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I don't consider the Kennedys trivia. And I'm no computer engineer, but I make an effort to be an informed US citizen...
... I know a nuclear engineer who manages to follow politics. Is anyone too busy or specialized to be bothered by the important things going on in the world?
Obviously you have an interest in politics, it's important to you.
A whole lot of people have no interest in it whatsoever. You made this post in the education forum, so that is the slant people on going to put on their replies.
A total lack of interest in politics is not in and of itself an indication of how well educated someone may or may not be.
For him not to know who Ted Kennedy is probably means that he chooses not to be informed, he bypasses those articles in the paper and on the internet, he doesn't follow the election, he probably isn't even a registered voter. It might make him ignorant in that particular field but it doesn't make him lazy or uneducated. Would you like to considered a cause of embarrassment for lacking knowledge on a vital topic that interest you not at all, say Wall Street finance maybe?
This is frightening to me. And these are the people who presumably pay taxes and (even more presumably) vote? YIKES!
There are a lot of uninformed people who vote, yet even more who don't vote. And I'm sure everyone has a different measure of what constitutes an "uninformed voter." If someone doesn't know who Ted Kennedy or Mary Jo Kopechne are, but he can tell you the candidates for local judge or city office, does that make him more or less informed than someone who pays attention to national politics?
Maybe if you referred to 'Teddy' with his correct nickname, 'Swimmer' Kennedy, he would have known who you were talking about.
Seriously though, I don't think it is a matter of education, age, location, or even interest in politics. I am the same age as the person mentioned in the OP, I live on the west coast, and couldn't really describe myself as having some acute interest in politics. And yet, I know who Ted Kennedy is.
I think it has more to do with the level of a person's intellectual curiosity. Just yesterday we watched a movie with my son and there was a scene where there was a poster of Lenin on the wall of someone's flat. I mentioned it, and my son (who is 15) immediately asked "who's Lenin?" Others might have just let it drift right out the other ear. Can't expect people to learn and retain if they have no interest in doing so.
Maybe if you referred to 'Teddy' with his correct nickname, 'Swimmer' Kennedy, he would have known who you were talking about.
Seriously though, I don't think it is a matter of education, age, location, or even interest in politics. I am the same age as the person mentioned in the OP, I live on the west coast, and couldn't really describe myself as having some acute interest in politics. And yet, I know who Ted Kennedy is.
I think it has more to do with the level of a person's intellectual curiosity. Just yesterday we watched a movie with my son and there was a scene where there was a poster of Lenin on the wall of someone's flat. I mentioned it, and my son (who is 15) immediately asked "who's Lenin?" Others might have just let it drift right out the other ear. Can't expect people to learn and retain if they have no interest in doing so.
Very good point about intellectual curiosity! There are people out there that range from having a lack of desire to understand anything that doesn't relate directly to their existence, to people who instinctively want to understand how the world and society operate beyond the survival basics. Just like your son, the latter seek to define the unknown.
Regarding the Ted Kennedy incident, that 37-year old seems to have missed a lot of social cues in his lifetime. I'm not from the East Coast and don't often watch the news but I have a general "concept" of who Ted Kennedy is because he's an A-List celebrity of politicians, as well as his family name is a household word. Ted's been the butt of jokes on Letterman, Carson or Leno for years and is frequently cited in political commentary...heck even in the general news since he just had brain surgery. So by 37 years this guy should have heard of Ted by the grace of owning a television and living in the US. I'm just sayin'....
Television...? What's that? I keep one for watching DVD's, but I haven't watched any sort of television program in years. I do still read the newspaper, although I'm likely to skip over nat'l politics. (Local politics is a whole other matter)
Maybe if you referred to 'Teddy' with his correct nickname, 'Swimmer' Kennedy, he would have known who you were talking about.
Seriously though, I don't think it is a matter of education, age, location, or even interest in politics. I am the same age as the person mentioned in the OP, I live on the west coast, and couldn't really describe myself as having some acute interest in politics. And yet, I know who Ted Kennedy is.
I think it has more to do with the level of a person's intellectual curiosity. Just yesterday we watched a movie with my son and there was a scene where there was a poster of Lenin on the wall of someone's flat. I mentioned it, and my son (who is 15) immediately asked "who's Lenin?" Others might have just let it drift right out the other ear. Can't expect people to learn and retain if they have no interest in doing so.
You know, I still find it shocking that he feels comfortable showing his face in public after Chappaquiddick. Not only that, here's a quote he made less than five years after his "incident":
"Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law? Or is there one system for the average citizen and another for the high and mighty?"
- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973 -
What a waste. He should have been embarrassed to tears.
What a disgusting comment to make about someone else. A Waste? You should be embarrassed to tears.
Who is anyone to judge what is or isn't important.
Who is anyone to judge period.
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