Things you're shocked people don't know

[RoJoHen]

I mean I still meet grown adults who regularly interchange the words "Hindu" and "Hindi". It's annoying, but hardly shocking.

I have no idea what the difference is.

Please tell me you're f---ing kidding me.

Nope.

 

[Snaploud]

I was only taught about Brazil being colonized by Portugal in college. As for its importance: the line "it's taught in the 5th grade" isn't much of an argument.

Like I said, we learn History from different parts of the World pretty early on our school years, now given that Brazil is by no means a place where people come to study, different from the US/UK (I mean, it's not like Brazil has that much of an educational structure), and you're saying that you only learn basic stuff like that about your own continent in high school or college? I'm sorry, one can't say it's surprising that we get shocked when Americans/Europeans say that they know that kind of stuff.

Brazil isn't a part of my continent. It's in South America (not that we learned very much about North America in elementary school).

 

[Diddle]

Your location says Massachusetts, USA, I could only assume you're American.

 

[Kestra]

I have no idea what the difference is.

Please tell me you're f---ing kidding me.

Nope.

Good lord, you're like someone out of my high school. Okay. "Hindu" refers to someone who adheres to or believes in Hinduism, the religion. "Hindi" is the most common language in India. I think it's the official language, but don't quote me on that.

 

[RoJoHen]

Please tell me you're f---ing kidding me.

Nope.

Good lord, you're like someone out of my high school. Okay. "Hindu" refers to someone who adheres to or believes in Hinduism, the religion. "Hindi" is the most common language in India. I think it's the official language, but don't quote me on that.

Fair enough. Honestly, I've never known a Hindu in real life before, so I've really had no reason to be exposed to this information.

Well I think that's an important distinction to make. Obviously a lot of us here read encyclopedias or displayed some other sort of abnormal behavior concerning knowledge. I not only read through the encyclopedias at home, I would go to the library and take out as many geography books as I was allowed, read them all, and go straight back for more.

*shrug*

I guess I was too busy playing outside.

 

[Snaploud]

Your location says Massachusetts, USA, I could only assume you're American.

South America is considered a different continent than North America. Brazil is in South America. Massachusetts (a state in the United States of America) is in North America.

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, North America and South America are not even remotely the same thing.

 

[mari]

I'm still shocked at the shock of being shocked... It's shocking!

You should probably take your finger out of the light socket, then.


Imagine all the stuff that people of the future aren't going to know... I mean, I'd bet Picard doesn't even know all the words to "Free Bird". Hmph. What the hell are they teaching in Future France, anyway?

 

[Diddle]

Your location says Massachusetts, USA, I could only assume you're American.

South America is considered a different continent than North America. Brazil is in South America. Massachusetts (a state in the United States of America) is in North America.

Wut.

Economically speaking, perhaps, geographically, no, it is not.

Yeah, North America and South America are not even remotely the same thing.

Of course it's not, the political, cultural and economical situations on both North and South American are completely different, that difference does not, however, automatically ban South America from the continent.

 

[RoJoHen]

Your location says Massachusetts, USA, I could only assume you're American.

South America is considered a different continent than North America. Brazil is in South America. Massachusetts (a state in the United States of America) is in North America.

Wut.

Economically speaking, perhaps, geographically, no, it is not.

You might want to look at a globe.

There are 7 continents. North America and South America are two separate continents. Brazil is in South America. Massachusetts is in northeast part of North America.

 

[Snaploud]

I just looked it up. Apparently, some people (outside the U.S.) are taught that there are fewer than seven continents (lumping South America and North America together).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent

 

[RoJoHen]

Seriously?!

 

[Snaploud]

The seven-continent model is usually taught in China and most English-speaking countries. The six-continent combined-Eurasia model is preferred by the geographic community, Russia, the former states of the USSR, and Japan. The six-continent combined-America model is taught in Latin America, and most parts of Europe including Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. This model may be taught to include only the five inhabited continents (excluding Antarctica)[21][22] — as depicted in the Olympic logo.[23]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent

 

[RoJoHen]

I think the world is doomed to repeat this thread.

I always figured the fact that there are 7 continents was just a basic understanding around the world. This is so bizarre.

 

[Diddle]

Well, at least we can agree in one thing: Things aren't taught the same way everywhere.

That was a healthy discussion, good times

 

[Miss Chicken]

Seriously?!

It actually says in that Wikipedia article

However, in earlier times they were viewed as a single continent known as America, with this viewpoint remaining common in the United States until World War II.

In Australia , I was taught to regard them as two different continents especially seeing that at one point they were very much separated which is why there are so many species marsupials but only the Virginia opossum in North America.

 

[RoJoHen]

It actually says in that Wikipedia article

However, in earlier times they were viewed as a single continent known as America, with this viewpoint remaining common in the United States until World War II.

Well, at the end of WWII, I was negative 40 years old, so it is understandable that I would not know this.

 

[Diddle]

Here we're taught that both North and South America are one single continent (As long with Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania) , however when seeing through a economical POV, North and South are "separate".

 

[Skellington]

I'm still shocked at the shock of being shocked... It's shocking!

You should probably take your finger out of the light socket, then.

Clearly you are a dangerous subversive free-thinking type.

Imagine all the stuff that people of the future aren't going to know... I mean, I'd bet Picard doesn't even know all the words to "Free Bird". Hmph. What the hell are they teaching in Future France, anyway?

20th-century English elocution?

 

[RoJoHen]

You'd at least think that North America and South America could agree about this, regardless of whether the rest of the world does or not.