Too Good... A Psychometric Map of the U.S.

[vhsiv]

Found @ etherfarm.com (http://www.etherfarm.com/etherblog/archives/20040224225238.html), via Metafilter (http://www.metafilter.com)

<snip>

It’s no secret that Americans suffer from complete ignorance (http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2002/11/21/story93909738.asp) regarding the topic of where-things-are-in-the-world. There are many causes for this; for starters, our media tends to ignore anything happening outside the States. Also, quite frankly, most Americans couldn’t care less about the rest of the world. A red-blooded American (a phrase I’ve never understood, unless in the context of Star Trek) will proudly proclaim that America is “the greatest country on earth”, so why bother looking past its borders?

</snip>

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;http://www.etherfarm.com/etherblog/archives/ca-continental-us.gif

Legend
[list=1] California. Unsurprisingly, California remains intact.
This is the state of Reno, which is easy to spot because it’s just outside the “Tahoe Region”.
The state of Vegas.
All Californians know that their neighbor to the north is Oregon. They know this because Oregon is where Chai was invented.
This is the state of Seattle unless you’re really wealthy, in which case it’s the state of Puget Sound. This is where Starbucks comes from. You’ll note that both Oregon and Seattle span the space between the west coastline and the I-5 corridor.
This is Death Valley. It’s hot here. Except in the winter, when it’s cold.
This is the state of Aspen. From the state of Aspen, you can ski straight into state #9
This state has two names for Californians. If you’re from Northern California, it’s known as “That Bastard of a President’s Ranch”. If you’re from Southern California, it’s called “The Alamo”.
The Midwest. It’s a huge state, as you can see, and for Californians, Midwest inhabitants on both sides of the Mississippi live on a strict diet of iceberg lettuce and Budweiser, which is why they have such big hair.
The blue vertical line is the Mississippi River. Californians don’t actually know where it is, they just know it’s in the middle of the country and that it runs “up and down”.
11 points to the state of Chicago, which is a convenient home to the city of Chicago. [I can’t begin to tell you how many Californians think Chicago is a state].
This is Florida. It’s home to Disney World (which is just like Disneyland) and a lot of Cubans, like that Ricky Martin.
This is New England. It contains most of the 50 states because the Pilgrims thought small. That’s why they’re so rude over there on the East Coast, you know. They don’t have room enough to spread out their yoga mats and become one with the universe.
New York, where the official state animal is the bagel.[/list=1]
Read the rest of the entry @ etherfarm.com (http://www.etherfarm.com/etherblog/archives/20040224225238.html)

[NYPinTA]

:rollin:

I remember reading this article that said an astounding number of college students thought Florida borderd NY.
If that were true, I wouldn't fly to visit my sister... I would just drive.
:rollin:

[vhsiv]

Here's another map, courtesy of Darpa.org (http://www.darpa.org):

http://www.darpa.org/usa_view.jpg

[NYPinTA]

People still believe in dragons?

"Here Be Something Else" :rollin:

[B Sharp]

Warning: :mad: grumpy post ahead:

Originally posted by NYPinTA
People still believe in dragons?

"Here Be Something Else" :rollin:

no, evidently it's only Americans that believe in dragons.

I may have lost my sense of humor today, but I don't find this funny. Not because I think it's sad, or a commentary on Americans or Californians. I read through the first map's link, and this caught my eye:

"The people though, fall victim to a kind of provincial snobbery unsurpassed by pretty much everyone except the French. When I tell people in California I’m from Chicago, they look at me with pity. When I tell my Californian students to travel around the U.S. after they graduate, they look at me as if I’m insane. I once was complaining about how poorly many Californians drive in the snow and my soon-to-be father-in-law responded “why on earth would anyone want to live in a place where you have to learn to drive in the snow”. This from a man who spent most of his life on the volcanic, lava-spewing island of Hawaii and from a man who currently lives only a few dozen miles from the San Andreas fault. All this to say that most people who call Californian home—red blooded Californians, or perhaps more precisely, almond-soy-triple-foam chai latte Californians—suffer from a more localized version of geographic ignorance than most Americans.

Apparently the U.S. puzzle I played with as a child was never marketed in California. When I talk to Californians about my many road trips, I’m always totally amazed by the comments and questions I get just in response to my comments about geography. I’ve compiled these reactions and synthesized a map of the United States which corresponds to the twisted geographic perception most Californians possess. I embed the map below but also make it available as a popup to facilitate easier back-and-forth between map and legend."


What irritates me about all this: A huge logic error that I sometime make is that I assume something is 'evident' or logical based on a small sample or set of data points, and then catch myself applying that logic to represent a larger groups of people at a later date (and missing out because I've leapt to a conclusion). I think it's possible that this person has done the same.

Specifically, I have doubts that Americans or Californians have a monopoly on ignorance of geography, or on snobbery. I could just as easily make a claim that the person that wrote this is a snob and has leapt to a number of conclusions, therefore all people from Chicago are snobs and people who leap to conclusions. Especially those that are teachers and like geography.

Of course, if a person is a snob, and leaps to conclusions, then regardless of where the person is from, I might look at them with pity. And I'm a Californian, so I guess that proves this person's point as well.

grumpiness alert over. :mad:

[recklesshumor]

Americans ARE dragons.

[NYPinTA]

So we are the land of the free and the brave and 'etc.' Its the 'etc.' that everyone should worry about...

[NYPinTA]

Originally posted by recklesshumor
Americans ARE dragons.

Damn. Thats funnier then what I said. :rollin:

[recklesshumor]

Well, I have to live up to my name SOMETIMES.

