US people and geography

[Karin]

well... long time is known, most in Europe, that US people (maybe whole America) has really miserable knowledge about the geography in the world... most about the countries in world.

Its not a fiction by me, but real fact which I and many other can see everyday.

The most fresh, after the bomb attack in Boston, where people think the attackers where from OUR COUNTRY! Our news are filled with screenshots from twitter, where people want a war with us or invasion. And why? cause they have really no idea, how look the world.
Some information said, the attackers where from Chechen, but dont know why, many US confuse it with Czechoslovakia (which btw. dont exist 20years!) or with Czech or Slovak.

Well, maybe its sound really funny this whole thing... but its doesn't make really good name for USA (which was never good) and really make some people here worried. Really don't understand, how in the era of internet and Google, can happen something like this.

Really would like to know, what you think about it.

[Lili4ever]

i don't think we are any better than americans. Sure we know our continent, but how many US states could an average european name ? Could you point at map where is Wyoming ?

My danish cooworker could not understand how could i travel from Lithuania to Denmark by ferry. I had to show her a fucking map wich she must have seen first time in her life.

[Karin]

well, I dont tell I know every country in Europe, but most yea... most have problem with Latvia and Lithuania.

And Im talking about a country, and not states in the country... so point of my post is, how can people confuse 1 country with other, which does not exists 20years or it separated in 2 countries?! Its like you would confuse US with Mexico.

I know we are small country, and in Europe are many others... we are in EU, NATO and many others world organisations... in the internet era and GOOGLE MAPS its for me really big question.

[Lili4ever]

most of the US states are bigger than a lot of countries in the Europe. You just do not realize how actually big is US. So i am really not surprised if people don't know all the countries and history events. There is just so much stuff back at home. I bet some people in some Asian country can't understand how can you not know their country. Ignorance is universal

[Karin]

most of the US states are bigger than a lot of countries in the Europe. You just do not realize how actually big is US. So i am really not surprised if people don't know all the countries and history events. There is just so much stuff back at home. I bet some people in some Asian country can't understand how can you not know their country. Ignorance is universal

well... but possible unlike of the other countries, we learned about each country in the world, more or less, but but we were...

if US would confuse your country with another on other side of planet, and would like to make a invasion, you wouldnt be surprised how could they make such stupid thing? :P

[SpanishFan]

Most americans think Spain is near Mexico and not in Europe, but that does not bother me at all, it is quite funny in a way.
About them not knowing a lot about geography, I could challenge the people who claim that to go and place in a map Costa Rica, Togo, Bahrein or Laos.

What I would find more interesting than geography knowledge, is the american attitude towards the rest of the world, in terms of going outside and visiting places. Very often I read about the high number of usa population that don't have a passport, or never fly away of their country.
I am sure it is in part due to a geographic thing. Living in Spain, France, etc... you have a lot of different cultures just two or three hours away by plane: Morocco(African culture), Italy(Roman culture) UK (Anglo culture), Greece(ancient greek culture), Germany, the Balcans...etc.

This is not as easy living in america, where you need a looong flight to reach all those different places. Apart from this geographic issue, I am sure there will be some other political or cultural reasons.

If you add to that a high sense of patriotism then I think you have the explanation of why some people can have this (right or wrong) feeling of americans not being that interested about the rest of the world.

Saying that they don't know about geography it is way too simplistic and even offensive for some IMHO. We could say a few "not very good" things about any country in the world, but that would be wrong and simplistic as I said.
But discussing the reasons of such claims can make for a good debate though.

[Jake04]

Don't worry, Karin. If we decided to invade Chechnya, I'm sure our military would use "Google map or Google earth!" :))):))):)))

[Karin]

Don't worry, Karin. If we decided to invade Chechnya, I'm sure our military would use "Google map or Google earth!" :))):))):)))

yea, I saw it when George Bush came here... and told he came to Slovenia, and asked wheres the sea

[Jordy]

i don't think we are any better than americans. Sure we know our continent, but how many US states could an average european name ? Could you point at map where is Wyoming ?

