<p>I honestly don't know why tf I'm making this thread, but yeah. ^There's the question. I honestly feel like a lot of us are.</p>
<p>I'm so bored. >:D< </p>
<p>In what way(s)? </p>
<p>Actively and consciously, yes. I think that Americans largely operate on the premise that their life is their own narrative and the rest of the world is either working for or against them rather than their life being a narrative that constantly intersects with that of others - this was the whole point of David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech at Kenyon. </p>
<p>Ignorant connotes negativity but I think the ignorance (I want to describe it as something else but I am grasping at what else I could call it at the moment) is a default survival tactic. John just needs to get through this week - that means getting through all the idiots with big SUVs who don’t know how to drive on his commute, his braggart coworker hounding him about his new boat, the incompetent SOB who screws up his order at Starbucks for the fifth time in a row, etc, etc. It’s really easy to see yourself as the center of the entire universe (literally) and everything that happens to you is designed inherently to be either a detriment or a benefit to you. It takes too much effort for a lot of people to consciously consider that not everyone is a piece in the puzzle that is ~your life~ but rather, everyone has their own narrative and everyone is the center of the universe (in their mind.)</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>I made zero sense. </p>
<p>@preamble1776
The premise may be correct, but it may apply to more than just Americans. It may be that this is a widespread human condition and therefore a plague upon humanity itself.</p>
<p>I mean, everyone in the world is ignorant to an extent about certain things. If you mean Americans being ignorant as far as thinking we’re the only country that matters, we’re the best, etc., then yeah. It’s a generalization, of course, and not everyone is like that, but there are definitely people who don’t get that while America is certainly a lot better than a third world country, we aren’t really any “cooler” than other first world countries. However, I don’t think patriotism is a bad thing. Blind patriotism without knowledge about the rest of the world is, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with liking the country you live in. (Assuming this is the kind of ignorance you’re talking about.)</p>
<p>I don’t know about Americans in general, but most of the time I feel like I know absolutely nothing. The Internet makes it easier to learn new things, but I don’t even know where to start with some topics (politics, finance, history, classical music). In an absolute sense I’m probably one of the most educated human beings who ever lived just by virtue of being born when I was, so I guess there’s that. </p>
<p>I’m talking about any ignorance really, but we could talk about racial ignorance since that’s what I’m mainly interested about.</p>
<p>Sure, but there are also Americans who aren’t ignorant. I’d say that if you were to compare the percentage of ignorant people in other countries, it would be about the same as in America.</p>
<p>The more I begin to learn, the more I learn that I know nothing, @halcyonheather </p>
<p>-Me eating Asian food during lunch at school-</p>
<p>White kids: what’s that</p>
<p>Back off.</p>
<p>@Yakisoba </p>
<p>Whoa, that’s getting into a lot more than Americans being ignorant, i.e the meaning of being a non-white minority in America, why there are levels of being “American” and some other stuff. </p>
<p>Still, I’ll bite and say I feel you there. I’m one of the few Indian students around, and I totally feel you. Can’t be “Indian” where I am, especially since I live in Fairfield County, which is the home if the stereotypical WASP. Still, people are really dynamic. Herman Hesse was a German man who understood Indian culture better than most people, and there are plenty of people who don’t want to be rude about things. Odds are, those white kids just wanted to learn and be cool about stuff. Americans are usually pretty cool with fellow Americans; I’d cut 'em some slack and make the first move towards bridging the gap of ignorance</p>
<p>Yes. On many different levels. Such as the fact that no one wants to admit we face huge problems such as overpopulation, climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, and deforestation!</p>
<p>@Apollo11 It’s usually I’m eating some sort of noodle and they’re like, “What’s that, chow mein?” Like I’d be okay with a question like, “What did you bring for lunch,” but I get that it’s probably just curiosity.</p>
<p>@Yakisoba
I understand. You’re a really bright guy, and I hope it doesn’t upset you much. Where I live, there are people of a lot of cultures and backgrounds, and we do mesh nicely. Even the white kids have uniqueness amongst them. However, I know what your scenario can be like. Heck, I played baseball, football and basketball while getting into a lot of the same stuff as those kids for a while. Still, it was still a good time. </p>
<p>@Belizeme
I debate competitively and some of the kids are hyper-aware of these issues, It’s a great culture in the Northeast, as kids are politically and socially active about this. Many of my friends, even myself, have won and done a lot for these kind of issues in our area and we’ve discussed it to really high levels. These guys then go off to Top 30 schools and then to high level private sector and government jobs where they do a lot of great stuff. If you look at the guys in the various government bureaus who are still in their 20s and 30s, there’s a lot of hope for our fair nation</p>
<p>Well I’m just going to bow out of this thread, since I’m white. </p>
<p>I will say that I live in a rural, conservative area, and surprisingly, there isn’t too much blatant ignorance (Note: I say blatant. I’m sure there definitely is some to a lesser extent) aside from some of the rednecks. And of course there’s the whole debate between the celebrating Lee-Jackson Day (I live in VA). The good ole boys of VA, of course, want to wave the Confederate flag and call it “history.” Others don’t want to have it celebrated. </p>
<p>@CE527M </p>
<p>CC Minority? Lol. Still, it depends what you call ignorance. There is a really good law in economics about why this is the case; most Americans don’t have to care. Most things don’t affect the average American and it would take a lot to really galvanize an American into political action. Is that bad? Not really. It is perfectly fine. Average americans aren’t needed for Ways and Means meetings and it allows for a more efficient life for Americans. It’s okay that we don’t care about certain things, we’re there when needed. People still show up for important town-level political/social things and it gives us time to focus on the important things; family, friends and prosperity</p>
<p>Because we are a geopolitical hyperpower, and we are a large country in terms of population & landmass, and we have the global reserve currency & the world’s largest economy, and we are rich in natural resources & food production, and we are physically separated by oceans from most of the rest of the world, and the rest of the world learns English, the US is pretty well insulated from what goes on beyond her borders. The average American probably about knows more about Miley Cyrus twerking than about Russia’s power grab in the Ukraine.</p>
<p>An aussie friend of mine has been complimented on more than one occasion by an American when she remarked she is from Australia.
“oh, you speak English so well”</p>
<p>But it’s OK, I don’t pick my friends on the basis of how well they’d do on Jeopardy! </p>
<p>@GMTplus7 </p>
<p>True, but I’ll say this. EU nations are so tied together that comparing them to the US would be silly. Rather, it would be like comparing what’s going on in different states. I’d say that at that level the rest of the world would be nearly even. Also, I wouldn’t say the type of ignorance that Americans have is really a bad thing; if really need be, people can mobilized and the ignorance we have isn’t really that threatening to the interests of humanity</p>
<p>@Apollo11 That gives me some hope! Sometimes, I feel like the only voice for these causes in my neck of the woods. *cough cough Idaho… </p>
<p>@Belizeme
It’s probably a socioeconomic thing. I live near the Ivies, kids here are very wealthy and have access to many resources for development and thus, they can become hyperaware of international issues and be prepared for the high-level positions</p>