is that a reference to the melted sand if a nookular bomb hits the desert?...
yeah, it makes people look stupid when they point at Australia, thinking it's N. Korea (or another country), but baiting people like that would have a similar effect on alot of non-Americans as well,
It's like that Magritte painting "Ce??i n'est pas une pipe", which is technically not a pipe.
A map of Australia, combined with the words "Iran," calls into question visual representation itself, inasmuch as what is illustrated is not the geographical country, but a label.
The US doesn't even have a free healthcare system.
The US doesn't even have a free healthcare system.
The US doesn't even have a free healthcare system.
The US doesn't even have a free healthcare system.
My old roommate worked for a drug company that created medication for lupus (I think) and told me how her company was legally required to charge a nominal fee for it. The Bush administration changed the law and a medication that was once a few hundred dollars was now $45,000.
My old roommate worked for a drug company that created medication for lupus (I think) and told me how her company was legally required to charge a nominal fee for it. The Bush administration changed the law and a medication that was once a few hundred dollars was now $45,000.
My old roommate worked for a drug company that created medication for lupus (I think) and told me how her company was legally required to charge a nominal fee for it. The Bush administration changed the law and a medication that was once a few hundred dollars was now $45,000.
And to those that think it can't be real watch that one game show where they ask people "who is the vice president of the united states?" and they answer with "milton bradley?".
i don't doubt that this could be genuine...but he could have easily asked those people "what country do you think the us will invade next?" we only hear him ask the first lady "what country should.....?" and the rest is edited
any background on the clip?
and the scrolls at the bottom are not funny
This aired on the governmently funded ABC down here a few years ago when the US decided to 'liberate' Iraq. CNNN is a show by some political humourists & their show is quite popular, though it only appears whenever their are elections or something political happening.
The common viewpoint is that American citizens don't know international affairs or what their govt gets up to overseas, (like how many know that the USA basically kicked out an entire islands population on the British governed island Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to use as a military base? Though the Brits were just as culpabale) They decided to test that theory when they went there. Later in the press they stated how they were amazed at how little the Americans knew about geography. They said they didn't have to coax anyone, mislead, etc.. People just honestly didn't question what they saw ie: the incorrect labeling of a country. But like I said in an earlier thread. Less than 10% of US citizens own a passport & less that 50% of them have ever used it. So it's really not that unremarkable.
There are plenty of people who don't know geography.
But really, haven't you ever heard how much time goes into "stupid people" skits like this? They can interview people all day to come up with the highlights that are used in a 2 minute bit like that.
1.) Yes, some people are that stupid.
2.) No, not EVERYONE is that stupid.
That is edited majorly, I'm sure.
And North Korea and Iran were reasonable guesses at least.
From my experience traveling around the States (every State including the Yukon), they are geographically-challenged. Been joking about that on here for years.
From my experience traveling around the States (every State including the Yukon), they are geographically-challenged. Been joking about that on here for years.
I don't doubt that, Americans are trained to be very self-absorbed. Seriously, that's how public schools function.
In a nation called the world's superpower, only 17 percent of young adults in the United States could find Afghanistan on a map[/b], according to a new worldwide survey released today.
The young U.S. citizens received poor marks generally in geography. But then, as results showed, their counterparts in other countries were hardly star students.
The National Geographic???Roper 2002 Global Geographic Literacy Survey polled more than 3,000 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and the United States.
Sweden scored highest; Mexico, lowest. The U.S. was next to last.
"The survey demonstrates the geographic illiteracy of the United States," said Robert Pastor, professor of International Relations at American University, in Washington, D.C. "The results are particularly appalling in light of September 11, which traumatized America and revealed that our destiny is connected to the rest of the world."
About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn't even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent.
Are Young U.S. Citizens Americentric? [/b]
Despite the threat of war in Iraq and the daily reports of suicide bombers in Israel, less than 15 percent of the young U.S. citizens could locate either country.
More young U.S. citizens in the study knew that the island featured in last season's TV show "Survivor" is in the South Pacific than could find Israel.
Particularly humiliating was that all countries were better able to identify the U.S. population than many young U.S. citizens. Within the U.S., almost one-third said that population was between one billion and two billion[/b]; the answer is 289 million.
"It gives the sense that there is this Americentric thing going on???that we are big and powerful and have all these people in our country," said John Fahey, President and CEO of the National Geographic Society.
On the other hand, Pastor suggests that the results could mean that most young Americans just have no idea of the total world population (about six billion).
Poor Geographic Literacy Worldwide
Young adults worldwide are not markedly more literate about geography than the Americans.
On average, fewer than 25 percent of young people worldwide could locate Israel on the map. Only about 20 percent could identify hotspots like Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
Of all the young adults in the survey, only about one-third in Germany, Sweden and Japan, could name four countries that officially acknowledge having nuclear weapons. In the rest of the countries that number dropped to less than a quarter. In France 24 percent did not know that that their own country was a nuclear nation.
The survey results are not all bleak, says Roger Downs, head of the geography department at Pennsylvania State University, in State College, and a National Geographic geographer-in-residence in 1995-1996.
Geography Not Valued in Schools
Since the last Geographic-sponsored survey in 1988, said Downs, the percentage of young U.S. citizens who reported taking a geography course in school rose from 30 to 55 percent. And students who had studied geography did better on the current survey.
U.S. schools generally have slighted geography. "If geography is not in the curriculum," Downs said, "it's not tested???and that says to the students that it is not valued."
The schools are not solely to blame, either. "Wouldn't it be nice if parents also read atlases to their children?" Downs says.
Questions covering current events or practical activities yielded more promising results.
Most young U.S. citizens knew that Africa was most affected by the AIDS epidemic, and about half knew that El Ni??o caused erratic weather.
"When geography and life intersect, people pay attention," said Nick Boyon, senior vice president for international research at RoperASW, in Manhattan.
Boosting Geography
Geographic knowledge increases through travel and language proficiency, among other factors.
In the highest-scoring countries???Sweden, Germany and Italy???at least 70 percent of the young adults had traveled internationally in the last three years, and the majority spoke more than one language (in Sweden, 92 and 89 percent, respectively).
In the U.S. and Mexico only about 20 percent had traveled abroad during the same period and the majority spoke only one language.
To fight geographic ignorance, and apathy, among young people in the U.S. and around the world, the National Geographic Society will convene an international coalition of leaders in American business, education and media.
Next year the panel will recommend initiatives to policymakers in those areas???and to parents and children.
thing is i consider myself decently smart but if you put up a blank map and i had to identify all the countries i couldn't get most countries. like i'm not 100% sure of where israel geographically. how many times do people actually look at globes and maps ? i have looked a lot at specific countries in east asia and europe but very rarely in western asia/middle east, africa.
i do think as the government takes money away from the public sector we are going to have results like we are having in america.
...and in my recent discussions with "informed" right wingers:
One person, who talked about how the UN was the greatest threat to world peace, could not name the countries with permanent seats on the UN Security Council. (There are only five.)
Another, who went on and on about activist judges, could not tell me how many articles comprise the US constitution.
The same person talked about judges getting "up or down votes" on the Senate floor but could not tell me how many Senators we have--let alone articulate how the Senate is different from the House.
Then, another Iraq War supporter, pressed to differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites living in Iraq said, "Aren't the Shiites Jews?"
It's an Australian political satarists show. Not fake, it just takes the piss out of things. Those were vox pop street questions. They said it was a random 1/2 hour survey, not a day long one.
It's an Australian political satarists show. Not fake, it just takes the piss out of things. Those were vox pop street questions. They said it was a random 1/2 hour survey, not a day long one.
...and in my recent discussions with "informed" right wingers:
One person, who talked about how the UN was the greatest threat to world peace, could not name the countries with permanent seats on the UN Security Council. (There are only five.)
Another, who went on and on about activist judges, could not tell me how many articles comprise the US constitution.
The same person talked about judges getting "up or down votes" on the Senate floor but could not tell me how many Senators we have--let alone articulate how the Senate is different from the House.
Then, another Iraq War supporter, pressed to differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites living in Iraq said, "Aren't the Shiites Jews?"
I could go on...
The ultimate punchline is that if you dare to disagree with people like the above, they'll call you stupid, ignorant, etc. in a heartbeat. Which can be fun. I occasionally visit right-wing blogs, correct their "facts," then sit back and watch them go apeshit. It's pretty easy to do when they get their info from GOP talking points.
...and in my recent discussions with "informed" right wingers:
One person, who talked about how the UN was the greatest threat to world peace, could not name the countries with permanent seats on the UN Security Council. (There are only five.)
Another, who went on and on about activist judges, could not tell me how many articles comprise the US constitution.
The same person talked about judges getting "up or down votes" on the Senate floor but could not tell me how many Senators we have--let alone articulate how the Senate is different from the House.