[vhsiv]

B Sharp said
Of course, if a person is a snob, and leaps to conclusions, then regardless of where the person is from, I might look at them with pity. And I'm a Californian, so I guess that proves this person's point as well. I may just be adding tinder to the fire here, but during the two years that I lived in Chicago, the local media - the newspapers, the local newsbroadcasts, etc. - didn't seem to be capable of acknowledging a reality outside of Chicagoland. Like the guy on the page who told his brother about the Berlin Wall going down, it took me a bit of research to find out about the earthquake in Italy, back in '92.

[TheBladeRoden]

Originally posted by vhsiv
Here's another map, courtesy of Darpa.org (http://www.darpa.org):

http://www.darpa.org/usa_view.jpg

:O If that person really knew anything about America they would know we spell "neighbors" and "civilization." Talk about ignorance.

[Mrelia]

If you watch much TV, it will readily become apparent that 90% of Americans live in one of 5 major cities where everything happens: New York, LA, Chicago, Miami and Las Vegas. Sometimes there is Washington, DC or Seattle when they have a slow day in New York.
Back in the '80s there was a place called Dallas too, but nothing happens there anymore.

[BillFrugge]

People from other countries don't follow US geography either -- they don't have any real concept of the size of the country. My company sells and services printers that were made by our division in France. A few years back, when the printer was introduced, some of the designers came to Indiana to teach us about the printer. Well... when they found out where some of the printers were going, they had to go and get pictures taken of them in front of the sign that said: "Welcome to Nashville" not quite understanding that this was not the famous Nashville in Tennessee, but another one in Indiana. (I hope they aren't reading this...)

OTOH, I can't quite comprehend some of the people I meet. When I talk to them, I learn that they've hardly even left the county they live in unless it's to visit the next county over. Even more, they don't know how to react when they find out that I'm from Canada; they just look at me like I'm an alien and wonder how I got here.

[BillFrugge]

Originally posted by TheBladeRoden
:O If that person really knew anything about America they would know we spell "neighbors" and "civilization." Talk about ignorance.

I suspect he's a Canadian upset with the US.

[BlackThorn]

Wow, people know about Reno? Last I checked, I thought most people thought Nevada resided in the state of Las Vegas, and Reno and Carson City (the capitol) didn't exist.

[vikingscaper]

Being a Geography major, I found that funny and sad at the same time.

[Kurt_eh]

My dad was showing a visiting European their flight plan.

They were doing a wildlife survey in Southern Alberta.

After they went through the map, his eyes bugged out, and said something to the effect of "You realise we just flew over 3 countries back home!"

[littulkittons]

I think the maps are kind of funny and sad at the same time.
Surprising, no.

I would like to believe the Jaywalking interviews that Jay Leno does every so often are a big put on. I fear they're not. I just hope he has to work to find enough clueless people to fill up the time.

[abbadon]

originally posted by NYPinTA
So we are the land of the free and the brave

Isnt that Scotland?:P

[Antrobus]

They don’t have room enough to spread out their yoga mats and become one with the universe.

If they knew how small New England REALLY is, they'd really be concerned about the yoga mats! And that's why we're RUDE!!
We can't spread out and get our Yoga done!!

A number of years ago a company rep that was visiting our hospital got into how some people mispronounced towns names in New England. Of course many of the towns are Native American in origin, so they would be odd to outsiders.

However someone was once speaking to her about the town where the Pilgrims settled. They pronounced it - "Ply" as in "plywood" and "Mouth" as one would pronounce the orafice that you place food into. Ply - Mouth!

She said she told them it was pronounced like the car - and not Ply - Mouth.

[fermicat]

Originally posted by Antrobus
If they knew how small New England REALLY is, they'd really be concerned about the yoga mats! And that's why we're RUDE!!
We can't spread out and get our Yoga done!!

A number of years ago a company rep that was visiting our hospital got into how some people mispronounced towns names in New England. Of course many of the towns are Native American in origin, so they would be odd to outsiders.

However someone was once speaking to her about the town where the Pilgrims settled. They pronounced it - "Ply" as in "plywood" and "Mouth" as one would pronounce the orafice that you place food into. Ply - Mouth!

She said she told them it was pronounced like the car - and not Ply - Mouth.

And all these years I thought the weather is what made us so unhappy. I guess that is just my perspective as a native southerner - I sure get snappy in winter.

Funny thing about the town names. Some of the traditional English ones trip people up (not just Plymouth). Lots of people don't seem to know what to do with "Worcester". It isn't "wor-ches-ter" or "Woo-ster". The local pronunciation seems more like "wuss-stuh", but maybe that is just the New England dropping the 'R' thing showing up. :) Other English town names frequently butchered include Leominster, Gloucester and Peabody, which the locals pronounce kind of like they accidentally sit down too hard while saying it: "PEE-budee" - where the "budee" part is pronounced very fast almost as if a single syllable and the emphasis is heavy on the PEE. That cracked me up the first time I heard it!

[Eve11]

In the Philly area, everyone knows how to pronounce Schuylkill ("skoo-kill" -- for the expressway and the river), Bryn Mawr ("brinn mar"), and out to the west towns like Manayunk, Conshohocken, Uwchlan ("you-clan") and King of Prussia ("Kingaprussha" or just "The mall"). Out toward Amish country, everyone knows the town is LANK-a-ster, and not "lan-cast-er".

[generic_screenname]

Rememer when stuff used to be funny? Back when people didn't get all defensive about ever single thing.

I bet over there in Dragon land they don't worry about that stuff. They are too busy worrying about getting eaten by dragons. Or Commies.

[VBKatLou]

I want to go live with the dragons.

[Saajak]

Originally posted by generic_screenname
I bet over there in Dragon land they don't worry about that stuff. They are too busy worrying about getting eaten by dragons. Or Commies.


:roflmao: