13 ms·

My favorite was the time that someone asked Kelly [1] about why she was using Excel and not the messaging app on that product-placement phone and she was like "

My favorite was the time that someone asked Kelly [1] about why she was using Excel and not the messaging app on that product-placement phone and she was like "I have no idea what you are talking about or why this is a meme." And then the Microsoft Excel Twitter account, the only good Twitter account, responded with grace [2]. [1]: https://twitter.com/MichaelBaggs/status/1099957857901002752 https://twitter.com/MichaelBaggs/status/1099957857901002752 [2]: https://twitter.com/msexcel/status/1100162136888827904 https://twitter.com/msexcel/status/1100162136888827904

arp242 3y ago
This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end. Merely being ignorant of something is fine, as we're all ignorant of most things, but being proud of it just makes you stupid. Why do we put people like this on TV? </rant>
- adfm 3y ago
  Perhaps she is just media savvy and will take the hit from comment trolls rather than be direct about it. It also sends a message to potential sponsors of her willingness to entertain offers.
- xdavidliu 3y ago
  She probably did not pay too much attention to the names of the spreadsheet functions on the phone that she briefly touched to film a commercial. It's obviously not "being proud of ignorance" or anything like that.
  - gardenhedge 3y ago
    Firstly, how do you not know what Microsoft Excel is? Secondly, she's the one who is using it and is the focus of the memes she is talking about.. and she still doesn't just look it up.
    - killerdhmo 3y ago
      lol a lot of normal people don't know what Excel is.
    - gonzo41 3y ago
      Because she's got a life and better things to do.
      - gardenhedge 3y ago
        She's in conversations about it though and still doesn't know..
    - petsfed 3y ago
      Thanks to e.g. Google Sheets, excel itself doesn't dominate the market like it used to. Beyond that, I've had a litany of jobs where I had zero reason to ever use a spreadsheet, one of which was one where I actually sold Microsoft Office licenses. For a great many folks, the only time they may have encountered spreadsheet software at all was in a school computer literacy class, and even then...
      - SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
        Maybe I have grown out of being in Windows world for awhile and am biased, but it does seem like 2023 Excel is less ubiquitous in cultural mindshare than 2007 Excel. There’s probably a lot of factors contributing to that.
    - legostormtroopr 3y ago
      Taking a generous perspective - her job is a musical artist. Unless you are in her industry, there are probably tons of things she knows about you and I don't - like good brands of music sheets, mixing desks or microphones. Excel is known, by a certain selection of office workers.
    - croes 3y ago
      According to the post she's using Sheet not Excel
  - wvenable 3y ago
    The inside shot of the phone wasn't even her -- the phone probably wasn't even powered on when she was handling it. She just has better things to do than care about something this stupid.
    - gmt2027 3y ago
      Any celebrity should familiarise themselves with the companies and products they endorse. If all they can manage is to do so at a superficial level, they should seriously consider declining. It is just amazing that society rewards such a lack of integrity.
      - filoleg 3y ago
        > Any celebrity should familiarise themselves with the companies and products they endorse. There is a difference between endorsing a product and acting in an ad for a product. The latter is an acted out sketch. To be ultra-pedantic, one can same the same (just in a different way) for paid endorsements. But I hope the factual difference between the two is obvious enough to not need further explanation.
        gmt2027 3y ago
        I do not believe the line is so clear cut for a recognisable face. Brands seek out these celebrities and pay a premium for the aura. The endorsement is implicit. Consider that the relationship works both ways, the celebrity's own brand is tarnished by involvement with a product hit by scandal. See the celebrities that promoted FTX as an example. It is in their own interest to do some due diligence. Conversely, the ads would be dropped if the celebrity actor became toxic. If Kelly Rowland made Kanye-style comments about Nazis or Jews, the ad would be buried. Are Kevin Spacey ads still airing? The entire celebrity/influencer marketing system intentionally exploits a failure mode of human cognitive bias for profit. Transactional endorsements are morally bankrupt. A family member or friend that blindly recommended a product or service for pay would lose respect for that breach of trust. Celebrities that people respect should be held to the same or higher standards. Consider this, if John Carmack regularly did ads playing a generic software engineer at BigCo and it turned out he didn't even know what the products were, would this community hold him in the same high regard?
  - arp242 3y ago
    In that interview she is definitely "proud" not knowing what Excel is. Not knowing what Excel is is fine. Being proud of it is not.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      If you walked into her music studio would you know what every piece of equipment does? Would you be ashamed of admitting you didn’t? How much do you even know about music theory or dance choreography?
      - arpa 3y ago
        [flagged]
        arpa 3y ago
        /s obviously
      - arp242 3y ago
        That doesn't connect with that video or my commentary about it in the slightest. If I did something wrong with a flofof in public, and people comment and ask my about my wrong usage of a flofof for years, and I respond with "bitch, I don't know what a flofof is, and I don't want to know, looollll, keepin' it real bro!" then I'd be a right idiot – not for doing something wrong with a flofof, or not immediately knowing what a flofof is, but for not WANTING to know and making a show out of not knowing. This is performative idiocy.
        scarface_74 3y ago
        It implies that directly. I work in cloud consulting. I have my specialties and I know a little about the other areas. Heck, I just did a CI/CD proof of concept where the company was using Java Docker containers. I don’t know Java at all and haven’t done anything in Java in two decades (I’m a .Net, Python, JavaScript guy) I used ChatGPT to help me create a simple Java Spring Boot app in a Docker container with JUnit tests. I freely admitted I don’t know Java and that I used ChatGPT to do Java parts. That’s not what I was brought in for just like she wasn’t brought in to do Excel. ChatGPT propped me up just like her producers propped her up and brought her in to do a role. If I found out that my little dummy POC HelloWorld Java/Springboot Docker container “did something wrong”, do you think I would give two fucks? Do you think I would care enough to learn Java? My job to be done was not to write a Java app, it was to teach them how to implement a CI/CD process to deliver their apps to production.
- nonethewiser 3y ago
  Im proud of being ignorant of pop culture references.
- filmgirlcw 3y ago
  Do you remember every phone you touched in 2002? I don’t even remember what phone I had except that I think it was a Samsung and it had a color screen and I replaced it with a Sidekick the next year and I have a photographic memory for this sort of stupidity. I think it’s totally normal to not remember a 20-year old prop from a music video.
  - bee_rider 3y ago
    I wonder if the screen was edited in in post-production, or something like that… screens tend to not look very good when filmed, right?
  - arp242 3y ago
    Yes, but that's a completely different scenario than being proud of not knowing what Excel is. I need to keep repeating myself here because you've clearly not actually watched the video I'm responding to.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      What next, should she also know vi?
