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| Humphrey Bogart lets his co-star learn of the bad news. |
That's just one fact that Kent State professors John Dunlosky and Katherine Rawson found out when they compared the general knowledge of 671 current college students with that of their peers from a similar study done in 1980,
according to Discover.
Back then, researchers used 300 questions to establish general knowledge norms. Dunlosky and Rawson looked for comparisons with questions that, theoretically, should be easily transferable to today's students. (Think: geographical, historical, science, math, and the arts. Don't think: 1980's pop culture.)
Yeah...no.
Some of the findings? Fewer than 5% of American college students know...
- that Marie Curie discovered radium
- that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories
- that Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World
- that Thomas Jefferson lived at Monticello
- that Alfred Nobel invented dynamite
- that Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond stories
- that Mozart wrote Don Giovanni
- that Budapest is the capital of Hungary
- that Hippocrates was the famous Greek doctor
- that Euclid was the "father of geometry"
- that General Custer lost the Battle of Little Bighorn
If that isn't depressing enough, not a single student out of the 671 knew the answer to any of these questions (answers below):
1.) What is the highest mountain in South America?
2.) What was the name of the largest Confederate military prison during the Civil War?
3.) What is the last name of the author of
The Brothers Karamazov?
4.) What is the last name of the first person to run a mile in under four minutes?
5.) What is the name of the mountain range that separates Europe from Asia?
6.) What was the last name of the U-2 spy plane pilot who was shot down over Russia in 1960?
7.) What is the last name of the person who allegedly said, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country"?
8.) What was the last name of the captain of the British ship
Bounty when the mutiny occurred?
9.) What is the last name of the Cuban leader Fidel Castro overthrew?
10.) What is the last name of the man most responsible for photographing the U.S. Civil War?
11.) What is the last name of the actor who portrayed the sheriff in the movie
High Noon?
12.) What is the last name of the author of
Our Town?
13.) What was the last name of the female star of the movie
Casablanca?
14.) What was the name of the Union ironclad ship that fought the Confederate ironclad
Merrimack?
Continuing with the hilarity, only 44% know Paul Revere alerted people that "the British are coming," 56% know Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, and 66% know the Mayflower was the name of the Pilgrims' ship. Meanwhile, 7% gave the wrong answer when asked to identify "a horse-like animal with black and white stripes." (Psst--that'd be a zebra.)
And, lastly, 11% of college students believe the word "dynamite" was named after its creator, Mr. Dynamite.
No, that's
not Jimmie Walker either.
Answers:
1.) Aconcagua
2.) Andersonville
3.) Dostoevsky
4.) Bannister
5.) Ural
6.) Powers
7.) Hale
8.) Bligh
9.) Batista
10.) Brady
11.) Cooper
12.) Wilder
13.) Bergman
14.) Monitor
If you don't know the answer to 11 and 13, I need a moment away from you.
