| Author |
What a disaster!!!!
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| 2lazybutsmart 2002-11-20, 9:10 pm |
| Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps:
87 percent cannot find Iraq
83 percent cannot find Afghanistan
76 percent cannot find Saudi Arabia
70 percent cannot find New Jersey
49 percent cannot find New York
11 percent cannot find the United States
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/1...quiz/index.html | |
| loopbacklady 2002-11-20, 9:17 pm |
| What's Afghanistan?
 | |
| 2lazybutsmart 2002-11-20, 9:24 pm |
| i'll tell u that in a sec... but do u know where new jersey is on the map? | |
| Supertech 2002-11-20, 9:24 pm |
| The same group couldn't find Uranus with both hands. | |
| Boulware5 2002-11-20, 9:26 pm |
| "11 percent cannot find the United States"
Now THAT is sad. | |
| Supertech 2002-11-20, 9:29 pm |
| New Jersey? Isn't that like Exit 15 off I-95? | |
| pseudocyber 2002-11-20, 9:47 pm |
| Americans, in general, IMHO, are ignorant morons when it comes to international affairs, geography, foreign languages, math, science, history ...
Just about everything. | |
| 2lazybutsmart 2002-11-21, 3:06 am |
| Which part are you from in the United States pseudo?
cuz I heard people from central USA are really very stupid. Isn't that were Dubya comes from?
One guy from Texas asked me one day. Hey, if Seven Elevens are opened 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week and 30 days a month, why do their doors have locks? (very silly question)
I'm not offending anyone, we've got a bunch of heads in their arse shitheads here in Canada too. And they're mostly from Central Canada. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-21, 4:40 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by 2lazybutsmart
Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps:
87 percent cannot find Iraq
aren't most of the US army in the 18-24 year old group? Now that's scary
I hope they don't go to war on Iraq then, cause they are more likely to hit <fill in your own town here> | |
| Luchnia 2002-11-21, 6:42 am |
| I am curious, why does a man or woman need to know all this stuff? I will rarely cloud my brain with geographic info and social info, because I can get all that info out of a book, or on the Net, etc.
The key is to use your resources effectively and use your brain for matters more important. I work with children quite often, and to me it is much more important that they know HOW and WHY they would need to find the US than be able to recognize it quickly in a given situation, say, on a map.
Maybe it isn't that folks are ignorant, maybe it is that they don't use wisdom and understanding. Maybe there are places that the 7-elevens never close. If the 7-eleven never closes, why are there locks on the doors? Is it because the door manufacturer builds the doors with locks? Does 7-eleven ever lock the doors? Were the locks on the doors in case the manager had to step out momentarily and the contents inside need protection? Were the locks there for initial inventory and were not needed afterward? After all, what was his intent behind the question? Maybe he wasn't really sure why they had the locks? Maybe where he lives 7-eleven wasted money on doors with locks?
I find there really aren't stupid questions unless someone is asking to ensnare another. There are many common everyday things that people don't know and we could call them stupid of that, but I have found that you can trap most anyone with a question.
People think at different levels  | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-21, 6:44 am |
| quote:
Americans, in general, IMHO, are ignorant morons when it comes to international affairs, geography, foreign languages, math, science, history
I wonder how they ever put men in space, broke the sound barrier invented the automobile etc etc,im sure I could go on
I think Americans are very focused in what they do, whether they are in buisness, real estate or even computers, subjects like art history and geography are deemed a waste of time as there is no profit in knowing this.
Also the education system in this country is not very good. | |
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| And that is why we drive on parkways and park in driveways.
As my signature says.
Welcome to the Grand Illusion | |
| ChrisDfer 2002-11-21, 8:42 am |
| I wonder who exactly who/where they asked when they gave that poll. With polls its very easy to skew the results whichever way you wish. I do agree that there are many ignorant people here but thats the same everywhere. I'm sure if someone wanted to make Canadians, Brits, or whoever else look stupid, they could do it by setting up a poll and making sure they "ask the right people" | |
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| Luchnia 2002-11-21, 10:22 am |
| ChriDfer, don't you just love statistical data, it is never accurate! We could evaluate any given situation a dozen times and come up with different data every time (well, in these areas, anyway)
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| ruscorp 2002-11-21, 10:29 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by 2lazybutsmart
Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps:
87 percent cannot find Iraq
83 percent cannot find Afghanistan
76 percent cannot find Saudi Arabia
70 percent cannot find New Jersey
49 percent cannot find New York
11 percent cannot find the United States
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/1...quiz/index.html
Yep it's true, I read it in the NY Post today. So sad.  | |
| 2lazybutsmart 2002-11-21, 10:34 am |
| whatsoever a man sows....
what about a women?
we always get the Frequency Distribution before we post data on a Histogram. But CNN has another agenda behind posting this data when Bush is seducing allies to go to war with him. It's all about this evil media. It's the devils fourth hand. Why did they not post this before. I'm a frequent CNN viewer, i've never seen anything of the sort before.
I know the agenda, but those who think at the same level as I do can only share the knowledge with me. | |
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| kate39 2002-11-21, 12:47 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by Supertech
The National Gepgraphic did the survey. Sweden scored the highest.
Mexico scored the lowest.
US was next to last.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...operSurvey.html
yeah, thanx for the link Supertech.
'Geography Not Valued in Schools'
since i went through the system, i know this to be true. all we did was State geography, briefly skimmed south america and africa, and nothing else at all. makes you wonder if they expect that you'll learn world geography in college or something. !?
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| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-21, 1:13 pm |
| If you have kids, you have to give them extra education that schools dont provide.
Big industry donates to schools to influence the curriculum ( ie cisco routers ), ie more kids leaving school with a skill, so cheaper labour costs for the local company. Add to that mega corporations donating books with their logo for brand recognition, no wonder the education is so screwed up. What concerns me is the voting power Baby boomers have as they move into retirement. I think education will suffer even more. | |
| gr33nd4yg1rl 2002-11-21, 2:29 pm |
| if everyone knew where everything was, we wouldn't need any maps | |
| kate39 2002-11-21, 4:25 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by HOOLIGAN
If you have kids, you have to give them extra education that schools dont provide.
Big industry donates to schools to influence the curriculum ( ie cisco routers ), ie more kids leaving school with a skill, so cheaper labour costs for the local company. Add to that mega corporations donating books with their logo for brand recognition, no wonder the education is so screwed up. What concerns me is the voting power Baby boomers have as they move into retirement. I think education will suffer even more.
here here!
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| RichardJW 2002-11-21, 5:55 pm |
| Get out an atlas of the world. Study it for a day. What's the big deal? This can't be placed in a school curriculum somewhere? People who have natural curiosity and who have not done such a thing in a classroom will surely have done so on their own time. | |
| kate39 2002-11-21, 7:26 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by RichardJW
People who have natural curiosity and who have not done such a thing in a classroom will surely have done so on their own time.
'natural curiosity' being the key word here, Richard
not to make a horrible blanket statement, but generally american kids don't have much 'curiosity' about the world at large. i think that's actually the problem here. they're much more concerned with themselves, and being cool. they're not looking outside these barriers to the world beyond. 'insular.'
just my view.
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| azimuth40 2002-11-21, 7:26 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by RichardJW
Get out an atlas of the world. Study it for a day. What's the big deal? This can't be placed in a school curriculum somewhere? People who have natural curiosity and who have not done such a thing in a classroom will surely have done so on their own time.
Well then, that assumes that someone taught them what an atlas was. When you see the word atlas in the U.S. it is a auto tire store. This is caused by the inflated standard of living that virtually demands two parents working full time. Couple that with the high rate of single parent households and who is there to assist the children with homework. Parent Teacher Associations are a shadow of what they once were.
The old principle of the baby boomer generation of not letting school prevent you from getting an education is long gone. Anything not presented in the class room will not be picked up except by the extremely curious.
The U.S. also has the melting pot syndrome in many states where multiple languages need to be spoken but a single language is spoken at home. A parent can't help with what a parent can't read. | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-21, 7:59 pm |
| Im sure there will be a lot of 18 to 24 year olds in the US and UK learning a great deal about Iraq soon enough, im afraid to say. | |
| gr33nd4yg1rl 2002-11-21, 8:06 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by HOOLIGAN
Im sure there will be a lot of 18 to 24 year olds in the US and UK learning a great deal about Iraq soon enough, im afraid to say.
yeah really
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| kate39 2002-11-21, 8:14 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by HOOLIGAN
Im sure there will be a lot of 18 to 24 year olds in the US and UK learning a great deal about Iraq soon enough, im afraid to say.
i know what you're saying here, but what they'll experience is War.. and i don't think that's a good experience to judge a country by; i think these kids will come to be a biT biased. you know?
what we really want is kids to know about it anyway, even if there's not a war with america or the uk involved. you should know where iraq is, or at least its general vicinity. not much to ask you to know about your own World, is it?
is it?? i mean, this is THE world. aren't these people even a little curious about the only planet with life on it in the universe? jeez!
