Conversation in front of a World Map on one of my Kitchen Walls

[Mira]

This needs no editorial comment.
Just, maybe, a hankie.

A 50 year old, High School Graduate friend stepped up to the Map and said

"Where is America".

I showed her.

"How come it is so small?"

Well - it's not really that small. Look, here are all the European Countries and they all together are about half of North America.

"But what happened? When did America get so small?"

Well, when you ask that way, and compare it to Russia, South America or Africa it's not so large, that's true.

"So you are telling me it's never been bigger?"

Well, no. It always went from Sea to shining Sea.
Pointing at the oceans.

"Well, I thought we were the biggest".

No, we're not, never were and not only that we are also not Number ONE, that's all in our mind.

"Hmmm. I never was good in Biology".

[Crankie Avalon]

1. Oh, stop. Really?

[sinkingfeeling]

2. OMG.

[northoftheborder]

3. embarrassing truths condemn us to mediocrity as a country

[Alameda]

4. Is this is for real, how in earth did she get through school?

[spin]

26. Easy. She went to the school. She sat in class. The school passed her.

Some high schools just flat out suck.

I seriously believe that those in power would prefer to have the majority of citizens lack knowledge. It's a lot easier to lead uneducated people.

We are rapidly becoming a modern feudal society.

[Mariana]

28. She probably knew this stuff once upon a time

to some degree. This is the equivalent of someone who never picks up a book or magazine after high school. This person likely has never looked at a map or a globe since then, and over more than 30 years she forgot it.

Also, consider this: At my high school a passing grade was 60. You could learn almost nothing in a class and still pull a 60 pretty easily. So it is possible that she never learned it at all.

[DCKit]

5. American Exceptionalism.

I read the title, saw Mira and was thinking "OMG, what's she done now?"

You never fail to disappoint.

[Mira]

13. I'm taking this personally. And I am taking it to mean

that my fame might be spreading...

(or am I actually infamous?)

[DCKit]

20. I'm a fan.

:blush:

[Mira]

21. Made. My. Day. (recommended!!111!!)

:rofl:

[Dappleganger]

6. You really can't make this stuff up.

How sad. :(

[qnr]

7. That's just sad. Has nothing to do with being a HS graduate - they should have

learned that by the third grade.

[Jokinomx]

18. Agreed... She would fail.."Are You Smarter than a First Grader?" jeeze

I have always said "We have to remember, half the people are under average!"

and it's apparent here, she is waaaaay under. However, we all have to deal with them everyday. It's amazing that mankind has made it this far.

Peace

[virgogal]

8. Pitiful,just pitiful. eom

[arcane1]

9. Reminds me of an overheard conversation here in San Francisco

I'm in a coffee shop adding my cream & sugar, and I overhear a guy and girl talking:

guy- have you ever been to Denver?

girl- no, this is the farthest west I've ever been.

[Jokinomx]

19. LOL... n't

:toast:

[AmandaMae]

10. seriously?

wow, that's scary.

[tkmorris]

11. That did NOT happen

Come on. It COULDN'T have. It's just not possible.

Is it?

:cry:

[Mira]

14. ...

:cry:
:grouphug:

[OneGrassRoot]

24. I'll join you in that....

:cry:

:grouphug:

[kentauros]

31. If the stories on this site are to be believed,

and there are some of our fellow DU-ers of the contention that some of these stories are fake (I don't hold that same point of view), then the answer is a resounding "YES!" But, it's still a sadly-spoken "yes" :(


Not Always Right - The Twilight Of Our Literacy

Although, you'll see examples like this from all over the world there, so we're not alone in an illiterate populace ;)

[Fumesucker]

12. Don't know much about geography..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KTFoMJi3uE

[Silent3]

15. Here... maybe this will make her feel better

A world map (from 2001 -- didn't manage to find more recent) with country size adjusted in proportion to fuel consumption:





Does that make us big enough for her? :)

[Mira]

17. Very fascinating and no surprise. Terrifying, to look at it like this. Thanks n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. WOW Mexico is the only one to preserve it's shape

[Obamanaut]

16. This may well be why so many parents are looking for a voucher program

to get their kids out of public schools.

[Fumesucker]

22. Yeah, it's all the public school's fault that Americans are willfully ignorant..

I'm sure that switching to Christian Academies (the overwhelming favorite to public schools in my neck of the woods) will greatly increase the intellectual firepower of the younger generation.

:eyes:

ETA: Not to mention that this person in the OP is quite possibly one of those parents who think vouchers will make all the difference in their own child's education.

[eyeofdelphi]

25. I went to public school

and i like to think that i turned out fairly intelligent. of course i actually wanted to learn. my sister on the other hand went to one of those lovely christian acadamies. what a waste of money. she has no idea who Gandhi was, and all she knows about MLK is that "he did something for black people." so sad.
ok i really hope the OP is exaggerating. but i fear not. but this does help explain how people like sarah palin are so popular.

[madamesilverspurs]

23. Yikes.

She isn't by any chance related to a certain beauty pageant contestant is she?

Ignorance is truly frightening. My state senator is very vocal in his objections to all the Spanish language he sees around here. Doesn't phase him that the state's name, Colorado, is Spanish. We keep waiting for him to object to our French-named rivers, the Platte and the Poudre. Based on some of his comments, he likely thinks that the Bible was written in English.

During the first Gulf War (and how sad is it that we've started numbering them!) I had a map of Iraq and Kuwait on my wall. A friend in her 30s asked what it was, I told her; then I pointed out that this was where civilization began, back when it was the Fertile Crescent. She looked at me as though I'd just sprouted horns, then declared that wasn't true, that it couldn't be. She refused to back up her assertion, just accused me of lying to her because I was against the war. Huh?

The more things change. . .


-

[Mira]

27. They tell you 2 plus 2 is 5. You say, no it's four, look at these apples right

here and I'll prove it.
But they already left the room

That's the willful ignorance at work, and it makes me bat-shit crazy to have to deal with so much of it in my neck of the woods.

[monmouth]

36. They're looking for "The Garden of Eden" on the map, if they don't

see it, then you're lying..LOL..

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

29. My late husband bought a world map and a U.S. map

To hang on the wall for our kids. He thought the fact that several countries were cut in two so that the U.S. could be right in the middle was wrong, so he carefully cut it and put it back together so all the countries were, for the most part whole.

I found it fascinating.

[NNN0LHI]

32. A world map is always centered over the country it is being sold in

I noticed this when I used to get pictures of radio operators I met on the radio when they would send a station photo with a world map in the background.

If you live in Japan, Japan will be in the center of your world map. If you live in Russia, Russia will be in the center. Etc.

Bet a lot of people didn't know that. I sure didn't.

Don

[Liquorice]

38. Yep, it's true. I found that out when I was taking Chinese. I thought it was interesting that

in Chinese, China is called "Zhongguo" which means middle country.

[EC]

30. Really?

Is this really true?


Damn, I guess critical thinking was lost longer ago than I thought..

[treestar]

33. Wow, an exceptionally unaware person

Does she ever watch the news? Even that would have some graphics.

[kentauros]

35. For that matter,

what about watching the weather? ;)

[Politicalboi]

37. Maybe Lilly can give her some help

Amazing video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r43yCiKlbCo

[Violet_Crumble]

39. Clearly you've got an incorrect world map on yr wall...

She might like this one better ;)

[Igel]

40. Or she might have a warped projection in mind.

For example, a non-Mercator projection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goode-homolosine-projection.jpg


The US is still far from the biggest country. But it's no longer as big as Greenland.

Eh. 2-D projections of a 3-D reality.

[Ilsa]

41. Tell hrer that I'd she had had a Chinese mother, she would have known all that. nt