You are dumber than you think - REALLY

[Scott Campbell]

I have New York.

Connecticut is not on the Atlantic Ocean. It is on the Long Island Sound.

Tell it to PIP. It's her state.

[BallHawk]

Alright, c'mon, PIPL, how 'bout a verdict?

[BallHawk]

[oregonpackfan]

Ballhawk,

Deleware is not a state. It's a tax shelter.

Actually, Delaware is the official first state of our country. It was the first state to ratify the Constitution.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Connecticut is not on the Atlantic Ocean. It is on the Long Island Sound.

I don't know. Looks like "Block Island Sound" at the top. I used to live in New London, CT, and it never occured to that the giant lake out there wasn't the Atlantic Ocean. But I think the judges have to give it to you, if only for your audacity of hope. You are the big wiener!!!!!

[packinpatland]

Ha!!! He missed CT. Maybe I am smarter than a 5th grader.





Nah.

Miss CT???? How is that possible? We are the home of the 'Great Lieberman'!!!

[BallHawk]

What say you, PIPL, is CT on the Atlantic Ocean?

[Harlan Huckleby]

Is Seattle on the Pacific Ocean?

I've been reading about sounds, Puget Sound, Long Island Sound, etc. and I think they are something. They are estuaries for rivers, fresh water mixing with salt water. I think you can think of them as separate from the ocean.

It's like the age-old question: "Is a pig's ass pork?"

[Harlan Huckleby]

Miss CT?

She's a looker. Not too impressed with her balloon tying "talent", though. Corny.

[Iron Mike]

Since when does knowledge of geography equate with mental prowess???

Check out these geography bee winners:



Total losers, fer shure.

[BallHawk]

Since when does knowledge of geography equate with mental prowess???

Check out these geography bee winners:

Total losers, fer shure.

You calling me a loser, IM?

Listen, only like 90% of the kids at the Florida State Geo Bee were losers.

[BallHawk]

C'mon, how can you call these kids nerds?



Meet Mark.



Meet Crazy Home-Schooled Evangelical Champion



The sad thing is that I know most of these kids.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Since when does knowledge of geography equate with mental prowess???

I'd say knowing the location of the states on a map shows a level of alertness and curiosity.

Now, if you are asking about the capital of Moldovia, or the name of the longest river in Chad, OK, that's just memorization.

[BallHawk]

Chisnau to the first and I have no freakin' idea to the 2nd.

There are two approaches to geography. There are some kids, many of them foreign, that just go through the countries and geographical features and memorize them. These kids usually end up doing pretty well. The 2nd approach is to memorize the places but learn about them at the same time. The competition is made up of kids that could tell you every physical feature of Russia but they couldn't tell you who the president is.

And don't even get me started on the spelling bee.

As HH said, geographical awareness shows a knowledge about the world. America is lacking in this field.

Only 13% of Americans between the age of 18-24 can locate Iraq on a map. 17% for Afghanistan. Only 51% could locate New York on a map, etc.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/11/20/geography.quiz/

Of Adults, only 37% could locate Iraq and only 25% could locate Israel.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2008/01/graph_americans_lost_on_map/

[the_idle_threat]

Without looking at anything at all, here's my shot at it ...

Washington
Idaho
Montana
North Dakota
Minnesota



Texas
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
Florida



Maine
New Hampshire? (can't remember if they have any coastline or not)
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Delaware
Maryland
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida

Now I'm going to see how close I was.