Where in the world are we? Americans don't know.

The BBQ Pit
21

Crap. I’m glad you copped to having to deduce where Sweden was, Bryan-- That was the one question I missed. How embarrassing.

I’m curious as to exactly how those questions were “slightly modified” from the original survey. Was the original survey presented as multiple-choice quiz? If so, where there the same number of choices, or was it narrowed down to underline how pitiful the results were?

I’d also be interested in seeing more detailed results of that survey. For instance, how did people miss these questions? I’m willing to bet that the majority of Americans (and Canadians, for that matter,) that misidentified the “home vase” of the Taliban and al Qaeda chose Iraq. I’d be curious to see where the kids who couldn’t locate their home countries mostly thought they lived.

Should the ages of those surveyed mitigate or aggravate our alarm? (Sure, they don’t have the benefit of a lot of practical experience of the world, but on the other hand, shouldn’t they have had less time to forget the answers to these basic questions? All this stuff is part of the curriculum for high-school students, right?)

Argh. I find this more depressing than the state of international politics. If anyone needs me, I’ll be under my bed.

22

Ah, now it makes sense. The National Geographic Cabal inserted a subliminal signal of “Stupid Rays” that do their mojo on you while you take the survey. I hope it wears off.

23

This is true, though. Everything west of NYC is “upstate NY” up to, and including, Hawaii.

24

Nuther 20 for 20. Many of the questions I couldn’t help but think “How can people not know that?” Ah well. It’s the world we live in.

25

I guessed Islam, too. That’s the only one I missed. Not really geography, though, is it?

I’m betting a lot of people picked canada for the U.S. Although it still boggles my mind.

could it perhaps be that america students are smart-asses? Could they have picked answers for humor value?

26

But Hawaii is the southernmost state!

27

There’s lots of stupid people coming to and being raised in the US, plain and simple. I got them all correct, so that is the only reason I can give.

Now, what I want to know is what the sample population was. It would also be nice if they did a survey like this just for in the US, and compare the results between public and private schools throughout the US. (Or have they done something like this already?)

I can guarentee that any of the students I went to high school with (at a private school) would fare far better than the scores indicated here.

28

Upon reflection, they’re not all necessarily stupid, but I’m sure some are. Stupid isn’t a good word in place of uneducated.

29

How do only 58% of Americans know that the Taliban and al Qaeda are/were based in Afghanistan? Where have the other 42% been during the last year?

30

I also like the fact that more French than Italians were able to locate Italy!

(And boy, those Swedes are on the ball. Do they have a lot of geography game shows on TV there?)

31

Shelbo my WAG would be that being a small country that take more interest in the rest of the world.

Treviathan number 60 is nestled up above 40.

32

Let me just say that my son, the poster known as Zoltarb, is the National Geographic Champ of NYC and Long Island. He went to the bee in Albany and everything.
Just braggin’.

33

#24 is Norway. I’d agree that that might have been one of the hardest one for a non-European to guess from an unlabelled map, but the alternatives were UK, Australia and Poland, so it shouldn’t have been that hard. Mind you, this is from a man whose fellow countrymen apparently thought USA was Canada (at least I hope they thought it was Canada - the other choices were China and Colombia!).

Only 21% of Americans knew where Israel was too (against alternatives of South Africa, Argentina and Saudi Arabia). 25% of my lot got it right - pitiful.

It is truly embarrasing that anyone could get fewer than 19 right there (20/20 myself), particularly as it was multiple choice.

34

Ok, I deserve to be embarrassed. Not only did I miss the religion question, but I couldn’t find Argentina. (Although in my defense, I have always maintained that the 2 Jeopardy ™ categories I would fail at would be Geography and the New Testament-just a poor Jewish girl with an even poorer sense of direction). I do take comfort in the fact that at least I knew Argentina was in South America.

35

So much for the Jewish conspiracy.

36

got em all right. Agents are now heading to my place of work to take me out.

37

I didn’t get any of them right. Then again, I don’t live in the U.S.

38

I had a couple of “by elimination” questions. Sweden was one. (Had Norway been a choice, it would have been a 50/50 shot.) Sorry.

Still, I’d like to know what answers were the most commonly picked wrong answers.

39

I got 20, though admittedly I could’ve missed a few if other choices were nearby (Sweden, Afghanistan) where I knew basic area more than specifics.

No, the saying is “Everything west of the Hudson is Hoboken.”

I guess that’s the MIB. Earth schools suck.

40

See, all those map questions weren’t nearly challenging enough; the alternatives generally weren’t anywhere near close enough to each other to be difficult. Like the Afghanistan one; the alternatives were Turkey, China, and Argentina (I think). I mean, yeah, Turkey is sort of Middle Eastern, and China is somewhat close (especially given the scale of the map shown), but none of them were close. It’s not like one of the options was Pakistan or Iran, which actually border Afghanistan. I agree with Bryan; elimination is all you need to answer those questions. Come on; one of the alternatives for Israel was South Africa!

Oh, and I think Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world, which may account for some of the confusion. I picked Christianity, but (too late) said to myself, “D’oh! I’ll bet it’s Hinduism!” Good thing my reflexes aren’t quicker. :wink:

And even if every Chinese person were a Buddhist (which is most assuredly not the case), Buddhism wouldn’t be the largest religion in the world.