Do you know where you are in the world?

We have a globe and the GC from an early age have always been interested in it. In fact they learnt at very early age where, when we pointed it out on the globe they were overjoyed as we were nearer to Father Christmas and the start of his journey!

Thanks Calli!

Urmstongran
I had to look up Paisley
Left of Glasgow

I have to check a U.K. map now & again to see where some towns and cities are. If you gave me 20 dots to represent towns and cities I’m not convinced I’d get even half of them absolutely right. eg Doncaster, Shrewsbury, Paisley, Aberystwyth to name a few would probably be ‘only in the vicinity’.
?

They’re not embarrassed MawB that’s the whole point...it’s not important to them. It is to me.

I wouldn’t say I watch Who Wants etc but I have never come across that particular question - must have missed it.
I don’t think anybody suggested (not me) they don’t know the difference between towns and countries (not that East Anglia is either) but how embarrassing to have no idea of the general precepts.
Not so my husband or youngest daughter, they have no idea where they are lol...and it doesn’t bother them at all

Oh yes, that’s right, Callistemon! I’d forgotten. Dh is a map addict so we had to bring a couple home as souvenirs.

Agreed about the going up when going north etc. We always joke that it’s faster to go south because it’s downhill, whereas returning home is slower because it’s uphill from London to Aberdeen.

The question is usually - put these UK cities in order from North to South ......

I didn’t say that they did not know the difference between countries and towns.....

SueDonim did you go into any map shops in Australia?
The world maps are the other way up.

That could confuse some people. When we're travelling I always think of north as going up, east going right etc but of course that's nonsense. We live on a globe.

DS has always had an amazing sense of orientation, even as a young child. Perhaps some people are born with it.

kircubbin2000

Belarous seems to be confusing people now. I can't place it and wonder did it have another name.None of my friends know where it is either.

It's south of the Baltic states - I saw it on a map the other day. It was part of the old Soviet Union and was known as Belorussia.

I thought it was further south, on the Black Sea but it's landlocked.

If anyone is interested

Poppyred

It’s not a problem for either one of them MawB. Not sure why the comparison to Jade Goody was mentioned. They are both intelligent individuals. This question comes up quite often on Who wants to be a millionaire ...and not everyone gets it right.

Sorry Poppyred - what question?
I mentioned Jade Goody because I believe she thought “East Angular” was a country. I thunk it would be equally embarrassing for a person not to know the relative position of cities or towns of a reasonable in their own country - particularly their own.

I’m pretty ok with World geography and the UK I know where most places are roughly. Like someone else said European countries that are now divided and renamed not so good. I would feel discombobulated not to know where I was in the World but it doesn’t seem to bother a lot of people who have no clue where they are in the U.K. never mind the World.

My youngest dd has a shocking sense of orientation. I blame t’internet. She’s the only one of us who has grown up with Google maps rather than using an atlas or paper maps.

When you look at a paper map or atlas you get a sense of the full picture but online maps by default focus on a small area and I think you don’t get that wider picture.

My dd has just moved to England and I’m not at all convinced she knows where she is, apart from that it’s in Yorkshire. ?

We once lived near Derby. I hated it there partly because I’d grown up by the sea and was used to orienting myself by the coastline whereas Derby is land-locked. I felt like I was living in no man’s land!

I think there’s a vast difference between having a poor sense of direction I do too can lose myself coming out my own house (almost) but that’s quite different to having a knowledge of geography

Belarous seems to be confusing people now. I can't place it and wonder did it have another name.None of my friends know where it is either.

My daughter is a bit like this. When she passed her test she set off due north to visit her pal who lived 30 miles away due South.She had never heard of the villages on her route.
Another time we hired a people carrier in Italy and on arriving at our farmhouse she decided to get used to driving it. Half an hour later we got a call saying she was heading to Florence on the motorway and wondered how she could get back as she didn't know where were staying!

EllanVannin

Geography is very important. Don't they learn capital cities these days. Our exams consisted of a whole list of them to answer.

Pretty sure they don’t !
Years ago I asked students to name some of the seven countries bordering on france. Australia was one suggestion.

It's even worse when they're asked a question that involves spelling as well as geography.

'Name a city that doesn't have repeated consonants in its name.'

'Truro'

I m pretty good at geography and can draw a world map roughly from memory I know where most places are both in the world and home both my grandkids who live near me are pretty good too and they told me it was the world map I had on their bedroom wall when they stayed over night that taught them we also used to play capitals when we went on car journeys
It never ceases to amaze me when intelligent people have no grasp of the world isn’t it part of general knowledge
I was talking to a young lady when my mum was in a care home she was a senior who was trusted to do all the medications I was telling her about my son living in NZ she said I m never sure where NZ is, it’s near Canada isn’t it ?
Is it lack of interest ? Lack of being bothered I don’t understand how anyone who is intelligent wouldn’t know where they are in relation to other towns or counties or even countries even if only roughly

I've travelled a lot so I'm pretty confident about where things are but I do sometimes get caught out by the curve of the earth and distances. You really need a globe. Sometimes connecting flights or travel times seem silly till you look at them on the globe.

I am quite well travelled and I have a world map in my head but am always surprised that it is not very accurate when compared to a real map. That said I think I would do better than some quiz contestants!

Geography is very important. Don't they learn capital cities these days. Our exams consisted of a whole list of them to answer.

I remember an old chap who used to be on a quiz programme (please don't ask me who or which ) who said his geography teacher's report stated:

"This boy would do well to find his own way home"

It’s not a problem for either one of them MawB. Not sure why the comparison to Jade Goody was mentioned. They are both intelligent individuals. This question comes up quite often on Who wants to be a millionaire ...and not everyone gets it right.