Save me from such ignorance!

[U2democrat]

I was talking to one of my friends today and I mentioned that I was sad about Christopher Reeve. She then said "What happened?" and I told her that he had died. She didn't have a CLUE who Christopher Reeve was. She had never seen Superman or heard about him. This is a girl whose goal is to become a famous actress! But I don't completely fault her, I also fault her parents who never inform her of anything.

If ignorance is bliss she is the most blissful person on the planet.

The same with another one of my friends. She has a 4.5 or something GPA and didn't know what the White House was/looked like. She also didn't realize there had never been a female pope....................

Oy the frustrations! I enjoy coming here to FYM where I can have discussions with informed people.

 

[U2Kitten]

I have noticed many times that sometimes the people with the highest grades are all but pop culturally illiterate and at a loss to any kind of trivia or basic knowledge of movies and bands. Not always of course, but some of those people grew up very sheltered by their parents, never allowed to watch much TV or go to movies or listen to rock and roll. They have to stay in their room and study and get whipped for getting a B. I'm not saying your friend is that way just that those people do exist. My brother went to college with a guy who had grown up with no TV or stereo in his house, never been to a theater, and had never eaten out in his life! I do believe being like that puts a kid at a disadvantage in the world. Also, a lot of book learnin' smart people have no common sense.

 

[stammer476]

What's the pope?

 

[U2democrat]

lol stammer

 

[speedracer]

Eh, I think growing up without a TV would have its advantages.

 

[pianorocker]

I have noticed many times that sometimes the people with the highest grades are all but pop culturally illiterate and at a loss to any kind of trivia or basic knowledge of movies and bands. Not always of course, but some of those people grew up very sheltered by their parents, never allowed to watch much TV or go to movies or listen to rock and roll. They have to stay in their room and study and get whipped for getting a B. I'm not saying your friend is that way just that those people do exist. My brother went to college with a guy who had grown up with no TV or stereo in his house, never been to a theater, and had never eaten out in his life! I do believe being like that puts a kid at a disadvantage in the world. Also, a lot of book learnin' smart people have no common sense.

I agree with some of what you have said, but I think that you're making some major generalizations here. First of all, I am probably one of these smart people that you're talking about. However, I object to the fact that you're equating book smarts to being sheltered or having no common sense. There are plenty of people, myself included, who have gotten excellent grades and are a lot more into more important cultural and worldy things than someone who is up on every trend change, action of a celebrity, and the latest music. To me, this is what pop culture is, and, quite frankly, I find it useless. In my opinion, I benefited from not watching Dawson's Creek and all the other "popular" teen shows because it let me focus on things that actually matter, like politics, my schoolwork, finding my own talents, that kind of idea. I applaud my parents for taking me out to eat every weekend and taking me and my sister on vacations every summer to more places than the beach. My mother made both me and my sister watch classic movies so that we could understand famous references and such. I guess my point is that I feel you're in danger of creating a stereotype here that all book-smart people are dumb about the world around them.

 

[U2Kitten]

I agree with some of what you have said, but I think that you're making some major generalizations here.

No, I didn't, thus the phrases "not always of course" and "not saying your friend is like this."

Of course the people in the description I gave are small in number among smart people and small in number among all people. But as I said, they do exist.

 

[Liesje]

She has a 4.5 or something GPA

WTF? How can she be .5 higher than perfect??!!

 

[U2democrat]

Re: Re: Save me from such ignorance!

WTF? How can she be .5 higher than perfect??!!

AP and honors classes add weight to your grades. the valedictorian of my class has a frickin 5.1!!!!! I can't even get a 3.5!! My school is insane. You can have a 4.0 and not be in the top 100 of the class. And its a public school.

 

[Liesje]

Re: Re: Re: Save me from such ignorance!

AP and honors classes add weight to your grades. the valedictorian of my class has a frickin 5.1!!!!! I can't even get a 3.5!! My school is insane. You can have a 4.0 and not be in the top 100 of the class. And its a public school.

What?!?! That's not fair! We just got college credit/exemptions for AP classes and honors credit for honors classes, the grades of course counted towards GPA but, the TYPE of class didn't. Weird, I've never heard of that. But maybe they do our schools way different here. Our scale was 98%-100% was an A (4.0) 96-98 A-, 92-95 B+, 89-91 a B (3.0) etc, etc. I mean, you could get over 100% for a class, but then your grade was an A (4.0)

 

[popacrobat]

Re: Re: Re: Save me from such ignorance!

