bit of interest in whats happening in the world wouldn't think Trump is actually going to make anything great again, and in Britain, only the terminally gullible and misled would believe Boris was going to get Brexit done.

completedit · 27-10-2020 12:28am

Hyperbollix wrote: »

The problem with being clueless to current affairs/politics etc is you may not make informed decisions when voting, or you may not vote at all because you don't care about any of that stuff. We only have to look at the Trump and Brexit phenomenon to see how badly a country can go wrong, with potentially devastating consequences, when large swatches of the electorate are oblivious to reality.

An informed individual who shows a small bit of interest in whats happening in the world wouldn't think Trump is actually going to make anything great again, and in Britain, only the terminally gullible and misled would believe Boris was going to get Brexit done.

Rising inequality since the 1980s. Huge losses of respectable hands on jobs. Whole industries lost to offshoring and Globalisation. Even economists who I reckon are 95 per cent in favour of free trade are vocal about the failures to compensate the losers of this system. The losers in this case being Northern England and the rust belt

Hangdogroad · 27-10-2020 2:09am

GarIT wrote: »

Voting is virtually pointless, the only impactful thing you can do is convince others how to vote.

I also doing get all the people encouraging others to vote. Unless you can be sure the group you are talking to mostly think the same as you then you should be encouraging as many people as possible not to vote.

Are you that Twink lookalike who gatecrashed the RTE news report a few years ago saying something about voting being made illegal?

paleoperson · 27-10-2020 2:58am

Hyperbollix wrote: »

The problem with being clueless to current affairs/politics etc is you may not make informed decisions when voting, or you may not vote at all because you don't care about any of that stuff. We only have to look at the Trump and Brexit phenomenon to see how badly a country can go wrong, with potentially devastating consequences, when large swatches of the electorate are oblivious to reality.

An informed individual who shows a small bit of interest in whats happening in the world wouldn't think Trump is actually going to make anything great again, and in Britain, only the terminally gullible and misled would believe Boris was going to get Brexit done.

Why are you trying to belittle the beliefs of Brexiteers and Trump supporters and acting like we all agree with you as fact that someone who was informed wouldn't vote for them? Plenty of highly informed, educated and intelligent people voted for them, a lot of the demographic were working class people because it helped them - or was projected to help them - a lot more economically.

Who shows a small bit of interest in what's happening in the world - so are you saying all those MAGA hat wearers don't care what's happening in the world? I mean you have to make sense, you can't just make things up as you fancy.

I don't like Trump or Brexit very much, but your sort of thinking is the biggest NPC farce of all. Your simplistic idea of very complex issues and legitimate choices.

paddythere · 27-10-2020 3:15am

I know loads of people like this. What's going on in the world just doesn't interest them. More into netflix, online shopping, reality tv.

Justin Credible Darts · 27-10-2020 3:19am

paddythere wrote: »

I know loads of people like this. What's going on in the world just doesn't interest them. More into netflix, online shopping, reality tv.

and I bet a lot happier than those crying about global warning, evil trump, the price of petrol, gay rights etc

Antares35 · 27-10-2020 3:25am

paleoperson wrote: »

Nice to see some of the understanding replies here.

I do wonder sometimes when I look at or read the news - what the hell is the point?! I mean, there is almost nothing going on that's going to be of benefit for me to know, at least not that I couldn't know elsewhere. Irish politics in particular I only feel a sort of obligation to be familiar with it.

I'm not saying there is no point, I'm just raising the possibility. What if you were like that Playstation girl who didn't know where Phibsborough was (which I don't btw, but I'm not from Dublin).

What if you read the paper for two weeks every year? You'd see about Trump, you'd see about Covid, and so on.

Like that Tommy Tiernan piece about irrelevant news. "Useless Information". Love that one, like what are we supposed to do about shít happening in the rest of the world?

paddythere · 27-10-2020 3:39am

Justin Credible Darts wrote: »

and I bet a lot happier than those crying about global warning, evil trump, the price of petrol, gay rights etc

Most certainly, I agree. I was one of these people until I was 25 and suddenly became "woke" (I am now 30). To sum up my political stance: I won't be happy until capitalism is dismantled.

Needless to say, I am now fighting a depressing and almost unwinnable battle every day of my life.

BTW, keep up the blog, I get a good laugh every week reading it.

Justin Credible Darts · 27-10-2020 3:45am

paddythere wrote: »

BTW, keep up the blog, I get a good laugh every week reading it.

