Stupid Americans?

[tau_neutrino]

http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/002454.html

I heard that this is an Australian show. Please tell me that this is a fake. If not, I can't say I'm too surprised. Our education system SUCKS.

[AzzMan]

Jesus Christ almighty. I realize there aren't more people like that than there are intelligent Americans, but that's just sickeningly sad.

[Bommando]

Oh, that is gold. My favourite is the guy right at the end who pinned Australia as Korea and thought that Tasmania was South Korea.

CNNNN is indeed a satire show down here, but the interviewees in that segment were dead serious. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Americans are stupid in general (every country is made up by a majority of stupid people).

From personal experience (present company excepted, I love you guys) Americans are notoriously crap at Geography. There doesn't seem to be much room in the curriculum for countries outside the U.S.

AzzMan, you will be disappointed to learn that people like that are the norm rather than the exception. By and large, it is the same down here, although our awareness of countries other than our own is considerably greater.

I hope nobody is offended by that statement. I have met a lot of fantastic people from all over the world. I am generalising for the sake of simplicity.

[munchkin]

Heh, CNNNN canes. I remember one bit where they got a schoolboy choir to go and mock the leader of one party just after he lost the election.

The talk about geography reminds me of 2 American friends of my dad, who came to Sydney briefly. Our family took them out to a beach. On arrival, the husband looked up and said "Wow, that sun is bright! It sure looks different to the one we have back home."
He was completely serious, and didn't realise why we all cracked up laughing.

[CingularDuality]

Originally Posted by Bommando

From personal experience (present company excepted, I love you guys) Americans are notoriously crap at Geography.

I think it may be because we're much less traveled, too? I don't know about Australians, but Europeans and Asians all tend to travel the world and see world geography first hand. Americans tend to travel the country and see American geography first hand...

[munchkin]

Travel inside Australia isn't that popular, except to go up and down the coastlines to the awesome beaches. However, there does tend to be a fairly large culture of young Aussie student backpackers travelling across Asia, due to its close proximity to Oz.

[Turbo]

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

I think it may be because we're much less traveled, too? I don't know about Australians, but Europeans and Asians all tend to travel the world and see world geography first hand. Americans tend to travel the country and see American geography first hand...

So true, I have only been out of the country once and that was only half way across the ocean to Bermuda. I haven't even been to Canada and it is only a few hours away. It is very expensive for us to travel overseas so most of us are only lucky enough to do it once or twice in our lifetime so we stick to traveling around North America.

p.s.- I heard their was two moons in Australia, is it true?

[munchkin]

Originally Posted by Turbo

p.s.- I heard their was two moons in Australia, is it true?

Yep, one for cheese farming, the other one we rent out to any intergalactic visitors who happen to be passing by

[Trooper]

sad but true...alot of americans dont realize that the war of 1812 was not the american revolution....so uou can imagine how many people dont know geography


USA USA USA!

[leejo]

Originally Posted by Trooper[SNPR]

sad but true...alot of americans dont realize that the wear of 1812 was not the american revolution....so uou can imagine how many people dont know geography


USA USA USA!

Truer words were never ritten.

[Trooper]

Originally Posted by munchkin

Travel inside Australia isn't that popular, except to go up and down the coastlines to the awesome beaches. However, there does tend to be a fairly large culture of young Aussie student backpackers travelling across Asia, due to its close proximity to Oz.

nah they arent "backpacking" they are trying to figure out what to do with there criminals, they figure it worked for britain.

[leejo]

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

I think it may be because we're much less traveled, too? I don't know about Australians, but Europeans and Asians all tend to travel the world and see world geography first hand. Americans tend to travel the country and see American geography first hand...

Americans travel a lot in their big cars but often stay in their big houses filled with shiny things: we spend our money differently.

Also, Americans tend to take fewer and shorter vacations. That doesn't explain the ignorance but on the other hand I wonder how many Europeans know the 2nd runner up on American Idol? Hmmm?

[Vodkatonic]

That looked like the boardwalk at Venice Beach, California, it's a typical Southern California freakshow.

[.143 Beth©]

Well, the news surely didn't report all the people they asked. I am pretty sure the results shown are that of 100 or more. But it still doesn't change the fact that the education system is failing in the U.S. to cater to all the intellectually handicapped.

[SmokingTarpan]

It's pretty much a given that Americans are poor at geography overall. Prior to college, I only had one geography class in junoir high, and the culmination of that was being able to name the continents (name, not label). In college, I had a world geography course, but it mainly focussed on the low-wage labor in one or two third world countries.

I'm not well-traveled, and probably will never leave the US. But I have a general idea of where everything is in the world at least at the country level, if not the city. I might not be able to point out Imstickystan at the drop of a hat, but I certainly wouldn't point to Australia and call it France.