Well, as an example... if you ask me to name all the US states, sure I'll forget about some, but if you tell me the name of the state, I know it is one of the US states, and with some not so well known states I have at least rough idea where it is. And the same goes to every country in the world, in school we learned about every single country and we had to know where every country is. Even Costa Rica, Togo, Bahrein and Laos... and even if I didn't know, I'd at least look up for some informations if I wanted to make some offensive post about that country for some reason.

The problem is, that most of the people don't bother to check for the facts, they just believe they know the facts and then they make posts on twitter where they want an immediate invasion to Czechoslovakia... which doesn't exist, but even if it did it's very offensive to us. It's like if someone from Georgia made bomb attack in Europe, and we all would start with posts that we want to nuke the USA... without even checking the fact, that it's actually different Georgia...

[Karin]

here we goo

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/923517_560997887277828_81262387_n.jpg

+ milions of tweets in the same ways

and then reaction of Czech embassy in US http://www.mzv.cz/washington/en/czech_u_s_relations/news/statement_of_the_ambassador_of_the_czech.html


so US world knowledge + medias are making really big bubble, and now its not fun ...

and now dont tell, it shouldn't bother me

[SpanishFan]

So instead of criticising a bunch of ignorant and inexact comments on twitter, you extrapolate those comments to a whole country... Makes sense:D




https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/923517_560997887277828_81262387_n.jpg

You do realise that is a joke and not a serious claim... right?

[Future Raptor Ace]

well... long time is known, most in Europe, that US people (maybe whole America) has really miserable knowledge about the geography in the world... most about the countries in world.

Its not a fiction by me, but real fact which I and many other can see everyday.

The most fresh, after the bomb attack in Boston, where people think the attackers where from OUR COUNTRY! Our news are filled with screenshots from twitter, where people want a war with us or invasion. And why? cause they have really no idea, how look the world.
Some information said, the attackers where from Chechen, but dont know why, many US confuse it with Czechoslovakia (which btw. dont exist 20years!) or with Czech or Slovak.

Well, maybe its sound really funny this whole thing... but its doesn't make really good name for USA (which was never good) and really make some people here worried. Really don't understand, how in the era of internet and Google, can happen something like this.

Really would like to know, what you think about it.
You are very anti-american to the point that it is actually disgusting! Stop stereotyping my country :bye:
So instead of criticising a bunch of ignorant and inexact comments on twitter, you extrapolate those comments to a whole country... Makes sense:D
:bow:

[Karin]

So instead of criticising a bunch of ignorant and inexact comments on twitter, you extrapolate those comments to a whole country... Makes sense:D




https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/923517_560997887277828_81262387_n.jpg

You do realise that is a joke and not a serious claim... right?

yea, but did you realized the most people dont take it as good joke?

Edit:

You are very anti-american to the point that it is actually disgusting! Stop stereotyping my country :

learn your country world geography, then it will be everything ok

[Ray4AJ]

The problem is, that most of the people don't bother to check for the facts, they just believe they know the facts

^^^^^ I think this is the big problem in this case.

When I went to school we did learn quite a bit a world geography, and how to use maps. I've always loved maps and whenever something occurs in the news or I hear about some place I'll look it up and try to learn some things about it. But that is me, and not everyone. Some people are very interested in sports teams, and know much about that. I know nothing about it and have no interest to know.

Also, as has been mentioned in other posts, this is a large place and there are many places to visit without obtaining an expensive passport, and purchasing expensive airline tickets. I've visited 41 of the US states through the years, and have only seen a small fraction of the things. I've been to several provinces in Canada. If I lived in Europe I'd have visited all the countries there and I'd know much more about them than I do. Much of it is about where you are and what you deal with in your day-to-day life.

Just a few of my thoughts. I'm not saying anyone else is right or wrong.

[Future Raptor Ace]

well, I dont tell I know every country in Europe, but most yea... most have problem with Latvia and Lithuania.

