geographic illiteracy

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Let's question the assumption inherent in the post:

 

Why is geography an important skill to have?

 

it's easier to care less about people and countries that you know nothing about

[sexual_chocolate]

because those that know geography, like to make themselve look good by pointing out that you don't know geography.

 

I thought they liked to make themselves look good by wearing blue wind-pants?

[DirtyHarry]

There was some comedian / satirist, maybe John Stewart, who observed that Americans don't know where any other country is until we start bombing the shit out of it.

[sexual_chocolate]

Let's question the assumption inherent in the post:

 

Why is geography an important skill to have?

 

it's easier to care less about people and countries that you know nothing about

 

 

So what you are saying is that the geographically literate care more about people and countries? And when you say "care", do you mean care about their well-being?

[archenemy]

How does using a cell phone or watching music videos lower your ability to point out a country on a map? Come on, it really doesn't take that much time to learn where a friggen country is. I would tend to agree with something like, "Americans are self-centered and don't care about the rest of the world" more than "pop culture".

Makes me want to ask what happened to kids' ability to use logic and debate.

 

They're spending their time rotting their brains when they could be discussing world news with their parents, doing their HW, etc. And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

Careful, you are starting to sound old.

[tomtom]

How does using a cell phone or watching music videos lower your ability to point out a country on a map? Come on, it really doesn't take that much time to learn where a friggen country is. I would tend to agree with something like, "Americans are self-centered and don't care about the rest of the world" more than "pop culture".

Makes me want to ask what happened to kids' ability to use logic and debate.

 

They're spending their time rotting their brains when they could be discussing world news with their parents, doing their HW, etc. And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

 

Having just finished grading midterms, they could also use a little work on their arithmetic and algebra, too.

[underworld]

How does using a cell phone or watching music videos lower your ability to point out a country on a map? Come on, it really doesn't take that much time to learn where a friggen country is. I would tend to agree with something like, "Americans are self-centered and don't care about the rest of the world" more than "pop culture".

Makes me want to ask what happened to kids' ability to use logic and debate.

 

They're spending their time rotting their brains when they could be discussing world news with their parents, doing their HW, etc. And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

 

Having just finished grading midterms, they could also use a little work on their arithmetic and algebra, too.

 

...blaming the victim

[KaskadskyjKozak]

So what you are saying is that the geographically literate care more about people and countries? And when you say "care", do you mean care about their well-being?

 

I mean it's easier to kill them, ignore suffering and injustices in their countries, and be just indifferent to it all, if you know nothing about them. It's also easy to oversimplify relations with those countries and solutions to their problems.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

They're spending their time rotting their brains when they could be discussing world news with their parents, doing their HW, etc. And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

 

 

another back-seat driver with no kids, talking out of his butt

[cj001f]

I mean it's easier to kill them, ignore suffering and injustices in their countries, and be just indifferent to it all, if you know nothing about them. It's also easy to oversimplify relations with those countries and solutions to their problems.

 

Heh.

[sexual_chocolate]

So what you are saying is that the geographically literate care more about people and countries? And when you say "care", do you mean care about their well-being?

 

I mean it's easier to kill them, ignore suffering and injustices in their countries, and be just indifferent to it all, if you know nothing about them. It's also easy to oversimplify relations with those countries and solutions to their problems.

 

So what you are saying is that if the American public had known where Iraq was on the map, they couldn't have been duped into this nettlesome war that fits your above scenario to a t?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

So what you are saying is that if the American public had known where Iraq was on the map, they couldn't have been duped into this nettlesome war that fits your above scenario to a t?

 

nice troll

 

there are people on both sides of the Iraq debate who are clueless with their oversimplified positions based on ignorance.

Edited May 3, 2006 by KaskadskyjKozak

[sexual_chocolate]

there are people on both sides of the Iraq debate who are clueless with their oversimplified positions based on ignorance.

 

Which is the most glaring example of this that you see in the anti-invasion/war camp?

[archenemy]

Me. I agree with KaskadskyKotex that the less you know about a person, the easiest it is to hate them. I don't know him at all, and I really think I might consider bombing him if I had the chance. See, simple and ignorant.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

there are people on both sides of the Iraq debate who are clueless with their oversimplified positions based on ignorance.

 

Which is the most glaring example of this that you see in the anti-invasion/war camp?

 

monomaniac

[sexual_chocolate]

Hey yeah, it's truly something that presses on my mind, but I guess that's what I get for being geographically literate!

 

But seriously, you made an assertion that I was curious about.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Hey yeah, it's truly something that presses on my mind, but I guess that's what I get for being geographically literate!

 

But seriously, you made an assertion that I was curious about.

 

Remember people talking about Clinton Fatigue? Well, I've already got Bush Fatigue and Iraq Fatigue. Guess that's another thread though.

[murraysovereign]

... And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

 

But much of the U.S.A. has been in exactly the same geographic location for 230 years. How long does your attention span have to be?

[Johnny_Tuff]

... And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

 

Have attention spans gone to hell, or have we just learned to focus on attention spans as being a problem?

[archenemy]

... And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

 

Have attention spans gone to hell, or have we just learned to focus on attention spans as being a problem?

I think it's the latter. It's like everyone now saying, Oh, I have a little ADD.

Bullshit.

[underworld]

it's the only thing they can focus on

[Gary_Yngve]

Careful, you are starting to sound old.

 

I feel old and weak and feeble. For the past three days I've had some sort of vicious flu thingie with temps spiking over 102 by late afternoon.

[TREETOAD]

... And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.

 

Have attention spans gone to hell, or have we just learned to focus on attention spans as being a problem?

I think it's the latter. It's like everyone now saying, Oh, I have a little ADD.

Bullshit.

 

You are born with a seven second attention span, just enough time to focus on something and decide whether or not something benefits you or not. An example of this is music videos. They are designed with no video segment longer than that so that at least every seven seconds your brain is subjected to another video sequence which you automatically watch. If the segment was to run for much longer you would realize that it is not interesting and would look away, but the advertizers want you to keep looking so they flash on another segment which you watch.

But of course you already knew this but forgot seven seconds ago.

[TREETOAD]

I got a blue bike .