Of course you would, the guy is an irritant no doubt.


I was just saying, I wouldn't think someone was thick for not knowing. To younger people, it is quite a niche piece of information perhaps, so I was just using a more extreme example to demonstrate that point.

Even intelligent people have gaps in their knowledge- their knowledge being in other areas.

I didn't even know all the variant UK flags

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom

How is knowledge going to open up new ways of thinking if you don't actually apply thought to the knowledge? Learning the kings of England by rote does not make you intelligent.

People who are heavily exposed to situations usually become more adept in those fields. Situations where people become more adept through experience would be the result of knowledge increasing intelligence, and as such it can be deduced that knowledge is itself, a form of intelligence.

It is said for example that most feral children, if left alone and uneducated for too long will in fact never be able to grasp the basics of any language, because early knowledge of language is essential for human understanding of language. The same can be said for many scenarios. What we are taught as children can in the long term impact heavily on our analytical, reasoning and emotional intelligence. People can be brainwashed into many thought patterns that are arguably seen by most of society as unintelligent.

Though I agree some areas of knowledge would have a negligable affect on a persons overall intelligence, which is sort of what I was arguing with the flags thing. It doesn't make someone "thick" if they have one small gap in their knowledge on the flags of Germany- in fact, the sum of their knowledge in other areas may be greater than those who are accusing them of being thick. There are more important determinators of intelligence through knowledge, that's for sure.

Two gaps. Jamie also thinks clubbers in London don't wear shoes anymore.

I never go out in proper shoes anymore

I prefer to go out in a dark pair of decent trainers, but then I do mostly go to rock and metal clubs

I don't know what he was one about with that though, you can get in anywhere in Sheffield- although bouncers may sometimes stop you if your trainers are white or excessively scruffy looking!

I would imagine it's the same in Manchester.

That's ability, not intelligence. You're also talking about application of knowledge, not the possession of knowledge itself.

What about the rest of the post?

Knowledge affects how your brain develops. As your brain is still developing quickly when you are a child and arguably, never stops developing, I would say there is a lot more to intelligence than just genetics.

As for ability vs intelligence vs knowledge, it's all getting a bit vague.

YAY, I IZ NOT FICK!!!

What about the rest of it? I didn't see anything relevant to the argument at hand.


I haven't argued that intelligence is just genetics. That's a different argument.

I think perhaps at this point it's worth quoting the original statement of yours where I said that what you were describing was knowledge, rather than intelligence: "I'd think it was intelligent for someone to know other countries flags full stop, let alone all the variant ones." No amount of talk about feral children is going to persuade me that the scenario in that sentence doesn't describe someone's knowledge, rather than their intelligence.


No, you're being vague in how you apply the terms. I'm being the opposite of vague.

If knowledge is not intelligence, then where else is intelligence gained from, other than genetics? To me, intelligence is a mixture of both.


Something as minor as knowing a countries flag, may seem negligible, but since I believe the sum total of all knowledge effectively contributes to a persons intelligence, even this is an example of intelligence in my opinion. albeit a very minor one, and of course, it would be ludicrous to judge a persons whole intelligence on this alone.


I wasn’t trying to convince you, I was just stating my view and that since use of the term is debatable, it is not 'wrong' to use it in such a case- you may not agree, but to me it makes sense because of how I view intelligence/ knowledge.


I have explained why I’d use those terms, you may not agree but I don’t think I was wrong to use it. Just because your opinion on knowledge vs intelligence is different to mine. If you don’t want to use the term in that scenario as I did, that’s your prerogative.

Then saying that a person is intelligent because they know another country's flag would be wrong. Good.

Well ok, I see your point. I went overboard because I was trying to stick up for the OP. The very fact that some people thought a guy was thick for not knowing that flag proves many people view a lack of knowledge as a lack of intelligence. So you could really pull them up for the same thing, and since they were insulting people and I was trying to stick up for them for that gap in knowledge, maybe it's a shame you didn't.

