Harvard students don't know Canada's capital

[Lord Method Man]

It's Canada's problem that people don't know their capital. I'm sure every one of those students was taught that Ottawa was the capital of Canada back in grade school but it wasn't important enough for them to remember.

 

If this was a video of people in another country unable to name the capital of the United States it would be used to illustrate how irrelevant and unimportant the United States had become.

[xWhiplash]

I would have said Toronto.  Geez you guys.  What is with this "living in a bubble" nonsense?

 

Does everybody on the planet need to be a geography expert?

 

Why do we have to concern ourselves with every little detail about our "neighboring countries".  People have lives, they work, socialize, go to school for their FIELD, and are concerned about what is going on in our country.  They are concerned with these rough economic times.  How can you blame people for focusing on their own lives more than other countries?  Harvard is not cheap.  You do not know the personal lives of those individuals.  

 

You do realize there are some people that work multiple jobs (especially these days), never get days off, have a family to feed, and a lot more pressing matters.  ALSO, we have a lot of crap going on in our own country to learn and read up about.  Right now most people's insurance are changing.

 

Let me ask you guys, do you remember every single thing you learned from elementary/high school?  I bet there are a few things you forgot.  So why the hell is it a big deal that people forget the capital of a country they learned years ago but NEVER USED that knowledge.

[adrynalyne]

My guess is that people don't know what the capital of canada is (or any country for that matter) because they don't need to. maybe they were taught capitals at school, who knows. But if you don't need it for your work or whatever, then the knowledge becomes some useless trivia rather than useful information. 

 

Im pretty sure any american that does business with canada or any politician will know damn well what the capital is. 

Thank you!

 

Thats what I've been saying all along.

 

Which in turn caused others to say that I:

 

Live in a bubble

Should not browse Neowin because it doesn't make me money

and other silliness.

[adrynalyne]

I would have said Toronto.  Geez you guys.  What is with this "living in a bubble" nonsense?

 

Does everybody on the planet need to be a geography expert?

 

 

Yes.

 

On the Internet:

 

You must be a scholar that is an expert in foreign affairs, politics, and geography.

You must date a fashion model.

You must hold (multiple) black belts in martial arts.

You must be wealthy.

 

 

I'm surprised you didn't know this.

[FlintyV]

Yes.

 

On the Internet:

 

You must be a scholar that is an expert in foreign affairs, politics, and geography.

You must date a fashion model.

You must hold (multiple) black belts in martial arts.

You must be wealthy.

 

 

I'm surprised you didn't know this.

 

Since when did knowing the capital of a country make people a "geography expert"? 

 

Let's try and keep things in perspective, adrynalyne?

[leesmithg]

Well it is like some people think Sydney is the capital of Australia, or Manchester is the capital of England, or Glasgow is the capital of Scotland, or Istanbul is the capital of Turkey.

 

I would had thought that people would know the capital of their nearest neighbour, like the French capital is Paris.

 

Going to a top University does not mean you're intelligent, means you come from the right family and back ground and get a leg up.

 

It might prove that it's not what you know it's whom you know.

[qdave]

I've noticed that geography deemed as not important subject and this is the result..both in that video and in forums! Shame really. Knowledge wont harm you, and knowing the world around wont harm one even more.

 

As for these students..where did they find them :D

[Julius Caro]

Thank you!

 

Thats what I've been saying all along.

 

Which in turn caused others to say that I:

 

Live in a bubble

Should not browse Neowin because it doesn't make me money

and other silliness.

 

Ha! Oh well. People only know or remember things that they use, I guess. Otherwise it's just some memory thing. 

 

But I do think geography is very important. Back in the day when I was working dealing with dispatching of orders, I had to remember where all our clients were. Mentally it is SO much easier when you know where they are located geographically. Because I did remember the names of the places they were at, but once I screwed up because I sent an order to a client but to a wrong warehouse (they had several). I thought they places were close but they were opposite sides of the country, so that delayed the delivery. If only I had known :P

[FloatingFatMan]

Are you out of school? If you are how long have you been out of school. You can't honestly say you remember most of what you've been taught especially if you've been out of school for 10+ years.

And to be totally honest i've learned a lot more out of school than I did in it.

Also how is learning the capital of Canada useful? If someone isn't going to be visiting Canada or needs to know certain cities because of a job requirement how useful is knowing the capital of Canada?

Its about as useful as your post...

I've been out of school since 1986 (before a lot of you were even born, at a guess), yet I can name the capital of most significant countries in the world just as part of my general knowledge. That a large number of people can't isn't so much an issue of intelligence or even education, but far more an issue of being quite insular.

