Plenty of us have heard that over 60% of Americans aged 18-24
couldn't find Iraq on a map of the Middle East (yes, a map of the
Middle East… not even a map of the world) in a 2006 survey (that's
three years after the start of the war). I just took a look at that
survey and found a few other interesting facts:
Only 50% think that map-reading skills are "absolutely essential"
Despite that fact, 75% couldn't find Iran or Israel on the same Middle East map.
65% couldn't find the UK on a world map.
88% couldn't find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.
Half of people couldn't find India or Japan on the Asian map
70% couldn't find North Korea, and only 37% knew that the
North/South Korea border is more heavily fortified than the US/Mexico
border and the China/Russia border (both of which are mostly barren).
Only 35% knew about the huge earthquake in Pakistan, which had killed 70,000 people only a few months before the survey.
74% of people thought that English is a more common first language than Mandarin (which was picked by 18%).
When asked to pick the country with a Muslim majority (between
Indonesia, India, Armenia, and South Africa), 48% thought it was India
(which is only 10% Muslim) and only 25% picked Indonesia (which is over
80% Muslim).
More interestingly, people thought that the Mississippi's flow had something to do with Hurricane Katrina.
Apparently, we don't know anything about the world. This is why the
rest of the world looks down on Americans… geography is no longer an
important part of our school curricula. How do we expect to succeed
through globalization if 90% of our youth don't even know where
Afghanistan is?
You can see articles right after they're published by visiting the author's blog (click here) or subscribing to his RSS feed (click here).
Shan-ul-Hai, the chief author of Globally Rational, is a self-described cosmopolitan scientist. His articles typically involve the application of evidence-based logic to some of the world's most interesting and thought-provoking affairs. His background as a Pakistani-American supplements his training as a scientist and his skill as a writer, leading to a myriad of of unique perspectives.
» left by Robert Melaccio, Sr.(5,136) Robert Melaccio, Sr. (1 year 130 days ago.)
Yes, our educational system at work. You may want to ask some students about our form of government, a Republic. When I was teaching, yes a sub who actually taught, I would open the class asking if anyone can define a republic and can you list them who are and what are the differences between a Democray and a Republic. Perhaps 1% knew. History, distorted, geography, what it is all lumped into Social Science. Another good job, keep up the good work.
» left by Anonymous (1 year 130 days ago.)
I've got a good story for you guys. I was reviewing an elementary school a few years ago as an external evaluator. I was watching a second grade classroom teacher read a book about volcanos to the class who were sitting obediently at her feet. At one point in her reading and monologue she says to these little 7 and 8 year olds, "Now where was that volcano that erupted a few years ago?" They all sat stared at her; afterall, none of them were alive when Mt. St. Helens erupted. So she gets up and pulls down a political map of the US. She points to where they were in San Jose, California on the west coast (at least she knew that) and she said., "Now that volcano was all the way over here in Washington", as she drew her finger across the map to the East Coast. I closed my folder where I was making notes and I got up and exited the classroom. It was a stunning example of what you are talking about here. even some of our teachers are geographically illiterate.
» left by Susan Thom(11,833) Susan Thom (1 year 129 days ago.)
hi Shan-ul-Hai,
this was a well written, fascinating article on what we americans don't know. i'm afraid i may be one of them. geography was never one of my favorite subjects. thanks for an interesting article, and keep writing!,
best regards,
sue thom Respond to this comment
» left by Jeff Brown(9,086) Jeff Brown (1 year 129 days ago.)
We talk so much about our ignorance, what of that of the rest of the world? I think that's a big part of our myopic outlook. In actuality, we share a less than 10% illiteracy rate along with Northern Asia, Europe, Australia, and parts of South America. The rest of the world or majority lags behind. But considering most are struggling just to feed themselves (50% make less than a three dollars a day; 90% don't even have the bare essentials: rent an apartment and car), I'm sure they don't care much about geography. Leave it up to narcissistic America to worry about geography when we should be worrying more about getting our brothers and sisters fed world wide.
