In secondary school, I may have come bottom of the class in Physics and Chemistry but I was always top in Geography. It was a branch of knowledge that energised me. I cared about mountains, rivers, countries, oceans and capital cities and I still do. When I was thirteen I knew the capital city of every single country in the world and I still know the majority of them but must admit that I haven't kept up to date with all the changes.
It is interesting to me that plenty of people do not seem to care about Geography. Does it really matter that Mount Everest is in The Himalayas or that Sacramento is the state capital of California or that Africa isn't just one big country? For many this is clearly all tiresome, irrelevant knowledge.
Here's Jay Leno in 2017 interviewing American high school students in order to test their geographical knowledge:-
The results are both funny and alarming but perhaps not surprising for there is a lot of geographical ignorance out there. Maybe the young people Jay Leno quizzed know other things that matter more to them.
Another person who has recently demonstrated that she is geographically challenged is the British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss. She confused The Baltic Sea with The Black Sea and thought that Rostov was in Ukraine. It was most embarrassing. Surely one of the qualities we should look for in a Foreign Secretary is a good understanding of world geography.
If I was posing as a journalist at a press conference, I would ask Ms Truss these questions:
- What is the capital of Romania?
- What is India's southernmost state?
- What is the tallest mountain in South America?
And if she didn't get them right I would ask easier questions at the next press conference, such as:-
- What is the capital of France?
- In which English county is Land's End?
- What is the biggest state in The United States by land area?
- How many fingers am I holding up?
- What time is it?
- What is your name?
Elizabeth Truss
Even I can answer many of those questions. I always found geography, especially combined with culture and language, fascinating.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean "even" Margaret? Are you a raccoon or something?
DeleteNo, but my background isn't in geography nor am I a politician or foreign secretary who would be expected to know much more. I'll have to test my older daughter who has a PhD in Geography. However, her specialty is West Africa.
Delete*What are the 39 Steps?*
ReplyDelete*The 39 Steps (1935) - Theatre Finale.* YouTube.
Look out for the cameo appearance of a youngish Alfred Hitchcock playing the theatre manager.
Some say The 39 Steps are the ones leading up to St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.
Others say they are the steps of the Criterion Theatre, London.
The 39 Steps is the title of a book we read at school and if I remember right are the number of steps from the clifftop down to the beach and the story was about spies. Or smugglers.
DeleteThe 39 steps are the steps you need to learn in order to perform a paso doble successfully.
DeleteRiver is correct.
Delete*Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps* is the title of a new biography of John Buchan by his granddaughter, Ursula Buchan. Now in paperback.
Buchan was Governor General of Canada and knew everyone in politics.
There is an active John Buchan Society based in Edinburgh.
Buchan wrote historical romances as well as political thrillers.
Prester John, Witch Wood, Midwinter. Great reads.
My favourite: A Lost Lady of Old Years. As good as RL Stevenson.
As for the Paso Doble, that is a wee bit too Latin for a Yorkshire lad.
In Glasgow dancehalls before WWII, my father saw young women walk away from men in the middle of a dance, because the men did not know the proper steps.
I suspect that Mr Yorky is quite a Devil on the Dancefloor, big men are often light on their feet.
*2015 Cheek to Cheek Joan Chamorro quartet and Rita Payes.*
*2014 Night and Day Magali Datzira Joan Chamorro presenta la Magia de la veu.*
Both YouTube.
I loved geography in school, but I'm not sure they even teach it anymore. I can remember spending hours in my brother's room with him drilling me on state capitals. (among other facts)
ReplyDeleteI believe if I were a foreign secretary I would make a point of brushing up on geography and pertinent facts about the world.
She made those mistakes before The Ukraine War when visiting Moscow. She was in tense discussions with Russia's foreign minister. He must have been laughing all the way to his babushka.
DeleteI admit to being fascinated by geography when I was in school. However , this week , some politician to the south of us couldn't point Canada out on a map and further accused us of needing to be rescued from a few idiots who camped for three weeks in our capital. It would be a waste of time to give this woman a test as she knows absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, where is Alberta? Has she gone skiing in the mountains?
DeleteThat video is horrifying but I wonder if I would have done any better as a sixteen year old. I hope so.
ReplyDeleteI've learned quite a lot about Ukraine this past week sadly.
At sixteen I would have turned the tables on Jay Leno - then he'd be the chump we'd be laughing at. I hope nobody stops me in the street and asks basic questions about physics!
DeleteI didn't pay much attention to Geography in school, the teacher didn't spark any attention and I knew I was never going to travel the world. But in the last few years I have learned a bit more, just by looking up where my blog friends live, and the places I read about in books or see in movies. I find many differences between my small newish atlas and my big old fifty years old atlas. Country names are different, flags are different and so on.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that blogging has sparked a bit more interest in geography River. By the way, where is Adelaide? Is she hiding in the bushes?
