American Ignorance?

you can NOT compare nations with stats and county, you can not use 2 different "unit" size when comparing, all have to be the same "unit", in this case nations, if you compare a stat or a county with a nation that would be like comparing feet with meter........

And you can not compare USA with all of EU since EU is NOT a nation, but a political co-operation between some of the nations of Europe, USA is a nation...

So you have to compare the whole of USA with the whole of one other nation and then you still have to keep in mind the differents of population size......

 

No, not really, you and the Rumanians etc should all go together, one flag, one currency, open borders, a pending constitution etc..
You even have a parliament and a President..

You have an 'embassy' here in DC etc..

I think you know what I am getting at..


But any way , the USA shows up between the Swiss, Germans, Norge and other first class societies in the science & math literacy rankings..


None of which seem scientifcally incapable to me..

or ignorant..

WE all at some point have praised German WWII technology..

Scientific literacy

20 Germany 487

( I wonder where thay come up with this crap really)

:roll:

I have never considered the Germans 'scientifically ignorant'

 

Heck, where is the Netherlands on this list?

#1 Korea, South 552
#2 Japan 550
#3 Finland 538
#4 United Kingdom 532
#5 Canada 529
#6 Australia 528
#7 New Zealand 528
#8 Austria 519
#9 Ireland 513
#10 Sweden 512
#11 Czech Republic 511
#12 France 500
#13 Norway 500
#14 United States 499
#15 Belgium 496
#16 Hungary 496
#17 Iceland 496
#18 Switzerland 496
#19 Spain 491
#20 Germany 487
#21 Poland 483
#22 Denmark 481
#23 Italy 478
#24 Greece 461
#25 Portugal 459
#26 Luxembourg 443
#27 Mexico


DEFINITION: Scientific literacy mean value of performance scale 15 years old (2000)


SOURCE: OECD




Ya gotta wonder..

 

15 years old


kinda worthless info really..

15 years olds :roll:

 

Denmark have its own currency, just like Sweden and UK have, EU dont have a president, but a chairman....
EU will never be one nation, so dont compare it with USA as it was one nation.....

 

Higher education is education provided by universities and other institutions that award academic degrees, such as community colleges, and liberal arts colleges. ... Quaternary education or postgraduate education is the fourth-stage educational level which follows the completion of an undergraduate degree at a college or university. ...


Colleges and universities are examples of institutions that provide tertiary education. The term college (Latin collegium) is most often used today to denote an educational institution. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master, and doctor) in a variety of subjects. ...


The term Tertiary education can also be used to refer to vocational education and training. In Australia the term Post-secondary education is usually used for vocational and non-academic education as distinct from Tertiary education offered at academic oriented institions like Universities.. A blacksmith is a traditional trade. ... ...


Tertiary education generally culminates in the receipt of a degree: vocational certification, Associate's degrees, or Bachelor's degrees (B.A. or B.S.). An associates degree is a degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges and some bachelors degree-granting colleges and universities in Canada and the United States upon completion of a course of study equivalent to the first two years in a four-year college or university. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and appeal to a wider international audience, this article may require cleanup. ...



Rank Country Amount (top to bottom)
#1 Greece 56%
#2 Belgium 46%
#3 France 42%
#4 United States 38%
#5 Spain 38%
#6 Canada 37%
#7 Ireland 35%
#8 New Zealand 33%
#9 Australia 33%
#10 Poland 33%
#11 United Kingdom 33%
#12 Netherlands 32%
#13 Finland 31%
#14 Portugal 30%
#15 Norway 28%
#16 Hungary 26%
#17 Italy 26%
#18 Czech Republic 23%
#19 Sweden 23%
#20 Slovakia 21%
#21 Austria 19%
#22 Germany 15%
#23 Switzerland 14%
#24 Iceland 14%
#25 Mexico 14%
#26 Turkey 13%
#27 Denmark 11%





I don't think I look at it that way anymore Knudsen.

Either way..

What do you think of the Danish figures?


It does not make sense to me that the Danish are behind Mexico & Turkey..

and the USA figure is more like 60-64 %

 

and where are the Russians?

 

In Russia? (sorry I tried but just couldn't resist - no self control )

 

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/edu ... in_ter_edu

Because of the danish educational system people are normaly older then 20 when they goes to the university, danish males also have a consriped duty, normaly army, to do at around age 20, we also have many 20 year olds that take a year or two off where they do other things, like seing the world......

And if you look here:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/edu ... in_sec_edu

you see that we have more 20 year olds that are enrolled in secondary

and I have never stated that Denmark is better educated then any other country on this planet, the danish school system is not as good as it should be, but you cant come and say that USA or any other country is better then, who need to be a rocket scientist to cook an egg or live a normal every day life, so good for you that you are smart, then why have you not sovled all the problems on the planet yet?

