1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

USA on the Rest of the World

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Barmy Army, Jan 28, 2007.

  1. Barmy Army

    Barmy Army Simple mind, simple pleasures... Adored Veteran

    Joined:
    May 26, 2003
    Messages:
    6,586
    Media:
    2
    Likes Received:
    162
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCkYfYa8ePI

    So, is this a fair reflection on the US of A? :shake:

    It must be so easy to make a program like this when you're in a country of over 300million people... some of the answers are hilarious though!

    Out of curiosity... what country do the American's here think this program was made in... ?
     
  2. Bahir the Red Gems: 18/31
    Latest gem: Horn Coral


    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2004
    Messages:
    1,072
    Likes Received:
    1
    ...posted by me in the Video thread in the Whatnots.


    I don't care if they only chose to show the people who gave the wrong answer; any person with a decent education should be able to answer those questions or at least not give such a moronic answer as those people did. But maybe that's where the problem lies, in the educational system of the US.
     
  3. Montresor

    Montresor Mostly Harmless Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2005
    Messages:
    3,103
    Media:
    127
    Likes Received:
    183
    Gender:
    Male
    As you say, it should be easy enough to make such a program in a country with 300 million people. I could think of Danes who would give such dumb answers and we only number five million.
     
  4. Ofelix

    Ofelix The world changes, we do not, what irony!

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2002
    Messages:
    5,989
    Media:
    5
    Likes Received:
    111
    Gender:
    Male
    It doesn't really reflect anything, in any countries there is bound to be idiots who know nothing, and surely the guy edited the video so only the wrong and dumb answer are shown. But yes it is quite hilarious.
     
  5. Argohir Gems: 10/31
    Latest gem: Zircon


    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2004
    Messages:
    397
    Likes Received:
    0
    Of course there are very intelligent people in USA, like every other country. But now I understand better how Bush was elected.
     
  6. War Nerve

    War Nerve And it took me back to something that I'd lost

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2001
    Messages:
    241
    Likes Received:
    0
    :bad: Yet another video like we've seen before in SP which exclusively shows Americans who don't know the answers to simple questions.

    Stuff like this is funny until people start looking at things like these as a representation of the entire country, and the sad part is that many people do. The fact of the matter is, as aforementioned, you find people ignorant of even the most simple knowledge in any country.
     
  7. Cúchulainn Gems: 28/31
    Latest gem: Star Sapphire


    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2004
    Messages:
    2,956
    Likes Received:
    1
    I doubt the video is real. Your average primary school kid could pick out Australia on a map, never mind confusing it with Iran or North Korea!
     
  8. Abomination Gems: 26/31
    Latest gem: Diamond


    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2003
    Messages:
    2,375
    Likes Received:
    0
    *blinks* I had trouble watching it, it was so disturbing.
     
  9. Sydax Gems: 19/31
    Latest gem: Aquamarine


    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2003
    Messages:
    1,166
    Likes Received:
    0
    :eek:

    In Argentina somebody did a show like this one, but they were after school kids, they supposed to know the answers because that's what they were studying at that time but 9 out 10 answers were really dumb.
    Here in Spain did another show like this one and of course, when you watch it edited with just the dumb answers, makes it fun (or wonder if education system is right).
     
  10. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2000
    Messages:
    23,475
    Media:
    494
    Likes Received:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    It's good that at least the US military's geography skills are a bit better, because bombing the daylights out of Australia because someone had stuck an "Iran" flag in it would have been a tad embarrassing. :lol:

    But seriously, you can find idiots all around the world. It's just that this kind of ignorance is dumbfounding to most Europeans, because our educational systems place a relatively high importance on knowing our countries' geographical position in the world, and on the locations of most of the other countries of the world.

    I'm guessing here, but given the large number of American states, the emphasis in the US is probably on learning something about each of the American states and not so much about what's behind the borders of the USA. Not that I don't consider not knowing what Australia looks like on the map moronic, but this might be one explanation for it.

    [ January 30, 2007, 14:04: Message edited by: Taluntain ]
     
  11. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2000
    Messages:
    10,140
    Media:
    63
    Likes Received:
    250
    Gender:
    Male
    Sketchy knowledge of geography surely helps when you're about to punch in your ICBM's target coordinates for the nuclear strike on Russia ... "Initiating launch procedures, target coordinates ... 38°53´N, 77°02´W, confirm!" "YESSIR! Affirmative Sir!"

