Dumb? Are you?

"You scored 30 out of a possible 38" That means, I hope, that I'm NOT dumb, thank you very much!

Of the wrong ones, 1 was on football - I'm only really interested when the World Cup's on - and 2 were on recent British pop culture - I haven't tried to keep up with that while I'm away - I figure it'll make for more interesting conversations when I get back...!

What I'm talking about is this: A recent survey of Britain's 18- to 24-year-olds has shown up the many gaps in the cultural knowledge of the "information generation". Has ignorance triumphed over enlightenment?

As one commentator observed, "Every healthy culture winnows and chooses a past which it finds useful. But something has been lost."

Should we welcome the free-thinking technological generation, "a generation whose minds are more empty than open"? Or should we take the view that "the better informed are also the tolerant and compassionate"? Should we be "smart" or "knowledgeable"?

You can take the test yourself and comment on the meaning of the results here.