<!--QuoteBegin-Mullet+Sep 21 2004, 08:29 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Mullet @ Sep 21 2004, 08:29 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> You don't have to be smart to hit a big red button which launches a nuke...USA wins. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Yea, but you gotta know which button is red...and what a button is . Plus you gotta flip up that plastic cover thing, and let's face it - that can be tricky. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
...I remember reading statistics like this from 1995. You have to remember that statistics represent a small percentage of actual citizens of their respective countries. Generally they're around 0.001% of the population. Of course, that's no excuse, since I've met people who would lose a battle of wits with a brick.
UltimaGecko's policy: If you don't know your state/provincial/district capital and national capital by the age of 6 you will be shot in the head with a large caliber weapon.
If you don't know the locations of 15 countries by the age of 8 you will be disemboweled.
If you don't know your country's population and basic system of government by 12 you will be hanged (along with knowing >33% of your country's provinces and 10% of its capitals).
If you don't know your country's military history and present basic troop allocation (with cartographic knowledge) by 16 you will be castrated.
...That solves all the problems [with basic geography...] right there. Fairly lenient if I say so myself. Bah, people that can't pinpoint themselves on a map and don't know their national capital amaze me. I have no idea why our school system lets them advance beyond 2nd grade.
At least AP physics had decently intelligent people, if only they were the majority rather than the exception.
<!--QuoteBegin-camO.o+Sep 21 2004, 05:59 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (camO.o @ Sep 21 2004, 05:59 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> [*]On average, young adults in other countries in the study were better able to locate other European countries than American young adults are to locate U.S. states. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> I'll admit I get those damned midwestern states confused all the time.
At least in Europe your countries have unique borders. They should just make one state out of the middle of the Louisiana purchase and call it either GrainLand or OMG-its-so-friggin-flat-I-am-gonna-flip-out-Land.
<!--QuoteBegin-UltimaGecko+Sep 21 2004, 08:50 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UltimaGecko @ Sep 21 2004, 08:50 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> If you don't know your state/provincial/district capital and national capital by the age of 6 you will be shot in the head with a large caliber weapon. than the exception. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Are you sure you wanna waste that extra metal? I mean, sure, it makes more splatter, but using smaller caliber bullets would use less metal(as the bullets are smaller.), and let's accept the truth- a grain of metal > these non capital knowers.
As for the war thing, that's a little harsh. I mean, I have trouble with the US's war history, and we've only been around a few hundred years. Maybe if you caucasian peoples weren't always fighting each other, it'd be easier. But NO, its always "OLO WEREBORED START A WAR!!!!" with you guys. Seriously. Lay off.
It's great to be able to pull out these statistics and say how stupid the majority of america is, especially in relation to the rest of the world.. But what's the reasoning? Why is america apparently so stupid in comparison to everyone else? What's making it like this, if it's true?
<!--QuoteBegin-eediot+Sep 21 2004, 09:52 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (eediot @ Sep 21 2004, 09:52 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> It's great to be able to pull out these statistics and say how stupid the majority of america is, especially in relation to the rest of the world.. But what's the reasoning? Why is america apparently so stupid in comparison to everyone else? What's making it like this, if it's true? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> edited for niceness
dude i dont know anyone who doesnt know those questions. the only question i didnt know was the survivor one....
well maybe i do, 2-4 people in my high school class didnt (my grad class only had 21 people in it though, ruraljavascript:emoticon(':0') smilie nevada).... maybe
1 said "ta he" instead of "the" in class while reading *my god it was brilliant
2 were Mexican and just didnt care about school(not being racist its just the mexicans in my class just didnt do anything in school)
1 was from peru and barely spoke english, who while being quite smart, didnt really know much about world politics
/edit just realized they were all women <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> he he he sorry ladies
I actually looked at the questionaire and it was easy. Do people really not know that France has nukes? Or that Christianity is the world's largest religion? How can somebody not know the population of their country, even if it's just an approximation?
I was easily able to answer all of those questions. Why is it that I never get selected for these surveys? The only one I had trouble with was the <i>Survivor</i> question, and I was able to answer that because I know Tahiti is in the South Pacific.
I'm going to stop beating myself up for not knowing everything.
Christianity is the world's largest religion? Hmm.. I feel that could have gone either way. There are a lot of other huge religions [india/middle east/etc], but the thing with christianity is, you turn around for 1 second and you come back and suddenly you're Christian
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->By contrast, more young Americans (34%) could determine that the island used for the last season of the television show Survivor is in the South Pacific.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The fact that this is nearly double the other two countries says that these figures result from a lack of teaching in geography, rather than just the fact that they are American.
They didn't really provide who they asked did they? For all we know, this guy could have asked every illegal immigrant in the U.S. and then asked university students in every other country.
It's not America that's stupid, it's the world. The majority of the world's population are poor, illiterate, can't write or do anything like that. Just because the U.S. is the economic leader of the world doesn't mean they have to be the smartest. We probably have the highest illegal alien population in the world and I can guarantee you that it contributes to our supposed 'stupidity'.
The fact is, we have awesome colleges/universities and awesome opportunities for people to educate themselves. It is honestly not our fault if idiots don't take advantage of these or if they dig themselves into a hole and don't know worldly events.
<!--QuoteBegin-Ambassador+Sep 21 2004, 10:34 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Ambassador @ Sep 21 2004, 10:34 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> The fact is, we have awesome colleges/universities and awesome opportunities for people to educate themselves. It is honestly not our fault if idiots don't take advantage of these or if they dig themselves into a hole and don't know worldly events. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Maybe in SW states, but definitely not on the East Coast. Our educational system is faulted, too lax, and provides a **** education. China's schools are much more demanding, but that much more effective. American students complain about getting a lot of work... most asian students would laugh at how much we got, compared to what they're dealt with.
I'm not saying we don't have retards, but everywhere has retards.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where, say, Colorado was? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where canada was for that matter? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time that my job depended on me accurately being able to state how many people lived in the USA at the drop of a hat? ...... NEVER.
Seriously people, most of this stuff is trivia. And ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.
Knowing Trivia != Intelligence. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> What's there in school that isn't trivia? What isn't trivia however, is this:
While the majority of young Americans (58%) knew that the Taliban and al Qaeda are based in Afghanistan, they were the least likely of all young adults surveyed to get this question correct. Moreover, just 17% could find Afghanistan on a world map.
This man speaks the truth. Geography doesn't determine intelligence. Although, I did remember seeing George Bush on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" and not remembering who the Prime Minister of Canada was nor that provinces are called provinces.
I had to learn all the countries and capitals of the world in Grade 4. I don't remember them all, but I do remember the general positions of where they are located. Our teacher made us sing songs to remember them. Ahhhhhh. The point is that nobody cares that northwest of the United Arab Emirates is a cluster of countries: Jordan, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, or that Iraq is located beside Iran.
Seriously, I could do better with understanding concepts than stupid names and locations of places that have really no relevance to my life.
I'm not saying we don't have retards, but everywhere has retards.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where, say, Colorado was? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where canada was for that matter? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time that my job depended on me accurately being able to state how many people lived in the USA at the drop of a hat? ...... NEVER.
Seriously people, most of this stuff is trivia. And ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.
Knowing Trivia != Intelligence. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> If you don't understand the physical locations of nations there's no way you can find out how their terrain and culture interact with those around them.
It might be basic trivia when you learn it, or if you plan on practicing your "Want fries with that?" expressions, but once you get to higher levels of learning where you should know these things so you can understand the people that you share the world with better, you should know them.
Other parts are simple usefulness. Don't know where Colorado is? Good luck driving there (...and hopefully you don't have a car in the first place). Don't know where Canada is? Good luck doing logistics for your company's shipping. Don't know what's happening in Iraq? Let's all go on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia and discuss Christianity with the inhabitants!
OF course, most programming and company networking don't really need any of this (unless you plan on traveling). If you want to be part of the world community you might want to know where the people in that community live.
[WHO]ThemYou can call me DaveJoin Date: 2002-12-11Member: 10593Members, Constellation
<!--QuoteBegin-UltimaGecko+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UltimaGecko)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->If you don't understand the physical locations of nations there's no way you can find out how their terrain and culture interact with those around them.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--QuoteBegin-me+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (me)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->.......ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-UltimaGecko+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UltimaGecko)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Other parts are simple usefulness. Don't know where Colorado is? Good luck driving there<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--QuoteBegin-me+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (me)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->.......ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-UltimaGecko+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UltimaGecko)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Let's all go on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia and discuss Christianity with the inhabitants!<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
....That's just stupid. Even morons would say that's stupid.
Again, most of this is statistically useless information.
[WHO]ThemYou can call me DaveJoin Date: 2002-12-11Member: 10593Members, Constellation
<!--QuoteBegin-camO.o+Sep 21 2004, 11:34 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (camO.o @ Sep 21 2004, 11:34 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> You can google up practically everything you learn from school. But do you? (...) <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Only the stuff I actually need...... WHICH IS MY FRIGGIN POINT
Proving that americans are smart enough to buy maps with NAMES on them instead of wasting time memorizing which name goes with which spot. Thus , USA > all once again.
