# My co workers are current events illiterate.(Lame)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 2, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963 "2008-01-02T03:31:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@straykat23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straykat23)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/81 "2008-01-06T04:44:02Z")
My two favorite cow-orker quotes (I’ve posted these before):
One who thought the Taliban was a building in Afghanistan, similar to the Pentagon in the US.
Another who questioned my love for J. K. Rowling’s \*Harry Potter \* books: “If they’re that good, why didn’t someone write them before?”
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### Author:  [@Br\_er\_Lapin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Br_er_Lapin)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/82 "2008-01-06T05:26:27Z")
[QUOTE=Juliefoolie]
not knowing facts is forgivable, but not having any curiosity about the world around you or even accepting that certain things have happened/exist is not.
[/QUOTE]
In that case, consider me unforgiven. No curiousity about the world around me (in geography/world news sense, at least) whatsoever here.
Moreover, pretty much every single thing/person/whatever in this thread that someone is shocked by someone not knowing… I don’t know.
Geography bores me. History puts me in a coma. I don’t watch or read the news\* because it simply doesn’t interest me. I’m not going to make an effort to learn about things I’m not interested in just because I feel it’s my duty as a human being to be well informed about them – I don’t. Instead, I’d rather spend my time learning about things I DO find interesting – how a car’s engine works or something like that. Being that I never watch TV, and therefore the internet is my sole source of “home entertainment,” this is something I do on a daily basis, sometimes for hours at a time.
It kind of bothers me that somehow that isn’t enough for someone else, and there are people who think there’s something inately wrong with me if I don’t especially give a shit what’s going on in Pakistan, but eh, that’s life I suppose.
- This place is the only reason I have any idea at all what’s going on in the world. Sometimes I DO enjoy the threads about current events or historical things or whathaveyou, but that’s as far as I’m going to take it.
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### Author:  [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/83 "2008-01-06T05:29:07Z")
OK, I’m simply going to say I agree with **glee**.
A working knowledge of coutries as well as movers-and-shakers within said countries around the world is not something the average person can possibly spend their time learning. Especially due to the rate at which it all changes.
Also, lets think about perspective.
I first heard of Bhutto less than a year ago, when she was making her way back to Pakistan. I am a local reporter for a small paper and so have no responsibility to learn such things, but I enjoy knowing about the world around me. My roomate is working toward a government job and has in the past held an internship with the State Department. He was fully aware of Bhutto and her past, and all the ramifications of what was happening.
He could name any number of world leaders, capitols, historical facts and imports/exports.
He could not, however, name important local officials and personalities in government and events, nor popular opinion of upcoming changes to the area. Nor is he aware of the nuances of municipal policy, current trends in such, or how local building developments are effecting taxation in small boroughs.
I know this stuff.
While we here may disparage a lack of knowledge pertaining to the world at large, we should remember that mopst people know what they do to do their jobs well and then care for their livelihoods and families as best they can.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/84 "2008-01-06T06:36:32Z")
I am shocked, _shocked_ I tell you, that nobody here seems to know what the word “capitol” actually means.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/85 "2008-01-06T15:18:52Z")
[QUOTE=Br’er Lapin]
Geography bores me. History puts me in a coma. I don’t watch or read the news\* because it simply doesn’t interest me. I’m not going to make an effort to learn about things I’m not interested in just because I feel it’s my duty as a human being to be well informed about them – I don’t. Instead, I’d rather spend my time learning about things I DO find interesting – how a car’s engine works or something like that.
[/QUOTE]
I have some sympathy. I was taught to memorise many things at school:
- mathematical formulas ☹
- dates of birth and death of English/British Monarchs :rolleyes:
- English counties (many since renamed) :mad:
- French nursery rhymes (Sur le f_ck_ng pont d’Avignon) :smack:
There are much better ways for adults to take an interest in these subjects.
Maths: learn about interest charges
History: read an interesting book e.g. by C.S.Forester (Hornblower series) or G. McDonald Fraser (Flashman series)
Geography: go and look at it (Las Vegas!)
Economics: make a budget; pick a pension plan
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### Author:  [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/86 "2008-01-06T15:43:43Z")
**Eleanorigby** yeah, we should save it for another thread.
Let me know when you want to start it. And bring the Colyte, because Ive got a whole lotta crap to unload. _grin_
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### Author:  [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/87 "2008-01-06T15:48:17Z")
Oh, yeah, **GuanoLad** , that’s right. The “o” is only for rediculous American capitals, because nobody else rates it.
That and I was well into a 12-pack when I posted.
Oh, and I have heard the Flashman series is pretty good.
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/88 "2008-01-06T15:57:48Z")
[QUOTE=Gorgon Heap]
Oh, yeah, **GuanoLad** , that’s right. The “o” is only for rediculous American capitals, because nobody else rates it.
That and I was well into a 12-pack when I posted.
[/QUOTE]
So, will the resultant hangover be your excuse for spelling “ridiculous” with an “e”? 😉
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/89 "2008-01-06T16:04:19Z")
[QUOTE=Br’er Lapin]
In that case, consider me unforgiven. No curiousity about the world around me (in geography/world news sense, at least) whatsoever here.
