A good school teacher would put the reason for learning ito perspective so that the kids become engaged in the process. Having real world examples of where one might need to make use of facts or formulii will always help "understand the point of wht it's useful". Someone with Stephens intellect should realize that.
Its usually a person who does a great deal of TV watching that, ironically, asks such stupid questions... What's the point of following football, watching the X-factor, playing video games, eating more than your nutritional needs in food, drinking alcohol, taking a holiday, I mean is any of this useful in your future life? Stephen Fry's response reminds me of this:
@realskpetic Yes, maybe Pythagorean geometry was a bad example, but I still think that there's nothing wrong with wanting to know why one should learn something, why invest time and effort in a subject that's not going to be useful to you? I happen to be one of those people who enjoys learning for learnings' sake but some people are perfectly entitled not to have that mentality. School isn't for everyone
@joelomax Maybe school isn't for everyone, but how do you find out who it's for if you don't give everyone the opportunity to learn, and make it mandatory to prevent sheer laziness from being the main influence on someone's life? Aside from that, it's clear that an educated society does better economically than an uneducated one,so mandatory education is a prerequisite if you want a successful society.
@Mackster44 school is for everyone, but one should take great care in choosing what you're being taught. i myself was a typical idiot-student back in the days. slept through classes and all that, so it was quite obvious i would've not survived a single day with "academic" studies. i chose the vocational route, and have worked as a specialist welder / metalworker for a decade, making fairly decent living. all thanks to someone understanding the nature of my problems in schools
I like how people are still arguing that Fry said anything about "failure" to learn ends you up in the gutter. You're just contradicting your own points by failing to listen to what's actually been said haha
I'm learning my self at the moment because i'm the victim of selfish lazy minded people. And if people just got the ball rolling in a positive act such as knowledge (or work) they would have less time thinking negatively. Alot of people are selfish and stubborn. And if you find that people are like that, then you have to work hard enough to move up to a demographic where people have a clue about whats going on.
I don't really agree with him here, because there are intellectual people on one hand and practical people on the other, both are perfectly useful to society but one group may not know or care about pythogorean geometry because it doesn't relate to their lives.
He isn't talking about memorisation of facts, he is talking about a desire to learn. Regardless of what you think, EVERY "genius" was curious. Curious to understand, to learn, to discover. This is called learning. Most people who reject their education, or reject the concept of learning do end up poor/on the doll, it is a fact of life. A lot of intelligent people do leave school, but they go on to teach themselves things, or learn in another way. He never mentions failing school.
don't take everything he says seriously, he can't be morally right every time he opens his mouth. there is a sense of truth in what he says, if he's talking about children in our western capitalist materialist society.
Stephen Fry is right... but as I remember, the teachers hardly bothered of explaining the value of learning for its own sake. It was more like shutting up those who disturbed the others with their complaints (I didn't make them, though I think occasional thoughts of pointlessness are normal).
A lot of this shit on QI is stuff I could've learned in school but didn't, and now here I am several years later actively seeking out this stuff. I think we need to re-invent the education system to make it more interesting & engaging so people will actually WANT to learn. Having Stephen Fry teaching classes may be one good way, but he can't be everywhere at once...
@KaseytheJudge That's actually not a bad idea, having weekly lectures done by Stephen Fry on various subjects. Although, with the estimated amount of subscribers/students, you'd need to staff a LOT of people to mark the work.
@Xanatos712 Weekly lectures by Stephen Fry... they should do a BBC series on them and have it added to the curriculum as a compulsory thing.
My teachers always play BBC clips and episodes and such in my lessons and they're so boring so if Stephen did series about everything we'd have children with IQs of 500 by the time they're 12!
I think they could always use volunteer markers.... or examiners; give them something interesting to mark :p
@FallingDownDeep you can pretty much work out what every word means in English without ever hearing it before if you know latin and ancient greek. Not pointless
@ZoneNet1 I'm American, but from what I've observed the BBC really likes to stray from any real televised moment of catharsis or poignancy -which is the opposite of American television, though the constant simulation of conflict and catharsis in US tv is bad in its own right.
I just may end up as Stephen's best friend. I believe myself to be the sort of person who "finds knowledge for its own sake, and finds pleasure in information." I especially dislike the people who believe learning and school to be pointless.
I must be clear though, Stephen Fry embodies everything thats good about humanity and im firmly in allegiance with almost everything he says. I just wanted to remind people how many successful and wealthy idiots there are, who have absolutely no interest in the beauty of finding things out. Its really quite sickening!
I am a huge admirer of stephen fry. He is an inspiration and a great role model. However; on this occasion, im suprised to find that i disagree with some of what was said. While it is undeniable that the pursuit of knowledge is sufficiently rewarding in and of itself, i find that many wealthy and successful individuals neglect this idea. For them, knowledge- if not USEless, must be financially fruitful. Its sad to say it but most footballers, businessmen etc. dont value knowledge intrinsically.
That's not true, I know of plenty of philosophers and thinkers who were extremely well read and well learned who were alcoholics that never did anything with their lives other than think about it.
I love Fry to bits but this is bollocks. You can easily go "What the hell is this for?" all through your school years and still end up sober, interested and involved and.. well, a watcher of QI, in essence.
By the way, I'm really sorry, I meant to give you a thumbs up and accidentally clicked thumbs down... I'll see if I can rectify things with the good ol' refresh button...