So many of the terms I have made up or made popular are used on other forums by people who claim they would never read it.

so always good to hear from people who admit to reading it

paddythere · 27-10-2020 3:53am

Justin Credible Darts wrote: »

So many of the terms I have made up or made popular are used on other forums by people who claim they would never read it.

so always good to hear from people who admit to reading it

When I'm watching the darts with mates or family I refer to Lewis as "Fatpot", Durrant as "The Phantom of the Opera" and Price as "Vermin". The names are starting to catch on with a few of them too.

NSAman · 27-10-2020 3:56am

Errrrr... the vast majority of Americans....

Graces7 · 27-10-2020 6:14am

bb1234567 wrote: »

Yeh it's gas isn't it, more juicy issues there like racial tension for them to get behind and act like it's personally affecting them

Anyway I think she was having you on OP. A woman in her 30's who's never even heard of netflix? Is she a mormon or Amish or something? Taking the piss outta ya

AHEM! Until I came on boards I had never heard of Netflix either and have never looked at it. Not interested.

Graces7 · 27-10-2020 6:23am

Deleted User wrote: »

I feign complete disinterest apart from with a couple of people whose opinions I'm interested in. The main person I would ever discuss politics with is a Brexit-voter so that's not even me looking for an echo chamber either. I basically only care to talk to people who form their own opinions.

OP, you brought up a US-China trade war with a women who clearly has no interest in politics. That screams autism to be honest. That is a sub-topic you move onto; you don't just bring it up.. It's a conversation about complex tariffs. Then you moved onto an election in another country involving a man most people hate the sight of and would rather ignore. The actual electoral process itself means nothing to Irish people. Then you brought up Covid-19, a depressing topic where keeping up to date on hospital figures changes nothing about one's life. And when she started talking about something she liked, you had to bring up a modern form of media mostly used by young people, instead of just talking about TV with her for a while. It's all about you and what you want to talk about.

Honestly, it just sounds like you're extremely bad at conversation and cannot talk to someone unless it is current events. That's around the same level of conversation as people who can only talk about football. Instead of repeatedly pushing current affairs on someone who either doesn't care or doesn't care to talk about them with you, find out what actual things she's into.

It's the most unnatural thing in the world for people to know what's happening outside of their immediate tribe, so don't be surprised when people, especially with the shltshow that is the media nowadays, to go back to basics like to their immediate surroundings and storytelling ie. TV shows and books. We're not meant to know about scandals across oceans, and it's clear the vast majority of people who get into this stuff are negatively impacted by it. We're not made for this level of information you bemoan she doesn't have, and we never will be. I know plenty like her and they're all the happier for it.

Thank you; this is what I have long thought. I can easily remember life way before TV hit, as hit it did. Inflicted world disasters on folk.

There is a balance between " living in a bubble" and being obsessed and negatively affected by disasters we can do nothing about.

Remembering when I was in a lot of US based online chat groups when 9/11 happened; I was actually online with a reporter when it happened. After 36 hours of listening to friends there I heard a plane go over low and literally ducked. Then I switched off.

Graces7 · 27-10-2020 6:31am

Justin Credible Darts wrote: »

I am very much the same in that whilst I have a tv, it is only on when its something we have planned on watching.

We have no kids so its not like it would be on otherwise. I enjoy not concerning myself with global happenings unless it is something i could do something about. I am more concerned about my wife, my family, my dog and friends, than I care about the economy, god, trump or global warming.

Those things will still be debated about long after I am gone and forgotten

Oh I am concerned about world matters; when I can do anything. I have family who are in aid work in several needy places and I support them. But not the politics behind it all etc. Just the human needs. Just active support. I watch at a distance is the best way I can express it. As a UK citizen my voting powers are very limited anyways

igCorcaigh · 27-10-2020 7:38am

The older i get, the more i realise how complex the world is. I do keep up with world affairs, but find it hard to form a definite opinion about most matters. There is a lot of nuance.

My political instinct is left wing, and i support a move to a different political and economic system. I just don't have a clear idea of what that could be.

I also believe that caring for the wellbeing of people in the world cannot be easily separated from the politics of it all. But i don't see an easy solution.

igCorcaigh · 27-10-2020 8:00am

On the topic of OP, i guess i find it a bit odd, but not necessarily that strange.

My mam thinks im not living in the "real world" because I've never heard of someone she sees on RTE.

