Really? My niece wasn't diagnosed with dyslexia until she was about 20, i don't know how big brother would have been able to know that if she didn't.

Dunning–Kruger effect

Its trendy at the moment to refrain from judging anyone about anything (despite it being a natural human process!)

Judging Danny as thick as two short planks is akin to Racism, Sexism, Homophobia or any other squeaky wheel cause.

There was a scene the other day (Sunday, I think?) Where the housemates were discussing Danny's intelligence, and at least three, Nick, Joel and Chloe implied that they didn't know how to spell Canoe either, in some bizarre attempt to rationalise Danny's incompetence! Joel by saying its a word no one ever uses, and then Nick said 'I wouldn't be able to spell it, and Chloe "Me neither".

Ridiculous.

I could also make the same assumption about you, Time and time again , I have partly agreed that 'intelligence cannot be gauged solely by apparent knowledge' and yet you keep yapping about it. The point that i have been trying to make is, at what point do you stop making excuses for someone's willful ignorance about not knowing certain things especially if there's a strong indication that the person has been probably confronted with this information many a time before. Maybe intelligence is the wrong word here, but through the thread I have been talking about a 'BASIC LEVEL Of AWARENESS'

And to your comment of ' which we do not have all the relevant detail about. Nor would we, despite the specifications you keep making, in the scenario you keep presenting' hence the reason why I used the term 'HYPOTHETICAL'. In life, a lot of the times we never have the privilege of knowing 100% details of the certain situation yet we make judgements which ultimately are subject to change once all the facts are in place. Nonetheless, in the hypothetical situation I posed, most of hypothetical relevant details were presented but still you and et al still refused to answer. I really don't understand your aversion to hypothetical questions and situations, you would have definitely struggled in my old Theology and ethics class.

Regardless of whether Sally is a chick or not, it's clear that you both are being deliberately difficult and since you guys really don't want to make an effort to understand my point as I have done (at least tried) with yours, so there's no need to engage or keep quoting my posts.

So what?

I'd have had to think how you spell canoe too.

It's Big Brother we're watching not countdown.

Bore off.

This is really desperate stuff, even for the most ardent of dull Danny's fans.. I have no idea why some feel the need to defend Danny at all costs, and regardless whether the evidence points the other way.

It's 2015 not 1815 and people are fully aware these days about learning disabilities and what they entail. This isn't a case of dismissing them out of hand, it's merely people making assumptions, that have no weight to them whatsoever. It's utterly baseless to equate Danny being as thick as a bunch of especially dumb rocks, to people ignoring learning difficulties.

People have repeatedly stated this is not a thread aimed at those with learning disabilities- it's a thread speaking about the trend for certain people to embrace their own ignorance and for others to not only just accept this but shut down any criticism or discussion of it.

As for not being able to tell the moon from the sun, again, this has already been explained multiple times but just for clarity let's do it one more time-

Danny could not tell the difference between the moon and the sun the other day- he appeared to equate the fact that it was daylight hours to an assumption that the moon couldn't possibly be visible, apart from at night, which is risible for anyone to say, let alone a 30 year old man.

Does this mean that he can 'never' tell the difference? No of course not.
Does this mean he deserves to be absolutely pilloried for such gross stupidity, especially when he mocks and insults someone else who at least could tell the difference? 100% categorically.

Nobody is stating that academic knowledge is bad. The question 'Why aren't the viewers embarrassed by the stupidity?' was designed to pile on HMs struggling and invite "superior" folk to look down on those who may support them. FMs expressing dislike of the rise of 'say it as it is nastiness' type of HMs and that it is more of a concern is a valid response.

The thing is whilst highly useful, book knowledge can only get you so far, if you are unable to read a social situation and act in an appropriate manner then that counts for nowt. I remember my nans old friend (RIP) who was illiterate, that is she could not read or write, but she was intelligent in that she was skillful and could tell you how things worked, emotionally intelligent, socially intelligent, etc.

So there.

Well that's kind of my point; so I'm not sure why you're disagreeing with me.


Well then are you suggesting he's not a diagnosed dyslexic, and just willfully ignorant; or is an undiagnosed dyslexic who, as well as being dyslexic, is willfully ignorant? Because they are two very different things - not being able to spell and reveling in your own ignorance about the world around you.


Agree fully with all of this; willful ignorance is what we're talking about. Not intelligence and not learning difficulties. Thankfully, despite efforts to obfuscate and scupper the discussion, most of the posters on the thread seem to understand this.


.....

That you say "certain" HMs, and the examples in the OP, make it seem you may think it' only a few HMs who show an ignorance that may reflect a lack of interest in basic general knowledge. But I think it may be more the other way around, with only a minority of HMs who don't show such ignorance. Even HMs most people seem to regard as intelligent have been shockingly ignorant about one thing or another. It's just that some examples are repeated, largely by people who dislike the HM in question, and the repetition makes those cases be remembered while others are forgotten.

I think johnloony had the right sort of explanation for HM ignorance way back in post #8, but such ideas are rejected, seemingly because they don't make the HMs sound bad enough.


The OP doesn't say anything about the difference in reaction from bb3 to now.

And though the OP does say "ignorance" at one point, both the thread title and most of the OP say stupidity, and the OP refers to Danny as "an absolute half-wit" and "genuinely stupid" when questioning the way he's being admired and supported.

I don't think the dyslexia suggestion should be so easily dismissed. Dyslexia could explain more than difficulty with spelling, and if he's dyslexic why would BB necessarily know? But even if he is rather dim, why is that such a bad thing in a housemate? I think other things are much more important.