<!--QuoteBegin-camO.o+Sep 22 2004, 01:37 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (camO.o @ Sep 22 2004, 01:37 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Do you need to know basic Algebra if you're majoring in English?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> For this particular question: you should learn basic algebra for a couple reasons: 1. to help your kids if you ever have them 2. to see if it would be a more enjoyable career than English for you 3. to assist you in non-English endeavors 4. other general uses that mostly can be solved with general arithmatic but can sometimes be easier with algebra.
If google is such an end all be all we should abandon civilization and begin with our worship of the Google.
All Hail Google. Google is King. Google shall save us all. <!--emo&::hive::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/hive5.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='hive5.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='font-size:4pt;line-height:100%'>...even when the apocalypse comes/internet is not near/applicable knowledge is required/a use of basic mechanical skills is required/etc.</span>
I'd also like you see someone use google to find out what Colorado is since if they don't know where Colorado is in the basic sense it's doubtful they would know where they are when they're trying to find it.
Notice I said UNDERSTAND the relations between nations based on physical and cultural boundaries. You can read them, but you're not going to know how to apply them. Same thing if you try to learn Calculus with google. It's just not going to float. Along with the fact that some information on the internet is out of date/false/misinformed/half informed.
Crazy people and your reliance on google...not everything is there, you know?
Give me a paper on how Poe's "Annabel Lee" relates to Poe's life and you, your ideas on the impact on Newton's physics discoveries on the church and society of the middle ages, your thoughts on the effect Roman formations had on their defeat at Kalkriesse Hill and how it could have been avoided, the results of hostilities between Israel and Muslim countries since 1945 and a hypothesis for aiding the region.
So, break out the knowledge - or break out the google? Or actually require both?
[WHO]ThemYou can call me DaveJoin Date: 2002-12-11Member: 10593Members, Constellation
<!--QuoteBegin-UltimaGecko+Sep 22 2004, 12:39 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UltimaGecko @ Sep 22 2004, 12:39 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Give me a paper on how Poe's "Annabel Lee" relates to Poe's life and you, your ideas on the impact on Newton's physics discoveries on the church and society of the middle ages, your thoughts on the effect Roman formations had on their defeat at Kalkriesse Hill and how it could have been avoided, the results of hostilities between Israel and Muslim countries since 1945 and a hypothesis for aiding the region.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> ...............
.........
.........................
........
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha........
..............
"Give me a paper"
........
If that's a reason for why I should know any of the stuff I never bothered to learn. Then we're done here.
So let me get this straight - all the smart people in Europe are <b>abandoning it in droves</b>, yet superior general world knowledge amongst the general population proves your superiority? If all the intelligent people, those who really know what's going out, are leaping off like rats from a sinking ship - should that set off alarm bells somewhere? Oh but wait, you got pwnage geography skills, if there was a problem in your country you'd definately know it, wouldnt you......
Dont feel bad Euro's plus assorted other world nations. Jealously is a common trait. America has the world's strongest economy, is the leader in space technology, is the virtual hub of the scientific and research communities, has an overwhelmingly powerful military and unrivaled diplomatic clout. Its only natural for you to try and nurse your inferiority complex by digging at something so ultimately irrelevant to the average American as "where is France on the globe"?
And anyway, I'd love to see how the average American would do when it came to American history and geography. Most Australians know no cities other than capital cities outside their own state, I bet our yankee friends could do better than that.
EDIT After that little session of bubble bursting, a little light humor from www.satirewire.com
AMERICANS ANNOYED BY "ALL THIS INTERNATIONAL ****" ON INTERNET Web's Increasingly Worldly Flavor Threatens Americans' Worldview
PULLMAN, WASH. (SatireWire.com) — The profusion of international news available on the Internet has made it increasingly difficult for the average American to ignore the rest of the world, a trend researchers say threatens Americans' long, proud history of disregarding anything not about them.
"With all the foreign newspapers and multi-cultural sites, the Internet is making it almost impossible for the average American to remain uninformed and apathetic," said Samantha Lessborn of Washington State University, which conducted the survey. "Americans can still do it. But it now takes effort, whereas before it was as easy as turning off Tom Brokaw whenever he said 'In South Korea today...'"
According to survey participant Danny Grisham, a 22-year-old from Cheyenne, Wyoming, it's not just the plethora of international news on the Web that is irritating. "Look, I can get around the news. I just turn off Reuters headlines in MyYahoo," he said. "But even some of the search sites like Yahoo and Alta Vista are available in different languages. Like everybody in the world doesn't speak English. Yeah, right."