AP and honors classes add weight to your grades. the valedictorian of my class has a frickin 5.1!!!!! I can't even get a 3.5!! My school is insane. You can have a 4.0 and not be in the top 100 of the class. And its a public school.

yeah i have weighted classes like that too.

thank god for it too, my gpa went up nicely after the ap and honors classes . im only in one ap class though this year, and it happens to be my easiest class. my hardest c lass is actually my non honors and non ap class, so i dunno whatsup there

 

[speedracer]

She has a 4.5 or something GPA

Damned grade inflation.

 

[nbcrusader]

Ahhh, the difference between wisdom and knowledge....

 

[pianorocker]

No, I didn't, thus the phrases "not always of course" and "not saying your friend is like this."

Of course the people in the description I gave are small in number among smart people and small in number among all people. But as I said, they do exist.

sorry, I didn't mean to go off on you, but I did and I apologize. One of my nerves got touched there.

 

[U2Kitten]

sorry, I didn't mean to go off on you, but I did and I apologize. One of my nerves got touched there.

I understand. On the same note, it bugs me when my disclaimers get looked over and I get accused of generalizations. It happens here all the time "some but not all" is usually the one I put when someone posts 'but they're not all like that' so there's a history there for me too. Of course most smart people are smart in movies and songs too and real quick to make puns and jokes. I mean by this both smart in grades people and bright people who don't make good grades because they don't apply themselves, they are a group too. I have also seen people with masters in physics lose on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire because they didn't know the artist or the lyrics to a common song. There's all types out there!

As far as the extreme cases I mentioned in the first post, I have personally known those people, but of course they are a minority.

 

[U2democrat]

Ahhh, the difference between wisdom and knowledge....

Ain't it the truth. I wouldn't consider myself wise but I definitely have alot more common sense than my friends, while my friends have alot more knowledge than me. Booksmarts I should say. Even they acknowledge that I have a more realistic view of the world than they do, even though I've never actually been IN the real world, I tend to observe it more carefully and thoughtfully than they.

Gosh that sounded arrogant.

 

[Dreadsox]

Eh, I think growing up without a TV would have its advantages.

I have been without anything other than 10 channels since June.

My four year old is now reading.

 

[sharky]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Save me from such ignorance!

What?!?! That's not fair! We just got college credit/exemptions for AP classes and honors credit for honors classes, the grades of course counted towards GPA but, the TYPE of class didn't. Weird, I've never heard of that. But maybe they do our schools way different here. Our scale was 98%-100% was an A (4.0) 96-98 A-, 92-95 B+, 89-91 a B (3.0) etc, etc. I mean, you could get over 100% for a class, but then your grade was an A (4.0)

Holy crap! I thought only my high school did that. Believe me, colleges take that into consideration when you apply. I promise.

I can understand this lack of pop culture/common sense but this is a little overboard. I've never seen a Christopher Reeve movie yet I know he was in Superman. And even I didn't have pop culture knowledge, I knew he was involved in stem cell research. How can you not know that?

I think that case is different from someone who just decides not to watch TV or something. I have a friend who has little clue about all the music I know about but she's deep into Broadway. Her iPod is full of Broadway shows and she's opened me up to going to more shows. And I gave her more U2 stuff.

But you have no clue what the White House looks like? Start with white -- as in color, author E.B. -- and go from there.

 

[shart1780]

Well, I dunno about the Chrtopher Reed thing really (LOL), but not knowing what the White House looks like. That's pathetic. And she had a 4.5 GPA. It proves that booksmarts really don't mean true intelligence!!!

Ain't it the truth. I wouldn't consider myself wise but I definitely have alot more common sense than my friends, while my friends have alot more knowledge than me. Booksmarts I should say. Even they acknowledge that I have a more realistic view of the world than they do, even though I've never actually been IN the real world, I tend to observe it more carefully and thoughtfully than they.

Gosh that sounded arrogant.

I'm actually the same way. I don't know alot about things like math and history (like alot of my friends do) but they do tell me that I'll probably do better in life just because I'm more knowledgable about real life issues and how to handle them. Also that I'm more cool-headed. Sometimes I'm really suprised at how my friends will freak out in certain situations (it's kinda annoying really LOL).

