Ignorence in history

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 11:23 am

I saw this on the NYtimes a few days ago:

January 29, 2002

THE BIG CITY

Beware the Yikes of March

JOHN TIERNEY

T was not officially exam period at New York University, but Prof. Anders Henriksson was busy yesterday giving a history test at a campus deli. He was expecting the worst.

Dr. Henriksson, a professor of history at Shepherd College in West Virginia, is the compiler of "Non Campus Mentis" (Workman Publishing), which is a history of the world taken verbatim from term papers and exams at American and Canadian colleges. In this chronicle from the Stoned Age to the Berlin Mall, Judyism is a monolithic religion with the god Yahoo. Gothic cathedrals are supported by flying buttocks. Hitler terrorizes enemies with his Gespacho. Caesar is assassinated on the Yikes of March and declares, "Me too, Brutus!"

How widespread is this ignorance? Dr. Henriksson demonstrated by giving a 27- question quiz, with 16 needed to get a passing grade (roughly 60 percent):

In one sentence or less, identify Winston Churchill, Otto von Bismarck, Mohandas Gandhi, Nikita Khrushchev, Benito Mussolini, Sigmund Freud, Florence Nightingale and Adam Smith. In what countries are Warsaw, Caracas, Antwerp, Shanghai, Lagos and Pearl Harbor?

In what year did the United States Civil War end? World War I? When was the Russian Revolution? When did World War II start? When did American women get the right to vote in national elections? When was Napoleon defeated at Waterloo? When did Hitler become German chancellor?

Find an error in each of these excerpts from student essays contained in Dr. Henriksson's book:

¶"Martin Luther Junior's famous `If I Had a Hammer' speech.`'

¶"John F. Kennedy worked closely with the Russians to solve the Canadian Missile Crisis."

¶"Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill and Truman were known as the `Big Three.' "

¶"Athena the Hun rampaged the Balkans as far as France."

¶"Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granola, a part of Spain now known as Mexico."

¶"Good times ended when England suffered civil war between the Musketeers and the Round Ones."

The quiz was taken by five male and five female N.Y.U. undergraduates, chosen unscientifically by me at the Campus Eatery, a deli on West Fourth Street. Dr. Hendriksson graded leniently, but only one of the 10 students passed, and just barely with a 17. The average grade was 10 of 27. They all knew who Freud was, but that was about the extent of their common knowledge.

A freshman economics major identified Adam Smith as an American president, and Florence Nightingale as a knight. A junior history major called the nurse a "famous poet" and located Caracas in Ohio.

A junior majoring in politics said the English civil war pitted the Round Ones against the "Square Ones." (It was the Roundheads versus the Cavaliers.) Other students placed Athena the Hun's rampage in the Spanish and the Austrian parts of the Balkans. Granola was called a part of Spain now known as "Florence."

The dates, not surprisingly, proved trouble for everyone. One student put the Civil War's end in 1770 instead of 1865. The Russian Revolution was moved to 1850 (the correct answer was any year from 1917 to 1920). Only one student knew that World War I ended in 1918, and only two knew the next world war started in 1939. No one put Waterloo in 1815, women's suffrage in 1920 or Hitler's rise in 1933.

You could interpet these results as a rebuke to American education, but the one foreign student in the group — a German sophomore majoring in business — flunked, too. He placed Warsaw in Austria.

Dr. Hendriksson was neither surprised nor indignant at the results. "I'm not trying to launch a jeremiad against the American school system," he said. "But I do want to show that the base of common knowledge isn't as wide as we commonly assume. Our culture doesn't put a high emphasis on history."

But at least we sometimes recognize the limits of our knowledge. "I love it in student essays when they know they're going astray," Dr. Henriksson said. "They start trying to get philosophical about lack of knowledge, and they just get into more trouble." He paused and quoted one such philosopher.

"Thus has our stream of consciousness developed a waterfall," Dr. Henriksson said, smiling as he savored the student's wisdom. Then he opened his book and fondly read its concluding rumination from a student essayist:

"It is now the age of now. This concept grinds our critical, seething minds to a halt."

Me too, Brutus!

here is the original format

Obsidian · Post by **Obsidian** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 11:31 am

Does anyone else find this very depressing?

I think theres an old proverb, those who do not understand the past are doomed to repeat it....

