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Grex > Agora41 > #112: Why Americans ,in general, are so dumb in geography? | |
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avin
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Why Americans ,in general, are so dumb in geography?
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Apr 21 23:29 UTC 2002 |
I am posting this not because I watched the TV when George W messed upwith
his geography? I am posting thsi more out of my personal experiences after
having spent a couple years..has that got anything to do withe the education
system or what? any introspection...???
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| 360 responses total. |
oval
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response 1 of 360:
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Apr 21 23:43 UTC 2002 |
because americans are taught to be ethnocentric. dubya is just an idiot.
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sarkhel
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response 2 of 360:
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Apr 22 00:25 UTC 2002 |
who is dubya???
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mcnally
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response 3 of 360:
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Apr 22 01:00 UTC 2002 |
it's a nickname for George W. Bush.. "dubya" reads somewhat like "W"
might be pronounced by an ignorant person..
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jp2
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response 4 of 360:
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Apr 22 01:18 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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gelinas
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response 5 of 360:
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Apr 22 03:38 UTC 2002 |
The ignorance is not limited to Americans. I've known others who didn't get
to know much about the world outside their borders. (Rarely, though, since
I didn't get out much when I lived in Japan, and I've lived in only two
countries.)
People tend to pick up geography by experience: Travelers tend to know more
than non-travelers, and Europeans tend to travel more than Americans.
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senna
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response 6 of 360:
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Apr 22 04:06 UTC 2002 |
Why are non-americans so likely to overgeneralize? ;)
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jmsaul
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response 7 of 360:
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Apr 22 04:22 UTC 2002 |
Re #5: You might rephrase that as "travel *to other countries*," and the
reasons for it are pretty obvious.
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other
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response 8 of 360:
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Apr 22 04:24 UTC 2002 |
But for those to whom it isn't: size and relative geographic isolation
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russ
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response 9 of 360:
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Apr 22 10:01 UTC 2002 |
Americans are so poor with geography because the USA is so huge,
people don't travel outside the country very often (comparatively)
and most news comes from "here".
It's also not part of the standard K-12 education, and it's hard
to make a case for making it a part of that curriculum when there
is so little in the news that would make the rest of the world
relevant to the classwork.
The same thing happens on even smaller scales. There are New Yorkers
who barely believe there's a world outside their city, for example.
I can't do anything about it, so I refuse to bother myself.
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jmsaul
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response 10 of 360:
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Apr 22 12:55 UTC 2002 |
Are you sure geography isn't part of the standard K-12 education?
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brighn
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response 11 of 360:
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Apr 22 13:38 UTC 2002 |
Most news comes from "here" because that's what we're taught to care about.
That's not an issue of travel, that's an issue of being taught
ethnocentricism, as someone already said.
Plenty of things happen in the rest of the world. Plenty of things which are
more important in the long run happen in the rest of the world. We just don't
seem to care until they come and blow up our buildings.
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gull
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response 12 of 360:
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Apr 22 14:25 UTC 2002 |
I think the travel argument has a lot to do with it. It's not limited
to Americans, either; Europeans often seem to have a very distorted idea
of distances in the U.S. (like thinking that it's a short drive from
Detroit to Chicago.)
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brighn
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response 13 of 360:
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Apr 22 15:04 UTC 2002 |
Isn't it? ;}
I tend to think of Toronto as closed to Detroit than Chicago is, but it's
roughly the same drive time.
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brighn
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response 14 of 360:
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Apr 22 15:13 UTC 2002 |
closed>closer, although many Canucks probably DO wish Tranna was closed to
Detroit.
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slynne
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response 15 of 360:
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Apr 22 17:08 UTC 2002 |
Obviously a certain level of geographical knowledge is nice to have but
how much does your average American really need to know in order to get
by? What motivation is there to learn exactly where all the borders in
Africa are or where certain countries in Asia or Europe are located. Of
course since our culture is so European, I know more about European
geopraphy than African, Asian or South American. I think this is pretty
common. People learn what they are exposed to.
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sarkhel
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response 16 of 360:
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Apr 22 21:31 UTC 2002 |
There are two reasons behind the poor knowledge:
1) In the name itself, americans always think of "us" and NOT "them" or "they"
so they least bother of outside world
2) They donot use amiglobe software
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slynne
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response 17 of 360:
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Apr 22 21:38 UTC 2002 |
1)Doesnt everyone think it terms of "us" and "them" a little bit? I
dont think that kind of thinking is unique to people in the United
States.
2)I have never even heard of amiglobe software.
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senna
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response 18 of 360:
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Apr 22 22:37 UTC 2002 |
Chicago is three hours, Toronto at least four depending upon which part you're
going to. Both are short drives, though they might seem long to Europeans.
Why would Canadians want Toronto to be closer to Detroit? Wouldn't they
prefer it to be closer to Chicago?
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gull
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response 19 of 360:
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Apr 22 22:37 UTC 2002 |
They use Microsoft Streets USA, where all the roads end at the
borders. Did you know that Canada and Mexico have no roads? ;)
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md
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response 20 of 360:
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Apr 22 22:49 UTC 2002 |
I travel all over the place and although I haven't done a systematic
study it's my impression that the level of geographical ignorance among
the educated middle class isn't all that much worse in the US than
anyplace else. The Brits of my acquaintance are at the well-educated
end of the spectrum, along with the Spaniards, who are really
superior. The French and the Brazilians are at the retarded end. The
others (Swiss, Italians, Chinese, Israelis, Mexicans) are about the
same as us.
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sarkhel
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response 21 of 360:
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Apr 22 23:30 UTC 2002 |
Re:- no.17, Once again Mr.Fremont proves that how poor the geo knowledge of
US people, even they dont know the Amiglobe sw.And the credit goes to.......
Pl.pay up some $ and try to improve your knowledge.
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oval
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response 22 of 360:
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Apr 22 23:31 UTC 2002 |
try to improve your grasp of the english language.
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sarkhel
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response 23 of 360:
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Apr 22 23:37 UTC 2002 |
Any software for it? However there is nothing special in English lang.Neither
Eng.knowledge improves the Geo Knowledge nor it makes anyone super human.
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sarkhel
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response 24 of 360:
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Apr 22 23:44 UTC 2002 |
Hey Deb dont bother these dumb guys, they dont know what they r talking.They
feel that there is ONLY one language in the world is English and not knowing
it is a crime
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