    :holy:

    Maybe home schooling isn't such a good idea after all.
     
  12. The Shaman Gems: 28/31
    Latest gem: Star Sapphire


    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2004
    Messages:
    2,831
    Likes Received:
    54
    Not that much better, unfortunately. Remember the Kosovo operation? Well, a HARM missile hit the roof of a house in a Sofia suburb (luckily it didn't detonate). They were informally known as "Gorna Banya" Air-to-Roof missiles for a while among those who were into dark humor. Apparently even the "smart" munitions make mistakes between capitals of neighboring Balkan countries :) . Oh, and there was that bit about the Chinese embassy, but at least it was in the same city.

    Of course, you could also argue that the whole mess in Iraq was because someone made a mistake in finding the right country, but that'd be a bit too much... right?

    [ January 30, 2007, 19:38: Message edited by: Taluntain ]
     
  13. Rawgrim Gems: 21/31
    Latest gem: Pearl


    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2004
    Messages:
    1,365
    Likes Received:
    27
    No wonder Bush got elected twice.................
     
  14. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2000
    Messages:
    10,407
    Media:
    40
    Likes Received:
    231
    Gender:
    Male
    I remember learning about all the countries of the world in grade school. I can't imagine that's changed since (way back :) ) then.

    I think it's that these people don't care enough about things like that to remember; it's not that they never knew.

    It is amazing that they can mistake Australia for North and South Korea, Iran and even France just because a map has it labelled that way. "I didn't realize North Korea was so much bigger than South Korea!" Had me dying with laughter. :)
     
  15. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2000
    Messages:
    10,140
    Media:
    63
    Likes Received:
    250
    Gender:
    Male
    It is relatively easy to talk people into such a stunt. It's all about how much confidence you display. It's like with selling things :holy: Also people don't pay full attention when suddenly being talked at on the street. Then there is the 'excitement' of the camera present. No big deal.
     
  16. Late-Night Thinker Gems: 17/31
    Latest gem: Star Diopside


    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2003
    Messages:
    991
    Likes Received:
    2
    Most people have seen enough Jay Leno to know that you only get on national TV for saying something stupid.
     
  17. Sydax Gems: 19/31
    Latest gem: Aquamarine


    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2003
    Messages:
    1,166
    Likes Received:
    0
    Besides, when I was in school, there weren't such many countries, there was just USSR...
    And another thing, those people where in the streets, and many of them I'm sure aren't geeks like us, people who spend most of the time in front of a computer, reading almost everything. They have better things to do like walking their family out :p
     
  18. Bion Gems: 21/31
    Latest gem: Pearl


    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2004
    Messages:
    1,356
    Likes Received:
    2
    Here's one theory how this happened...

    At least we can look forward to great TV and news in the future!
     
  19. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

    Joined:
    May 15, 2003
    Messages:
    12,434
    Media:
    46
    Likes Received:
    249
    Gender:
    Male
    Sadly, geography is not something that you get a lot of in public schools in the U.S. I think BTA's comment of:

    is the exception rather than the rule. I didn't learn anything regarding world georgraphy outside of the U.S. borders in elementary school. Now, I have no idea how old BTA is, but assuming he's a 30-something or 40-something, I imagine our public school educations shouldn't be that different.

    The point is, the only geography I got was specific to the area we were studying in history. When you took European history, yes, you learned European geography (although seeing as how Yugoslavia was still a country when I went to high school, I probably could not correctly identify all of the "new" countries).

    However, I never took African History or South American History, and so I am probably only capable of identifying about half of the nations in Africa, and about 3/4 of the nations in South America - I don't know any U.S. school that gives more than a passing glance on world georgraphy.
     
  20. Nakia

    Nakia The night is mine Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2003
    Messages:
    5,575
    Media:
    102
    Likes Received:
    136
    Gender:
    Female
    I believe Aldeth is correct about US Public schools. The private school(s) I taught in did do a lot with World geography starting in the middle form (4th-8th).
     
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.