I had to google Watson and Crick NEVER heard of them and I consider myself extremely well read and I have a Masters degree. Don't have any idea why those names would be considered common knowledge by anyone outside of that field of study.

Really? Maybe it has to do with my age and how big they were when I was in school.

But again, they were only an example. Knowing you, I would be surprised you didn't know who they were, but it wouldn't be endemic of some greater knowledge problem. It'd just be one of your "blind spots," like I have with other things. You're obviously knowledgeable and well-read, so it would only make me shrug.

But seriously, I thought they were like Darwin and Einstein. Guess not.

Imagine someone invented a machine that cures cancer and, incidentally, does a pretty good job clipping your toenails. What if the vast majority of people, even those with cancer, were more interested in the toenail clipping aspect than the the cancer-curing one? As time passed, more and more people would completely forget that this machine is even capable of curing cancer until eventually we're facing a global epidemic and all we have to combat it is an exquisite toenail clipper.

From a cultural perspective, if we no longer appreciate the art of anything (not just film) we risk losing it as an art-form and with that all the benefits art provides.

I think what Dom is complaining about is a lack of intellectual appetite. It's not that people aren't interested in film as art because they're too busy stuffing their faces with world history. It's that people are disinterested in pursuing/consuming anything, so they simply digest whatever happens to be tossed on a plate in front of them. They never develop any tastes or original ideas because that would require effort of the extracurricular variety.

FWIW, most people I've met with a healthy intellectual appetite are rabid consumers. They're interested in pretty much everything. Investing, cars, cooking, paint-balling, film, music, politics, 18th century knitting needles -- these people are just hungry.

they're really not. Plus if you go to school in the bible belt they make damn sure you don't know who those guys are

Also no idea who Watson and Crick were. They are incredibly far removed from Einstein and Darwin land.

I know it wasn't your point, but just adding my .02.

On Topic: I went to Rome with my GF. She had never heard of the Sistine Chapel.

Poor Rosalind Franklin (I wonder how many will get it)

See, this is what I mean...I'm astounded that there are reasonably educated people in the world who wouldn't know what that is.

Having heard of something is actually pretty meaningless. I have heard of the Sistine Chapel, but have no idea what it looks like. I have heard of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet, but if I saw their paintings I wouldn't be able to guess who painted what. Just having heard of something is pointless without actually knowing about it.

This thread is making me very sad.

I feel the same

To be fair there is a lot of stuff to know. With the Internet there are a million things at your finger tips to get into. So it's inevitable that even the most educated people will have huge gaps in there knowledge. You will always be able to poll a random assortment of educated people and find that only a small percentage of them have knowledge of any particular topic. As societies aggregate knowledge increases each individual is going to actually know less as a percentage of that total knowledge.

But I thought the whole point of this was to discuss people that have no interest in acquiring any of that knowledge. I have no idea why people can go through life without any sort of intellectual drive but I am sure that it's a result of a certain anti-intellectualism that pervades our culture. As depressing as this thread sounds I am actually very optimistic for the future. Kids today are growing up with incredible tools for seeking out information. I think it's inevatible that a certain amount of that knowledge will seep into their minds.

People who don't know who Fritz Lang is, make me furious

Unfortunately, culturally much of the World falls into 2 camps: America (North and South), and Arab States seems to have an endemic, driving belief in faith over reason (and the application of reason is seen as irreligious and not something to tolerate easily), or the other end of the spectrum, deep cynicism (which is more European). Both are eminently corrosive.

I honestly believe schools should be promoting as a matter of course the practice of skepticism, either as endemic to EVERY course they do, or as a separate discipline. As many educated people I meet (and it never ceases to shock me) seem to think skepticism == cynicism, to be clear I mean the practice of keeping an open mind, but requiring hard evidence before you accept anything as truth (or near enough).

We are getting way off topic but whatever...

[politarding] This is largely the fault of the right who idolize stupidity and demonize education and intellectual curiosity. You are either a good honest Christian salt of the earth type who has no need for education or an evil ivory tower snob who believes in nonsense like global warming and evolution. [/politarding]

That's The Cat, right?

Seriously lol'd

This stuff really, really needs its own thread.

I know but in fairness I am almost jealous of her lack of religion. We went to the Vatican, she didn't know a thing about it. No clue about the Pope, the Swiss Guard anything. But she knew all about Roman history. The emperors, the murder of Julius Caeser all that stuff. She is the opposite of indoctrinated.

Also she hasn't only heard of Francis Crick and James Watson she knows the whole story behind the discovery. Dunno why I felt the need to defend her just then but she has these huge knowledge holes that astound me sometimes.

Politarding? I'm your huckleberry. That's just my game.

ppl are dumb.

How about some movies?

The Band's Visit
The Conspirator
Wings of Desire
Lions For Lambs
King of California
Whatever Works
Gorky Park

When I was in middle school in social studies class, I asked where the sixteenth chapel is at, and what happened to the other fifteen during roman history chapters. The teacher gave me the wtf is this moron talking about look.

On topic: Contraband, marky marks character is one lucky sob, everything just falls into place for him. 3/5. Kate beckinsale worthy of ms.oot 2010

could be the opposite though...i remember a time before google and if you wanted to know something you had to bury the question in your brain for days or weeks or ask someone OR make common sense conclusions.
it seems that the newest inventions are all a tool to store knowledge out of the mind. like google, googe goggle
http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/#text
or translation programms.

Clovis, your constant stereotyping of conservatives and Christians in this thread is tired and laughable. And it may call your opinions about movies into question. Yes, I think it does.

It's not stereotyping when it's empirically true.

I'd say the research is on your side. The more we come to utilize technology that stores knowledge for us, the less we have to memorize. This is good and bad, and harks back to issues from Plato's time, when oral cultures were transitioning to literate cultures. I'm bowled over thinking about how much pre-literate societies were able to memorize. The good thing is that the less we have to memorize, the more we're free to think abstractly. The bad thing is that I can't remember where I was going with this.