The Second Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong

The Quite Interesting Ignorant Books #2

by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson

From the brains behind the New York Times' bestseller,  The Book of General Ignorance comes another wonderful collection of the most outrageous, fascinating, and mind-bending facts, taking on the hugely popular form of the first book in the internationally bestselling series.
 
Just when you thought that it was safe to start showing off again, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are back with another busload of mistakes and misunderstandings. Here is a new collection of simple, perfectly obvious questions you'll be quite certain you know the answers to. Whether it's history, science, sports, geography, literature, language, medicine, the classics, or common wisdom, you'll be astonished to discover that everything you thought you knew is still hopelessly wrong.
    
For example, do you know who made the first airplane flight? How many legs does an octopus have? How much water should you drink every day? What is the chance of tossing a coin and it landing on heads? What happens if you leave a tooth in a glass of Coke overnight? What is house dust mostly made from? What was the first dishwasher built to do? What color are oranges? Who in the world is most likely to kill you?
    
Whatever your answers to the questions above, you can be sure that everything you think you know is wrong. The Second Book of General Ignorance is the essential text for everyone who knows they don't know everything, and an ideal stick with which to beat people who think they do.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia, Reference, Science, Humor, History, Comedy

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd is an English television and radio comedy producer and writer. His television work includes Not the Nine O'Clock News, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Spitting Image, Blackadder and QI. He is currently the presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by the BBC TV show QI and with a foreword by Stephen Fry this book totally annihilates many 'truisms' such as bats being blind, Napoleon being short, diamonds being the hardest substance and more. Enjoyable and and indeed an educational read. 8 out of 12.

2013 read

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

ROB GAVE ME A PRESENT! (IT WAS ON SALE SO I SAID IT WAS OKAY.)

My Review: You're still stupid, not ignorant, if you're still not buying these trivial delights. They're flawed gems that get their character from their inclusions. What startling chatoyence awaits the discerning browser.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you watch QI you will remember many of the questions that are included in the book. Indeed it will feel like you can hear Stephen Fry's voice asking them and adding the extra interesting detail. The addition of some of the comments from the panel is a nice touch - not that every one of them is a brilliantly incisive comedic gem though.
Once you've absorbed some of the trivia in this book just imagine what a populat guest you'll be at cocktail parties!
As a dedicated QI fan I am an easy audience for a book like this to please. But in truth it lacks original content or any novelty in its structure (basically it's just a list of the quesitons and answers so I could easily imagine another reader being less enamoured.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Second Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know is Still Wrong by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson (Crown Publishers 2010) (031.02). This is a big book of short essays. The essays serve to debunk commonly held truths and beliefs. As it turns out, much of the shared store of general human knowledge is just plain wrong, as this book demonstrates over and over. Some of the topics include: “How many legs does an octopus have?”, “At what temperature does water freeze?”, and “Where do you lose most of your body heat?” You, the reader, already know these answers, right? Well, you'd better check the authors' answers before betting whether or not the answers that you've heard all of your life are correct. I found this book to be fascinating but completely random in its selection of topics. And be forewarned: some of these answers are seriously disturbing. For instance, the answers to “Why should you avoid the free peanuts in bars?” and “Which item in the bathroom has the most germs?” just might cause you to change your behavior. For instance, “Recent official studies of both hotels and pubs in Cardiff and fast food joints and bars in Chicago found that at least 20% of all ice cubes were contaminated with “fecal matter” caused by staff members failing to wash their hands.” (Second Book of General Ignorance, p. 47).
Thanks to the author, I may never order a cold drink with ice in public again. I suppose that from here on out I'll be limited to coffee, beer, wine, or a coke with no ice.
I'm not prepared to say whether I enjoyed this book or not! My rating: 7/10, finished 5/31/16.

[Mehmet]

En az ilk kitabi kadar akici olan bu kitabin, tipki ilki gibi en buyuk eksikligi "referans" gostermemesi. Ornek olarak, ucaklarin diskiyi asagi atmadigini soyleyen bolumu, sadece Ingiltere'nin ucus kurallarina kati uyma zorunlulugu nedeniyle iyi uygulanabiliyor olabilir ama Turkiye'de bazi firmalarin dondurulmus diskiyi ucaktan asagi attigi rapor edilmistir.
http://www.milliyet.com.tr/gokten-buz...
Dolayisiyla kitapta gecen "bu asla olmaz, boyle bir sey asla yapilmamaktadir" gibi kesin ifadeler guclu referanslara dayandirilmadigi icin kolayca curutulebilir populer bilgilere donusmektedir. Kitap, yer yer bazi iddialarin hicbir kaynagi olmadigini soyleyerek suclamalar yaparken, kendi iddialarinin kaynaklarini hicbir sekilde vermemektedir.
Yine de, okunabilecek "cerezlik" bir kitap.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, wonderfully entertaining for what it is. It's a whole bundle of totally random facts, most of them setting right false assumptions: naturally, it's not very organised, although there is a contents page if you want to try and skip to a specific point. It's a pleasure to read, and I really liked that it has quotes from the show at the end of some sections -- the only problem is that then generally I've seen the episode, so I'm not ignorant about that particular subject.

