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The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want ...

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Re: The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want ...

#61

Post by insuffi »

_ea1k wrote: post #50
azinman2 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not surprising to me. Many Americans can't find America on a global map, including those in the military (confirmed by my shocked army friends).

Since you said "Many" (even 1% could be many by some definitions) it is hard to dispute your assertion. Nevertheless, I think the # of Americans that can point out the US on a world map is well over 90%. I don't see any definitive data to the contrary.

I think you might want to rethink that assumption. No definitive data, to be fair, but this: http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/

"Inside the United States, "half or fewer of young men and women 18-24 can identify the states of New York or Ohio on a map [50 percent and 43 percent, respectively]," the study said."

I don't think it's that far fetched.

Re: The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want ...

#65

Post by cafard »

AJ007 wrote: post #29
Nacraile wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would bet that the noise comes from people who have no idea just closing their eyes and clicking at random. Clearly the map wasn't coloured to differentiate bodies of water, considering the clusters in the Black and Caspian seas. (But you'd think people could at least identify the major oceans...)

This would correlate with 'I have no idea what I'm doing' "In general, younger Americans tended to provide more accurate responses than their older counterparts: 27 percent of 18-24 year olds correctly identified Ukraine, compared with 14 percent of 65+ year-olds." 65+ year olds spent a big chunk of their lives in the cold war. Presumably they would know more about the geographical breakup of the Soviet Union than 18…

It may come from growing up in a part of the country where there were a lot of Central European DPs, but I'm pretty sure that as a kid I knew where the Ukraine was.

Re: The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want ...

#66

Post by sentenza »

FatalLogic wrote: post #37

This seems to be a textbook example of the Dunning-Kruger effect: the people who know least are the most willing to take action, because their ignorance blinds them to the impracticality and potential consequences of that action. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Is there a name for when you get progressively more depressed about an issue the more you learn about it?

The Ukraine conflict might very well also qualify for that.

Re: The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want ...

#68

Post by sentenza »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #28
Crito wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The point is, if you know where Russia is, you likely know where Ukraine is. I don't know about that. There are ~15 (depending on what you are counting) countries that border Russia. And while I am fairly confident that I could label them all, Russia would certainly be the easiest to label. It's the big one; it's hard to miss. I'm the product of American public schools for what its worth. I learned the countries ba…

Considering there are notable clusters in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, you're probably right. Those people probably located Russia, knew Ukraine is "under" Russia, so picked a couple of countries under Russia. Incidentally, I suspect those large clusters in the central asian republics account for a large amount of the error in the median response. The lone clicks in New Zealand or whatever don't count as much as big cl…

It is human not to be an expert on everything, so I'd say the people that clicked Kazachstan, Belarus, the Black Sea and the like should be forgiven.

Also, there are certainly a number (below 5%) of clicks that resulted from accident or interface understanding problems. Those could account for some of the most outlandish dots.

But then there are a lot of people that selected India. That's kind of disturbing.

Re: The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want ...

#69

Post by sentenza »

qwerta wrote: post #23

So what? Most people in Europe do not know where Washington state is. Anyway US already intervened in Ukraine several times. I just hope this will not become another Iraq.

That's a bit unfair, though, as Washington State is an internal subdivision. That's like asking an American where Galicia is (either the Spanish or the Ukrainian one).

And the US will not actively intervene in the Ukraine, since NATO, as an organizational entity, would probably be damaged badly. Most of Europe wants to stop the Russian Bear but also wants to keep the situation from escalating.

If the US pushed for an intervention against the opposition of key NATO members (after having done so so in Iraq), where would that leave NATO?

Re: The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want ...

#70

Post by Crito »

insuffi wrote: post #30
Crito wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The point is, if you know where Russia is, you likely know where Ukraine is. I don't know about that. There are ~15 (depending on what you are counting) countries that border Russia. And while I am fairly confident that I could label them all, Russia would certainly be the easiest to label. It's the big one; it's hard to miss. I'm the product of American public schools for what its worth. I learned the countries ba…

Fair point about the 15 countries bordering Russia. I must have not been clear. What I was trying to say is, the least you can do is point towards Russia, if you don't know where Ukraine is.

Ah yes, that definitely makes sense. I misunderstood you.
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