"I can see where it's important if we're, like, beating some country in the Olympics or bombing them or, ideally, both," Grisham added. "But if some Colombian drug lord sinks a ferry full of Israeli soldiers in North Latvoania or Serbo-Malaysia, or wherever, and Americans aren't involved, what has that got to do with me?"
Other respondents said they were appalled, not just by the availability of non-U.S. news, but by the way important U.S. news is reported by some of these foreign sites. "Yesterday, for instance, the St. Louis Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, OK, and I go to the London Times site and it's not even there," said Chip Pernadge of Kansas City, Mo. "Jesus, no wonder those guys lost the war and had to give Hong Kong back to Canada."
Sensing a market opportunity, Net Nanny, makers of Net Nanny filtering software, announced this week it will introduce NetNarrow, an English-only product that automatically filters out content that appears to be international. Specifically, the software looks for world datelines and keywords indicative of irrelevant foreign stories, including "Shiite," "post-Apartheid," and "Bob Geldof."
Survey-taker Craig Barker of Brooklyn, New York, said he will be among the first to get NetNarrow. "On the Web, there are so many ways to get news from so many different places, I could really get some fresh insights into what's going on in other countries if I wanted to," he said.. "But I don't want to."
"You'd think these Internet people would know that," Barker added. "I mean, that's why the Internet is called America Online, right? It's supposed to be about America." <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
EDIT 2:
More examples of European ingenuity and perception
<a href='http://propagandamatrix.com/sept_11_conspiracy_theory_book_lures_french.html' target='_blank'>French demonstrate the discernment the world has come to recognise them by</a>
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Sept. 11 Conspiracy Theory Book Lures French
April 01, 2002 09:34 AM ET
By Rebecca Harrison
Original Link: <a href='http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=search&StoryID=761230' target='_blank'>http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?...&StoryID=761230</a>
PARIS (Reuters) - The French are lapping up a Sept. 11 conspiracy theory that argues the plane that smashed into the Pentagon never existed and that the world has been duped by a murky U.S. government plot.
Thierry Meyssan's book "The Frightening Fraud" is flying off shelves according to booksellers and has topped bestseller lists.
Meyssan, president of Reseau Voltaire, a respected left-wing think tank, reckons the American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon in Washington killing 189 on September 11 did not exist and that the whole thing was staged by the government.
"I believe the American government is lying... No plane crashed into the Pentagon," he told France 2 television.
Meyssan did not provide an alternative theory for what may have damaged the Pentagon.
And although French media has scoffed at Meyssan's musings, comparing them to the Roswell alien cover-up theory dramatized in the hit TV show "The X-Files," the public are intrigued.
"Copies have been flying off shelves," a saleswoman at FNAC bookshop in central Paris told Reuters. It shot to the top of Amazon France's bestseller list and made it to second place in the booksellers' weekly Livres Hebdo's sales list.
SCIENCE FICTION
Daily newspaper Liberation slammed the book as "a tissue of wild allegations," marveling at its quick rise to fame, from Internet chatrooms, via television chat shows, to bestseller.
Conspiracy theories like the rumors that swirled around the 1963 shooting of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, or the idea that man never actually set foot on the moon, are not uncommon in the United States, but are fairly rare in France.
"This phenomenon is not typical of the French," sociologist Pierre Lagrange told Liberation.
"But the events of September 11 gave us a reality so similar to science fiction, that there has been more of a market for paranoid interpretations." Meyssan says key evidence shows witness accounts are contradictory, that there are few photographs of the crash and that those that do exist show no debris from the plane.
He also asks why the facade of the Pentagon did not immediately collapse from the shock of the impact and questions the fate of the passengers on the flight.
"What became of the passengers of American Airlines Flight 77? Are they dead?" he asks.
Daily newspaper Le Monde and Liberation both probed Meyssan's theory, tracking down relatives of the victims, and quizzing officials over the crash.
News weekly Le Nouvel Observateur denounced the book as revisionism. "This theory suits everyone -- there are no Islamic extremists...everyone is happy. It eliminates reality."
But while Le Monde dismissed Meyssan's theory as flimsy, it admitted that information available did not quite add up.
