(After rereading what I just wrote in the following paragraph, I realize it comes off as condescending and soapboxy, so prepare yourselves. But I mean every word I say.)
I went to class for five of its days, went to practice for seven of them, went to sleep in seven of them, and did homework in seven of them. I do have a lot of work, by the way. Lots of reading. And a couple of map quizzes, one in the past (Middle East, happened last week) and one in the future (Europe, happens next week). Before my Geopolitics of the Middle East professor handed back our map quizzes, she went off on a little tear about how disappointed she was that a third of the class failed it. Which made me disappointed too. Because that's just one more piece of evidence that confirms the depressing reality that people just don't care to know where places are, even if they're enrolled in a geography class. Which is now making me wonder, Do you guys know where these places are? I don't expect you to know where Qom or Kirkuk or Sana'a are (but it would be cool if you did), but if you were presented with a blank outline map of the Middle East, you could tell me which country was Iraq, right? Or Israel or Syria or Afganistan or Iran? I really hope so. I would be very disappointed if any of couldn't. You are all very smart and aware people, and if you couldn't locate countries you see on the news every single day, that would indicate a certain ignorance that I really hope none of you have. Just look at the map below and see if you can pick out the four very important countries that I just listed. I'm not asking you to report whether or not you can, because if you can't I'd really rather not know. And I can just hear one of you in particular saying, "You can't judge me for not knowing random things that most Americans don't know." To which I say, "Yes, yes I can."
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| Also, you should know what makes this map outdated. But you probably don't. |
As I said, next week's map quiz is on Europe. Somehow I imagine most Americans being able to identify, say, Italy on a map, even though it's much less important to current American foreign policy and international relations than, say, Syria.
Alright, I'm done. Nice Derek can come back now.
History of the American West is proving to be very interesting. We (meaning Anglo Americans) were not nice to the people that were here before us. But you guys know that, just in less detail than I do now. (Okay, nice Derek will come back as soon as he can, I swear.)
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| This is the edition we read. |
Which reminds me of a conversation I had with a few friends on a run at some point this week. The topic was finding one skill that each person was bad at. Luke is bad at sports. Mark is bad at games. Sebastian gets two: he's bad at spatial awareness and he's bad at jokes. Samwise is bad at subtlety. Taco (yeah, that's someone's nickname) is bad at logical additions to conversations. Patrick is bad at moving on to something else. And I, apparently, am bad at not being in control. Like father, like son. (The Wife of Bath's Tale, then, does not bode well for me.)
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| My ravenous maw. Cole will be the only one who gets this. Boo. |
Speaking of the Ducks, WOOHOO they're playing great. Well, they played a terrible, terrible game against the Kings a few days ago, but their next game against the Preds may have been their best of the season.
I might be done. Am I done? I think I'm done. Miss you all.
"Oh, and if you don't know where these countries are, looking them up in NOT cheating. I expect all of you to look up the locations of the countries that you can't identify. But I know you won't, and I'm just going to have to live with that."
ReplyDeleteSo I will confess that after looking at the map I identified:
Israel, Check! Got this right
Syria, thought was Libya
Iran, thought was Iraq
Afghanistan (with an h), thought was Syria
I was curious at what I got however and looked it up and studied the Middle East for a good five minutes to return to your post and see that which is quoted above. You have such little faith in me it seems. Guess that means it's time to die.
I echo Jason's point. My roommate got all the countries right, I knew some, but of course I looked the map up to check and learn the rest. Have faith that we want to learn and that we want you to be proud of us at the very least. Of course we looked it up.
ReplyDeleteThat said, we all have different priorities about what our friends should know. I could say I'd be disappointed in you guys if you didn't know what percentage of the U.S. budget goes to foreign aid, or knew who our CA congressperson is (not John Campbell anymore), or if your university buys RECs to offset its carbon footprint. I could argue these are all important things that you OUGHT to know, because they probably are. But we have limited time and prioritize different things. I don't think that means we should be disappointed in each other; that's wanting your friends to be exactly like you and making them feel guilty if they don't prioritize your intellectual priorities. Instead, our combined knowledge is much more vast and we all have something to teach each other.
Speaking of which, tell me more about the Wife of Bath's tale because I'm curious about how it represents what women want.
I stand behind Rachael's statements. Derek, tell me about feminist theory and what has been going on about the Women Against Violence act recently. Hey, shouldn't you know about the amount of waste that we produce each year, and what products and stores we should buy from so as not to vote with our dollar for human rights violations and negative impacts on the environment? What are your thoughts on colleges divesting from oil? I could go on, really. I think understanding basic philosophical theory is important, environmental issues, women's rights, these things are close to my heart. I don't get angry at you when you don't know something and judge you for it, I just hope you decide you want to learn about it more. But it's not my job to teach you, so I leave it up to you to figure out the information.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I got Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and then was like "Meh" and stoped once I got near the Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, area (because the countries are so small I couldn't be bothered to squint at them) and the Turkey, Azerbaijan area (because I wasn't sure if you thought they belonged in the Middle east). Blah, blah blah, I forgot about Kuwait and Armenia, forgot the entire name of the United Arab Emirates, and got confused at the Caspian sea because they make it look like a country and I was like "--the fuck is that?"
