# Ever been shocked at what some people don't know? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416 "2012-03-10T22:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/301 "2012-03-15T00:09:12Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I don’t know who Alton B. Parker was. > > Having written that, I looked him up on wiki. It describes his legacy as one of undeserved obscurity, due to the fact that there were two first-rate candidates, and the other (Teddy Roosevelt) was more colorful. > > If you’re comparing his relevance to today’s political landscape with that of Goldwater, IMO, you got nothing. > > The modern conservative movement was energized in the wake of Goldwater’s landslide loss. Goldwater’s stance on the role government should play in Americans’ lives was considered extreme in 1964, but became much more mainstream in the 16 years preceding Reagan’s election. > > Even more importantly, Goldwater’s opposition to federal intervention to ensure civil rights of all Americans, and the fact that he later changed his mind, shows that opposition to government isn’t as simple as it might seem to a young conservative (the person I was talking with describes herself as very conservative - she _should_ know who Goldwater was.) > > Were you just trying to bring up an obscure detail from history to try to make me look ignorant? Or is there some enduring importance about Parker that the wiki page doesn’t talk about? It would have put your first post in a different light if you had troubled to mention there that this young person styles herself s very conservative. That you did so now strikes me as very convenient. Parker is important in the same way that Goldwater should be important to the young person as you originally described her: the loser in an election decades before you were born. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/302 "2012-03-15T00:22:14Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I just went to a pub quiz with my housemate- and am slightly in shock- one of the questions was ‘name 10 of the 12 countries in South America’. I always have trouble remembering which are Central and which are South, so started going through ‘What do I associate with the Amazon’ and such like. > > My housemate says ‘Isn’t that in Africa?’ > Yes, she meant the Amazon. Apparently, it’s in Central Africa now. :smack: Well, if the Amazons were in South America, how could [the ancient Greeks have known about them](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazons), mister smarty pants? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/303 "2012-03-15T00:51:15Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > See, that’s what I thought at first too, but it seemed like she was trying to figure out which one of us breeders braved the jungles to steal them from the wild. Bloodythirsty Azteks. And then pirates stole them. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/304 "2012-03-15T01:11:54Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > My Mom felt that the power cord for her laptop should be more than sufficient to connect to the internet. The fact that she had to plug in the ethernet cable was quite ridiculous to her. I was installing a television in a house a couple of years back when I was working for an appliance shop, and the gentleman I was installing it for didn’t understand that his television, computer, modem, cable box, and lamp all needed electricity to work. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/305 "2012-03-15T01:54:47Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > It would have put your first post in a different light if you had troubled to mention there that this young person styles herself s very conservative. That you did so now strikes me as very convenient. Parker is important in the same way that Goldwater should be important to the young person as you originally described her: the loser in an election decades before you were born. Well, I wanted to keep partisan politics out of it, and hoped that “politically engaged” was sufficient. IMO, liberals should know who Goldwater was. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/306 "2012-03-15T01:58:13Z")
A few weeks back I was on a training course at work. We were paired up at one point and given an assignment to guess which fictitious character our partner was. My partner, a senior quality representative (and about 55 years old), was given a card indicating he was “The Wizard of Oz.” I had five guesses to try to determine who he was. First question: I asked him if he was male, or female and he answered female. So I came nowhere near guessing the correct answer after that. Turns out he thought Dorothy was The Wizard of Oz. I let sleeping dogs lie, but my perception of him as a trustworthy source of information is much diminished. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/307 "2012-03-15T03:03:34Z")
Oh yes, my son’s friends who did without educational television because their parents lacked the technical ability to install a cheap VHF/UHF splitter. We lived in a deprived area with no cable TV. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/308 "2012-03-15T03:38:43Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Oh yes, my son’s friends who did without educational television because their parents lacked the technical ability to install a cheap VHF/UHF splitter. We lived in a deprived area with no cable TV. When I was a kid with a new Nintendo Entertainment System, we only had one TV. I had to beg my dad to hook it up (simple RF adapter, not AUX cables). He’d bitch about it, put it off, and it would take him 20 minutes with directions. Taking moving into account, this happened many times, all the way up to my SNES. My mom wouldn’t even consider trying. Then we got a second TV - a little 13 inch job. I would abscond with it up to my room, and instead of begging my dad to hook it up, I thought _fuck it, I’ll tackle it myself – less hassle_. Holy shit, is that simply. I could believe I wasn’t skipping some satellite orientation steps or something. WTF was he doing for 20 minutes? Screwing it in with his toes? ---