 

Interesting, so the Danes stay in high school untill they are 20 ish..

Virtually the entire Danish adult population is literate. Primary, secondary, and, on the whole, university and other higher education are free. Preschools are operated by private persons or organizations with some government financial aid. An estimated 13.1% of the central government budget was allocated to education in the latter half of the 1990s. As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 8.2% of GDP.

Education has been compulsory since 1814; currently, it is compulsory for children ages 7 to 16. The Danish primary school system, known as the "Folkes Kole," has a nine-year duration and many opt for an additional tenth year. English is included in the curriculum from the fifth grade. After basic schooling, two-thirds of the pupils apply for practical training in a trade or commerce at special schools. The remaining one-third go to secondary schools, which finish after three years with student examination and pave the way for higher education at universities. Municipal authorities, with some financial aid from the central government, have been responsible for providing schools for these children. In 1996, primary schools enrolled 336,690 students. In the same year, secondary schools had 438,809 students registered. Girls and women comprise almost 50% of those receiving education at all levels. The pupil-teacher ratio at the primary level was 10 to 1 in 1999. In the same year, 99% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, while 90% of those eligible attended secondary school.

Adult education exists side by side with the regular school system. Founded as early as 1844, the folk high schools are voluntary, self-governing high schools imparting general adult education. In addition, there are hundreds of schools for higher instruction of pupils without previous special training.

There are four universities—the University of Copenhagen (founded in 1479), the University of Aarhus (founded as a college in 1928 and established as a university in 1933), the University of Odense (opened in 1966), and the University Center at Roskilde (founded in 1970). Attached to the various faculties are institutes, laboratories, and clinics devoted primarily to research, but also offering advanced instruction. Many specialized schools and academies of university rank provide instruction in various technical and artistic fields. All these institutions are independent in their internal administration. In 1996, all institutions of higher education had a combined enrollment of 174,975 students.



I see, 16 +3 more for about 1/3 of the students..

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Euro ... ATION.html





I dunno, there are some fairly backward places here..

The Mississippi River delta, of Louisianna, out on the bayous, while pretty, is someplace you dont need college. You can work a fishing boat or work on the Gulf of Mexico oil derricks. Mississippi is consistently at the bottom of economic surveys .

That is why I was talking about a larger population sample.

Portugal is largely agricultural, maybe a degree in agriculture would be handy. .

 

I last tiem I checked being ignorant and being stupid were two different things unless someone changed the definitions when I wasn't looking.

Ask the average American to tell you the 3 major sects of Islam? Would they know? I doubt most would but that does not make them stupid, that makes them ignorant of the country they have invaded.

 

Gorbonnet=

Bahkba...

You got links to support that ascertion..

I lived in Iran as a kid. You wanna explain the split between Shia and Sunni to me?


Hobart, hali sho ma chatori? Koofti

Hodafez.. :roll:

 

Gorbonnet=

He said


Bahkba...

great


Hobart, hali sho ma chatori? Koofti

Wazzup, how are you? Groovy

Hodafez..
Later..

 

Stonewall... I'm getting very tired of this.

Gunter called Americans ignorant. He had no grounds for that other than a comedy TV show, which you didn't bother to check up on, assuming he was making some sort of mistake himself. This is not a big issue, particularly because many other members immediately stepped up to emphasize that CNN was not a source by which to judge all Americans and that therefore Gunter's entire point was more or less turned into a jab at the media rather than at Americans.

Then you came in. On the basis of certain very specific surveys about the quality of universities and the amount of Nobel prizes won, you wish us to believe that Americans are not ignorant at all, even though these figures do not prove that. In reply, others have presented different surveys, about general literacy and education, in which the US holds more modest positions if definitely not anywhere near the bottom. This is not insulting or derisive of Americans at all. Yet ever since these figures were posted you have been trying to either make the US seem better through distorting the entities used for comparison (propagating the idea that nation-states should not be compared to other nation-states but rather to local governments), or to make all other countries seem ignorant, seemingly aiming to prove that if others are ignorant then surely you are not.

Frankly it doesn't make any sense at all. I don't think anyone has been trying to prove that Americans are stupid here, or more ignorant than others, other than Gunter. Everyone else has either been correcting his views or commenting on your mostly irrelevant or logically inconsistent posts, even when they accept your points. Nobody here is trying to deny that the US has the best universities, or is winning the Nobel prizes. However when you are presented with similar facts in which the US happens not to end up at #1, they are somehow distorted and in need of correction?

Could you tie the loose ends together please?

 

Stonewall, however you view Europe, we really are not one nation.