But i don't watch television. I'm more intrigued about phosphine on venus.

yosser hughes · 27-10-2020 8:06am

DeanAustin wrote: »

Went out with a girl, who is probably above average intelligence and who has done very well in life, who thought Africa was a country and that Nigeria was a city in it.

I was stunned. She wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination, just ignorant. There are lots like her.

This actually says a lot about the quality of education in this country.

She probably did well in exams.

igCorcaigh · 27-10-2020 8:23am

Justin Credible Darts wrote: »

and I bet a lot happier than those crying about global warning, evil trump, the price of petrol, gay rights etc

The price of petrol and gay rights, eh?

You do indeed live in a bubble.

Global warming i assume you mean.

Canis Lupus · 27-10-2020 8:26am

Girl in work isn't sure who the prime minister of her country is.

Jim Root · 27-10-2020 8:28am

The framing of the op has a smug self righteous whiff to it. Leave the woman be, there could be all of sorts of things going on in her life to explain a perceived lack of interest in current affairs or Netflix.

ILoveYourVibes · 27-10-2020 8:32am

Jim Root wrote: »

The framing of the op has a smug self righteous whiff to it. Leave the woman be, there could be all of sorts of things going on in her life to explain a perceived lack of interest in current affairs or Netflix.

This could be true. Or not.

And yes ..i am smug ..in fact i am SMAUG

Wanderer78 · 27-10-2020 8:33am

igCorcaigh wrote:

My political instinct is left wing, and i support a move to a different political and economic system. I just don't have a clear idea of what that could be.

I've very similar views to yourself, nobody truly knows where to go to next, regarding political and economic ideologies, but people are working on it, and there's some great ideas around, particularly on the left, but there is also good ideas coming from more conservative leanings also. I particularly like the use of the term 'progressive capatalism', but I realise, even those that use it, are also struggling to truly define it, but at least they are trying to. Sadly though, we currently, largely have not accepted, that our current form of capitalism is a complete train wreck, for all humans, including the wealthy

lainey_d_123 · 27-10-2020 10:05am

bitofabind wrote: »

I think one of the best things you can do for your mental health and happiness is to stop consuming news media, delete all the breaking news apps etc. I say that as a former journalist who globe trotted following the depressing story du jour, from camping outside Westminster waiting for the latest Brexit update to interviewing eye witnesses after the terror attack in the Bataclan in Paris.

News is inherently depressing, catastrophic and cyclical. Consuming too much of it gives you a distorted sense of the world, a sense of doom and perpetual "what's next."I got all that in my career and eventually de-sensitisation and numbing set in. I couldn't connect or empathise with any of it. Would roll my eyes at the latest global disaster.

My sister is willingly ignorant to news and current affairs. Wasn't aware Leo is no longer the Taoiseach until last week. Used to think "Al Jazeera" is a country. She's also a medical professional in a very specialised area, so pretty smart and competent generally. Just doesn't give a flying shyte about what Boris is up to or what the current infection rate is.

There's a lot to be said for this, to be honest. I took a little break in August with a friend, just went to an off-grid campsite here in England for a few days, and it made such an enormous difference to my mental health being disconnected from all my gadgets and not watching any news. The situation in the world hadn't changed at all, but I just wasn't hearing about it. I was able to just enjoy my day. Get up, shower in one of those mad outdoor eco showers, cook some breakfast on the firepit, read for a few hours, go for a walk into the nearest village, have a pint and some food outside a pub, walk back through fields. Of course it wasn't 'normal', there was hand sanitiser all over the campsite and we had to sign in on the track and trace sheet at the pub, but it was the first time since March that covid wasn't at the forefront of my mind at all times. It's harder to disengage to that extent here in London but I'm still trying not to watch the news or much TV at all, and just focus on work and hobbies.

The price to pay is people thinking you're a bit thick or ignorant for not knowing about current affairs, but I don't really care. I just say I'm prioritising my mental health.

completedit · 27-10-2020 10:16am

Arguably our lives have become so disentangled from our local community so as to make up for that CA becomes a way of conversation. Also if you can scratch beneath the surface, it can raise interesting life questions. Also, it's like the tragedy of the commons. If one person doesn't watch the news or stay informed, no big deal, life will go on but if you replicate that again and again, then perhaps that's where problems begin to emerge.
News does need to change though. It needs to stop tapping into our glass half full reptilian brain and be more positive. Life is suffering but its not as bleak as the media like to portray it.

But, as socrates said "An unexamined life is not worth living"

Do you know anyone that is oblivious to the world affairs/domestic affairs outside of

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