Where Americans think Ukraine is
These are the guesses of 2066 Americans as to where Ukraine is. Only 1 in 6 were correct. Presumably the people who think it's actually on American soil weren't being serious...
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-26943479
Extracts from the article :
...we found that the less accurate our participants were, the more they wanted the US to use force, the greater the threat they saw Russia as posing to US interests, and the more they thought that using force would advance US national security interests; all of these effects are statistically significant at a 95% confidence level.
So the stupider you are, the more likely to want military intervention ?
(Or, more optimistically, the further you think the Ukraine is from Russia, the more you think intervention won't mean all-out war ?)
It's worth noting, however, that no matter how woefully misinformed Americans are about Ukraine's actual location, only 13% of the total survey wanted to intervene militarily.
DISCLAIMER : I probably couldn't find half of US states on a map, let alone most of its major cities.
EDIT : Indeed, I couldn't. After 10 minutes on sporcle (http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/states) I was only able to even name, let alone find, 33/50 states.
#bomballthethings
ReplyDeleteDoesn't say much for Sarah Palin.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a famous Dutch vacation program from the 80's where they took a map or Europe to popular holiday destinations and asked people where they thought they were right now. It was saddening.
ReplyDeleteSome people happily pointed to England while in Spain. The presenter asked "Did you come here by car?" "yes, yes, by car".
So geographical ignorance is not a uniquely American trait.
Lord have mercy on us all
ReplyDeletePhilbert De Zwart There's a very large map of the USA in my office, but I probably couldn't even name all the states without looking. I have no idea what half the countries in Africa are called either. I could probably have a fair crack at Europe and Asia, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteThe only really worrying thing about this (apart from the people who think Ukraine is in Greenland for heaven's sake) is that Ukraine has been featured heavily in the media for quite some time. If this were a map of where people thought Uzbekistan was (sorry Uzbeks !) it would be more understandable.
FFS there are a few marks in Australia. Good thing is they are in the desert so you could put it there and end the problems.
ReplyDeleteTom Croft Jesus H Christ just put a pin in Antarctica and admit you suck, people.
ReplyDeleteBecause they wouldn't know where that is either.
ReplyDeleteTom Croft like California or something, right?
ReplyDeleteOh, Ukraine. I thought you said Yukon.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who thinks this is evidence of American ignorance should first go and play some geography games.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sporcle.com/games/category/geography
Oh for heaven's sake!
ReplyDelete1. Download Anki or some other spaced repetition software.
2. Download a countries of the world deck.
3. Study same for a few minutes a day.
Let's invade them. They have evidence of W.M.D's.
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor You're right - being able to point at any one country on a map is difficult, and it appears - aside from the cluster predictably around the middle east - that most people got in the right ballpark.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it's the combination of hawkishness and ignorance that is more troubling. Saying "x country should move troops into y country" is a pretty extreme conclusion to come to, and you'd expect the people actively advocating force to have apprised themselves of the geopolitical situation, which would inevitably involve glancing at a map.
So not so much proof of american ignorance as an example of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
I was commenting about Tasmania and an
ReplyDeleteAmerican replied and called it Tanzania .
I know America is the centre of the World
but please start up Geography lessons again
and get to know who the rest of us are .
There're more to life than guns. Told ya. :)
ReplyDeleteFunny.
ReplyDelete'Merica...
ReplyDeleteHope they know where Russia and China are located at least.
ReplyDeleteExactly what 2066 Americans were asked. I'm guessing that any country can find that many uninformed people. It all depends on where you go to ask questions as to how knowledgeable the answers you receive
ReplyDelete“ I probably couldn't find half of US states” — me to – but at least I would not look for them im Africa or Greenland.
ReplyDeleteMartin Krischik There is really no excuse for any person who considers themselves to be "educated" not knowing the geography of their own country, in my opinion. American citizens should know the name and geographic location of every state in the union. Not knowing that as a US citizen is simply being indefensibly ignorant. With respect to knowing where other world countries are, such as the Ukraine, it has long been the case that Americans have fewer passports per 100 population than any other Western First World country. Many Americans never leave "home" and so are also indefensibly ignorant of the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteTell putin to try that crap with America. Of course just like the average bully he won't try that with someone who can whip him
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately there's not much information on how the survey was carried out. The only statement is :
ReplyDelete"On March 28-31, 2014, we asked a national sample of 2,066 Americans (fielded via Survey Sampling International Inc. (SSI)..."
All the other websites essentially reblog the original from the Washington post, and the author's websites don't have any information.
Presumably this sample includes some _un_educated Americans, perhaps minors ? Also there will always be a few people determined to give the stupidest answer possible in a poll, which may explain why some reported that Ukraine was inside the US.
Americans,as uneducated as ever,the majority,off course.But nevertheless poking their noses everywhere....
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing about surveys and studies. Whoever is paying for it usually gets it to say the message they want conveyed
ReplyDeleteI like the americans who think iran is in africa
ReplyDeleteSo funny
So dumb
I see that only one American got it right...;)
ReplyDeleteMichael Fitzgerald Then it is good that I am not a us citizen.
