OK, I’m an Old Fart, I freely admit it. But don’t you find the results of a recent survey of young people’s geographic knowledge disturbing? Some findings:
- One-third of respondents couldn't pinpoint
- Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.
- Two-thirds didn't know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in
- Six in 10 could not find
- While the outsourcing of jobs to
- While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate
You can take the survey cited above here (you won’t be scored, however). Test your geography knowledge here, and get scored. I was dead solid perfect on the US, scored 91 out of 111 on the European quiz (the flipping Baltic states and those insignificant yet belligerent countries of used to be Yugoslavia screw me up every time), 70/87 on Asia (those damned ‘stans), and failed miserably on Africa (83/162; my “Dark Continent”). I guess I need to pay more attention to the NatGeo.
As the ol’ line goes, “This would be funny if it weren’t true.” Left-wing paranoia always gets a good giggle out of me, but this guy is so far out there I just couldn’t believe my eyes. I don’t think the guy I’m about to refer you to is writing satire; no, it’s obvious he really believes this stuff.
Anyway.
Didja know the Bush administration has banned comedy, a la Stephen Colbert at the White House Press correspondents’ dinner? Or at least has put a press “blackout” on reporting over-the-top satire where the President is the subject? S’true. I read all about it and you can, too. Chase that link, above. When you’re done, drop on over to Right Wing News and read John Hawkins’ comments on this dude’s article. A pretty good fisking it is. “Banned,” indeed.
I managed to come up with a couple of “good things” about the Not-So-Beloved-For-a-While Red Wings being eliminated from the play-offs:
- I won’t be tethered to the TV every other day for the next six weeks.
- All y’all won’t have to scroll down through all those boring hockey posts any longer.
I’m not saying there won’t be any hockey posts. They’ll just be a helluva lot fewer and further in between. Dark clouds, silver linings, and all that.
Blogger was doing weird stuff again today. It took me three tries to post a comment over at Lou’s place. Booger then posted a comment I left over at Barb’s twice, and it took me half an hour (no kidding) to delete the duplicate. I think they’ve just gotten too big for the infrastructure they have, that is the number of Booger users exceeds the number of servers and associated storage space (disk farms). Just an educated guess.
Still haven’t made up my mind about the maybe/maybe not “Weird Scenes” post. I need one of those Magic Eight Balls. A real one.
I'm glad you are over the hockey debacle. I may not be a hockey fan, but I understand when your favored team goes down.
ReplyDeleteI have heard stories about tourist who stop in Questa and ask where they can change their money. Talk about geography-impaired folks!
I concur on the blogger gig. You're not the first that said they had problems commenting on my page and I tend to have problems on others myself. You may be right about it getting too big. As of late, there is always something going wrong, BUT wadda ya want for free, right? Hope you holding up down there in Portales!!
ReplyDeleteA Polish Naval Officer gave us a brief on his country and Navy along with the geographical issues that are a big part of his country's history. He started off the brief with the news blurb from the geography survey. Made for interesting discussion. Something to consider though: every statistic has its failings. I'm wondering where they surveyed these people. Jay Leno does a thing on his show "Jay walking" where he stops and asks people on the street questions. The demographical point is more than 70% of the people stopped could tell you who the last person to be dropped from the "Next Pop whatever" show, but less than 50% could tell you where Texas was relative to other states. I bet most imigrants could tell you where Texas is. It's all relative. I also think most of those people could get on the net and google the hell out of any question and could provide sattelite maps of any country that was asked about. Knowing things and being able to use today's resources are two different things. Someone said Education is what is left over after all the facts are gone. Our generation is low on facts but more internet educated than the baby boomers.
ReplyDeleteThat was more like two bits than two cents.
Well, now, Sam, Great comment, overall. That said, I'd take issue with "Our generation is low on facts but more internet educated than the baby boomers."
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm just outside of the Boomers' generation (leading them by nine months), don't forget the Boomers invented the 'net. (AlGore, if I'm not mistaken...) And we (I'll self-identify with The Boomers, for a moment) certainly know how to use that tool. I could probably make a case that, overall, Boomers understand the 'net better than Gen X. Perhaps my experience is atypical, given I spent all those years in the IT biz and a lot of my friends and acquaintances are still there, but I think not. Your mileage may vary, of course.
I'll buy the part of the argument that goes "why memorize useless facts if you know where and how to get them, when needed." However, there ARE times when one doesn't have access to the 'net, and other times when one needs a mental visualization of The Big Picture to understand events and put them in context. Knowledge of geography, and history, is an essential element in that process.
"Jay Walking" is one of my favorite segments of The Tonight Show!
My two bits.
Lou: Re: Money changng in Questa. I only have six words for you: One of Our 50 is Missing!
ReplyDeleteAnd one never really gets over an early exit from the play-offs. It's sorta like living with a chronic, non-life-threatening ailment, you just accept and adapt.
:-)
Ok...I have to chime in with my Iowa casino story. The wife and I went to a Council Bluffs casino for an evening of money-wasting and a couple of drinks. As we were proceeding through the mandatory ID check, the sweet young thing flatly states to my wife that she must produce a US ID, and a foreign one wouldn't do. I gently tried to explain to her that New Mexico IS a US state, while trying hard not to laugh. This went on for about thirty seconds or so when I suggested she ask her supervisor. Needless to say he arrived and was VERY embarassed. Ignorance in action.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder who's fault it is? I believe people, especially kids, learn what you teach them and have the capacity (again, especially the kids) for incredible knowledge. I'm just worried about the standards, or lack thereof.
Of course, another note to this discussion HAS to be made:
By virtue of our collective career choice (Even Sam's semi-questionable one) we have been to many of those places listed on those quizzes. Nothing like experience!
I'm thinking that was more than .02 but less than 2 bits...
Buck sez: "By virtue of our collective career choice (Even Sam's semi-questionable one) we have been to many of those places listed on those quizzes. Nothing like experience!"
ReplyDeleteTrue, except for "semi-questionable" part. "Deranged" is more appropriate, thinks me.
Sticks and stones. I'm happy with the life the Navy has affored me... oh, and the uniform looks so much better! ;)
ReplyDeleteoh, and the uniform looks so much better! ;)
ReplyDeleteIf your idea of "better" is the Good Humor man...