# Stop feeling superior for being ignorant **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 31, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732 "2010-07-31T22:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/41 "2010-08-01T16:51:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [Heh. That’s my dad. My first car, a 1985 hand-me-down Chevy Chevette was AM only. My dad’s replacement car only had FM because at that point (c. 1991), there was no longer an AM-only option. > > . To be fair to those folks though. It used to be, and probably is to some extent today, that car companies charged a rediculous amount for extras on a car that probably didnt cost them a fraction of that. Example. 10,000 dollar car. The am/fm radio is a several hundred dollars more. Are you really telling me that several percent of the cars manufacturing cost/value is tied up in the RADIO? For people like me, that analyze costs more on “how hard/expensive is that to make?” rather than “hey, they charge what the market will bear” a several hundred dollar radio, particularly back in the day is an intellectual hard sell. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/42 "2010-08-01T17:25:36Z")
Knowing things is overrated. Understanding things is far more important. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/43 "2010-08-01T19:17:39Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > . To keep up with who’s who and who’s important, a person would have to spend a relatively large chunk of time reading tabloids, watching bad tv, and gossiping about people who, arguably, do nothing to add to our world. Meh - President Obama knows that Lindsay Lohan is in jail. I’m assuming that not only does he not spend a large chunk of time keeping up with these things, he probably doesn’t have a team of advisors to do it either so it’s probably not _TOO_ hard to keep up with things (they get play on CNN and whatnot). As to Jersey Shore - I’ve never actually watched it, although it’s possible that there’s another show on at the same time that I like more; however, I’m wondering - why do they all have such stupid names? Snookie? The Situation? I don’t get it. The other thing I don’t get is that I sort of thought the show was about a bunch of good looking young people running around partying (or something) but I gotta say - these people are… not so hot. So what am I missing? Or have I totally missed the point of the show? ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/44 "2010-08-01T19:23:07Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Oh, it gets even better: “I don’t own a TV.” I don’t watch TV since about a year ago when I couldn’t afford it anymore (unemployment) and never bothered get the setup for basic channels. I still don’t have anyting since I just haven’t gotten around to hooking up again since I’ve started working. No snobbery there, just poverty. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/45 "2010-08-01T19:36:20Z")
To the extent that I don’t waste my time on stupid stuff, I am proud of it. Then again, I do waste time. On the third hand, there’s a set of low brow stuff that I like (manga, anime) and a set of high brow stuff that I don’t (eg opera). Anyway, I want to praise the virtue of avoiding time wasting junk, while noting that bragging about one’s qualities is poor form. But, hey, you asked. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Something related that kind of bugs me is people who say they never watch television. First of all, I never believe them, and second of all, it just reeks of an assumption of cultural and intellectual superiority. It doesn’t make anybody more sophisticated or interesting if they don’t watch TV and it doesn’t make anybody unsophisticated or stupid if they do. I usually say, “My TV is unplugged”, which is accurate. I’m not sure whether it makes me more interesting (that varies with the discussion at hand I suppose), but it might make me more sophisticated. But if the latter is the case, I should keep it to myself. There’s a bright line between this empty snobbery (what I don’t know) and the meritorious sort (what I do). Sherlock Holmes prided himself on what he didn’t know: IIRC, that included basic astronomy. Doyle included that discussion with Watson to display Holmes’ peculiarity I think. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/46 "2010-08-01T19:41:26Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There’s someplace named ‘Jersey’ with a ‘shore’? How nice! Yup, in [Pennsylvania](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore,_Pennsylvania), as [Hunter Thompson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson#Early_journalism_career) would have pointed out to you … gun-point most likely. :eek: CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/47 "2010-08-01T19:56:16Z")
I don’t read the SDMB as it is quite beneath me. However, my cat screens it for me in case there is anything of interest. She flagged this thread for me but I noticed that the word _possible_ in the second to last sentence us not in the proper tense, so I must disregard the entire thing. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/48 "2010-08-01T19:58:49Z")
The word “possible” doesn’t have a tenses. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/49 "2010-08-01T20:29:02Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > The day I have perfect recall and unlimited mental capacity, I will be happy to acquire “knowledge” such as the names of the _Jersey Shore_ cast members. Until then it’s neural triage, and they’re being tagged as goners. Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie Snookie … ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/50 "2010-08-01T20:37:38Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > The word “possible” doesn’t have **a tenses**. Tenses. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/51 "2010-08-01T20:43:14Z")
Ahhhh, Gaudere! ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/52 "2010-08-01T20:48:48Z")
I farm which means I have don’t have much leisure time on my hands. It also means that my exposure to popular culture is pretty limited-I see very few people from day to day. I don’t get TV reception where I live and I’m not willling to pay for cable because quite frankly, I don’t think it’s worth the money. I do subscribe to Netflix and I appreciate shows like Six Feet Under and The Sopranos and The Wire but I usually watch them after they’ve been out for several years. I don’t think this make me superior but I do find myself really baffled by the amount of time other people spend plonked down in front of a flickering screen watching people that they don’t know behaving badly. Just not my cup of tea. Personally, I find it far more entertaining to watch my chickens chase grasshoppers but hey, I’m a simple soul. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/53 "2010-08-01T21:01:54Z")
