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Can you find your own country on a map?

76% Normal

I've heard for many years that 3/4 of American high school graduates can't find the USA on a blank map. I can honestly say that I have never met a person over the age of 11 that couldnt do this. I decided to look up where this obvious fallacy came from, and the one thing I could find on the subject was an old article that said that a certain school in South Texas that was filled with poor, uneducated immigrants, many of whom couldn't speak English, was where this came from. If this is true, it would explain the numbers but not explain how in the world people started saying that this was the case in all American schools.

In the US, 94 percent of non graduated students can identify the US.

In Britain, 10 percent of students can't find Ireland on a map, and in France, 3/4 of students don't know that France is a nuclear power. Yet people think Americans are so dumb.

Can you find your own country on a map?

Voting Results

76% Normal

Based on 38 votes (29 yes)

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Comments ( 50 )

MrToxic

5 years ago | pl

I mean. I'd love to meet an Australian that can't find their fucking country xD

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  Lol. That's why I didn't say anything about them.
  
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paramore93

5 years ago

Did somebody say maps?
I don't know anybody who couldn't find Ireland on a map.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  I'm sure the vast majority of British can find Ireland. I just can't believe people buy these statistics that are thrown at them all the time.
  
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  - paramore93
    
    5 years ago
    
    Yeah, I love me some statistics but many seem made up to back political agendas.
    
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TS

5 years ago

There're some really dense people out there, but they aren't the norm. When you hear or see a statistic, even in the news, and think "that doesn't sound right", it's usually because it isn't.

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donteatstuffoffthesidewalk

5 years ago

i filled in 90% of countries and all us & mexican states & canadian provinces on a bet once and im just a dumb hillbilly

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  I think I could find about the same number on a map. The world thinks we are so dumb here though,
  
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  - donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
    
    5 years ago
    
    ive been all over and theres morons everywhere
    
    places with more education seemsta breed a certain passive aggressive sanctimonious attitude anyhow
    
    i dont really need another lecture from some random norwegian about what a dystopian hellscape america is cause theys opinions got formed thru cable tv news
    
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Ellenna

5 years ago

I'm Australian and can't understand some usa accents without subtitles

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  We Americans have quite a few accents. I'm from the south and can barely understand some of my neighbors.
  
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Ellenna

5 years ago

Nah, Strayan

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Anonymous Post Author

5 years ago

They sure are an oblivious bunch, aren't they? I was standing with a group of them waiting for the street car a few weeks ago and noticed that they didn't look up from their phones until the operator rang his bell. They then scurried in and looked back down at their phones. It's like they have to be reminded that there is a world around them.

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Ummitsstillme

5 years ago

Anyone can miss Canada, all tucked away down there.

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[Old Memory]

5 years ago

I'm sure I'd be able to find the USA, and maybe Italy 'cause it looks like a boot.

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RoseIsabella

5 years ago

Yes, I can find Texas on a map!

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  Texas was once a country, huh? I think some of y'all need to realize you're part of the Union now :))
  
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  - nikkiclaire
    
    5 years ago
    
    It was a republic yep.
    
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    - Anonymous Post Author
      
      5 years ago
      
      I know. I've always wondered what north America would be like if Texas hadn't joined,
      
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      - nikkiclaire
        
        5 years ago
        
        Better 😂😂
        
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        LornaMae
        
        5 years ago
        
        And E.T. would never have made it home if they didn't export Speak and Spell :(
        
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Randomly-Strawberry

5 years ago

Of course. TBH most 5 years olds here are able to find it...

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Randomly-Strawberry

5 years ago

Ahem, I am not even American yet I can find America on a map...

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kelili

5 years ago

I cannot find my country on a map because it's way too small to appear on it.

That sucks.

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SwickDinging

5 years ago

Lonewolf - Every country I've ever lived in has made it illegal to use your phone while driving. Maybe they should do that where you live too? I think it's one of those rare cases where the law actually made a big difference.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  It's illegal in all us states. That doesn't stop assholes from doing it. People are stupid wherever you go.
  
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  - SwickDinging
    
    5 years ago
    
    That's a shame. In places I've lived you don't see people doing it very often, and I think people are really keen to report anyone they see doing it.
    
