It's inappropriate and beneath HN standards to classify an entire country as being typically ignorant. Such a wild, broad generalization about hundreds of millions of people is impossible to support.
It's not a generalization about hundreds of millions of people, it's a generalization about the public education system in the US, and it's entirely valid. The US consistently ranks at the very bottom of public education rankings of all industrialized nations. This isn't inappropriate, this is supported by reams of research and explains how people in this thread can be ignorant about worldly matters.
> It's just typical American ignorance about anything outside of America
That's a generalization about hundreds of millions of people. You were very clear.
When it comes to education, according to the PISA, at a 15 year old level of development, the US ranks just behind Norway and ahead of France, Sweden and Austria on science; ahead of Israel and Greece on mathematics and just behind Slovakia; ahead of Spain, Austria and Switzerland on reading and just behind the UK, France, Sweden and Denmark.
On reading the US is one point behind the UK, and two points behind France; the UK is 37 points behind Singapore (the top) for comparison of the scale.
The US is 20 points behind the UK in mathematics; the UK is 72 points behind Singapore and 29 points behind Switzerland.
