This forum sucks on my phone or tablet, bitching thread.

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Originally Posted by manker

That lovely anecdotal explanation doesn't make your assertion any the less wrong, but it did enable me to see exactly from whence your point came - almost to the point of agreeing with you.

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You're welcome.

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Originally Posted by manker

[The first sentence is absolutely true. The second is tenuous at best, the third is complete shite.

After I wrote that last night, I realised that I like the first two or three decades of the 1900s, and the 90s, too. Most of the stuff in between, with lots of notable exceptions, is just awkward.

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It's irrelevant whether you like it or not. It happened, and it has an influence on the world you live in. Therefore there is intrinsic importance in you knowing it.

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Originally Posted by mjmacky

I've always identified intelligence as a willingness to learn, regardless of interest, so it's kind of close to mine. One doesn't have to know these things already because it'd be a pity if intelligence depended too strongly on your ability to not forget something.

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If intelligence depended on my ability to not forget something I'd be screwed because I have a propensity for forgetting things. But I guess I remember vastly more than what I forget so I do ok.
There are loads of different types of intelligence, but the type I admire the most is the enquiring mind. I have an acquaintance who I figure must be pretty clever because she's a financial analyst and earns a shit load of money, but she's one of the most ignorant cunts I've ever met. She admits she's got no interest in anything not immediately relevant to her life. It irritates the fuck out of me when anyone takes pride in not knowing something: 'oh, I don't know anything about popular culture and I don't own a TV'. Well congratulations fuckwit, you just removed a major source of information about what OTHER people are interested in and the world at large. You know, those entities who walk around and breathe and fart into the same air as you but who aren't you.
I'm feeling particularly scathing this morning :snooty:

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Originally Posted by Squeamous

It's irrelevant whether you like it or not. It happened, and it has an influence on the world you live in. Therefore there is intrinsic importance in you knowing it.

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You're being rather dense about this.
All of history has impacted upon contemporary society to varying degrees. The intrinsic value in having knowledge of it really does go without saying.

I have limited free-time, as does everyone even if their whole life is 'free-time'. I can't possibly know everything, even though it sometimes seems that way to the people I interact with on a regular basis.
So what I tend to do is learn about the things which interest me the most. Once I've learned about those, I'll move onto the things that interest me almost as much. Popular culture in the 60s, 70s and 80s is so far down the list that I really don't think I'll ever get the chance to learn about them. I've learned about some of it incidentally while not really meaning to and most of it strikes me as shit.

My opinion of what's shit and what's not shit is, naturally, subjective but I had assumed everyone with an ounce of enquiring within their mind would do a similar thing; interesting stuff first, not-so-interesting stuff afterwards.

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Originally Posted by manker

You're being rather dense about this.
All of history has impacted upon contemporary society to varying degrees. The intrinsic value in having knowledge of it really does go without saying.

I have limited free-time, as does everyone even if their whole life is 'free-time'. I can't possibly know everything, even though it sometimes seems that way to the people I interact with on a regular basis.
So what I tend to do is learn about the things which interest me the most. Once I've learned about those, I'll move onto the things that interest me almost as much. Popular culture in the 60s, 70s and 80s is so far down the list that I really don't think I'll ever get the chance to learn about them. I've learned about some of it incidentally while not really meaning to and most of it strikes me as shit.

My opinion of what's shit and what's not shit is, naturally, subjective but I had assumed everyone with an ounce of enquiring within their mind would do a similar thing; interesting stuff first, not-so-interesting stuff afterwards.

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Not really. For instance, when I go to a doctor's surgery I'll pick up a magazine and if it's say, a men's magazine I'll read it anyway. I don't give a flying fuck that a Wankel engine is really cool because it's triangular, or who Kim Kardashian is married to this week, but I just absorb this information from walking around with my eyes and ears open all day. In fact, I frequently choose to pick up books my friends have been reading or articles they're interested in because I figure it takes me out of my comfort zone. I even read newspapers that have different political stances to mine. It's about being a well-rounded individual instead of an intellectual narcissist who opens their eyes each morning and only want themselves reflected back at them.

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Originally Posted by Squeamous

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Originally Posted by manker

You're being rather dense about this.
All of history has impacted upon contemporary society to varying degrees. The intrinsic value in having knowledge of it really does go without saying.

