# If you don't know who this is then you are what's wrong with the world. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2016, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211 "2016-01-15T10:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/21 "2016-01-15T15:21:56Z")
I recognized most of the scientists and not the celebrity, but I’m not sure how relevant that is. I mean, I knew who Neil DeGrasse Tyson was for years before I even knew that he was black. Far more important is to know what all those people have done. Hawking has made great contributions to black hole thermodyamics, including being the first person to realize he’d discovered thermal radiation from them. Curie isolated two new radioactive elements, and laid a lot of the groundwork in the study of radioactivity in general. Tesla did a lot of the engineering of electrical power distribution, but is unfortunately a lot better known for all of the idiocy he was behind. Einstein brought Special Relativity to fruition, made key early advances in quantum mechanics, and single-handedly created the best theory of gravity we’ve ever seen. Freud is mostly outdated nowadays, but he was the first to attempt to treat psychology seriously as a scientist, even if his efforts at that were inadequate. Elion… OK, I’ll admit that I didn’t know her. Looking over Wiki, though, it looks like her primary advances were in treatment of AIDS, including development of AZT. Thomas Paine was a revolutionary propagandist who swayed American public sentiment to independence, though I’m not sure why he’s the lone non-scientist in the group (maybe just because his picture had the right aspect ratio to fit there?). Newton invented the second-most-useful form of calculus, derived the laws of motion and of gravity, and combined them to explain the motions of everything in the Solar System. Sagan did a better job of popularizing cosmology and other science than anyone else in the past century. And Darwin developed the model for how descent-with-variation and natural selection could account for all of the diversity of life. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/22 "2016-01-15T15:27:30Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > So who is she? Snooki or Kardashian? > The op implies she’s a Kardashian but everybody else…never mind. I just realized I still don’t care. I just realized, the URL itself says it’s Snooki. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/23 "2016-01-15T15:38:42Z")
If you are the type of person for whom internet memes pass for incisive social commentary, then **you** , sir, are what is wrong with the world. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/24 "2016-01-15T15:45:53Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > It is the result of the so-called power to the people (by the people, for the people, and so on) - that is, what today’s media understands by democracy. Never mind the fact that people rarely see their power exerted. The problem is that usually the greater the number of people making a choice as a group, the lower the quality of the choice they end up agreeing upon. When people realize that the quality of their life is a better goal than the power they imagine they hold, maybe they will start thinking of a better political, social and economic system. I don’t want to hijack the thread, but I like where you’re going with this. The last sentence seems especially poignant… I plan to give this some thought. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/25 "2016-01-15T16:32:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I recognized most of the scientists and not the celebrity, but I’m not sure how relevant that is. I mean, I knew who Neil DeGrasse Tyson was for years before I even knew that he was black. Huh. I actually had no idea, only mainly knowing him from NPR and Science Fridays. Now I feel a bit bad for picturing him as a white guy, if I pictured him at all. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/26 "2016-01-15T16:46:02Z")
I bet that most people on this board would recognize the painting of the blond, blue-eyed Jesus. Are those who can making the world a worse place? I knew most of the scientists and didn’t know the celeb though I’ve seen her likeness. Still I disagree with the premise that recognizing people’s likeness (or not) will somehow make the world a better place. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/27 "2016-01-15T17:55:13Z")
Blind people are what’s wrong with the world? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/28 "2016-01-15T17:55:53Z")
I recognized most of the people on the left, though some of them I never saw their picture with their names, so I guess I couldn’t “know” them by their face, could I? No idea who that is on the right, even with the name “snooki”. I was more curious what kind of drink that she had, not that I would want one. Is that two bottles of beer in an ice slushy? Would Freud be considered a “scientist”? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/29 "2016-01-15T18:13:45Z")
Well, if anyone cares, but not enough to look it up, Snookl was a person on the MTV reality series _Jersey Shore_. She was also parodied in an episode of _South Park_ and, as I hinted above, was a regular pop-culture target on _The Soup_. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/30 "2016-01-15T18:15:38Z")
