
If Americans Can Find North Korea on a Map, They Prefer Diplomacy - pisarzp
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/14/upshot/if-americans-can-find-north-korea-on-a-map-theyre-more-likely-to-prefer-diplomacy.html?_r=0
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acchow
> Geographic knowledge itself may contribute to an increased appreciation of
> the complexity of geopolitical events

What? Aren't the confounding factors glaringly obvious here?

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zzalpha
I guess that explains the "may"...

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zamalek
It's not unlikely that knowing the distance to North Korea, and hence the
incredibly slim chance that a North Korean missile could make it all the way,
factors into this opinion.

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creaghpatr
>“the American public is the geographically most illiterate society of
consequence on the planet, at a time when United States power can affect
countries and peoples around the world.”

Hmm where are they going with this? They stop just short of suggesting that
only 'spatially literate' Americans should be able to vote. Since they don't
actually suggest it, they need not address the obvious racism/classism
allegations backlash that would inevitably occur.

>Americans’ relatively low interest in North Korea is not returned in kind.
“North Koreans are obsessed with the United States,” ....“The cruelest thing
you can do is tell a North Korean that many Americans couldn’t locate North
Korea on a map.”

I could be wrong but I'd guess your average North Korean has more tangible
things to worry about.

Maybe the point of this article was to say Americans need to improve their
geography skills but the author chose a head-scratcher of an example.

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BoiledCabbage
> They stop just short of suggesting that only 'spatially literate' Americans
> should be able to vote.

Where are you getting this from? Nothing in the article implies restricting
voting rights.

It calls out a correlation between a specific piece of geographic knowledge
and a preference for economic sanctions. It implies a causality between them
(that less geographic knowledge lead to more violent preferences). And a
secondary implication that less knowledgeable/educated Americans preferred a
violent interaction.

And in their "conclusive paragraphs", they summarize that American geography
skills are poor, they discuss a book "why geography matters", and finally
speculate that being less knowledgeable about geography means people can be
more easily misled.

The entire article is a critique of our american education / awareness
compared to the rest of the world. Voting restriction has terrible history in
our country, but I think you're reading into things that aren't there.

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ReligiousFlames
How many people even know what the flag of Seychelles looks like, where is
this country and what is it's infamous distinction without cheating by looking
it up?

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InternetUser
Grammatical correction: "where this country is."

I cheated, but is this the "infamous distinction"? -

Today, Seychelles boasts the highest nominal per capita GDP in Africa,
excluding the French regions. It is one of only a handful of countries in
Africa with high Human Development Index. Despite the country's newfound
economic prosperity, poverty remains widespread due to very high level of
income inequality, one of the highest in the world, and low wealth
distribution.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles)

