Fractured
Yes, it’s painful. I’m sorry.
To quote myself:
Stupidity is not defined as lack of information. Stupidity is the limited ability to interpret information, coupled with the refusal to acknowledge the need for this ability.
To go along with this definition is this: the refusal to shut up long enough so that someone with more information and that information’s context can explain it to you.
Case in point:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Some are calling the guy stupid and he might be - or he’s doing a pretty good impression of the intellectually deficient. But, in real life, we all have experienced a “conversation” like this.
So, let’s pretend that he’s serious.
In order to have prior understanding of the concept(s) he’s raging about, the man would have to have been taught the following;
Elementary school arithmetic (fractions and percentages)
Definition(s) of the word ‘quarter’
How to tell time by looking at a face clock
We old farts had these concepts built into us by reasonably competent education systems. Oh they were already crumbling back when I was a lass in the 60s, but I learned these things in South Central LA elementary schools.
These foundations may seem trivial; those who have this basic knowledge make use of it with barely a second of conscious thought, and I’m being generous with the length of time.
But without these types of foundations, one falls far into erroneous and splintered thinking. A prime example from the video: the man thinks that the word ‘quarter’ is related only to currency. Without the basic definition of the word and the basic math, he cannot grasp what the other man is trying to tell him.
These days, many Americans graduate from high school and even college like this. It’s how many get rooked in financial contracts, including school loans.
And it is intentional.
A side note to ponder: those who are trained in a trade that requires mathematical precision - carpenters, plumbers, and whatnot - will have the basic math foundations or they will allow others to teach it to them.
RELATED: Strategic Assault
You really want to freak someone out: When buying something pay cash. Let's say the amount you owe is $9.25. Hand them a ten dollar bill, and after they have punched in the amount tendered, pull out a quarter and hand it to them. They have no idea how to adjust the change back. At all. They are totally flummoxed.
Well, a quarter can also be three months, or about 92 days give or take.
Those of us who learned to tell time on analog clocks can use phrases such as "a quarter to three" or "five past six" or "twenty five or six to four" as the Chicago song has it. People who grew up with digital clocks can have trouble with that because the same times should be "three forty five" or "six oh five" or "three thirty four or five."
Of course I can really mess with people because I prefer the 24 hour clock and am likely to say "fifteen twenty" or something even more nonsensical, because my many years doing marine navigation make me think in terms of Greenwich or Zulu time or UTC.