Americans and the World Map

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13

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  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 610 Member
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    I will candidly admit I would do very poorly with a geography test. Hell, I doubt I can label all 50 states correctly and I've driven through a bunch of them....
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
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    I will candidly admit I would do very poorly with a geography test. Hell, I doubt I can label all 50 states correctly and I've driven through a bunch of them....

    Not to worry... As long as you an find Uranus, you'll always be okay. :smile:
  • KristinaB83
    KristinaB83 Posts: 440 Member
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    If you want to test yourselves:
    http://lizardpoint.com/geography/europe-quiz.php
    I wonder how many non US citizens could locate Iowa on a blank US map...or Delaware. I'm not really sure what the point of the post is.
    I think there's a difference between recognizing countries with distinct cultures, languages and histories and recognizing the subdivisions of a single, and more or less homogeneous, country.

    Heh... I scored a 55%
  • nutellabrah
    nutellabrah Posts: 543
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    Is this really true? Or a joke? It has to be a joke right?

    http://themetapicture.com/americans-were-asked-to-place-european-countries-on-a-map/

    Why would it be a joke?

    Ethnocentrism is nothing new from either side of the spectrum. Whether its you expecting me to know everything about your world, or me not caring about knowing anything else except my world.

    Either way its a sign of emotional immaturity to judge someone about it in this era when all knowledge is disposable/accessible in the palm of your hand via the internet and wikipedia.

    Guess what I could fill up that whole map because I would just hold down the Siri button and say show me a map of Europe.

    It would be asinine for me to memorize such things now or to waste time "learning" it in school when they could be teaching me about taxes or principles of sales and business techniques. How to get a tax id. How to write a business plan. How to write better.
  • clover5
    clover5 Posts: 1,643 Member
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    Yes, it's true.
  • Fit2Strip
    Fit2Strip Posts: 280 Member
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    If you want to test yourselves:
    http://lizardpoint.com/geography/europe-quiz.php
    I wonder how many non US citizens could locate Iowa on a blank US map...or Delaware. I'm not really sure what the point of the post is.
    I think there's a difference between recognizing countries with distinct cultures, languages and histories and recognizing the subdivisions of a single, and more or less homogeneous, country.

    Lol homogeneous. I dare you to put natives from Boston, El Paso, Portland, and Detroit in a room together and tell them they're the same.

    Freely admitting my map would look pretty much exactly like the second one.

    Agreed.
    Look at Canada and the U.S. They make up more landmass than Europe (excluding Russia). So to expect someone to know every small country in Europe would be equivalent to expecting people over there to know every US state and Canadian province/territory.
  • CLFrancois
    CLFrancois Posts: 472 Member
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    I don't know all the countries on the continent of Africa or South America either.
    Am I getting kicked out of the geography club now?
  • SrJoben
    SrJoben Posts: 484 Member
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    If you want to test yourselves:
    http://lizardpoint.com/geography/europe-quiz.php
    I wonder how many non US citizens could locate Iowa on a blank US map...or Delaware. I'm not really sure what the point of the post is.
    I think there's a difference between recognizing countries with distinct cultures, languages and histories and recognizing the subdivisions of a single, and more or less homogeneous, country.

    Not knowing if Poland is east or west of Germany is a failure at trivia.

    Thinking that a country as large as all of Eastern Europe put together is homogenous is a failure at common sense.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    I wonder how many non US citizens could locate Iowa on a blank US map...or Delaware.
    You do know those aren't actually countries?
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    I saw the same thing filled in by Australians, and it was equally funny. It was the USA w/o the states names filled in just like this link the OP posted. I can't remember where I saw it, otherwise I'd post a link. The only States they got right consistently were Texas and California.
  • Fit2Strip
    Fit2Strip Posts: 280 Member
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    I tried the quiz. I didn't know where "F.Y.R.O.M." was, does that make me an ignorant and evil American?
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    I used to know where all the countries in Europe was. I had this jigsaw when I was a kid, each piece was a separate country (well not quite some of the tiny little ones like Liechtenstein were joined to bigger countries), and that's how I learned the entire map of Europe.

    Then the Berlin Wall was knocked down and the two Germanies joined together (that was the easy bit), and then Russia, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia all split into smaller countries and I've never been quite able to catch up.... I need a new jigsaw.....

    (I know where Georgia is though because Homo erectus)
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
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    I wonder how many non US citizens could locate Iowa on a blank US map...or Delaware.
    You do know those aren't actually countries?

    You do know that doesn't matter?
  • apercanis
    apercanis Posts: 72
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    Clearly this was a well-controlled study. I like that they didn't ask participants to leave countries blank when they don't know the answer but instead asked them to write apologies, smart *kitten* remarks, and self-deprecating humor.

    I would fail the world map test miserably. I would fail labeling my own nearby cities on a map terribly. I focus my attention on what is relevant to my life. Since I'm not wandering in an isolated location with no access to technology to help me find my way, and I'm not in charge of delivering anything to anyone, geography is low on my list of priorities. It's true that I'm not interested. There are a lot of things I do find interesting and useful that others often don't.

    I'm sure if I wanted to, I could study a world map and memorize where to put everything. I'm just not sure what value that would have to me, or how that value would outweigh the value in whatever else I was spending my time doing. (Yes, including MFP. Leisure and interpersonal interactions count as worthwhile.)

    I also learned the same dates in American history year after year after year growing up, and there's still only a couple that mean anything to me. You could make assumptions based on my education, intelligence, motivation to learn from this. But those assumptions would be based on some very limited information. I'm ok with admitting I'm not good at everything.

