something that... well frankly i don't beleave

[Celethiel]

http://news.yahoo.com/video/whoknew-american-history-060000063.html

I can't imagine frankly American people not knowing most these things... however the thing says they don't....

The only one i didn't know was the current head of the Supreme court... but frankly who cares about him...

[joann414]

I'm old, and I even remember the Treaty of Paris in my history lessons  

[Kitt]

In 1492 .... Columbus sailed the ocean blue....

[Celethiel]

see I remember most of these things from wheN i was taught in school so i can't imagine other people forgetting... especially since if they're anything like me they had u.s. history like 3 times as a kid... once in highschool, once in middle school and once as a kid.... it's pretty drilled into you... one would think....

Says something about how the government views or schools view the importance of America's national history...

[Rizan]

I would argue circling "Discovering America" is just as wrong of an answer as "Proving the world is round."

[Gene Splicer PHD]

I would argue circling "Discovering America" is just as wrong of an answer as "Proving the world is round."

 

BLASPHEMER

[Sasha Distan]

and yet i would say a lot of this information is a bit pointless. only 7% of people can name the first four US presidents in order? I can't even name you the most recent US presidents, or the four first UK presidents. does this make me dumb? no. does it impact on my daily life? no.

Can i make a meal and work out it's nutritional properties and match complimentary LBV proteins for a full range of amino acids? Yes. some information is way more useful/interesting than other bits.

i can also describe the history of modern raising agents and how it is that the US speaks English instead of Dutch and why Cinnamon is so important in that. knowing exact dates and names of people long dead seems much less important somehow...

[iSimba]

Out of the 4 questions they went over, I only knew half. 

[NightOwl88]

Hard as it is to believe I actually can believe it. I know individuals like those mentioned the article. To be honest I am guilty of one or two of them, (not that I going to say which two lol). I think that some of it comes down to the fact that most folks just don't care about history; i can name a handful of people off the top of my head that frankly...well if any of them have actually passed a history test it's a miracle.

[Arpeggio]

I got 3 out of four which surprised me. 

[W_L]

and yet i would say a lot of this information is a bit pointless. only 7% of people can name the first four US presidents in order? I can't even name you the most recent US presidents, or the four first UK presidents. does this make me dumb? no. does it impact on my daily life? no.Can i make a meal and work out it's nutritional properties and match complimentary LBV proteins for a full range of amino acids? Yes. some information is way more useful/interesting than other bits.i can also describe the history of modern raising agents and how it is that the US speaks English instead of Dutch and why Cinnamon is so important in that. knowing exact dates and names of people long dead seems much less important somehow...

Hmm...Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison... I think

[Mann Ramblings]

I can't say I'm surprised by some of the statistics in the video, but I'm hardly distressed either. While history is always important in how all things came about, it's very hard to impress its relevance on many people's day to day lives. The order of the first four presidents is not a bit of information a lot of us strive to know to improve our ability to perform our jobs and take care of our families.

 

And during school it can certainly make it difficult to turn a potentially dry subject into more than just a method of regurgitating facts on a test when the students would rather be somewhere else. I don't envy any teacher's job and the expectations handed out to them.

[W_L]

Woohoo, got them all

 

I actually studied history as a second degree. For me, I loved history when I was a kid playing civilization and age of empires series. History does not need to be boring, if you play with it.

Edited January 2, 2014 by W_L

[Kitt]

Or write it into your stories the way Mark Arbour does!

[JamesSavik]

Never misunderestimate the power of stupid.

[Zombie]

"history? It's just one fucking thing after another" [Alan Bennet]

[Ashi]

I was quite surprised I got the four presidents' order wrong myself.  If I were younger, I probably would remember it.  Washington is obviously the first, and I think I remember John Adam was second (because I watched the HBO series).  I kept thinking Madison was the fifth for some reason, and how about John Adam's son, Quincy?  I think Jackson is the fifth....

 

It kind of messes my brain up when I've learned a lot of different pieces of history, not in chronological order.  I think I still remember I didn't remember that Civil Disobedience was by Ralph Waldo Emerson, not John Locke....  (okay, sue me) (wait, I just googled..., it's Thoreau...  D'oh!), but I don't remember the names, just the fact I don't remember that fact.  See, I messed people's names up!  But I do remember the concept, just not names....

 

But I do remember from psychology class, some people are better with names while some are better with faces.  It's kind of unique function of our brains.  Some of us are left brainer, and some are right brainers (but I don't remember which part of brain control which type of recognition).

Please don't ask me recite which psychologist found which school of psychology.  I know Freud is psychoanalysis, I don't remember Jung's....  Watson probably was behavioral science or something like that.  Maslow is humanistic (I do remember that because I was a business major, and you get bombarded with Maslow's hiearchy of needs).

 

So this type of trivia probably got a lot of people..., just because we don't think the same way.  (I was/am never a good test taker, but I know my concepts).

[W_L]

I was quite surprised I got the four presidents' order wrong myself.  If I were younger, I probably would remember it.  Washington is obviously the first, and I think I remember John Adam was second (because I watched the HBO series).  I kept thinking Madison was the fifth for some reason, and how about John Adam's son, Quincy?  I think Jackson is the fifth....