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 12:07 pm

I find that right on, considering the many American university students, when asked, were unable to locate Russia on a map.

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 12:26 pm

Now is the window of our disconnect.

Hilarious stuff. It just reminds me of Marty McFly: "you are my density"

edit: I'm going to assume that the misspelling of "ignorance" in the thread title was intentional given the subject matter

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 1:11 pm

Originally posted by THE JAKER

edit: I'm going to assume that the misspelling of "ignorance" in the thread title was intentional given the subject matter

(stuttering)

Um, uh, yah! of course that what I did!

Alienbob · Post by **Alienbob** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 3:07 pm

Originally posted by Aegis
I find that right on, considering the many American university students, when asked, were unable to locate Russia on a map.

i know how to find Russia! i just dont know where the hell canada is.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 3:09 pm

Originally posted by Alienbob

i know how to find Russia! i just dont know where the hell canada is.

Well, who does, it being tucked all the way down there...

Alienbob · Post by **Alienbob** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 3:15 pm

oh so its down by mexico?

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 3:20 pm

Originally posted by Alienbob
oh so its down by mexico?

I thought it was Rio...

Alienbob · Post by **Alienbob** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 3:25 pm

Wheres Rio?

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 4:55 pm

Next to Bikini Atol

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 5:56 pm

Originally posted by ThorinOakensfield
Next to Bikini Atol

That being where?

mediev · Post by **mediev** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 6:19 pm

Oh no, people haven't memorized battle dates and geographic locations; maybe if "professors", (or as I call them, "commissars") focused more on teaching actual history, as opposed to the revisionist bull**** they tend to preach, people would take an interest.

Our culture doesn't put a high emphasis on history.

Gee doctor, so insightful.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 10:44 pm

When I first heard about Non Campus Mentis by Anders Henriksson, I knew I had to go pick up his book. Not only because he teaches in my current home state of West Virginia (which is much-maligned for its hillbilly repuation) but because I have two degrees in history and I actually know people who write stuff like this.

I think that in the United States we tend to neglect the social sciences. After the Soviets beat us into space, we poured gobs of money into math and science, but basically forgot about civics, history and everything else that wasn't sports.

Having read Non Campus Mentis, I am happy to report that Henriksson's examples are the absolute worst of what he collected, and for every person who claims that "John, Paul, George and Ringo" are the four gospels, there were probably a hundred students who could get it right. If you have $12.95 (USD) lying around and want a good laugh, I highly recommend this book.

mediev · Post by **mediev** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 11:11 pm

Spend the $13 on a people's history of the united states instead.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 2:28 pm

Originally posted by Aegis
That being where?

New Jersey

GandalfgalTTV · Post by **GandalfgalTTV** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 3:56 pm

Not knowing dates doesn't mean one does not know anything about history. I know where most countries are on a map, provided the names of the countries are on the map as well. j/k

*Yes that was spam.*

BTW: What else is new, history repeats itself due to ignorance and dissinterest. Anywhere here that thinks that's ever going to change is wearing a blindfold.

Morlock · Post by **Morlock** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 7:35 am

Originally posted by GandalfgalTTV

BTW: What else is new, history repeats itself due to ignorance and dissinterest. Anywhere here that thinks that's ever going to change is wearing a blindfold.

“Every time history repeats itself the price goes up”
(from my quotes collection)

McBane · Post by **McBane** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 10:31 am

¶"John F. Kennedy worked closely with the Russians to solve the Canadian Missile Crisis."

I keep writing my congressman that we need to watch those pesky Canucks closely.

Umm Aegis, this "Canadien Missile Crisis", does it have anything to do with your ability to pick up women??

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Mon Feb 04, 2002 10:08 pm

Originally posted by HighLordDave:
Having read Non Campus Mentis, I am happy to report that Henriksson's examples are the absolute worst of what he collected, and for every person who claims that "John, Paul, George and Ringo" are the four gospels, there were probably a hundred students who could get it right.

Isn't it kind of disturbing that people who say this sort of thing get into higher education at all though? I guess my view is coloured by my experience of the UK system though, because I don't think you could get onto a university history course in this country with so little general knowledge. But I'm not that familiar with how the US system works.

I don't think memorising facts is the be-all and end-all of history. However, it is a necessary part of historical study. I don't think it should be the focus though; the focus should be historical analysis, but that is simply not possible without knowledge of the facts.