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The last 24 hours have seen some thoroughly distressing examples of the most unbelievable ignorance among young people in the UK.
There is a quiz programme on television called “The Weakest Link”, in which contestants compete to answer assorted questions, any of which are scarcely mind stretching. I would not normally watch the programme, but happened to see the last few minutes before the evening news bulletin began. A youngish English man in his mid 30’s was asked the question “What is the nickname of the Israeli Secret Service”. His answer was “al-Qaida” !! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing- in other
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words, this supposedly above average intelligence person, appears to believe that when al-Qaida blow up New York etc etc, that it is a branch of the Israeli Government.
Meanwhile, also this week, a poll has been published among youngsters in the UK, asking about their knowledge of the Second World War. One in six thought that Adolf Hitler was a German football coach. One in twenty thought that the Holocaust was a celebration, similar to Halloween. One in twenty also thought that Auschwitz was a German theme park.
This is so depressing, especially in the UK where the two World Wars are still discussed and analysed, and written about, so extensively. It was actually something we “won”, which is becoming increasingly rare nowadays.
I expect the level of ignorance on any general knowledge topic will decline even further in future years, as our youngsters become unable to absorb facts that cannot be expressed in more letters than fit into a “Twitter” message.
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