 

It kind of messes my brain up when I've learned a lot of different pieces of history, not in chronological order.  I think I still remember I didn't remember that Civil Disobedience was by Ralph Waldo Emerson, not John Locke....  (okay, sue me) (wait, I just googled..., it's Thoreau...  D'oh!), but I don't remember the names, just the fact I don't remember that fact.  See, I messed people's names up!  But I do remember the concept, just not names....

 

But I do remember from psychology class, some people are better with names while some are better with faces.  It's kind of unique function of our brains.  Some of us are left brainer, and some are right brainers (but I don't remember which part of brain control which type of recognition).

Please don't ask me recite which psychologist found which school of psychology.  I know Freud is psychoanalysis, I don't remember Jung's....  Watson probably was behavioral science or something like that.  Maslow is humanistic (I do remember that because I was a business major, and you get bombarded with Maslow's hiearchy of needs).

 

So this type of trivia probably got a lot of people..., just because we don't think the same way.  (I was/am never a good test taker, but I know my concepts).

 

Madison was the 5th VP maybe that's why you are confused

 

I think of Madison and the War of 1812.

 

The fifth President is Monroe, you know his doctrine about Americas and Manifest Destiny, next was Quincy Adam, then Jackson. Jackson should have beaten Quincy Adam with his popular votes, but a certain Kentucky Congressman known for compromise intervened against Jackson

 

I can't remember the middle ones that well after Van Burren, I know Polk was the one who started the Mexican American War, Buchanan had the Boyfriend and waffled on national unity, then it's Lincoln..

[Sammy Blue]

I couldn't even tell you the first 2 cancellors of my country, let alone the first four of the US...

I think that kind of knowledge is pretty pointless. History really is about coherences, about the why and how much more than about the (exact) when and who. We can learn a lot from history, but not from the names and dates alone. Any computer can answer that kind of question better and quicker than a human...

 

But not knowing "which country was fought in the cold war"? (the question is kind of put stupid though) Okay, seriously: I can't even believe that one... Is it because I've lived all my life right at the former east/west German border and regularly travel between the former DDR and BRD? Maybe that's the reason, but that question feels like a 99,9% should answer it correctly... I don't know... 27% just sounds like... wrong... and what the hell has a difficult political system to do with not knowing basic things like about the declaration of independence and the soviet union...

 

The name of the chief guy from some court? Who the hell cares? ^^

Edited January 3, 2014 by Sammy Blue

[Thorn Wilde]

I would argue circling "Discovering America" is just as wrong of an answer as "Proving the world is round."

 

True. Leif Erikson got there before him, and a good 10-20,000 years before that some people came over from Siberia during the ice age. America's been discovered for a long time.

[Kitt]

Not to mention the fact that all he really wanted to do was find an easier way to the east indies! 

[W_L]

Not to mention the fact that all he really wanted to do was find an easier way to the east indies!

 

 

Vasco de gama already did

[Ashi]

Madison was the 5th VP maybe that's why you are confused

 

I think of Madison and the War of 1812.

 

The fifth President is Monroe, you know his doctrine about Americas and Manifest Destiny, next was Quincy Adam, then Jackson. Jackson should have beaten Quincy Adam with his popular votes, but a certain Kentucky Congressman known for compromise intervened against Jackson

 

I can't remember the middle ones that well after Van Burren, I know Polk was the one who started the Mexican American War, Buchanan had the Boyfriend and waffled on national unity, then it's Lincoln..

 

You're really the history buff.   

 

All I remember about Jackson (besides he's on $20 bill) is I think, he was a war hero (probably War of 1812), and that helped him got elected.  I don't think he and Stonewall Jackson are the same person....  I am pretty sure they aren't....

 

The thing I remember about Monroe is he wanted an isolated America from international politics, until Teddy Roosevelt reversed that policy.  Teddy Roosevelt was also the crossover president, because he was elected as a Republican president only because Republicans couldn't find a proper candidate.  So a lot of his policies as a president were definitely not what Republicans used to believe in, so he is sort of the father of modern Republican Party.

 

I think I've heard Buchanan (the president) had a boyfriend before (probably from a gay gossip columnist).  I am not sure if he and Pat Buchanan are related.  If so, it'll be a redneck family drama....

 

I know Garfield was assassinated.  We have two presidents who are named after inspiring animals.  One after a bear, the other, a cat.

[W_L]

Teddy Roosevelt became president after mckinley was assasinated as well.

 

Modern Democrats can trace themselves back to progressive Republicans like Theodore Roosevelt and religious conservatives can trace themselves to Democrat william jennings bryan, who ran for president too but never won. You might remember him from trial involving monkeys

[Celethiel]

I would argue circling "Discovering America" is just as wrong of an answer as "Proving the world is round."

no it was Magellon who sailed around the world...proving it round although didn't Drake do it too? All Columbus did was claim land for spain that no one... Christian owned... He didn't find the New World, in fact there are some who beleave he just took older tales and went further south...... So... technically he just foundout it didn't end where mainstreem (vikings were NOT Mainstream) Europe thought it did...

 

As for Presidents, I can't actually say i am that surprised now... since I talked to a ladyfriend of mine and she didn't remember the first 4 either... started saying things like Roosevelt.. (she's 50 years old)...

I remember the first 4 after that it begins to get iffy... and after Jackson... i don't really remember any of them up to Lincoln, then it's Lincon, Johnson (number 1), Grant... then no memory again...Taft maybe... lol.

 

I'll give someone who can name all the presidents that were in office in or after world war 2 a magical imaginary 20 dollars (if they do it without looking too )