I’ve been thinking about an interesting comment Savannah made on how do we put an end to the insanity and the culture of violence to prevalent in the world.
There is a saying in Spain that goes something like the following: No se puede amar lo que se desconoce, you cannot love something that you do not know.
So how could we learn to know those we do not know and thereby create a more harmonious world?
Will geography awaken the world to a new dawn?
If I could, I would make geography one of the most mandatory subjects at schools. Geography courses would be highly recommended for adults as well.
The geography classes wouldn’t dwell on superficial matters like capital cities, but also detailed knowledge of the provinces/states, counties and even neighborhoods of major cities. Those courses would include some anthropology/sociology and history, but just enough to not permit students to sit and fall asleep comfortably in the armchair of stereotypes and cultural myths.
With a better knowledge of where different people live and what their cultures are, we would end up promoting a better coexistence between nations and their inhabitants. Even politicians, who thrive on some voters’ ignorance of geography and cultures, would have a more difficult time arguing a new case for war.
Knowledge of geography is the first key step in creating a world that would not not thrive on suspicion of other peoples and war.
Yeah, well you haven’t been to school in Finland? This is not USA. We can actually not only place our own country but a lot of others on the map.
Then Finnish students are far ahead of those in the US.
You whine and complain about Finland and do not know what our schools teach to kids?
Maybe you should learn more about Finland, Finns and Finnish culture and then come tell what we do wrong…
Perhaps you would come to realization that we actually do rather well. And that in most cases, fault is not with Finns but…
I wonder though if Geography education, or the lack thereof has anything to do with the riots in Greece?