    - filmgirlcw 3y ago
      I mean, I literally posted the video you’re responding to, but go off. I think it’s completely fine for someone to not know anything about Microsoft Excel, even tho it is my personal favorite app ever and it was a freaking Mac app first. First good GUI spreadsheet. Excel forever. But Kelly Rowland is allowed to not know it or remember its role in a prop she used in a music video 20 years ago.
- didntknowya 3y ago
  she wasn't exactly doing product review. i doubt she even knew what the brand was. all she prob did was hold a prop her assistant gave her.
- jeffchien 3y ago
  I think she might be more annoyed that people bother her with this specific meme. It sounds like the director or ADs might have told her to do this in the music video, and now the internet chooses to believe that somehow she was the one who decided to do this. It's like how Tom Hardy has been reduced to 3-4 odd lines in The Dark Knight Rises. Some celebrities embrace it with grace but I can understand those who don't.
  - floomk 3y ago
    That's the tradeoff they make for being famous.
    - jmye 3y ago
      “You’re famous so I get to abuse you however I want and you can’t complain” is an absolutely terrible point of view.
      - floomk 3y ago
        Memeing about content they put out is hardly abuse
        arpa 3y ago
        it is! wipes tears with dolla bills
        jmye 3y ago
        That can’t be a serious comment. What a shameful, childish attitude. Maybe you’ll realize it in a few years when you turn 18.
- arcanemachiner 3y ago
  I take pride in my ignorance of some things. For example, the current news about celebrity goings-on. I can only name a single Kardashian (Kim), and I wish I didn't even know that one. I am proud to say I have no idea if they are even relevant anymore. That's not to say that I take pride in ignorance of all subjects. Just some.
  - shawnz 3y ago
    Here's a hot take: I think this kind of pride in ignorance of social happenings is just as bad as pride in ignorance of math/science. They both seem like attempts to paper over feelings of exclusion from one group by using feelings of inclusion in another group. Why not just let people like what they like without judgement?
    - explaininjs 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - idiotsecant 3y ago
        You get that the month is not about celebrating the biblical sin, right? Words can have multiple meanings, Orel.
        blangk 3y ago
        Are you sure about that?
        arpa 3y ago
        I don't know about OP, but I am.
        explaininjs 3y ago
        From Wikipedia: > Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself".[1] Oxford defines it as "the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's own importance."[2] This may be related to one's own abilities or achievements, positive characteristics of friends or family, or one's country. Richard Taylor defined pride as "the justified love of oneself",[3] as opposed to false pride or narcissism. Similarly, St. Augustine defined it as "the love of one's own excellence",[4] and Meher Baba called it "the specific feeling through which egoism manifests."[5] Seems to capture "both" aspects for the word to me.
- nelox 3y ago
  It is entirely possible she does know and is simply acting. In fact, her entire public persona may well be manufactured, as it is by many.
  - bluepod4 3y ago
    Exactly
- mcmoor 3y ago
  Sometimes people get shamed for knowing too much about something, being labelled too obsessive, too nerdy, too meticulous, too "privileged" to be able to care about useless things, etc. Consequentially then, the shamer will become proud of not knowing those things, and then extend it to not knowing other things even if it's crucial. Anecdotally, I strive to not know all states of USA and its locations because if I do, it means I have truly consumed American media too much. And I slowly fail at it.
  - ta1243 3y ago
    > the shamer will become proud of not knowing those things, and then extend it to not knowing other things even if it's crucial. I guess I take great pride in not knowing the latest celebrity shenanigans, or whoever the captain of $sportsteam is. Intellectually I don't consider it a quality, but I suspect many would not consider it to be "wilful ignorance". Even when I do know some sports fact (I think Manchester City won the league last year for example) I will pretend I don't when I'm in company. About a decade ago I was on a multi-day training course in some rural area. In the evening I was in the hotel bar with a bunch of sports journalists who clearly knew a lot about football. I was sat in the middle of the sofa and all was good as we talked about something like IEDs or missing limbs. It then moved on to football. I was completely lost, until they mentioned an early 1990s football player who I knew from when I was young and played Championship Manager 93. I could finally interject with an on topic point. That small anecdote did not go well as it then pivoted to conversations about other 1990s football players and I was once again stuck. There's a scene in "Friends" where Joey reads an encyclopedia about words beginning with "V". He then has a (unusually) decent knowledge of things from Volcanos to Vivisection. Then he made the mistake of mentioning the Vietnam war. Immediately the conversation pivoted to Korean war and he was lost. Felt just like that. As such I just live my life pretending football etc doesn't exist. It's easier that way. I won't get dragged into a conversation about the offside rule or whatever. I imagine the same applies to non-computer people who talk about computers. They might interject with some basic thing like "webpages are made of html", but then get lost as people start talking about nodejs frameworks or something. Better to just not have that conversation in the first place.
- Salgat 3y ago
  She's not proud of anything, she literally just doesn't care because to her this program has absolutely no relevance to her life beyond a brief cameo in a music video a few decades ago. It's like saying you don't know what a fuel pump is and you really don't care.
- isaacremuant 3y ago
  Why does she have care about Microsoft Excel? Why do I habe to care about amines in chemistry or galaxies in Astronomy? We pick our interests and it's fine saying "I don't care nor want to know about that". Specially when it doesn't affect you. She doesn't need it.
  - rvba 3y ago
    Perhaps to look at the numbers provided to her by her label/manager, try to get some idea of her taxes, make some budget. I bet artists do sit in meetings sometimes - even to review their sales or net results.
- bluepod4 3y ago
  This was a quick assumption based on passing knowledge of a person. This makes you ignorant. Why are there people like this on HN?
  - arp242 3y ago
    I just watched the video where behaviour is exhibited. To put it plainly: if you don't want to come off as an idiot, then don't act like an idiot.
    - bluepod4 3y ago
      > if you don't want to come off as an idiot, then don't act like an idiot. Cool story! Take your own advice. You made a quick assumption. Own it. Admit that your beliefs are based on an overly produced segment on a canceled daytime talk show lol. Please.
    - jjulius 3y ago
      >If you don't want to come off as an idiot, then don't act like an idiot. So much for empathy[0], huh? [0]https://www.arp242.net/empathy.html https://www.arp242.net/empathy.html
- mc32 3y ago
  Imagine a well known figure in tech, doing a commercial where they’re asked to “play guitar” or keyboards (but obviously the music and their instrument playing don’t line up and their person is like, I don’t know what a Stratocaster is, or I don’t know what a Yamaha is! It’s just like that.
- qwertyzxcvmnbvw 3y ago
  It's ignorant to use "to no end" (uselessly) when you mean "no end" (endlessly).
  - arpa 3y ago
    thanks for the opportunity to learn.
- timacles 3y ago