And Im talking about a country, and not states in the country... so point of my post is, how can people confuse 1 country with other, which does not exists 20years or it separated in 2 countries?! Its like you would confuse US with Mexico.

I know we are small country, and in Europe are many others... we are in EU, NATO and many others world organisations... in the internet era and GOOGLE MAPS its for me really big question.
So you know most countries in your home continent .. wow you are super smart! Now do you know every country in Africa and South America? Oh you dont huh ... why is that?
You are comparing well known countries with populations in excess of a hundred million people to countries that have the populations of large cities. Do you realize how foolish of a comparison that is? It is NOT like someone confusing the US with Mexico and you lost intellect points in my book for even trying to use that as an example.

[SpanishFan]

yea, but did you realized the most people dont take it as good joke?




Yes Karin, I understand you don't like it. And I understand you don't want the name of your country or a country next to yours to be involved in all this tragic incidents, but I think you are very angry or upset right now. The joke is about the former U.S. president, not about any particular country...
Anyway, I am glad the people who put the bombs won't cause more pain, that is the most important thing.

[Future Raptor Ace]

yea, but did you realized the most people dont take it as good joke?

Edit:



learn your country world geography, then it will be everything ok
I know my world geography .. and it doesn't ONLY involve Europe miss!

[lapinschous]

here we goo

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/923517_560997887277828_81262387_n.jpg

+ milions of tweets in the same ways

and then reaction of Czech embassy in US http://www.mzv.cz/washington/en/czech_u_s_relations/news/statement_of_the_ambassador_of_the_czech.html


so US world knowledge + medias are making really big bubble, and now its not fun ...

and now dont tell, it shouldn't bother me


lool , looks like Karin lost her sense of humor the day she was born :D

Look , most anti-french american dudes I know are either retarded or have very little information about my country so I just ignore them, the ones I talk to often joke about french stereotypes when I'm hanging out with them and since they know I'm the most patriotic french guy on the surface of the earth they always laugh their asses off when I say they're pissing me off, that's why I learned to respond to their teasing in the same humoristic way . If you start getting offended by such little things you lost the game. Just ignore the morons and always choose the appropriate response to the specific situation. :bye:

[Karin]

Look , most anti-french american dudes I know are either retarded or have very little information about my country so I just ignore them, the ones I talk to often joke about french stereotypes when I'm hanging out with them and since they know I'm the most patriotic french guy on the surface of the earth they always laugh their asses off when I say they're pissing me off, that's why I learned to respond to their teasing in the same humoristic way . If you start getting offended by such little things you lost the game. Just ignore the morons and always choose the appropriate response to the specific situation. :bye:

well... but this is not little game, when embassy must make statement about how thing really are, to stop all bullshits which are flying now in medias!

lool , looks like Karin lost her sense of humor the day she was born :D

everytime when I see your posts, my humor is on the lowest range

[Future Raptor Ace]

well... but possible unlike of the other countries, we were learning about each country in the world, more or less, but but we were...

if US would confuse your country with another on other side of planet, and would like to make a invasion, you wouldnt be surprised how could they make such stupid thing? :P
You are learning about every country in the world huh? Maybe you should buy an atlas and figure out how many countries there are in the world and then realize how what you just said is a foolish statement much like the thread you created!

[Karin]

You are learning about every country in the world huh? Maybe you should buy an atlas and figure out how many countries there are in the world and then realize how what you just said is a foolish statement much like the thread you created!

well, I see you cant read... we learned about every country in elementary school. read before you write something

[Future Raptor Ace]

well, I see you cant read... we learned about every country in elementary school. read before you write something
I guess you are not literate enough to read what you wrote, try again
well... but possible unlike of the other countries, we were learning about each country in the world, more or less, but but we were...

if US would confuse your country with another on other side of planet, and would like to make a invasion, you wouldnt be surprised how could they make such stupid thing? :P

[Jordy]

So you know most countries in your home continent .. wow you are super smart! Now do you know every country in Africa and South America? Oh you dont huh ... why is that?
You are comparing well known countries with populations in excess of a hundred million people to countries that have the populations of large cities. Do you realize how foolish of a comparison that is? It is NOT like someone confusing the US with Mexico and you lost intellect points in my book for even trying to use that as an example.

If some nomal person don't know the facts, he doesn't make offensive posts on twitter but check the facts, but what most people do now is that they just post very offensive posts without even knowing what they are talking about and they are very serious about it, that's the point.

And the reason why we are so anti-usa (we are not anti-american as you said) is that these stupid people who makes these posts don't bother to check if they are right or not, because most of them don't even think they could be wrong, most of them think usa (hence they) is never wrong, and that is the fact.

Stupid people are everywhere in the world but if you add US patriotism, poor education at some areas, and easy access to modern technology, you get the ultimate stupid person who thinks he is never wrong and spread his stupid ideas to the whole world.

[Fall]

Well it seems that in the media, more often than not it's the idiots who get interviewed, who get quoted.

I wasn't born in the US but I grew up there and received an American education, and I can tell you that there was no lack of Geography studies. In 9th grade, students in Fairfax County took World History And Geography I, covering early man all the way to the end of the Middle Ages in Europe, touching on many civilizations around the world, and geography was a part of every unit. Same with World History And Geography II in 10th grade, from the Renaissance to the present day. Unfortunately, not all counties in Virginia have the same amount of taxpayer funding as Fairfax, and the education may suffer a bit. However, one can't say that the education system in a smaller county isn't teaching kids that Czechoslovakia doesn't exist anymore, it all goes back to what I said at the beginning. Some peeps are idiots and can't retain that information. :cool:

If it helps, my old Government teacher Ms. Cable told us that most kids in Virginia don't know the names of our Senators.

[SpanishFan]

I am starting to think that those posts in twitter had nothing to do with ignorance... I think they were written with irony and that got lost in translation...
I would love to have a look at them because they look just like a meme thing.

[Future Raptor Ace]

If some nomal person don't know the facts, he doesn't make offensive posts on twitter but check the facts, but what most people do now is that they just post very offensive posts without even knowing what they are talking about and they are very serious about it, that's the point.

And the reason why we are so anti-usa (we are not anti-american as you said) is that these stupid people who makes these posts don't bother to check if they are right or not, because most of them don't even think they could be wrong, most of them think usa (hence they) is never wrong, and that is the fact.

Stupid people are everywhere in the world but if you add US patriotism, poor education at some areas, and easy access to modern technology, you get the ultimate stupid person who thinks he is never wrong and spread his stupid ideas to the whole world.
Then you are stereotyping a few people you see online to an entire a nation (a nation that is the 3rd largest in the world in terms of population) in which makes you sound unintelligent. You can honestly say America has all types of people since we are so large, that is why we are considered a "melting pot" however I prefer to call it a salad bowl of people!

[texasguy]

The hell is a Zcheckovakia?

'Merica

[Ray4AJ]

Our news are filled with screenshots from twitter, where people want a war with us or invasion. And why? cause they have really no idea, how look the world.


Perhaps this happens for two reasons. First, some people may not be the smartest people so they make tweets like this. Smarter people would not make such a tweet. Second, news here likes to show the things that will make people the most excited sometimes, and not always the full story. So there may also be tweets that are not so dramatic, but the news does not show them?

So maybe this is not how most people in US are, just the ones that tweet this way and get shown on the news to you. Maybe.

[Karin]

Perhaps this happens for two reasons. First, some people may not be the smartest people so they make tweets like this. Smarter people would not make such a tweet. Second, news here likes to show the things that will make people the most excited sometimes, and not always the full story. So there may also be tweets that are not so dramatic, but the news does not show them?

So maybe this is not how most people in US are, just the ones that tweet this way and get shown on the news to you. Maybe.

maybe... but Im watching 4 hours twitter, and there is no one normal tweet...

[Ray4AJ]

maybe... but Im watching 4 hours twitter, and there is no one normal tweet...

Maybe normal people don't make tweets about this?

[Karin]

great point from a girl from Australia

"Seriously, if you can’t tell the difference between Chechnya & Czech Republic, or you’ve not heard of Chechnya until now, you have problems."

[SpanishFan]

I have been looking for ten minutes and I did not find a single tweet mistaking the countries, the only tweets I find are people talking about the confusion, the joke about Bush and the news about the ambassador statement.
I would be happy if I could read 5 or 6 of those ignorant tweets.

[Karin]

I have been looking for ten minutes and I did not find a single tweet mistaking the countries, the only tweets I find are people talking about the confusion, the joke about Bush and the news about the ambassador statement.
I would be happy if I could read 5 or 6 of those ignorant tweets.

http://img.topky.sk/big/1212286.jpg/cesko-cecensko-twitter-ceskoslovensko-twitter--mylenie.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BINv7TXCQAAY60H.png:large

[Jordy]

Then you are stereotyping a few people you see online to an entire a nation (a nation that is the 3rd largest in the world in terms of population) in which makes you sound unintelligent. You can honestly say America has all types of people since we are so large, that is why we are considered a "melting pot" however I prefer to call it a salad bowl of people!

I am not stereotyping, I know just "few" people there are like this, that's why I said:

"Stupid people are everywhere in the world"

but:

Well it seems that in the media, more often than not it's the idiots who get interviewed, who get quoted.

... news here likes to show the things that will make people the most excited sometimes, and not always the full story....

and that's the problem, it's not like I hate USA because it's full of stupid people because I know it's not, but I hate the fact that these stupid people you have there gets usually all the attention of media and some media even support their stupid opinions and spread it so other people get the same opinion.

Also, when you said that USA is the "3rd largest in the world in terms of population", so you have a lot of types of people, it also means there is much higher chance that some of those stupid ignorants will make it quite high in their career, let's say... for example... oh yea

when George Bush came here... and told he came to Slovenia, and asked wheres the sea

But I have to say that

Just ignore the morons and always choose the appropriate response to the specific situation. :bye:

is right, so I guess I should just ignore certain things now, 'cause I also hate egoistic people.


But now I see the fun side of this.
So few stupid people in USA are threatening us with invasion... fine, now it's us next week it will be someone else, who cares.

But the rest of the world is now joking about the USA (yea about the whole country, stereotyping, you can't help it :p ). There are tweets from all around the world making fun of 'mericans.

[Junkmale]

Feel your pain Karin....i really do.
If i had 1kc for every time i had to explain to someone that i'm not from 'Ireland' and that i'm actually British i would be a multi millionaire by now.

Only those who have to suffer it realise how really, really irritating it is.

The last time i went to Brno the travel agent asked me 'Where is that?' 'Is it in Yugoslavia?'

Gross stupidity is everywhere :-)

[Future Raptor Ace]

Feel your pain Karin....i really do.
If i had 1kc for every time i had to explain to someone that i'm not from 'Ireland' and that i'm actually British i would be a multi millionaire by now.

Only those who have to suffer it realise how really, really irritating it is.

Well bud you knew me for a while and I'm American and have I ever once needed you to explain to me the difference between Northern Ireland and the Republic Of Ireland? I'm only one person and I knew the difference shouldn't that mean there are other Americans who do too?

[Junkmale]

Absolutely FRA.........

Believe it or not it's usually in England that i have to explain it the most.
Canada was the worst though. Seemed to be every five minutes or so that someone needed a short geography/history lesson :-)

[lapinschous]

http://img.topky.sk/big/1212286.jpg/cesko-cecensko-twitter-ceskoslovensko-twitter--mylenie.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BINv7TXCQAAY60H.png:large

So what... ? that's called a rumor spreading. It only takes one mistake from a news agency to get yourself one. But honestly a handful of tweet isn't gonna affect the reputation of your country, stop being that oversensitive...

well... but this is not little game, when embassy must make statement about how thing really are, to stop all bullshits which are flying now in medias!





The way explain why your embassy even deigned responding to this nonsense is because of the fact that the less influent a country is on the international stage the quicker it is to feel attacked in its pride and is prone to fall into anti americanism... that's why the US doesn't give a crap is south sudan accuses them of economic warfare... or just like france doesn't care if morocco accuses us of setting up the war in Mali.


btw... don't pay to much attention to the invasion threats of the US, whenever americans are frustrated by something they want to resolve it through a military solution ... they even talked about invading france after we said no to their war in iraq lol. xD

[Ray4AJ]

Also, when you said that USA is the "3rd largest in the world in terms of population"...


Someone else said that, not me. ;)

[Future Raptor Ace]

If one really thinks America would go to war WITH ANY COUNTRY based on 2 individuals who are not affiliated with or funded by that said said nation then you have even bigger problems than the individual posting such nonsense!

[Junkmale]

@lapinschous...

Karin is from Slovakia.

[Future Raptor Ace]

Someone else said that, not me. ;)
Well you should say it because it is a fact

[SpanishFan]

Thanks Karin.
Without a doubt some ignorance mixed with misunderstood jokes and irony (and overreaction) causing all this snowball.


Mark Davis ‏@jazzpastor 13h
NYPost reporting that Chechnya is a suburb in Czechoslovakia, which still exists. #trustusweknow

[Jordy]

Someone else said that, not me. ;)

Ahh, sorry, I was still quoting FRA and just used yours and Fall's posts as an example of what is wrong with media these days :D

[Ray4AJ]

Well you should say it because it is a fact

I hadn't/haven't researched that but I'll take your word for it.

Ahh, sorry, I was still quoting FRA and just used yours and Fall's posts as an example of what is wrong with media these days :D

Yeah, the media here at least is mostly out to make money, and to do that they need to sell advertising. So they take everything and sensationalize it. It draws in the masses and keeps their attention.

[Future Raptor Ace]

I hadn't/haven't researched that but I'll take your word for it.



Yeah, the media here at least is mostly out to make money, and to do that they need to sell advertising. So they take everything and sensationalize it. It draws in the masses and keeps their attention.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html
http://www.census.gov/popclock/
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/unpp/panel_population.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population
I did your research for you, you're welcome!

[Junkmale]

I could point out that 'Chechnya' is also wrong.

'Chechnya' is a region of the Russian Federation.

It is not an independent Country.

[Fall]

and some media even support their stupid opinions and spread it so other people get the same opinion.

So what... ? that's called a rumor spreading. It only takes one mistake from a news agency to get yourself one

That's true, early this morning I heard from somebody else that they were from the Ukraine. I didn't have any belligerent thoughts, I promise you.

Edit - And actually, when we heard that, my dad quizzed me, he asked me what the capital of the Ukraine is :D
Le geography comes into play.

[lapinschous]

@lapinschous...

Karin is from Slovakia.

Basically the same thing, same people, same language, same culture . Lots of czechs and slovakians want to reunite into czechoslovakia , just like Frantisek on alizee forum.

[Junkmale]

Basically the same thing, same people, same language, same culture . Lots of czechs and slovakians want to reunite into czechoslovakia , just like Frantisek on alizee forum.


Ouch.

You are quite wrong :)
Someone on Alizee Forum is hardly an indication of the depth of feeling in the former Czechoslovakia.
Clearly a much larger percentage of them don't want to reunite or they would not have split in the first place.
I could be wrong but i've never heard of any popular movement either in the Cze or in Slovakia for that to happen.
Czech and Slovak are two seperate languages although they do have a lot of similarities.
Their cultures are unique to each country.

[Rocket]

To lapinschous from one of my favorite movies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCE0GDeClbs

[SpanishFan]

Someone on Alizee Forum is hardly an indication of the depth of feeling in the former Czechoslovakia.


Very true. In the same way, some tweets are hardly an indication of the feeling or the knowledge a whole country has.

[lefty12357]

I think every country has it's fair share of ignorance and stupidity. And I think it's more of a function of the fact that we are all humans, not because of our country of origin. We humans have made some incredible achievements, but we still have a lot of room to improve.

And I agree with SpanishFan about the tweets. I wouldn't rely on a small sampling of tweets to determine anything. And sometimes it's hard to tell when people are being sarcastic or tweeting something stupid to be funny, or just to annoy others.

[lapinschous]

To lapinschous from one of my favorite movies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCE0GDeClbs

lol wut ? :13:

[Lucas]

Basically the same thing, same people, same language, same culture . Lots of czechs and slovakians want to reunite into czechoslovakia , just like Frantisek on alizee forum.

dont think so - big % of people are happy from separation. Maybe only just the old generation still think CS was better, but the young people no. And now, when we can say borders dont exists thanks EU, the idea of reunion is really useless. Czech and Slovak people have another view on many situations. You can see it example by EU... when Slovakia started to use € , czech people (or more politics) said it was the biggest fault, cause they see in € the right way to hell... and many other reasons.

[Rocket]

...they know I'm the most patriotic french guy on the surface of the earth...

That's why! :france:

[Corsaire]

A majority of Americans consistently show poor knowledge of geography when they are tested for it. This has been amply documented time and time again, and I really don’t see why anyone would be arguing about this. Google is right there at your fingertips for those who want to challenge this fact.

Now, although many other countries will rate better than the U.S. on this specific knowledge, this does not mean that Americans are the worst at it and I am quite sure that some other country can be found where people will do, on average, the same, or even worse than Americans. Another point is that if you are American and you know your geography, well, that just means that you are not part of “the majority” of Americans who don’t know their geography.

And Karin, let’s say that Americans were known for their perfect knowledge of geography and that some Americans were calling for the invasion of Chechnya (or Russia), would you feel much better? I know I wouldn’t.

[Junkmale]

Very true. In the same way, some tweets are hardly an indication of the feeling or the knowledge a whole country has.


Absolutely correct SF!
In all honesty though.....although Karin is more than capable of speaking for herself...i don't think for one moment that she was suggesting that ALL American's are ignorant of basic Geography?

It's been blown way out of proportion (excuse the pun).

[ALS]

The problem is that schools don't spend the time they use to on subjects such as geography, civics, or even how their government works. Most Americans can't even tell you who their elected officials are. Yet ask them who got kicked off of American Idol last week, they can tell you.

There are several embarrassing videos on YouTube that late night talk show host Jay Leno has up of a segment of the show called Jay Walking.

Here is a fun one on Geography.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_pw8duzGUg&feature=youtu.be

[lefty12357]

The problem with things like "Jay Walking" is they often cherry-pick the ignorant people for the broadcast for comedic effect. It would be less interesting and not very funny to broadcast the videos of people who get the answers right. But having said that, it's unfortunate that they are able to find anyone so ill informed. I think many US schools have not been doing as good of a job as they used to on teaching subjects such as geography and civics. My guess is that the emphasis is more on preparing people to be workers rather than well rounded citizens.

It reminds me of an interview I saw with author and historian David McCullough. He said that after a speech he gave, a college student came up to him and told him that she had learned so much from his talk. She said that she hadn't realized before that the first 13 states of the US were all on the east coast. He was flabbergasted that an otherwise, obviously intelligent person would not have learned this, and it pointed to a serious problem in our education system. By the way, if you are into US history and its connections to France, his book "The Greater Journey" might be a good read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/books/review/book-review-the-greater-journey-americans-in-paris-by-david-mccullough.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=davidmccullough

[Rocket]

This is silly. How do you delete a post?

[ALS]

I asked the same thing over on Forum Suggestions a few weeks ago. Right now Rocket, only mods can delete a post. I would also like the ability for members to be able to delete their own posts. :confused:

[Merci Alizée]

I asked the same thing over on Forum Suggestions a few weeks ago. Right now Rocket, only mods can delete a post. I would also like the ability for members to be able to delete their own posts. :confused:

You can delete your own posts now.

[DrSmith]

You have to click EDIT under your post, then you will see the DELETE button. ;)

[ALS]

Merci Alizée, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, :)