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| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-21, 8:22 pm |
| quote:
is it?? i mean, this is THE world. aren't these people even a little curious about the only planet with life on it in the universe? jeez!
That could be debatable I guess. i agree with you in that people should know it, but I remember doing this in school, it was so dull learning about this blotch of green is called this and this huge blob of pink used to belong to Great Britain. It wasnt until I started working on a ship and visited the blobs did these places (and cultures) seem remotely interesting. | |
| gr33nd4yg1rl 2002-11-21, 8:29 pm |
| kate39...just wondering. is there a reason why in some of your posts, you capitalize certain letters like this: whAt doEs tHis meaN? just something i noticed...just thought i'd ask. | |
| kate39 2002-11-21, 8:31 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by HOOLIGAN
That could be debatable I guess. i agree with you in that people should know it, but I remember doing this in school, it was so dull learning about this blotch of green is called this and this huge blob of pink used to belong to Great Britain. It wasnt until I started working on a ship and visited the blobs did these places (and cultures) seem remotely interesting.
yeah, i know what you mean. it wasn't until i actually lived in one of these blobs that i realized they 'actually existed.' i mean, people can tell you they're there, these cultures exist far, far away, you see them on tv.. etc. but really, you're right; you don't 'believe' it or 'realize' or 'care' about it until you visit them or live with them - that alone makes them 'real.' good point, hooligan.
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| enforcer 2002-11-22, 3:25 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by gr33nd4yg1rl
ohhh..that's cool
wasn't sure if it meant somethiNg or not
when i usEd to do that with frieNds, Family Or
otheRs, we used it to CreatE messages within otheR messages.
anyway back to maps and countries, it could soon be a case of not having an Iraq, to need to know where it is. | |
| thecomeons 2002-11-22, 3:55 am |
| [QUOTE]Originally posted by HOOLIGAN
[B]wasnt until I started working on a ship[QUOTE]
couldn't you have worked on sheep like other people? all you need is a pair of wellies. | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-22, 4:00 am |
| quote:
couldn't you have worked on sheep like other people? all you need is a pair of wellies.
Now thats Baaaaaaaaaa d, no sheep but worked on a few dogs in my time. | |
| enforcer 2002-11-22, 4:12 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by thecomeons
[QUOTE]Originally posted by HOOLIGAN
[B]wasnt until I started working on a ship[QUOTE]
couldn't you have worked on sheep like other people? all you need is a pair of wellies.
hey thecomeons, are you anygood with the irish gay lick.
ooooops! my bad spelling, i meant gaelic | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-22, 4:50 am |
| quote:
hey thecomeons, are you anygood with the irish gay lick.
Shall we leave you two alone? or shall I send a sheep over?
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| MistyRing 2002-11-22, 7:21 am |
| quote:
hey thecomeons, are you anygood with the irish gay lick
someone watches too much graham norton methinks | |
| enforcer 2002-11-22, 7:32 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by MistyRing
someone watches too much graham norton methinks
unfortunately it was on in the house | |
| pseudocyber 2002-11-22, 9:28 am |
| Hey ya'll. Getting back into this a little late - sorry.
Someone said, quote:
Americans aren't stupid, for they were the first to make the atom bomb. But what it is that I want to know is whether they think at lower levels then others or higher levels.
I just wanted to point out that it was a German that came up with the theory and other Germans that did a lot of the work - Einstein. Also, it was German missle engineering that got our own space program and missle programs started ... we grabbed all their engineers after WWII.
Besides that ... I totally agree in the deplorable state of the US Public Education system. I don't understand why we can't simply go look at another country's system that works and emmulate it - say those in Europe, or Japan.
However, I think, just my general thinking - no hard facts - that our education system simply reflects our society in general. Our society seems to be moving towards a more "humanist" slant - emphasizing equality and tolerance of every single difference people could possibly have. Emphasizing "human rights". Therefore, society seeks to squash individuality and originality and promote those that conform with its tolerance objectives. The education system is simply reflecting what society as a whole is doing. Thus the move away from world affairs, current events, math, science.
Why is it important that world politics, anthropology, and sociology be taught? Well, look at "world opinion" about Americans - arrogant and ignorant. Look at the question prevalent on American's minds after 911 ... "why do they hate us?" What have we done to them?