I may not agree that one thing on it’s own constitutes a lack of intelligence, or that knowing it is the reverse, but it is a factor. As he has said many silly comments in the past, you begin to build up a picture. You can look at anyone and wonder why the masses see them as intelligent. Stephen Fry for example is seen by many as intelligent because he is very knowledgable.

Knowing the flags is knowledgable and as such, contributes to a persons intelligence in my opinion, but of course, I wouldn't say a person is intelligent based on that alone. I could have been insanely specific in that first post, as I have now had to be, but I didn't think I would get pulled up over it.

I did start this conversation saying it was a nitpick. It's never been more than that, as far as I'm concerned. If you wish to class that as insane, then knock yourself out.

I was saying “I” had to be insanely specific, I never said you were insane.

I did say it’s a shame you didn’t pull the other camp up for deducing a person must be thick for not knowing the flag.

Really though, the conversation in itself is a tad insane, but you know it’s always interesting to debate things, even if it is just a forum about the apprentice

Yes, I understand that. I still don't see what's insane about using the words that mean what you want them to mean rather than ones that don't, but there you go.

They did mean what I wanted them to mean. I wanted to go overboard to show I didn’t think people were thick for not knowing, sort of exaggerate so someone doesn’t feel down on themselves for not knowing.

I’m not always mega accurate in what I write (as you can probably tell) and yes my desk is very messy
I don’t doctor everything I say, because I thought it’s the apprentice forum, they’ll get what I’m basically trying to say, because it’s not really a serious debate forum.

It can be exhausting sometimes not to be nitpicked here! I’d much rather post and hope people are intelligent enough to get the general jist of what I am trying to say (even if they don’t agree), than have to extensively doctor everything.

I mean, nobody is perfect- you can nitpick any minor detail about pretty much any post- find a fault, then debate it to the nth degree, and in doing so lose the very purpose of the original post! I know I do it too and I should really try and stop (I promise I will in future)

Perhaps, then, the thing to do if someone does nitpick you is to say that they're right, rather than claiming they're wrong and entering a long-winded debate before eventually making the same point as the nitpicker originally made and thereby agreeing with them.

Or maybe I’ll just not bother with people like you in future, whose only purpose on the forum seems to be nitpicking and irritating people. I should have really seen the clue in your name.

I already showed how there were people who obviously equated lack of knowledge of the flag as a sign that someone was 'thick' or lacked intelligence, but I didn't see you nitpicking any of them.

Also, I never said I was wrong, I just said I went overboard, to try and get to some sort of resolution middle ground, because I was tired of arguing, but of course you just seem intent to use it as a way of being incredibly humourless and superior about it.

WHAT HAS BECOME OF MY THREAD!!!!

It has been an education of sorts that e-a-g-l-e started it all
I feel much better about my intelligence level now ... mensa here I come

Talking of flags, I remember Alan Sugar appearing on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and had to ask the audience to help him answer the question "which three colours are on the Norwegian flag?" I was surprised he didnt know the answer.

Just asked a German friend of mine, who's German all through and lived there her whole life, and she had to wiki it. She'd never heard of an eagle being used on the German flag.

You're welcome to, of course. This was never an issue for me, but you've seemed intent on making a big thing out of it. As I've already said, I prefaced this conversation by pointing out that it was just a nitpick. You've been the one who's been intent in taking it off on wild tangents and making a huge deal out of it. I'm honestly bemused as to why. It was only meant to be a tiny, light-hearted thing.


parthy had already taken care of them with style. I could only have repeated what s/he had already said, and with less flair.


Is it accurate or inaccurate to say that you can judge a person to be intelligent because they know the flag of a country other than their own?


I also identified my nitpick as being in true keyboard warrior style before I made it. You can't say you didn't have fair warning.

Well, this one could run and run trollface.

I'm just going to agree to differ