DeleteNo matter which department you take, at least in my country ministers rotate with every change of government and are clearly NOT chosen for their expertise in a certain matter. A Health Minister should know a few things about health, shouldn't she? The person at the top of the Defence Ministry has, ideally, some experience in that matter? An Education Minister should know his ropes from working in the education sector at some stage of his life, right?
ReplyDeleteThere aren't many in the German government who can claim that. But even so, their team of advisors and assistants should make up for any lack of knowledge or experience.
Jay Leno: I used to watch his show in the 2000s, loved his interviews on the street! I remember one when he asked a question about Scandinavian countries, and one woman answered "Norwegia".
If they rely on advisers and assistants, the ministers might as well be ventriloquists' dummies.
DeleteI regard geography as something it's good to know a bit about. There's nothing makes a person look uninformed like not knowing which county Land's end is in :)
ReplyDeleteWhich country is Sydney in? Is it New Zealand or is he in Papua New Guinea now?
DeleteAdrian Moles father thought the Falklands were jut off Scotland.
ReplyDeleteHe was probably thinking about a small town called Falkland which is in Scotland.
DeleteIt might be equally revealing to ask the Defence Secretary about his knowledge of history.
ReplyDeleteWhy? What did he get wrong?
DeleteIn a reference to the Crimean War he said we kicked the backside of former Russian leaders and can always do it again.
DeleteMy geography is hopeless though not as bad as those children. Perhaps I had a bad geography teacher? But I do understand where most of the major world issues come from and their relevant blocs.
ReplyDeleteI had one or two bad geography teachers but it didn't matter because I loved geography in spite of them.
DeleteI, too, loved Geography at school and was hopeless at Physics and Chemistry. At the age those teenagers were, I knew every continent, ocean, sea and most countries and their capital cities. There was something fascinating about the mystique of distant places.
ReplyDeleteThese days the world has changed so much, I have no idea where hardly anywhere is, or what names many countries now go by. I'd need to constantly refer to Google Earth!
What is the capital of Eswatini?
DeleteANSWER It is a trick question because it has two capitals - Mbabane and Lobamba.
P.S. You would have known it as Swaziland Carol...or was Swaziland Carol a dancer?
I always loved geography and was very good at it (if I do say so myself). Stamp collecting helped immensely -- it gave me a curiosity about the world and I had to know the locations and capitals of all those countries! (Even the ones that didn't exist anymore!) I'm still pretty good at capitals but like you, I might have trouble with some of the newer ones.
ReplyDeleteI think some people just don't care about the world beyond their immediate environs, which is sad. A huge number of people don't even have a passport.
When I realised this about America I was very surprised - but that was many years ago.
DeleteI used to be much better at geography, but so many countries have changed names and capitals too. It's tough keeping up, but if I were Foreign Secretary, I'd make damn sure I was properly up-to-date.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if you are visiting Moscow to specifically discuss the Ukraine crisis.
DeleteSadly geography has gone the way of sex education, critical race theory or other subjects that are important to know but traditionally were taught at home. Now because they aren't taught at home, they have been swapped with geography and others subjects that are still not being taught at home.
ReplyDeleteHave you read Ken Jennings' "Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks?" If you haven't, you should. It is a peer joy for someone like you (and I) who takes geography seriously.
Thanks for the heads up Ed. It sounds like the sort of book that I would lap up.
DeleteI couldn't point to most countries on a map. Their capitals? Forget it. I am hopeless. I admit it.
ReplyDeleteAt least you admit your weaknesses. Do you know the compass points?
DeleteI am not good at geography at all and rely on Google for places and people I don't know about.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that there are other areas of knowledge that attract you. We geographers must not be smug.
DeleteI've always struggled with memorizing so the thought of geography and history tests stripped some of the pleasure out of those subjects back in my high school days. Now that retirement has afforded me a little too much free time, one of the things I do is play online geography quizzes. I find them quite enjoyable. (Only I will ever know my score when I tackle a new area of the world.) But if Jay Leno ever attempted to stop me on the street to ask me a geography question, I'd still duck into the nearest pub.
ReplyDeleteJay Leno would chase you into the pub and wrestle you to the ground while yelling, "In which central American country is Melinda Airport?"
DeleteP.S. It is in Belize!
I, too, used to be a whiz at geography, possibly partly due to my experience as a ham radio operator. And I am agawk and ashamed at the ignorance of those teenagers. But, as you say, maybe they're smarter at other things. And maybe not. 😥
ReplyDeleteMaybe they are smart at messaging their friends on smartphones and chewing gum.
DeleteI recently did an online geographic quiz where a country was highlighted among the lined borders of surrounding countries. While I found it easy and only made two mistakes, to my shame one Turkey, I know I would be in the minority with the quiz. Maybe geography isn't so important but I can't imagine visiting a place and not knowing really where it is. R's English rels generally don't know where Melbourne is in Australia.
ReplyDeleteTruss is very foolish. A lack of geographical knowledge is unfortunate, but to open your gob and let the world know is being a fool.
They say she could be the next PM of Britain after The Fat Scarecrow. God help us.
Delete