Well, that’s a novel attitude. “Popular culture is so pointless!” “I know! Why can’t people appreciate opera and theater? You know, \*real \*culture!” “Wait, what?” “Opera?” “Who said anything about opera? I’ve got my hands full watching these chickens!” ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/54 "2010-08-01T22:41:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Something related that kind of bugs me is people who say they never watch television. First of all, I never believe them, and second of all, it just reeks of an assumption of cultural and intellectual superiority. It doesn’t make anybody more sophisticated or interesting if they don’t watch TV and it doesn’t make anybody unsophisticated or stupid if they do. I don’t not watch TV because I think it makes me superior; I just don’t really like auditory media. I prefer my sound in small doses. That means my entertainment consists of books and newspapers. Again, I’m not putting other people down. You like red and I like blue; you like television and I like books. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/55 "2010-08-01T23:02:12Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Something related that kind of bugs me is people who say they never watch television. First of all, I never believe them, Oy, that’s me, and you can believe me. The last time I turned on a television was to watch the Academy Awards earlier this year. The time before that was the Academy Awards last year. Besides the yearly Oscars, I’ve probably watched less than 10 hours of television, on an actual television, in the last 6 years. I have sporadically watched The Daily Show, Rachel Maddow and Kieth Olberman online though. I’ve also watched many a streamed awards show. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > it just reeks of an assumption of cultural and intellectual superiority. No, not at all, not for me anyway. I know I have missed and I’m currently missing out on some great shows, really great TV shows and TV movies, and I know it’s my loss. It’s just that 1) at this point in my life I’d rather be on the net or watching movies and 2) I can get VERY obsessed with TV and had to cut it out of my life. Seriously, we literally have hundreds, if not thousands of videotapes of things I taped off TV over the past 30 years. Used to be, when I watched something, if it was good I’d want to keep a copy, and would dub off, either from direct feed, or when we got two VCRs, another tape (where I’d cut out commercials) or later, from one of our two (TWO!) Tivos. My obsession is what turned me off of TV. I just had to stop. There were many years when I’d tape every single episode of the TV shows I did watch. I had the entire, and I mean ENTIRE 2004 Democratic convention on the Tivo, which I dubbed down to 6 videos. There were years I’d Tivo every single second of the Olympics, then dub down the best bits to 10-15 videotapes. Crazy crazy crazy. Too stupid crazy. I had to go cold turkey from my Tivos. I even canceled our DirecTV. Believe me, I do not feel proud or superior of my obsessive nature, and I know I’m not all that smart. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It doesn’t make anybody more sophisticated or interesting if they don’t watch TV and it doesn’t make anybody unsophisticated or stupid if they do. I agree with that wholeheartedly. I’m one of the least sophisticated and interesting people you could meet, and all of the interesting and sophisticated people I know watch great TV. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/56 "2010-08-01T23:07:59Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Sherlock Holmes prided himself on what he didn’t know: IIRC, that included basic astronomy. Doyle included that discussion with Watson to display Holmes’ peculiarity I think. Holmes only got away with this because Doyle covered for him. He made sure Holmes never got involved in a case where basic astronomical information was needed for the solution. He also made sure that the obscure trivia that Holmes did study, like cigarette ashes, was relevant to the cases he was called in for. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/57 "2010-08-01T23:16:30Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > It’s less about knowledge than it is about comparative values. The world of celebrity is shallow, facile, and fleeting. To keep up with who’s who and who’s important, a person would have to spend a relatively large chunk of time reading tabloids, watching bad tv, and gossiping about people who, arguably, do nothing to add to our world. > > So, he’s not actually reveling in ignorance. He’s bragging that he spends his time on much more worthy subjects than you. Still pittable, but with a slightly different focus. Huh? I check 4 news sites a day: Local news, news in the city I used to live in, CBC and CNN. And just from that, I know that there’s a trashy chick named Snooki on Jersey Shore that got arrested. I didn’t even click on the article. It’s damn near impossible _not_ to get some pop culture from osmosis. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/58 "2010-08-01T23:35:31Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Something related that kind of bugs me is people who say they never watch television. I never watch television. I can’t really say that honestly because sometimes I’ll go to my parents’ house and they’ll have something on, so… I never watch television on my own time. It’s not because I think TV is beneath me, it’s because I never got around to hooking up cable when I moved and haven’t bothered with it since. I don’t even have basic channels, like with an antenna or whatever. I have a TV, though. We use it for Fallout 3, Guitar Hero, and movies. ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/59 "2010-08-01T23:48:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, that’s a novel attitude. > > “Popular culture is so pointless!” > “I know! Why can’t people appreciate opera and theater? You know, \*real \*culture!” > “Wait, what?” > “Opera?” > “Who said anything about opera? I’ve got my hands full watching these chickens!” Well, it ain’t ‘Waiting for Godot’ or 'The Marriage of Figaro’but watching chickens does have it’s highlights. 😃 And I suspect it’s as interesting as most reality TV programs. Chickens are ruthless competitors but pretty damn dim. Instead of quietly eating a bug, a chicken will race around it’s enclosure with the grasshopper dangling out of its beak ensuring that all the other birds will chase it. A huge game of tug of war ensues. It’s hilarous. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732/60 "2010-08-02T00:35:43Z")
Snookie got arrested? When was this? What really bugs me is when people claim they only like things that are obscure, and then once they become mainstream, they stop liking them. “I USED to like such and such band, but now they’re so popular, I can’t stand them.” Ugh! (The only problem with TV is it seems like there’s never anything good on!!! All these channels, and all that’s on sucks. ☹ So I’ll usually just leave the History Channel or something like that on for background noise. Usually I can count on that for violence or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-feeling-superior-for-being-ignorant/548732.md?page=4)