Boy, now I sound arrogant!!!

 

[U2democrat]

Well, I dunno about the Chrtopher Reed thing really (LOL), but not knowing what the White House looks like. That's pathetic. And she had a 4.5 GPA. It proves that booksmarts really don't mean true intelligence!!!



I'm actually the same way. I don't know alot about things like math and history (like alot of my friends do) but they do tell me that I'll probably do better in life just because I'm more knowledgable about real life issues and how to handle them. Also that I'm more cool-headed. Sometimes I'm really suprised at how my friends will freak out in certain situations (it's kinda annoying really LOL).

Boy, now I sound arrogant!!!

I'm more cool headed too. my friends get wrapped up in drama and blow the silliest things out of proportion, meanwhile i'm a very calm, mellow person who rolls with lifes punches. and yes, when they freak out it is annoying! but such is life.

 

[speedracer]

I'm actually the same way. I don't know alot about things like math and history (like alot of my friends do) but they do tell me that I'll probably do better in life just because I'm more knowledgable about real life issues and how to handle them. Also that I'm more cool-headed. Sometimes I'm really suprised at how my friends will freak out in certain situations (it's kinda annoying really LOL).

Boy, now I sound arrogant!!!

Yeah, but if some guy pulls you into an alley, puts a gun to your head and demands to know the integral of the inverse hyperbolic tangent of x, you're in trouble.

 

[sue4u2]

Booksmart, commom sense and combinations. That's why I like FYM, I've seen them all in here. LOL

 

[U2democrat]

Yeah, but if some guy pulls you into an alley, puts a gun to your head and demands to know the integral of the inverse hyperbolic tangent of x, you're in trouble.

that's my greatest fear!!!!!

 

[pianorocker]

Yeah, but if some guy pulls you into an alley, puts a gun to your head and demands to know the integral of the inverse hyperbolic tangent of x, you're in trouble.

Finally, the perfect answer to the "And when the hell am I ever going to use this?" question.

 

[pianorocker]

I understand. On the same note, it bugs me when my disclaimers get looked over and I get accused of generalizations. It happens here all the time "some but not all" is usually the one I put when someone posts 'but they're not all like that' so there's a history there for me too. Of course most smart people are smart in movies and songs too and real quick to make puns and jokes. I mean by this both smart in grades people and bright people who don't make good grades because they don't apply themselves, they are a group too. I have also seen people with masters in physics lose on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire because they didn't know the artist or the lyrics to a common song. There's all types out there!

As far as the extreme cases I mentioned in the first post, I have personally known those people, but of course they are a minority.

It does crack me up when someone's a National Merit Scholar and it just doesn't fit with the typical "studious" person because that person doesn't apply themselves in school.

And, by the way, that's a sweeeeeeeeeet picture you've got there as your sig. =D

 

[Liesje]

I think the thing this thread is missing is that there's a difference between what you know (be it book smarts or practical smarts) and how you behave as a social being. This is why I like college so much - not only because I'm getting educated and getting a degree, but I know how to act and live with people my age and people who are superiors, like my boss, professors, advisors, etc and I know how to live on my own and do my own thing. Just because someone knows all the pop culture trivia doesn't mean that person has a clue about how to live a fulfilling life our society. And I'm not saying you need an education to do so, but I think it REALLY helps and in many cases, the experience is ultimately more useful than the degree.

 

[U2democrat]

I think the thing this thread is missing is that there's a difference between what you know (be it book smarts or practical smarts) and how you behave as a social being. This is why I like college so much - not only because I'm getting educated and getting a degree, but I know how to act and live with people my age and people who are superiors, like my boss, professors, advisors, etc and I know how to live on my own and do my own thing. Just because someone knows all the pop culture trivia doesn't mean that person has a clue about how to live a fulfilling life our society. And I'm not saying you need an education to do so, but I think it REALLY helps and in many cases, the experience is ultimately more useful than the degree.

i agree. i can't wait till college for those reasons.

i guess i should clarify that with many of my friends it goes beyond a lack of knowledge of popular culture alone. its anything outside of school itself. i'm the complete opposite. outside of school i know an incredible amount of information for someone my age, but you put me in school and its a deer in headlights look the whole time. we're all different, and our brains all operate and store information in different ways.