Are Americans really this stupid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still hoping I misunderstood this but last week it was a little cloudy, but the sun could still be seen through the clouds, a woman pointed to the sun and said it was the moon.

That's a pretty funny story, but it is interesting that the Sun and Moon both have the same apparent size from Earth.

I do. From the Issac Asimov books in the elementary school library. Best photos ever.

Also remember my library research projects in 2nd grade library class:
50 states- I picked Montana
Country projects: Iceland one quarter, Madagascar the other quarter.

Geography bees

Spelling bee’s

Playing number munchers and Oregon Trail and Turtle commands.

And real track & field gym units

[Anonymous]

And Carl Sagan

[Anonymous]

Yes, my mother still tells the story of the time she at a very small local lake and heard one woman ask the anther woman if it was low tide or high tide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my mother still tells the story of the time she at a very small local lake and heard one woman ask the anther woman if it was low tide or high tide.

Great Lakes have tides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my mother still tells the story of the time she at a very small local lake and heard one woman ask the anther woman if it was low tide or high tide.

Great Lakes have tides.

Are you the stupid American?
Great Lakes are not very small, local lakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my mother still tells the story of the time she at a very small local lake and heard one woman ask the anther woman if it was low tide or high tide.

Great Lakes have tides.

Are you the stupid American?
Great Lakes are not very small, local lakes.

You don't sound as smart as you think you do. I said Great Lakes have tides. That's all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another example is (Smithsonian employee) overhearing tourists say they are looking for the national mall. They don’t know enough to know it’s a mall of museums not an actual shopping mall.

That's not a lack of geography, that's just a lack of knowledge. Are there any other malls that are grass instead of shops? (Maybe there are; if so, I am ignorant of them.)

The Mall is the road from Westminster to Buckingham Palace.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mall,_London

[Anonymous]

It’s almost like the Department of Education hasn’t been helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s almost like the Department of Education hasn’t been helpful.

It's almost like DOE doesn't produce curriculum. Oh wait, they don't. That's not their job.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:There is no excuse for being this ignorant. It is unlikely that it stops at basic geography either.

I mean, you can make whatever generalizations you want. But as mentioned above, geography is not taught anymore in school and, until you have seen an ocean, there's no real reason to keep it in the forefront of your memory. That has nothing to do with other forms of knowledge, experience, life skills, or wisdom. Or worth of a person.

What???? THere a million reasons to keep it in the forefront of your memory.

A million? Name ten. Hell, name one.

You can't be serious. The most basic knowledge of where you are in the world is paramount. How the products make it to your house is another reason. Weather and predicting natural disasters, global and personal security. I could go on and on. Are you really this dumb?

Yes, I suppose I am really this dumb, because nothing you said answers the extremely basic question of WHY it is IMPORTANT for someone from, say, Kansas, to keep the oceans of the world in the forefront of their memory.

I don’t think you actually understand what some of us are saying/asking/implying. Look at your bolded statement above and tell us WHY that is “paramount” (and explain what you even mean by that). I suspect that you can’t.

Nobody's saying they should have it "in the forefront of their memory." It should be in the background cause you learned it in second grade and imprinted it on your brain. Just like "where you are in the world."
How hard is this to have this basic knowledge?

DP. It's quite possible that someone from Baltimore, which in the Mid-Atlantic, would remember from 2nd grade that Rhode Island is on the Atlantic Ocean when they visit. Until then, why would they care? Who even remembers Rhode Island anyway?

The soft bigotry of low expectations at work, folks.

DEI is all about lowering expectations.

+1

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no excuse for being this ignorant. It is unlikely that it stops at basic geography either.

I mean, you can make whatever generalizations you want. But as mentioned above, geography is not taught anymore in school and, until you have seen an ocean, there's no real reason to keep it in the forefront of your memory. That has nothing to do with other forms of knowledge, experience, life skills, or wisdom. Or worth of a person.

What???? THere a million reasons to keep it in the forefront of your memory.

A million? Name ten. Hell, name one.

You can't be serious. The most basic knowledge of where you are in the world is paramount. How the products make it to your house is another reason. Weather and predicting natural disasters, global and personal security. I could go on and on. Are you really this dumb?

Yes, I suppose I am really this dumb, because nothing you said answers the extremely basic question of WHY it is IMPORTANT for someone from, say, Kansas, to keep the oceans of the world in the forefront of their memory.

I don’t think you actually understand what some of us are saying/asking/implying. Look at your bolded statement above and tell us WHY that is “paramount” (and explain what you even mean by that). I suspect that you can’t.

DP here, I agree 100% with the above but want to emphasize the point isn't "yay ignorance, let's never learn geography." The point is, "I can understand why this was never relevant in someone's daily life and they had more important things to spend brain power on."
If you actually cannot imagine that, you're quite sheltered and need to see more of the U.S.

Exactly this.

Sadly, as this thread goes on I am reminded that a significant percentage of people in this area think that life is measured in Gold Stars and don’t care to think deeply about anything.

What more important things are these people spending brain power on?

How to get to work, pay their bills, take care of their kids, maybe pay for a vacation at the nearest lake.
Knowing about the world shouldn't be a luxury, but it is. If you are in the DMV area you are among the richest and most educated segment of the U.S. and you have time to look at weather maps or travel to oceans, but the majority of the country doesn't live that way, and not because they're inherently stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans know planets. I can name a few, but I have no idea the order or the size of them.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/02/14/277058739/1-in-4-americans-think-the-sun-goes-around-the-earth-survey-says

about 10 years ago, 25% of American still thought the sun revolved around the earth.

I guarantee you 75% of MAGAts believe that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s almost like the Department of Education hasn’t been helpful.

It's almost like DOE doesn't produce curriculum. Oh wait, they don't. That's not their job.

The DOE primarily funds DEI “research” now.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:There is no excuse for being this ignorant. It is unlikely that it stops at basic geography either.

I mean, you can make whatever generalizations you want. But as mentioned above, geography is not taught anymore in school and, until you have seen an ocean, there's no real reason to keep it in the forefront of your memory. That has nothing to do with other forms of knowledge, experience, life skills, or wisdom. Or worth of a person.

What???? THere a million reasons to keep it in the forefront of your memory.

A million? Name ten. Hell, name one.

You can't be serious. The most basic knowledge of where you are in the world is paramount. How the products make it to your house is another reason. Weather and predicting natural disasters, global and personal security. I could go on and on. Are you really this dumb?

Yes, I suppose I am really this dumb, because nothing you said answers the extremely basic question of WHY it is IMPORTANT for someone from, say, Kansas, to keep the oceans of the world in the forefront of their memory.

I don’t think you actually understand what some of us are saying/asking/implying. Look at your bolded statement above and tell us WHY that is “paramount” (and explain what you even mean by that). I suspect that you can’t.

DP here, I agree 100% with the above but want to emphasize the point isn't "yay ignorance, let's never learn geography." The point is, "I can understand why this was never relevant in someone's daily life and they had more important things to spend brain power on."
If you actually cannot imagine that, you're quite sheltered and need to see more of the U.S.

Exactly this.

Sadly, as this thread goes on I am reminded that a significant percentage of people in this area think that life is measured in Gold Stars and don’t care to think deeply about anything.

What more important things are these people spending brain power on?

How to get to work, pay their bills, take care of their kids, maybe pay for a vacation at the nearest lake.
Knowing about the world shouldn't be a luxury, but it is. If you are in the DMV area you are among the richest and most educated segment of the U.S. and you have time to look at weather maps or travel to oceans, but the majority of the country doesn't live that way, and not because they're inherently stupid.

You don't have to travel to know about the world. You don't have to be rich to use a library.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans know planets. I can name a few, but I have no idea the order or the size of them.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/02/14/277058739/1-in-4-americans-think-the-sun-goes-around-the-earth-survey-says

about 10 years ago, 25% of American still thought the sun revolved around the earth.

That's apparent motion.