Americans society, economic power, and military power are by far and away dominant over the whole world. Yet we know virtually nothing about the rest of the world. We expect everyone to speak English. What percentage of our population, who are "native born" speak another language!?!?
As was stated, American children, are in general, IMHO, too self centered on their own little worlds - looking cool, being cool, being popular. This doesn't stop when they leave the public education sytem ...
I guess there is no easy answer. It's something we all need to work on, as Americans.
The first step - educate yourself to national and international affairs. Form an opinion. Be active in politics. VOTE!!!
- end of rant - | |
| CoffeeFreak 2002-11-22, 9:39 am |
| i heard this on leno the other night, he made a joke about after we go to war, not even saddam will be able to find IRAQ... | |
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| I gotta tell you. I find this appalling, but hardly surprising. In this country, there is more emphasis placed on playing freakin' field hockey than learning history and geography. You would not believe what I saw when I used to teach at college in terms of lack of very basic skills of this kind.
As for those who ask "why learn geography?", please go back to first grade. Learning is not always about an immediate need. Learning is a personal quest for a better self. If you still don't understand that, be prepared to never understand who you are, because you have no clue where you come from... | |
| enforcer 2002-11-22, 10:00 am |
| the human brain is like a balloon, the more you put in it, the more it stretches to accomodate, stop putting things in and it starts to contract. | |
| azimuth40 2002-11-22, 11:40 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
the human brain is like a balloon, the more you put in it, the more it stretches to accomodate, stop putting things in and it starts to contract.
Oh so that is where the terms "bighead" and "pinhead" come from. | |
| kate39 2002-11-22, 12:40 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by freak
I gotta tell you. I find this appalling, but hardly surprising. In this country, there is more emphasis placed on playing freakin' field hockey than learning history and geography. You would not believe what I saw when I used to teach at college in terms of lack of very basic skills of this kind.
As for those who ask "why learn geography?", please go back to first grade. Learning is not always about an immediate need. Learning is a personal quest for a better self. If you still don't understand that, be prepared to never understand who you are, because you have no clue where you come from...
dude, that's a kick*XXX post there. just wanted to say that.
- also basic English Grammar like spelling and correct word usage (just hang in these forums a while and you almost pass-out when you realize the worst ones are americans!) lack of descriptive 'adult' words, etc. i still really feel that if your parents didn't read to you when you were very young, you're screwed for life. nobody can read, nobody can write anymore in this country. and it's not getting better; it is much, much worse than just a few years ago. it's shocking -! it's almost embarassing to be lumped-in with this country sometimes. 
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| Thanks. It does bug me to see this decline. English is my third language, as I am a French citizen. I live in the US and have lived here for the past 8 years now. I once asked students at Bowdoin college -- a nice college in Maine with a great reputation -- to list the 50 states and their respective capitals. Not one was able to do so. And this is *your* country! Imagine what the results would have been if I had asked about African countries, for example. Scary.
As for writing, I could not agree more. My wife, whom I love dearly, was a magna cum laude pre-med student with a BS from a very well respected College. When she went for her Master's degree, I had to *teach* her how to write an essay, as she had no clue. With her level of schooling, and her obvious intelligence, you would think that this would be a skill that she would have already mastered... | |
| pseudocyber 2002-11-22, 1:41 pm |
| quote:
Imagine what the results would have been if I had asked about African countries
I don't understand. I thought Africa was a country! 
------
The above was a joke! | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-22, 1:49 pm |
| Its down to the parents, not so much to teach their kids, as to inspire them. I take my eldest fishing, exploring, to the zoo, I plan to take him to a shuttle launch soon. Nothing annoys me more then parents who have no time for their kids. | |
| HOOLIGAN 2002-11-22, 2:20 pm |
| quote:
the human brain is like a balloon, the more you put in it, the more it stretches to accomodate, stop putting things in and it starts to contract.
hmm in your case it would be condom?
(blown up through the nose while holding it on your head perhaps)>
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| drdirt 2002-11-25, 12:45 am |
| I just deleted the rant du jour - decided to be brief(-er)
I feel really strongly about education in the world, but especially the U.S. So I taught physics, physical science, & geology in high school for about 2 years.
Not all yanks are brain dead like a few responses point out. What is scarry is that our education-culture interaction in the US has created an incredibly polarized class system. Few fall in between, mostly there are the educated and financially viable. Then there are the ones beyond help, unemployable, apathetic, convinced the world owes them a living.
Children are raised in disproportionally poor homes in the US. One in five are from homes at or below poverty. Many urban schools have nine out of ten students living in poverty.
