[extropy-chat] an(other) Aussie visits Texas

[Eliezer S. Yudkowsky]

pjmanney wrote:
>> Not knowing what the Vietnam war was, I find quite believable -
>> I've encountered that level of ignorance in real human beings.  But
>> that's still not the same as thinking Star Wars is real.
> 
> That's one of the funniest lines I've read in a long time.  Ignorance
> about a war Americans fought in the not-so-distant past is possible,
> but ignorance about the holy canon of Star Wars isn't.
> 
> <ROTFLOL>

...I stand corrected, then.

> There are more people who have never SEEN Star Wars than are dreamt
> of in your philosophy!  They don't know what the hell Star Wars is,
> except a name that exists in the culture.

I confess that possibility hadn't occurred to me (that the respondent 
has no idea what "Star Wars" is).  Still, I'd bet that more young 
Americans have no idea when the Vietnam War occurred, than have no idea 
what Star Wars is... yet, nonetheless, I stand corrected.

-- 
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky                          http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence