Is it true that one thrid of americans can find america on a map?

[blxtnsq]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcCmWCJaVGI

More CNNNN (The Chaser). I'm not taking a stand on this issue, I just like the videos.
EDIT: Embed wouldn't work. So here's a fancy link

But to all those people who believe that because 1/3 of Americans is the statistic used, that means that 1/3 of the people they know should not be able to recognise America on a map; that's not how it works.
For the record, I think the statistic is bullshit simply because no one has shown me a report. But to those people who say that, you have to remember that you are probably in a socioeconomic environment where most Americans are aware of geography. The satistic said 1/3 of all Americans, not 1/3 of all Americans in your situation.
And of course, there would be a lot of Americans here saying that. Why? Because I assume by the fact that you own a computer with an internet connection, are here because you have an interest in games (by no means a cheap hobby) and are all literate that you are in a moderate-high socioeconomic environment. Your friends probably are too.

Of course very few people here are going to say that nearly everyone they know can't locate America, because those people are probably not sitting around on a gaming forum.

Again, I'm not saying Americans are stupid or anything, just that you have to take into account a lot of other variables.

 

[DJDarque]

I'd lean against insinuating that other cultures are intellectually challenged until I could form a grammatically correct and properly punctuated sentence. That being said;

As a resident of Arizona I can put this to bed forever. Yes, the moon landing was reincarnated in Arizona. /sarcasm

This is definitely not the first time I've heard this supposed "fact", and I'm sure it won't be the last. I'm not going to deny that a lot of Americans are stupid, but I think it is literally impossible for an entire third of the population to not be able to locate their own country on a map. Arrogant and ignorant? Yes. That fucking stupid? No.

This is from a survey, survey results are so easily skewed that it's not even funny.

 

[Big-T]

I'd lean against insinuating that other cultures are intellectually challenged until I could form a grammatically correct and properly punctuated sentence. That being said;

wow. maybe instead of a "war on terror", we should start a "war on idiots". I'm embarrassed to say that those people are from the same country as i am and i hope to god it wasn't anywhere near where i live.

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

I read this article that 3/4 of English people spend their entire day complaining about America. Is this true?

 

[Toriver]

If I wanted to stereotype my observations of a foreign culture's lack of geography, I would do Japan's knowledge like this.

Spoiler: My (exaggerated) observations

The Americas and Africa are essentially just one country each, going something like this:

North America: the USA... wait, excuse me, New York City and San Francisco; oh, Hawaii is its own country too, not a state, according to many of those who mention Hawaii (which actually sounds kinda historically revisionist of a certain issue...)
South America: Brazil (this is the most egregious one, due to the amount of Brazilians of Japanese descent coming back into the country influencing it; it's even to the point that I would bet they think they speak Portuguese throughout all of Latin America; but hey, I would bet most Americans think Brazil speaks Spanish, so...)
Africa: Kenya (I give up on this one)

They only seem to know the European countries that "matter" exist, namely Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Russia. Ask them about any others, and they will have no idea such a country existed. All attempts at explaining the phenomenon of an American St. Patrick's Day have failed because nobody had ever really even heard of Ireland, much less knew where it is.

Though they know Asia dang well, obviously.

But I know none of that is true, it's just more exaggeration. Anyone can exaggerate about any country's knowledge and stereotypes of other countries, enough to create a stereotype in and of itself. No, I do not believe all, or even a third, of Japanese are like this, and I am positive that over 90% of Americans can find our own country on a map.

 

[Plurralbles]

well... what if it's a map of europe? You didn't really say what the map was of..

 

[Mr. Google]

I dunno... but Geography was always my best subject... Freshman year, the only year got an A was in geography with 99.3%...<.<
really something from a C and D student...<.<

What the hell is freshman year? I've never understood that system.

sorry if this has already been answered but it goes. Freshman, Sophmore, Junior, Senior and that really means 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, and then 12th grade. so yeah correspond the 2 lists and they are synonyms if that makes sense...

 

[MikailCaboose]

I dunno... but Geography was always my best subject... Freshman year, the only year got an A was in geography with 99.3%...<.<
really something from a C and D student...<.<

What the hell is freshman year? I've never understood that system.

First year in high school(Secondary school) is the freshman year, in the U.S...<.<

Why not call it that, or grade 9?

Because we must be fancy!

 

[Irridium]

Reading that 2/3 of my countrymen are dumber than a sack of rocks motivated me to do those online map-quiz thingys until I could identify any country in the world on a blank map. Are you from Kyrgyzstan? Laos? Liechtenstein? Paraguay?

I will find you on a map. And if I can get the visas cleared and you put me up for a few nights, I might come visit you because I love a good adventure.

And here I just watched this song from Animaniacs over and over again when I was little.


In 10 minutes I knew every nation in the world.

OT: So your telling me 100 million US citizens can't locate the US on a map? 100,000,000 people.

Yeah, I'm betting that the "study" is false.

 

[Plazmatic]

I dunno... but Geography was always my best subject... Freshman year, the only year got an A was in geography with 99.3%...<.<
really something from a C and D student...<.<

you mean 6th grade right? theres no such thing as geography in high school or college. Unless of course you have that confused with history, which is NOT geography.

 

[Tahmoh]

A wise man once said that 2 thirds of all statistics are made up on the spot, this poll sums that up perfectly.

 

[SlasherX]

Yep this is totally true what is also ture
All Americans weigh 300 pounds
All British people have bad teeth
All black people are pimps, gangsters, or rappers
All people who speak spanish are mexican
I could go on but you get the point

 

[Danzaivar]

No, it is not true.

Based on "one third of the population", I should know several people that wouldn't be able to find America on a map. As it stands, everyone I know, can easily find it.

It is far more likely that either

A) the study is a blatant lie

or

B) Most of the people they polled in their study, lied about their geographical skills, for humorous effect.

It is entirely possible that a small percentage of the population lacks the ability to find America on a map, however, it would be significantly lower than " one third".

Think of those meanies from high-school that you've since forgotten about. There's your 2/3s.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

The last time I heard this statistic was in a Michael Moore movie many moons ago. Back then it was about 10%, which still seems exaggerated, but at least more probable than 30%. Then again, never underestimate the stupidity of people; it's essentially the motto of my place of employment...

 

[Jovlo]

Nothing beats a professor I once had at my university.
He was projecting the world map upside down and then pointed at Angola.
Well, Angola was the USA actually, but he didn't notice that for quite a while.

 

[Ildecia]

I'd lean against insinuating that other cultures are intellectually challenged until I could form a grammatically correct and properly punctuated sentence. That being said;

awww.. i was gonna put that video up...

in all seriousness, its just pathetic what people dont know sometimes.

 

[Eponet]

I read on this website (news.com) that recent studies showed that the majority of Americans are heavily ignorant of basic geography and that one third of Americans can't find America on a map. When i read this i thought that has to be dodgy. Is it?

Err, the title of this thread is "Is it true that one third of Americans can find America on a map."

 

[PurePareidolia]

I imagine there's quite a difference between "one third of Americans" and "one third of Americans we surveyed". Getting a representative sample for a population the size of America's is probably pretty hard.

 

[Manhattan2112]

Yes, it is true that one third of Americans can find America on a map. Also, another third of Americans can. In fact, there really aren't very many that can't. But yes, one third of them certainly can.