Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I do think its not reasonable to expect Brits to know where all our states are. I actually am surprised to see how many some of them do know. Its rare that an American could find Glouchestershire or Suffolk in England, so we may be bit unreasonable if we believe citizens from other nations should know our states. I think most Americans should however be able to identify the nations of Europe, no excuse for geographic ignorance. I understand the person who mixes up Lithuania and Estonia, or cant find Macedonia but not being able to find France or Poland is plain embarrassing. I can name the nations of Europe, South America, but I do make an occasional error with Africa and Asia. I know most of them however without question. When I see people who cant find a major nation or even worse a state in our own country it makes me shake my head in shame. I hate seeing people like that add fuel to the fire of those who like to bad mouth the US for geographic ignorance. How do we argue with a European making fun of this US geography issue when there are really people here who could not find Indiana on a map let alone Austria.
I do think its not reasonable to expect Brits to know where all our states are. I actually am surprised to see how many some of them do know. Its rare that an American could find Glouchestershire or Suffolk in England, so we may be bit unreasonable if we believe citizens from other nations should know our states. I think most Americans should however be able to identify the nations of Europe, no excuse for geographic ignorance. I understand the person who mixes up Lithuania and Estonia, or cant find Macedonia but not being able to find France or Poland is plain embarrassing. I can name the nations of Europe, South America, but I do make an occasional error with Africa and Asia. I know most of them however without question. When I see people who cant find a major nation or even worse a state in our own country it makes me shake my head in shame. I hate seeing people like that add fuel to the fire of those who like to bad mouth the US for geographic ignorance. How do we argue with a European making fun of this US geography issue when there are really people here who could not find Indiana on a map let alone Austria.
I think it's the general anti-educational, anti-intellectual sentiment in the US or Australia. You're seen as a nerd or have 'too much time on your hands' for knowing where all the countries are. Like when I used to talk about all these places in America people would think me some kind of really smart geeky person, at least when I visited I had an excuse. Then again not a lot of people from overseas would have been to Lubbock, Texas, or know that Bismarck was the capital of north Dakota, or that there was a such thing as a Minnesota accent.
I do think its not reasonable to expect Brits to know where all our states are. I actually am surprised to see how many some of them do know. Its rare that an American could find Glouchestershire or Suffolk in England, so we may be bit unreasonable if we believe citizens from other nations should know our states. I think most Americans should however be able to identify the nations of Europe, no excuse for geographic ignorance. I understand the person who mixes up Lithuania and Estonia, or cant find Macedonia but not being able to find France or Poland is plain embarrassing. I can name the nations of Europe, South America, but I do make an occasional error with Africa and Asia. I know most of them however without question. When I see people who cant find a major nation or even worse a state in our own country it makes me shake my head in shame. I hate seeing people like that add fuel to the fire of those who like to bad mouth the US for geographic ignorance. How do we argue with a European making fun of this US geography issue when there are really people here who could not find Indiana on a map let alone Austria.
Why is geographic knowledge so important? I mean what bearing does knowing where France, Italy or Sweden is on map have on most people everyday life. It just pointless knowledge unless
You're interested in those countries.
Case in point, heheheh Of course Montana isn't as prominent on the World stage, but it's more important to Americans than England is, sorry that's just the way it is. For most of us, European geography and knowledge is not useful daily information.
Maybe you should actually try reading someone's post before you get all smug with your reply. Or is reading comprehension not that important to you either? Here's what I said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by LindavG
I'm just waiting for the next American to tell me England is just as important for people around the world to know as Montana or New Mexico because they all have similar sizes.
You know, those people living on other continents that you don't care to know anything about.
Why is geographic knowledge so important? I mean what bearing does knowing where France, Italy or Sweden is on map have on most people everyday life. It just pointless knowledge unless
You're interested in those countries.
Why is maths so important? Or history? Or economics? Or physics? Or art? Or learning a second language? It's all pointless useless knowledge unless you really need this knowledge in your everyday life. Why do I need to know that 10 + 10 = 20 if I can just use a calculator? Why do I need to learn English when we have Google Translate? Why should I care about some war that happened over 60 years ago, it has nothing to do with me. And we have scientists to deal with all that physics stuff.
Let's all limit our minds to things that we really need in everyday life. Celebrate ignorance
Why is maths so important? Or history? Or economics? Or physics? Or art? Or learning a second language? It's all pointless useless knowledge unless you really need this knowledge in your everyday life. Why do I need to know that 10 + 10 = 20 if I can just use a calculator? Why do I need to learn English when we have Google Translate? Why should I care about some war that happened over 60 years ago, it has nothing to do with me. And we have scientists to deal with all that physics stuff.
Let's all limit our minds to things that we really need in everyday life. Celebrate ignorance
Keep in mind though the the US is one country, with several subnational divisions known as states. It is quite impressive that so many Brits knew that much about the subnational divisions of a different country.
Now, a fair comparison would be to tell Americans to located the subnational divisions (counties) of England, like locating Cornwall or Somerset for example. It is much easier to know where a country is located, than knowing it's subnational divisions. Europe is not a country and all of those on that map are seperate sovereign nations, most of them with their own subnational divisions.
We can't compare education in China with western first world education. You would expect more from one of the supposedly most developed nations in the world (the US)
One thing that annoys me about some Americans who are extremely bad at basic geography is that they are proud of their ignorance and boasts about how their country is the center of the world and that others are insignificant in comparison. That they are proud that they dont know anything cause in their ignorant minds they dont need to...
I know what you mean and I have seen that too. I'm not like that. I know Cornwall is somewhere in Southern England and it has a celtic culture if I'm not mistaken. I have no idea about Sumerset. I can tell you were England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is. Also A few of the major Cities such as London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Aberdeen. I have NEVER even traveled outside of the Americas and I'm an American. You do know that in the UK, the only subdivision or city most people will know about is London. That is because it is the most influencial city and was big and influencial like in the like in the past 100-150 years or so. However, NYC, LA, Chicago, those are very influencial cities too. The UK has just one place, the USA has more than that. Even entire states are supposed to be known...Certainly not all 50 but like at least 5 or so.
Why is maths so important? Or history? Or economics? Or physics? Or art? Or learning a second language? It's all pointless useless knowledge unless you really need this knowledge in your everyday life. Why do I need to know that 10 + 10 = 20 if I can just use a calculator? Why do I need to learn English when we have Google Translate? Why should I care about some war that happened over 60 years ago, it has nothing to do with me. And we have scientists to deal with all that physics stuff.
Let's all limit our minds to things that we really need in everyday life. Celebrate ignorance
Alright alright, you're right, point taken. But all I was trying to say is that people shouldn't expect the average person to locate all European nations or all 50 states on a map, it's too much memorising, especially if this type of knowledge doesn't interest you at all. The poster I was replying to made it out like knowing that kind of thing is absolutely essential.
I do see the point of A.J. Maths is an important aspect of life and is necessary in a lot of things that you might not expect, and not knowing simple maths can seriously hinder you, even if you're an otherwise intelligent person, but geography is more of a specialised interest that is not really valuable in everyday life for the most part. Of course, if you're traveling to a country, you should at least do research before visiting, but for most people, whether they be in the US or Europe, being able to point to hundreds of countries on a map is not a useful skill. I would expect most people to be able to point to very well-known countries like the US, France or Italy, but not places like Sweden, Chile or South Korea (all somewhat well-known, but not to the extent of the US, France, Italy, UK, Australia etc).
Most people I talk to couldn't tell you where exactly Sweden, Poland or Ukraine are. My mother, for example, basically thinks anything on the European landmass is 'near Russia', except France and Spain (because she's been to both), lol.
Why is geographic knowledge so important? I mean what bearing does knowing where France, Italy or Sweden is on map have on most people everyday life. It just pointless knowledge unless
You're interested in those countries.
What's the point of knowing basic math? What's the point of knowing your nearest neighbor city? Heck, what's even the point of knowing anything that does not affect your everyday life? There is no excuse why a high school or college student, or an educated person, should not know these things that has been taught for so many years in school.
But it's the people who are proud of being ignorant and unknowing that annoys me the most.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