To compare apples to apples, you would have to compare US states to English Counties, or Swiss Cantons, etc.


And yes it is eminently possible to study at University, achieve an award and not have a degree.

In Britain there are:

HNC - Higher National Certificate (equivalent to the first year of a degree)
HND - Higher National Diploma (equivalent to the first two years of a degree)
Certificate of Higher Education - (equivalent to the first year of a degree)
Diploma of Higher Education - (equivalent to the first two years of a degree)
Foundation Degree - (equivalent to the first two years of a degree)
[a Bachelors Degree is 3 years]

All taught at Universities as the intended award outcome of courses. And all can also be used as 'lesser awards' for students who have to leave their degree course for whatever reason.

 

Oh come on, I was looking for a pithy, erudite, relevant and entertaining response to my question..

> You wanna explain the split between Shia and Sunni to me

This is a WWII tankers forum..

>that makes them ignorant of the country they have invaded.

Gunter was asking about Iraq, war and Shia..

So, I was hoping for this answer..

LOL


Which would have introduced something both cultutally relevant and and entertaining.. along the lines of the primary focus of this forum,...






Muhammad and his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib. The scimitar is one of the oldest and best known symbols of Islam, as important to Muslims as Excalibur is to the British.

Ali's son, Imam Husayn bin Ali, used Zulfiqar against the Umayyad caliph Yazid I in the Battle of Karbala, where he and his family perished. As a symbol of honour and knighthood, Zulfiqar has appeared in the iconography of Islamic nations for centuries, and was used extensively by the Abbasid Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire. Multiple conflicting images of the sword exist. Some show two parallel blades to emphasize its mystical abilities and speed, while others portray a more traditionally-shaped scimitar and still others depict a split, V-shaped blade. The Shi'a, who believe Ali was the first rightful successor to Muhammad, consider the sword to be as exceptional a weapon as Ali was a knight. Their saying, "La fatà illa Ali, la saif illa Zulfiqar" ( لا فتى الا على لا سيف الا ذوالفقار ), "there is no hero except Ali, there is no sword except his sword Zulfiqar", was frequently inscribed on new weapons.

"Zulfiqar" and phonetic variations have been popular given names, as in former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Various spelt variations exist in modern language scripts, including "Zulfikar", "Dhulfaqar", "Zolfaqar", etc. "Zulfiqar", however, remains the most widely used rendition of the Arabic word.

[edit]
Meaning
The name is variously explained, but is generally thought to mean "cleaver of the spine" [1], "the two-pronged one" or "double-edged one". It is sometimes also interpreted as "sharp distinction between right and wrong" or "the one who distinguishes between right and wrong", or "trenchant".

[edit]
Zulfiqar Main Battle Tank
A series of indigenously designed and produced main battle tanks in the Islamic Republic of Iran are also named after Zulfiqar. The most advanced of these, the Zulfiqar-3, is based on earlier American tanks primarily the M-60 acquired under the pre-revolution era. The Zulfiqar-3 also features considerable upgrades to the fire control system, chassis, engine and main gun (125mm autoloader). The Zulfiqar-1 is reportedly in service with certain elements of the Pasardan and the Zulfiqar-2 is reportedly a test bed for future designs and upgrades. The Zulfiqar-3 is believed to have recently entered serial production.




I don't need to mention the lineage & roots of the M-60..


Sorry, I was just playing straightman, hoping for a good response..

I was opening the door for an explaination that was both relevant and entertaining for our members here..

To me this was a fairly obvious reference..




I hope I tied my last tangent together for you somewhat :smok:

I was gonna mention that I was hoping for a relevant response, but I was afraid you would accuse me of being too much of a 'kunni'..

 

Stonewall,

"The Royal Cadian Air Farce" is a satirical comedy televsion show here in the Great Wet North.

The U.S. has no corner on ignorance and stupidity, the rest of the world has no corner on intelligence or culture.

 

Wildly off-topic, but hey!

So to them it's just some wierd legend that everybody knows but is widely known to be untrue and irrelevant to anything but story-telling?

Essentially began as a difference over whether the 'head honcho' had to be an actual descendant of Mohammed or not, IIRC. Willing to be corrected, as ever.

Back on topic:

Is pretty much on the money. You can flip the terms of referance round, and it works either way.

 

>Essentially began as a difference over whether the 'head honcho' had to be an actual descendant of Mohammed or not, IIRC. Willing to be corrected, as ever.


Yes, of course, but I was trying to reference that Ali had been split in two by one mighty blow from the Zulfiqar .. ( not the M60 variant)

This is the symbolic 'split'

 

I was gonna ask, "How is the split between Shia and Sunni relevant to this forum"

Which was a 'double entendre'..

I am sure you would have been upset, If I had worded my question as such...