To think that most people on a plane don't know where they are going?

[sallysummer]

When I talk to people they often have an appalling knowledge of geography - not knowing where Poland is, confusion which ocean is which etc; geography is my area of employment.

I think I could get on a plane and ask people to show me where they are going on a map and they couldn't - why do people not know where places are?

I can see the enjoyment of doing that quiz. Getting a high score or a 100 per cent one would give you a feeling of satisfaction.

But I'm sure no one here would say that to achieve a high score it's necessary to know everything about the countries of the world. Or anything at all. That would be silly because it's not the point of the game.

It's like Scrabble. To be a really good player you need to know thousands of words and how to spell them. It's not necessary to know what they mean. I'm sure some people do, but for others, learning the meanings is an irrelevance to the point of winning which is collecting and filing away more words in your brain.

Festivenut - yes, you're right :)

But I do think "There is just no need for..." is a judgemental phrase. Like my grandad uses it about swearing on TV - of course swearing isn't necessary, but it's not harmful either. What he means is "I would prefer entertainment without swearing, I find swearing vulgar".

Or you see it on threads about things like extended breastfeeding when posters go "There is just no need to feed a child past " (insert poster's idea of the max age here). Of course the child won't starve without it, but that's not what they mean, they mean "I find it distasteful and people should stop".

It is akin to "There is no excuse for" - it's still an opinion though.

You also need to know words containing high-scoring letters and often obscure short ones that you can tack on to existing letters in the game.

It's a skill and one that I don't have because though I have a reasonably large vocabulary, I know the meaning of all the words in it. That's not the point of the game and may even hinder the collection of words which is the way to win at Scrabble.

I spend time and brain space on remembering what words mean because that's what I want to do. People who are great at Scrabble might not have that approach. I'm being polite: mostly they don't.

And that's okay. We are all different. As I said, I think it's wise to know where you're going even if it's just a few miles from your doorstep and also have enough money to get home again etc.

Some people don't do that and I think that is unwise, unless there they are with someone who will take care of them. That's how some people live their lives and it's none of my business

It is the height of arrogance to sneer at those people. It's also tempting fate to assume you are a savvy world traveller because you google stuff and can spot Benin on a map.

@limitedperiodonly

I found it useful because while the game doesn't teach you anything about the countries themselves it triggers an interest. I think it's important to know where they are on the globe anyway. I had no idea where Syria was when the war broke out! I was well into my teens before I realised Africa was a continent not a country, and many of the countries in the quiz I'd never heard of before. As I said before you can't care about a place you've never heard of. If it was on the news, say, that there was a massive outbreak of an infectious killer disease in 'Fwijle', you'd be less interested or concerned than it than if it was in Japan or Italy or the United States - ie somewhere you actually knew of!

I'd never studied a map of the UK before so apart from having a vague idea where the counties of Cornwall and Devon were I couldn't have pointed to any others. I only had a very general idea of where London was!

The UK counties quiz, if anyone's interested:

www.sporcle.com/games/g/englandgeocounties

There will be the very occasional person who can’t place where they are going on a map. But most people research where they’re going ime - where they will be staying, activities they want to do, where they want to eat etc. To say MOST people on a plane don’t know where they are going is clearly absolute nonsense!

Many years ago Granada TV did interviews with people at the airport waiting for holiday flights, some didn't know that Tunisia was in Africa, that Corfu was on Greece etc., so this isn't new

That doesn't surprise me. Tunisia is still not marketed as an African destination but more a Mediterranean one. But I can see why.

Sweden is in Europe but a holiday in Stockholm is not the same as one in Madrid. So a holiday in Tunisia is not going to be the same as one in Namibia even though they are both in Africa.

I was on holiday in Corfu in the 1980s when some young blokes decided to take their pedalo out to the opposite coast. They were cut off by the Greek coastguard and given a stern warning about entering Albanian waters and probably never being seen again.

Do I think they were stupid? Not really. They booked a holiday just like me and didn't realise the geopolitical situation between Greece and the country just next door. We didn't have Google then but we had newspapers. People would make a similar potentially catastrophic mistake today and I wouldn't blame them.

The OP and some other people on her thread are getting themselves into a very smug false sense of security.

I imagine much more people will be aware now than years ago since info is a click away on peoples phones.

@littlemisscomper.

I completely understand the triggering of interest driven by Google. You can lose yourself, can't you?

I just get bored to tears by people like the OP wanging on about how terribly superior they are.

I will look at your map. I'm good at countries in Africa and states of the US but very poor at English counties and I am English. I can say where Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen are and can pinpoint Stirling because I know someone from there. I know nothing about Wales but am really good at Ireland and Northern Ireland.

