Stephen Fry (QI) - What is the point of teenagers?

[Sardonac]

This is a great clip for Alan. He's right on the mark, and pretty sharp about it too!

[darthjohn0]

Part of the amazing experience of being a teenager is the fact that we don't have many responsibilities during that age. Everything is provided to us; no need for a job, to cook, clean, pay bills, etc. If we were thrust out into the world after elementary school, I reckon we'd skip the teenage stage of life and go straight into adulthood.

[ghasher5]

the first picture of a show i cant remember its name if you know could you tell me please :)

[Voxnulla]

With copious amounts of alcohol, I find that remaining in the teenager mindset is very much achievable. I'm 33 and still a 16 year old brat!

[TheyreAllAmazing]

What the fuck is with all of these wankers getting in an uproar over some chick who doesn't want to shave her pits? That's her bloody choice. There's nothing gross about it, so stop being such narrow-minded sods. Also, for the men out there getting their knickers in a knot about this who have never been shamed into shaving their own pits, go piss on an electric fence.

[aztaclalz]

@TheyreAllAmazing People in general are afraid of being "different" - And in their minds, not shaving the pits is quite different indeed. Hence you see these mainstream-lot who're wandering about as a zombie-like creature, who'll mimic eachother, making sure they're not unique or 'differen't because that will only be a way for others to pick on them of being different ;). I agree with you, if the ladies prefer not to shave - let em', hahah.

[SerasRocks]

I wish I was a teenager again now

[InterlockingGs]

Most true thing I think I've ever heard Alan say.

[arcticjungle6]

i'm really baked and this video has just made me so happy.

[patrick112590]

The teenage years are the best time of life? Ha!

[thickpooxbox360]

2:03 bahaha directly above Alans head....cringe

[Jodie4pope]

I'm a teenager, If this is as good as it gets then I'd quite like to stop with this whole being alive business.

[blockheadface]

@Jodie4pope Everyone used to tell me that high school is "the best years of your life". They were wrong. I've graduated now and life rules. People who tell you that sort of thing only do it because they aren't satisfied with their current position in life and sugar coat their memories to convince themselves that their past was some sort of utopia which they spend the rest of their lives trying to relive. Anyway, rant over. Life is as enjoyable as you choose to make it.

[Romeowasbleeding1]

@Jodie4pope Believe it... once you go to uni, have to start taking 5 hour statistics exams, work through night to support yourself, pay for all living costs... forget holidays man. They just don't happen, maybe two weeks a year maximum.

[justamick1]

Teenagers the real thing, Adults behaving badly. Come now, what a disalusioned thing to say.

Watching t v cop shows i dont see any adults lying in the gutter, Or being carted off to be thrown into the back of a black maria. The way they behave you would not think they came from this planet. And i bet the comments i get are from bawdy teenagers, Every one else, Have a nice day.

[Dynryn805]

@justamick1 You misunderstood. He wasn't saying that teenagers conduct themselves properly as opposed to the raucous, law mocking behavior of adults. He was saying that maybe teenagers are the prime example of a human being and adults are just too old for their own good and thus act improperly. Stop using logical fallacies to back up your argument as well. Sure I'm a teenager but I'm not replying in protest.

[Hutspotpwns]

SHAAAAAVEEEE!



[chrisose]

If the teenage mindset is the proper mindset then mankind is beyond doomed.

[DrCruel]

@chrisose Can't speak for the Brits, but that's what they certainly believe over here. So many of our politicians act like teenagers, and they seem to have a great preference for coupling with them as well.

[nomsdeguerre]

I Watch QI clips and the scroll down for the Top 2 comments.. which are always..hilarious as hell as well.

[calumelliott]

Well, I'm 15 and I can say I am enjoying life immensely. I find myself discovering new emotions, I also find myself discovering new ways of thinking of things, being able to think philosophically and self analyse is also important to me. It's interesting to watch myself develop intellectually as well as physically. Obviously a lot of people my age don't think like this but because of this I can just take more pride in myself. It's the most important time in everyone's life. live it to the full.

[ConfusedPingu]

@calumelliott Cool story bro.

[calumelliott]

@ConfusedPingu I know right.

[crosshairs001]

@calumelliott im in exactly the same position, i love it! :D

[LeDerpaHerp]

@Introspectaria Same here, If someone granted me the wish of being young again I'd say anywhere between 20-30 will do me. or 6-10 :P

[mssonnet26]

armpitarmpitarmpit, ignore. ignore. ignore, must not look..............must not ARRGH!!

