# Wow, these people are our future? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106 "2006-05-02T15:07:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/1 "2006-05-02T15:07:27Z")
Pretty freaking sad, [this](http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/index.html) CNN article states that 2/3rds of people aged 18 to 24 surveyed could not find Iraq on a map!!! Discuss… MtM ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/2 "2006-05-02T15:35:13Z")
Maybe they’re faking it to avoid being drafted? 😉 Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/3 "2006-05-02T15:41:25Z")
It’s the other 1/3 that winds up running things anyways. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/4 "2006-05-02T15:44:17Z")
Well, it’s no wonder, being tucked all the way down there… But don’t just blame the kids. I don’t think adults would do much better either. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/5 "2006-05-02T15:46:40Z")
Did you ever watch Leno’s Man On The Street bit? Even accounting for edits, some of those people are dumber than a bag of hammers. How can you not know who the President and the Vice President are, especially now? I can understand not knowing all of the Supreme Court justices, but can’t you give me just one? Please? This is all stuff that my son will learn before he’s old enough to understand what it all means, because he’ll be a better person for it when he’s old enough to understand it. If nothing else he’ll be more knowledgeable than a good bit of the general population, which is always a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/6 "2006-05-02T15:50:49Z")
I can understand most people not knowing where Iraq is. The only reason I know is because I am interested in the pyramids. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/7 "2006-05-02T16:02:19Z")
Young people aren’t the only ones without knowledge of geography. When I was in 5th grade I went to visit my brother and his new wife & stepkids in Hawaii and my teacher had me to a show & tell when I got make. She was very upset that I didn’t bring in any Hawaiian money! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/8 "2006-05-02T16:06:42Z")
Well, if one of them gets elected President, it should save a few lives if he decides to invade Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/9 "2006-05-02T16:09:33Z")
On the other hand, this has been an issue for decades, and we’re still here. I’ve made the argument in the past that much of the technological innovation we’ve seen in this country is generated by people who don’t know shit about Iraq or the Byzantine Empire or William James or the Second Vienna School – but who know a whole hell of a lot about things like 802.11b or server-side scripting or DCOM. Put it another way: what’s it get you to know where Iraq is on the map? It’s only a way to show you’re with it – but only to people who care. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/10 "2006-05-02T17:29:22Z")
> [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > Pretty freaking sad, [this](http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/index.html) CNN article states that 2/3rds of people aged 18 to 24 surveyed could not find Iraq on a map!!! How many people 25 - 35 could? 35 - 50? 50 - 75? How many of those people (or their equivalent cohorts) could find Iran 25 years ago? Vietnam 40 years ago? Korea 55 years ago? Germany or Japan 65 years ago? Don’t get me wrong, I deplore the general geographic (historic, scientific, political, economic, etc.) ignorance of the American public, but I don’t think that wringing our hands over the current crop of youth is a realistic response–particularly if we are carefully ignoring the general ignorance of their elders. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/11 "2006-05-02T17:29:47Z")
Ah, the hoary old “survey shows that kids are stupid” story. A sure sign of a slow news day. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/12 "2006-05-02T17:33:02Z")
Some people aged 18-24 have gone their whole lives without learning where Iraq is. Some people aged 24+ have gone their whole lives without learning where Iraq is. Wow, these people are our past? ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/13 "2006-05-02T17:41:34Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Young people aren’t the only ones without knowledge of geography. When I was in 5th grade I went to visit my brother and his new wife & stepkids in Hawaii and my teacher had me to a show & tell when I got make. She was very upset that I didn’t bring in any Hawaiian money! My husband was stationed in Hawaii when his grandmother died. In order to get compassionate airline fare to fly home, his mother had to go through the American Red Cross to notify the Army of the death and request emergency leave. She was on the telephone with the guy from the Red Cross for over an hour, because the guy couldn’t get it through his head that Hawaii is a State. He kept asking Mom for the APO number, and Mom kept telling him that Hawaii doesn’t have one, it’s a STATE! I don’t have much interaction with children because I am childless by choice, but some of what I see scares me. I almost had a girl in tears at a fast-food joint because I handed her change after she had keyed in bills on the cash register. I understand wanting the employees to use the register to calcuate change to avoid mistakes, but not knowing how to count is a big problem in my eyes. As for not knowing where Iraq is - our leaders prpbably could find it on a map, because they’ve been shown enough times, but they’re not doing such a great job themselves. Maybe the kids can learn from bad examples. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/14 "2006-05-02T17:55:42Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > I almost had a girl in tears at a fast-food joint because I handed her change after she had keyed in bills on the cash register. I understand wanting the employees to use the register to calcuate change to avoid mistakes, but not knowing how to count is a big problem in my eyes. **SolGrundy** and I were at the bookstore over the weekend, and the button that totals up all the purchases came off the register. The clerk said, “Oh, they didn’t cover this in training,” which we thought was pretty funny, until the guy left to go get a manager to tell him what to do. :smack: I guess we’re lucky he didn’t just stand there, holding the button in his hand and pushing on it, expecting the register to ring up the order. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/15 "2006-05-02T18:47:27Z")
A lot of people are stupid. These are the people who end up in mailrooms and restaurants and retail stores and as call center operators, construction workers and garbagemen. Not that all people who work in those jobs are stupid. You just don’t have to be all that smart to do them. The world needs ditchdiggers as well as doctors. I mean what does a kid who is probably never going to live more than 20 miles from his home town need to know where Iraq (or any other country) is? Before too many of you pat yourself on the back for how smart you are, I’ve read a lot of statements on this board that are pretty uninformed and ignorant. Especially in areas like business, economics or interacting with the opposite sex 😉 . I’m sure many people would find my lack of knowlege of the history of Middle Earth shocking and horrific. Everyone is someone elses ‘ignoramus’. I wonder how many Iraqis can find the US on a map. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/16 "2006-05-02T19:05:43Z")
I worked with a 30-something girl that thought Chicago was a state and that New Mexico was part of Mexico. But when I really think about it, for someone who has hardly ever left their county, does it really matter? She was good at her job so while her lack of geographic knowledge was amusing, it probably didn’t affect her day to day life much. I know people in their 50s or 60s who are mostly illiterate. They never got to high school. And they are nice honest people who do construction work, nursing whatever. It’s easy to get educated and then look down on those who know less than you do. There’s a difference between ignorant and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/17 "2006-05-02T19:43:16Z")
Eh. I don’t think knowing off the top of your head where Iraq is is going to be a major problem in life. Those guys don’t know how nuclear physics works either but its not going to matter. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/18 "2006-05-02T19:55:38Z")
Waitaminute. There’s a _New_ Mexico? ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/19 "2006-05-02T20:02:49Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Waitaminute. There’s a _New_ Mexico? I think it’s called Texas. Or Arizona. Or California. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106/20 "2006-05-02T20:03:21Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > A lot of people are stupid. These are the people who end up in mailrooms and restaurants and retail stores and as call center operators, construction workers and garbagemen. As well as corner offices. There are a lot of different kinds of stupid. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-these-people-are-our-future/355106.md?page=2)