Talking to Americans

[Callum]

"A recent survey in Canada showed that 70% of grade seven students couldn't find their home state on an unmarked map. Do you believe this shows a crisis in Canada's public education system?"

On This Hour Has 22 Minutes I loved the Talking to Americans segments. Rick Mercer did them. He's like the Canadian equivalent of Stephen Colbert/Jon Stewart - and he's gay too! The YouTube comments are even more hilarious, because even with a laugh track attached they're still taking it seriously...and to top it all off the only person to answer something correctly is a little kid.



Can any Americans here answer the questions? Why should America invade Italy?

 

[braex27]

HAHA - National Igloo. Hilarious.

 

[HornyHenry]

"A recent survey in Canada showed that 70% of grade seven students couldn't find their home state on an unmarked map. Do you believe this shows a crisis in Canada's public education system?"

Were those students transplanted Americans? there couldnt be that many!
The Canadian seventh graders who were born and raised there should be able to find their home province on an unmarked map.
The U.S. has five times as many states as Canada has provinces so finding a home state should be harder over all than finding a home province.

Would have loved to watch the video but it would take all day to load on this slow dial-up. We dont even have DSL out here

Rick Mercer looks kind of cute. Hope he and his bf are good and compatible.

 

[gsdx]

^ Did you even watch the video?

 

[G-Lexington]

You can't talk to Americans.
You can only talk at them.

Lex

 

[step49]

I'm from Michigan, so it's pretty easy to find my state on an unmarked map. I feel sorry for some of the other states, though.

 

[Knucklehead]

Well,that makes sense,remember, Justin Beiber didn't know what a German was..








Just kidding...I know these things are heavilly edited..

 

[Swellegant]

An unmarked map? How can you find anything on an unmarked map? Unless the thing has a distinctive coastline, you'd be completely lost...how are you supposed to find a square state in the middle of the country? I mean, you could guess at Utah because of the Lake, and Michigan is mitten-shaped, but aside from your coastal states with big peninsulae, it's all just space.

Of course, I know nothing about Canada at all. I could find Vancouver Island for you, but that's because I've been on it and looked it up. I couldn't tell you where Mexico leaves off and Central America starts, nor which Central American nation(s) border Mexico.

And it's not because I'm stupid. It's because I can't imagine what difference it makes.

 

[Callum]

^ I don't think it's about 'Americans', necessarily. It's just horrible how someone can't even answer basic questions or believe dogs, VCRs and a daily newpaper are illegal and that the Irish can't vote because the French minority won't allow them to. They're believing this on principle of someone telling them (thereby being gullible). That one didn't show the Harvard bit...but he interviewed Ivy League professors and they too were in the blue.

States are difficult to plot on a blank map - mostly the New England bit - but provinces and territories are not. Canada only has 13 of them, many of them larger than actual countries.

 

[BeMused]

As funny as it is, people generally just take what a reporter tells them at face value because they view them as an authority. They aren't going to question it unless they're sure that the info they're being told is wrong. They're not running an analysis on the likelihood of truth they're told, just parroting back what they think is an appropriate response, because they're on TV.

Of course, there are some real idiots out there, but a lot of that clip in particular was about the way he framed it. He made a statement as fact and expected the folks being talked to, to catch his lie. Jay Walking or other forms of direct questioning about commonplace knowledge are more damning in my opinion.

 

[ronboy]

Holy Cow!

You have got to love it!

For the record, as grade 5 teacher who teaches US students about our wonderful neighbour, my students do know that Ottawa is the National Capital of Canada, and that Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario!

I've never seen "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" (outside of this clip) but it looks like a funny show!

 

[exergonical]

Canada doesn't have states...