I’m American and know a lot of random geography and things about other countries.
Whenever I’ve been outside the country, particularly in Europe, some Europeans are baffled at the fact I know basic things. There are times I’ve purposely given them an awkward stare whenever they “praise me” for this.
Like I totally get there are a lot of stupid Americans but we are also one large country. There are bound to be those people. I’ve meant plenty of other people from outside the USA that also struggle with “basic knowledge” of other countries or the world. I typically even defend Americans for not knowing these type of things for a MULTITUDE of factors. But anyone else regularly experience this?
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Are most people not a stereotype…..
Inhales
United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru!
Geography was the only subject I was great at in school.
I can name capitals, major rivers, regions etc across the planet.
I also collect decorative and classic maps.
I would hazard a guess that a significant amount of Americans defy this stereotype. It’s just that the dumb ones are the loudest most of the time. And also in the news more.
A lot of those Americans bad at geography videos are cut together clips form hours of footage picking out the worst people. I know many people that aren’t great at geography but the vast majority know the the basic facts
I tied my own shoes last week
I had a French dude look at me strangely and said why are you skinny aren’t you American?
I admit though I am ignorant on world geography.
I also score very highly in modesty,
I’ve worked on multinational projects almost all my life. This has taught me that ignorance and bigotry know no national boundaries.
I don’t know more than 20 places outside America. I don’t have that many fingers and toes to count on.
Yep Europeans are mostly dumb inbred people who haven’t traveled far from home in centuries. School is illegal and they believe everything they see on tv.
There are tons of people like this. But no one is making money off snarky TikTok or Youtube videos where they randomly interview an American on the street and that person accurately answers 9/10 geography questions. The whole point of those is to make people feel smug and superior.
I feel like this is some kind of ragebait.
It was an idiotic stereotype pushed by Europeans mad that Americans don’t know every single country in Europe when the inverse wouldn’t be true either because they don’t know a damn about States or even countries in the New World.
I can correctly place every single country in Asia on a map, let’s see a random European try that.
This entire stereotype is just based on Europeans not understanding how big America is.
The problem you are encountering is that many “American Tourists” fit the stereotype that British Tourists used to. (Something that Brits have poked fun of in their own media.) That is, going to a foreign country without doing any homework, expect everyone to speak English and have no regard for local law and custom, while presuming that everyone knows how important their country and its history are.
I’ve played a lot of Europa Universalis 4, so I know fair bit of the political geography of Europe in 1444. After that it gets increasingly less accurate.
Well I can tell you simply that if the American you’re talking to is an EU4 enjoyer then they probably know a shitload more than anyone else about geography. Rofl
Most Americans
Redditors tend to be middle-class with some post-secondary education. Most redditors are going to defy that stereotype because the platform does not cater to people who fit it.
This sounds fabricated. I’ve been to 32 countries and immigrated to 1 for 8 years. I’ve not met anyone, especially Europeans, who are baffled by Americans having geographical knowledge and an understanding of world affairs. In fact, it’s never been a topic of discussion. You should know that majority outside of social media aren’t credulous and susceptible to biases.
AND NOW. THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD. WITH YAKKO WARNER
Geography, particularly world geography, was one of my niche interests when I was a kid, especially between the ages of 4-9. I loved playing Where in the World (and Where in the USA) is Carmen Sandiego, my favorite book was my world atlas, and it helped that I spent first through third grade in Russia and whenever we’d fly back to the States for holidays and the summer my favorite was looking at the screen that tracked where the plane was to see where we were flying over.
Nope. I don’t know much of anything about the handful of countries I can even name.
Yes, I majored in International Policy and live in South Florida where there’s an extremely high foreign born population. I regularly shock them with my knowledge of their geopolitical history.
USA does not hold the patent on stupid people. Unfortunately our stupid people are loud and confident.
Those stereotypes are based on cherry picked street interviews, where people play up silly answers to try and get included in the segment.
Most Americans defy that stereotype.
A self-hating American that fancies themselves worldly?
There is a 99% chance that you are obsessed with soccer and think it will take over any day now.
It’s a well-worn trope for sure.
In reality, there are ignorant people everywhere.
I sometimes find it helpful to compare the U.S. to the EU.
Most Americans rarely venture outside the U.S. (incl. and particularly for vacations.)
Most Europeans rarely venture outside the EU and closely linked EFTA countries.
So the average American and the average European will know a decent amount of what life is like in their own country or block of countries, but relatively little about what goes on outside.
And then you’ll have minorities of highly educated and well-traveled Americans and Europeans.
Bottom line: We’re not as different as some people like to believe.
The same people who think Americans should be well versed in European geography ask if they can drive from NYC to the Grand Canyon in an afternoon while on vacation.
Ive been to more countries in Europe than most Europeans
I probably defy it a bit — I’m an archaeologist and historian and have worked overseas. Studied 4 different languages and 2 ancient ones.
The phrasing of the question is aggressively hostile and reeks of “iamverysmart”. I didn’t know you could be a pick me for nationalities, but here you are.
Most Americans (or anyone) who is an expert on world affairs and geography is likely not spending a lot of time on Reddit.
Just as common as the non-Americans who think that is a valid question.
I won my states’ geography bee in middle school. The amount of map flavored autism here is impressive.
Is mayonnaise an instrument?
I used to work with a lot of Europeans.
No, I only know about gun and Kardashian
I’ve never been outside the country, mostly due to finances and having an inordinate fear of oceans. But that has never kept me from being perpetually curious about other countries and cultures. I loved geography, history, sociology, anthropology, and language study from a young age. I enjoy talking with people from other countries, and most days find me binge watching documentaries, shows, and videos made in other countries.
I’ve seen videos of Europeans trying to guess all 50 state locations and it doesn’t go well. I think it’s fair to assume that the further away you are from a place, the less likely you are to know about it. Unless you’re in high school and are being required to memorize maps haha.
I can place all Canadian provinces and probably half of the Mexican states but ask me about Indian states and I’m cooked.
The thing about “worldly Europeans” is that their basis of knowing “world affairs and geography” is pretty much Europe (mainly Western Europe), Australia, and Canada and the US. I’ve talked to enough Europeans who say this but can’t name 15 African countries, couldn’t tell you what Laos vs Cambodia look like or name 5 South American capitals.
We’re not close to Europe or really in the political influence of many European powers. The EU has never really impacted me. Africa has always had war and recourse exploitations. Asia has always had conflict among countries but are typically more prosperous. On the other side, the US has more political and economic impact on everyone else. So many of the top companies are American like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and others while our media is very accessible. I don’t want to come off as American centric but 95% of the world has had a Big Mac, drank a Coke, and watched a Disney movie. America will fall politically at some point but we hold the cards. An American doesn’t really know which one is Romania, Hungary, or Moldova unless it’s bar trivia. Geography has always interested me and learning about others but I can understand why some don’t pick it up because it is pointless memorization for countries most of us wouldn’t visit. An American should know that Eritrea and Yemen are terrible countries to live in but it doesn’t impact them on the daily.
My job basically requires me to be on top of global conflicts, political developments etc so yes I know quite a bit lol. not necessarily deep but certainly broad.