Harvard students don't know Canada's capital

[Ice_Blue]

I expected someone to.  Surprised it took  this long to catch it ;)

 

Just my OCD acting up, I guess.

 

But thank you for grasping the spirit in which it was done.

That's rare on the Internet.

[+Raze Subscriber²]

This is about more then that. This is about general knowledge and some interest in who whom and what your neighboring countries are.

I find it disturbing that people really want to live in their own little bubble. If you only know what is important for your job how will you even have anything useful to contribute when you can't talk about work.

 

 

It's still sad that some of you not expect more from Harvard students. Aren't they supposed to be the brightest of the brightest. You would expect those people to be able to remember some general knowledge from high school. If your school system doesn't provide that information I find that rather close minded to not at least teach about your direct neighbors. It could also be a complete lack of interest of your students in these kind of matters, which is also disturbing.

 

There is nothing wrong in specializing in something, but everybody should have some general knowledge, no?

 

See it is quite impossible to know everything and it is ridiculous to expect others to know what you know.  Each person has their own skill sets and the knowledge they need to live and enjoy life.  To try and impose your impressions on the knowledge people are supposed to have is unreasonable. And quite frankly rather scary and narrow minded.  Respect others as they are, not as you would have them.  ;)

[adrynalyne]

See it is quite impossible to know everything and it is ridiculous to expect others to know what you know.  Each person has their own skill sets and the knowledge they need to live and enjoy life.  To try and impose your impressions on the knowledge people are supposed to have is unreasonable. And quite frankly rather scary and narrow minded.  Respect others as they are, not as you would have them.  ;)

It also depends on the interest of others.

 

I have no interest in geography outside of where I live, or plan to move.  I am not politically minded, so their internal affairs also do not concern me.  Now if I was interested, I would be more inclined to learn about relevant subjects.

[Hum]

This. This really hurts my head because I cannot detect if you are ignorant to the original question, or just bad at making counter-questions because they aren't even on the same playing field.

Seems only fair to me. ;)

 

And I wouldn't consider anyone 'ignorant' for not knowing a geography question.

 

I'm sure a Harvard student has much more important things to remember.

[srbeen]

Seems only fair to me. ;)

 

And I wouldn't consider anyone 'ignorant' for not knowing a geography question.

 

I'm sure a Harvard student has much more important things to remember.

 

Hey Harvard, Whats the captial of <likely any Country in the world>? pfft, I don't know. But I bet you don't know the capital of the State my school is in, do you??

 

Nah, that wouldn't come off as ignorant at all... I wouldn't suspect someone with a geography background to ask such questions!

[The Rev]

I don't think it's embarassing at all that these kids don't know...  The brain is not a permanent storehouse for information...  If it was, you'd get to a certain point and you could LITERALLY not remember anything new ever again...  The brain functions by pruning old, irrelevent information and replacing it with information more relevent to your daily life...  And by irrelevent, I mean stuff you learned once 20 years ago but access rarely or never.  Whether it's the Capital of Canada, the presidents from Washington to Obama, or the first 100 digits of pi, if I don't NEED to use it for anything, my brain can decide at any time to forget it and replace it with something more important to my daily life. 

 

My answer (had I not actually known what the capital was) would have been "who cares? If I need to know it some day, I'll look it up." 

 

Being smart isn't about knowing everything...  It's about knowing how to find what you need to know when you need to know it....  There's a big difference.

[compl3x]

Students specialize.  Not everyone is going to be in a major that is relevant to geography.

 

 

True, but it isn't an obscure question. Arguably, if you attend such a great school you should have a level of general knowledge which includes the capital of a neighbouring country.

 

Kind of reminds me of this:

 

 

I know not all people are this dumb, but wow, that ###### is dumb.

[adrynalyne]

True, but it isn't an obscure question. Arguably, if you attend such a great school you should have a level of general knowledge which includes the capital of a neighbouring country.

 

Kind of reminds me of this:

 

 

I know not all people are this dumb, but wow, that **** is dumb.

 

Maybe it is different in other parts of the country, but geography is not taught here past high school unless your major depends on it.  How much do YOU remember from high school?

 

Knowledge is lost unless you use it, because we forget.  I cannot remember the last time I needed to know the capital of Canada, therefore it is not something I bother with committing to memory.

 

As for the video, like all the others, they cherry-pick the stupid comments to make their point.  I wonder how many they actually interviewed to get that many people with stupid answers.