"There is no official account of the crash...the lack of information is feeding the rumor."<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Marine01+Sep 22 2004, 03:17 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Marine01 @ Sep 22 2004, 03:17 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Yeah thats right, thats why all the smart Americans are jumping ship and heading to Europe.... oh wait <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> I don't see what this had to do with the topic... besides you just trying to compensate the fact that something actually proved a lot of (not all) americans, and maybe the educational system, stupid in a certain aspect, however minor it may be.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Its only natural for you to try and nurse your inferiority complex by digging at something so ultimately irrelevant to the average American as "where is France on the globe"? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Mullet+Sep 22 2004, 02:29 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Mullet @ Sep 22 2004, 02:29 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> You don't have to be smart to hit a big red button which launches a nuke...USA wins. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> good post
ok im an average kinda guy... i also say the phrase nuke em all.. whats wrong with it... im not a racist or a bigot.. i just think if they can mash a plane into the us... the us has the right to blow them up.. women children and all... they did it to you...
but thats just me...
annyway i hated history.. got over 130 detentions from my history teacher... (334 in all school record. yes i am proud. sad innit. )
<!--QuoteBegin-Tofumaster+Sep 22 2004, 08:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Tofumaster @ Sep 22 2004, 08:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-Marine01+Sep 22 2004, 03:17 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Marine01 @ Sep 22 2004, 03:17 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Yeah thats right, thats why all the smart Americans are jumping ship and heading to Europe.... oh wait <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> I don't see what this had to do with the topic... besides you just trying to compensate the fact that something actually proved a lot of (not all) americans, and maybe the educational system, stupid in a certain aspect, however minor it may be.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Its only natural for you to try and nurse your inferiority complex by digging at something so ultimately irrelevant to the average American as "where is France on the globe"? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
oooooh the irony... ow! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> I fail to see the irony. I consider myself a fairly well educated Australian, and realise that the American education system focuses more on internal matters than external matters, hence their comparitively extensive knowledge of American history and Geography.
I wouldn't say Americans are stupid, but we do seem to have this problem of not ever being willing to be wrong. Ever, under any circumstances. I've been in too many discussions where I am easily out arguing my oponent and suddenly they'll decide to stop listening, ending the conversation with some stupid **** comment like "Well, I can see we have different polotics" and leave it at that because my arguments threaten their world view. Of course I have, on occasion, been guilty of doing the same. It must be engrained in our culture or something.
Comments
Yea, but you gotta know which button is red...and what a button is . Plus you gotta flip up that plastic cover thing, and let's face it - that can be tricky. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
...I remember reading statistics like this from 1995. You have to remember that statistics represent a small percentage of actual citizens of their respective countries. Generally they're around 0.001% of the population. Of course, that's no excuse, since I've met people who would lose a battle of wits with a brick.
UltimaGecko's policy:
If you don't know your state/provincial/district capital and national capital by the age of 6 you will be shot in the head with a large caliber weapon.
If you don't know the locations of 15 countries by the age of 8 you will be disemboweled.
If you don't know your country's population and basic system of government by 12 you will be hanged (along with knowing >33% of your country's provinces and 10% of its capitals).
If you don't know your country's military history and present basic troop allocation (with cartographic knowledge) by 16 you will be castrated.
...That solves all the problems [with basic geography...] right there. Fairly lenient if I say so myself. Bah, people that can't pinpoint themselves on a map and don't know their national capital amaze me. I have no idea why our school system lets them advance beyond 2nd grade.
At least AP physics had decently intelligent people, if only they were the majority rather than the exception.
I'll admit I get those damned midwestern states confused all the time.
At least in Europe your countries have unique borders. They should just make one state out of the middle of the Louisiana purchase and call it either GrainLand or OMG-its-so-friggin-flat-I-am-gonna-flip-out-Land.
than the exception. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Are you sure you wanna waste that extra metal? I mean, sure, it makes more splatter, but using smaller caliber bullets would use less metal(as the bullets are smaller.), and let's accept the truth- a grain of metal > these non capital knowers.
As for the war thing, that's a little harsh. I mean, I have trouble with the US's war history, and we've only been around a few hundred years. Maybe if you caucasian peoples weren't always fighting each other, it'd be easier. But NO, its always "OLO WEREBORED START A WAR!!!!" with you guys. Seriously. Lay off.
edited for niceness
well maybe i do, 2-4 people in my high school class didnt (my grad class only had 21 people in it though, ruraljavascript:emoticon(':0')
smilie nevada).... maybe
1 said "ta he" instead of "the" in class while reading *my god it was brilliant
2 were Mexican and just didnt care about school(not being racist its just the mexicans in my class just didnt do anything in school)
1 was from peru and barely spoke english, who while being quite smart, didnt really know much about world politics
/edit just realized they were all women <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> he he he sorry ladies
I was easily able to answer all of those questions. Why is it that I never get selected for these surveys? The only one I had trouble with was the <i>Survivor</i> question, and I was able to answer that because I know Tahiti is in the South Pacific.
