Explore American Education Bias: Test Your Knowledge of Yuri Gagarin

[hypatia]

My point was that any American can name Neil Armstrong. I thought American propaganda would shun Gagarin. Needless to say, these results are very surprising!

I wonder why you would think that we would not know about world events? Did you just assume this? Or did someone say this to you?

 

[Astronuc]

Next up: who's heard of Kurchatovium?

That's the name I first learned for that element, when I was in 6th grade. I prefer it to Rutherfordium.

 

[Gokul43201]

Were you still down under during the 6th grade? If you were, that's hardly surprising, given the Aussie-Kiwi rivalry.

When the Aussie Board of Education director, was asked to weigh in on the Rutherfordium/Kurchtovium issue and was asked whose name ought to be used for the element in all the Aussie 6th grade textbooks, he famously replied: anybody but the Kiwis!

Okay, I made that up - it's actually more of a theme among Aussie sports fans, such as http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1299289.html .

Psst: I bet there a few propaganda swallowing Russians here who have no idea what the America's Cup is!

PS: = I'm kidding. Please don't be offended. That was a joke. Odd's are, most Americans here have no idea what the America's Cup is.

 

[khemix]

I wonder why you would think that we would not know about world events? Did you just assume this? Or did someone say this to you?

Im not saying you don't know about world events. I am saying you put yourself into the spotlight more often than not. This was a discussion I had anyway.


But, atleast among the educated, knowledge is not lost.

 

[OAQfirst]

This poll is useless. You can not establish American bias with this one question on this one global forum. It breathes an odor of anti-Americanism and little else.

 

[Gokul43201]

I wonder why you would think that we would not know about world events? Did you just assume this? Or did someone say this to you?

I think it is somewhat well-known that on average, young Americans have a measurably weaker knowledge of world affairs than people in most other developed countries.

 

[The Dagda]

This poll is useless. You can not establish American bias with this one question on this one global forum. It breathes an odor of anti-Americanism and little else.

Very true, why not ask who supports Israel in the US, then you'd have something that distinctly smacks of bias. I'd be willing to bet if you asked a thousand men on the street in every state the consensus would be in favour of Israel.

It's a silly question though I quite agree, especially because almost everyone here with any knowledge of the space race is likely to know the answer regardless of point of origin.

I think it is somewhat well-known that on average, young Americans have a measurably weaker knowledge of world affairs than people in most other developed countries.

That seems to be my impression also, it is probably to do with the education system. For example how much history and geography does the average USian learn that involves other countries? When people say things like we won world war II without accounting for the fact that the other allies outnumbered the US troops, you can only sigh.

 

[turbo]

When people say things like we won world war II without accounting for the fact that the other allies outnumbered the US troops, you can only sigh.

We can look back to Russia's sacrifices there. They threw so many men into the meat-grinder that was the Eastern Front... It's hardly surprising that they employed a lot of women in heavy industry after the war.

BTW, just a historical point that few Americans know about. The Russians were poorly provisioned in WWII, and when they swept through Latvia and other small countries, their army stripped root-cellars and smoke-houses for food and slaughtered horses, cows, etc, leaving farmers destitute. My friend's father, uncles, and grandfather resisted, and were all shot. He and his mother and an aunt managed to escape and over the course of a year or so, made it across Europe and were allowed to emigrate to the US. When Kredo would hear of a Latvian being accused of being a Nazi war-criminal, he would always say "We hated the Nazis, but after what the Russians did to us, every able-bodied man wanted to join up and kill as many Russians as possible." According to him, the Latvians were so reckless and wild for revenge, the Germans used them as shock-troops and sent them in first.

 

[Astronuc]

Were you still down under during the 6th grade? If you were, that's hardly surprising, given the Aussie-Kiwi rivalry.

I was already two years in the US. My dad bought me The Columbia Encyclopedia (1963 edition) in 4th Grade, and I started reading about chemistry (the elements, and compounds), physics (atoms, nuclei, subatomic particles) and astronomy/cosmology. I just happen to pick up on Kurchatovium (Z=104), well before I heard of Rutherfordium.

 

[JasonRox]

I don't think it's a matter of quality of education. I know who Gagarin is and I will in no way ever say it should be any kind of priority of knowledge for general education.

 

[khemix]

I don't think it's a matter of quality of education. I know who Gagarin is and I will in no way ever say it should be any kind of priority of knowledge for general education.

Its not about quality of education. Its about putting US in every world event. I don't need proof that the US pre-college education sucks... I mean who does?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Im not saying you don't know about world events. I am saying you put yourself into the spotlight more often than not. This was a discussion I had anyway.


But, at least among the educated, knowledge is not lost.

At the time, Yuri Gagarin was known to most Americans. Note that Huntsville is the epicenter of our rocket program - his flight was front-page news in most major US newspapers.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html

 

[The Dagda]

We can look back to Russia's sacrifices there. They threw so many men into the meat-grinder that was the Eastern Front... It's hardly surprising that they employed a lot of women in heavy industry after the war.

BTW, just a historical point that few Americans know about. The Russians were poorly provisioned in WWII, and when they swept through Latvia and other small countries, their army stripped root-cellars and smoke-houses for food and slaughtered horses, cows, etc, leaving farmers destitute. My friend's father, uncles, and grandfather resisted, and were all shot. He and his mother and an aunt managed to escape and over the course of a year or so, made it across Europe and were allowed to emigrate to the US. When Kredo would hear of a Latvian being accused of being a Nazi war-criminal, he would always say "We hated the Nazis, but after what the Russians did to us, every able-bodied man wanted to join up and kill as many Russians as possible." According to him, the Latvians were so reckless and wild for revenge, the Germans used them as shock-troops and sent them in first.

A touching story.

 

[cristo]

Its not about quality of education. Its about putting US in every world event. I don't need proof that the US pre-college education sucks... I mean who does?

But, you're not going to get any proof of that here, and especially not by asking a science question! I do agree with you, though. I've sat in on some gen ed college classes where the students were taught things that I learned in school at 16/17.

Still, if you're arguing that point, I would try to ensure that you're grammar's correct (yea mean "it's").

 

[The Dagda]

But, you're not going to get any proof of that here, and especially not by asking a science question! I do agree with you, though. I've sat in on some gen ed college classes where the students were taught things that I learned in school at 16/17.

Still, if you're arguing that point, I would try to ensure that you're grammar's correct (yea mean "it's").

England has the worst education in Europe outside of the Eastern bloc, that's what happens when the UK starts adopting an American model I suppose. That said I've seen comparisons up to age 16 that place the US education as worse than the UK, but it's hard to compare. I have had this discussion before though. At least their university education is second to none.

 

[cristo]

England has the worst education in Europe outside of the Eastern bloc, that's what happens when the UK starts adopting an American model I suppose. That said I've seen comparisons up to age 16 that place the US education as worse than the UK, but it's hard to compare. I have had this discussion before though. At least their university education is second to none.

I meant I've sat in on some gen ed college classes in the US where they were taught things I'd learned in the UK at 16/17.

(I tend to talk in American on this forum now, since it causes less confusion, hence college really means university, etc..)

 

[The Dagda]

I meant I've sat in on some gen ed college classes in the US where they were taught things I'd learned in the UK at 16/17.

(I tend to talk in American on this forum now, since it causes less confusion, hence college really means university, etc..)

I see. I'll have to get used to the language issues.

 

[brewnog]

Oops, I voted. Did I spoil the result?

 

[Phrak]

Im not saying you don't know about world events. I am saying you put yourself into the spotlight more often than not. This was a discussion I had anyway.


But, atleast among the educated, knowledge is not lost.

Cultural trivia is not knowledge.

 

[turbo]

Cultural trivia is not knowledge.

I don't think that knowing about the achievements of Yuri Gagarin or John Glenn are "trivia". The Russian space program was shrouded in secrecy until after the fact, so that was a detriment, but every single US launch that was televised was an "event" at my little back-woods elementary school. The whole student-body would gather along with all of our teachers (and even the janitor and the cook, if they were still in the building) to watch the launch on the B&W (duh! no other kind, then) TV, and quite often our teachers would have some kinds of activities planned for us that tied into the launch.