I did know where Syria was :)

When I am flying somewhere, I spend ages reading up on the resort, location, local customs and restaurants, shopping, etc. It makes it more of an all round experience

Tbh, when I travel I do the same. But I normally look at the location of the place I am going in relation to the other cities within the country. I normally learn some basic phrases, hello and thank you etc.

I still couldn't show you exactly where most of these places are on a map without thinking about it

Before anyone says: I am aware that Scotland and Wales are home nations in their own right within Britain and that NI has a distinct place within the the United Kingdom and that Ireland is a foreign country but I just didn't express it very well.

Family member said they would like to go to Lapland for their summer hols. I was a bit surprised as they are very much a pool and beach holiday type. Oh yes, its usually 30°c in the summer, they replied. They had just come back from a Santa trip so they should have known how far north it is.

Family member said they would like to go to Lapland for their summer hols. I was a bit surprised as they are very much a pool and beach holiday type. Oh yes, its usually 30°c in the summer, they replied. They had just come back from a Santa trip so they should have known how far north it is

30 degrees in summer? Where the heck did they think Lapland was?

Oh we're all so terribly sophisticated, aren't we?

I know a couple who went to Madrid in February thinking that because it was Spain it would be hot. It was a very special holiday and they were really looking forward to it because they like Spain and wanted to try a part of it they'd never been to before.

They came back and told me that it was really cold and all the restaurants were shut.

If they had asked me before I'd have said that as the highest capital city in Europe, and also because it sits on a plain, Madrid is very cold in winter and hot in summer. That's because I am a nerd.

I'd also have told them about the city's culture of late dining. That's because I go to Spain a lot.

But I didn't because it was too late to help and I didn't want to make them feel like idiots because I like them and we all make mistakes. And also because I'm not a superior cunt.

that doesn't have Scotland or England listed as countries! Just the UK

That's because they're not countries, they're constituent parts of the UK of GB and NI, the longest named member of the UN, if you're into pub quizzes! The last monarch of England was Queen Anne, another useless gem that I've collected.

Insulting stereotyping IMHO

After doing the other quiz I've come to realise I'm just bad at remembering names as I know where places are in the UK if someone says them but give me a blank mal and my mind is just as blank.

Map not mal

"If they had asked me before I'd have said that as the highest capital city in Europe, and also because it sits on a plain, Madrid is very cold in winter and hot in summer. That's because I am a nerd."

You don't have to be a nerd to know that. I didn't know it was the highest capital city in Europe, but I know it sits on a plain. Even if I didn't, I would have been able to guess that it might be a bit cold in winter.

"I'd also have told them about the city's culture of late dining. That's because I go to Spain a lot."

This is also common knowledge.

Andorra la Vella is higher than Madrid, it's around a thousand metres.

My geography knowledge is terrible but I am good at other things.

You may be good at it - is there something else you are NOT good at? I'm sure there is!

Honestly what has it got to do with you anyway? Maybe if you just mind your own business and quit focusing on putting people down about the things they're not so good at, then you will not need to be so irrational about it.

You wrote this thread to make it sound like you think you are better than everyone else.

I wouldn't say my geography was particularly great, but I've ALWAYS made a point to look on a map where the country I'm visiting actually is!

Thanks OP. As they say, every day really is a school day on MN.

The thing I've learned about common knowledge and common sense is that it really isn't that common Gwenhwyfar

Their holiday was spoiled because they didn't do basic research. That was their fault but I wasn't going to rub their noses in it. As I said, we all make mistakes and I'm not a superior cunt.

And it really isn't that weird to think that you'd be able to get a nice dinner at 7.30pm in a major capital city and big tourist destination in western Europe.

Much earlier on in this thread you mentioned your contempt for people who come to grief when abroad and then expect the Foreign Office to help them out.

Fret no more. The FO doesn't. If you run out of money; don't have travel insurance in the event of a medical emergency; piss on a national monument; or shag on the beach, you are on your own. And that's how it should be. The FO is not a cashpoint or baby sitting service.

They will step in cases where Britons have been treated badly abroad. Like Matthew Hedges, recently freed from the UAE, or Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, still held under similarly dubious charges in Iran.

But don't worry. It's not as if they exactly spring into action in those cases. They prefer to do work 'behind the scenes' which translates as doing nothing until friends, family and Amnesty International make a big fuss.

Well when I buy the ticket I generally have a destination in mind lol

I could look at a map/atlas/globe but it still wouldn't mean I would know where I was going. Geography is not my strong point. To be perfectly honest, I'd prefer to learn a few phrases - please, thank you, etc in the language rather than try to work out exactly where I was 'going'