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SAYING WHAT HAS TO BE SAID...IN TRUE LIBERTARIAN FASHION

Just how stupid are we?

Published Tuesday, May 02, 2006 by Editor | E-mail this post

After non-stop coverage of Hurricane Katrina, you’d think anyone born since 2000 would be able to find Louisiana on a map, but the reality is far from reassuring. According to a poll conducted for the National Geographic Society, fully 1/3 of respondents had no clue where Louisiana was and roughly half couldn’t find Mississippi. How sad is that?

Gone are the days when your average elementary (or should we say rudimentary) school student could identify all the states and their capitals. Perhaps just as shocking, 60% of poll participants couldn’t locate Iraq. The poll also indicated that in spite of numerous reports on outsourcing to India ½ of respondents could not find the Indian subcontinent.

This poll highlights two facts: in the first place a growing sector of our society are being disserved by both their parents and the public schools and secondly, this country is dire straits, with a growing population of idiots, incapable of understanding the most basic facts. In an era of increased globalization, transparent borders and multinational business, how can future generations of Americans expect to compete and survive when they know little about their own backyard, much less the rest of the world?

There simple is no justifiable excuse for such ignorance. Unfortunately, for many Americans they are ignorant and content to be so, just as long as they don’t miss the next game or American Idol. Alas for our poor country…
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-02-geography-poll_x.htm

3 Responses to “Just how stupid are we?”

Kira on May 02, 2006

Living in Europe, I was of the opinion that Americans were more ignorant of the world than anyone else. Then I met lots of "anyone elses" and realized - there are just more Americans (including ignorant ones) encountered than, say, Swedes, and thus the stereotype. On average, we have as many geography ignorant people as anyone else. This is no excuse, as I'll take anyone on in a world geography/capitals competition :-)

Anyway, heres the same poll conducted in 2002. They discovered that "On average, fewer than one-fifth of all young adults worldwide could identify Iraq on a Middle East/Asia map": http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geosurvey/download/RoperSurvey.pdf

So less than 20% of those questioned (which included UK, France, Canada, US, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden) - could point out Iraq on a map. Perhaps since our 2003 invasion, everyone but Americans spent some time staring at the map of the Mid-East. But somehow I doubt it.

I'd like to see the study (which has NOT been published), and see if the figures really just take a punch at Americans, as they tend to do.

And why don't they ever call me for these surveys???
The Phalanx on May 02, 2006

One thing is for certain, Al Qaeda can certainly point out America on a map and probably every major American city with a population over 250,000.
Right-Brained on July 10, 2006

Do you know the capitals to all 50 United States?

There is a new study aid packaged as a deck of 50 flash cards with whimsical illustrations that help trigger the memory of the visual learner. Most teaching methods and tests are geared toward the left brained, and this makes it a struggle for those who are right brained to keep up, but it doesn't have to be this way. The picture association method these flash cards use is an alternative way to memorize that can help level the playing field.

http://www.rightbrainedlearner.com

:)