Does this constitute snobbery?

[gradus]

Having participated in a quiz for a local charity this week I have been reminded just how limited my 'general knowledge' is. Would you know which element occupies position 5 in the Periodic table? Astonishingly (to some people) I didn't. Nor did I know the name of the last book to be published in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Sadly, I could go on for quite some time...

[Conchis]

Having participated in a quiz for a local charity this week I have been reminded just how limited my 'general knowledge' is. Would you know which element occupies position 5 in the Periodic table? Astonishingly (to some people) I didn't. Nor did I know the name of the last book to be published in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Sadly, I could go on for quite some time...

Few people have great 'general knowledge', in my experience and I very much include myself in that.

In fact, 'general ignorance' might be a better term.

[Bryn]

Having participated in a quiz for a local charity this week I have been reminded just how limited my 'general knowledge' is. Would you know which element occupies position 5 in the Periodic table? Astonishingly (to some people) I didn't. Nor did I know the name of the last book to be published in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Sadly, I could go on for quite some time...

Hmm. I must admit I could not bring to mind the element immediately preceding carbon, either. As to the works of C. S. Lewis. I avoided them as a child and could not reliably name even one of them.

[Conchis]

Hmm. I must admit I could not bring to mind the element immediately preceding carbon, either. As to the works of C. S. Lewis. I avoided them as a child and could not reliably name even one of them.

I don't believe you. How could you avoid them if you didn't know what they were/are?

[Richard Barrett]

Hmm. I must admit I could not bring to mind the element immediately preceding carbon, either. As to the works of C. S. Lewis. I avoided them as a child and could not reliably name even one of them.

I memorised the first 30 or so elements for my Chemistry O level and obviously did a good job because they're still burned into my brain. As for C S Lewis, I read them all as soon as I was old enough, and then the whole lot several times more over the course of my childhood, then again aloud to my daughter, and I'm looking forward to doing it all yet again with my son in a few years. Yes they are full of thinly-disguised Christian imagery and what would if they were being written now be an unacceptable vein of racism, but if after all that I'm neither a Christian nor a racist I guess their better aspects win out over their dubious ones.

[Bryn]

I don't believe you. How could you avoid them if you didn't know what they were/are?

Simple. I knew the name of the author and that he was a Christian protagonist. That was quite enough rationale for me to avoid his work. I was, of course, aware of there being something or other involving a wardrobe, but that was it.

I've not read Der Process, by the way, not even in an English translation, and only read In der Strafkolonie (in an English translation) in preparation for listening to The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny.

[LMcD]

I learned a bit about her tastes, which I would characterise as 'middle-brow': mainstream films (featuring people like Kevin Costner and Cameron Diaz), mainstream television (Only Fools & Horses), and she watches football ('because my husband does, and I like to join in'). She comes from Cleethorpes, a town I've only visited once but which struck me then as being a bloody awful place to live - a bit like Stoke on Trent, but with added sea.

Time to stop digging? (Or is this simply a not very good attempt at a wind-up?)
My father was born in Cleethorpes, by the way which possibly explains my appalling ignorance of Minoan culture, post-Beatles pop singles and Restoration drama.

[Conchis]

Time to stop digging? (Or is this simply a not very good attempt at a wind-up?)
My father was born in Cleethorpes, by the way which possibly explains my appalling ignorance of Minoan culture, post-Beatles pop singles and Restoration drama.

I think the former Heatwave keyboardist, later to become Michael Jackson's eminence grise, Rod Temperton came from Cleethorpes. He didn't let it hold him back, though! And I'm pretty sure (though it's a bit too late to ask) that he knew who Kafka was.

[Conchis]

Simple. I knew the name of the author and that he was a Christian protagonist. That was quite enough rationale for me to avoid his work. I was, of course, aware of there being something or other involving a wardrobe, but that was it.

I've not read Der Process, by the way, not even in an English translation, and only read In der Strafkolonie (in an English translation) in preparation for listening to The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny.

I'll bet you're probably also aware of a lion, which gets you two thirds of the way there.....

[richardfinegold]

I think an undertone entering this thread is the specialization of knowledge. It is very difficult to be what used to be known here as a “Renaissance Man”, someone conversant with their own field of specialization but equally conversant in Culture, History, Politics and other areas. Most Doctors I know have amassed an awful lot of formal education but would have been no more likely statistically to have identified Kafka than Conchis acquaintance. I am sure that would apply equally well to Engineering, IT, Bankers...
I am reading a History of the Romanov dynasty at present. I was struck by the fact that during the reign of Peter The Great, at its peak, there were a grand total of 34 books published a year. Now, it was probably quite possible that the small Russian Intelligentsia Class, with little other entertainment options during the cold Russian nights, to have read every book published in their country that year. Everyone in that class would have had a common frame of reference. In our world, with the sheer mass of material and competing options, and with the energy required to merely stay current in one’s own field, to expect commonality in discourse is unreasonable

[cloughie]

I think the former Heatwave keyboardist, later to become Michael Jackson's eminence grise, Rod Temperton came from Cleethorpes. He didn't let it hold him back, though! And I'm pretty sure (though it's a bit too late to ask) that he knew who Kafka was.

Well you can’t ask him ‘cos he is dead! Yes you are a snob and this thread has done you no credit whatsoever!

[LMcD]

By way of a hopefully positive contribution to this thread, this is a heavily edited list of subjects on which I'm completely ignorant despite having a university degree and having recently celebrated my 25th birthday for the 3rd time:

Differential calculus
String theory
Fermat's last theorem
The 'backstop' (not for lack of trying)
The history of the early Christian church
Garage/grunge/hip-hop/house/ska and other types of modern music
The success of 'Mrs Brown's Boys'
The appeal of F1 racing/horse racing/break dancing.
The rules of Sumo wrestling
etc....etc...
What I do know about Kafka - which isn't much, - I owe mainly to Alan Bennett.
Does this make me an unenlightened person or ignoramus?

[Richard Barrett]

Most Doctors I know have amassed an awful lot of formal education but would have been no more likely statistically to have identified Kafka than Conchis acquaintance. I am sure that would apply equally well to Engineering, IT, Bankers...

I'm sure it would apply to the professions you mention at the end; on the other hand, I don't know very many doctors, but those I do know are for example knowledgeable on and enthusiastic about contemporary composition. And I have no reason to think that the doctors I know represent anything but a typical cross-section of the medical profession.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've never heard of Kafka...

[LMcD]

One important thing about Franz Kafka which I know thanks to Alan Bennett is that he had a Dick.
Or are we talking about the famous gridiron player Mike Kafka - or Alexandre Kafka the renowned Brazilian economist?