This clip is awesome. He is totally right... or maybe I'm just saying that because I love knowing facts that appear on the face of it not to have everyday practical application.
There seem to be a lot of people who misunderstand what Stephen said. He never mentioned intelligence. What he said was that the people who take no INTEREST in learning end up in the shitty end of the public pool of life.
Drawing a conclusion and ranting on without self-criticism or second thoughts seems to be the theme here, so to all those pathetic dimwits who consider themselves better just because they bash Mr. Fry for saying something and people for agreeing: Shut up. For your own good.
:') youve restored my faith in the internets; there is a higher calibre of intellect and thought out there, and i found some here: on youtube. many internets to you my kind sir :)
@BSODslayer youtube has become a playground for english scholars to demonstrate that they have a degree or some form of advanced knowledge of the language. Yet, they get so wrapped up in being proud of their "intelligence" they forget rational thought so their arguments become pathetic and snobby. Glad 190 people (myself included) agree with you about people arguing with no real sense of direction!
A lot of homeless are intelligent people who got the shitty end of the stick. But don't you people think for yourselves, just let cuddly old uncle Stephen do your thinking for you. Wankers
But you're well on your way then! Next, join a choir that sings masses and stuff. Open a Latin dictionary and look at all the words that are the same in English even. Don't do classes, rather get hold of some classic work like Caesar's Wars or Augustine's Confessions plus a translation and have fun.
From watching the first series on DVD, it looks like they record about 40/50 minutes of QI, then edit out to fit the 30 minute slot. Usually, the clips edited out are when somebody accidentally swears, ect. This could be one of those clips.
Learning isn't just about dispensing facts about some particular subject. It's about being let into a way of thinking about the subject and related subjects. So geometry doesn't just give you information about how to calculate the diameter of a circle and the like - it gives you a more general knowledge of abstract concepts like shape and size, which is useful, but less tangible. So even though geometry may seem useless and difficult to remember, the underlying logic of it can still seep in.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Fry's argument is kind of weak if say the student weren't interested in the subject to begin with. You learn something for the sake of learning when you do have interest in that particular subject. It can't possibly be pleasurable if maths simply doesn't do anything to you.
@AlanHilter No matter how good the teacher, a bad curriculum will raise no ones interest, including the teacher, and then no one learns. Which, oddly enough, I would suggest is exactly the boat we're all in now.
I think he means, that if everything you're doing needs to be validated by an immediate purpose, and pleasure and curiosity isn't enough, you will never summon up the energy to get anywhere in life.
@MrAnonymity oh. okay im a little late on this but anyway - my Chemistry teacher had the "power" to put us to SLEEP with his voice. Im not even talking about drifting off occasionally, i mean a heavy deep sleep.
Im not kidding you the only reason anyone stayed awake was that someone managed to break the spell and get him to be, sort of just another guy and just do nonsense in class. Chemistry is interesting but 2words from his mouth and i was snoozing. Crazy.
I know exactly what you mean, I have enough trouble learning maths but when someone asked my teacher what the practical applications of what we were doing are, they said the only known application currently is the exam we're sitting
I've known people with comparatively simple jobs, sometimes even menial, who are members of Mensa and have a wide range of knowlegde on all kinds of subjects. They've been contented with a relatively simple lifestyle, having a day job with regular hours that is undemanding of their minds, leaving them enough emotional and intellectual energy to enjoy free time and the company of intelligent friends.
thats the thing. You cannot ever know ur future. my maths blows rather badly. i admit my teacher was a cunt but still i didnt care. wish i did, because life didnt go as i planned it. was a chef, quitted it (my back broke), and now im a sales guy at local .. well.. think Best buy but in four floors. during process theres is one thing i have to count every damn time. im in a world of hurt if it happens during the rush hours xD so have faith, its better to be prepared than useless in something -ki
thanks for the comment/story type thing - genuinely :)
i don't quite know what to say to that but thought it rude not to reply
i'm glad your life worked out - if not how u originally planned
i know i should have probably tried harder in maths but it got to a point where i knew i'd learnt enough to get by in life + i was sure that most of the graphs and algebra etc would be pointless for me to persevere with as i hated them so much
anyway i hope u are happy + sorry to hear about the back :(
oh i'll manage. he didnt. heh. the teacher in question lost his job and is currently a typical gutter-drunk. there went his academical future he used to brag about :D while yours truly has a job with a salary. not much but its huge deal at the current unstable times. oh i'll manage :)
I don't know what Best Buy is, or what the four floor equivalent would be, but is it at least better than working at MacD's?
Thanks for sharing this, anyway.
By the way, Jamie Oliver rather foolishly said in front of the cameras once that he's never read a book in his life. Luckily for him, he's very successful as a cook.
I once asked a math teather why we needed to learn a pecifik thing ( don´t remember what it was something about geometry I think) and he got really angry telling me that if I did´nt want to learn it I could leave the classroom. The thing is that I really wanted to know when I would be able to use it, and I was n´t asking cause i didn´t wanna learn it. so there are 2 kinds of people who ask that question.
But the point is maybe you will, maybe you won't, and does it matter? It's only now, in my early 30's that I am discovering that I like to know stuff for the sake of knowing it. Broadens your horizons really. Geometry, trigonometry, astronomy etc etc etc may not be useful in an every day sense unless you use them within a specific job, but knowing these things, just for the sake of it, really does make one feel more alive in this silly world. I think.
