[mcphage]

So you were asked something about a major current event, you're surprised that they don't know about what happened 10 years ago, and they're surprised you don't know about what's happening now. Blank stares all around, I guess.

[RobertRoberts]

Yes, it was the morning after the Russian invasion. I just wasn't on the internet. Before that moment, Russia was just posturing on the border.

This is my point, it's easy to just not know something at any point in time, let alone some things you will only know if you have varying news sources, even if it's many years old.

How many of your friends, family and acquaintances know about the civil war in Ukraine for the nearly past decade?

[synu]

Everyone I know knew, but we live in Europe. Your mileage may vary depending on where you live.

[RobertRoberts]

I live in the US, and so far the only people that knew are the very few news skeptics that follow international news sources online. And even then, we had to share with each other a lot.

But I had watched documentaries about Ukraine years ago, and since most people watch only Fox news, CNN, MSNBC, etc... they knew nothing at all.

So when Russia invaded most people were shocked, where I, and those few others that were information, were not as suprised.

[synu]

I don’t think that being aware of the history of the conflict had anything to do with being surprised or not by the invasion. I have family in both Russia and Ukraine and nobody expected it.

Even the Russian soldiers who found themselves being sent into Ukraine were surprised.

[RobertRoberts]

But did they know there was war in Ukraine for years? I suspect this is common knowledge in Europe, but it's extremely rare knowledge here.