I know it was a few days ago but I am just catching up.

In that task where they had to spell words from the fish guts and also do sums while being shot with paintballs I was gobsmacked at how poor their maths and spelling was. My 7 year old son knows his times tables without counting and can spell words such as canoe with ease!

What is going on in the world when make up and bling is rated more important than basic intelligence?

My boyfriend aged 44 is a rubbish speller, it is just something he has always found difficult to pick up. He knows the correct letters but often puts them in the wrong order!! He certainly isn't short of intelligence!!.

The very sad thing - evidenced by BB and many other quiz shows - is that these adults are the result of an Education System. Over the past twenty years successive Governments have tinkered with the compulsory elements of the National Curriculum. We are told each change was to improve standards. These adults have been educated within the curriculum guidelines but they don't appear to know much. They don't seem embarrassed by their lack of social skills, functioning skills or knowledge.

I understnd that Joey Essex et.al often exaggerate their lack of common sense, skills and knowledge for comedic effect. But, as viewers, many of us are not impressed or amused.

Why do we continue to show ignorance in high regard. Not a good role model for high achieving school children.

Rosebud

There's already a thread. At least one. As there is every year. Intelligence is the capacity to learn, not what you know. All sorts of reasons why 25 per cent of people, across all age groups and social strata, struggle with this sort of stuff.

It's quite simple really - the vast majority of BB contestants are thick.

It's nothing to do with the education system.

It's nothing to do with specific learning difficulties.

It's all to do with their shallowness and stupidity and pride in being educationally dumb.

That's fair comment but the maths as well?

12 / 4 = 6 - I mean - what? Seriously? That's such a basic basic equation

I can't believe anyone with average intelligence needs to 'calculate' 3 x 5.

It's just something you don't need to 'multiply' or apply any mathematics to.

I call it the Brian Belo Game. They're all acting stoopid because they think the viewers find it funny.

Perhaps, but sadly it is 'the viewers' that have given them that idea so responsibility is shared.

Personally I think most of them (and the younger generation more widely) aren't very smart, educated or particularly worldly-wise, certainly less so than was the case a few decades ago, but again that may simply be the rose-hued, nostalgic perspective of advancing age!

An ill-educated, insecure and fearful population is easier to manipulate and control. In that context, continuing failures of the education system, the rise of zero-hours contracts and frequent warnings about the heightened threat from global terrorism are better understood.

Government likes you supine, fearful of attack, uninformed and obsessed with trivia. Orwell told us this 60+ years ago.

Whether it's put on or they really are that stupid, if they've been watching BB over the years, they'll know that most times someone does something correctly, they'll get edited out, while the ones who make us laugh, getting tasks wrong, get the screentime.

The way they were reacting to the fact that somebody had to spell something as difficult as "canoe" was ridiculous. I got the feeling they were embarrassed if they could spell or add up as the group mentality on Big Brother is always to revel in a poor education and how "fick" you are.

I am fully aware that spelling and adding doesn't come easily to everybody but this was the entire group playing dumb and loving it.

Exactly. Competence does not cause controversy does it?

Our student of law, Adjoa, didn't cover herself with glory. The entrance standards must have slipped of the cliff recently.

Perhaps you mean slipped "off"? But I am sure it was simply a typo

I'm not brilliant at maths but I did find it strange that Eileen counted five three's to work out 5x3.

It's unbelievable how bad Danny's spelling is. I was gobsmacked when Danny spelled canoe "connoe". I think some of them were rushing the maths bit. They were thinking too much about when they were going to be hit next.

Someone suggested some of them might have been thrown off by the paintballs. It seems like they have chosen some people who struggle and/or are easily put off. Any distraction whatsoever makes me miscount things or forget where I am up to - and it's not an age, thing, I've always been like it Which I guess is why I did OK in exams, silence and all that.

If Danny hasn't seen the word canoe before, fair enough.

I bet you if each question answered correctly was worth £1000 to the HM who answered it correctly we wouldn't have seen such a show of fake idiocy.

Well you would also then know who was genuinely struggling as well as who isn't

Sounds like he may have dyslexia thats obviously different. No one should laugh at that in any way.

I always have to count my times tables on my hand, yes I realise this makes me thick but we can't all be good at the same things.

In their defence they were being distracted with paintballs when the maths questions were being asked.

Non-verbal learning disabilities can sometimes be a reason why a person is bad at Maths. You should just be happy that you and your family clearly don't have any disabilities/difficulties. If only we were all that lucky.

If this is the benchmark for future generations, I'm really glad I left the UK.