Three Monkeys Online

A Curious, Alternative Magazine

Pop Quiz

Europeans never miss an opportunity to mock Americans’ grasp of geography; we chortle with glee when some poor hick stopped in the street points to west Africa when asked the location of Iraq. (One wonders whether a similar Vox Pop in, say, Dublin’s Grafton Street would elicit more precise directions).Well, here’s a chance to see if that sense of smugness is well earned–go to here, and see how well you do on Americans’ home ground*. You might hiss that this isn’t the same as finding an actual country on the map, but given that at least 24 out of that country’s 50 states have a higher population than the Republic, it’s not as though we’re dealing with trivial jurisdictions. As I mentioned above, I’m not entirely convinced that the average character on an Irish street has a far superior grasp of world geography than her or his trans-Atlantic counterpart. In fact, I wonder how well some people would do with a similar game in which players were asked to drop Irish counties into the right location. I’m sure many would Dubliners would grapple with the landlocked counties of the Republic, let alone those of the North, the fate of which apparently hangs on “Dr.” Paisley’s touching faith in the veracity of photography. Obviously, the sectarian war horse has never heard of Photoshop. *If you think this game, provided by Sheppard Software, is too easy, you can try the advanced version.