As if to underscore my point, I overheard a snippet of conversation Friday, and one heavily accented New Yorker comments to another: “There’s a Buffalo in New York? That sounds like the name of a city in Texas. I never knew there was one in New York.”
New Yorkers aren’t quite as cosmopolitan as they would have us believe. And as a recent transplant, I can say with all due passion: the accents are making me insane.
You mean you’ve never watched På spåret? 
I find it ironic that more people in the US could have found out where the location of the pacific ocean was by simply closing their eyes and pointing at a spot at random.
Getting 19-20 is no big deal at all. The questions are very very easy.
It’s doesn’t say anything about you if you did well but it says a hell of a lot about you if you didn’t IMHO.
Well, I did add that there is one, and I meant just that one. But it’s not a game show as is Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune or Who wants to be a millionaire. It’s more like Hollywood Squares.
However - I’m convinced that most people in the Swedsih audience is as ignorant as those participating in the show are.
Jesus shit! If people were really flopping on a test that is this easy, then we should all be very afraid.
Mort Furd 20/20
I got 17 out of 20. I missed the religion question (I just know everyone’s a closet Buddhist), Sweden and Argentina (guessed Brasil also). Sorry Brits: I think I chose the UK for Sweden. All I knew for sure was that it was north.
I used a bit of elimination for Israel (the whole strip reference someone earlier pointed out) and Afghanistan. I don’t watch TV, so I’m not inundated by the news flashing maps all the time.
NY Dopers have all heard this story, but it’s frightening and deserves mention here. About ten years ago I was flipping channels and happened on a post-Richard-Dawson Family Feud (which I think has many analogues abroad, too). Now, usually the questions they ask are safe, none-too-factual things like, “Name something everyone keeps under the bathroom sink.” But for some ungodly reason, on this show they asked:
“Name a country in South America.” And what was the survey’s top answer?
Rio.
Number 2? Mexico.
OxyMoron
Truly appalling. The UK version of that show is Family Fortunes and it’s famous for the idiotic answers provided by the contestants, but I think the survey results usually produce a credible selection (at least for ones they keep for the show - who knows what they throw away). Not that I watch it anyway.
For being in the Pit, there isn’t much ranting going on…
19/20 here also…missed the religion one also. I thought for sure it would be a Chinese religion, what with Chine being the most populous nation, etc…shows what assumptions (biases?) I have in regards to religion.
But Azure said, “In my classmates’ defense, geography would not necessarily be part of a school’s curriculum, so learning about it would have to be done independently.”
Have things changed that much, that geography isn’t even required? That’s almost like saying addition isn’t required learning.
I weep for the species.
The answers on the link are very funny, but I must be missing something on this one:
An animal beginning with the letter B: Bullfrog.
A bullfrog is an animal and begins with B. Granted, it is not likely to be the most popular choice, but I don’t see what makes it funny.
No, me neither (although we don’t have them in the UK). The joke’s on the website there isn’t it?
Bullfrog? That’s an odd name.
I’d’a called 'em chizz-wuzzers.
Another person here who got 19/20, missing on the religion question. I had just been reading some stuff on the Religious Right in the United States, and i think i was scared of the idea that these people were part of the world’s largest religion. Anyway, that’s my excuse and i’m sticking to it. Here is a webpage that give some figures.
20/20 I thank the Sceptics Dictionary for an article on Religion to get that one. I would have confused Norway for Sweden too if it weren’t for the answers. I always mix up which is the more northern.
It is sad that so many students are ignorent of the world around them. Sadder that In some places Geography is not important enough to teach. (Or is it like when Skinner locked up the Globe representing the cutting of Geography to save money?)
If there is no Geography courses at least the political boundries and some social aspects of the nations should be incorporated with World History or International politics. And one of those courses should be manditory.
A spelling class should be mandatory as well.
Mort Furd wrote:
And not just spelling…
“If there is no Geography courses…”???
I’m surprised you guys missed “boundries”.