    If someone I loved died in a car accident caused by some tosser using their phone while driving, I would want that tosser dead. Legally or otherwise...
    
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    - Anonymous Post Author
      
      5 years ago
      
      Part of my job is to drive a semi truck on an almost daily basis which puts me at an elevation to see what drivers are doing around me and I can tell you for sure that most Americans unfortunately text and drive. The worst are teenage girls. Second worst are other lorry drivers.
      
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      - SwickDinging
        
        5 years ago
        
        That's such a shame. I've never been to the US, but if I saw someone doing that I'd report them. It's a motorway pileup waiting to happen.
        
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donteatstuffoffthesidewalk

5 years ago

i liked the guy richie movies with the unintelligible limey accents & slang that had subtitles

course i needed subtitles in boston too with the way them sonsawhoahs is talkin

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Anonymous Post Author

5 years ago

I've heard that you are more likely to cause an accident while texting than drinking and driving. It's probably true.

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curious-bunny

5 years ago

I couldn't point out the state's but i could the country yea

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  I doubt most people can name the state's they havent been in.
  
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  - curious-bunny
    
    5 years ago
    
    I was one if the only in my class you couldn't so good on the 50 states test
    
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TheBlindInquisitor

5 years ago

Yes.

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309uf2o38yf

5 years ago

That's hard to believe considering in my school, we had to memorize the capital of every country to pass our 9th grade social studies course.

Some countries have changed names and borders in the past 15 years, but I still remember most of them.

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SwickDinging

5 years ago

I thought that stat came from a tv show? I haven't seen it but an American friend of mine said that this was on some sort of late show when he was younger (can't remember the name, sorry!) where they just went up to a few random people in the street and asked them to point to the USA on a blank map, and most of them couldn't do it.

If this is true then it's a bit unfair to judge everyone based off that. TV shows usually seek out the lowest of the low for these sorts of things because it makes better tv if everyone at home can laugh at them and feel superior.

I'm British and I've never met a British person who couldn't point out Ireland on a world map. The British Isles are very small and there's pictures of it everywhere - even just on the local weather you'd see Ireland on the map, so I don't think it's possible for anyone of normal brain function to not understand where Ireland is.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  That stat probably is from a game show.
  
  What really gets me is that our former president, Barack Obama repeated this fallacy a few times when speaking about the American educational system. So the bullshit made it all the way to the president of the USA. Freaking wow.
  
  I'm sure the British can find Ireland easily enough. Just one more of those fallacies people latch on to.
  
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  - factcheck
    
    5 years ago
    
    He said 3/4 of Americans can't locate the US? I've never heard that. I know there were reports going around that a fifth of Americans couldn't locate the US, that was the version that was asked at a Miss Teen USA pageant that lead to the poor contestant going viral, it seems more likely that that would be what the president said. But I can't find any reports of him saying either one so I don't know which number he gave.
    
    Either way, like SwickDinging suggested, people love to latch onto anything that makes other people look dumb or bad so they can feel good and smart. It's the same reason people are so quick to believe negative stereotypes, ie people from another country are dumb, even when they don't have statistics to back them up. Americans are just as guilty of this as anybody else.
    
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McBean

5 years ago

Dumb people in the U.S. are really nothing to worry about. This is why the U.S. hires all the world's geniuses. That way we don't have to compete against them.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  Which is pretty smart in itself.
  
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nikkiclaire

5 years ago

When I moved here to the U.S from Australia about half the people I met asked what language we spoke. No joke.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  5 years ago
  
  Everyone with a brain knows you speak Australian. Duh
  
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- Ellenna
  
  5 years ago
  
  Friends of mine who visited the usa from Australia years ago were complimented quite a few times on their excellent english! Didn't trump get us mixed up with austria?
  
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- 309uf2o38yf
  
  5 years ago
  
  Probably thought you were Europeans. Americans aren't familiar with foreign accents. ours is so different that every other accent spoken in English sounds the same, unless you're around them a lot and get used to the differences. We can't tell the difference between Swedish and German.
  
  Hell a lot of us can't even tell the difference between British, South African, Kiwi, Australian, ect. 🤣🤣😂
  
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paracetamol

5 years ago

Yes i can find india on a map and many other countries also.

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