[FrederichSchulz]

Wow, Jimmy Carr had nothing to say in this D:

[TheMonkiAss]

hairy teenager

[KristofskiKabuki]

I find Alan's assertion that it's great being a teenager totally bizarre. I found the whole thing completley terrible and I was miserable the whole time. I'm very glad to be well out of it.

[pickednads6]

1:52 the girl behind alan's head has got a nasty armpit hair situation

[fauxshizl]

@pickednads6 looks like a quite normal armpit hair situation to me.

[PR0GRAMMING]

Hairy arm-pit at 2:26 (girl at back)

[MashkaZelandiashi]

Spent the second half of the video thinking shave shave shave and didn't hear a word.

[tarrizzzzzzzzz]

@MashkaZelandiashi shave? what are you on about?

[fuckgoldsmiths]

@tarrizzzzzzzzz girl in the background has hairy pits

[tarrizzzzzzzzz]

@fuckgoldsmiths Yeah, I notised...

[LittleBabyBum]

QI..what a great tv show

[MelbourneExoticSpota]

Look at the armpit of the girl in the white dress on the wall at the back... EWWW

[probablynovideoshere]

As a teenager, I can say that this is the awkwardest thing on Qi ever, even more than the acropolis, where the partenon is.

[DaniStarEngland]

@probablynovideoshere why what do they say of the acropils where the partenon IS?

[probablynovideoshere]

@DaniStarEngland They say, of the acropolis, where the parthenon is...

[poshablyposh]

we sound like a species of our own ahahaha, im too weird

[Nickedwards604]

that picture towards the end, with the girl holding her arm up, was obviously taken before razors were invented. O_O

[JWatyourdoor]

This was dignifying and at the same time condescending. Teenager is a stereotype. I think it's Allan who said that one day they're like this and the next day they're so happy because of something minute. Maybe some are like that but I kind of think that's insane.

[WaterBottle1998]

Dear Stephen Fry,

Can you please repeat all of that to my parents?

Thanks

[TheNexus3000]

We don't have this in Sweden I believe. Which is why I resort to shitty youtube videos. But it's alright, because I atleast get to be entertained by Stephen Fry.

[yoshinibble123]

Since I've been watching QI from this age... will it stay with me for the rest of my life?

If so, FANTASTIC!

[UNDERGROUND2000]

Fitting in was numb one for early teens...then as adults you peel away all the bs and figure out what u like and don't like...

[SneverusSnapers]

@HowManyTimes234 I'm a teenager, I hate twilight and have only seen it once, I don't know what Jersey Shore is, and I don't know wo Rebecca Black is either.

[HowManyTimes234]

@SneverusSnapers well that's because you like harry potter, marking you as one of the few intelligent teenagers

[SneverusSnapers]

@HowManyTimes234 lol, I like how you base intelligence on Harry Potter liking. However, I fear I may come out higher than my actual intelligence on your scale, seeing as I really am a bit obsessed with Harry Potter :p

[KitchenKiller95]

@HowManyTimes234

liking harry potter has to do more with the state of mind, just like listening to rebecca black or whatsoever, though i agree with you that teenagers who like things like harry potter are moreover brighter, 'cause they learn lessons from the books, or have more of the ability to draw those lessons from life themselves.

[HowManyTimes234]

teenegers nowadays watch Twilight, Jersey Shore, and listen to Rebecca Black...

if that's "the real thing", i genuinely fear for the future of the human race

[MrEstarmes]

@HowManyTimes234 Pressed down childrens throats by adults.

[z3r0t0l3r4ns]

@HowManyTimes234

For 90% of human history most of our race didn't live to be 30, which means that teenagers are in a large way responsible for you being here. By all means worry about our future but keep in mind it's the ADULTS that are fucking it up, not the teens.

[superhamzah85]

I was never a teenager. I didn't even notice puberty, it happened, but it was almost irrelevant. I was too busy with other things. No peer presure, I didn't recognize teenagers as peers to begin with.

[banpaiaperson]

being a teenager is awesome and awful at the same time!

and i've only got one and a half years left of it :/

[silvernoodles]

What is the point of teenagers?

So the rest of the human race always have something to be confused and irritated by. I say this as a teenager, and proud.