I sympathise because I was always being punished for asking questions, even though I never meant it badly.
It's probably too late now for that specific thing but if that happens again, I think it would be worth going to that teacher at the end of a lesson (or if you see him in the hall or something) and explaining that you didn't mean to be rude.
It's hard for them to know when they're in the middle of trying to teach the whole class. And teachers have bad days.
@soulofshiver No I did not, and I see no reason for you commenting on my spelling when the only thing wrong with it is that I put a k instead of a c and that I missed the s. So what if I made a spelling mistake? And in my defence, though I do not think that I need it, english is my second language and in my language specifc is spelled specifik.
@dexterccf2 Honestly do you really think that this is a fruitful comment? I don't see any reason for people questioning my question for my teacher, a question that I might add was only asked in an attempt to understand and learn a specific mathematical formula, or my spelling. It was simply a question that I felt that I had to ask so that I could learn the formula, and a spelling mistake that anyone that does not have english as their first langage could have made.
@blablomma You do me too much honour but I thank you as graciously as I can. I thought you were treated harshly; especially as your question was designed to further your own understanding which should always be encouraged, in my opinion. Try not to hate those who ridiculed you either, I imagine they think they are being amusing and it probably isn't meant personally. I am impatient with the stupid people who are unwilling to learn, but this clearly isn't you. Peace.
@blablomma It is a fair question but learning something for a specific need is missing the point. Something like geometry will become useful to you in many ways which you will be unable to imagine until you have learned it. I'll try to give you an example: I helped my dad lay floor tiles in his conservatory, he couldn't work out why he couldn't get the layout to look even until I explained to him that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other 2 sides.
@jacksawild First of: thank you for not insulting my intelligence by pointing out my spelling mistake :) and a second thanks for saying that it was a fair question. In truth I asked for an example of a real life situation in which it could be used because I sometimes understand things better when they can be applied to real life situations, but it appears that both my teatcher and most youtubers got the wrong idea, but not you - so again thank you :)
@blablomma Realising that his square room was in fact two equally sized triangles stopped him from trying to begin at an edge and instead worked from the centre which he positioned by dissecting the square diagonally from corner to corner. Each edge now had an equally sized split tile around the entire room and "looked" far more even, even though the actual area remained unchanged. The beauty is in the details.
I'm at school still and I too notice it's often people who say to teachers "What's the point?" that don't do so well in exams, and are generally ignorant (no pun intended).
It used to make me so mad when people said that about English! >:( The ironic thing was they needed it more than the rest of us, as they were yet to string a sentence together properly.
it's so true - having to put up with those kids in class who were like - 'what's the point in this miss?' - and you do wonder whatever happened to them. thanks fry.
They really are! I'm waiting for the day they announce their civil partnership (Alan would have to lose his wife first though haha... But one can still dream :P)
i kind of agree with him. but probably it will be quite challenging to get to that level. It is hard to overcome the fact that living is just for the sake of living and learning is just for the sake of learning alone and still doing the best to live such life.
I don't quite agree with him. You should absolutely pursue knowledge for its own sake, but the reason the students are bored is because they're forced there. They don't get a say. Mandatory schooling makes school uninteresting. And Jo is partially right, I WON'T ever use geometry. And so my reaction in school was exactly the same and I support not being forced to learn it in school.
Yes, the word is 'inculcation' see JT Gatto State Education on video.google. Its one way the shadowy trillionaires conspire their one-world slave factory teaching us just enough to function in their cosmology and shun all else.
And when Orwellian thought-control isn't enough its Aldous Huxley's Brave New World with Vaccines, MSG, Aspartame and Ritalin instead of Soma.
I'm so said this is untransmitted.
Goodfellow7 1 month ago
Press 3 or 7 repeatedly ... Genius
nickrutter 2 months ago
I love geography, the problem however is geography teachers.
If one associates a subject with the teacher, then it has a huge effect on young people. I would say it's like your dad listening to your own band.
Solution: Teaching kids that alcohol and underage pregnancy and the latest bands are the best things in the world.
Probably not. If that was the case, the world will be full of atheists.
superhamzah85 3 months ago
@superhamzah85 I never learned anything at school till I realised it had a library. And I skipped lessons to read it in.
Does that make me a nerd or just a bit strange?
KapStuf 1 month ago
A good school teacher would put the reason for learning ito perspective so that the kids become engaged in the process. Having real world examples of where one might need to make use of facts or formulii will always help "understand the point of wht it's useful". Someone with Stephens intellect should realize that.
tomburley 4 months ago
Its usually a person who does a great deal of TV watching that, ironically, asks such stupid questions... What's the point of following football, watching the X-factor, playing video games, eating more than your nutritional needs in food, drinking alcohol, taking a holiday, I mean is any of this useful in your future life? Stephen Fry's response reminds me of this:
'Dawkins vs. Tyson ' on youtube
GURANTEED YOU'LL SMILE :)...
StunnedByStupidity 5 months ago
@realskpetic Yes, maybe Pythagorean geometry was a bad example, but I still think that there's nothing wrong with wanting to know why one should learn something, why invest time and effort in a subject that's not going to be useful to you? I happen to be one of those people who enjoys learning for learnings' sake but some people are perfectly entitled not to have that mentality. School isn't for everyone
joelomax 7 months ago
@joelomax Maybe school isn't for everyone, but how do you find out who it's for if you don't give everyone the opportunity to learn, and make it mandatory to prevent sheer laziness from being the main influence on someone's life? Aside from that, it's clear that an educated society does better economically than an uneducated one,so mandatory education is a prerequisite if you want a successful society.
KryzMasta 6 months ago 2
@joelomax School isn't for everyone indeed, but learning sure is.
Mackster44 5 months ago
@Mackster44 school is for everyone, but one should take great care in choosing what you're being taught. i myself was a typical idiot-student back in the days. slept through classes and all that, so it was quite obvious i would've not survived a single day with "academic" studies. i chose the vocational route, and have worked as a specialist welder / metalworker for a decade, making fairly decent living. all thanks to someone understanding the nature of my problems in schools
somberlight 1 month ago
I truly appreciate knowing that there are estimable folks like Alan and Stephen who set the bar just a little higher. It gives me genuine hope.
cs2501x 7 months ago 4
I like how people are still arguing that Fry said anything about "failure" to learn ends you up in the gutter. You're just contradicting your own points by failing to listen to what's actually been said haha
killjo234 7 months ago
@oooISPYooo If by "no comprehension or abstract reasoning skills" you mean FUCKING AWESOME, then yes.
aaron9099 7 months ago
I'm learning my self at the moment because i'm the victim of selfish lazy minded people. And if people just got the ball rolling in a positive act such as knowledge (or work) they would have less time thinking negatively. Alot of people are selfish and stubborn. And if you find that people are like that, then you have to work hard enough to move up to a demographic where people have a clue about whats going on.
Johntrode 7 months ago
@oooISPYooo It's curious that someone who get's proven wrong on about everything he says suddenly decides to start trolling
thomasimon 8 months ago
I don't really agree with him here, because there are intellectual people on one hand and practical people on the other, both are perfectly useful to society but one group may not know or care about pythogorean geometry because it doesn't relate to their lives.
joelomax 8 months ago
@oooISPYooo, says a common troll.
somberlight 8 months ago
@oooISPYooo
He isn't talking about memorisation of facts, he is talking about a desire to learn. Regardless of what you think, EVERY "genius" was curious. Curious to understand, to learn, to discover. This is called learning. Most people who reject their education, or reject the concept of learning do end up poor/on the doll, it is a fact of life. A lot of intelligent people do leave school, but they go on to teach themselves things, or learn in another way. He never mentions failing school.
MrChronicallyHappy 8 months ago 4
@oooISPYooo Man...you got it sooo wrong. And if you can't see that, then I'm sorry on your behalf.
angelimagination 8 months ago
don't take everything he says seriously, he can't be morally right every time he opens his mouth. there is a sense of truth in what he says, if he's talking about children in our western capitalist materialist society.
DubstepOverdose 8 months ago
The irony is that I'm watching this while I'm supposed to be revising...
ginnyisdacoolest 9 months ago 25
Haha I love the show! Waiting for the 9th season!
Amalekites 10 months ago
well to be honest,i dont see the point of most latin,but im doing fine :D
DietDrMario 10 months ago
They should show this to School Children across Britain before exam revision.
Guarantee results will jump by 30%+.
MrGenericHero 10 months ago
Stephen Fry is right... but as I remember, the teachers hardly bothered of explaining the value of learning for its own sake. It was more like shutting up those who disturbed the others with their complaints (I didn't make them, though I think occasional thoughts of pointlessness are normal).
scavengedfantasyname 10 months ago
'Stephen, Stephen, Stephen...Stephen!' XD
VamLoveAndKisses 1 year ago 15
A lot of this shit on QI is stuff I could've learned in school but didn't, and now here I am several years later actively seeking out this stuff. I think we need to re-invent the education system to make it more interesting & engaging so people will actually WANT to learn. Having Stephen Fry teaching classes may be one good way, but he can't be everywhere at once...
Xanatos712 1 year ago 7
@Xanatos712 He could do a web-based class... everyone just logs on to learn :D
KaseytheJudge 9 months ago
@KaseytheJudge That's actually not a bad idea, having weekly lectures done by Stephen Fry on various subjects. Although, with the estimated amount of subscribers/students, you'd need to staff a LOT of people to mark the work.
Xanatos712 9 months ago
@Xanatos712 Weekly lectures by Stephen Fry... they should do a BBC series on them and have it added to the curriculum as a compulsory thing.
My teachers always play BBC clips and episodes and such in my lessons and they're so boring so if Stephen did series about everything we'd have children with IQs of 500 by the time they're 12!
I think they could always use volunteer markers.... or examiners; give them something interesting to mark :p
KaseytheJudge 9 months ago
I wish all celebrities were like Stephen Fry
Hutcarlingos 1 year ago 4
latin really is pointless but this scene is freaking awesome!!!!!!!!!
FallingDownDeep 1 year ago
@FallingDownDeep you can pretty much work out what every word means in English without ever hearing it before if you know latin and ancient greek. Not pointless
lebagel 11 months ago
This is absolutely brilliant. I don't understand why it wasn't transmitted either. Makes a lot of sense to me...
ZoneNet1 1 year ago 3
@ZoneNet1 I'm American, but from what I've observed the BBC really likes to stray from any real televised moment of catharsis or poignancy -which is the opposite of American television, though the constant simulation of conflict and catharsis in US tv is bad in its own right.
askl23 11 months ago
"they're the ones who actually get on and do things in thier Fucking lives!" hahaha Stephen rocks xD
insideous57 1 year ago 4
I love learning but nobody ever taught me how to do it.
PlanetNiles 1 year ago
I just may end up as Stephen's best friend. I believe myself to be the sort of person who "finds knowledge for its own sake, and finds pleasure in information." I especially dislike the people who believe learning and school to be pointless.
karik333 1 year ago 3
you just been fry'd, stephen fry'd
ScampiCheese 1 year ago 5
I must be clear though, Stephen Fry embodies everything thats good about humanity and im firmly in allegiance with almost everything he says. I just wanted to remind people how many successful and wealthy idiots there are, who have absolutely no interest in the beauty of finding things out. Its really quite sickening!
myopium 1 year ago
I am a huge admirer of stephen fry. He is an inspiration and a great role model. However; on this occasion, im suprised to find that i disagree with some of what was said. While it is undeniable that the pursuit of knowledge is sufficiently rewarding in and of itself, i find that many wealthy and successful individuals neglect this idea. For them, knowledge- if not USEless, must be financially fruitful. Its sad to say it but most footballers, businessmen etc. dont value knowledge intrinsically.
myopium 1 year ago
you have a very unfortunate name ;)
fowad27 1 year ago
What season was this on?
MrsGamgee977 1 year ago
@MrsGamgee977 Never mind. I found out it's from season 2. Everyone looked so young, it threw me off. :D
MrsGamgee977 1 year ago
That's not true, I know of plenty of philosophers and thinkers who were extremely well read and well learned who were alcoholics that never did anything with their lives other than think about it.
PhilWithCoffee 1 year ago
All hail the Fry!
NickyLess 1 year ago
legend
VampirePrinc3 1 year ago
Mr. Fry bitter much?
PhilWithCoffee 1 year ago
I LOVE THIS MAN.
TAfan2 1 year ago 5
I heard Stephen Fry say fuck
my life is now complete
tehx3n 1 year ago 3
I had a job interview recently and was asked what I do in my spare time. I said I'm trying to learn a new language. The interviewer asked me why.
I wish I could have pointed her to this clip :(
epsleon 1 year ago
BRILLIANT
LeMegasandwich 1 year ago
is your surname really hilter? That's unfortunate...
stoprainingonme 1 year ago
Reminds me of the book by the physicist Richard Feynman: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
QuarkyGideon 1 year ago 2
true - true
lhrlyc 1 year ago
he would be a awesome prime minister
r1o9n8a6n 1 year ago 4
Alan Davies?? HAHAHA that would be class. "France? Are they the ones with the frogs?" HAHA
Rebekah270984 1 year ago
I love Fry to bits but this is bollocks. You can easily go "What the hell is this for?" all through your school years and still end up sober, interested and involved and.. well, a watcher of QI, in essence.
RuleNr34 1 year ago
I wrote my college acceptance essay based around this video clip. Hope it works! Stephen Fry is a true inspiration
emichelle 1 year ago 10
Good luck!
By the way, I'm really sorry, I meant to give you a thumbs up and accidentally clicked thumbs down... I'll see if I can rectify things with the good ol' refresh button...
Telepresent 1 year ago 3
I love how Alan saw him going off on one and tried to stop him! What a great pair!
atomicmrpelly 2 years ago 21
*claps claps claps*
I love this man.
animeforever1 2 years ago 6
so true
konrri 2 years ago 3
So true, so funny!
MetaNapour 2 years ago 4
I love hearing Sir Fry swear lol, bow down to the master lol =]
XhezthecrazymetalerX 2 years ago 17
watch "Stephen Fry Angry" then its brilliant he goes into General Melchett mode
lookatwig 2 years ago 5
Uh-oh. I'm a student right now, and I'm always wondering about the point of it all. If Mr. Fry's right, I'm going to end up a drunk...
...I'm scared now. Mr. Fry's a very good comedian and I respect his views, but I'm seriously worried...
Shyyrn 2 years ago 6
Hearing Stephen Fry swear is like.......
missjiggy33 2 years ago 2
"Stephen, stephen, stephen, STEPHEN"
ahaha I love Alan.
TwistedxxTransistor 2 years ago 14
"It's an odd thing..."
Opullal 2 years ago 11
This clip is awesome. He is totally right... or maybe I'm just saying that because I love knowing facts that appear on the face of it not to have everyday practical application.
So funny....
perfacetus 2 years ago 19
It seems most of the untransmitted clips were removed because they could afend people (lol) like the religion one and this one
TheYellag 2 years ago 8
offend
bossmonkeykj 2 years ago
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
TheYellag 2 years ago
Alan davies is good when he trys calm stpehen fry down
192chill 2 years ago 23
Alan almost comes across as Stephen's wife in this clip.
soulofshiver 2 years ago 166
Well said, stephen fry.
MrBabs12345 2 years ago 19
jo brand got SHOT DOWN
robowen1 2 years ago 7
its amazing how the truth doesn't get transmitted eh?
MichaelBradley1988 2 years ago 4
This is a comedy show first, not a commentary on what goes on in the world. I guess they don't want to deal with the hassle.
inkedful 2 years ago 8
If that was true, each episode of QI would be about two minutes long.
KeladryL 2 years ago 3
I FUCKING LOVE STEPHEN FRY.
babjjb 2 years ago 7
There seem to be a lot of people who misunderstand what Stephen said. He never mentioned intelligence. What he said was that the people who take no INTEREST in learning end up in the shitty end of the public pool of life.