  Having such a strong negative reaction to an innocent daytime TV bit just speaks volumes. Might want to look in the mirror before judging people so harshly. Especially since I guarantee shes more knowledgeable and capable in her field of work than you are in yours.
  - jason-phillips 3y ago
    she's
  - jojobas 3y ago
    >shes more knowledgeable and capable in her field of work That's a weird statement. Hip-hop success is orthogonal to knowledge, there are illiterate (and proud of it) stars and obscure Berklee graduates.
    - bluepod4 3y ago
      “Hip-hop” lol. But also, don’t forget that there are ignorant (and proud of it) Berklee graduates.
      - jojobas 3y ago
        Are there really? At the very least you have to be able to read and write, understand harmony and a lot more.
        bluepod4 3y ago
        Reading you loud and clear!
    - oarabbus_ 3y ago
      Not even going to touch the bait in your statement but calling Kelly Rowland a hip-hop artist is an exceedingly bizarre statement. It would be like calling Blink 182 hair metal, or calling Coldplay classic rock.
- wisty 3y ago
  Cognitive dissonance. Knowing stuff is (generally) smart. Not knowing stuff is dumb. If someone's superior knowledge in a field makes you feel dumb, you assage your self image by saying you're not dumb, you're just not a try-hard nerd. Not being able to appreciate that people are better than you in some fields (or maybe even most fields) might be dumb, but that could be part of a self-reinforcing cycle of not learning or trying because you might not be successful.
- laurieg 3y ago
  I'm not sure this taking pride in ignorance. It just seems like she has other things that occupy her time and thoughts. Imagine if someone asked Linus Torvalds about the stitching pattern used on a shirt he wore in while giving a talk 10 years ago? If he said "I had no idea what you're talking about?" would that be taking pride in ignorance too?
  - atomlib 3y ago
    What if the pattern had some significance in some culture? Anyway, something of that caliber actually happened. Torvalds addressed wearing socks and sandals in some interviews as him being not that into fashion. https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-interview-with-millenium-technology-prize-finalist-linus-torvalds/ https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-interview-with-milleniu...
    - boredemployee 3y ago
      You guys find arguments and proof for everything. I love it.
    - Apocryphon 3y ago
      Alternatively, it’s like the time some Star Trek fans asked William Shatner what the safe combination was on an episode of the show
      - yetanotherloser 3y ago
        I'm pretty sure that was a spoof. But still :-D
        Apocryphon 3y ago
        Yeah that's the joke
    - benj111 3y ago
      >What if the pattern had some significance in some culture? Could you clarify this, because I can't tell if you're being woke, the questioner is asking because of the significance, torvalds is assumed to know or what.
- megablast 3y ago
  You are the one making the ignorant statement. She was concentrating on a 100 other things rather than what they handed her to type on. To you, the most important thing is she was using excel on a phone.
- numair 3y ago
  Actually, Kelly matched one meme with another: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/09/mariah-carey-i-dont-know-her-meme https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/09/mariah-carey-i-dont... It’s pretty sad that the parent got upvoted and commented so much, without anyone catching on to this. The HN crowd really needs to take a course on modern culture or something. People in this community are not as smart as they think they are, and this problem seems to have gotten a lot worse after the recent Reddit migration.
  - basementdev 3y ago
    > People in this community are not as smart as they think they are, and this problem seems to have gotten a lot worse after the recent Reddit migration. Isnt it the same anywhere a bunch of nerds and geeks gather?
- jjulius 3y ago
  >This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end. Yes, it's absolutely infuriating that a musician/pop star (read: a career that doesn't involve software) doesn't really know much about spreadsheet software that was used for a quarter of a second on a device, which was essentially just a prop, that has been out of date for decades. /s Yikes, bud. I don't really know what else to say; maybe go for a walk if this sorta thing really chaps your rump that much?
  - junon 3y ago
    I can't imagine that was even on the screen at the time. In all likelihood she was holding up a device that was fully fake and they CGIed it in there.
    - uxp100 3y ago
      I kinda doubt it, for two reasons: that’s more work than just opening a preinstalled program and typing, and if it was cgi, I would expect something whipped together in photoshop and after effects or whatever, and not a real program. My third reason is a little weaker: doesn’t look like it to me.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
    - Gordonjcp 3y ago
      Why would they go to all the effort of making a fake phone and then CGIing in the details, when a device that looked and worked exactly as shown in the video existed in real life?
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
  - lexandstuff 3y ago
    OP has a point, though. She might be a talented pop star, but surely she has encountered spreadsheets at some point in her life? For example: checking over notes from her accountant, planning tours, purchasing houses, reviewing marketing plans for album launches, etc. Also, does not knowing about Excel also imply that she's never heard of Microsoft Word? That seems too farfetched.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > Why do we put people like this on TV? In this specific case, because they are extremely successful in their field (which is also why they can justifiably be happily ignorant of things well outside of it.).
- meepmorp 3y ago
  Touch grass
- beepbooptheory 3y ago
  In a world that incentives attention so much, that demands a weird kind of self-discipline of constant global awareness, of perpetual mobilization, an attitude like this can show extreme intelligence, resilience, and independence. Like, people are literally bombarded by scams and fake news every day. Every other app you download is either ripping you off or vying to. Every other commercial you watch is either trying to get you to gamble your money, buy antidepressants, or sue those who sold you antidepressants. We cannot even, at large, decide on fundamental questions of human rights and basic dignity! How can we even pretend to have this conviction? That a line is crossed in the blissful joy of being ignorant of Excel? That being on television should be something more lofty, more honored, than such an attitude? "Stupidity" can be a much more properly virtuous mode of life than others that value knowledge only for knowledge's sake.
- RC_ITR 3y ago
  Of all the things to be proud to be ignorant of, Excel is probably near the top of the list. I wish I didn’t know what excel was.
- LovinFossilFuel 3y ago
  [dead]
- lelanthran 3y ago
  > This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end. This kind of taking pride in ignorance isn't so bad, compared to the other kinds. "Oh, that's not for me, I'm so bad at maths" followed by a giggle. or this, from an actual university student (relative of my wife), when I asked what they like to read: "Nah, I never read, I hate reading". That sort of taking pride in ignorance is worse.
  - pessimizer 3y ago
    How can saying that you're terrible at something and nervously giggling about it be prideful? The thought processes that began this thread astonish me. Pride in ignorance is when people say there's nothing to some journalistic exposé, you ask them what was wrong with it, and they insist that they would never lower themselves to reading that kind of trash. Not when someone who has difficulty reading says that they hate reading.
  - chithanh 3y ago