Jason: Yes, I get the reference at the end. Well done.
ReplyDeleteRachael and Nicole: At no point in my post was I trying to call out my friends for not knowing stuff. Actually, it appears that you did know your stuff. I was expressing my frustration with geographic illiteracy in general, and if you thought that my frustration was directed at you, please be advised that it isn't.
My point is this: I would expect 1770s Americans to be able to point to Britain on a map. I would expect 1960s Americans to be able to point to Vietnam on a map. I would expect 1980s Americans to be able to point to the USSR on a map. And I expect the Americans of today to be able to point to the countries that matter today. And I don't feel the least bit guilty about being frustrated when they can't. Again, that doesn't mean you guys, that means everyone.
Also, the things you guys brought up (budget, RECs, feminist theory, divestment, etc.) are big, complicated issues that require an investment of time and not insignificant mental focus to understand. The locations of foreign countries, on the other hand, are things I think we should be teaching our kindergarteners alongside the alphabet and counting, because it's just as easy. Easier, really. The human mind is really good at recognizing shapes, so if you make a kindergartener memorize what Iraq looks like, that kid will remember that shape for the rest of his/her life.
Rachael: Wife of Bath's Tale. The site has both Middle and Modern English. We read it in Middle, but Modern might be nicer. http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/gchaucer/bl-gchau-can-bath-m.htm
Nicole: Oil divestment in particular is interesting. There's a lot of talk about it at Middlebury right now, and there have been a number of student-administration clashes over the issue.
I didn't know colleges divesting from oil was actually a thing. Under the limited research I just did I think it's a bad idea for colleges to get rid of that funding. Just my two cents though.
ReplyDeleteJason: It's not losing funding, just not investing in oil companies. Other profitable investments abound. There's a movement to divest from lots of morally-controversial companies, not just oil companies. But my school is in a similar position, with many students demanding transparency so we can determine where the school invests its money, or at least a promise that we'll divest from oil companies.
ReplyDeleteDerek: It did seem directed at us, because of the way you phrased it (with lots of "you"s that seemed directed at the blog group) but it's okay, we're tough. And I would like kindergarteners to know their congressperson. I think political literacy is important too, and obviously geography literacy fits in with that, since you picked "important" countries based on our foreign entanglements.
There's actually a big talk at Midd tomorrow about divestment that I might go. Perhaps you will read about that on Friday, when I blog next.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're tough. And yes, I think political literacy is important. Perhaps countries should start in K and Congresspeople shouldn't start 'til 3rd grade or so. Names just seem harder than shapes to me.
Wait so why are universities giving money to oil companies in the first place?
ReplyDeleteNot giving, investing.
ReplyDeleteInvesting -> Getting money? My original point?
ReplyDeleteI think Rachael took issue with you calling it funding, because funding sounds like the oil companies are donating to the college, which they're not. All the college is doing is reaping the financial benefits of investing with the company. So your argument still makes sense if "funding" just means "making money". What Rachael is arguing is that there are other companies to invest in, so colleges don't have to invest in oil.
ReplyDeleteGotcha. Chevron funds the ChemE program at Berkeley so the line between investment and funding was not clear to me.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've been having a pretty busy week.
ReplyDeleteNow that the small talk's out of the way, my main point:
I would like to believe that there exists a definitive line between ignorance and indifference; I am aware that these different places exist, and I am also aware of the fact that I do not know exactly where some, probably most, of them are. The fact is, I do not foresee that knowing their exact locations on a map will benefit me in any significant way, and as my capacity for long term knowledge is limited, I posit that it should be put to a better use.
"But these places exist and so you should know them to be more worldly"
Mars exists too; I think there is about as much likelihood that I will visit Mars as compared to Iran or Iraq, so why should I learn more about either?
However, I play pokemon fairly often, so it is of benefit to me to have memorized those maps so that I can play more efficiently.
Your argument boils down to a question of values. I could go around asking people to point out the correct cities on a pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow map, and berate all those who fail; I don't see how this is significantly different than performing the same procedure with a real map.
And that brings me to my last point; MAPS EXIST FOR A REASON. They exist specifically for THIS reason. Some people aren't blessed with astounding memorizing capabilities, and if they don't constantly use what they learn they soon start forgetting the material. Maps are an easily accessible database that leaves almost nothing to doubt when geographical queries come into play.
Sorry if this sounds defensive and condescending, this topic makes me feel inadequate.
Max, you are in a different category altogether.
ReplyDelete