Global Geographic Literacy Survey

RandFan said:
You know it's helpful to identify an entire group of people based on the behavior of a sub group. I think there is a term for doing so but it escapes me at the moment.
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The statement I made refered to nothing more than the particular subset of Americans (and Ontarians) who are tourists AND between 18-20 years old AND are stupid AND can't handle alcohol (i.e. those who come to Quebec for the sole purpose of abusing the legal drinking age and make asses of themselves in the process). Those are intolerable. I did not make any statement relating to the tolerability of Americans (and Ontarians), in general (that is, regarless of age, travelling habits, drinking capacities and intelligence).
 
CFLarsen said:
How much criticism of America/ns would you accept, and still go to that country?
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Little enough that I am unlikely to encounter enough of it to impact the enjoyment of the trip. Which means I don't want my car vandalized with anti-american slogans, I don't want to be treated like some sort of talking monkey if I happen to know a bit more than the locals figure an American ought to know, and even though I am not the sort of person to put my nationality on parade, I don't want to have to go out of my way to hide it either in order to be treated in a generally friendly manner.
 
Nyarlathotep said:
Little enough that I am unlikely to encounter enough of it to impact the enjoyment of the trip. Which means I don't want my car vandalized with anti-american slogans, I don't want to be treated like some sort of talking monkey if I happen to know a bit more than the locals figure an American ought to know, and even though I am not the sort of person to put my nationality on parade, I don't want to have to go out of my way to hide it either in order to be treated in a generally friendly manner.
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And you think all this would happen to you, if you visited Europe?
 
CFLarsen said:
And you think all this would happen to you, if you visited Europe?
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The car thing: unlikely but possible.

The talking monkey thing: I like to think I am a fairly intelligent person but since I am fat and thus confrom to one 'Typical American' stereotype, I fear people will think I conform to the rest of them. So unless I have been deceiving myself for years and am every bit as stupid as we Americans are reputed to be, then it seems likely but not certain.

The having to hide my nationality in order to be treated well thing: All too likely for my taste.
 
Nyarlathotep said:
The car thing: unlikely but possible.
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Very unlikely, I would say. Why would you want to bring a car to Europe?

Nyarlathotep said:
The talking monkey thing: I like to think I am a fairly intelligent person but since I am fat and thus confrom to one 'Typical American' stereotype, I fear people will think I conform to the rest of them. So unless I have been deceiving myself for years and am every bit as stupid as we Americans are reputed to be, then it seems likely but not certain.

The having to hide my nationality in order to be treated well thing: All too likely for my taste.
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Your fears are unfounded.
 
CFLarsen said:
Very unlikely, I would say. Why would you want to bring a car to Europe?
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Depending on where I am, I could rent one. Though I admit I probably wouldn't. I hate driving in unfamiliar cities, and will do just about anything to avoid it.

CFLarsen said:
Your fears are unfounded.
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Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. The way I see us being talked about by Europeans puts enough doubt into my mind that I am not willing to drop thousands of dollars to find out.
 
Nyarlathotep said:
Depending on where I am, I could rent one. Though I admit I probably wouldn't. I hate driving in unfamiliar cities.
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If people would damage your car, how would they know that the car was rented by an American? You can't even tell that the car is rented.

Nyarlathotep said:
Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. The way I see us being talked about by Europeans puts enough doubt into my mind that I am not willing to drop thousands of dollars to find out.
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Your loss, then.
 
Jorghnassen said:
The statement I made refered to nothing more than the particular subset of Americans (and Ontarians) who are tourists AND between 18-20 years old AND are stupid AND can't handle alcohol (i.e. those who come to Quebec for the sole purpose of abusing the legal drinking age and make asses of themselves in the process). Those are intolerable. I did not make any statement relating to the tolerability of Americans (and Ontarians), in general (that is, regarless of age, travelling habits, drinking capacities and intelligence).
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(void where prohibited by law) :D
 
HarryKeogh said:
Survey results are sad. If a young person can't pick out the Pacific ocean on a map the parents and/or school are failing that child.
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Some years ago a friend from New Hampshire was hitching through Montana and wanted to get home the quickest and least expensive way. He went to the Greyhound Bus station where a young lady (whom we assume was at least a high school graduate) was behind the counter:
He: I want to buy a ticket to New Hampshire.
She: New Hampshire? Sorry, but we only go to places in the US.
He: New Hampshire IS in the US- it's in New England.
She: New England? You have to take a boat to get there. We don't go to
New England.

Nothing surprises me anymore. (BTW: Ham radio is a great way to learn a LOT about geography....)
 
CFLarsen said:
Europe is larger than the US. My point about the necessity to be knowledgable about geography is once again validated.
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So one erroneous comment, on a thread, on a bulletin board in some corner of the internet validates the necessity to be knowledgable about geography.

Really, the fact that Europe is slightly larger in area has little or no affect on anyone's life. The majority of questions on that quiz have little affect on anyone's life. More so for american's, since they are a little susceptible to the tosses and turns of other nations.

Walt
 
Walter Wayne said:
So one erroneous comment, on a thread, on a bulletin board in some corner of the internet validates the necessity to be knowledgable about geography.

Really, the fact that Europe is slightly larger in area has little or no affect on anyone's life. The majority of questions on that quiz have little affect on anyone's life. More so for american's, since they are a little susceptible to the tosses and turns of other nations.
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A quiz like that is merely a test to see the level of knowledge. Geography is not merely memorizing a lot of facts. It is understanding those facts, and what relation they have to the issues you need to understand.

What facts can we live without, and still have a necessary understanding of the world we live in? How can you understand the political situation in the Middle East, if you don't know where Israel is? How can you understand physics if you don't understand what an atom is?
 
Nyarlathotep

Both Mrs Don and Daddy Don are American and have, to European ears, quite distinct accents. Both have travelled extensively within Europe and have had no negative comments about their nationality. In fact the opposite has often been true with people genuinely delighted to welcome American visitors.

This is only anecdotal, but from their experience you have little to fear

Hamradioguy

Ignorance of local geography is not solely an American preserve. I grew up in County Durham. If I had a pound for every English person who thought that it was in Ireland, I'd have several pounds
 
CFLarsen said:
A quiz like that is merely a test to see the level of knowledge. Geography is not merely memorizing a lot of facts. It is understanding those facts, and what relation they have to the issues you need to understand.

What facts can we live without, and still have a necessary understanding of the world we live in? How can you understand the political situation in the Middle East, if you don't know where Israel is? How can you understand physics if you don't understand what an atom is?
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My geographical knowledge of Rwanda is "it borders on Uganda", but yet I've read about the influence of colonialism there, the artificial seperation of tribes into a class system, the involvement of the RPF in Uganda, the UN handling and response of UN member nations, the accord leading up to the genocide ...
Luckily the test didn't ask me to find it on a map.

My geographical knowledge of Bosnia and Serbia is even smaller. But I have several Bosnian friends, and I became (for a while) very political aware of the situation by simply being present discussions.

When geography is important to understanding the situation, it is rarely placing it on a map that matters. Seeing the borders of Israel as drawn by the UN is useful, but only to get the gist of the ridiculousness of expecting them to be stable in that environment. Seeing the borders evolve is only required to get a sense of the precarious position of Israel and the palestinian areas. Once you have "sense" of population sizes and such, the important details are in how the governments act, the Balfour declaration, the details of how land was purchased during the initial years, ... all these are more important than the geography.

Even then, is knowledge of political situations in the Middle East, Rwanda or Bosnia a necessity? Definitely not. The politics of Canada, US and Europe all have more affect on my life than any of those.

Walt
 
Vorticity said:
Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist von den Aalen voll.
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Just hearing those words makes my "nipples explode with desire."

Oh and incidentally, Trivial Pursuit was invented and developed in Canada and has been available in Europe (in various languages) as long as in the US.
 
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