how ignorant are you?

[jinx]

it does

[SteveDallas]

I was quite amused by the folks who said that "I don't know any math past algebra" or "past trigonometry." If you know even a little algebra, to say nothing of trigonometry, you're ahead of the vast majority of the population, including those with college degrees.

I used to know quite a bit of math, having double-majored in it along with my music history, but I have forgotten most of it.

I'm completely cluess with tools. (Unless you count an screwdriver, which I can use to assemble a prefab unit such as a bookcase.) Even the simplest carpentry or home repairs are beyond me.

I am completely clueless in most normal social settings.

[dar512]

I know lots of stuff - my brain seems to prefer trivia over any other form of data. However, I'm a dunce at finance. I just can't seem to get worked up over it - even though I know I should.


QED = Quod Erat Demonstrandum. Latin for 'by which it is demonstrated'. You can cross that one off your list, noodle.

[Trilby]

I thought QED was Quite Easily Done. See? I'm that stupid.

[Silent]

I know more useless information then anyone else I know. Except maybe Ken Jennings.

That being said, my brain and my body are totally disconnected. I lose my coffee cup on the way to the lunch room usually once a day. It mostly involves me getting distracted and leaving it some where. It's never on purpose.
And God help me if somebody talks to me if I'm on my way to ask someone a question. It's terribly embarrassing to walk into a office and then just stare at the occupant, turn around and then leave because you have no idea why you're there.
And I can't spell worth shit.

[Tonchi]

I always believed that the more a person comes to know, the more she realizes that she does not know anything. That is definitely me, and that is why I am at The Cellar. I bungled into your forum while seeking data on something else I didn't know, and was so astonished by the range and spectrum of intelligence here that I stayed. Mostly in the shadows for 3 months though, because I felt so ignorant that I didn't have the nerve to write anything. I always believed, though, that the only way I could advance my knowledge in any way was to play with the guys who knew so much more than I did that I would always be clawing to keep up with them.

As for something concrete that I am ignorant about, suffice it to say that I was always considered "weird" as a kid, the kind you ask to do homework for you but don't want to hang around with. Having taught myself to read before I was 5, I never learned to PRONOUNCE the words. By the time I was in 2nd grade, I was into Greco-Roman mythology and Paleontology. So I could tell you all about things that most adults didn't want to know but I never pronounced the words correctly, and since the adults had no idea about the subjects they never corrected me. I came in second for the entire state of North Carolina in the National Honor Society ancient mythology contest when I was in High School, simply because it was written instead of oral. Until well into college, I never had any idea that I was saying most of the words wrong, but fortunately at that level there were others with my interests and I had the chance to learn it properly before I made too great a fool of myself. Can you imagine? I knew all about ancient mythology and geography and archeology but never knew how to pronounce Ulysses. I always said it YOOL-is-seez

[Pie]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I have never bothered to learn object-oriented programming.

I'm with you on that one! I've got some sort of ferocious mental block about OO. And, wouldn't you know, I'm about to head up an OO migration of a major effort here...

[chainsaw]

I'm baffled by microwaves, too. Why is my food hot, but the inside of the microwave is not?

Math is beyond my comprehension. Yes, I can add, subtract, multiply and even divide, but if I try to reach beyond that, I'm lost. The highest math I ever completed was my Jr. year of high school and that was retard math (very basic algebra).

Gum is weird. Why doesn't it ever dissolve?

How can a nurse puncture my vein to draw blood and not go straight through it? And why does it have to be taken from a vein? Isn't there blood all over in my body?

CD's, DVD's, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, vinyl records, etc. How does stuff get in there? And how does it work?

*shrug*

[kerosene]

I really suck at golf. No matter how much help I get and guidance, I just miss the ball *every* time.

I have little concept of time. I can sit at the computer for what I think is 15 minutes, when it has really been 4 hours. Same goes for other activities, like cleaning, painting, and drinking alcohol. I couldn't guess what time it was if my life depended on it. I rely completely on clocks to give me that information.