    Agreed.
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
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    Honestly, the US is a lot more monocultural than you guys realize. Of course it has regional differences, all countries have them. However, by comparison:

    - The Basque Country in Spain and France is the only region in the worls where a pre-Indo-European language is widely spoken. On a similar note, Wales in the UK is the only region where a Celtic language is widely spoken.
    - Northwestern Germany has a Protestant majority and a (small) Catholic minority. Southeastern Germany has a Catholic majority and a (small) Protestant minority.
    - Russia has (large) regions where the majority of the population is of Turkic descent.

    I can't think of any regional differences in the US that are as deep as that.
    You do know those aren't actually countries?
    You do know that doesn't matter?
    Brb, New York declaring war to Quebec.
    Wait, that's not how it works, is it?
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
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    Honestly, the US is a lot more monocultural than you guys realize. Of course it has regional differences, all countries have them. However, by comparison:

    - The Basque Country in Spain and France is the only region in the worls where a pre-Indo-European language is widely spoken. On a similar note, Wales in the UK is the only region where a Celtic language is widely spoken.
    - Northwestern Germany has a Protestant majority and a (small) Catholic minority. Southeastern Germany has a Catholic majority and a (small) Protestant minority.
    - Russia has (large) regions where the majority of the population is of Turkic descent.

    I can't think of any regional differences in the US that are as deep as that.
    You do know those aren't actually countries?
    You do know that doesn't matter?
    Brb, New York declaring war to Quebec.
    Wait, that's not how it works, is it?

    Nope.
    I think it's more diverse than you realize.

    Alaska has (large) regions of people of Native Alaskan decent.
    Hawaii has a large population of (wait for it)... Hawaiian decent.
    In some areas of Louisiana, an off-set of French is spoken, and Louisiana law is based on Nepoleonic Code.
    Climates in the states range more than in Europe. I can't IMAGINE how that might diversify culture.
    Catholic vs Protestant distributions like you cited occur throughout states in the US.

    But you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
  • aelphabawest
    aelphabawest Posts: 173 Member
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    Honestly, the US is a lot more monocultural than you guys realize. Of course it has regional differences, all countries have them. However, by comparison:

    - The Basque Country in Spain and France is the only region in the worls where a pre-Indo-European language is widely spoken. On a similar note, Wales in the UK is the only region where a Celtic language is widely spoken.
    - Northwestern Germany has a Protestant majority and a (small) Catholic minority. Southeastern Germany has a Catholic majority and a (small) Protestant minority.
    - Russia has (large) regions where the majority of the population is of Turkic descent.

    I can't think of any regional differences in the US that are as deep as that.
    You do know those aren't actually countries?
    You do know that doesn't matter?

    Brb, New York declaring war to Quebec.
    Wait, that's not how it works, is it?

    Actually, Maine declared war on Canada at one point - it's called the Aroostook War.
    There are pockets in the Appalachia that are the only places in the world where the English spoken is linguistically closet to the English spoken during Shakespere's days.
    Amish country, anyone?
    And as a New Englander who has lived in various parts of the South (and the UK), the North vs. South divide is quite different. As different, if not more so, than going from the US to the UK.

    Also, the OP wasn't about cultural differences, it was about physical geography, as in the ability to look at a map and identify what country or region is within the relevant squiggly line. It's quite a bit different, as former colonies divided by siggly lines by Europeans without regard to their culture can attest to.
  • bearkisses
    bearkisses Posts: 1,252 Member
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    google maps people

    giphy.gif
  • AglaeaC
    AglaeaC Posts: 1,974 Member
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    I thought it might have been a joke due to the funny suggestions when no better reply was on offer. What surprised me the most was that not a single map was correct (statistically at least one might have hit most nails on the head?) and what also took me by surprise was that everyone seemed to be all over the place. For instance when you're into a particular sport, you might learn through it different competitors from other countries, or if you're into music you might know concert places. Or those interested in history and politics are bound to pick up at least a bit more from watching news and reading newspapers or online. Even if school wasn't super fun, geography might have been picked up via (couch) travels. And so on.

    What I mean is lots of stuff is often picked up almost unconsciously when you're showing interest in various hobbies etc., which is why I thought whether it was just a bad joke to put Americans in bad light. I'm not familiar with the website but found the link on facebook. Anyway, it sparked a discussion :) I took a test to place US states in right locations and scored about 85% only so there 's room for improvement! Back in the day there was a similar online game for Africa and I was quite a sorry case when starting out; need to do it again to refresh my memory.
  • bearkisses
    bearkisses Posts: 1,252 Member
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    Honestly, the US is a lot more monocultural than you guys realize. Of course it has regional differences, all countries have them. However, by comparison:

    - The Basque Country in Spain and France is the only region in the worls where a pre-Indo-European language is widely spoken. On a similar note, Wales in the UK is the only region where a Celtic language is widely spoken.
    - Northwestern Germany has a Protestant majority and a (small) Catholic minority. Southeastern Germany has a Catholic majority and a (small) Protestant minority.
    - Russia has (large) regions where the majority of the population is of Turkic descent.

    I can't think of any regional differences in the US that are as deep as that.
    You do know those aren't actually countries?
    You do know that doesn't matter?
    Brb, New York declaring war to Quebec.
    Wait, that's not how it works, is it?

    you just want the recipe to poutine

    secret: fries, gravy, cheese!

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