Drawing a conclusion and ranting on without self-criticism or second thoughts seems to be the theme here, so to all those pathetic dimwits who consider themselves better just because they bash Mr. Fry for saying something and people for agreeing: Shut up. For your own good.
BSODslayer 2 years ago 243
:') youve restored my faith in the internets; there is a higher calibre of intellect and thought out there, and i found some here: on youtube. many internets to you my kind sir :)
kelvov 2 years ago 13
@BSODslayer youtube has become a playground for english scholars to demonstrate that they have a degree or some form of advanced knowledge of the language. Yet, they get so wrapped up in being proud of their "intelligence" they forget rational thought so their arguments become pathetic and snobby. Glad 190 people (myself included) agree with you about people arguing with no real sense of direction!
SirrSnowman 8 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
A lot of homeless are intelligent people who got the shitty end of the stick. But don't you people think for yourselves, just let cuddly old uncle Stephen do your thinking for you. Wankers
gymnosophy 2 years ago
Too right.
MilesBennetDyson 2 years ago
Well said Stephen! I`ve always wanted to learn Latin, the only options we had at school were French & Spanish :(
sXePunkV2 2 years ago 7
But you're well on your way then! Next, join a choir that sings masses and stuff. Open a Latin dictionary and look at all the words that are the same in English even. Don't do classes, rather get hold of some classic work like Caesar's Wars or Augustine's Confessions plus a translation and have fun.
heimdallhinfrode 2 years ago
he is fucking right
smudzi 2 years ago 10
LMFAO I love it when Stephen has a little rant! It's great...and to hear him swear is so out of place!
WolfieTed 2 years ago 13
Absolutely brilliant, and so true! Love, love, love this man.
macolleague 2 years ago 5
further demonstrates why swearing for the sake of swearing is a pleasure in itself....
princessotto 2 years ago 4
I love the way Alan goes ''Stephen!'' as if to try and control him. So funny, shows how well Alan knows him =]
TheCheesyPieMeister 2 years ago 10
Well exactly, what for you need geometry and Latin in career of homeless drunk?!
finehomemadewine 2 years ago
this was transmitted.......
moore1007 2 years ago
Ah, so true... XD
xx
summers283 2 years ago
HAHA, BRILLIANT!
theBoonarmies 2 years ago 2
I love him...
PedanticAndWhimsical 2 years ago
I remember thinking the exact same thing whenever the D-students in my classes asked that question.
This is yet another reason why I love Stephen Fry
oancitizen 2 years ago 5
hee hee they planed on doing maybe 1 hour of study in the year, and they wanted to choose the most practical thing of all.
rabbitwho 2 years ago
Well said from Mr Fry.
PaulRoberts 2 years ago 4
I'm guessing by the title "Untransmitted", that these two clips were not actually aired on television. Anyone have any info on this?
simonferrer 2 years ago 2
From watching the first series on DVD, it looks like they record about 40/50 minutes of QI, then edit out to fit the 30 minute slot. Usually, the clips edited out are when somebody accidentally swears, ect. This could be one of those clips.
I'm not sure, but that's probably the case.
SymphoniaManiac 2 years ago
but you're allowed to swear on QI, they swear in almost every episode... well mostly Stephen
rabbitwho 2 years ago
If there was a god on this earth it would have to be Stephen 'The voice of reason' Fry
ViktorValentine 2 years ago 3
Thou Shall Not Question Stephen Fry!!
froodgoose 2 years ago 7
love that song:P
ebag10 2 years ago
you should always be interested in the things that don't interest you!
aModernDandy 2 years ago
Amen, Mr. Fry. Amen!
Knowledge for knowledge's sake is one of my reasons for being lol.
666deadman1988 2 years ago 8
wtf this and the religion bit is probs the best qi seconds ive ever seen
bbc need to grow a pair tbh
monteoner 2 years ago 5
I love how Alan tries to reel Stephen in a bit.
jenniferkelly89 2 years ago 3
It's so cute. lol, acting like an old married couple ftw!
pickpock 2 years ago 2
thank you Stephen Fry.
it's ludicrus the amount of people who think that there is no point to things like mathamatics or physiscs.
FurFoxart 2 years ago 9
Learning isn't just about dispensing facts about some particular subject. It's about being let into a way of thinking about the subject and related subjects. So geometry doesn't just give you information about how to calculate the diameter of a circle and the like - it gives you a more general knowledge of abstract concepts like shape and size, which is useful, but less tangible. So even though geometry may seem useless and difficult to remember, the underlying logic of it can still seep in.
petkragh 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Fry's argument is kind of weak if say the student weren't interested in the subject to begin with. You learn something for the sake of learning when you do have interest in that particular subject. It can't possibly be pleasurable if maths simply doesn't do anything to you.
MrAnonymity 2 years ago
But a good teacher should find, will, find a way of making it interesting. That's the job!
AlanHilter 2 years ago 13
@AlanHilter great*
A good teacher makes it not boring.
Maverician 1 year ago
@AlanHilter exactly its impossible for maths not to 'do anything for you' since it is one of the fundamental bsics on which we have based our world
mickthekindstranger 1 year ago
@AlanHilter No matter how good the teacher, a bad curriculum will raise no ones interest, including the teacher, and then no one learns. Which, oddly enough, I would suggest is exactly the boat we're all in now.
