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Raistlin

There are really people capable of using the internet that are this stupid

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by
Raistlin
, 08-13-2012 at 09:20 PM (1634 Views)
In one episode of Sherlock, Watson discovers to his amazement that Holmes was not aware of the basic, preschool-level fact that the Earth revolves around the sun. That information is meant to result in shock from any recipient because of course the Earth revolves around the sun, and every single living being on the planet knows that. That Holmes is able to ignore such common information is a sign of what a unique individual he is, and that no one real could be quite like him.

Well, as they say, life imitates art. We haven't quite reached that level of basic ignorance, but we got closer than I would have thought possible.

It is rather rare for people's capacity for stupidity to shock me anymore, but it has reached a new low after some people mentioned that the Olympics first started sometime around 3,000 years ago. Now I know what you're thinking: "Oh, there were probably some Young Earth Creationists who claimed the Olympics could not have started then, because the world's population hadn't recovered from the Flood yet" or some such nonsense. But no, it is worse. Much, much worse.

Quote Originally Posted by NATALiA @nmacdonalddd
how could something happen 3000 years ago when we are only in 2012? #mongol
Some of these were probably trolls. But I've checked the twitter accounts of a few, and I've verified with a fair degree of certainty that the above tweet was legitimate. In response to this image being circulated, @nmacdonalddd was barraged with messages about, well, calendars. She responded with the following tweets (among others):

FS I DON'T STUDY THE HISTORY OF THE PLANET:/:/
Quote Originally Posted by In response to a brief explanation of AD/BC
oh..... thanks learnt more in this 5 mins than I did the whole 2 years of standard grade history
Before people start criticizing the American education system, this particular woman is apparently from the UK or nearby (or so I assume from her spelling and diction).
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Comments

  1. Jiro's Avatar
    Oh my smurfing god. Raistlin please mail me a gun I can't live in this world any more.
  2. Tigmafuzz's Avatar
    Our only hope is to kill these people. You know it as well as I do.
  3. Quindiana Jones's Avatar
    I'm stand firm to my opinion that there's nothing wrong with ignorance. Everyone is ignorant of something, it's just a matter of information that we've never come across. Tolerance and joy etc. etc. For example, the question of why they're considered the thirtieth game this year is a perfectly acceptable lack of information.

    Having said that, that link has made me furious that I think I'm going to trout pure anger for a week. Kudos to Leon Auty, though, for simply asking a question, as opposed Rachel Clark who had the audacity to suggest that such a conundrum could never be solved by any human. smurf you, Rachel Clark.
  4. Raistlin's Avatar
    Quin: I completely agree with you that simple ignorance, by itself, is not a bad thing (and yes, pondering why this is only the 30-somethingth Olympics is a legitimate question of only mild ignorance). It is how one responds to one's own ignorance that is noteworthy. Even then, a certain level of ignorance is rather shocking, especially publicly commenting on the issue without doing the 3.5 seconds of Google searching it would take to cure that ignorance. Such public commentary and failure at interneting legitimately opens oneself up to commentary.

    And the level of ignorance required to believe that there have only ever been 2,012 recorded years on Earth is absolutely shocking. Have these people ever even heard of dinosaurs? The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, etc.? The aforementioned YECs are the craziest people in the world about the age of the Earth, and even they put the age at 6,000 years.
  5. Quindiana Jones's Avatar
    I really only said that as a setup to my "troutting pure anger" line. Though, as you say, it flummoxes me that people would make a big deal over new information without spending at least 30 seconds trying to understand it.
  6. Shauna's Avatar
    Don't worry guys, I'm on the case. I'll find which part of Scotland this girl is from and I'll learn her a few things.
  7. Quindiana Jones's Avatar
    Gi' 'er a Glasgae kess!
  8. Shauna's Avatar
    With a quick look through her tweets, she is from Glasgow too. :P Glesga kiss battles will commence.
  9. Raistlin's Avatar
    That was a hot thought in my imagination until I looked up Glasgow kiss.

    Now it's hotter.
  10. Quindiana Jones's Avatar
    If the kisses don't work, why not give her a nice Glasgow grin?
  11. Jiro's Avatar
    Not understanding that the modern olympics is different from the ancient olympics is okay. That's something that not your everyday joe would know (presumably). But thinking that the world is as old as the year we're in completely baffles me. You learn about BC and AD/CE in primary school. Basically, if they're older than, say, ten, then they should smurfing know. I want to punch these people in the face.
  12. Shaibana's Avatar
    it amazes me how ppl think there was no human life before they started counting years
  13. Shorty's Avatar
    Because nothing happened before Jesus, Wesley. Why is this so difficult for you to comprehend?
  14. Tigmafuzz's Avatar
    I have a gift for you. Someone used a logical fallacy in an argument? Link them to a description of what they did wrong before continuing the discussion. Refuse any further communication attempts until they rescind their previous argument and form a logical response. Once they do, you can resume debating with them about whatever the topic is in a calm, logical manner. If they don't, you have automatically won the argument, with the added benefit of not having to talk that smurfing retard ever again

    Works wonders in political "discussions."
  15. krissy's Avatar
  16. Raistlin's Avatar
    krissy: hahahaha is that a parody? Please tell me it is.

    Tig: I love that site. But unfortunately pointing out logical fallacies is not always effective, as it's depressingly easy for people to simply rationalize or shift goalposts. But they're still worth pointing out for the benefit of other readers, who may learn something even if the speaker does not.
  17. Tigmafuzz's Avatar
    Like I said, unless they start being reasonable in their discussion, there is no reason to continue communicating with them. A lot of people these days seem to have trouble differentiating tactical avoidance as a poor debating "skill."