ReplyDeleteFunny how people that don't need help say we "POKE" our noses but the people being murdered and mistreated welcome assistance
ReplyDeleteAlexander Labliss
ReplyDeleteFor God"s sake ....not to find out where is Ukraine from Russia itself ....And then to find out where are you , from the same Russia ...
Alexander Labliss
ReplyDeleteDon"t tell me ....I"ll send you a card on your Milky Way address , obviously after you"ll find out ,where"s Ukraine by Russia . Better for you Google Russia 1 st , then Ukraine .
FOUNDERZ OF THE EARTH MADE THE LAWS FREE / THE SUN MOON STARS MOVE FAKE NO ON OFF SWITCHES / POLAR BEARS LIVE FAKE / WE R MACHINEZ / UTAH / SANDY HOOK THERE IS A SANDY UTAH / KKK /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ReplyDeleteAlexander Labliss
ReplyDeleteWhat ?
Who Cares - The USA is the center of the World - as long as they know where we are located, that's all that matters.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Labliss I think mm Billie Henderson is just trying to tell you that he lives near you.
ReplyDelete50/50 with 5:41left on the 10:00 timer for the US states game. It was a typing test for me, aside from blanking on one state for a minute because I mainly think of it as a river.
ReplyDeleteCountries of Europe: 32/47. There were two new countries I got wrong on the spelling, and a few others I didn't recall, and countries included in the test that are too small to show much on the map. So that was an interesting game.
[I got into this because it was reposted by Dennis Redfield ]
Hahahaha, that's still to see. Ask the chinese
ReplyDeleteGuys, guys. Don't take this too harsh on yourselves and don't argue about things like this. The truth is that ignorance knows no nationality and there's no shame in saying "I don't know" rather than taking a wild guess. What it is a shame is to wonder about something and do nothing to learn.
ReplyDeleteBuffy McMuffin I'm assuming your reply is satire; but, even if it is, it's not so. Americans have been asked before to point out where Montana and Nebraska are on a map, and they are unable to do it! That's ignorance, in my book!
ReplyDeleteRoflmao!
ReplyDeleteSee? We've been saying this about you Americans for some time now.
That's what happens when a country places 24th out of the top 25 educational countries and has an opinion on everyone else.
Alexander Labliss That light you use to see? Joseph Swan, a Geordie (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England). That car you drive? Karl Benz, a German. If you're going to post stuff like that, try at least to be factually accurate. Nice insular attitude by the way.
ReplyDeleteWe learned about Swan and Benz at school, long before the internet. Do you mean that Ford and Tesla invented something again, because it hadn't been invented lately? Get your brain to stop talking rubbish to itself and realise there IS a world outside the United States of Insular.
ReplyDeleteBTW - Tesla was a Serbian, born in Croatia ;)
I thought it was in Asia
ReplyDeleteAlexander Labliss you are absolutely right. The United States of America (America is the whole continent where your country occupies part of the north side_ has brought so much technology and knowledge to the world but lets also be honest and remember that all of that was accomplished thanks to the nationalization and immigration of many Foreigners.
ReplyDeleteAnd nobody invented light, Tesla discovered not invented the AC,while Edison worked up the DC to create the light bulb bub.
ReplyDeleteDee Dee Fitzgerald maybe common core will fix the problem? Adults, who did this, didn't have common core.
ReplyDeletewell, actually many of them were naturalized a bit against their will. But yes, I was just checking there wasn't any nationalism (stupidest thing ever because the power is never within the people) mixed in this thread.
ReplyDeleteBuffy McMuffin one of the many things wrong with this country, arrogance.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Labliss while true that we do invent most things, it's also true that other countries take those ideas and do it better. Sad.
ReplyDeleteIn the US, I was often asked if Argentina was in Africa :)
ReplyDeleteBettina Ascaino I know. It's truly a sad state of affairs. Some on this posting (I assume Americans like myself) have sought to trivialize the importance of this issue. But, rather than "sweeping it under the rug" so to speak, we Americans need to take this seriously and begin to do whatever is necessary to "fix" our broken public education system. I lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, for a time and was truly shocked to find adults who could not even read and write. I shudder to think what they might have said if I had asked them where the Ukraine was located geographically.
ReplyDeleteDee Dee Fitzgerald Well, that's not precisely correct, Dee Dee. Someone born in the outlying US Territories is a US National, not necessarily a US Citizen (although they can be, depending upon their parents' status). I'm not sure what I said that got you to "ranting", however. My comment that American public education "sucks" and requires improvement? The spelling and grammar in your posting is atrocious and by itself justifies my comment, I believe. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteDee Dee Fitzgerald I must then offer you my sincere apology, Dee Dee. I confess that your "dialect" as written was so good that it had me fooled... Sorry to have missed your point... Please forgive my jumping to conclusions.
ReplyDelete