> [@Kzbre5m](#): > > I recognized most of the people on the left, though some of them I never saw their picture with their names, so I guess I couldn’t “know” them by their face, could I? No idea who that is on the right, even with the name “snooki”. I was more curious what kind of drink that she had, not that I would want one. Is that two bottles of beer in an ice slushy? It appears to be something like a frozen beer margarita concoction. I’ve personally never seen them served that way, but [Google imaging it](https://www.google.com/search?q=frozen+beer+margarita&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=1126&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfrvfgtqzKAhUBZyYKHZ_TDOkQ_AUIBygC), it does appear to be a way to serve it. (ETA: [direct link to one photo](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/275986283384600570/) in case image search results vary based on my/your Google profile/search history.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/31 "2016-01-15T18:27:36Z")
Kind of a dumb test. I’m a scientist and I only got seven out of ten on the left. I had never heard of Elion; Tom Paine threw me because he was a politician instead of a scientist (and I might not have recognized him even among other revolutionaries); I should have got Tesla but didn’t recognize him in that photo. Curie was a guess since that’s not the most familiar image of her. But several of the scientists are as much or more recognizable as cultural icons rather than for their achievements. Sagan is far more famous as a TV personality than as an astronomer. Hawking is better known than other physicists because of movies and TV. Einstein, Darwin, and Freud are important as symbols of their respective fields. As has been said, the scientists are important because of their achievements, not because of their appearance. It’s really not significant if you don’t recognize their image, as long as you know what they did. Whatever point the example has is badly muddled by the way they chose to make it. I recognized Snooki mainly because I watched a couple of episodes of _Jersey Shore_ because I had heard how appalling it was, and wanted to see for myself. There’s any number of Kardashians that I would not have recognized. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/32 "2016-01-15T18:53:37Z")
Getrude Elion’s inclusion is a desperate grab by the click bait author/hack in trying to include another female scientist besides Curie. She may have done very important work but as general knowledge of famous scientists goes she’s fairly obscure outside her field. Plus that purported pic of her is seen nowhere in any other reference I can find on her [and IMO looks nothing like her](https://www.google.com/search?q=gertrude+elion&rlz=1T4GGHP_enUS608US609&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiog7nnvqzKAhVGcD4KHTcvAKMQ_AUIBygB&biw=1280&bih=537). ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/33 "2016-01-15T19:13:22Z")
How many of those individuals does everyone think would be recognized by, say, Andy Warhol or Banksy? I think they would probably recognize Snooki more than the folks on the left, though I’m sure they could identify a few of them. Does that make Warhol and Banksy “what is wrong with the world?” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/34 "2016-01-15T19:40:25Z")
My sense is, if you DO know who Snookie is, you are part of the problem. The problem is horrible reality TV programming. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/35 "2016-01-15T19:47:34Z")
I do not think I have ever heard of Gertrude B. Elion. I know who Charles Darwin, Issac Newton and Thomas Paine are; but not what they look like. Hawking, Tesla, Curie, Freud, Einstein and my beloved Carl Sagan were easy. The woman on the right I now know is a person named Snooki because I scrolled down. I am absolutely not what is right with the world; nor am I what is wrong with the world either. How a person answers speaks to what their priorities are or possibly to their education. This thread seems to go with this one [Judging others by their utility to society... - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=780333) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/36 "2016-01-15T20:21:57Z")
Here is the youngest pic of Elion I can find > **[Gertrude B. Elion, M.Sc. | Academy of Achievement](https://achievement.org/achiever/gertrude-elion/)** > > "I had no specific bent toward science until my grandfather died of stomach cancer. I decided that nobody should suffer that much." Young Gertrude Elion's ambition to find new medicines led her to the study of chemistry, but when she graduated from... That picture in the OP’s link does not look anything like her. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/37 "2016-01-15T20:31:29Z")
Reverse Google image search identifies that as [Gertrude Bell](https://www.quora.com/Was-Gertrude-Bell-an-important-historical-figure). Oh, the irony. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/38 "2016-01-15T20:42:02Z")
7 out of 10 on the scientist front, and had no clue whatsoever who the woman on the right is. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/39 "2016-01-15T21:23:24Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > My sense is, if you DO know who Snookie is, you are part of the problem. The problem is horrible reality TV programming. Well, you seem to know her name… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211/40 "2016-01-15T21:32:29Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Well, you seem to know her name… I do know her name, but I have no idea what she looks like. But perhaps I am part of the problem too. I blame Society! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-know-who-this-is-then-you-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world/743211.md?page=3)