I knew when I was young that the Earth's atmosphere got thinner and thinner the higher you went in altitude and I idolized test pilots (exemplified publicly by Chuck Yeager) who were brave enough to strap into a glorified little "flying needle" like the X-15, get a ride to the altitude-limits of the capabilities of a B-52, and get dropped off so they could take a trip to "outer space". It ain't trivia if you lived through it, and were expected to learn from it.

Want some more "trivia"? After Sputnik, US school-kids were given banks of aptitude tests and IQ tests to identify potential high-achievers who could be routed into science and technology curricula later, to help the US dominate the space race. My parents were very poor, and my sisters and I had pretty meager "hauls" on Christmas, not unlike many of my friends in that area. However, the year of our first round of evaluations I got a cheap but usable Newtonian telescope for Christmas (the ball-mount was a *****!) and the next year, I got an Edmund's microscope with 3 objectives and a couple of eyepieces. In another year or so, my father managed to scrape up enough money to buy a set of World Book encyclopedias.

 

[Gokul43201]

Still, if you're arguing that point, I would try to ensure that you're[/color] grammar's correct...

<cough, cough>

(I tend to talk in American on this forum now, since it causes less confusion...)

Oh! In that case, I guess your okay!

 

[turbo]

<cough, cough>

Oh! In that case, I guess your okay!

Gokul, it's UR, if UR American (and under a certain age).

 

[cristo]

<cough, cough>

LOL, oh the irony. For the record, I was torn between two phrases: the first of which was something like "ensure you're using grammar correctly"... honest!

 

[OAQfirst]

That shouldn't usually be an issue anyway, cristo. Yours is more like a typo. Even I have been mixing up effect and affect after seeing it misused repeatedly on various forums. But at least I know the difference whereas many do not. If someone repeatedly makes that mistake, then it's not a typo. You usually have your contractions and possessives nailed correctly.

 

[The Dagda]

You can tell a thread is dead or dying when the subject turns to grammar when grammar is not the subject.

\rant

I subject all posts to one criteria, did I understand it, if so do I think everyone can understand it. If not I might mention that either I think someone is talking gobbledygook, that I got the inference but others may not and thus... There's too many derails in threads in forums due to pedantry. It's ok, but it has a time and place if you ask me. Now for example the thread is pretty quiet, but don't you hate it when in the middle of a fast moving - say political - thread someone spends a page pointing out all the grammar mistakes in your post and typos, despite knowing precisely what you meant. Ughhh that drives me nuts.

Well actually: their should be there in terms of a location of WMD's and should of, should be should have, if you bloody understood the context then what the hell is the issue.

I don't mind genuine questions about grammar but when it's used as a means to somehow magically make your argument better it's trivial and petty.

/end rant.

Anyway I just derailed a derail.

 

[OmCheeto]

If it had been a multiple match choice question, I would have gotten it:

Match the name to the occupation:

1. Romanov a. composer
2. Kasparov b. leader
3. Mussorgsky c. astronaut
4. Gagarin d. comedian
5. Smirnoff e. chess player

And how many Russians can name the firsthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Liwei" person sent into space by China?

Bias? Nyet. глупость!

Spoiler

глупость = foolishness. pronounced: glue-post (for those of you illiterate in Cyrillic)

 

[Gokul43201]

You can tell a thread is dead or dying when the subject turns to grammar when grammar is not the subject.

In GD, threads evolve by being derailed; they die only when they are killed. There's a difference.

 

[Gokul43201]

глупость!
глупость = foolishness. pronounced: glue-post

Yup! That's the stuff that holds threads together in GD.

 

[OmCheeto]

Yup! That's the stuff that holds threads together in GD.

I was actually waiting for someone to ask if Glue-Post was really the name of the first Chinese astronaut.

 

[The Dagda]

In GD, threads evolve by being derailed; they die only when they are killed. There's a difference.

Ah in that case now I know the rules: proceed.