Are Americans really this stupid?

[Anonymous]

I was out in public yesterday and overheard the following conversation:

Woman 1: “I’ve made a New Year’s resolution to get out more. I am going to Boston and then to Rhode Island to see the ocean. Is it the Pacific that’s there?”

Woman 2: “I have no idea.”

There’s no hope!

[Anonymous]

Isn't Narragansett Bay part of the Pacific Ocean?

[Anonymous]

The answer is, yes.

~50 years ago, in Ocean City, MD, my buddies from Chicago and I met some guys from Philadelphia. One of the Philly geniuses asked us, "You got any ocean in Chicago?"
We laughed about that for the rest of our trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't Narragansett Bay part of the Pacific Ocean?

No. Atlantic east, Pacific west.

[Anonymous]

Most people don’t even know their own state capital. Or the nations capital. Or who the first President was.

This shouldn’t be surprising.

At least they didn’t say Indian Ocean.

[Anonymous]

I always answered @$$backwards on the Jay Leno Show. I wanted to get aired on tv.

[Anonymous]

Lots of people are really poorly educated, yes.

That said, America is a big place and most of us haven't been to much of it. You see this come up all the time in threads about the western US (things are far apart!) or where somebody from a city expects that everyone is familiar with that city and its landmarks. Good for your overheard stranger for even wondering about it, she'll probably find out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people are really poorly educated, yes.

That said, America is a big place and most of us haven't been to much of it. You see this come up all the time in threads about the western US (things are far apart!) or where somebody from a city expects that everyone is familiar with that city and its landmarks. Good for your overheard stranger for even wondering about it, she'll probably find out.

There was a thread recently with a surprising number of people who legitimately thought that Alaska is an island.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t even know their own state capital. Or the nations capital. Or who the first President was.

This shouldn’t be surprising. At least they didn’t say Indian Ocean.

I know the first two but always forget if the first president was Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. I also never know when to use breathe vs breath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people are really poorly educated, yes.

That said, America is a big place and most of us haven't been to much of it. You see this come up all the time in threads about the western US (things are far apart!) or where somebody from a city expects that everyone is familiar with that city and its landmarks. Good for your overheard stranger for even wondering about it, she'll probably find out.

There was a thread recently with a surprising number of people who legitimately thought that Alaska is an island.

Because of the way it's added onto continental US maps, like Hawaii?

I'm European and sometimes I feel my ignorance about US geography isn't that bad, all things considered...

[Anonymous]

I do some side volunteer work advising young entrepreneurs in a country abroad how to sell their products to the US market. One thing I start off with is one of the millions of memes out there about stupid Americans. There's no shortage of those, and they are true.

But then next slide I show them the US dominance in so many industries, Nobel prize winners, etc.

I do this to point out their competition in America won't be from the stupid people, it's from the smartest people, who are also creating companies offering a similar product to theirs. That's who they need to be afraid of.

[Anonymous]

No, sorry but I don't think it's excusable to be able to know the Atlantic is east coast/Pac west. That's not even US geography but knowing about 7 seas. Not even all 7 but the 2 closest to our country. I'm not talking state capitals, names of all states or even anything more sophisticated than tracking 2 large bodies of water. If you look at google maps you would likely notice the names of the ocean if you're looking at a coast of a state east and west. That's somewhat education but it's also observation. That Americans can't even track anything obvious is so sad. While most people in other countries are bi/trilingual, we can't even distinguish between 2 oceans. I think that's really amazingly devastatingly sad.

I also think that on some level basic elementary school geography should offer up this knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do some side volunteer work advising young entrepreneurs in a country abroad how to sell their products to the US market. One thing I start off with is one of the millions of memes out there about stupid Americans. There's no shortage of those, and they are true.

But then next slide I show them the US dominance in so many industries, Nobel prize winners, etc.

I do this to point out their competition in America won't be from the stupid people, it's from the smartest people, who are also creating companies offering a similar product to theirs. That's who they need to be afraid of.

But consider many of our best co are started by immigrants and esp small business owners. When I recruit and hire tech people, none are American. It's Indian, Asian, Russian and of late Nigerian. Americans apply to customer service jobs. I admit most are also sales and marketing focused but just saying - business owners esp are not American.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, sorry but I don't think it's excusable to be able to know the Atlantic is east coast/Pac west. That's not even US geography but knowing about 7 seas. Not even all 7 but the 2 closest to our country. I'm not talking state capitals, names of all states or even anything more sophisticated than tracking 2 large bodies of water. If you look at google maps you would likely notice the names of the ocean if you're looking at a coast of a state east and west. That's somewhat education but it's also observation. That Americans can't even track anything obvious is so sad. While most people in other countries are bi/trilingual, we can't even distinguish between 2 oceans. I think that's really amazingly devastatingly sad.

I also think that on some level basic elementary school geography should offer up this knowledge.

OP here. This was pretty much my thinking. I recall being taught about the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in very early elementary school, certainly by second grade. Granted these were women in their 30s, but it really made me wonder about the consistency of education in America and whether basic geography is taught in schools today. I have heard that things like penmanship and spelling are no longer emphasized in schools, and I certainly hope basic geography is not another casualty of the internet era where people can look anything up but apparently rarely do.