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this book is quite a thrill, I'd say it's more of "if you think you know everything, then you know nothing."

I couldn't help but find myself learning about how to tell how far one is up a mountain by brewing tea, how great and diverse water is, whether vertical or horizontal stripes make you look fat, the world's most aggressive mammal.

I loved reading this and will often refer to it for some nuggets that I could use once in a while in conversation.

[Μίλτος Τρ. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Λίγο καλύτερο από το πρώτο, αλλά και πάλι στο ίδιο στυλ, ένα βιβλίο για ΜΜΜ με μικρό ενδιαφέρον.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't love British comedians debunking popular myths? As a generally ignorant person, this was an enjoyable and enlightening read. Any trivia and factoid lover will like this breezy read.

[Hananaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very easy and entertaining book to read. The only reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is that there are a lot of questions and answers concerning England , which are not so known or interesting to the rest of us.

[paola gabriella · Rating 3 out of 5]

#49: Un libro basado o que se convirtió en un programa de televisión
3.5 estrellas
Este libro lo compré porque adoro totalmente el programa QI y apenas vi que uno de los libros de hecos curiosos escritos por las "dos cabezas pensantes detrás del programa" sabía que necesitaba tenerlo.

Es un libro que disfruté mientras leía, pero que me costaba animarme a tomarlo en el primer lugar. Al ser una recopilación de datos curiosos no es como si la intriga te mantiene al borde de tu asiento y te hace necesitar leer todo de una sola vez.

Algunos datos eran mucho más interesantes que otros. También habían un par que ya conocía porque los habían mencionado en el show. Una cosa que creo que tengo que aclarar para el que no esté al tanto de como es la "filosofía" de QI, es que muchas veces estos datos son un tanto rebuscado con respuestas mucho más específicas y casi completamente inútiles. Algo que a mí me encanta, por cierto, pero no es un libro para todo el mundo porque muchas personas lo pueden encontrar un tanto "nerd arrogante que le gusta corregir a las personas"

Los pequeños extractos al final de algunos "capítulo" con frases que los comediantes habían dicho en el show cuando discutían esa pregunta fueron un poco meh, no les sentí gracia aunque probablemente se deba más al hecho de que mucho se pierde en la traducción, sobre todo cuando hablamos de comedia y como estoy tan acostumbrada a la voz (tanto en sentido literal como metafórico) que estos comediantes tienen, como Jimmy Carr, Rob Brydon, Sean Lock David Mitchell,... y por supuesto Stephen Fry y Alan Davies, que al momento de leerlos en español se sentía extraño y un tanto incómodo, en especial porque el vernáculo inglés/británico es un factor bastante grande en su comedia. Quizá si lo hubiese leído en inglés me hubiesen encantado y hubiese aligerado mi lectura después de tantos cold-hard facts estos trozos en plan recuerdo de QI, pero en español, simplemente se me hicieron raros.

Definitivamente mi cosa favorita de este libro fue el prólogo escrito por Stephen Fry. Simplemente es espectacular y quiero sacarle copia y pegarlo en todas las paredes que me encuentre. Habla de la curiosidad y lo importante que puede llegar a ser como seres humanos y es espectacular. Así no tengas ganas de leer libro. Lee el prólogo y no leas lo demás porque definitivamente vale la pena.

A pesar de que amo los hechos curiosos inútiles, razón por la cual amo tanto QI, este libro me pudo haber gustado más. A veces sentía que era demasiada información que me lanzaban de una y me dejaba un poco saturada y no puedo decir que vaya a recordar todo lo que leí. No obstante, fue bastante entretenido y de hecho contestó una que otra duda que tenía y me dio más fundamentos para la próxima vez que alguien me diga que se me van a deshacer los dientes por tomar coca-cola.

[Jessica-Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone who is a fan of the British television show, QI (a mock game show, known for it's humor and intelligence) knows how hard it is to see one of the books associated with the program and simply pass it by. When I saw this I knew that I couldn't just leave it on the shelf, knowingly walking away from something that is connected to a group of people that I hold so dear in my squishy, nerdy heart.

Also, it has a bright yellow cover and you should know that yellow covers are a weak spot for me.

The first thing I faced when I actually started to read the book was that I didn't quite know how to approach it. It is a collection of cold-hard fact-based myth-busting, formatted into short two page segments. It covers a lot of information and that in itself is impressive, but it also makes it rather intimidating to read. I can't just open it up and expect to read though cover to cover. That fact became incredibly clear in the first few pages.