I didn't suggest anything i was was just correcting your assertion that big brother would know if he was dyslexic. Can you not accept that or are you being "willfully ignorant" ?

Is that clip readily available online? I don't remember the circumstances or other specifics well enough. But if he was looking at the sky recently, the moon has been very close to the sun (the new moon's on the 16th) and it could be quite hard to spot.


If what Linus2 said is right, he was unable to see the moon in one particular circumstance, rather than being unable to tell the difference then.

A lot of people don't seem to realise that the moon is often visible during the day. I think it's largely because they live in cities, don't pay a lot of attention to celestial details, and haven't ever had an occasion to think it through. Also that it's so often cloudy.


I don't think it is ridiculous. Canoe has an odd spelling, and it's a word many people would seldom see in print. There's also an important difference between being able to read a word and remembering how its spelled, so that even reading it mightn't cause the spelling to stick in one's mind.

^ Seldom see in print? It's a very commonplace word.

If it was kayak maybe there might be some small excuse but canoe? Really, no.

I've mentioned dyslexia and i'm sure one or two others have in this long thread. I have mild dyslexia. Yes I actually find some people here more ignorant than Danny the ones who categorically say NO he hasn't got the condition. It's ignorant completely ignoring the people in the thread, who have experience and knowledge of dyslexia.

The OP doesn't say anything about the difference in reaction; but it was posted by me further through the thread. The difference being how Danny was so heaped with praise for getting the spelling right. That wouldn't have happened in BB3, or 2 or 1 or 4 or 5. That's the point.

It's not Danny's dimness that's the problem; it's the fact that he, his fellow hms and lots of viewers seem to think that it really isn't an issue. In fact, his overcoming the massive task of learning to spell a five letter word led to copious praise from his fellow hms. How can people not see how odd and worrying that is?

Other things are, of course, more important; like the fact that he's an aggressive, unpleasant, shallow and dull hm. But there's lots of discussion already about these things on other threads.

Here's the line of my post you quoted Ketamine:


If Danny HAS dyslexia. If he is diagnosed as dyslexic and is not just so uninterested in the world that he's never read a book, newspaper or comic containing the word 'canoe'.


Well if he has it, BB would know. And if he hasn't, or it hasn't been diagnosed, they wouldn't. It's fairly straightforward.


They only wouldn't know if he didn't know; in which case he hasn't been professionally diagnosed as having dyslexia.

The issue that most people had with the sun/moon conversation was that Danny was so dismissive and unpleasant towards Christian - even though Christian was right.

I cannot fathom how you would think canoe is a word seldom seen in print. It is neither complicated nor particularly odd.

Again, though; I will revert to the point that it is the absolute acceptance of this being a difficult challenge for a man approaching 30 that is so gobsmacking.

I think I've read every post on the thread and I don't remember anyone categorically saying he doesn't have dyslexia. We have no way of knowing. It's a fairly safe bet, however, given that BB have given him spelling tests, that he is not diagnosed as being dyslexic. That's what has been said and it's an entirely different statement.

Other housemates have had 'stupid' moments Joel saying chickens lay eggs from their necks. Chloe couldn't spell famous. And i'm sure there are other stupid moments form other housemates. Over the years of BB there are many of these moments. All that happens though is if a housemate is generally popular people ignore these moments/or find them funny. If there not popular most every one jumps on them like a ton of bricks. Now this is ignorant too.

Dyslexia is often very expensive to assess for. At my uni there were several mature students 40+ who did not know they were dyslexic until the Uni paid for them to be assessed.

I did not see the incident with Christian but unless the moon was as clear as anything on a sunny day...

It's hilarious how you're trying to twist this rather than just admit you're wrong.

If he has it BB wouldn't necessarily know because he might not have been diagnosed or he might not have told them. Very straight forward.

You really do have a cheek to comment on Danny if you can't understand that.

A few posters totally dismissed dyslexia when it has been brought up. I don't think it's a safe bet BB would not give him spelling tests. Because as long as people around don't make the person feel really stupid... Most dyslexics don't mind and can have a laugh with it, as Danny did in the diary room after he spelled canoe correctly. Shouting come on yesss to himself.

Well I watched it again last night on the highlight show. I'm one or two episodes behind. Listening to Dannys tone of voice it sounded to me as he was joking around with Cristain.

It is notable that the other housemates were not laughing their heads off at Danny or even close to that. When he couldn't spell canoe. They were supportive. Just a guess obviously but just maybe they know something we don't.

Thing's aren't quite as straight forward as this. All dyslexics aren't the same a lot will depend on the opportunities they've had. When they had help. How much help or not they've had. This text sums everything up well.


A good way to understand dyslexia is to establish what it is not. It’s not a sign of low intelligence or laziness. It’s also not due to poor vision. It’s a common condition that affects the way the brain processes written and spoken language.

Dyslexia is primarily associated with trouble reading. Some doctors, specialists and educators may refer to it as a “reading disorder” or a “reading disability.” But it can also affect writing, spelling and even speaking.

People with dyslexia can still understand complex ideas. Sometimes they just need more time to work through the information. They may also need a different way to process the information, such as listening to an audiobook instead of reading it.

If your child has dyslexia, she won’t outgrow it. It’s a lifelong condition. But that doesn’t mean your child can’t be happy and successful. There are many effective teaching strategies and tools that can help your child. In fact, many people with dyslexia have successful careers in business, science and the arts.

It is Danny's house. Of course they do nothing but treat him with unconditional reverence. It's why he can tell them to shut up and they take it like a gimp.