What Surprised You Most About the National Geographic Geosurvey Results?

[Gokul43201]

The video clip that neutrino referred to : http://www.wimp.com/invading/

It's absolutely hilarious !

 

[Pengwuino]

ahahhaha oh man, you australians are in trouble if we ever decide to invade iran!

the ticker is pretty funny too

haha oooops, looks like australins are also in trouble if we ever decide to invade france.

Man you australians are screwed no matter what...

 

[Danger]

This is completely off-topic, and I apologize for that, but it's not worth starting a new thread for and this one is popular enough that most of my buds will see it. Just want to let you know that I'll be off for the weekend. My gf and I, along with her grand-nephew and his gf, are going to Lloydminster for a couple of days to pick up her van and bring it back. She left it there when she moved, because she needed to drive her truck back to carry stuff in. I'll be back either Sunday night or Monday. Three cheers to my boss for letting me go on a busy weekend (I'm the only employee). This is the first time that I've been out of the Calgary area in close to 20 years, so it's a major vacation for me.

 

[Astronuc]

The video clip that neutrino referred to : http://www.wimp.com/invading/
It's absolutely hilarious !

Yep - and those are adults. Hopefully he found someone who pointed out that the maps were wrong.

Danger - have fun, and have a safe trip!

 

[Pengwuino]

Was it real? It looked stage ... with the ticker being a big joke and all...

 

[FredGarvin]

I know you're kidding, but what's your guess on the fraction of Americans who know what the Mistral really is?

Yeah. I was kidding. I was just playing to the France bashing that goes on so much. I dare not guess at what percent of anything Americans know.

Please tell me that the video is a joke. Please.

 

[moose]

I was surprised (honestly) to find that only 98% of Swedes can find Sweden! If THAT statistic can't be 100%, nothing can!

I would think that more Americans would be able to point out America than only 89%... I mean, it's huge! It's just there! But some people... grrr

 

[Kenneth Mann]

That was the one that shocked me the most! I only missed the one about the largest world religion...I actually thought it was something other than Christianity.
I wasn't shocked, but found it disturbing nonetheless, that such a high percentage of Americans couldn't identify the middle eastern countries and didn't know which one the Taliban and Al Quaeda originated in.

Christianity has purportedly roughly 1.9 billion, and Islam roughly 1.1 Billion. Together that amounts to roughly half the world's population.

KM

 

[Kenneth Mann]

So Christianity wins ! Come to think of it, there's probably nearly as many Catholics as there are Muslims.

I'm not sure, but I would rather doubt that. Given present demographic trends, in fifty years Islam will probably be the largest religion on Earth. Let's just hope that these aren't largely radicalized, or we might have a warm time on this little planet.

KM

 

[Ki Man]

that was a very very simple test. i only got one wrong. i even named sweden. that's sad, the sweds got the highest score on where all the other country's are all the time but nobody knows where sweden is.

of course america knows who exports the most oil. why else would we send hundreds of troops over there and not texas.

i'm too young to apply for this test technically... oh well i brough up the percent thingy hopefully.

1/3 of all americans don't know the sun is a star, if they are shown a map of the solar system...

 

[Smasherman]

Wow, the US is like, saddening, considering the impact we're currently having on world affairs (not to mention being a rich enough country to have decent education!).

 

[Pengwuino]

Wow, the US is like, saddening, considering the impact we're currently having on world affairs (not to mention being a rich enough country to have decent education!).

haha well look at russia or china...

Too bad this isn't a problem we can just piss money into. The whole system is screwed up, reading writing and arithmatic (and why do they call that the 3 R's anyhow... maybe there's the first problem) has been replaced with sports, multiculturalism, and non-responsibility.

 

[moose]

Wow, the US is like, saddening, considering the impact we're currently having on world affairs (not to mention being a rich enough country to have decent education!).

Our crappy education system has absolutely nothing to do with money. The U.S. spends the second highest amount of money per student out of any country in the world!

It's things like the no child left behind act and core classes thought up by some complete idiot who doesn't know what's important.