Then, another Iraq War supporter, pressed to differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites living in Iraq said, "Aren't the Shiites Jews?"
I could go on...
The ultimate punchline is that if you dare to disagree with people like the above, they'll call you stupid, ignorant, etc. in a heartbeat. Which can be fun. I occasionally visit right-wing blogs, correct their "facts," then sit back and watch them go apeshit. It's pretty easy to do when their get their info from GOP talking points.
I guess it's too easy for them to throw stones while living in a glass house...
I hastily answered that question, and I know better.
My faux pas?
I thought the UK was Sweden.
Whoops.
I wouldn't have done it if it was just a map of Europe, but my mind went (Sweden = Island/Peninsula = North of mainland Europe).
I was just a little too far West.
Still though, some of those took some thought and a little cheating. Argentina I got because I knew one of the answers was Brazil and the other two weren't on the right continent.
I dunno, I could see how many lesser Americans could get those wrong. I think I'm an above average guy in literacy, etc. so... not surprising a lot of those were missed. Many would require either freqent news monitoring or individual effort.
Come on now, individual effort in the US stops at sharpening the jump shot.
Comments
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH!
is that a reference to the melted sand if a nookular bomb hits the desert?...
yeah, it makes people look stupid when they point at Australia, thinking it's N. Korea (or another country), but baiting people like that would have a similar effect on alot of non-Americans as well,
It's like that Magritte painting "Ce??i n'est pas une pipe", which is technically not a pipe.
A map of Australia, combined with the words "Iran," calls into question visual representation itself, inasmuch as what is illustrated is not the geographical country, but a label.
Aggressive whilst playing video games Hits: 20523
lol !!the funniest clip evarrrrrrrrrr[/b]
My old roommate worked for a drug company that created medication for lupus (I think) and told me how her company was legally required to charge a nominal fee for it. The Bush administration changed the law and a medication that was once a few hundred dollars was now $45,000.
$45,000!!!!!
Shit, better than turning into a wolf.
....or is it?
OK, it is.
"You???ll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
--P.T. Barnum
How about no one?
That shit was fucking emarrassing.
And to those that think it can't be real watch that one game show where they ask people "who is the vice president of the united states?" and they answer with "milton bradley?".
Yes, people are that dim.
This aired on the governmently funded ABC down here a few years ago when the US decided to 'liberate' Iraq. CNNN is a show by some political humourists & their show is quite popular, though it only appears whenever their are elections or something political happening.
The common viewpoint is that American citizens don't know international affairs or what their govt gets up to overseas, (like how many know that the USA basically kicked out an entire islands population on the British governed island Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to use as a military base? Though the Brits were just as culpabale) They decided to test that theory when they went there. Later in the press they stated how they were amazed at how little the Americans knew about geography. They said they didn't have to coax anyone, mislead, etc.. People just honestly didn't question what they saw ie: the incorrect labeling of a country. But like I said in an earlier thread. Less than 10% of US citizens own a passport & less that 50% of them have ever used it. So it's really not that unremarkable.
There are plenty of people who don't know geography.
But really, haven't you ever heard how much time goes into "stupid people" skits like this? They can interview people all day to come up with the highlights that are used in a 2 minute bit like that.
1.) Yes, some people are that stupid.
2.) No, not EVERYONE is that stupid.
That is edited majorly, I'm sure.
And North Korea and Iran were reasonable guesses at least.
K.
I don't doubt that, Americans are trained to be very self-absorbed. Seriously, that's how public schools function.
K.
Bijal P. Trivedi
National Geographic Today
November 20, 2002[/b]
See Survey Results and Test Yourself: link
In a nation called the world's superpower, only 17 percent of young adults in the United States could find Afghanistan on a map[/b], according to a new worldwide survey released today.
The young U.S. citizens received poor marks generally in geography. But then, as results showed, their counterparts in other countries were hardly star students.
The National Geographic???Roper 2002 Global Geographic Literacy Survey polled more than 3,000 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and the United States.
Sweden scored highest; Mexico, lowest. The U.S. was next to last.
"The survey demonstrates the geographic illiteracy of the United States," said Robert Pastor, professor of International Relations at American University, in Washington, D.C. "The results are particularly appalling in light of September 11, which traumatized America and revealed that our destiny is connected to the rest of the world."
About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn't even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent.
Are Young U.S. Citizens Americentric? [/b]
Despite the threat of war in Iraq and the daily reports of suicide bombers in Israel, less than 15 percent of the young U.S. citizens could locate either country.
More young U.S. citizens in the study knew that the island featured in last season's TV show "Survivor" is in the South Pacific than could find Israel.
Particularly humiliating was that all countries were better able to identify the U.S. population than many young U.S. citizens. Within the U.S., almost one-third said that population was between one billion and two billion[/b]; the answer is 289 million.
"It gives the sense that there is this Americentric thing going on???that we are big and powerful and have all these people in our country," said John Fahey, President and CEO of the National Geographic Society.
On the other hand, Pastor suggests that the results could mean that most young Americans just have no idea of the total world population (about six billion).
Poor Geographic Literacy Worldwide
Young adults worldwide are not markedly more literate about geography than the Americans.
On average, fewer than 25 percent of young people worldwide could locate Israel on the map. Only about 20 percent could identify hotspots like Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
Of all the young adults in the survey, only about one-third in Germany, Sweden and Japan, could name four countries that officially acknowledge having nuclear weapons. In the rest of the countries that number dropped to less than a quarter. In France 24 percent did not know that that their own country was a nuclear nation.
The survey results are not all bleak, says Roger Downs, head of the geography department at Pennsylvania State University, in State College, and a National Geographic geographer-in-residence in 1995-1996.
Geography Not Valued in Schools
Since the last Geographic-sponsored survey in 1988, said Downs, the percentage of young U.S. citizens who reported taking a geography course in school rose from 30 to 55 percent. And students who had studied geography did better on the current survey.
U.S. schools generally have slighted geography. "If geography is not in the curriculum," Downs said, "it's not tested???and that says to the students that it is not valued."
The schools are not solely to blame, either. "Wouldn't it be nice if parents also read atlases to their children?" Downs says.
Questions covering current events or practical activities yielded more promising results.
Most young U.S. citizens knew that Africa was most affected by the AIDS epidemic, and about half knew that El Ni??o caused erratic weather.
"When geography and life intersect, people pay attention," said Nick Boyon, senior vice president for international research at RoperASW, in Manhattan.
Boosting Geography
Geographic knowledge increases through travel and language proficiency, among other factors.
In the highest-scoring countries???Sweden, Germany and Italy???at least 70 percent of the young adults had traveled internationally in the last three years, and the majority spoke more than one language (in Sweden, 92 and 89 percent, respectively).
In the U.S. and Mexico only about 20 percent had traveled abroad during the same period and the majority spoke only one language.
To fight geographic ignorance, and apathy, among young people in the U.S. and around the world, the National Geographic Society will convene an international coalition of leaders in American business, education and media.
Next year the panel will recommend initiatives to policymakers in those areas???and to parents and children.
i do think as the government takes money away from the public sector we are going to have results like we are having in america.
oh and that clip could be totally faked as well.
One person, who talked about how the UN was the greatest threat to world peace, could not name the countries with permanent seats on the UN Security Council. (There are only five.)
Another, who went on and on about activist judges, could not tell me how many articles comprise the US constitution.
The same person talked about judges getting "up or down votes" on the Senate floor but could not tell me how many Senators we have--let alone articulate how the Senate is different from the House.
Then, another Iraq War supporter, pressed to differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites living in Iraq said, "Aren't the Shiites Jews?"
I could go on...
Not fake, it just takes the piss out of things. Those were vox pop street questions.
They said it was a random 1/2 hour survey, not a day long one.
It'll be all irrelevant to you, but here's their website: http://www.cnnnn.com/
The ultimate punchline is that if you dare to disagree with people like the above, they'll call you stupid, ignorant, etc. in a heartbeat. Which can be fun. I occasionally visit right-wing blogs, correct their "facts," then sit back and watch them go apeshit. It's pretty easy to do when they get their info from GOP talking points.
I got 19/20.
I hastily answered that question, and I know better.
My faux pas?
I thought the UK was Sweden.
Whoops.
I wouldn't have done it if it was just a map of Europe, but my mind went (Sweden = Island/Peninsula = North of mainland Europe).
I was just a little too far West.
Still though, some of those took some thought and a little cheating. Argentina I got because I knew one of the answers was Brazil and the other two weren't on the right continent.
I dunno, I could see how many lesser Americans could get those wrong. I think I'm an above average guy in literacy, etc. so... not surprising a lot of those were missed. Many would require either freqent news monitoring or individual effort.
Come on now, individual effort in the US stops at sharpening the jump shot.
flunk
......jesus, you american?
flunk
edit reason: YUCK.