    > "Nah, I never read, I hate reading". > That sort of taking pride in ignorance is worse. Being averse against reading is not the same as being ignorant. It reminds me of that famous Bill Gates quote, "I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it." That person will master ways to learn things without reading a whole lot.
- runiq 3y ago
  Friend, you oughtta go touch grass.
- jacobedawson 3y ago
  Alternatively, she's an entertainer on tv and she was being entertaining.
- lobf 3y ago
  Sorry, can you specify where she takes pride in not knowing how excel works?
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Yes because I’m sure you know everything about every subject and anything you don’t know you’re spending time to learn.
- cyclecount 3y ago
  You're replying to someone who thinks a marketing account for fucking Microsoft Excel is "the only good twitter account" so the bar for good taste in this thread is already subterranean.
- wesleywt 3y ago
  Not caring about Excel does not make you stupid.
- peoplefromibiza 3y ago
  > This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end I'm pretty sure that if you ask Daniel Radcliffe he would say he doesn't know jack sh*t about magic and he really did not know what he was doing, except that he was doing his job: acting (i.e. pretending to be something you are not, in this specific case someone sending a message through a phone using Excel) I'm also pretty sure that many CSI actors did not know anything about "zoom & enhance" and Hugh Jackman has no clue about hacking a system especially while receiving oral sex with a gun pointed at his head https://movietvtechgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/hugh-jackman-being-relieved-manually-hackers.png https://movietvtechgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/hugh...
- ljm 3y ago
  Probably more about not caring than being proud - can't really call someone stupid for not caring about office productivity software when their profession couldn't be more distant from it. Not to mention - using tech and computing concepts in absurd ways is a decades old running joke in media. Imagine Anna Belknap in that seat being asked about writing a GUI interface in visual basic to track an IP address and the response would probably be the same.
- neolithicum 3y ago
  Ignorance (especially pride about it) is so infuriating because it suggests to people that their knowledge about something is not in any way essential to humans. And this is true about Excel. If someone told me they hadn't heard of WWII or the moon landing then I would be right to be angry as it is information that is really essential to all of us. For anything else, we really shouldn't waste our energy on this infinite source of anger. This is the first time I have heard of that woman, I bet nobody cares about it here. Perhaps other people would be mad about it in the same way you are about her not knowing Excel. I won't disagree with you though that it is very tempting to get annoyed by it :)
- brvsft 3y ago
  It's infuriating to see such a stupid take bubbled up to the top replies to the top comment on this post. Why would a singer know what Microsoft Excel is? And how exactly is her response even "pride[ful]" ignorance? She just said she doesn't know what it is and therefore doesn't care about the memes. Which part here is pride in her ignorance of software mostly used in the accounting profession? I'm not going to say she's a genius, but it's grounded for a person to acknowledge when they don't know what something is and don't give a shit. This thing was an afterthought to a music video for a song she was in. The video is tangential to her actual work. Why should she care? If you're going to call her ignorant and stupid for it, you should be able to explain why she should care about Microsoft Excel specifically when it's presented to her in a flurry of internet memes. Also, why is she on TV? Because she's the second most famous person who was in Destiny's Child, behind Beyonce. Is TV only supposed to show people of high intelligence? Are "stupid" people actually subhumans who should not be represented on television, the bastion of idiots? Are stupid people actually morally bad and smart people are morally good? I'm so confused about all the things your worldview could imply. It's nonsense.
  - rTX5CMRXIfFG 3y ago
    I don't think that the commenter expected her to know Excel, but the tone of her response especially where she started saying "I don't care" can be reasonably interpreted as dismissive and defensive to the point of being proud, which is really odd because it's not like people are blaming her for the production crew's mistake? Not knowing computers at this day and age (or whenever that video was shot which seems recent) is not a cool thing to celebrate, because the most basic computer skills are now as important as knowing how to drive. But I really think that more than a criticism of her intelligence, people really are criticizing her character. She could have handled this more gracefully by laughing it off, because it is laughable.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - Gordonjcp 3y ago
      > because the most basic computer skills are now as important as knowing how to drive Maybe not knowing how to *drive*, lots of people don't need to know that, but it's kind of up there with knowing how to read.
- pessimizer 3y ago
  Being insulted because people think your interests are stupid or boring is weakness. She (and literally everyone else on the planet) has got more to concentrate on than your feelings about Excel.
- dclowd9901 3y ago
  A lot of people are attacking you on the assertion that she’s proudly ignorant. I didn’t take her response as proudly ignorant as much as indignantly annoyed. Rowland has been passed up time and again in her career. She’s a wonderfully talented singer and by all rights should have been as famous and successful as Beyoncé, but for whatever reasons, she wasn’t “chosen” to move up the ranks. I think in that situation, it would be slightly annoying for someone to criticize (even in jest) some throwaway moment on a music video you made years ago, rather than take your music career seriously. I’m guessing she was more frustrated that her interviewers were basically using her for a joke than helping her gain some steam with her music career.
- rconti 3y ago
  Put the red pill down...
- sonicshadow 3y ago
  Pretty sure this whole thread is a lesson in subtle racism
- belfalas 3y ago
  Well, I think an active effort to understand and empathize with people needs to happen first, instead of treating everyone you don’t exactly agree with as an enemy. A democracy only works if everyone acknowledges everyone’s legitimacy, otherwise it just becomes bickering over small issues.
lincon127 3y ago
[flagged]
askiiart 3y ago
Nitter links: [1]: https://nitter.askiiart.net/MichaelBaggs/status/1099957857901002752 https://nitter.askiiart.net/MichaelBaggs/status/109995785790... [2]: https://nitter.askiiart.net/msexcel/status/1100162136888827904 https://nitter.askiiart.net/msexcel/status/11001621368888279...
- Balgair 3y ago
  Oh nitter works again? Nice
  - askiiart 3y ago
    Yup, discussed 2 days ago here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36665406 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36665406
- shepherdjerred 3y ago
  You can also use the Privacy Redirect [0] extension (among many others) to automatically redirect twitter/reddit/other links to nitter/teddit. I self-host nitter/teddit instances, and it's a _fantastic_ combo! [0]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-redirect/pmcmeagblkinmogikoikkdjiligflglb https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-redirect/p...
steeve 3y ago
That response was a little cringe, she doesn’t come out as a likable person…
rob74 3y ago
She probably meant to say "I don't know what that is, I don't know why this is a meme, after all everyone knows that the spreadsheet app on the Nokia Communicator wasn't Microsoft Excel"...
abwizz 3y ago
oh, twitter works again