As much as I love information, putting so many words and numbers inside my head all at once did not sit well for my brain, which is already at over-capacity. And that's what it felt like. While I was reading, although engaged, I kept feeling like my brain was flashing the "No Vacancy" sign.

Although non-fiction can sometimes be draining, I know from past experience that it normally gives you the most back for committing to see it through. The more I read however, the more I realized that maybe I just wasn't in the right head-space to be consuming this sort of book. It felt like I couldn't do the book justice, couldn't muster up the excitement that normally comes so easily.

So, right now this book just isn't for me. The information it presented is solid, but without a proper a strategy to tackle it, I've rather unenthusiastically skimmed. I think I'll stick to getting my facts through the lighter delivery of the TV show and leave the General Ignorance books to the more hardcore non-fiction readers.

So, If you're a person that doesn't have all the answers but would like to, have a habit of starting really intellectual bets with your friends, like to correct others, don't like google search results, or just want to learn a few interesting factoids, this is probably the book for you! Just not the book for me.

[Becci · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, though most of it is direct from the tv show.... which I am in no way addicted to. At all.

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve become quite interested in factual books as of late and the second book of general ignorance is perfect to fill my need. Facts are something that has always interested me and can be used in almost any situation. Say you’re at a party for instance and the party just isn’t in swing mode but rather like an old people’s home? Throw a fact into the air, that’ll get people talking or just have people looking at you weird while secretly making mental notes to avoid you for the rest of the night.

The Q.I book is a great book and filled with loads of facts about anything and everything. There isn’t an order but that’s ok because it’s interesting to read random fact after random fact. I can’t say that I read every single fact within the book; I just read the ones that caught my attention. I’m glad I read this book because there is so much I thought I was led to believe was right but actually is completely wrong. There is an exception to one fact that I knew was right, I always knew too much water was bad for you.

It’s a great book to come back to every now and then which is why has taken me so long to read it. I probably would have gotten really bored if I had read it like I would a fiction book.

Read Q.I and discover for yourself the interesting facts within these pages.

[Koen Crolla · Rating 2 out of 5]

QI is one of the most insidiously anti-intellectual programmes on television right now; so harmful precisely because it presents itself as ``smart''. Its General Ignorance segment and, by extension, this book, distil the worst of it: self-satisfied, under-sourced trivia, misinterpreted and at best (though usually not even) only technically correct, presented by smug idiots who think their lack of qualifications makes them, if anything, more suited to talk down to the general public.
Garbage like this used to be sold in joke shops and come on a rope to hang near the toilet (you know, just in case), but because Stephen Fry is associated with it, we now have to put up with it being placed prominently in the Popular Science section of otherwise respectable bookshops.

[Iva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Як і перший том, це чтиво для того, аби розслабитися, але не більше: умовно структуровані через зачепки до наступного розділу нарізно зібрані факти із абсолютно різних сфер знань, єдиним об'єднуючим фактором яких лишається хибні уявлення про певні речі британців, що частково псує гумор пояснювалиними коментарями щодо речей, про які східноєвропейці помилкових упереджень не мають із причин інакше спрямованої обізнаності, або і взагалі через те, що не знайомі із предметом обговорень (найчастіше це стосується британських та американських культурних та історичних осіб).

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very similar to the first book. The idea wears thin after a while but was still interesting enough to get me through. I think I'll wait a while before I read the animal edition.

[Gareth Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Mad the number of things Aristotle said that weren’t believed until the 20th century.

[Melinda Brasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this as much as the Book of Animal Ignorance by the same authors. Partly because I love animal trivia so much. Partly because I listened to this one in audio. Several things didn't transfer well into the medium, like all the boring things you can skip while reading-- dates people lived, metric translations of measurements, etc. The little jokey bits at the end of many chapters were confusing in audio. They were like little conversations between… maybe cohosts on some radio program??...but the book didn't set that up well to begin with, the transitions were awkward, and there were a lot of pop references I didn't know. And I guess I’m strange, but when a reader tries too hard to pronounce all the foreign words right, it somehow comes off sounding pretentious. Besides, I'm not sure they were pronounced right. He kept pronouncing Marie Curie's first name in a very French way, which maybe is how she pronounced it after having lived in France for many years, but she was originally Polish, and it just came off weird to me. Note: I am not a huge fan of audio books in general, so take that into account.

As for the book itself, there was a lot of interesting information. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the research on many of the topics, but I can vouch for the amount that must have been required. I learned a lot of things. The topics were wide-ranging. The writing was good (but with some awkward transitions).

I would read more by these authors.

