Someone needs geography lessons

[Miss Chicken]

At least some people at CNN and at the Daily Mail do.

Here are a couple of maps. The first one appeared on CNN

Someone obviously entered the word Queenstown in instead of Queensland as the arrow points straight to the location of Queenstown, Tasmania instead of Queensland.

The map that was on the Daily Mail website is much harder to explain.

It seems that Australia has a state that only people at the Daily Mail know about, and Queensland is smaller than we thought.

So, folks, any examples of errors in geography you like to give us. The mistakes don't have to just be ones from websites/TV etc they could report geographical errors you have heard in conversations etc.

 

[Switch]

The map that was on the Daily Mail website is much harder to explain.

It seems that Australia has a state that only people at the Daily Mail know about, and Queensland is smaller than we thought.

It looks like the Daily Mail has been talking to Bob Katter. He's been pushing for northern Queensland to be split from the south. "Capricornia" wouldn't be a bad name for the state either, although it's got some stiff competition in "Far Q."

Note for the reader: Bob Katter is the craziest and most entertaining MP in federal Parliament.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Daily Mail = Daily Fail. At least their map doesn't also show the proposed state of Central Australia.

There was another thread around here that had a Fox News screenshot with Iraq labelled as Egypt = epic fail.

 

[Jadzia]

Daily Mail = Daily Fail. At least their map doesn't also show the proposed state of Central Australia.

There was another thread around here that had a Fox News screenshot with Iraq labelled as Egypt = epic fail.

Another recent error is a silhouette of Egypt which looks like NY state.

Sometimes with these things it's hard to understand how they can be errors. Things like that make me wonder -- is it an error or is it deliberate? And if it is deliberate, then why?

On one hand, it looks very much like how subliminal messages are presented ~ information which we're not really conscious of, but which creates some subconscious association, so prompting us to transfer feelings from one thing onto another. See neurolinguistic programming as an example of how this can be achieved with words alone.

It is easy for a person to get away with doing it repeatedly by using the reputation of fail: These errors keep happening because they're stupid. Or is it that they keep happening because they are clever and skilled with subliminal messaging, neurolinguistic programming and the like?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The weirdest one is the Capricornia one. How does one even get the incorrect map in order to begin that process?

Anyway, not technically relevant, but I'm posting it anyway.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Okay, even I know the island off the southeast coast is Tasmania, and I'm just a dumbass American.

 

[Jadzia]

Expanding on what I wrote above...

The common feeling we have about Iraq is largely negative. We look down upon it because we feel it is war torn, full of people with anti-West sentiments, needs to be "liberated", and is generally a place we wouldn't want to live. It's not about what is true or false here, only about the instinctive feelings we all have about Iraq.

So what was the effect of labeling a picture of Iraq as Egypt?

The subconscious effect is that it sets in place an association, so now that we're seeing Egypt with a bit of a civil uprising, that association kicks in and we transfer those feelings we have about Iraq onto Egypt, and feel it too is a "bad place", that we wouldn't want to go to, that in some way needs outside help.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

.. or perhaps the people who work for Fox are dumbasses.

 

[RoJoHen]

It always cracks me up anytime people come from out-of-town and try to figure out where they are. I get lots of, "Where am I? Am I in Iowa?"

Also, this conversation happens a lot:

"What's that river over there?"
"The Mississippi."
"No way!"
"Yep."
"It can't be."
"I promise."
"That's nuts! So does that mean I'm in Iowa?"
"No, you're still in Illinois."
"Huh..."

 

[marillion]

Heh... This is nothing...

In New Mexico, our state magazine has a monthly column in the back entitled One of our 50 is Missing. The column has two or three examples of people from around the world who either refuse (that's right, refuse) to recognize that New Mexico is a state or just plain don't know.

TV news programs citing stories from "Albuquerque, Arizona", placing an AZ or TX over New Mexico, etc... Conversations between residents and companies they are trying to do business with, who refuse to ship items "out of country"...

As New Mexicans, we have to endure questions like "Do you speak English there?" and "Do you use dollars or pesos?"... It's pretty comical just how clueless some people are.

Linky

 

[Miss Chicken]

Okay, even I know the island off the southeast coast is Tasmania, and I'm just a dumbass American.

Sadly it would seem that quite a few Americans are less knowledgeable than you.

In all the time I have been on the Net, the only people who have asked me where Tasmania is are Americans. Now this could be a result of Americans being more willing to admit to ignorance (while people of other nationalities might look up Tasmania rather than ask me where it is) or it might be that the other nationalities might have more knowledge.

Outside of the British and New Zealanders, the nationalities that seem to have most knowledge about Tasmania are the Dutch, followed by the Swedes.

In the case of the Dutch it is understandable - Tasmania was discovered by a Dutchman, so I assume the Dutch learn about his discoveries in their history classes. I don't why the Swedes seem to be so knowledgeable about Tasmania.

In New Mexico, our state magazine has a monthly column in the back entitled One of our 50 is Missing. The column has two or three examples of people from around the world who either refuse (that's right, refuse) to recognize that New Mexico is a state or just plain don't know.

When I was at school many years ago, we did a project on the 50 US states, so I guess I have known that New Mexico was a state of the USA since then.

However I just asked my son where he thought New Mexico was and he said Mexico. However my son has an intellectual disability so maybe that is the main reason he didn't know (though my son does have reasonably good geographical knowledge for someone with his disability).

 

[Switch]

Most Australians couldn't find Nauru on a map even though they're damn sure they want asylum seekers processed there.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Most Australians couldn't find Nauru in a map even though they're damn sure they want asylum seekers processed there.

Ignorance of geography if something everyone who is remotely normal suffers from.

I just went to find Nauru on a map. I knew to look north-east of Papua New Guinea. If I had looked at an unmarked map I might have trouble picking it out from Kiribati.

 

[marillion]

Okay, even I know the island off the southeast coast is Tasmania, and I'm just a dumbass American.

Sadly it would seem that quite a few Americans are less knowledgeable than you.

In all the time I have been on the Net, the only people who have asked me where Tasmania is are Americans. Now this could be a result of Americans being more willing to admit to ignorance (while people of other nationalities might look up Tasmania rather than ask me where it is) or it might be that the other nationalities might have more knowledge.

Outside of the British and New Zealanders, the nationalities that seem to have most knowledge about Tasmania are the Dutch, followed by the Swedes.

In the case of the Dutch it is understandable - Tasmania was discovered by a Dutchman, so I assume the Dutch learn about his discoveries in their history classes. I don't why the Swedes seem to be so knowledgeable about Tasmania.

In New Mexico, our state magazine has a monthly column in the back entitled One of our 50 is Missing. The column has two or three examples of people from around the world who either refuse (that's right, refuse) to recognize that New Mexico is a state or just plain don't know.

When I was at school many years ago, we did a project of the 50 US states, so I guess I have known that New Mexico was a state of the USA since then.

However I just asked my son where he thought New Mexico was and he said Mexico. However my son has an intellectual disability so maybe that is the main reason he didn't know (though my son does have reasonably good geographical knowledge for someone with his disability).

I will grant that when some people hear "I come from New Mexico" it might simply be a case that the "New" didn't register or that the speaker slurred it to the point that the listener heard "nuMexico"... It's easy to clip off that first bit.

 

[Sephiroth]

wait? New Mexico has a magazine?

 

[Switch]

I just went to find Nauru on a map. I knew to look north-east of Papua New Guinea.

I think that probably puts you in the 95th percentile of the population on that score.

It's normal for folks to be ignorant of geography except inasmuch as it's relevant to their lives. Personally I find it all quite fascinating and have invested considerable time familiarising myself with the globe, but what of it? I could've spent that time acquiring an intimate familiarity with the taxonomy of the plant kingdom instead, a subject on which I am almost entirely ignorant.

And it's not like by focusing (relatively speaking) on human political geography that I've acquired any sense of mastery over the subject. I can tell you that Ulan Bator is the capital of Mongolia, but the only US states I can reliably place on a map are Texas, California and Florida. The latter courtesy of The Simpsons. I probably know more than the great majority of folks on the subject, and it doesn't mean shit. I can't tell you offhand what the capital of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is, or even which Federal District it's in. I can tell you that it's in Russia, which is probably better than most folks could do. So are we all stupid or are none of us stupid?

Ignorance alone is nothing to be ashamed of, and knowledge alone is nothing to be proud of.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Sadly it would seem that quite a few Americans are less knowledgeable than you.

In all the time I have been on the Net, the only people who have asked me where Tasmania is are Americans. Now this could be a result of Americans being more willing to admit to ignorance (while people of other nationalities might look up Tasmania rather than ask me where it is) or it might be that the other nationalities might have more knowledge.

Perhaps you should mention Tasmania more often to raise awareness. I had no idea you were even from there till right now, because you almost never bring it up.

 

[Finn]

I remember how years ago, someone once asked me where I was from. It went something like this:

Me: Massachusetts
Woman: Boston?
Me: No, I grew up in the western part of Massachusetts
Woman: Concord?
Me: Um...That's in the Boston area. I grew up a hundred miles away.
Woman: Oh, I don't know anything about Massachusetts

My guestion is if one doesn't know anything about Massachusetts, why mention a town randomly if it wouldn't really tell her anything....?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

^ To break the ice and get past the awkward introduction stage?

 

[Miss Chicken]

I just went to find Nauru on a map. I knew to look north-east of Papua New Guinea.

I think that probably puts you in the 95th percentile of the population on that score.

It's normal for folks to be ignorant of geography except inasmuch as it's relevant to their lives. Personally I find it all quite fascinating and have invested considerable time familiarising myself with the globe, but what of it? I could've spent that time acquiring an intimate familiarity with the taxonomy of the plant kingdom instead, a subject on which I am almost entirely ignorant.

And it's not like by focusing (relatively speaking) on human political geography that I've acquired any sense of mastery over the subject. I can tell you that Ulan Bator is the capital of Mongolia, but the only US states I can reliably place on a map are Texas, California and Florida. The latter courtesy of The Simpsons. I probably know more than the great majority of folks on the subject, and it doesn't mean shit. I can't tell you offhand what the capital of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is, or even which Federal District it's in. I can tell you that it's in Russia, which is probably better than most folks could do. So are we all stupid or are none of us stupid?

Ignorance alone is nothing to be ashamed of, and knowledge alone is nothing to be proud of.

I did a Quiz of the states of the USA here and got 92 out of 150.

The states I got right first guess were

Alaska*
California*
Delaware
Florida*
Georgia
Hawaii*
Louisiana
Maine
Massuchuetts
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana*
New Jersey
New York
New Mexico
North Dakota*
Ohio
Oklahoma*
Oregon*
Rhode Island*
South Carolina
South Dakota*
Texas*
Washington*
Wyoming*

The ones marked with asterisks are the ones I definitely knew and didn't guess at all. I knew the location of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Montana because of my interest in the history of the Cheyennes.

On a second guess I got

Michigan
Arkansas
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Arizona
Nevada
Mississippi
Alabama
New Hampshire
Connecticut

I got Utah on a third guess. All the other states I got completely wrong (but I think in most cases I was in the basic area.