 

[Kazza_765]

Please tell me that the video is a joke. Please.

I was about to post a reply saying that CNNNN had done something similar, but that's the clip you have. They're for real alright. The federal government here sent a memo to all its members warning them not to do any interviews with CNNNN. When they first started, they got quite a few politicians saying some pretty stupid things, who thought they were a real news station.

Its not on that clip, but they were also asking people whether or not they agreed with Bush's plans to invade xxxxxx, which was a non-existant country, and why. People were coming up with all sorts of "facts" they had heard about this country and its weapons programs etc. and saying how terrible they are (I have the whole season on DVD).

 

[Pengwuino]

It's things like the no child left behind act

You do realize that is relatively new (doesn't explain a history of bad results) and is already showing signs of increasing test scores since its implimentations right...

plus this was taken in 2002...

 

[Monique]

The U.S. spends the second highest amount of money per student out of any country in the world!

How is that, students have to pay enormous loads of tuition in the US, what does the government do in the process?

 

[Pengwuino]

How is that, students have to pay enormous loads of tuition in the US, what does the government do in the process?

... define "enormous loads"...

I currently pay $1400/semester and I never even bothered with financial aid. Most people do get financial aid however so there pretty much left with no bill or something like $600/semester. Junior colleges are easily paid off by financial aid and if you don't bother, its like $300 a semester. The only places you pay more then that are private institutions that are not supported by the government. Most (sometimes 90%) of people have large fellowships or scholarships etc etc that take up a good 50% of the tuition...

To add to that, my university runs off a budget of some $20,000 a student if I recall correctly. I pay $1400... government supplies the rest behind the scenes.

 

[Moonbear]

How is that, students have to pay enormous loads of tuition in the US, what does the government do in the process?

I think they're referring to elementary and secondary school, not college. Though, you only pay enormous loads of tuition if you attend a private university. State universities receive government funding that greatly offsets the cost of tuition for students.

Too bad this isn't a problem we can just piss money into. The whole system is screwed up, reading writing and arithmatic (and why do they call that the 3 R's anyhow... maybe there's the first problem) has been replaced with sports, multiculturalism, and non-responsibility.

So, what country's educational system provided your education?

 

[Monique]

... define "enormous loads"...

I currently pay $1400/semester and I never even bothered with financial aid.

That is the tuition that I paid for an entire year (AND everyone gets a monthly budget (a gift) to spend on books, housing, food) and I know several other countries where they have the same tuition or even where it is free. That's why I'm surprised that it was said that the US paids more per student. I think you mean that the US puts more money into research, which would be true (we are still striving to get to 3% of the gross national product).

 

[Gokul43201]

How would you count Grad student stipends ? Does that count as Education or Research ? The US funds far more - by over an order of magnitude - grad students than any other country. And most of the money comes from either state budgets, or agencies like NSF and NIH or depts like DoE and DoD.

 

[Monique]

I count grad students (PhD education right?) as Research, so if that is grouped in Education I see why the US would invest more (I don't think that is true for other types of Education as I mentioned.)

 

[Gokul43201]

I've also heard that the teacher-student ratio is among the highest in the US (I believe the national average is around 1:17 or so). I"m not sure what it is in other countries.

 

[Evo]

I count grad students (PhD education right?) as Research, so if that is grouped in Education I see why the US would invest more (I don't think that is true for other types of Education as I mentioned.)

He was referring to primary education - ages 5-18 years, which is through the end of high school.

 

[Monique]

He was referring to primary education - ages 5-18 years, which is through the end of high school.

With he you mean Penguino, and that the government subsidizes primary education?

 

[Gokul43201]

Evo, she was responding to my post (#70).

 

[Moonbear]

With he you mean Penguino, and that the government subsidizes primary education?

The type of questions in that quiz, especially all the geography, really should only require about an 8th grade education (knowing east from west, identifying oceans and countries). And, yes, the government ensures that primary and secondary education is free for all children (you can pay for a private school, but that's a choice...the free education is always available).

Also, comparing tuition paid by the student isn't really a good indicator of how much is paid by the government unless we have some way of knowing the total cost is the same. For people who really can't afford college, there are need-based government grants to help them pay, and there are also a lot of scholarship options.

It's also difficult to really separate research and teaching costs at universities. A substantial portion of "research" dollars goes to the university to be used however they want, which includes getting put into teaching budgets and hiring teaching faculty.

 

[Evo]

Evo, she was responding to my post (#70).

I was referring to Pengwuino's post, sorry, I didn't mean it was you.

 

[Art]

I was surprised that more Mexicans could find the US on a map than people from the United States -- especially since only 29% of Mexicans could find West on a map.

That's because Mexican youngsters only need to know which ways North

 

[Monique]

The type of questions in that quiz, especially all the geography, really should only require about an 8th grade education (knowing east from west, identifying oceans and countries). And, yes, the government ensures that primary and secondary education is free for all children (you can pay for a private school, but that's a choice...the free education is always available).
Also, comparing tuition paid by the student isn't really a good indicator of how much is paid by the government unless we have some way of knowing the total cost is the same. For people who really can't afford college, there are need-based government grants to help them pay, and there are also a lot of scholarship options.
It's also difficult to really separate research and teaching costs at universities. A substantial portion of "research" dollars goes to the university to be used however they want, which includes getting put into teaching budgets and hiring teaching faculty.

Sure, I was just surprised about the figure mentioned that "the U.S. spends the second highest amount of money per student out of any country in the world". The US has the image that parents start saving for their kids' education when they are born, while here government 'takes care of everything' up until you graduate from university. I know international students who go to Germany or Sweden because universities are practically free there (correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, thanks for backing up the statistic

 

[Moonbear]

Sure, I was just surprised about the figure mentioned that "the U.S. spends the second highest amount of money per student out of any country in the world". The US has the image that parents start saving for their kids' education when they are born, while here government 'takes care of everything' up until you graduate from university. I know international students who go to Germany or Sweden because universities are practically free there (correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, thanks for backing up the statistic

Oh, yeah, the saving up part is so the kids can go to a prestigious private university, which really can be insanely expensive. Having money does give you a lot more choices than just the state universities, but the education at those universities is just as good of quality as a private university.

 

[mattmns]

I missed the El nino question, and the Christianity question. I was shocked when they said Christianity has the largest following. I got the rest correct though. I was unsure on the Afghanistan and Israel questions, but got them right with some elimination.

 

[Smurf]

The weirdest one is that less than 100% in France and Italy know who uses the Euro... THEY DO!

 

[Pengwuino]

So, what country's educational system provided your education?

This country :P My niece is about to enter junior high and I'm not sure she knows how to multiply yet.

 

[Pengwuino]

Sure, I was just surprised about the figure mentioned that "the U.S. spends the second highest amount of money per student out of any country in the world". The US has the image that parents start saving for their kids' education when they are born, while here government 'takes care of everything' up until you graduate from university. I know international students who go to Germany or Sweden because universities are practically free there (correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, thanks for backing up the statistic

haha i wish people around here saved up... As moonbear said, it's only when you have really good parents and you want to go to say, Stanford or Harvard or MIT etc etc.

 

[Kazza_765]

The weirdest one is that less than 100% in France and Italy know who uses the Euro... THEY DO!

You find that to be weirder than 1 in 10 americans not knowing where on a world map they are?

 

[tribdog]

the interesting fact came after the test people who got online in the past 30 days did 65% better.
I might have had a hard time on a couple of the geography ones if the numbers were in the same area, but if you had a basic grasp of which continent to look on you could get the answer easily.
Would Americans be able to pick out the Earth if the test labeled the answers 1st rock from the sun, 2nd rock from the sun, 3rd rock from the sun...
The only one i missed was the first one. I thought we had passed half a billion
You could show these results to the average american and they would still claim mental superiority over other countries. one of you guys should invade and take us over, we are spread pretty thin right now