I am complete imbecile when it comes to cooking anything having to do with meat. I like meat, mind you, but when it comes time to cook chicken breast, pork, or steak, I get this terrifying thought that I will either undercook it or overcook it, then I freak out about how to prepare it, like should I use the oven or should I fry it? I usually end up using the frying pan, that way I can watch the meat intently as it cooks, but I still mess it up somehow, everytime.

I never really know how to pronounce "envelope", "imbecile" (which I used in the previous paragraph), and "obscene". I always get confused about the beginning vowel sounds with these words.

I have a terrible memory with names. I commonly call people by wrong names if I just met them, thinking their name is something it isn't. Sometimes that is because they remind me of someone I use to know. I forget celebrity and band names very easily. I try everything to remember people's names that I meet, but I have to have constant repetition, in order to remember.

[russotto]

I have some idea of most of the trivia people have posted, but I'm totally ignorant about large areas of knowledge that I don't even know I don't know. I can't read music, but since I don't even listen to it that's no surprise. I'm an English monoglot -- I know no foreign languages. What little I know about ancient military history comes mostly from Baen science fiction novels.

I can't paint. Well, I can, but somehow I can never do it right. I swear I make brush marks with a roller.

I can't create anything musical or artistic.

Poetry eludes me. (I have the sneaking suspicion there's actually nothing there)

I don't know much about the details of the industry I supposedly work in (logistics). But then, I don't really want to know.

[mrnoodle]

I don't get how everything computerized can be reduced to 1's and 0's, and how quickly these 1's and 0's can be manipulated to make, say, the letters and colors on my screen. It's mindboggling. Don't even get me started on integrated circuits, which take the 1's and 0's and reduce them to electrical current.

Or at least I *think* that's what they do.

[Katkeeper]

I don't understand the needs of plants, and feel badly for those that have been entrusted to my care. I have none inside the house, and those that are outside have to make their own way in the world. I know they need water, but I am just as likely to give them too much as not enough.

I grow easy things like catnip that lives anywhere and reseeds itself and I love to watch my cat roll in it. On rare occasions, I will be attracted to a plant, buy it, bring it home and plant it, and it will take hold. I have one that is amazing looking that has done really well, but I have no idea why. I went back to buy more, but can find no more. Gardening is a very mystifying pursuit.

Oh, and sometimes I have no idea what you guys are talking about - it's a generational, cultural thing.

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by Katkeeper

I don't understand the needs of plants, and feel badly for those that have been entrusted to my care.

Oh I forgot that one. Plants die when I'm in the same room with them. If I actively try to take care of them they die faster. (Don't get me started on my lawn.) (Actually I probably will ask for some suggestions about it.)

[OnyxCougar]

I love learning new languages, but they don't stick with me. What was at least written fluency with partial spoken fluency in croatian is mostly gone, other than a few words and phrases. I've learned 5 languages, and now barely speak English. Dammit.

Up until about 3 years ago, I knew what the word epitome meant but had NO IDEA that ee-PIT-ah-mee was how you said it. I actually said "EP-i-tum". And I went to county level in the 6th grade spelling bee. *sigh*

I'm an amateur radio operator, and still have problems the electricity and math. Electricity scares me. I understand voltage and amperage, but jumping the car freaks me out, in case those clips touch.

I used to test drive Ford vehicles, but I can't tell you how half that crap works or what it's called.

I can build a computer from the board up, but I don't know what a "front side bus" is or what a cache is or why SDRAM is different from DDR RAM or what HT does for you. I don't know how zeroes and ones become World of Warcraft on my screen.

Stock Market stuff (like the stuff lookout said in his post)? Forget it. Gibberish.

math higher than Algebra? Nope.

Chemistry? Failed it 3 times, right after the part where you learn about Moles. What does a blind rodent have anything to do with Chemistry and weights? And why is Avocado's number important?

I dont understand how air going under the wing pushes it (the wing) down, thus causing lift? Huh? I know it has something to do with air pressue, but..uh..after that you lost me...

[lookout123]

I always said it YOOL-is-seez

how embarassing.


so how is it supposed to be pronounced?