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Do you think Brits are stupid?

Personally I would not call them stupid but this question is asked more and more and I find it offensive. I don't think a whole nation should be criticised using stereotypes. However they do seem to be misinformed when it comes to knowledge of the world.

Are the British failed by their education system, or is it due to politics?

(This thread is not meant to be offensive)

Reply 1

2026

15

Chavs are certainly stupid.

However, relative to other countries, I do not think the British are stupid.

I think this is a good thread considering the other 'Are Americans stupid' thread.

Reply 2

coldfusion

2

Hmmm i guess its all relative and stereotyping an entire country isn't a very smart thing to do anyway...

Reply 3

Fruit-cake

9

If any country had a reputation for being stupid, I would have thought it was the amiericans. The Brits seem to have more of a reputation for being yobs.

Reply 4

Da Mouse

3

Well when it comes to comparing the average IQ in Engalnd, we are kinda poor than compared to other countries in Europe. I'm not sure about the rest of the world though.

Reply 5

Rafa

2

theres good and bad people everywhere you go.....

Reply 6

Shreerac1

OP

10

I asked a British person what currency they thought the USA uses and they said Euro. How stupid is that.

Reply 7

kattchii

Shreerac1

Personally I would not call them stupid but this question is asked more and more and I find it offensive. I don't think a whole nation should be criticised using stereotypes. However they do seem to be misinformed when it comes to knowledge of the world.
Are the British failed by their education system, or is it due to politics?
(This thread is not meant to be offensive)

It depends on how you judge their intelligence as a whole. If it is based politically then you CAN see how the idea is there: Politics isn't taught in schools enough (in comparison to the USA where children learn about their constitution) AND you have to look at our current sytem: we don't have a written constitution so people don't have a hard 'manual' for their political system (again, unlike in the USA).

Reply 8

kattchii

The-Lennon

you are probably up with the thickest of them! generalising a whole country.... how ignorant.

The person who started the thread did actually say 'I don't think a whole country should be critisised based on stereotypes'...

Reply 9

bluedreamer

1

No

are you including chavs? ^o)

19841984

Chavs are certainly stupid.

indeed

Reply 10

Shreerac1

OP

10

bluedreamer

No

are you including chavs? ^o)

indeed

Chavs are a very British phenomenon, so yes.

Reply 11

Thud

17

not overly so:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2105519,00.html

*smiles*

edit: why don't img tags work?

Reply 12

Northern_Lights

11

British people are proudest of their race and their country, no wonder that the post world war era has so much British traces, anywhere one goes !!! :smile:

Reply 13

Chumbaniya

17

There's no point talking about reality, since you can never judge the intelligence of a whole country, so I'll just talk about stereotypes.

I've never got the impression that Britains are stereotypically unintelligent. Usually the nations lampooned for supposed stupidity are America, and to a degree Ireland. If anything one of the most prominent stereotypes of Britains (or more specifically the English) is the brainy, eccentric academic.

Reply 14

kateykat

Most people are completely thick regardless of nationality. I just listen to what people have to say sometimes and really despair because they're just so naive, shallow and stupid.

Reply 15

magnad

13

Yup sometimes. Especially all the crap blurted out by the tabloids and the daily mail.

Reply 16

FyreFight

14

I think that overall, we're well educated about the world, and Britain has produced some of the most innovating engineers, scientists etc in human history. So as a nation, I think we've got a lot to be proud about. Unfortunately we also have chavs, but as far as I'm concerned they're not British :wink:

If we're going to look at stereotypes, a lot of the world sees us as Chumbaniya said.

Reply 17

tis_me_lord

14

Like any country - some are, some are not. The question is how many are or are not proportionally, and I must say I think overall I think most Brits have their heads screwed on, and as well as the usual intelligence they also have common sense.

Of course there are examples of extreme stupidity - just watch big brother, but that applies to any country, some of the best minds came from the UK and we don't claim to have an average IQ of about 180 because of that.

Reply 18

NDGAARONDI

16

Are the Japanese clever? :wink:

Reply 19

M'Lady

12

Shreerac1

Personally I would not call them stupid but this question is asked more and more and I find it offensive. I don't think a whole nation should be criticised using stereotypes. However they do seem to be misinformed when it comes to knowledge of the world.

Are the British failed by their education system, or is it due to politics?

(This thread is not meant to be offensive)

As a collective, yes. Individually, no.

Do you think Brits are stupid?

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