[Dan Stern · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general, there were very little overarching topics in the book that hadn't been covered in the series, but inclusions did provide far greater context, insight and additional interesting factoids relating to all the various little tidbits of above-casual interest than the series' brief mentions of each.

I loved the quote from Stephen Fry from the book's introduction, and thought it worth reproducing here for those who choose not to go ahead with a purchase: "...the lack of curiosity is the Dementor that sucks all hope, joy, possibility and beauty out of the world. The dull torpid acedia that does not care to find out, that has no hunger and thirst for input, understanding and connection will desertify the human landscape and land our descendants squarely in the soup. Do we want our species to makes its way, foreheads thrust out, knuckles grazing the ground, into a barren of tedium and brutish unquestioning blindness, or do we want to skip through the world filled with wonder, curiosity and an appetite for discovery?".

[Catwalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up The Second Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong at a used bookstore and found the premise amusing. This book is the sequel to The Book of General Ignorance and a number of other books along the same lines. John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are essentially fact-checking general knowledge and setting the record straight with their dry wit and superior references. I fact-chequed them a couple of times using Dr. Google, and found them to be correct. The Second Book makes an engaging read on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I haven't read the earlier titles, but I would imagine that they are similar.

[Nynke · Rating 2 out of 5]

QI is all about myths and misconceptions. Most of the misconceptions in this book I did not have. Some of these were the kind of misconceptions you think are just things people say but do not actually believe, like that everyone is always within 6 feet of a rat, that absinthe sends people mad or that it is a mistery whether the chicken or egg came first. Most of the others I hadn't even heard of (possibly being foreign has something to do with this) so it wasn't by far as much fun reading this as I thought it would be.

The show is great and much, much, funnier.

Was disappointed to learn that QI, which i assumed to be always up-to-date with the latest facts and figures, in 2010 still considered animal experiments as a life saving practice.  Come on guys! Even back then more reliable methods were already available.  They have saved human lives in the past and may save a few today but if the money was spend on human relevant experiments this figure could have been so much larger!

[Edwin Setiadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

QI never fail to amuse me

I love everything about QI, from the TV show to the podcast “There’s No Such Thing As a Fish.” So naturally the moment I saw this book I just got to read it. It is definitely up to standard with the whole QI-sphere, with all the intriguing trivia and the jokes, but there are few instances where the factual accuracy are surprisingly questionable. Not sure whether because this is a relatively dated book, and thus limited to the findings up until 2011, or something more troublesome. But nevertheless, it is an enjoyable and enlightening read.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished!!! This is not a book to read under a deadline. It is packed with almost too much information, many are subjects I don't care anything about although I'm sure someone does. I did learn several things I've always been taught or assumed were wrong. Now if I can remember them.

The explanations take off on tangents completely off topic and the little boxed comments are neither interesting nor funny. I sometimes felt the authors were showing off using 50 cent words unnecessarily.

[Cidolfus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never watched QI and I have no idea where I got this book. With that said, the selection of topics within, while haphazardly chosen (should have separated them based on topic/category) were still interesting to browse, particularly the one regarding waves in the Mediterranean.

Sometimes the questions are broken up with segments of the show (I assume). I'm sure the show is amusing but I find almost all of these segments as funny as newspaper comics i.e. mirthless. They probably shine on television, so do yourself a favor and just skip them.

[Sheila Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant round-up of fascinating bits of information. There’s something for everyone here from the writers of QI. You simply can’t not learn loads of useful stuff - everything from who invented tartan, to how many legs does an octopus have, to is there anything on earth that can live forever. All this, interspersed by quips from Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, etc, from the actual tv programme.

[Elly Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Second Book Of General Ignorance was just as good as the first. Who knew there are even more facts you thought you knew but you actually didn't? You may have to take a few days of resting after reading the first book so you can take in all the information, but when you are done realizing that your entire life has been a lie, you should take the time to read the sequel.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book of trivia. I'm not sure that I trust 100% of the scientific facts (I know they're not all accurate, but I can't remember specifics…), but it was really interesting to see a lot of myths that are generally considered to be gospel, many of which (but not all) I'd already heard debunked. It was a lot of fun!

[kb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is packed with info that may or may not come in handy in small talks, specific discussions, or a game show. I sure did take down notes, lol. The facts are mostly US or UK-based, though, and I thought it could have done more in adding stories from more parts of the world. The Philippines, btw, was mentioned in context of Spratly Islands. ATIN YUNG MGA YUN!

Everything I read in 2020 here :)

[NunoAvelar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro para enriquecer em cultura geral, contudo não gostei de ser centrado muito na cultura anglo-saxónica (sobretudo inglesa), despertando menos interesse.
Linguagem simples e clara; as piadas ao fim de algumas curiosidades são de um humor muito pobre e facilmente dispensáveis.
Contudo uma leitura despreocupada e agradável.