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[shmooj]

Someone who will remain nameless asked this (pertinent ) question at another time and in another place.

Thought it should make for an interesting thread

Anyone care to comment?

[Shonai Ben]

I think you could also ask why do the Japanese know so little about the outside world?

[johnslat]

Admittedly, many USAers have a striking lack of knowledge about the " world outside ". But then, in my experience, so many citizens of other countries don't have that much, if any, more information. Europeans may be better informed about Europe, but the ones I've met haven't, as a rule, been too well acquainted with other parts of the world. There are probably a number of reasons for all this ignorance - one of them being simple lack of curiosity. People everywhere tend to be a lot more interested in and aware of what " affects them directly ", which is usually local and/or national. Also, I don't believe that geography and " world history " are taught as much in the primary and secondary schools these days as they once were. Then, people probably aren't reading as much as they used to, as well - many get their " knowledge " from the media, and the media everywhere tends to focus on what's relevant to its audience. The USA very likely gets more coverage globally than, say, Pakistan, so people in other countries probably get to learn more ( or less ) about the USA. But that's simply because, at this stage of history, the USA is such a major player in global affairs. Most of the Saudis ( and Indonesians ) I taught were just as ignorant about the " world outside " ( or had those strange, often absurd notions that TV and movies often transmit ) as any USAer.
Regards,
John

[Jess_Laoshi]

Or the Chinese . . .

Ignorance isn't the exclusive domain of Americans, although it's easy to get that impression sometimes!

My Australian friend who goes to school here in Texas was talking to a guy in a bar. "Your accent is really strange," says the guy. "Where're you from?"

"Actually, I'm from Australia," says my friend.

"Is that in South Texas?" asks the guy.

My friend decided to play along. "Yeah, it's really really far South. It's so far South it's across the Pacific Ocean."

The guy looked stumped for a moment. "So you mean it's in Mexico?"

[dduck]

I think Americans get picked on more often, because the USA is the world's only Super Power, and it follows that America must be filled with the world's most capable. It comes as a shock to some that there are some stupid people living there.

The truth being, however, that no one has monopoly on ignorance.
Iain

[khmerhit]

Ask your typical someone from Canada where Chad, Mali, Andorra, Laos, Spratly Islands, Sarawak, Borneo, New Caledonia, Maldives, Goa, Bhutan, Cook Islands are...I could, I suspect , go on. They aint on our mental map!

[Shonai Ben]

Does anyone know where St. Pierre and Miquelon are?They are French islands.

[SweetOne]

Whatdaya mean... there is a world outside of the USA!!! this is total news to me. I wish you would tell me more. I have been under the impression, apparently, an erroneous one, that there is nothing else besides the USA. We are all there is. I am ferklempt now. How to process this information...

I may not sleep tonight....

[Seth]

'Verklemmt'

Americans also have a more difficult time leaving the country, as we're pretty far from everywhere and most can't afford a big international trip. We also don't get as much vacation time as most other countries. My parents are just average middle class folk and they could never afford to leave the country, just from airline ticket costs alone. Usually when they vacation they stay in the US, as the US has just about every terrain and climate you could want. You can also go to Canada and parts of Mexico without a passport.

I think it's mostly to do with a shrinking attention span and general apathy. As long as we have our SUV and wide screen TV we're set. Although, when I lived in Britain, I didn't notice much of a difference in ignorance levels. Europeans do have good knowledge of each other, but that's usually because they hate each other.

Where have the renaissance men gone?

[Buck Turgidson]

[shmooj]

Buck > funny. It seems to be interesting so far... remember, I didn't ask the question but thought some would like to comment on this and as it was buried at the bottom of another topic on this forum would have missed the chance. Reserve your flames for PMs if you really have to.

I've travelled around and have been blown away by how, in this age of information technology and saturation with data, people can remain totally unaware of life in other countries. People know more about life on Mars than they do on this planet sometimes!

I would say, having lived for fair amounts of time in the UK and Japan that ignorance levels are pretty much on par in terms of international news. But British people have more awareness of Europe I'd say than Japanese have of Asia. Why this is I'm not sure.

I'm British and it fascinates me that we have the quaint phrase "on the continent" to indicate mainland Europe. Wonder if they use it in Ireland or Malta or Iceland? Brits seem to think themselves a world apart from the rest of their European brethren and sistren all because of a 25ish mile stretch of water which, until fairly recently in geological terms wasn't water at all. And in any case, most of us living there came over from what is now France and Germany.

Anyway, I digress. Suggestions please: why is it that in this age where we can find out pretty much anything via the net or with English at the international status it is communication is far easier than it ever used to be, people in pretty much any country remain totally ignorant of life outside? In America or otherwise...

[Buck Turgidson]

Fair enough just as long as we realize that we are talking about perceptions (or perhaps prejudices). You know its hard being American right now. A lot of abuse has been heaped upon us lately. Some of it is admittedly deserved . But some of it is just plain old resentment of us because we are Americans.

1) The age of information.

Well I read somewhere that even now, only about 30% of Americans regularly use the internet (I don't know if that figure is accurate. I know it was less than 50%). Anyway, billions of people never get on the internet. And the ones who do tend to be a) wealthy and b) educated, so they are much more likely to be informed about the world anyway. But the world is changing. I remember during September 11, 2001, I was in Kitakyushu, Japan, watching the attacks live on the other side of the planet, while instant messaging a friend in Ukraine who was himself watching the attacks live on Blomberg news service at his office. I think the average person's knowledge of the world will only grow in the future.

2) People are stupid and ignorant.

By definition, half of the world's population has below average intelligence. Which means like 33% have significantly lower than average intelligence. 1 in 3. I don't think it is likely these people are going to be knowlegeable about other countries, just as long as they get their bread and circuses.

What is more alarming than stupidity is ignorance. I understand this term to mean choosing not to know. There is a tendency in the USA to dislike intellectuals. I think many associate them with an elite, which is unamerican (even though we have always had an elite whether we recognize it or not).


About the UK and 'the Continent,' I understand the Swedes rejected the Euro recently. And isn't there a movement to preserve the Pound in the UK? Maybe the UK is a part of Scandinavia rather than "The Continent." You would know better than I. I am an American after all.

Buck

[shmooj]

I heard a joke once:

"How to make your country disappear"

1. Go to America
2. Open a newspaper


Is there any foundation to this claim that US papers have scant info on world events in them? By and large Brit papers (not tabloid) have a fair amount of news on international goings-on.

Japanese news seems to be in the category of having little info on current affairs outside the China/US sandwich we find ourselves in. Mind you, that may be why. When you have those two hemming you in physically on one side and economically on both, it might just be safer mentally to meditate on your navel.

Here's one thing though. You often get documentaries on TV here that show (usually a young) Japanese wandering around some foreign place. After a ten minute take it's back to the studio where the person sits to face questions about their experiences. It seems to me, though my japanese is not perfect by any stretch of anyone's imagination, that these shows focus, not on informing others of the country concerned but on the subjective impressions the person who went there had. This may indicate something that even though there is info, it is badly skewed.

So is the information explosion going to break walls of prejudice or reinforce them?

BTW, the Euro example is another example of how the British think they are not part of Europe. People up north sure feel a lot more akin to Scandinavians. Probably a leftover in their genes from all the raping and pillaging the Vikings did up there way back!

[naturegirl321]

I think it's because America is huge. In Europe, countries are smaller, so it's easier to travel.

[khmerhit]

I saw a Canadian soldier on TV tonite. He's in Afghanistan doing crowd control. He said he has come to the conclusion that North America and Europe are like an island and the rest of the world is a dark place full of people who are hostile to us. "I think it's evil," he said-- meaning the rest of the world, presumably.

Talk about extrapolating from a narrow premiss! Admittedly, he must have his reasons, and he is only toeing the line. But it will be a pity if he returns with this weird prejudice lodged in his noggin.

Didnt someone say that living in another country is akin to going to grad skool? Not for this guy. Reminds me of the Fear=Consumption Theory promulgated by M Moore in Bowling For Columbine.