arp242 3y ago

This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end. Merely being ignorant of something is fine, as we're all ignorant of most things, but being proud of it just makes you stupid. Why do we put people like this on TV? </rant>

adfm 3y ago
Perhaps she is just media savvy and will take the hit from comment trolls rather than be direct about it. It also sends a message to potential sponsors of her willingness to entertain offers.
xdavidliu 3y ago
She probably did not pay too much attention to the names of the spreadsheet functions on the phone that she briefly touched to film a commercial. It's obviously not "being proud of ignorance" or anything like that.
- gardenhedge 3y ago
  Firstly, how do you not know what Microsoft Excel is? Secondly, she's the one who is using it and is the focus of the memes she is talking about.. and she still doesn't just look it up.
  - killerdhmo 3y ago
    lol a lot of normal people don't know what Excel is.
  - gonzo41 3y ago
    Because she's got a life and better things to do.
    - gardenhedge 3y ago
      She's in conversations about it though and still doesn't know..
  - petsfed 3y ago
    Thanks to e.g. Google Sheets, excel itself doesn't dominate the market like it used to. Beyond that, I've had a litany of jobs where I had zero reason to ever use a spreadsheet, one of which was one where I actually sold Microsoft Office licenses. For a great many folks, the only time they may have encountered spreadsheet software at all was in a school computer literacy class, and even then...
    - SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
      Maybe I have grown out of being in Windows world for awhile and am biased, but it does seem like 2023 Excel is less ubiquitous in cultural mindshare than 2007 Excel. There’s probably a lot of factors contributing to that.
  - legostormtroopr 3y ago
    Taking a generous perspective - her job is a musical artist. Unless you are in her industry, there are probably tons of things she knows about you and I don't - like good brands of music sheets, mixing desks or microphones. Excel is known, by a certain selection of office workers.
  - croes 3y ago
    According to the post she's using Sheet not Excel
- wvenable 3y ago
  The inside shot of the phone wasn't even her -- the phone probably wasn't even powered on when she was handling it. She just has better things to do than care about something this stupid.
  - gmt2027 3y ago
    Any celebrity should familiarise themselves with the companies and products they endorse. If all they can manage is to do so at a superficial level, they should seriously consider declining. It is just amazing that society rewards such a lack of integrity.
    - filoleg 3y ago
      > Any celebrity should familiarise themselves with the companies and products they endorse. There is a difference between endorsing a product and acting in an ad for a product. The latter is an acted out sketch. To be ultra-pedantic, one can same the same (just in a different way) for paid endorsements. But I hope the factual difference between the two is obvious enough to not need further explanation.
      - gmt2027 3y ago
        I do not believe the line is so clear cut for a recognisable face. Brands seek out these celebrities and pay a premium for the aura. The endorsement is implicit. Consider that the relationship works both ways, the celebrity's own brand is tarnished by involvement with a product hit by scandal. See the celebrities that promoted FTX as an example. It is in their own interest to do some due diligence. Conversely, the ads would be dropped if the celebrity actor became toxic. If Kelly Rowland made Kanye-style comments about Nazis or Jews, the ad would be buried. Are Kevin Spacey ads still airing? The entire celebrity/influencer marketing system intentionally exploits a failure mode of human cognitive bias for profit. Transactional endorsements are morally bankrupt. A family member or friend that blindly recommended a product or service for pay would lose respect for that breach of trust. Celebrities that people respect should be held to the same or higher standards. Consider this, if John Carmack regularly did ads playing a generic software engineer at BigCo and it turned out he didn't even know what the products were, would this community hold him in the same high regard?
- arp242 3y ago
  In that interview she is definitely "proud" not knowing what Excel is. Not knowing what Excel is is fine. Being proud of it is not.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    If you walked into her music studio would you know what every piece of equipment does? Would you be ashamed of admitting you didn’t? How much do you even know about music theory or dance choreography?
    - arpa 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - arpa 3y ago
        /s obviously
    - arp242 3y ago
      That doesn't connect with that video or my commentary about it in the slightest. If I did something wrong with a flofof in public, and people comment and ask my about my wrong usage of a flofof for years, and I respond with "bitch, I don't know what a flofof is, and I don't want to know, looollll, keepin' it real bro!" then I'd be a right idiot – not for doing something wrong with a flofof, or not immediately knowing what a flofof is, but for not WANTING to know and making a show out of not knowing. This is performative idiocy.
      - scarface_74 3y ago
        It implies that directly. I work in cloud consulting. I have my specialties and I know a little about the other areas. Heck, I just did a CI/CD proof of concept where the company was using Java Docker containers. I don’t know Java at all and haven’t done anything in Java in two decades (I’m a .Net, Python, JavaScript guy) I used ChatGPT to help me create a simple Java Spring Boot app in a Docker container with JUnit tests. I freely admitted I don’t know Java and that I used ChatGPT to do Java parts. That’s not what I was brought in for just like she wasn’t brought in to do Excel. ChatGPT propped me up just like her producers propped her up and brought her in to do a role. If I found out that my little dummy POC HelloWorld Java/Springboot Docker container “did something wrong”, do you think I would give two fucks? Do you think I would care enough to learn Java? My job to be done was not to write a Java app, it was to teach them how to implement a CI/CD process to deliver their apps to production.
nonethewiser 3y ago
Im proud of being ignorant of pop culture references.
filmgirlcw 3y ago
Do you remember every phone you touched in 2002? I don’t even remember what phone I had except that I think it was a Samsung and it had a color screen and I replaced it with a Sidekick the next year and I have a photographic memory for this sort of stupidity. I think it’s totally normal to not remember a 20-year old prop from a music video.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  I wonder if the screen was edited in in post-production, or something like that… screens tend to not look very good when filmed, right?
- arp242 3y ago
  Yes, but that's a completely different scenario than being proud of not knowing what Excel is. I need to keep repeating myself here because you've clearly not actually watched the video I'm responding to.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    What next, should she also know vi?
  - filmgirlcw 3y ago
    I mean, I literally posted the video you’re responding to, but go off. I think it’s completely fine for someone to not know anything about Microsoft Excel, even tho it is my personal favorite app ever and it was a freaking Mac app first. First good GUI spreadsheet. Excel forever. But Kelly Rowland is allowed to not know it or remember its role in a prop she used in a music video 20 years ago.