I'm going to stop beating myself up for not knowing everything.
The fact that this is nearly double the other two countries says that these figures result from a lack of teaching in geography, rather than just the fact that they are American.
I've met people in my school that can't remember when 9/11 happened.
.
.
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It's not America that's stupid, it's the world. The majority of the world's population are poor, illiterate, can't write or do anything like that. Just because the U.S. is the economic leader of the world doesn't mean they have to be the smartest. We probably have the highest illegal alien population in the world and I can guarantee you that it contributes to our supposed 'stupidity'.
The fact is, we have awesome colleges/universities and awesome opportunities for people to educate themselves. It is honestly not our fault if idiots don't take advantage of these or if they dig themselves into a hole and don't know worldly events.
Maybe in SW states, but definitely not on the East Coast. Our educational system is faulted, too lax, and provides a **** education. China's schools are much more demanding, but that much more effective. American students complain about getting a lot of work... most asian students would laugh at how much we got, compared to what they're dealt with.
I'm not saying we don't have retards, but everywhere has retards.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where, say, Colorado was? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where canada was for that matter? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time that my job depended on me accurately being able to state how many people lived in the USA at the drop of a hat? ...... NEVER.
Seriously people, most of this stuff is trivia. And ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.
Knowing Trivia != Intelligence.
I'm not saying we don't have retards, but everywhere has retards.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where, say, Colorado was? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where canada was for that matter? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time that my job depended on me accurately being able to state how many people lived in the USA at the drop of a hat? ...... NEVER.
Seriously people, most of this stuff is trivia. And ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.
Knowing Trivia != Intelligence. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
What's there in school that isn't trivia? What isn't trivia however, is this:
While the majority of young Americans (58%) knew that the Taliban and al Qaeda are based in Afghanistan, they were the least likely of all young adults surveyed to get this question correct. Moreover, just 17% could find Afghanistan on a world map.
Current events are much more than trivia.
I had to learn all the countries and capitals of the world in Grade 4. I don't remember them all, but I do remember the general positions of where they are located. Our teacher made us sing songs to remember them. Ahhhhhh. The point is that nobody cares that northwest of the United Arab Emirates is a cluster of countries: Jordan, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, or that Iraq is located beside Iran.
Seriously, I could do better with understanding concepts than stupid names and locations of places that have really no relevance to my life.
I'm not saying we don't have retards, but everywhere has retards.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where, say, Colorado was? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time I got ANY benefit from knowing where canada was for that matter? ...... NEVER.
When's the last time that my job depended on me accurately being able to state how many people lived in the USA at the drop of a hat? ...... NEVER.
Seriously people, most of this stuff is trivia. And ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.
Knowing Trivia != Intelligence. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
If you don't understand the physical locations of nations there's no way you can find out how their terrain and culture interact with those around them.
It might be basic trivia when you learn it, or if you plan on practicing your "Want fries with that?" expressions, but once you get to higher levels of learning where you should know these things so you can understand the people that you share the world with better, you should know them.
Other parts are simple usefulness. Don't know where Colorado is? Good luck driving there (...and hopefully you don't have a car in the first place). Don't know where Canada is? Good luck doing logistics for your company's shipping. Don't know what's happening in Iraq? Let's all go on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia and discuss Christianity with the inhabitants!
OF course, most programming and company networking don't really need any of this (unless you plan on traveling). If you want to be part of the world community you might want to know where the people in that community live.
<!--QuoteBegin-me+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (me)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->.......ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-UltimaGecko+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UltimaGecko)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Other parts are simple usefulness. Don't know where Colorado is? Good luck driving there<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-me+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (me)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->.......ALL of it can be found on google in under 20 seconds.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-UltimaGecko+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (UltimaGecko)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Let's all go on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia and discuss Christianity with the inhabitants!<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
....That's just stupid. Even morons would say that's stupid.
Again, most of this is statistically useless information.
Only the stuff I actually need...... WHICH IS MY FRIGGIN POINT
For this particular question: you should learn basic algebra for a couple reasons: 1. to help your kids if you ever have them 2. to see if it would be a more enjoyable career than English for you 3. to assist you in non-English endeavors 4. other general uses that mostly can be solved with general arithmatic but can sometimes be easier with algebra.
If google is such an end all be all we should abandon civilization and begin with our worship of the Google.
All Hail Google.
Google is King.
