4 ms·

I think a lot of Americans think that Africa is a country.

by layoutIfNeeded 5y ago

umanwizard 5y ago
What makes you think so? I’m American and have never encountered that belief.
- layoutIfNeeded 5y ago
  https://time.com/12990/africa-is-not-a-country/ https://time.com/12990/africa-is-not-a-country/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/confusing-country-continent-how-we-talk-about-africa/311621/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/co...
  - torstenvl 5y ago
    > there are rumors that a former Vice Presidential candidate thinks Africa is a country Rumors, not facts. One candidate, not "a lot of Americans." Irony is making sweeping generalizations while ostensibly pushing back on generalizations.
    - layoutIfNeeded 5y ago
      A candidate and a president (who’s a Yale and Harvard alumnus): “ One of the most famous blunders made by former U.S. President George W. Bush was, “Africa is a nation that suffers from terrible disease.” President Bush, like many others, misconstrued the fact that Africa is not a country, but a continent.” https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2018/11/23/africa-not-a-country-but-a-continent/ https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2018/11/23/africa-not-a-co... But surely, it must be a coincidence! :)
      - samatman 5y ago
        Joe Biden recently said "white supremacists and Nazi f*gs" while giving a speech. Should we conclude that he was referring to homosexual Nazis with a slur? Or did he mis-speak. GWB was a rich source of flubs and boners. Deciding that this one means Americans think Africa is a country is a big ol' [citation needed].
      - ordu 5y ago
        > But surely, it must be a coincidence! Coincidence of what and what? Bush is well known for his blunders, so it is not such a coincidence that this one is of his authorship. Or did you mean that it was American president who blundered this? How many other presidents had a chance to blunder in such a way that you'd notice it? It is an important question, because blunders of American presidents are carried to every corner of the world, while blunders of a president of Botswana probably isn't. > A candidate and a president I pray, America is a democratic country, anyone could become a president. ;)
- ddxxdd 5y ago
  There's the fact that not many Americans can name more than 3 countries in Africa. And the ratio of people mentioning "Africa" rather than a particular nation in Africa is much high than the ratio of other continents being mentioned rather than their constituent countries. Also, "African American" is a common term; "European Americans" not so much.
  - umanwizard 5y ago
    All of these imply that Americans know less about Africa than other continents, which is true (and makes sense, since Africa is the poorest continent and therefore has the least impact on contemporary news, is relatively unpopular as a place to visit, etc). None of it implies that we “think Africa is a country”. > “African American” Asian-American is a widely used term, too.
- meristohm 5y ago
  I haven’t yet found a reference site, but I remember then-President G. W. Bush referring to Africa as a big country. Edit to add: sometimes one important person’s error gets conflated with the assumed views of many.
- alanbernstein 5y ago
  I'm honestly shocked to hear that. I've encountered it many times.
tomrod 5y ago
Coming from a background most would consider rough and tumble in the US, this is true. However, you're missing a bit part of it. Americans don't understand governance models very well. Provinces are to counties and states are to small countries. What does federal map to? Mental model says next one up - continent. I'd argue its not precise to consider Americans dumb, just inexperienced outside our bubble.
- layoutIfNeeded 5y ago
  >I'd argue its not precise to consider Americans dumb, just inexperienced outside our bubble. Indeed! Funny, because others replying to my comment seemed to be similarly inexperienced outside their well-educated Silicon Valley / Ivy League bubble… :^)
  - tomrod 5y ago
    I can't speak for them. I don't know that many to have any sort of reasonable basis.
imtringued 5y ago
That sounds more like a language quirk. For example, gas does not refer to a state of matter, it refers to a liquid fuel used in cars. Calculus doesn't refer to categories of calculations, it refers to infinitesimal calculus. America doesn't refer to the combination of both South and North America, it refers to a specific country in North America called the "United States of America". In your case they simply may have decided to just drop the "South" from "South Africa". I don't understand the logic behind these abbreviations so I will never understand why someone would refer to a single African country by "Africa" as a whole, but apparently that is what some Americans do or at least it sounds believable when you consider the 3 examples I have mentioned above.