**Author:** ![kjbrasda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@kjbrasda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjbrasda)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/309 "2012-03-15T05:09:02Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > One of my coworkers didn’t know how vaccines work. Sadly it’s all too common for people to not know how vaccines work. A look at some anti-vaccer’s posts is enough to make your head spin. Saw one comment that the only people that need the vaccination are those with compromised immunity diseases. Most believe that actually getting the disease builds better immunity to that disease than using the vaccine. (yeah, so you want to get sick to prevent getting sick? hello?) Some seem to actually think that getting a disease makes your immune system stronger against other maladies. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/310 "2012-03-15T06:04:06Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > I had a friend who didn’t know that the Moon revolved around the Earth. 56 percent of this French TV studio audience didn’t know that, either. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmLwnSXNpFU#t=1m4s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmLwnSXNpFU#t=1m4s) > [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’ve heard of Sharon Tate, of course, but Dumont, no. Sorry, **Eve**. You’ve never seen a MARX BROTHERS MOVIE??? DUCK SOUP??? Consarned young whippersnapper mumble mumble… 😃 > [@Lobohan](#): > > Sorry if you don’t actually believe that garbage, it’s hard to tell nowadays. With the tea party Poe’s Law is everywhere. 😃 > > Snopes Page: [Did Barack Obama Say He Had Visited 57 (Islamic) States? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/57states.asp) The point is that if GW Bush made the same mistake, you’d be repeating it endlessly and laughing at how stupid he was, ignoring a reasonable explanation. It’s like you seem to think that the Tea Party is composed of religious young-earthers. It’s also like lots of people think Sarah Palin really said “I can see Russia from my house”, or even if they don’t, they think she’s that stupid anyway. BTW, last November a Cornell prof still thought that Bush carried a “plastic turkey” when he served Thanksgiving dinner to some troops in Iraq in 2003. (The original source page has been corrected.) [http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/permafowl/](http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/permafowl/) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/311 "2012-03-15T06:09:36Z")
CA’s public schools are producing graduates who don’t know the meaning of Independence Day. [Zombie Americans have forgotten why 4th of July is a holiday!!! - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGP7s0SGtY) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/312 "2012-03-15T07:52:44Z")
> [@kjbrasda](#): > > Most believe that actually getting the disease builds better immunity to that disease than using the vaccine. (yeah, so you want to get sick to prevent getting sick? hello?) **Some seem to actually think that getting a disease makes your immune system stronger against other maladies.** It works if you get an infectious disease serious enough to die from it. Dying from an infectious disease reliably prevents you from getting any other disease later on. (Any anti-vaccer could have told you that!) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/313 "2012-03-15T08:08:29Z")
[MedScape.com](http://MedScape.com) [doesn’t seem to know what homeopathy is](http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/856916-overview#aw2aab6b6): > [@](#): > > Because of the variability in the bioavailability of some of these drugs, the effects of the drugs may vary. > … > Such use may be quite dangerous. > [@](#): > > As in most areas of homeopathy, the belief of the patient and the treating individual in the therapy [acupuncture] is a very strong component of these therapies. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/314 "2012-03-15T08:29:50Z")
That’s OK, my sister in law doesn’t either. She’s a doctor and she gives homeopatic “vitamins” to her kids ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/315 "2012-03-15T08:38:18Z")
There were news reports a year or so ago about a celebrity who attempted suicide by overdosing on homeopathic medicine. I believe the technical term for that is “drowning”. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/316 "2012-03-15T09:45:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There were news reports a year or so ago about a celebrity who attempted suicide by overdosing on homeopathic medicine. > > I believe the technical term for that is “drowning”. [DHMO (Dihydrogen monoxide)](http://www.dhmo.org/) poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/317 "2012-03-15T10:02:50Z")
Or a surfeit of flour. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/318 "2012-03-15T12:07:41Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > CA’s public schools are producing graduates who don’t know the meaning of Independence Day. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGP7s0SGtY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGP7s0SGtY) Gets even better when an American asks me (a Brit) if I celebrate the 4th of July. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/319 "2012-03-15T12:38:26Z")
> [@kjbrasda](#): > > Some seem to actually think that getting a disease makes your immune system stronger against other maladies. Without intending to give ammunition to nutjobs, I do wish to point out that in certain limited cases, that’s _true_. The word vaccination comes from the Latin term for “cows” because the original smallpox inoculations were prepared from cowpox, a different (but related) disease. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416/320 "2012-03-15T14:27:06Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Gets even better when an American asks me (a Brit) if I celebrate the 4th of July. Well, you could always celebrate the anniversary of getting rid of America. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-shocked-at-what-some-people-dont-know/615416.md?page=17)