Google shall save us all. <!--emo&::hive::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/hive5.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='hive5.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='font-size:4pt;line-height:100%'>...even when the apocalypse comes/internet is not near/applicable knowledge is required/a use of basic mechanical skills is required/etc.</span>
I'd also like you see someone use google to find out what Colorado is since if they don't know where Colorado is in the basic sense it's doubtful they would know where they are when they're trying to find it.
Notice I said UNDERSTAND the relations between nations based on physical and cultural boundaries. You can read them, but you're not going to know how to apply them. Same thing if you try to learn Calculus with google. It's just not going to float. Along with the fact that some information on the internet is out of date/false/misinformed/half informed.
Crazy people and your reliance on google...not everything is there, you know?
Give me a paper on how Poe's "Annabel Lee" relates to Poe's life and you, your ideas on the impact on Newton's physics discoveries on the church and society of the middle ages, your thoughts on the effect Roman formations had on their defeat at Kalkriesse Hill and how it could have been avoided, the results of hostilities between Israel and Muslim countries since 1945 and a hypothesis for aiding the region.
So, break out the knowledge - or break out the google? Or actually require both?
...............
.........
.........................
........
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha........
..............
"Give me a paper"
........
If that's a reason for why I should know any of the stuff I never bothered to learn. Then we're done here.
<a href='http://www.time.com/time/europe/html/040119/brain/story.html' target='_blank'>Plugging Europe's Brain drain</a>
<a href='http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v414/n6862/full/nj6862-04a0_fs.html' target='_blank'>Beating Europe's Brain Drain</a>
<a href='http://douweosinga.com/blog/0405/2004May05_1' target='_blank'>European Brain Drain</a>
So let me get this straight - all the smart people in Europe are <b>abandoning it in droves</b>, yet superior general world knowledge amongst the general population proves your superiority? If all the intelligent people, those who really know what's going out, are leaping off like rats from a sinking ship - should that set off alarm bells somewhere? Oh but wait, you got pwnage geography skills, if there was a problem in your country you'd definately know it, wouldnt you......
Dont feel bad Euro's plus assorted other world nations. Jealously is a common trait. America has the world's strongest economy, is the leader in space technology, is the virtual hub of the scientific and research communities, has an overwhelmingly powerful military and unrivaled diplomatic clout. Its only natural for you to try and nurse your inferiority complex by digging at something so ultimately irrelevant to the average American as "where is France on the globe"?
And anyway, I'd love to see how the average American would do when it came to American history and geography. Most Australians know no cities other than capital cities outside their own state, I bet our yankee friends could do better than that.
EDIT After that little session of bubble bursting, a little light humor from www.satirewire.com
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
AMERICANS ANNOYED BY "ALL THIS
INTERNATIONAL ****" ON INTERNET
Web's Increasingly Worldly Flavor Threatens Americans' Worldview
PULLMAN, WASH. (SatireWire.com) — The profusion of international news available on the Internet has made it increasingly difficult for the average American to ignore the rest of the world, a trend researchers say threatens Americans' long, proud history of disregarding anything not about them.
"With all the foreign newspapers and multi-cultural sites, the Internet is making it almost impossible for the average American to remain uninformed and apathetic," said Samantha Lessborn of Washington State University, which conducted the survey. "Americans can still do it. But it now takes effort, whereas before it was as easy as turning off Tom Brokaw whenever he said 'In South Korea today...'"
According to survey participant Danny Grisham, a 22-year-old from Cheyenne, Wyoming, it's not just the plethora of international news on the Web that is irritating. "Look, I can get around the news. I just turn off Reuters headlines in MyYahoo," he said. "But even some of the search sites like Yahoo and Alta Vista are available in different languages. Like everybody in the world doesn't speak English. Yeah, right."
"I can see where it's important if we're, like, beating some country in the Olympics or bombing them or, ideally, both," Grisham added. "But if some Colombian drug lord sinks a ferry full of Israeli soldiers in North Latvoania or Serbo-Malaysia, or wherever, and Americans aren't involved, what has that got to do with me?"
Other respondents said they were appalled, not just by the availability of non-U.S. news, but by the way important U.S. news is reported by some of these foreign sites. "Yesterday, for instance, the St. Louis Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons, OK, and I go to the London Times site and it's not even there," said Chip Pernadge of Kansas City, Mo. "Jesus, no wonder those guys lost the war and had to give Hong Kong back to Canada."
Sensing a market opportunity, Net Nanny, makers of Net Nanny filtering software, announced this week it will introduce NetNarrow, an English-only product that automatically filters out content that appears to be international. Specifically, the software looks for world datelines and keywords indicative of irrelevant foreign stories, including "Shiite," "post-Apartheid," and "Bob Geldof."