I have limited free-time, as does everyone even if their whole life is 'free-time'. I can't possibly know everything, even though it sometimes seems that way to the people I interact with on a regular basis.
So what I tend to do is learn about the things which interest me the most. Once I've learned about those, I'll move onto the things that interest me almost as much. Popular culture in the 60s, 70s and 80s is so far down the list that I really don't think I'll ever get the chance to learn about them. I've learned about some of it incidentally while not really meaning to and most of it strikes me as shit.

My opinion of what's shit and what's not shit is, naturally, subjective but I had assumed everyone with an ounce of enquiring within their mind would do a similar thing; interesting stuff first, not-so-interesting stuff afterwards.

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Not really. For instance, when I go to a doctor's surgery I'll pick up a magazine and if it's say, a men's magazine I'll read it anyway. I don't give a flying fuck that a Wankel engine is really cool because it's triangular, or who Kim Kardashian is married to this week, but I just absorb this information from walking around with my eyes and ears open all day. In fact, I frequently choose to pick up books my friends have been reading or articles they're interested in because I figure it takes me out of my comfort zone. I even read newspapers that have different political stances to mine. It's about being a well-rounded individual instead of an intellectual narcissist who opens their eyes each morning and only want themselves reflected back at them.

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That would be fair enough if you lived in an environment where you could only absorb information in which you weren't interested - but that isn't the case.

I'd read about Showaddywaddy if that was the only literature available at the time. But that's never been the case, so I haven't.
Surely if you revisited the Doctors and had two magazines in front of you, one was FHM Motors and one was Bella's Summer Special on how to manipulate men into being pliant fuck-slaves, you'd pick up the latter.

If I've never heard of or experienced something, I'm open to it. I recently read about string theory which is so far out of my comfort zone that I actually had to re-read every single chapter once I'd finished them because I didn't properly understand it. I got on with it okay, in the end, I think and even managed to reference it on here a few times - but that's hardly the same thing as watching some Terry and June simply because there might be an episode where something funny happened.

Being discerning about the information you take in, which is what I try to do, isn't being an intellectual narcissist, it's utilising your spare time more efficiently.
Altho' I do like the sound of being an intellectual narcissist :eyebrows:

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Originally Posted by manker

That would be fair enough if you lived in an environment where you could only absorb information in which you weren't interested - but that isn't the case.

I'd read about Showaddywaddy if that was the only literature available at the time. But that's never been the case, so I haven't.
Surely if you revisited the Doctors and had two magazines in front of you, one was FHM Motors and one was Bella's Summer Special on how to manipulate men into being pliant fuck-slaves, you'd pick up the latter.

If I've never heard of or experienced something, I'm open to it. I recently read about string theory which is so far out of my comfort zone that I actually had to re-read every single chapter once I'd finished them because I didn't properly understand it. I got on with it okay, in the end, I think and even managed to reference it on here a few times - but that's hardly the same thing as watching some Terry and June simply because there might be an episode where something funny happened.

Being discerning about the information you take in, which is what I try to do, isn't being an intellectual narcissist, it's utilising your spare time more efficiently.
Altho' I do like the sound of being an intellectual narcissist :eyebrows:

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Fortunately I'm a really good speed reader so would easily be able to learn how to talk a man into being a pliant fuck slave (:w00t:), possibly with the the use of car-related conversation.
It's really not that hard to fit interesting and non interesting stuff into your brain, you just have to be willing to absorb more of the stuff you see and experience. Why would you want to be discerning about what your brain takes in? I don't have any great interest in the 70s but it gets referenced quite a lot in every day life, and I've picked up some things as a result. For instance, I don't know how you can have been brought up in the UK with British parents and avoid knowing who Dick Emery is, yet you somehow managed it. And how the fuck can you have never seen My Fair Lady?

Ffs.
How did you know that I don't know who Dick Emery is and that I've never seen My Fair Lady :balustrade:

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Originally Posted by manker

Ffs.
How did you know that I don't know who Dick Emery is and that I've never seen My Fair Lady :balustrade:

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We've discussed both these things before Memory Man :pinch:

Orite :pinch:

And you said you would be happy to embezzle me a million pounds from messeurs Stephen Green Esqs. :shifty: