Why do Americans just group all of Europe together
Why do you keep saying 'we're going to Europe' when there's such a big difference between Paris and Dunblane lol
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
CrystalSkull · F
It would be unfair to generalise but In my limited experience with certain Americans, they just don’t care about how varied life is in other parts of the world. In a way I can’t blame them, such a vast country with so many different states and people. I’m sure it’s hard enough to know what’s going on in their own country without worrying about the rest of the world.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@TrashCat A good point, indeed many people in any country would probably have the same difficulty with any other country - or even their own.
That does not excuse making no effort to learn though, or to have never been taught it. Nor to learn how to find out.
Given a map showing only the borders of US states, French [i]départements[/i] or Russian [i]oblasts[/i], I could not add the names - but I have atlases to show me.
For example, for much of the first few months of the war in Ukraine I kept it open at the relevant page; and with the aid of 'Google Earth'* knew of the Kersch Straits road and rail bridges long before they were mentioned in News reports. Similarly, as it shows sea-bed as well as terrestrial topography, my atlas occasionally helps me understand severe earthquakes or other natural disasters reported on the News.
Could,, though, every American, French or Russian person identify all of his or her own land's administrative boundaries by that test? Probably not - and I don't suppose I am the only Briton who could not correctly identify every county on a boundary-only map of the UK.
Nevertheless I do know every country and every part of very country has its individual characteristics; and it is not difficult to learn at least their basics, and to learn how to find them.
Sheer memory-knowledge is not so important as understanding where and how to find and use the facts reliably, [i]and[/i] having the will to do so. After all, we'd expect a doctor to have up-to-date medical and pharmacological references to hand, or an engineer to use appropriate books of mathematical formulae and tables. (Printed books and reliable Internet references.)
=====
*Which service also revealed to me, something I have not heard or read reported anywhere else: Chinese settlements apparently still being developed, on a very remote, arid playa-lake bed in their annexed Tibet. These have no [i]obvious [/i]purpose, but significantly, are directly below the mountain ridge carrying the short border with Afghanistan, plus those of Pakistan and a third (Tajikistan I think, from memory).
That does not excuse making no effort to learn though, or to have never been taught it. Nor to learn how to find out.
Given a map showing only the borders of US states, French [i]départements[/i] or Russian [i]oblasts[/i], I could not add the names - but I have atlases to show me.
For example, for much of the first few months of the war in Ukraine I kept it open at the relevant page; and with the aid of 'Google Earth'* knew of the Kersch Straits road and rail bridges long before they were mentioned in News reports. Similarly, as it shows sea-bed as well as terrestrial topography, my atlas occasionally helps me understand severe earthquakes or other natural disasters reported on the News.
Could,, though, every American, French or Russian person identify all of his or her own land's administrative boundaries by that test? Probably not - and I don't suppose I am the only Briton who could not correctly identify every county on a boundary-only map of the UK.
Nevertheless I do know every country and every part of very country has its individual characteristics; and it is not difficult to learn at least their basics, and to learn how to find them.
Sheer memory-knowledge is not so important as understanding where and how to find and use the facts reliably, [i]and[/i] having the will to do so. After all, we'd expect a doctor to have up-to-date medical and pharmacological references to hand, or an engineer to use appropriate books of mathematical formulae and tables. (Printed books and reliable Internet references.)
=====
*Which service also revealed to me, something I have not heard or read reported anywhere else: Chinese settlements apparently still being developed, on a very remote, arid playa-lake bed in their annexed Tibet. These have no [i]obvious [/i]purpose, but significantly, are directly below the mountain ridge carrying the short border with Afghanistan, plus those of Pakistan and a third (Tajikistan I think, from memory).
TrashCat · M
@ArishMell Memory knowledge is on the sharp decline because of the internet. Humans are no longer required to retain detailed info. We've inadvertently triggered an evolutionary reponse that has caused our brains to be rewired to data retrival mode from storage mode.
Tbh, there are a bunch of Americans who don't know where Nebraska is 😃
Tbh, there are a bunch of Americans who don't know where Nebraska is 😃
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@TrashCat Well, the USA occupies at least half the area of the continent, but don''t they know how to read a map?
That's a worrying thought though, that we are becoming far too dependent on the Internet as a substitute for learning.
It happens even a small scale. One day my nephew reckoned you don't need learn much maths because "it's all your calculator". I pointed out that the calculator or computer is only an arithmetic machine: you still need understand the problem so you can give the instrument the right instructions.
That's a worrying thought though, that we are becoming far too dependent on the Internet as a substitute for learning.
It happens even a small scale. One day my nephew reckoned you don't need learn much maths because "it's all your calculator". I pointed out that the calculator or computer is only an arithmetic machine: you still need understand the problem so you can give the instrument the right instructions.