Ask one of these kids what they want out of education and you will be surprised at the responses. Way too many see no value, have no hope for a legal career, and think education is the system keeping them down...
Guess what support HS teachers get from the schools if they try to bring vocational skills into the classroom?
Yeah, this was the short rant! | |
| MistyRing 2002-11-25, 2:25 am |
| quote:
Not all yanks are brain dead like a few responses point out. What is scarry is that our education-culture
Glad you didn't teach English! | |
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| quote:
Originally posted by MistyRing
Glad you didn't teach English!
wow, low blow | |
| macaries 2002-11-25, 10:23 am |
| I get this email from exam notes and it lists the most active topics for the week (like this one)... and not one (of the most active topics) had anything to do with computers, software or the exams on these broad catagories.
So then more suprizing are the topics under heading "Other members need your help" ALL of them have to do with computers, software or the exams on these broad catagories. And no one has replied!
I hope that if one of those poor survey respondents that couldn't find Iraq on a map asked say "..how hard is the 70-216 test?" We could forget about the geography and get back to our core area of expertise. | |
| bearing 2002-11-25, 11:49 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by macaries
I hope that if one of those poor survey respondents that couldn't find Iraq on a map asked say "..how hard is the 70-216 test?" We could forget about the geography and get back to our core area of expertise.
Well maybe they could study harder with their geography, then they could find their wayhere and ask the question about how hard the 70-216 test is.... | |
| gr33nd4yg1rl 2002-11-25, 11:51 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by enforcer
when i usEd to do that with frieNds, Family Or
otheRs, we used it to CreatE messages within otheR messages.
anyway back to maps and countries, it could soon be a case of not having an Iraq, to need to know where it is.
what is ENFORCER!
yayyy i win! | |
| Crutch 2002-11-25, 12:50 pm |
| Has anyone followed the link to take the sample survey themselves? Out of 20 questions I got 19 right. But, I like geography. Do the same for Economics and I'd prolly be in the 11% group. | |
| Supertech 2002-11-25, 1:23 pm |
| 18 for 20 | |
| enforcer 2002-11-25, 1:39 pm |
| 17/20 for me, got two population questions wrong, and one religion. | |
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| quote:
Originally posted by 2lazybutsmart
49 percent cannot find New York
LoL
quote:
11 percent cannot find the United States
ROFL | |
| buckwheat 2002-11-25, 2:08 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by 2lazybutsmart
Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps:
70 percent cannot find New Jersey
49 percent cannot find New York
11 percent cannot find the United States
That is really just pathetic. Unless those 18-24 yr old Americans never attended any schools and were living under some rock most of their lives being an American citizen you should be able to locate your own country and your own state. | |
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| 20/20 -- but then again, I was homeschooled | |
| RichardJW 2002-11-25, 2:54 pm |
| Whoops got one wrong. More Christians than any other religion? Had no idea. Not too many practicing ones in this country that's for sure. But easy test.
Interesting pie-chart here: http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html Looks like there are 14% non-religious people in the world which is actually more than I expect too. | |
| ChrisDfer 2002-11-25, 11:03 pm |
| Oh man if that is the same test they gave out then I don't understand how anyone could have got any wrong on that. I got 20/20 and I didn't even finish 11th grade in highschool(got my GED, yeah I know thats obvious huh?). I'm at a loss as to how anyone in the USA could not know where the USA, Pacific Ocean, or Mexico is. Now I admit I always had an insterest in world affairs and geography but I never did any extra studying in that area. I just find it hard to believe that any one is that clueless about the world around them. I am also curious about who exactly they asked in their survey.(note my earlier post on this subject) | |
| freak 2002-11-25, 11:18 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by ChrisDfer
Oh man if that is the same test they gave out then I don't understand how anyone could have got any wrong on that.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have to agree with you. | |
| ccieToBe 2002-11-26, 1:19 am |
| This survey's results sound kind of slanted to me. Did they stand outside a K-Mart to take this survey? Then again, it also boggles my mind that the average SAT score is around 1,000 and the average IQ score is around 100.
I scored 20/20. It seemed trivial to me. I would tend to question the worlds most commonly practiced religion question though. I would have thought that Atheists were the most common. | |
| MistyRing 2002-11-26, 2:56 am |
| 20/20 for me also. I find it incredible that some people can't point to their own country on a map. | |
| bearing 2002-11-26, 3:13 am |
| This thread reminded me of a thread started by HOOLIGAN..
Not that I'm casting aspersions or anything... |
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