didntknowya 3y ago
she wasn't exactly doing product review. i doubt she even knew what the brand was. all she prob did was hold a prop her assistant gave her.
jeffchien 3y ago
I think she might be more annoyed that people bother her with this specific meme. It sounds like the director or ADs might have told her to do this in the music video, and now the internet chooses to believe that somehow she was the one who decided to do this. It's like how Tom Hardy has been reduced to 3-4 odd lines in The Dark Knight Rises. Some celebrities embrace it with grace but I can understand those who don't.
- floomk 3y ago
  That's the tradeoff they make for being famous.
  - jmye 3y ago
    “You’re famous so I get to abuse you however I want and you can’t complain” is an absolutely terrible point of view.
    - floomk 3y ago
      Memeing about content they put out is hardly abuse
      - arpa 3y ago
        it is! wipes tears with dolla bills
      - jmye 3y ago
        That can’t be a serious comment. What a shameful, childish attitude. Maybe you’ll realize it in a few years when you turn 18.
arcanemachiner 3y ago
I take pride in my ignorance of some things. For example, the current news about celebrity goings-on. I can only name a single Kardashian (Kim), and I wish I didn't even know that one. I am proud to say I have no idea if they are even relevant anymore. That's not to say that I take pride in ignorance of all subjects. Just some.
- shawnz 3y ago
  Here's a hot take: I think this kind of pride in ignorance of social happenings is just as bad as pride in ignorance of math/science. They both seem like attempts to paper over feelings of exclusion from one group by using feelings of inclusion in another group. Why not just let people like what they like without judgement?
  - explaininjs 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - idiotsecant 3y ago
      You get that the month is not about celebrating the biblical sin, right? Words can have multiple meanings, Orel.
      - blangk 3y ago
        Are you sure about that?
        arpa 3y ago
        I don't know about OP, but I am.
        explaininjs 3y ago
        From Wikipedia: > Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself".[1] Oxford defines it as "the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's own importance."[2] This may be related to one's own abilities or achievements, positive characteristics of friends or family, or one's country. Richard Taylor defined pride as "the justified love of oneself",[3] as opposed to false pride or narcissism. Similarly, St. Augustine defined it as "the love of one's own excellence",[4] and Meher Baba called it "the specific feeling through which egoism manifests."[5] Seems to capture "both" aspects for the word to me.
nelox 3y ago
It is entirely possible she does know and is simply acting. In fact, her entire public persona may well be manufactured, as it is by many.
- bluepod4 3y ago
  Exactly
mcmoor 3y ago
Sometimes people get shamed for knowing too much about something, being labelled too obsessive, too nerdy, too meticulous, too "privileged" to be able to care about useless things, etc. Consequentially then, the shamer will become proud of not knowing those things, and then extend it to not knowing other things even if it's crucial. Anecdotally, I strive to not know all states of USA and its locations because if I do, it means I have truly consumed American media too much. And I slowly fail at it.
- ta1243 3y ago
  > the shamer will become proud of not knowing those things, and then extend it to not knowing other things even if it's crucial. I guess I take great pride in not knowing the latest celebrity shenanigans, or whoever the captain of $sportsteam is. Intellectually I don't consider it a quality, but I suspect many would not consider it to be "wilful ignorance". Even when I do know some sports fact (I think Manchester City won the league last year for example) I will pretend I don't when I'm in company. About a decade ago I was on a multi-day training course in some rural area. In the evening I was in the hotel bar with a bunch of sports journalists who clearly knew a lot about football. I was sat in the middle of the sofa and all was good as we talked about something like IEDs or missing limbs. It then moved on to football. I was completely lost, until they mentioned an early 1990s football player who I knew from when I was young and played Championship Manager 93. I could finally interject with an on topic point. That small anecdote did not go well as it then pivoted to conversations about other 1990s football players and I was once again stuck. There's a scene in "Friends" where Joey reads an encyclopedia about words beginning with "V". He then has a (unusually) decent knowledge of things from Volcanos to Vivisection. Then he made the mistake of mentioning the Vietnam war. Immediately the conversation pivoted to Korean war and he was lost. Felt just like that. As such I just live my life pretending football etc doesn't exist. It's easier that way. I won't get dragged into a conversation about the offside rule or whatever. I imagine the same applies to non-computer people who talk about computers. They might interject with some basic thing like "webpages are made of html", but then get lost as people start talking about nodejs frameworks or something. Better to just not have that conversation in the first place.
Salgat 3y ago
She's not proud of anything, she literally just doesn't care because to her this program has absolutely no relevance to her life beyond a brief cameo in a music video a few decades ago. It's like saying you don't know what a fuel pump is and you really don't care.
isaacremuant 3y ago
Why does she have care about Microsoft Excel? Why do I habe to care about amines in chemistry or galaxies in Astronomy? We pick our interests and it's fine saying "I don't care nor want to know about that". Specially when it doesn't affect you. She doesn't need it.
- rvba 3y ago
  Perhaps to look at the numbers provided to her by her label/manager, try to get some idea of her taxes, make some budget. I bet artists do sit in meetings sometimes - even to review their sales or net results.
bluepod4 3y ago
This was a quick assumption based on passing knowledge of a person. This makes you ignorant. Why are there people like this on HN?
- arp242 3y ago
  I just watched the video where behaviour is exhibited. To put it plainly: if you don't want to come off as an idiot, then don't act like an idiot.
  - bluepod4 3y ago
    > if you don't want to come off as an idiot, then don't act like an idiot. Cool story! Take your own advice. You made a quick assumption. Own it. Admit that your beliefs are based on an overly produced segment on a canceled daytime talk show lol. Please.
  - jjulius 3y ago
    >If you don't want to come off as an idiot, then don't act like an idiot. So much for empathy[0], huh? [0]https://www.arp242.net/empathy.html https://www.arp242.net/empathy.html
mc32 3y ago
Imagine a well known figure in tech, doing a commercial where they’re asked to “play guitar” or keyboards (but obviously the music and their instrument playing don’t line up and their person is like, I don’t know what a Stratocaster is, or I don’t know what a Yamaha is! It’s just like that.
qwertyzxcvmnbvw 3y ago
It's ignorant to use "to no end" (uselessly) when you mean "no end" (endlessly).
- arpa 3y ago
  thanks for the opportunity to learn.
timacles 3y ago
Having such a strong negative reaction to an innocent daytime TV bit just speaks volumes. Might want to look in the mirror before judging people so harshly. Especially since I guarantee shes more knowledgeable and capable in her field of work than you are in yours.
- jason-phillips 3y ago
  she's
- jojobas 3y ago