I think a lot of Americans think that Africa is a country.

umanwizard 5y ago

What makes you think so? I’m American and have never encountered that belief.

layoutIfNeeded 5y ago
https://time.com/12990/africa-is-not-a-country/ https://time.com/12990/africa-is-not-a-country/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/confusing-country-continent-how-we-talk-about-africa/311621/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/co...
- torstenvl 5y ago
  > there are rumors that a former Vice Presidential candidate thinks Africa is a country Rumors, not facts. One candidate, not "a lot of Americans." Irony is making sweeping generalizations while ostensibly pushing back on generalizations.
  - layoutIfNeeded 5y ago
    A candidate and a president (who’s a Yale and Harvard alumnus): “ One of the most famous blunders made by former U.S. President George W. Bush was, “Africa is a nation that suffers from terrible disease.” President Bush, like many others, misconstrued the fact that Africa is not a country, but a continent.” https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2018/11/23/africa-not-a-country-but-a-continent/ https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2018/11/23/africa-not-a-co... But surely, it must be a coincidence! :)
    - samatman 5y ago
      Joe Biden recently said "white supremacists and Nazi f*gs" while giving a speech. Should we conclude that he was referring to homosexual Nazis with a slur? Or did he mis-speak. GWB was a rich source of flubs and boners. Deciding that this one means Americans think Africa is a country is a big ol' [citation needed].
    - ordu 5y ago
      > But surely, it must be a coincidence! Coincidence of what and what? Bush is well known for his blunders, so it is not such a coincidence that this one is of his authorship. Or did you mean that it was American president who blundered this? How many other presidents had a chance to blunder in such a way that you'd notice it? It is an important question, because blunders of American presidents are carried to every corner of the world, while blunders of a president of Botswana probably isn't. > A candidate and a president I pray, America is a democratic country, anyone could become a president. ;)
ddxxdd 5y ago
There's the fact that not many Americans can name more than 3 countries in Africa. And the ratio of people mentioning "Africa" rather than a particular nation in Africa is much high than the ratio of other continents being mentioned rather than their constituent countries. Also, "African American" is a common term; "European Americans" not so much.
- umanwizard 5y ago
  All of these imply that Americans know less about Africa than other continents, which is true (and makes sense, since Africa is the poorest continent and therefore has the least impact on contemporary news, is relatively unpopular as a place to visit, etc). None of it implies that we “think Africa is a country”. > “African American” Asian-American is a widely used term, too.
meristohm 5y ago
I haven’t yet found a reference site, but I remember then-President G. W. Bush referring to Africa as a big country. Edit to add: sometimes one important person’s error gets conflated with the assumed views of many.
alanbernstein 5y ago
I'm honestly shocked to hear that. I've encountered it many times.

tomrod 5y ago

Coming from a background most would consider rough and tumble in the US, this is true. However, you're missing a bit part of it. Americans don't understand governance models very well. Provinces are to counties and states are to small countries. What does federal map to? Mental model says next one up - continent. I'd argue its not precise to consider Americans dumb, just inexperienced outside our bubble.

layoutIfNeeded 5y ago
>I'd argue its not precise to consider Americans dumb, just inexperienced outside our bubble. Indeed! Funny, because others replying to my comment seemed to be similarly inexperienced outside their well-educated Silicon Valley / Ivy League bubble… :^)
- tomrod 5y ago
  I can't speak for them. I don't know that many to have any sort of reasonable basis.

imtringued 5y ago

That sounds more like a language quirk. For example, gas does not refer to a state of matter, it refers to a liquid fuel used in cars. Calculus doesn't refer to categories of calculations, it refers to infinitesimal calculus. America doesn't refer to the combination of both South and North America, it refers to a specific country in North America called the "United States of America". In your case they simply may have decided to just drop the "South" from "South Africa". I don't understand the logic behind these abbreviations so I will never understand why someone would refer to a single African country by "Africa" as a whole, but apparently that is what some Americans do or at least it sounds believable when you consider the 3 examples I have mentioned above.