AutodidacticPhd 1 year ago
I think he means, that if everything you're doing needs to be validated by an immediate purpose, and pleasure and curiosity isn't enough, you will never summon up the energy to get anywhere in life.
petkragh 2 years ago 18
Very well put petkragh, exactly what he is getting at.
gabonicabitis 2 years ago 4
@MrAnonymity oh. okay im a little late on this but anyway - my Chemistry teacher had the "power" to put us to SLEEP with his voice. Im not even talking about drifting off occasionally, i mean a heavy deep sleep.
Im not kidding you the only reason anyone stayed awake was that someone managed to break the spell and get him to be, sort of just another guy and just do nonsense in class. Chemistry is interesting but 2words from his mouth and i was snoozing. Crazy.
CherryTripping 1 year ago
I know exactly what you mean, I have enough trouble learning maths but when someone asked my teacher what the practical applications of what we were doing are, they said the only known application currently is the exam we're sitting
rynox45 1 year ago
@rynox45 "the only known application currently is the exam we're sitting..." Yeah, had the same shit answer at my old school too.
Maths only becomes interesting to me if I can solve a problem with it, or no what it is useful for.
Sidowse 1 year ago
@Sidowse 'know' what it is useful for
ianmorton65 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@ianmorton65 "'know' what it is useful for" LOL, yes.
Sidowse 1 year ago
I love Stephen! :D
formerfan 2 years ago 3
It's not always about careers.
I've known people with comparatively simple jobs, sometimes even menial, who are members of Mensa and have a wide range of knowlegde on all kinds of subjects. They've been contented with a relatively simple lifestyle, having a day job with regular hours that is undemanding of their minds, leaving them enough emotional and intellectual energy to enjoy free time and the company of intelligent friends.
queenastilon 2 years ago
Fry is right, and I love how Alan tries in vain to slow him down.
"Stephen, Stephen, Stephen. Stephen!"
jenniferkelly89 2 years ago 6
Aww I love Stephen Fry he is so right XD
bennelliott 2 years ago 5
If ignorance is bliss you would think the world would be a much happier place.
chrisose 2 years ago 4
oh no!!
i'm one of those children! (well, i'm 17)
-where maths is concerned, anyway
i love learning history and well, anything else really but i simply can't stick any sort of maths that won't be necessary for me to use in later life
surds for instance.
what and why?!?!?!
sorry for turning this into a mini rant and possibly distracting people from the genius that is fry but maths is a very sensitive subject with me
p.s. plus my maths teacher was AWFUL and it was fun to antagonise him
cordeliaistheone 2 years ago 3
thats the thing. You cannot ever know ur future. my maths blows rather badly. i admit my teacher was a cunt but still i didnt care. wish i did, because life didnt go as i planned it. was a chef, quitted it (my back broke), and now im a sales guy at local .. well.. think Best buy but in four floors. during process theres is one thing i have to count every damn time. im in a world of hurt if it happens during the rush hours xD so have faith, its better to be prepared than useless in something -ki
somberlight 2 years ago
thanks for the comment/story type thing - genuinely :)
i don't quite know what to say to that but thought it rude not to reply
i'm glad your life worked out - if not how u originally planned
i know i should have probably tried harder in maths but it got to a point where i knew i'd learnt enough to get by in life + i was sure that most of the graphs and algebra etc would be pointless for me to persevere with as i hated them so much
anyway i hope u are happy + sorry to hear about the back :(
cordeliaistheone 2 years ago
oh i'll manage. he didnt. heh. the teacher in question lost his job and is currently a typical gutter-drunk. there went his academical future he used to brag about :D while yours truly has a job with a salary. not much but its huge deal at the current unstable times. oh i'll manage :)
somberlight 2 years ago
I don't know what Best Buy is, or what the four floor equivalent would be, but is it at least better than working at MacD's?
Thanks for sharing this, anyway.
By the way, Jamie Oliver rather foolishly said in front of the cameras once that he's never read a book in his life. Luckily for him, he's very successful as a cook.
queenastilon 2 years ago
I once asked a math teather why we needed to learn a pecifik thing ( don´t remember what it was something about geometry I think) and he got really angry telling me that if I did´nt want to learn it I could leave the classroom. The thing is that I really wanted to know when I would be able to use it, and I was n´t asking cause i didn´t wanna learn it. so there are 2 kinds of people who ask that question.
blablomma 2 years ago 3
But the point is maybe you will, maybe you won't, and does it matter? It's only now, in my early 30's that I am discovering that I like to know stuff for the sake of knowing it. Broadens your horizons really. Geometry, trigonometry, astronomy etc etc etc may not be useful in an every day sense unless you use them within a specific job, but knowing these things, just for the sake of it, really does make one feel more alive in this silly world. I think.
AlanHilter 2 years ago
I sympathise because I was always being punished for asking questions, even though I never meant it badly.
It's probably too late now for that specific thing but if that happens again, I think it would be worth going to that teacher at the end of a lesson (or if you see him in the hall or something) and explaining that you didn't mean to be rude.
