Cultural ignorance

[bumclouds]

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Ok, so I don't want to be one of those 'whinging foreigners'. I really love Taiwan but there's one thing that really grinds my gears.

Most Taiwanese people I know don't have a basic clue about (or any interest in for that matter) world events, the demographics of other countries, or just the basic characteristics of other countries. On top of that, they will just give you a bored expression if you ever talk about any of these things.

To give you one of many examples; recently I found out one of my best friends in Taiwan didn't know there was a civil war in Libya. Or that there was a dude named Gaddafi. Or that a country called Libya even exists. And then he changed the topic to night market food.

[Ryan the third]

.

Ok, so I don't want to be one of those 'whinging foreigners'. I really love Taiwan but there's one thing that really grinds my gears.

Most Taiwanese people I know don't have a basic clue about (or any interest in for that matter) world events, the demographics of other countries, or just the basic characteristics of other countries. On top of that, they will just give you a bored expression if you ever talk about any of these things.

To give you one of many examples; recently I found out one of my best friends in Taiwan didn't know there was a civil war in Libya. Or that there was a dude named Gaddafi. Or that a country called Libya even exists. And then he changed the topic to night market food.

Isn't that also true for Americans?

[superking]

1) Name the president of Brazil. (Should be easy starter for you.)
2) Why have people been protesting about the ousting of President Lugo in Paraguay?
3) To which country is Julian Assange seeking assylum?
4) Which is further north and which is bigger, Niger or Nigeria?
5) Who is the president of Greece? Italy?
6) Speaker of the house of representatives in America is who? (An easy on for you there).
7) Percentage of people in Taiwan who are Hoklo?
8) What are the names of the vice president and premier in Taiwan?
9) What is the difference between the Greek and the Irish bailouts?
10) Name the two men and their parties vying for the leadership in Egypt?


I just need to check how culturally aware you are before we get into any sort of discussion.

[bigduke6]

Watch any local news channel. The headline the other day was about a woman complaining about the sticky tofu stand next door.
The rest were YouTube clips about dancing moles and ugly dogs.

So I ask the wife why all the local news channels don't actually report any actual news about world events.

Answer: We Taiwanese only like good news or funny news.

If I put on CNN or BBC she will disappear out the soon, but will happily watch local news about the surfing cat or some other inane crap.

Knowledge of world events ZERO.

[bumclouds]

I just need to check how culturally aware you are before we get into any sort of discussion.

You miss my point.

I'm just saying I'm astonished that people don't even know basic facts and/or show more interest in night market food or Jeremy Lin.

[Belgian Pie]

Why would they wanna know? All they want is Mando pop, Korean fashion and bubble tea ... then life is good

[superking]

I just need to check how culturally aware you are before we get into any sort of discussion.

You miss my point.

I'm just saying I'm astonished that people don't even know basic facts and/or show more interest in night market food or Jeremy Lin.

You miss my point, what you consider basic facts other people don't. This has been discussed ad infinitum.

PLUS: Americans are also famously shocking at world events.

If you aren't an American bumclouds, I apologise. If you are an American bumclouds, I apologise.

People generally don't give a shit about geography or global events and why on earth should they? It's like moaning that people can't do algebra or something.

Join a geography club, or blog on politics or something. Don't badger your hungry sports mad friends to discuss something with you that they don't give a shit about. It doesn't make them ignorant or stupid, it just means they don't care to know about the same things as you. And anyway, 194 million people in Brazil, surely you know the name of their president, or at least their gender...

[bumclouds]

Ok, Superking. Here are my honest answers with no googling.

1) Name the president of Brazil. (Should be easy starter for you.) It's a woman. Called Dilma R-something.
2) Why have people been protesting about the ousting of President Lugo in Paraguay? Don't know.
3) To which country is Julian Assange seeking assylum? Ecuador.
4) Which is further north and which is bigger, Niger or Nigeria? Niger is on top of Nigeria and bigger.
5) Who is the president of Greece? Italy? Don't know, Giorgio Napolitano.
6) Speaker of the house of representatives in America is who? (An easy on for you there). John something.
7) Percentage of people in Taiwan who are Hoklo? No idea. 80%?
8) What are the names of the vice president and premier in Taiwan? Wu Den-yih, Chen something.
9) What is the difference between the Greek and the Irish bailouts? No idea.
10) Name the two men and their parties vying for the leadership in Egypt? A dude with a beard who used to be an Engineer, Muslim Brotherhood. And another dude with no beard who used to be a commander in the air force.

[Taiwan Luthiers]

At least its better than the West where the news just encourages fear and paranoia.

I don't like the news here any more than you do but I have to hand it to them that they actually report on positive things, whereas they only report on negative or scary things in the West.

In the end its all about what people want to watch because the media will only show what the people want to see.

[bumclouds]

You have a good point.