Also, from what I gather, the US education system doesn't focus THAT much on things outside of their country. Again, that's not a fault of the students but a fault of the curriculum. One really can't be expected to remember things that one didn't even get taught.

The world thinks that Americans need to mind their own business, yet when some of us do, we are considered living in a bubble and chastised for it.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Personally, I couldn't care less about the capital of Canada, seeing how it doesn't put food on the table for my family. When it does, I will be more than happy to pay attention to things I consider mundane.

-or-

If I decide to move to Canada, I will be happy to learn everything I can about the country. Until then...meh.

There's a world of difference between knowing what's going on around you, and interfering in it.

A question to those living in the U.K. Would you be considered as 'living in a bubble', if you couldn't name the capital of the Republic of Ireland?

Probably. We'd also call them idiots! :p

[adrynalyne]

There is a world of difference in knowing what's going on in the world and concerning yourself with a country's capital as well.

Since when did knowing the capital of a country make people a "geography expert"?

Let's try and keep things in perspective, adrynalyne?

That is rich.

Keep things in perspective in a thread that:

Cherry-picked results in a video to bash Americans

Has multiple instances of bashing Americans for not knowing every capital out there

Accused people for living in a bubble for being concerned with their immediate family over the priority of concerning themselves with learning the capitals of other countries.

Of course you are on the typical offenders in US bashing, so its not surprise that you jump on my comment but none of the other ridiculous claims in this thread.

Ha! Oh well. People only know or remember things that they use, I guess. Otherwise it's just some memory thing.

But I do think geography is very important. Back in the day when I was working dealing with dispatching of orders, I had to remember where all our clients were. Mentally it is SO much easier when you know where they are located geographically. Because I did remember the names of the places they were at, but once I screwed up because I sent an order to a client but to a wrong warehouse (they had several). I thought they places were close but they were opposite sides of the country, so that delayed the delivery. If only I had known :p

If I was dispatching orders, knowing such things would be a priority for me too.

It's Canada's problem that people don't know their capital. I'm sure every one of those students was taught that Ottawa was the capital of Canada back in grade school but it wasn't important enough for them to remember.

If this was a video of people in another country unable to name the capital of the United States it would be used to illustrate how irrelevant and unimportant the United States had become.

This.

It would be easy to produce said video.

Find a group of people who are deemed "smart".

Cherry-pick your results until you have enough to publish it on the Internet.

Conclude that <insert country> is full of idiots.

A lot like this thread here.

[FlintyV]

There is a world of difference in knowing what's going on in the world and concerning yourself with a country's capital as well.

That is rich.

Keep things in perspective in a thread that:

Cherry-picked results in a video to bash Americans

Has multiple instances of bashing Americans for not knowing every capital out there

Accused people for living in a bubble for being concerned with their immediate family over the priority of concerning themselves with learning the capitals of other countries.

Of course you are on the typical offenders in US bashing, so its not surprise that you jump on my comment but none of the other ridiculous claims in this thread.

If I was dispatching orders, knowing such things would be a priority for me too.

This.

It would be easy to produce said video.

Find a group of people who are deemed "smart".

Cherry-pick your results until you have enough to publish it on the Internet.

Conclude that <insert country> is full of idiots.

A lot like this thread here.

 

 

My two posts in this thread of :

 

It baffles me why you consider basic geographical knowledge of neighbouring countries as "values".

 

&

 

Since when did knowing the capital of a country make people a "geography expert"? 

 

Are of me "US bashing"?

[adrynalyne]

 

My two posts in this thread of :

 

It baffles me why you consider basic geographical knowledge of neighbouring countries as "values".

 

&

 

Since when did knowing the capital of a country make people a "geography expert"? 

 

Are "US bashing"? 

 

 

:rolleyes:

[FlintyV]

:rolleyes:

 

Just seems silly you're complaining about other people warping the perspective when you, yourself are doing the exact same thing.

[adrynalyne]

Just seems silly you're complaining about other people warping the perspective when you, yourself are doing the exact same thing.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

 

You take everything I said out of context, but that is your typical MO, so it comes as no surprise.

[trieste]

I made it clear that geography isn't my interest.  Browsing the Internet when bored is.

 

How about you practice what you preach and mind your own business?

I certainly don't invade other countries. :rolleyes:

 

Practising my preaching now!

[trieste]

You do not know the personal lives of those individuals.  