» left by Shan-ul-Hai(165) Shan-ul-Hai (1 year 129 days ago.)
It's hard to feed your brothers and sisters in Afghanistan when you
don't even know where Afghanistan is located. I was born in Pakistan,
and I knew more geography at age 8 (before I came to the US) than most
of my classmates when I graduated college in the US. Sure, most of the
people in Pakistan are illiterate and impoverished... but we already
know that the US is better off than Pakistan. I'm trying to compare
the US with the rest of the developed world (and the educated part of the developing world), where everybody understands world issues much better. Respond to this comment
» left by Jeff Brown(9,086) Jeff Brown (1 year 129 days ago.)
Well, I and the billions who are starving, find this focus on the privileged "developed or developing world" puzzling. I'm not educated so I don't come into the picture. Just a few more tidbits to consider while the developed and developing are at the ease of their privilege: 1 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity. Maybe if we fix these things we can bring a greater number of our brothers and sisters into the "developed" world. My question is, logically, rationally, where should we spend the majority of this life? What is the greatest purpose we can serve? Considering these points, where should our limtied time on this earth be focused to do the best for the most?
» left by Shan-ul-Hai(165) Shan-ul-Hai (1 year 129 days ago.)
Yeah, I understand that we have more important issues to focus on than education... but I think that education is the key to solving those bigger issues. The US, for instance, has managed to elect a President who didn't know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites when he was trying to go to war in a country where this is the biggest issue. If Americans had a better understanding of the importance of world issues, we wouldn't have elected (or re-elected) a President who is oblivious to them. Then, we would have had a better opportunity to solve those problems. I understand the bigger problems faced by the world; like I said, I'm from Pakistan and I've seen it firsthand. The thing is... how can we solve the problem if we don't even know that there is a problem (or where the problem is)? The first step is to educate the developed world about the rest of the world... then maybe we can solve the problems that everybody else is facing. Respond to this comment
» left by Hannah Quinn from Australia (1 year 128 days ago.)
Shan-ul-Hai,
A very interesting article, and some interesting, though off-the-topic responses. I fear not enough Australian children are being taught enough history or geography, but overall I think most Australians know (roughly) where other countries are. There is an insularity among Americans which we (as Aussies) don't understand. But, I think part of our awareness of and interest in the rest of the world stems from our relative isolation. What I don't like about us, though, is that too often people complain about their lives which are incomparable to most of the world's population. I'd like Australians, and Americans, to appreciate more what they have and can have, especially in terms of opportunity, compared to what so many will never have. I'm rather shocked, however, that so few Americans know where either Iraq or Afghanistan are when your country has so many young lives on the line over there. That is really appalling, and I'd be very ashamed if that was true of my country. Cheers, Hannah Respond to this comment
While the geography curriculum has changed since I was a child, I see generalisations about Americans throughout the article and commentary. When you say Americans, you are impying all Americans and that is a fallacy. Second, I can give you examples of extreme ignorance from other nationalities, I have encountered including countries where education is a top priority. Another problem is they interviewed slightly over 500 people, I think more individuals would need to be interviewed for a more accurate number. Fourth, I agree that our geography curricula for public schools does need major improvement. Just to let you know, let this be noted, those Americans that do know their geography did slightly better than their UK counterparts in a Geography Bowl in 2006, I believe. It is of a great disappointment that so many people see only the negative and use as a tool for mockery for a nationality. I find cross-cultural ignorance and insularity to be a world issue, not only an American one. Thank you for your time.
I used to be disgusted and think this was a terrible fault in my culture but over the years I have come to see that it is just part of the independent spirit of America, where people just don't care about distant countries unless it personally impacts them. Now how is this positive? Well if I was any particular international country I would most certainly NOT want the largest military power in the history of the world to get interested in the world. Countries who start "map making" tend to enjoy moving those borders around. So now I just chuckle and thank god for American ignorance.
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