For I am one who will never say "minger". ;)

[maneatingtoilets]

Ive hated adolescence so far. Only have 1 year left.

[Jinmane]

I'm a potato

[AkitoShikyoken]

@Jinmane Die, potato. *Stomp*

[cobrasteel488]

@Jinmane Die Potato! (nooooooooooooooooooooooooo)

[2juli4]

@cobrasteel488 NOT TODAY!

[kevmxd]

I'm guessing that that picture about 1.50mins in was taken at a French rave of some sort because the pits are not how you say shaven lol :P

[Saruman38]

@kevmxd Suck my dick.

[KannibalKorpz666]

They raise a good point here

[JemimaTheDuck]

I'm a teenager, but am unable to "efficiently" communicate with my peers. What is a minga? I guess that beyond general "teenage speak" there are many different "dialects". I tend to get odd looks when I talk to my friends about the benefits of MMP vs FPP or about how, generally, capitalism is evil and socialism is good.

[Froncentrate]

@JemimaTheDuck That's your opinion, not fact... lol. Silly teenagers.

[Saruman38]

@Froncentrate Fuck you.

[Froncentrate]

@Saruman38 Calm down :)

[bonhamsapprentice]

2:03  LAWL

[Babyhowdy233]

@hempartist420

Well if you weren't the one who put them on your channel then you might want to investigate. Someone may have hacked into your account. :/

[Babyhowdy233]

@hempartist420

PS I enjoyed the video on your channel that demonstrates how to make stained glass stepping stones!

They were absolutely exquisite!

[Babyhowdy233]

@hempartist420

Yes, that's right.

[bignicky88]

it's a sad thing that i turned 20 a few days ago, i will no longer get categorised or analysed in the same way

[thachad1]

My god... this is like the basis to the story of an opera that i am writing (it's a little more involved then that but still)

[waldoman7]

while not an absolute, I do believe that on any given issue on which a child, teen, and adult disagree, the adult is least likely to be right provided that the teen/child is not thinking emotionally. See we come into this world full of emotions and short on knowledge but also with an unbiased, unconforming, and unconditioned mind. Adults are prone to clinging to illogical ideas passionately and/or without even realizing it.

[soylentgreenb]

@lordnimr0d Childhood is a modern invention. It has some great aspects and some pretty terrible ones. If you isolate people too much from the real world they behave in a way consistent with the bubble of unreality in which they reside; and as soon as they are expected to start behaving as adults it really makes their heads spin.

[jeneshisugakuto]

@soylentgreenb Actually childhood is substantial, if one is not given a childhood it can verily cause problems in later life. Childhood is very important as we now understand At 14 in the past you were considered grown up, of course it changes as science tells us a better outline. However Youth is a modern invention. The Youth phase it from the 60s.

[soylentgreenb]

@jeneshisugakuto The other extreme, which is what we have in all too many places now, is 30-year olds who are living at home with mommy and are not considered grown up.

[jeneshisugakuto]

@soylentgreenb Very true, that is happening a lot. My brother is a culprit. Can't say he was terribly wrapped in cotton wool as a child though. I believe I was molly coddled up until my parents realised I wasn't going to be what they wanted me to be in my teens. At 20 I'm living with no parents, but with my partner. I know reality more than my parents. I also became depressed in my teens and still am, I could only shake it off once I was out of the non-caring parental zone.

[jeneshisugakuto]

@soylentgreenb but yes molly-coddling can also produce adverse effects, but it seems not enough help and protection is just as bad. So, i'm not criticising you. But I studied psychology and learnt a lot about the influence of childhood on the adult life. As mammals we need a certain weaning time. And our babies aren't even ready after milk. Language needs to be learnt before the age of 12. But our nostalgia of human childhood is perhaps constructed. Certain aspects we don't need certainly.

[soylentgreenb]

@lordnimr0d It's overprotective to the point of being this strange bubble through which reality rarely is able to intrude.

In my dads generation it was not at all strange to give a 7 year old kid a 4-6 inch camp knife; tell them what not to do(and what they'll get spanked if they do), and let them go play unsupervised.

Two generations before that; what childhood? Toddlers helped their mothers tend the baby and went to work milking cows, hauling water and cutting hay as soon as possible.

[TheParrProductions]

I'm going to show this to my Dad, might explain a few things with out relationship...

[fistfulofknowledge]

The only teenagers that have watched this are all probably ones that are as equally confused by the majority of teenagers as adults are. I should know, seeing as I am one.

[gamblor67]

@fistfulofknowledge so true XD

[immadeofplastic]

@fistfulofknowledge

Exactly!!! I am watching QI and eating crumpets. To be a part of my generation I should probably be out being sick in a street somewhere and exchanging sexual favours for a kebab but hey.

[KonijNx2]

@fistfulofknowledge Well exactly, they don't correctly read emotion. It's not that they don't correctly convey it.

So teenagers have as much trouble understanding eachother's emotional tells as they do other peoples.

[InsolitusOdd]

@fistfulofknowledge

I completely agree

[mrfrankincense]

@fistfulofknowledge Doesn't that imply that the majority of teenagers, the group that you aren't part of, will grow up and become confused about teenagers?

[fistfulofknowledge]

@mrfrankincense Yes since they will act in seperate ways. The teenagers of the next generation will probably act in different ways, but ultimately with the same basic structure as today's teenagers.

[Kabitu1]

Prehistorically, humans did rarely live past the age of 20.

I just find that interesting.

We were not only immature species in a metaphorical way, we were literally a civilization composed by kids.

So Stephen might have something there...

[Babyhowdy233]

@Kabitu1

Quite true!

I was kinda shocked when I took an advanced course on Western Civilization and discovered that the median age of a Roman citizen was just FOURTEEN! In Shakespeare's time it was also the age at which most women (yes, a fourteen year old female was considered a woman) wed!

[Kabitu1]

@Babyhowdy233 Tells a bit about how far our minds have brought us. We used to live and reproduce at the same interval as other bigger mammals, and now our lifespan is nearly quintupled. If thats even a word.

[soylentgreenb]

In western cultures we insist on keeping childhood and adulthood as very different worlds separated by a great yawning chasm. Children don't even get to do a little bit of work; they don't have to manage resources; enduring a fair bit of tedium and having a low time preference is a vital part of being an adult. Children have very little freedom and very few responsibilities.

Childhood is when you should start learning these things, but with the "training wheels" on so you don't hurt yourself.

[soylentgreenb]

I think as a result of this complete compartmentalization of adulthood and childhood as non-overlapping realms teenagers are really confused about their role in the world.

[tory888]

Speaking as a teenager, I must say I despise many members of my age group. We're not all bad, but rather a lot of us are pure scum.

[MyNameIsBucket]

No, I remember being a teenager. It sucked. Teenagers suck. They should all be put in stasis until they turn 24.

[324wilson]

If Stephen Fry is not in this show, then I would never, ever watch QI. The rest of them are.... well, you know.

[hideyourloveaway128]

Well, let's see, when I was a teenager, which was just a few years ago, I didn't like teenagers any more than I do now. So, what does that say? That if teenagers are the perfect state of being, that I'll never be happy? Nah, somehow, I just don't think so.....

[livedandletdie]

It is not wrong to be a teenager but there isn't anything right with it either. We fuck up as teenagers and as adults. The only difference is that as teenagers we have more problems with our hormones changing all the time and as adults we only lose bodily capacity to do things we like to do and start to get sicker and deader.

[thesteveus]

Jo Brand is a legend

[KetOoKa889]

I couldn't concentrate with the girls armpit hair staring at me.

[VanargrandsEnd]

@EdwardVonFishington Im sorry but why do you feel the need to be such a pretentious arrogant snob? As if it was anybody's purpose in life to "impress" you. What a selfish , self centered - egotistical idea. Teenage years are the most quintessential years in ones life as far as most people are concerned. Are you really that naive to believe that all teenagers are simple-minded that all teenagers are impulsive? Well then you clearly did not have a good youth.

[kayper54]

Jo's girls are barely into double-digits age-wise, so I don't know what teenager would call her 'Mum.' I have teenagers. I like them. They do chores. They get really loud about doing them, but they do eventually do them because I am the boss of them. That said, she's going to have teens at home in her 50's. I don't know that I could handle teenagers in my 50's. Mine will be long gone by then. I hope.

[LoveNoteProjects]

adults who are behaving oddly? TEENS COULDN'T COMPREHEND HUMAN EMOTIONS!!!!!! That's normal?