It's hard for them to know when they're in the middle of trying to teach the whole class. And teachers have bad days.
queenastilon 2 years ago
@blablomma Did you say this to the same teacher that tried to teach you how to spell 'specific'?
soulofshiver 1 year ago
@soulofshiver No I did not, and I see no reason for you commenting on my spelling when the only thing wrong with it is that I put a k instead of a c and that I missed the s. So what if I made a spelling mistake? And in my defence, though I do not think that I need it, english is my second language and in my language specifc is spelled specifik.
blablomma 1 year ago
@blablomma learning to spel specific would also be useful you fucking yank tosser
dexterccf2 1 year ago
@dexterccf2 Honestly do you really think that this is a fruitful comment? I don't see any reason for people questioning my question for my teacher, a question that I might add was only asked in an attempt to understand and learn a specific mathematical formula, or my spelling. It was simply a question that I felt that I had to ask so that I could learn the formula, and a spelling mistake that anyone that does not have english as their first langage could have made.
blablomma 1 year ago
@blablomma You do me too much honour but I thank you as graciously as I can. I thought you were treated harshly; especially as your question was designed to further your own understanding which should always be encouraged, in my opinion. Try not to hate those who ridiculed you either, I imagine they think they are being amusing and it probably isn't meant personally. I am impatient with the stupid people who are unwilling to learn, but this clearly isn't you. Peace.
jacksawild 1 year ago
@blablomma also dexterccf2 spelt 'spell' incorrectly...
massacarcist 1 year ago
@blablomma It is a fair question but learning something for a specific need is missing the point. Something like geometry will become useful to you in many ways which you will be unable to imagine until you have learned it. I'll try to give you an example: I helped my dad lay floor tiles in his conservatory, he couldn't work out why he couldn't get the layout to look even until I explained to him that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other 2 sides.
jacksawild 1 year ago
@jacksawild First of: thank you for not insulting my intelligence by pointing out my spelling mistake :) and a second thanks for saying that it was a fair question. In truth I asked for an example of a real life situation in which it could be used because I sometimes understand things better when they can be applied to real life situations, but it appears that both my teatcher and most youtubers got the wrong idea, but not you - so again thank you :)
blablomma 1 year ago
@blablomma Realising that his square room was in fact two equally sized triangles stopped him from trying to begin at an edge and instead worked from the centre which he positioned by dissecting the square diagonally from corner to corner. Each edge now had an equally sized split tile around the entire room and "looked" far more even, even though the actual area remained unchanged. The beauty is in the details.
jacksawild 1 year ago
I agree with him soo much!! :D
Rantpodder 2 years ago 2
Haha, I'm Irish; at school, can you imagine the number of Irish kids saying 'what's the point of learning Irish?'
hansvalen 2 years ago
Stephen Fry is a national fucking treasure.
And he is so right in this clip.
B1ackmagic 3 years ago 16
absolutely :D
psychobollox 3 years ago
I'm at school still and I too notice it's often people who say to teachers "What's the point?" that don't do so well in exams, and are generally ignorant (no pun intended).
CMalburn 2 years ago
Stephen is my hero.
formerfan 3 years ago 9
It used to make me so mad when people said that about English! >:( The ironic thing was they needed it more than the rest of us, as they were yet to string a sentence together properly.
Ahem, so... Yeah.
JadeLiUK 3 years ago
Did... Did St... DID STEPHEN FRY ACTUALLY JUST SHOUT THAT WORD OUT?
LoonyLooners 3 years ago
He does happen to have the record for saying it the most number of times on a live broadcast..
Rantpodder 2 years ago 2
He says what we all want to say and says it eloquently. I really respect Stephen Fry.
doctorcropcircles 3 years ago 11
sorry..*mad
philstheking 3 years ago
true...but swear this was on air...or am i going made again...HELP ME STEVEN!
philstheking 3 years ago
true
OllieSkywalker 3 years ago
it's so true - having to put up with those kids in class who were like - 'what's the point in this miss?' - and you do wonder whatever happened to them. thanks fry.
spotlitkiss 3 years ago 3
God I love Fry.
ituyok 3 years ago 12
I love Alan's little "Stephen.. Stephen... Stephen... STEPHEN!"
haha they're like an old couple sometimes :P
Totally agree with The Fry though.
FundamentallyMental 3 years ago 13
loll. yess to all of wat you said!!
they're both adorable too!
glebber 3 years ago 4
They really are! I'm waiting for the day they announce their civil partnership (Alan would have to lose his wife first though haha... But one can still dream :P)
FundamentallyMental 3 years ago 4
Thats right fuck off you chavs! ruining my education
siripswich 3 years ago 17
beautifully fucking illustrated, mr fry!
CloudAerisSephiroth 3 years ago 23
He's so right!
MXDP 3 years ago 14
i kind of agree with him. but probably it will be quite challenging to get to that level. It is hard to overcome the fact that living is just for the sake of living and learning is just for the sake of learning alone and still doing the best to live such life.
dkchickenlittle 3 years ago 13
I don't quite agree with him. You should absolutely pursue knowledge for its own sake, but the reason the students are bored is because they're forced there. They don't get a say. Mandatory schooling makes school uninteresting. And Jo is partially right, I WON'T ever use geometry. And so my reaction in school was exactly the same and I support not being forced to learn it in school.
youvebeenthunderstru 3 years ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
Yes, the word is 'inculcation' see JT Gatto State Education on video.google. Its one way the shadowy trillionaires conspire their one-world slave factory teaching us just enough to function in their cosmology and shun all else.
And when Orwellian thought-control isn't enough its Aldous Huxley's Brave New World with Vaccines, MSG, Aspartame and Ritalin instead of Soma.
911 We Were Also Killed
stupidtreehugger 3 years ago