Survey-taker Craig Barker of Brooklyn, New York, said he will be among the first to get NetNarrow. "On the Web, there are so many ways to get news from so many different places, I could really get some fresh insights into what's going on in other countries if I wanted to," he said.. "But I don't want to."
"You'd think these Internet people would know that," Barker added. "I mean, that's why the Internet is called America Online, right? It's supposed to be about America." <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
EDIT 2:
More examples of European ingenuity and perception
<a href='http://propagandamatrix.com/sept_11_conspiracy_theory_book_lures_french.html' target='_blank'>French demonstrate the discernment the world has come to recognise them by</a>
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Sept. 11 Conspiracy Theory Book Lures French
April 01, 2002 09:34 AM ET
By Rebecca Harrison
Original Link: <a href='http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=search&StoryID=761230' target='_blank'>http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?...&StoryID=761230</a>
PARIS (Reuters) - The French are lapping up a Sept. 11 conspiracy theory that argues the plane that smashed into the Pentagon never existed and that the world has been duped by a murky U.S. government plot.
Thierry Meyssan's book "The Frightening Fraud" is flying off shelves according to booksellers and has topped bestseller lists.
Meyssan, president of Reseau Voltaire, a respected left-wing think tank, reckons the American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon in Washington killing 189 on September 11 did not exist and that the whole thing was staged by the government.
"I believe the American government is lying... No plane crashed into the Pentagon," he told France 2 television.
Meyssan did not provide an alternative theory for what may have damaged the Pentagon.
And although French media has scoffed at Meyssan's musings, comparing them to the Roswell alien cover-up theory dramatized in the hit TV show "The X-Files," the public are intrigued.
"Copies have been flying off shelves," a saleswoman at FNAC bookshop in central Paris told Reuters. It shot to the top of Amazon France's bestseller list and made it to second place in the booksellers' weekly Livres Hebdo's sales list.
SCIENCE FICTION
Daily newspaper Liberation slammed the book as "a tissue of wild allegations," marveling at its quick rise to fame, from Internet chatrooms, via television chat shows, to bestseller.
Conspiracy theories like the rumors that swirled around the 1963 shooting of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, or the idea that man never actually set foot on the moon, are not uncommon in the United States, but are fairly rare in France.
"This phenomenon is not typical of the French," sociologist Pierre Lagrange told Liberation.
"But the events of September 11 gave us a reality so similar to science fiction, that there has been more of a market for paranoid interpretations." Meyssan says key evidence shows witness accounts are contradictory, that there are few photographs of the crash and that those that do exist show no debris from the plane.
He also asks why the facade of the Pentagon did not immediately collapse from the shock of the impact and questions the fate of the passengers on the flight.
"What became of the passengers of American Airlines Flight 77? Are they dead?" he asks.
Daily newspaper Le Monde and Liberation both probed Meyssan's theory, tracking down relatives of the victims, and quizzing officials over the crash.
News weekly Le Nouvel Observateur denounced the book as revisionism. "This theory suits everyone -- there are no Islamic extremists...everyone is happy. It eliminates reality."
But while Le Monde dismissed Meyssan's theory as flimsy, it admitted that information available did not quite add up.
"There is no official account of the crash...the lack of information is feeding the rumor."<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I don't see what this had to do with the topic... besides you just trying to compensate the fact that something actually proved a lot of (not all) americans, and maybe the educational system, stupid in a certain aspect, however minor it may be.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Its only natural for you to try and nurse your inferiority complex by digging at something so ultimately irrelevant to the average American as "where is France on the globe"?
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
oooooh the irony... ow!
good post
ok im an average kinda guy... i also say the phrase nuke em all.. whats wrong with it... im not a racist or a bigot.. i just think if they can mash a plane into the us... the us has the right to blow them up.. women children and all... they did it to you...
but thats just me...
annyway i hated history.. got over 130 detentions from my history teacher... (334 in all school record. yes i am proud. sad innit. )
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I don't see what this had to do with the topic... besides you just trying to compensate the fact that something actually proved a lot of (not all) americans, and maybe the educational system, stupid in a certain aspect, however minor it may be.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Its only natural for you to try and nurse your inferiority complex by digging at something so ultimately irrelevant to the average American as "where is France on the globe"?
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
oooooh the irony... ow! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I fail to see the irony. I consider myself a fairly well educated Australian, and realise that the American education system focuses more on internal matters than external matters, hence their comparitively extensive knowledge of American history and Geography.