.
[/QUOTE]
I think that’s fine as long as you don’t vote. If you vote, you should know what’s going on in the world.
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### Author:  [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/90 "2008-01-06T17:56:58Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby]
RN checking in here and I concur with your diagnosis. Boy, they sure know who won on American Idol and who got voted off that stupid island, but name the governor of our state? Can’t do it. The prime minister of Pakistan? Where is Pakistan? :rolleyes:
[/QUOTE]
Are you sure that you can name the prime minister of Pakistan 😉 ? After all, he was only appointed a couple of months ago. I sure didn’t remember the name of [Muhammad Mian Soomro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Mian_Soomro) off the top of my head.
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> If someone knows the politics of Vermont, how does that person NOT know where Vermont is etc?
I find it fascinating that that would seem impossible to you. Are you the sort of person who has to construct a detailed mental image of each character to follow a novel? I only form the vaguest notion of how they appear. In my mind, they consist of a bundle of personality traits and relationships with other characters, not physical features.
Iowa is the same. Because of the caucus, I have some acquaintance with the politics of the state. But I got almost all of this information by reading NYTimes online or by listening to NPR, so I still couldn’t point it out on a map.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/91 "2008-01-06T20:30:42Z")
[QUOTE=Gorgon Heap]
Oh, and I have heard the Flashman series is pretty good.
[/QUOTE]
It certainly is.
I enjoyed reading the books and can now converse fluently on (for example):
- English Public Schools
- the Thin Red Line
- the Charge of the Light Brigade
- Congreve Rockets
- Custer’s Last Stand
- John Brown
- Bismark
- the Indian Mutiny
and of course
- the Schleswig-Holstein Question!
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/92 "2008-01-06T22:17:45Z")
[QUOTE=Gorgon Heap]
Oh, yeah, **GuanoLad** , that’s right. The “o” is only for rediculous American capitals, because nobody else rates it.
[/QUOTE]
**Capitol** is the _building_ that the government resides in.
**Capital** is the _city_ that the government building resides in.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/93 "2008-01-06T23:05:01Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad]
**Capitol** is the _building_ that the government resides in.
[/QUOTE]
This is solely an American usage (and possibly Canadian).
To the world at large, _capitol_ is either a misspelling or the Temple of Jupiter in Rome.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/94 "2008-01-07T01:55:07Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
This is solely an American usage (and possibly Canadian).
To the world at large, _capitol_ is either a misspelling or the Temple of Jupiter in Rome.
[/QUOTE]
Not Canadian. We have a federal Parliament and provincial Legislatures, provincial Parliaments, or provincial National Assemblies.
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### Author:  [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/95 "2008-01-07T21:58:54Z")
I’ve got a similar story to some others here. I was at work, talking to someone about some room that was tiny and had no air conditioning (it was summer). I said “It’s like the Black Hole of Calcutta.” My (generally intelligent) co-worker looked at me as if I had two heads. “What’s that?”
“What, you never heard of the Black Hole of Calcutta?”
“No.”
ME: “Hey, Marty (nearby co-worker, and onetime bank president). Do you know what “The Black Hole of Calcutta” is”?
Marty: “Never heard of it.”
On and on this went. I asked 7 people; only 2 had heard of it. I would rate everyone I asked as average to above-average intelligence.
In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been that surprised.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/96 "2008-01-07T22:41:57Z")
The Black Hole of Calcutta is in the Horsehead Nebula, right?
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [January 7, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/97 "2008-01-07T23:12:57Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!]
Do you know what “The Black Hole of Calcutta” is"?
[/QUOTE]
Hindu porn?
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/98 "2008-01-08T01:27:59Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!]
I’ve got a similar story to some others here. I was at work, talking to someone about some room that was tiny and had no air conditioning (it was summer). I said “It’s like the Black Hole of Calcutta.” My (generally intelligent) co-worker looked at me as if I had two heads. “What’s that?”
“What, you never heard of the Black Hole of Calcutta?”
“No.”
ME: “Hey, Marty (nearby co-worker, and onetime bank president). Do you know what “The Black Hole of Calcutta” is”?
Marty: “Never heard of it.”
On and on this went. I asked 7 people; only 2 had heard of it. I would rate everyone I asked as average to above-average intelligence.
In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been that surprised.
[/QUOTE]
If you read the Flashman books, you’d know what it was! 🆒 (As well as the Lucknow Seige and the retreat from Kabul…)
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-are-current-events-illiterate-lame/431963/99 "2008-01-08T02:27:56Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!]
I’ve got a similar story to some others here. I was at work, talking to someone about some room that was tiny and had no air conditioning (it was summer). I said “It’s like the Black Hole of Calcutta.” My (generally intelligent) co-worker looked at me as if I had two heads. “What’s that?”
“What, you never heard of the Black Hole of Calcutta?”
“No.”
ME: “Hey, Marty (nearby co-worker, and onetime bank president). Do you know what “The Black Hole of Calcutta” is”?
Marty: “Never heard of it.”
On and on this went. I asked 7 people; only 2 had heard of it. I would rate everyone I asked as average to above-average intelligence.
In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been that surprised.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve heard of it, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you what it is.
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