  >shes more knowledgeable and capable in her field of work That's a weird statement. Hip-hop success is orthogonal to knowledge, there are illiterate (and proud of it) stars and obscure Berklee graduates.
  - bluepod4 3y ago
    “Hip-hop” lol. But also, don’t forget that there are ignorant (and proud of it) Berklee graduates.
    - jojobas 3y ago
      Are there really? At the very least you have to be able to read and write, understand harmony and a lot more.
      - bluepod4 3y ago
        Reading you loud and clear!
  - oarabbus_ 3y ago
    Not even going to touch the bait in your statement but calling Kelly Rowland a hip-hop artist is an exceedingly bizarre statement. It would be like calling Blink 182 hair metal, or calling Coldplay classic rock.
wisty 3y ago
Cognitive dissonance. Knowing stuff is (generally) smart. Not knowing stuff is dumb. If someone's superior knowledge in a field makes you feel dumb, you assage your self image by saying you're not dumb, you're just not a try-hard nerd. Not being able to appreciate that people are better than you in some fields (or maybe even most fields) might be dumb, but that could be part of a self-reinforcing cycle of not learning or trying because you might not be successful.
laurieg 3y ago
I'm not sure this taking pride in ignorance. It just seems like she has other things that occupy her time and thoughts. Imagine if someone asked Linus Torvalds about the stitching pattern used on a shirt he wore in while giving a talk 10 years ago? If he said "I had no idea what you're talking about?" would that be taking pride in ignorance too?
- atomlib 3y ago
  What if the pattern had some significance in some culture? Anyway, something of that caliber actually happened. Torvalds addressed wearing socks and sandals in some interviews as him being not that into fashion. https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-interview-with-millenium-technology-prize-finalist-linus-torvalds/ https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/19/an-interview-with-milleniu...
  - boredemployee 3y ago
    You guys find arguments and proof for everything. I love it.
  - Apocryphon 3y ago
    Alternatively, it’s like the time some Star Trek fans asked William Shatner what the safe combination was on an episode of the show
    - yetanotherloser 3y ago
      I'm pretty sure that was a spoof. But still :-D
      - Apocryphon 3y ago
        Yeah that's the joke
  - benj111 3y ago
    >What if the pattern had some significance in some culture? Could you clarify this, because I can't tell if you're being woke, the questioner is asking because of the significance, torvalds is assumed to know or what.
megablast 3y ago
You are the one making the ignorant statement. She was concentrating on a 100 other things rather than what they handed her to type on. To you, the most important thing is she was using excel on a phone.
numair 3y ago
Actually, Kelly matched one meme with another: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/09/mariah-carey-i-dont-know-her-meme https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/09/mariah-carey-i-dont... It’s pretty sad that the parent got upvoted and commented so much, without anyone catching on to this. The HN crowd really needs to take a course on modern culture or something. People in this community are not as smart as they think they are, and this problem seems to have gotten a lot worse after the recent Reddit migration.
- basementdev 3y ago
  > People in this community are not as smart as they think they are, and this problem seems to have gotten a lot worse after the recent Reddit migration. Isnt it the same anywhere a bunch of nerds and geeks gather?
jjulius 3y ago
>This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end. Yes, it's absolutely infuriating that a musician/pop star (read: a career that doesn't involve software) doesn't really know much about spreadsheet software that was used for a quarter of a second on a device, which was essentially just a prop, that has been out of date for decades. /s Yikes, bud. I don't really know what else to say; maybe go for a walk if this sorta thing really chaps your rump that much?
- junon 3y ago
  I can't imagine that was even on the screen at the time. In all likelihood she was holding up a device that was fully fake and they CGIed it in there.
  - uxp100 3y ago
    I kinda doubt it, for two reasons: that’s more work than just opening a preinstalled program and typing, and if it was cgi, I would expect something whipped together in photoshop and after effects or whatever, and not a real program. My third reason is a little weaker: doesn’t look like it to me.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - Gordonjcp 3y ago
    Why would they go to all the effort of making a fake phone and then CGIing in the details, when a device that looked and worked exactly as shown in the video existed in real life?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- lexandstuff 3y ago
  OP has a point, though. She might be a talented pop star, but surely she has encountered spreadsheets at some point in her life? For example: checking over notes from her accountant, planning tours, purchasing houses, reviewing marketing plans for album launches, etc. Also, does not knowing about Excel also imply that she's never heard of Microsoft Word? That seems too farfetched.
dragonwriter 3y ago
> Why do we put people like this on TV? In this specific case, because they are extremely successful in their field (which is also why they can justifiably be happily ignorant of things well outside of it.).
meepmorp 3y ago
Touch grass
beepbooptheory 3y ago
In a world that incentives attention so much, that demands a weird kind of self-discipline of constant global awareness, of perpetual mobilization, an attitude like this can show extreme intelligence, resilience, and independence. Like, people are literally bombarded by scams and fake news every day. Every other app you download is either ripping you off or vying to. Every other commercial you watch is either trying to get you to gamble your money, buy antidepressants, or sue those who sold you antidepressants. We cannot even, at large, decide on fundamental questions of human rights and basic dignity! How can we even pretend to have this conviction? That a line is crossed in the blissful joy of being ignorant of Excel? That being on television should be something more lofty, more honored, than such an attitude? "Stupidity" can be a much more properly virtuous mode of life than others that value knowledge only for knowledge's sake.
RC_ITR 3y ago
Of all the things to be proud to be ignorant of, Excel is probably near the top of the list. I wish I didn’t know what excel was.
LovinFossilFuel 3y ago
[dead]
lelanthran 3y ago
> This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end. This kind of taking pride in ignorance isn't so bad, compared to the other kinds. "Oh, that's not for me, I'm so bad at maths" followed by a giggle. or this, from an actual university student (relative of my wife), when I asked what they like to read: "Nah, I never read, I hate reading". That sort of taking pride in ignorance is worse.
- pessimizer 3y ago
  How can saying that you're terrible at something and nervously giggling about it be prideful? The thought processes that began this thread astonish me. Pride in ignorance is when people say there's nothing to some journalistic exposé, you ask them what was wrong with it, and they insist that they would never lower themselves to reading that kind of trash. Not when someone who has difficulty reading says that they hate reading.
- chithanh 3y ago
  > "Nah, I never read, I hate reading". > That sort of taking pride in ignorance is worse. Being averse against reading is not the same as being ignorant. It reminds me of that famous Bill Gates quote, "I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it." That person will master ways to learn things without reading a whole lot.
