“It became the highest-grossing film of all time”
Yeah, in funny money. Not in inflation-adjusted gross, or in other words tickets sold. Gone With the Wind will not be beat.
They didn’t know Obama is a Muslim, a Communist and Constitutionally ineligible to be POTUS, either, and THAT was only four years ago, so nothing surprises me at this point/s;)
True story: I'm an amateur astronomer, and years ago I hosted an impromptu star party for the neighbors. Wine was passed around, it was a balmy summer evening, and there was a particularly nice alignment of planets to look at, one after another.
So, we get to Saturn (always a big draw, even if you've seen it a million times, but especially the first time). And a neighbor looks through the scope, looks up at me, and says "are those rings?" When I applied in the affirmative, this forty-something middle manager professional woman said, in amazement, "I always thought that was a marketing thing."
No, she wasn't drunk. And there was no smirks or laughter from the other neighbors, just thoughtfulness and a desire to see for themselves.
I went behind a tree and downed the rest of the wine.
Often chat with school & collage age nieces, nephews, cousins and such. Their total lack of knowledge of history, geography, math and science is appalling.
Their identification with movies, music and video games is frightening.
“The RMS Titanic sank April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg.”
OK, so maybe they weren’t aware of some incidental factors pertaining to the sinking.
But if they watch the news at all, they’re abundantly aware of what’s truly important about this disaster - “It was ____’s fault!” (they can fill in the blank for extra credit and an added dose of positive self-esteem, of course.)
Lord help us all we live in a really ignorant world
This just shows how the younger generation are not taught.
Ive felt for a long time the final Presidential vote percentage is an accurate representation of the Idiot/Non-Idiot index, but it this it true the Idiots have made a major leap forward..
While I’ll probably not be the smartest guy in every room I’ll ever walk into, I have to relate this story.
I graduated HS in 1983. In my 11th grade year, I missed the entire 3rd Q due to medical issues. I returned to class the day of quarterly exams. My History teacher argued with me about taking the test and wanted to send me to the library for the duration with a make up sometime later.
I refused and demanded to take the test with the caveat that pass/fail, that was the grade I’d get. Now bear in mind I sat desk to desk with the teacher so no cheating was possible.
I finished before the rest of the class and the teacher said ‘I told you you’d blow it”. I replied, “No I didn’t, I got at least a 90.”
While the rest of the class finished, she graded the test. She then called me outside and said “You got a 93. How the hell did that happen?”
The answer was that I was taught the very same material in 3rd grade by a Nun in Catholic school. And I remembered it because it was interesting to me.
Now for my point. In 1983 the educational system was teaching once 3rd grade material to 11th graders. In fact ALL of my high school English/History class material had been taught to me by G4 in Catholic school.
In 2012 I can only imagine seniors graduate by singing a partial rendition of the Barney theme song. And I am not kidding.
Some teen girls were at our kitchen table about a year ago.
The topic of our oldest daughter going to France came up.
One of the girls asked if France is in our country.
One wonders if the girl, her parents or the school district should be shot first.
I would assume those “people” are twenty-something Obama fans.
I don’t doubt this for a second. On a brighter side, I was volunteering at reading groups Thursday for my daughter’s first grade class. The second group I had was reading a book about the Statue of Liberty. We got off on a slight tangent talking about the date on her book: July 4th, 1776 and what that day means. The little boy on my right was telling me about King George and the Revolutionary War. It turns out they are currently studying our Founding, but it was nice to see he was really paying attention to what he had been taught. I think he probably already knew a little bit anyway. We went off on another tangent when I asked them what famous place other than the Statue of Liberty they would like to visit. The little boy on my right wrote “the great piramids of geesa [sic]”. He loves pyramids and Egypt. One day he came in wearing a pharaoh’s hat. He’s just too cute with his personality and the way he talks and expresses himself. The next boy wrote “a hotel” which was surprising because he seems like he might be kind of a smart little boy and I thought he would come up with something more specific. When I inquired a little further, he said it was one with a wishing well. The little Hispanic boy wrote: “The Great Wall of Chinea[sic]” which was impressive because that’s not a place you would think an average first grader would be interested in. The last little boy didn’t have time to write. He just told me Disneyland and that he had already been there. Unfortunately, we only get 20 minutes for each group to read and discuss. I wish I had more time with them because often I have to cut them off and some of them really have a lot to say.
Big boat ping
Ping. You might be interested in the anecdotes on this thread. Then again, as I think about it, you’ve probably heard it all before, and then some.
For those who don’t know, FReeper LS is historian Larry Schweikart. His A Patriot’s History of the United States is required reading. See all of his books at his profile page:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~ls/index
Can I venture a guess that most of the morons who didn’t know the Titanic sinking was real probably (without being forced to) have never read a newspaper, book, or magazine not having to do with entertainment in their short, shallow lives. Further interrogations of these numbskulls would most likely find them not knowing a lot of other things people taken for granted as common knowledge by most people. When I was about seven or eight, I knew about the sinking of the Titanic. And there several movies about the sinking that were making the rounds. In fact I remember seeing pictures of the Andrea Doria on the front page of the local rag as well. Too young to read the story, but I remember the pictures. This is the age we live in where “news” about celebrities takes precedence over hard news.
How about the SS Sultana?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Sultana
Around 1,600 US deaths. How many US folks know about that one?