Are You Smarter than a French Teenager?

journeyman

Ok.I,ll start of then....Yes.

Bill Corr

It is possible to believe several impossible things before breakfast.

The Politico-Media elite have one unshakeable belief: 'Racial Diversity is Happiness!'

Yet Robert Putnam of Harvard has established that diverse societies are low-trust societies. Britons do NOT desire their granndchildren to inherit a country which looks like an international airport transit lounge.

It is absurd to desire the impossible, yet Alex Massie desires the impossible and tells us so quite readily.

Absurdly, he desires that mass Third World immigration - so vibrant, so enriching in the yes of the Politico-Media Elite - will not be resented and - yes - even feared and hated by the population who have lived in these islands, and nearby parts of continental Europe, for the last 12,000 years.

Old Hack

Desire implies a want of something. it would be absurd to have any other relationship the impossible, other than desire.

JimB

Does language betray thought? Yes, that's why we have music.

Does objectivity in history suppose impartiality in the historian? This is a vacuous question, because there is no objectivity in history.

Are there questions that no science can answer? Well, duh, of COURSE. Try anything involving values or God.

Is it absurd to desire the impossible? No, just adolescent.

Scottish Unionist

I haven't lived anywhere “for the last 12,000 years”. How old are you, Mr Corr? The “blood lineage” component of your form of nationalism is deeply sinister.

Paul B

No, its far from absurd to desire the impossible, its whats defines us as humans. The conquering of Everest, the Moon, the first supersonic plane, the first flight, Cook, Columbus. All the scientific innovations, the medical innovations, every achievement of mankind in every field, in the pursuit of excellence , the art of the impossible, more than just the daily struggle for existence. Its Mozart, Shakespeare, Turner and Michelangelo. Its Bradman, Best and Bolt. Enzo Ferrari , Henry Ford, Rolls and Royce. The desire to be go higher, faster, quicker, better, more efficiently. The Brunels, the Galileo, Bill Gates. Its what sets us apart from the beasts of toil. Its the spectator blog, the freedom of speech and ideas, none of which are are absurd and would have seemed quite impossible all our ancestors.

Christopher Chantrill

The answer to all the Bac questions is: It depends.

Corsair

Why does being able to answer questions like these make one 'smart'?

Jon Rosenberg

Historians often strive after an impossible objectivity, but are betrayed by the language in which they think, while failing to provide the answers which simply aren't and never can be questions in science, any science.

Primo

I desire a world where lunatic, racist, paranoid idiots no longer exist. Impossible? Perhaps, but I think it would be more absurd to meekly accept such vileness.

MattF

Well, it seems to me that there's a translation issue here-- the original question "Est-il absurde de désirer l'impossible?" has a certain... I-don't-know-what... I wouldn't try to answer it in the original.

The translation into Brit-speak is "Can one be unreasonable without being silly?" And for an answer, one merely has to look around.

Anthony

"Are You Smarter Than A French Teenager?"

Given that the only French teenager I've known was sent home to France after being caught masturbating on a coach trip, I'm inclined to hazard that the answer might be yes.

Danish teenagers, though - no way. Terrifyingly well-educated and plugged in.

Véronique Langlands

The french teenager (16) in my house directly concerned with this, seeing she sat the exam yesterday, chose "Le langage trahit-il la pensée", another alternative being the Schopenhauer commentary. We will see how she has done on July 7th. Being able to answer questions like these, incidentally, doesn't make you 'smart' it just shows you haven't entirely wasted the tax-euros we spend on Lycée.

Volesprit

well, it was more easy last year for me! most of my friend choose 'is it absurde to desire the impossible?' if i had to have my bac this year, i think my mark will be...well..7/20 :) je les plains!