runiq 3y ago
Friend, you oughtta go touch grass.
jacobedawson 3y ago
Alternatively, she's an entertainer on tv and she was being entertaining.
lobf 3y ago
Sorry, can you specify where she takes pride in not knowing how excel works?
scarface_74 3y ago
Yes because I’m sure you know everything about every subject and anything you don’t know you’re spending time to learn.
cyclecount 3y ago
You're replying to someone who thinks a marketing account for fucking Microsoft Excel is "the only good twitter account" so the bar for good taste in this thread is already subterranean.
wesleywt 3y ago
Not caring about Excel does not make you stupid.
peoplefromibiza 3y ago
> This kind of taking pride in ignorance just infuriates me to no end I'm pretty sure that if you ask Daniel Radcliffe he would say he doesn't know jack sh*t about magic and he really did not know what he was doing, except that he was doing his job: acting (i.e. pretending to be something you are not, in this specific case someone sending a message through a phone using Excel) I'm also pretty sure that many CSI actors did not know anything about "zoom & enhance" and Hugh Jackman has no clue about hacking a system especially while receiving oral sex with a gun pointed at his head https://movietvtechgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/hugh-jackman-being-relieved-manually-hackers.png https://movietvtechgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/hugh...
ljm 3y ago
Probably more about not caring than being proud - can't really call someone stupid for not caring about office productivity software when their profession couldn't be more distant from it. Not to mention - using tech and computing concepts in absurd ways is a decades old running joke in media. Imagine Anna Belknap in that seat being asked about writing a GUI interface in visual basic to track an IP address and the response would probably be the same.
neolithicum 3y ago
Ignorance (especially pride about it) is so infuriating because it suggests to people that their knowledge about something is not in any way essential to humans. And this is true about Excel. If someone told me they hadn't heard of WWII or the moon landing then I would be right to be angry as it is information that is really essential to all of us. For anything else, we really shouldn't waste our energy on this infinite source of anger. This is the first time I have heard of that woman, I bet nobody cares about it here. Perhaps other people would be mad about it in the same way you are about her not knowing Excel. I won't disagree with you though that it is very tempting to get annoyed by it :)
brvsft 3y ago
It's infuriating to see such a stupid take bubbled up to the top replies to the top comment on this post. Why would a singer know what Microsoft Excel is? And how exactly is her response even "pride[ful]" ignorance? She just said she doesn't know what it is and therefore doesn't care about the memes. Which part here is pride in her ignorance of software mostly used in the accounting profession? I'm not going to say she's a genius, but it's grounded for a person to acknowledge when they don't know what something is and don't give a shit. This thing was an afterthought to a music video for a song she was in. The video is tangential to her actual work. Why should she care? If you're going to call her ignorant and stupid for it, you should be able to explain why she should care about Microsoft Excel specifically when it's presented to her in a flurry of internet memes. Also, why is she on TV? Because she's the second most famous person who was in Destiny's Child, behind Beyonce. Is TV only supposed to show people of high intelligence? Are "stupid" people actually subhumans who should not be represented on television, the bastion of idiots? Are stupid people actually morally bad and smart people are morally good? I'm so confused about all the things your worldview could imply. It's nonsense.
- rTX5CMRXIfFG 3y ago
  I don't think that the commenter expected her to know Excel, but the tone of her response especially where she started saying "I don't care" can be reasonably interpreted as dismissive and defensive to the point of being proud, which is really odd because it's not like people are blaming her for the production crew's mistake? Not knowing computers at this day and age (or whenever that video was shot which seems recent) is not a cool thing to celebrate, because the most basic computer skills are now as important as knowing how to drive. But I really think that more than a criticism of her intelligence, people really are criticizing her character. She could have handled this more gracefully by laughing it off, because it is laughable.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - Gordonjcp 3y ago
    > because the most basic computer skills are now as important as knowing how to drive Maybe not knowing how to *drive*, lots of people don't need to know that, but it's kind of up there with knowing how to read.
pessimizer 3y ago
Being insulted because people think your interests are stupid or boring is weakness. She (and literally everyone else on the planet) has got more to concentrate on than your feelings about Excel.
dclowd9901 3y ago
A lot of people are attacking you on the assertion that she’s proudly ignorant. I didn’t take her response as proudly ignorant as much as indignantly annoyed. Rowland has been passed up time and again in her career. She’s a wonderfully talented singer and by all rights should have been as famous and successful as Beyoncé, but for whatever reasons, she wasn’t “chosen” to move up the ranks. I think in that situation, it would be slightly annoying for someone to criticize (even in jest) some throwaway moment on a music video you made years ago, rather than take your music career seriously. I’m guessing she was more frustrated that her interviewers were basically using her for a joke than helping her gain some steam with her music career.
rconti 3y ago
Put the red pill down...
sonicshadow 3y ago
Pretty sure this whole thread is a lesson in subtle racism
belfalas 3y ago
Well, I think an active effort to understand and empathize with people needs to happen first, instead of treating everyone you don’t exactly agree with as an enemy. A democracy only works if everyone acknowledges everyone’s legitimacy, otherwise it just becomes bickering over small issues.

lincon127 3y ago

[flagged]

askiiart 3y ago

Nitter links: [1]: https://nitter.askiiart.net/MichaelBaggs/status/1099957857901002752 https://nitter.askiiart.net/MichaelBaggs/status/109995785790... [2]: https://nitter.askiiart.net/msexcel/status/1100162136888827904 https://nitter.askiiart.net/msexcel/status/11001621368888279...

Balgair 3y ago
Oh nitter works again? Nice
- askiiart 3y ago
  Yup, discussed 2 days ago here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36665406 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36665406
shepherdjerred 3y ago
You can also use the Privacy Redirect [0] extension (among many others) to automatically redirect twitter/reddit/other links to nitter/teddit. I self-host nitter/teddit instances, and it's a _fantastic_ combo! [0]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-redirect/pmcmeagblkinmogikoikkdjiligflglb https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-redirect/p...

steeve 3y ago

That response was a little cringe, she doesn’t come out as a likable person…

rob74 3y ago

She probably meant to say "I don't know what that is, I don't know why this is a meme, after all everyone knows that the spreadsheet app on the Nokia Communicator wasn't Microsoft Excel"...

abwizz 3y ago

oh, twitter works again