 

You do realize there are some people that work multiple jobs (especially these days), never get days off, have a family to feed, and a lot more pressing matters.  ALSO, we have a lot of crap going on in our own country to learn and read up about.  Right now most people's insurance are changing.

 

Let me ask you guys, do you remember every single thing you learned from elementary/high school?  I bet there are a few things you forgot.  So why the hell is it a big deal that people forget the capital of a country they learned years ago but NEVER USED that knowledge.

Whoa there. (If I were a nastier Neowin poster you would have seen the sexist phrase "don't get your panties in a bunch")

 

Fact 1: People who are smart enough to go to Harvard do make it one of their intellectual stimulations and passions the knowing of all sorts of trivia. Like hobby collectors of the soundbite sort. (Whom we would call "karang guni men" in my part of the world, ironically, a region which the average American would consider backward and uneducated). And based on personal and social experience I'm making less of an assumption about their intellectual pursuits than you are about their "economic hardships".

 

Fact 2: The original grouse was about Harvard undergraduates. You managed to introduce the red herring of the general population and rant about that instead, I know not how.

 

Fact 3: Some of us don't learn Ottawa in geography in school. We had books and we devoured their content. A probably more interesting fact was that Queen Victoria was the one who chose Ottawa. It should be interesting enough for a genuine lover of knowledge to begin to search for her reasons.

[adrynalyne]

I certainly don't invade other countries. :rolleyes:

 

Practising my preaching now!

I don't either.

 

Consider your preaching practiced. 

 

:rolleyes:

[Arachno 1D]

Id gladly invade anywhere with nice Boobies

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

The knowledge of a few principles can eliminate the need to know many facts.

 

The primary function of the undergraduate level of education is to teach students how to work with massive amounts of data without getting lost and where to go to dig missing data.

 

As you go higher up to masters and phd level, the main goal shifts to the development of one's ability to propose new ideas, hypothesises, and theories.

 

/thread

[blerk]

I didn't realize all those students went to Harvard to learn geography...

[xWhiplash]

Whoa there. (If I were a nastier Neowin poster you would have seen the sexist phrase "don't get your panties in a bunch")

 

Fact 1: People who are smart enough to go to Harvard do make it one of their intellectual stimulations and passions the knowing of all sorts of trivia. Like hobby collectors of the soundbite sort. (Whom we would call "karang guni men" in my part of the world, ironically, a region which the average American would consider backward and uneducated). And based on personal and social experience I'm making less of an assumption about their intellectual pursuits than you are about their "economic hardships".

 

Fact 2: The original grouse was about Harvard undergraduates. You managed to introduce the red herring of the general population and rant about that instead, I know not how.

 

Fact 3: Some of us don't learn Ottawa in geography in school. We had books and we devoured their content. A probably more interesting fact was that Queen Victoria was the one who chose Ottawa. It should be interesting enough for a genuine lover of knowledge to begin to search for her reasons.

 

Did I say they do not know trivia?  I know a lot of trivia, but I would have said Toronto.  They can know all the trivia they want, doesn't mean they are guaranteed to know Ottawa is the capital.

 

Who cares if they are Harvard undergrads or some Joe Somebody who did not make it past High School.  You do NOT know every single fact in the world.  It just is NOT possible.  So just because they are a Harvard student, they MUST know EVERY BIT of trivia?  Why?  If they are amazing at their field, they have just the right to be at Harvard as anybody else.

[trieste]

Did I say they do not know trivia?  I know a lot of trivia, but I would have said Toronto.  They can know all the trivia they want, doesn't mean they are guaranteed to know Ottawa is the capital.

 

Who cares if they are Harvard undergrads or some Joe Somebody who did not make it past High School.  You do NOT know every single fact in the world.  It just is NOT possible.  So just because they are a Harvard student, they MUST know EVERY BIT of trivia?  Why?  If they are amazing at their field, they have just the right to be at Harvard as anybody else.

You know a lot of trivia, but the trivia content you know grows along the lines of places, events and people that you are personally interested about. This is true for the average person, and the difference between an average person and a Harvard student is that if anything, a Harvard student should epitomise the characteristic of being hungry for knowledge, whether they be isolated snippets of trivia or entire systems of philosophy. If such hunger does not extend far out beyond their core undergraduate studies, the US as a nation should worry indeed.

 

No one said they must know every single bit of trivia, only you came up with this strawman. People are putting forth the argument that Canada is adjacent to the USA; if it's not a lack of hunger for knowledge, or intellectual laziness, then what can it be? A self-centred "who cares if it doesn't make me money or advance my career" ?