[VanargrandsEnd]

@LoveNoteProjects Just look at your comment. What was the point in putting that in capital letters? Did your little typing shout do any good? Learn to control your emotions before you shoot down an entire generation of teenagers or not being able to "COMPREHEND HUMAN EMOTIONS". Why do people like you always generalize teenagers? Its just pathetic.

[BritishAlienCompany]

Coming from a teenager, the point of teenagers is to thank anybody who is near you (unless they're a teenager) that you are not one!

[WoodenPotatoes]

I'm twenty in three days and this really bummed me out.

[LoveNoteProjects]

@WoodenPotatoes my teenage was horrible, being in adult society is waaay cooler. teens are extremely primal in thought process. while adults live with the exp of life and respect each other

[VanargrandsEnd]

@LoveNoteProjects Your teenage years may have been horrible but what life experience do you actually have? Everything is relative to the individual and thats it. Childhood is flawed, Teen-hood is flawed, Adulthood is flawed. The same amount of respect is found in every aspect of life saying other wise is just naive. Let me ask you do i appear extremely primal in thought process? Do i appear to be lacking in mature cognitive ability? What you are doing is basically ageism.

[117cam]

i'd agree with that! adults suck! lol

[Patcholunu]

There is another clips from QI about teenagers, with Jack Dee and Ronni Ancona, I think. Does anyone know where I can find it again please?

[shakin2009]

the problem with teenagers is there half way to being adult

[WHAxWadeo]

At 2:02,  is that a girl in the white top behind Allan? If so, don't look at the armpits :/

[tevyethemad]

@WHAxWadeo GAHHH Now I can't look at anything else....

[SqueezeDontPull]

@WHAxWadeo What has been seen cannot be unseen!

[TheQueenOfMediocrity]

@WHAxWadeo Seriously? You don't have more important things to worry about than a woman having fuzzy armpits?

[Jonsk12394]

@WHAxWadeo - i was thinking the same during the whole video...

[SR120]

@WHAxWadeo That's my mum

[SjaanK85]

@WHAxWadeo DAMMIT, I looked!

[haz464]

@WHAxWadeo pretty sure its a young boy

[ComradeAlpharius]

@WHAxWadeo

Nothing wrong with a little pit hair.

[SethWreckLollis]

@WHAxWadeo Heyy, what's wrong with hairy armpits on a girl? :P

[tit1tot]

@WHAxWadeo no just an english guy, everyone knows genders occasionally get physiologically mixed up in england

[Babyhowdy233]

@tit1tot

I will bet my last dollar that IS a girl, because when I lived in England I was amazed at how many hairy armpitted females I saw;almost as many as I've seen in Italy.

[GarethJonesify]

@WHAxWadeo I thought i caught a glimpse of fuzz when it first came up ...and then it zoomed in on it when Alan was talking :O

[XxXCLJPXxX]

@WHAxWadeo ALAN

[XxXCLJPXxX]

yes it is a girl

[dim432]

Sometimes Teenages can reject their old Morals and have their new Cardinal disires and give adults a bad name.

The 90s was the best thing for teenagers.

[jursle]

Alan's description fits pretty well. Teenagers are basically labradoodles, jumping and running from place to place, only to fall down in absolutle exhaustion the next moment.

[DifferentGirl3]

I'm a teenager and my generation confuses the hell outta me.

[GarnetBering93]

@DifferentGirl3 I'm like that too. I find I'm a two-generation-ago guy trapped in a current-generation body.

[DifferentGirl3]

@GarnetBering93 Slang confuses me in particular.

[flynntheman90]

@DifferentGirl3 yeh that makes 2 of us :)

[TheDecayingmaterial]

@DifferentGirl3

omg, my fellow teenagers confuses me as well, I'm like feeling some special connection

[ReverendNillerz]

@DifferentGirl3 you must be easily confused.

[slightlyinsaneFTW]

@DifferentGirl3 Yeah, same here. I watch QI, I don't know every single lyric to every song in the charts, and so I stick out.

[232bluewings]

@DifferentGirl3 I quite agree, I myself am perplexed at the actions of some of the folk in my generation. I don;t see the sense in a lot of what they do.

[Tarragonable]

@DifferentGirl3 Well, I'm glad I ain't alone in generational incomprehension XD

[crazygeek777]

@DifferentGirl3 i am too, and it doesn't confuse me, it just annoys the fuck out of me.