• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Proclaim Your Ignorance

Economics...cars (to some extent)...a lot of things. Every time I learn something new, something old gets pushed out

You and me both.
When did economics turn so complex? Can't we all just put our money in our socks under our beds? I might at least grasp the basics of that.
 
Count me in on the clueless bunch on sports and cars. Yeah, I know enough to get through a general conversation, but when people start getting specific, I'm lost.

At least I haven't embarrased myself by saying something like Dale Earnhardt scored a touchdown in the third period against the Maple Leafs, thus clinching the PGA tour.
 
I'm fairly clueless about popular culture (music, movies, stars, etc.), and about most sports. I know how to play the sports, and I enjoy a good game of basketball (even though I'm 5'3"), but I'm not really into watching them. (Except for gymnastics, hockey, swimming, and diving) I'm also not really knowledgeable about fashion.

My ignorance on these topics is rational, though. I could learn about them if I wanted to, but my time is limited, and there are topics I would rather spend my time learning about.
 
I'm a complete loss with sports. I only follow hockey a bit because my wife is so into it. I'm no mechanic or handyman. I don't understand most technobabble, but apparently I fake it well, since people will turn to me and ask me questions about bits and bytes and all.

I will join the group that is baffled by economics. That's a completely different language to me.
 
There is the quotation oft-attributed to Socrates that the only true wisdom consists of knowing you know nothing. [That's us, dude! - someone]

Given that, I am confident I don't know nearly as much as I'd like to about motor maintenance, motorcycles, types of cars, advanced physics and mathematics, English history, economics, DIY, football statistics, the basics of cricket, American sports, fashion, grooming, ettiquette in formal company, general politics, foreign affairs and recent history, the history of other major world powers and ethnic groups, food science and cooking, religions (including my own) and of course relationships and sexual politics.

I am also confident that I really should have remembered all that I had forgotten, and perhaps know a bit more, about biology, chemistry, medical science, statistics, high school mathematics, geographical science, English literature, the English language in general, computing basics, astronomy, and foreign languages.

On the other hand, ignorance is bliss. :hugegrin:
 
Oh my, there is so much! Cars and sports are number one on my list as well -- someone asked me last year if I was into March Madness and I asked him if that was to do with baseball or football.

My history is spotty, so that I know a great deal about some historic events/cultures/etc, but embarrassingly little about others.

I could also compile a fair-sized list of the books I haven't read that people presume I have (and which I ought to have read).

Oh, and flirting. I've never quite grasped the concept.
 
Oh, and flirting. I've never quite grasped the concept.
The secret to flirting is to not even try and make an effort. Trying to put the effort into it makes it all look stilted, artificial, and obviously false. Even worse is pulling out all the stops and putting in an extraordinary amount of effort in order to make it look like you're not making an effort, which just ends in disaster. It's a natural, flowing, evolving thing, I guess. But then again, I'm not that great an expert at it either. [I don't think I need to comment on this at all... - someone]

Mind you, it takes two to flirt: one to flirt and one to fall asleep. :guffaw:
 
I remember my CCTV practical exam. For part of it I had to identity a car and without searching for type or logo all I could get from looking at it was "It's a red.... uh... car."

:guffaw: That sounds familiar. I can't tell you the number of times I've started a radio message and then realised half way through the best description I can manage is 'car, black, kinda small'.
 
"You don't know who Lynyrd Skynyrd?"

ME: "We travel in different musical circles. I don't listen to songs."

"He's one of the greatest songwriters alive."

ME: "Do you know who Jerry Goldsmith is?"

"I don't listen to that kind of stuff."

ME (inside voice): "17 Oscar nominations, one Oscar win, five Emmy wins, countless other awars and wins, for some of the most famous films ever, while your guy ... according to Wikipedia got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame -- BIG WHOOP!"

In other words, song. How anyone can liste nto song written in the last ten years ,especialyl any chart toppers, is beyond me. I proclaim ignorance.


Car repair, also. And I don't one flying fuck about any sports -- I'd rather proclaim ignorance then know more details than already garnered from film & TV.
 
"You don't know who Lynyrd Skynyrd?"

ME: "We travel in different musical circles. I don't listen to songs."

"He's one of the greatest songwriters alive."

ME: "Do you know who Jerry Goldsmith is?"

"I don't listen to that kind of stuff."

ME (inside voice): "17 Oscar nominations, one Oscar win, five Emmy wins, countless other awars and wins, for some of the most famous films ever, while your guy ... according to Wikipedia got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame -- BIG WHOOP!"

In other words, song. How anyone can liste nto song written in the last ten years ,especialyl any chart toppers, is beyond me. I proclaim ignorance.

Lynyrd Skynyrd are a band, not a person. And certainly pre-date the last 10 years. By quite a way. :lol:
 
Math- at one time I knew enough to pass college algebra but I'm basically back to pre-algebra in knowledge. But I don't really miss it. Music from the 80s and from 2006 to present with the exception of a couple of groups (such as Green Day).

At one time I would have listed football but when I was in college I became interested in college football- enough that I learned downs and just last season I learned what conversions were! :lol: *Go Cyclones!*
 
Economics, Accounting, Finance, The Stock Market

I almost said that too, but I think the number of people who actually do understand those things is pretty small. After all, this is why a career in finance can do you very nicely - just as with lawyers, people will pay for your knowledge of minutiae of a subject rather than learn the terrifying thing themselves.
 
Oh, and flirting. I've never quite grasped the concept.
The secret to flirting is to not even try and make an effort. Trying to put the effort into it makes it all look stilted, artificial, and obviously false. Even worse is pulling out all the stops and putting in an extraordinary amount of effort in order to make it look like you're not making an effort, which just ends in disaster. It's a natural, flowing, evolving thing, I guess. But then again, I'm not that great an expert at it either. [I don't think I need to comment on this at all... - someone]
Natural and flowing? This is why I have a reputation for talking about physics when I'm drunk or in social situations; I get nervous and so talk about something that is "natural" and "flowing" to me. Unfortunately, it seems to alienate people. :(
Mind you, it takes two to flirt: one to flirt and one to fall asleep. :guffaw:
:lol:

Like I said, I'm miserable about cars. My dad, on the other hand, can tell you anything and everything about any and every car ever assembled. His knowledge is encyclopedic -- you'd think I would have picked some of it up. I remember watching a movie with him once, and there was a shot of a young woman sitting inside a car. All you could see of the car was the corner of the passenger window behind her, just the corner of the window, and my dad went off, "Oh! That's a 19 such-and-such such-and-such, they only made this many, and they came in only these colors, and..." It's really mind-blowing how much he knows.
 
Computers. I was on the phone with my brother in law one time and he was talking me through the set up my wireless connection. I had to idea what the hell he was telling me to do, with all those weird codes and stuff, but ultimately it worked. I can do the basic stuff, and I work well with Microsoft office, but thats about it.

Cricket. What the hell is up with that sport? I even had someone from England try to explain it to me and it didn't make any sense.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top