4 ms·

Is there any evidence that Americans are particularly ignorant of the world relative to other nationalities?

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
in my opinion the evidence is anecdotal from mainly Europeans, the problem there is that Europeans are perhaps more aware of other parts of at least Europe than most nationalities are of their local environment. So the ignorance of Americans is a source of humor. This however is just a surmise, based on some observation. The other evidence is that Americans generally know very little of geography, it's a big thing in countries I've visited to laugh about, although given that when I say I lived in Utah in the U.S a lot of years and the geographically cognizant Dane will sagely say "oh, the middle of the country" I'm not sure how much to value that opinion either. At any rate I don't much value the fact that people can tell you what the capital of Ethiopia is or where Andorra is because these bits of trivia don't actually tell you anything significant about the countries under discussion. It's true, not knowing these things you are extremely unlikely to know anything worth knowing about the region under discussion, but on the other hand it's been my experience that knowing them you somehow think you do know significantly more about the region than someone who does not know whatever trivia is the subject.
- wbsss4412 5y ago
  Europeans tend to be fairy elitist about their own history and culture. Specific to the example that you brought up, why is knowledge of Andorra or any of the other European micro states any more geographically important than knowledge of US States? Anecdotally, Europeans will respond that those are _countries_, yet those realistically only exist due to the quirks of European political history, one can hardly hold up Lichtenstein as the geopolitical equal to California, yet in discussions with Europeans it seems that knowledge of its existence is somehow superior.
  - eurasiantiger 5y ago
    > one can hardly hold up Lichtenstein as the geopolitical equal to California Why not?
    - wbsss4412 5y ago
      Sure, technically you can do whatever you want. But by any measure, political/cultural/economic influence it’s pretty evident that the two are not in the same category.
      - eurasiantiger 5y ago
        Liechtenstein has over double the GDP per capita.
        bryanrasmussen 5y ago
        well, yeah Liechtenstein has nearly 7 billion, California has 3 trillion.
        eurasiantiger 5y ago
        Yet it’s California that has double the murder rate, massive homelessness issues, not to mention substance abuse, armed robberies and car theft in broad daylight, the list goes on… and ends in an incarcerated population of over 2 million people, whereas Liechtenstein is incarcerating around twenty people. (TWENTY! In the entire population!)
        wbsss4412 5y ago
        You’re totally missing the thread here. The discussion isn’t about which is a better place to live/governance. It’s about what’s a more relevant measure of geographical knowledge.
        eurasiantiger 5y ago
Gunax 5y ago
I suspect so, but these questions are often defined more by the type of knowledge they would ask. Canadians tease Americans for not knowing Canada, but that's an unequal comparison. Of course Canadians know more about America than Americans do about Canada. They hear about American news and elections and watch American movies. Ask canadians and americans about Uruguay or Mali and they probably know about the same. It's not that Americans are dumb or don't care--they are just at the center of the world.

in my opinion the evidence is anecdotal from mainly Europeans, the problem there is that Europeans are perhaps more aware of other parts of at least Europe than most nationalities are of their local environment. So the ignorance of Americans is a source of humor. This however is just a surmise, based on some observation. The other evidence is that Americans generally know very little of geography, it's a big thing in countries I've visited to laugh about, although given that when I say I lived in Utah in the U.S a lot of years and the geographically cognizant Dane will sagely say "oh, the middle of the country" I'm not sure how much to value that opinion either. At any rate I don't much value the fact that people can tell you what the capital of Ethiopia is or where Andorra is because these bits of trivia don't actually tell you anything significant about the countries under discussion. It's true, not knowing these things you are extremely unlikely to know anything worth knowing about the region under discussion, but on the other hand it's been my experience that knowing them you somehow think you do know significantly more about the region than someone who does not know whatever trivia is the subject.

wbsss4412 5y ago
Europeans tend to be fairy elitist about their own history and culture. Specific to the example that you brought up, why is knowledge of Andorra or any of the other European micro states any more geographically important than knowledge of US States? Anecdotally, Europeans will respond that those are _countries_, yet those realistically only exist due to the quirks of European political history, one can hardly hold up Lichtenstein as the geopolitical equal to California, yet in discussions with Europeans it seems that knowledge of its existence is somehow superior.
- eurasiantiger 5y ago
  > one can hardly hold up Lichtenstein as the geopolitical equal to California Why not?
  - wbsss4412 5y ago
    Sure, technically you can do whatever you want. But by any measure, political/cultural/economic influence it’s pretty evident that the two are not in the same category.
    - eurasiantiger 5y ago
      Liechtenstein has over double the GDP per capita.
      - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
        well, yeah Liechtenstein has nearly 7 billion, California has 3 trillion.
        eurasiantiger 5y ago
        Yet it’s California that has double the murder rate, massive homelessness issues, not to mention substance abuse, armed robberies and car theft in broad daylight, the list goes on… and ends in an incarcerated population of over 2 million people, whereas Liechtenstein is incarcerating around twenty people. (TWENTY! In the entire population!)
        wbsss4412 5y ago
        You’re totally missing the thread here. The discussion isn’t about which is a better place to live/governance. It’s about what’s a more relevant measure of geographical knowledge.
        eurasiantiger 5y ago

Gunax 5y ago

I suspect so, but these questions are often defined more by the type of knowledge they would ask. Canadians tease Americans for not knowing Canada, but that's an unequal comparison. Of course Canadians know more about America than Americans do about Canada. They hear about American news and elections and watch American movies. Ask canadians and americans about Uruguay or Mali and they probably know about the same. It's not that Americans are dumb or don't care--they are just at the center of the world.