Just because your closest circle of friends and acquaintances think like what you just described, you should not generalize.
Your closest circle does not represent the entirety of society, because it is heavily defined by your profession, political views and other factors.
This thread is for asking any questions that might seem obvious, tangential, silly or what-have-you. Don't be shy, everyone has holes in their knowledge, though the fewer and the smaller we can make them, the better.
Please be respectful of other people's admitting ignorance and don't mock them for it, as they're doing a noble thing.
To any future monthly posters of SQ threads, please remember to add the "stupid_questions" tag.