Are you a knowledge snob?

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Do you believe people ought to have certain kinds of knowledge?

I'm not a knowledge snob; I believe that all knowledge is valuable and people should therefore be able to choose what knowledge they want to acquire and in what order.

Do you call people ignorant? Tell them they should open a book once in a while?

My mother bothered me about my lack of culture, but my shrink understood; I had my own type of culture.

You have to KNOW that you can't know everything-- you have to start living sometime.

In the US, I feel that everyone in public as a US resident should:

1. Know basic math
2. Know basic English
3. Know the rules, and details, required by what they do(such as drive/job)
4. Know basic courtesies.
5. Know their limitations.

Outside of that, I don't care. BTW The average American FAILS in at least 2 of the above!

In some ways, yes. Definitely.

Though I would never call someone ignorant because they didn't know a certain thing. I would definitely (and loudly) declare it to them if they lacked the skill to properly acquire new knowledge i.e. the disciplines of reason and logic. And that they exercise that skill to the best of their ability. It is, after all, our primary means of survival.

Yep, I am a knowledge snob, especially when it comes to words and vocabulary. I do occasionally tell people to open a book every once in a while, but that's usually my brother, who, while he is fairly intelligent and literate, doesn't read much except for manga and Harry Potter.

I think all people of at least average intelligence without some learning disability like Dyslexia or Dyscalculia should:



Be able to do arithmetic and basic algebra.

Be able to read and write at a high school level (IIRC newspapers try to dumb down articles to a 5th-grade level, which is pretty damning IMO).

Understand the basics of logical reasoning and how to avoid committing fallacies.

Have a reasonable understanding of history (both world history and national history) and geography

Have a basic understanding of the sciences, including evolution, genetics, human health and nutrition, atomic theory, and simple classical physics.

Have enough knowledge of civics, government, and basic economics to be an informed citizen and consumer.

I would have to say I probably am, but it's not intentional - I just have a tendancy to go "Oh, wow, how can you not know that?" when someone expresses ignorance on a subject that I really think is common knowledge.

You see, I tend to think that the vast stores of random information I have stored in my head aren't really random; but instead something that everybody else knows as well - That is, until I'm proven wrong on that idea.

Which I then promptly forget about five seconds later.

No wonder everyone thinks we are dorks.

I am older than most on this board (36) so I have a different perspective. Being smart around other people is annoying, makes people feel uncomfortable, and will get you nowhere. Try working on a personality instead of reading books.

I am kind of one. I mean, I don't feel everyone should know the random things I do about the show House, 90s music, celeb affairs, etc. That's just my own personal knowledge. But I do think people should have a basic idea of what's going on in the world. The idea that people don't know certain things doesn't bother me, but the idea that people don't at least make an effort to educate themselves does. I don't care if someone didn't go to college because they had a better opportunity or couldn't afford it, but I do dislike people who maintain that learning things as you would in college is "stupid" or "unnecessary." I think people should always attempt to learn about important issues, and at the very least read a weekly newspaper or something. I mean, I don't know anything about sports statistics or Tila Tequila but if other people do, then fine. But don't tell me all about "I Love New York" and then ask me who's running for president. Maybe it's hard for me to understand because I just absolutely love learning random things - I could watch documentaries all day. I realize not everyone is like that, but I still think there's no excuse for extreme ignorance unless you are very isolated, young, or mentally disabled. But to each his own I guess. I personally have trouble being friends with people who don't know what's going on in the world because I just don't have much to talk about with them. My conversation tends to veer into being intellectual, or at the very least analytical, no matter what we're talking about.

WELL, I am almost a DECADE older than you are! WHO CARES whether they are annoyed!?!?!? I hate the higher taxes, prices, effort required to get by because some IDIOTS don't know the basics! Sometimes, my LIFE or PROPERTY has been put in danger because of it. If they can't do the work, they should GET ANOTHER JOB! If they can't communicate, perhaps they should LEAVE THE COUNTRY!

BTW I have a personality, thank you.

I understand it makes many people uncomfortable, but while we shouldn't be rude to people due to their lack of knowledge, I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with expecting people to take initative to learn basic things. It's in their best interest as well as the country's to have people understand how the world works. Ignorance can lead to some horrible things. I enjoy being around people more knowledgeable than myself - it can be intimidating, but I feel stimulated and enjoy learning.

QFT!! !!

You seem like a real party to be around.

Are you a knowledge snob? yes

It's HANDY how your LIFE EXPERIENCE has taught you how to UTILISE CAPS to EMPHASISE important points of your TIRADE.

I also believe that what you just said bears little relation to what was originally posted.

Why THANK YOU! I try!

Maybe you should read the posts a bit more. With what I have paid other people to do, it is amazing how much *I* ended up doing. And it seems like tech support doesn't exist anymore, etc... I have actually contemplating doing my own auto work. It seems that 50% of the people can't even do a BRAKE job! One time I had a quarter spin on the FREEWAY(luckily I didn't break hard, and caught it in time), because someone didn't screw in the calipers right! I swear! Without computers, half the people would be out of work simply because they can't do simple addition or subtraction.

Yeah, kinda :p