Geographically Handicapped
Baxter Bulletin - Global knowledge lacking among young Americans
I’ll admit I read this story with a wry smile, although in reality it’s a pretty sad tale. In a recent National Geographic survey of Americans aged 18-24, their knowledge of global (and indeed US) geography and news was sadly lacking. Some of the results included :
A third of Americans 18-24 could not locate Louisiana and 48 percent couldn’t find Mississippi on a map even after the wall-to-wall coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Only 37 percent of those surveyed could find Iraq on a map of the Middle East even after three years of war and American occupation of the country. Nine out of 10 couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map. Three-quarters could not find Indonesia on a map despite all the media coverage of the tsunami that devastated the region. Fifty-four percent didn’t know Sudan is an African country. Half couldn’t find the state of New York on a map of the United States. Fifty-eight percent thought the U.S. population is between 500 million and 2 billion people. (It’s a little less than 300 million). Two-thirds didn’t think it was absolutely necessary or important to know about other countries
Pretty astounding isn’t it, especially the last point which I think is most telling. The reason for this deficiency may well be in part due to holes in their education, but primarily it’s because they just don’t care. I’d like to imagine that Australians would not be quite as insular but perhaps I’m wrong and we would do just as bad?
The Baxter Bulletin provides some surprisingly honest editorial comment on this :
A general, accurate knowledge about the world outside the United States is helpful if only to better understand the news.Understanding the outside world is becoming more and more important. In the last few years, it’s become evident events on the other side of the world can affect life in the United States, even here in the Ozarks. Who would have thought a few years ago that differences between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds in Iraq would mean anything to people in the Twin Lakes Area? It does to those who have family members serving in Iraq.
From avian flu outbreaks in Asia to Middle Eastern oil prices to terrorist attacks that used to only happen “over there,” knowledge about where this news happens can help Americans be better prepared and to better understand its implications for them.
As much as Americans want to insulate themselves from the rest of the world, it’s impossible. Even with talk about building a wall along the U.S./Mexican border, America can’t wall itself off from the entire world. Therefore, it’s essential Americans know as much as they can about the rest of the world, and that young Americans especially be encouraged to learn as much about it as possible.
Anyway, if you want to test yourself you can do a sample of 20 of the questions at National Geographic. I got 18/20 which was slightly disappointing for me. One of the questions I got wrong was the percentage of US growth made up by immigration, which was fair enough. But I dispute the validity of this question :
Which of these cities is the setting for the original television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation? San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago or Los Angeles
That’s not a question on geography - it’s a question based on what TV shows you watch, and does not belong in such a test. (The answer by the way is Vegas.) Still I wonder how many people would have got it wrong if they had’ve asked what city CSI : NY is based in…
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