[adrynalyne]

@compl3x:

 

There are idiots everywhere.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dr_NBtCaVA

 

Islam as a country?

[Arachno 1D]

Canadas capital is Washington isn't it? :laugh: :laugh:

[compl3x]

Didn't I say I know everyone isn't as dumb as the people in that vid?

[pjosephson]

What is the big deal?  I remember a few years ago I met a group college students from University of Toronto while travelling in Europe.  University of Toronto is fairly good school but, not one these students  could name the previous 3 Prime Ministers of Canada.  Yet, they all could name the previous three U.S. Presidents.  I find that more worrisome then some Harvard students not able to name Canada's capital.

[Hum]

Canadas capital is Washington isn't it? :laugh: :laugh:

I thought it was London, England ... ;)

[123456789A]

I would have said C is the capital of Canada.

[Praetor]

I would have said C is the capital of Canada.

 

lol good one. :laugh:

[KingCracker]

Not googling isn't it Vancouver or  Quebec lol. Canada isn't important to me so I really don't care what their capital is.  

[Stoffel]

I asked my girlfriend if she knew the capital of Canada... she had no clue.

When I then started asking for the capitals of countries surrounding her home country (Brazil), she could name all of them without a blink.

 

I just don't understand how people from the USA can have absolutely no interest in their neighboring countries. It really baffles me

[KingCracker]

I asked my girlfriend if she knew the capital of Canada... she had no clue.

When I then started asking for the capitals of countries surrounding her home country (Brazil), she could name all of them without a blink.

 

I just don't understand how people from the USA can have absolutely no interest in their neighboring countries. It really baffles me

It's Canada... The only thing some people care about here is hockey and maple syrup. No one gives a crap what their capital is. 

[Stoffel]

It's Canada... The only thing some people care about here is hockey and maple syrup. No one gives a crap what their capital is. 

 

This is exactly the point I'm trying to make.

I can't understand your indifference towards your neighboring countries.

[KingCracker]

This is exactly the point I'm trying to make.

I can't understand your indifference towards your neighboring countries.

Why? No one cares, its not important. We do not need to know what their capital is. What is the problem with that? Why doesn't your gf know the capital of Canada if Canada is so important.

[Stoffel]

Why? No one cares, its not important. We do not need to know what their capital is. What is the problem with that? Why doesn't your gf know the capital of Canada if Canada is so important.

 

Are you being thick on purpose now???

It's not about Canada, it's about you having absolutely no interest in your neighboring countries.

That's what baffles me.

 

This is not solely directed at you, I'm talking about everybody in this thread that feels it's fine to be so ignorant about your neighboring coutries

[KingCracker]

Are you being thick on purpose now???

It's not about Canada, it's about you having absolutely no interest in your neighboring countries.

That's what baffles me.

Why should I? Nothing to me is interesting about Canada. Been there once, went to Toronto and it was meh the people were rude and couldn't wait to go back across the boarder..  They did have some hot women though but that's about it. 

 

My interest in Canada is my own personal choice so get over it. I mean some American's have a little interest in Canada that involves their sport.. 

[Andre S. Veteran]

This is amazing. It's also amazing that so many in this thread find this acceptable and give generic excuses like "you can't memorize everything" or "no one cares". If not knowing the capital of Canada is ok, then is it ok to not know where is Canada? Or what Canada is? If that's ok, then why should you even know the name of your own capital? Or state? 

 

Bottom line, everyone and especially people with higher education should have some basic notions of the world they live in, and that world encompasses more than their own country. 

 

Oh and

[KingCracker]

This is amazing. It's also amazing that so many in this thread find this acceptable and give generic excuses like "you can't memorize everything" or "no one cares". If not knowing the capital of Canada is ok, then is it ok to not know where is Canada? Or what Canada is? If that's ok, then why should you even know the name of your own capital? Or state? 

 

Bottom line, everyone and especially people with higher education should have some basic notions of the world they live in, and that world encompasses more than their own country. 

 

Oh and

Meh. But that's a weird thing to post for a moderator. Antagonizing people with that image.. Are you by any chance Canadian?

[Andre S. Veteran]

Meh. But that's a weird thing to post for a moderator. Antagonizing people with that image.. Are you by any chance Canadian?

That was meant as a joke. Yes, I am Canadian.