Just as an aside, I was puzzled as to why Manjoo said her Facebook page made her hard to like or defend. Seems to read like a typical Facebook page to me. I suspect most teens in her shoes would employ similiar online defense mechanisms to cope with the embarrassment.

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Farhad Manjoo at salon.com demonstrates what critical thought is all about.

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http://www.blinkgeo.com/RantsRaves/One_Fifth_of_Americans_Cant_Find_the_U-S-_on_a_Map_Fact_or_Fiction/

It may not be necessary to know exactly where Iraq is on a blank map, but you should be able to at least identify the region it's in. Having a good idea where a country is -- especially a country that has an influence on your own -- at least gives you an idea of the flavor of its influence and what politics and history might be behind it. Reading a world map for countries, especially key countries, isn't just identifying a physical location but showing your understanding of history and culture behind it.

Thanks to the dumbing down of the American educational system,as well as news sources in the mass media, many Americans have little or no knowledge of the rest of the world. When I was a public school student forty odd years ago, geography was a regular part of the curriculum. In the "teach to test" environment forced upon today's schools (I have a daughter in middle school, and friends with kids in high school and colleges- I hear about what they learn, and their world views), it's largely nonexistent. Flip on any major news show, or open your newspaper. You'll see endless coverage of Michael Vick, pop tarts in distress, or John Edward's haircut. (I think Mitt Romney should demand equal time for his makeup consultation.)What you don't see is coverage of Darfur, unless some celebrity is involved, or even much about real issues in Europe, Asia, and the rest of the Americas. The "news" about Iraq is more carefully spun talking points than direct coverage of events. Flip to BBC or German TV coverage, or surf to even a Canadian newspaper and compare.

Why is this important? How else can we get led into Iraq with a majority of us believing Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks? Why are so many oblivious to the total dependency of our economy on China, from shoes to Treasury bonds? How many are aware that at the start of NAFTA, a Mexican government minister predicted that ten million peasant farmers would be driven of their land and into cites, looking for work? (He viewed this not as a disaster, but as a great source of cheap labor- gosh, can you find the cities they came to on a map?)

Five hundred cable channels, but the revolution that is taking place all around us is not televised. Say, did you see Britney's ass?

"Clearly she's as sharp as a marble, but I buy her excuses -- she was nervous, she couldn't hear the question."

The person who's as sharp as a marble here is the one who "buy[s] her excuses." She couldn't hear the question, Farhad? Really? Is that why she precisely repeated the question at the beginning of her answer?

"And there's something else that bothers me about the Upton kerfuffle: The question was wrong."

Farhad, you lose points for using the word "kerfuffle." Try being creative for a change instead of jumping on the trendy word bandwagon. Second, how is the question "wrong"? The questioner cited "recent polls," and you were unable to find any polls that she might have been referring to. But what were your search methods? I am beginning to think your research consists of typing keywords into Google. Try doing a Lexis/Nexus search or hitting a library sometime.

Easier still, you might simply have contacted the organizers of the event and asked them how they formulated their questions. Did you even try?

"But no survey I can find supports this number, and, indeed, the most respected studies looking into what Americans know about the world paint a far rosier picture."

Farhad says "the most respected studies" but then refers to just one study. As somebody mentioned, the 94% stat is an upswing from another stat in 2002 that was closer to the vague 80% stat cited in the question.

Nevermind that Farhad completely misrepresents the actual meaning of the question (he keeps asserting that "most Americans CAN find the U.S. on a map, by gum!" even though the question reaffirms this). Farhad claims some sort of thoroughly researched knowledge that disproves the question when all he's got for evidence is one survey. That's just sloppy and disingenuous journalism, even if Farhad pads the rest of his column with long-winded explanations.

Only two days into reading this column and I'm convinced Farhad has some issues with basic logic. In the last one, Farhad claimed Blockbuster had an advantage over Netflix because Netflix lacked "data portability"....even when Blockbuster ALSO lacked "data portability"! ("Netflix won't let you leave," etc.) Farhad never bothered to admit the basic dishonesty of this tack. Now he's bungling such simple things as believing that this contestant "didn't hear the question" when she obviously did hear the question.

Please clean up your act, dude.

It certainly is a big difference if you know what the "true" percentage is. The same survey conducted by the National Geographic Society in 2002 purported to show that 1 in 9 Americans (11%) can't find the U.S. on a map, instead of 1 in 17 in the most recent survey (6%). Unless you believe that Americans got a lot smarter between 2002 and 2006, those results suggest that it is not surprising to see a lot of variation in the results of these types of polls.

Regardless, even if he questioner pulled the 1 in 5 figure out of his ear (which he might have), when the premise of your argument is "So most Americans, it turns out, can find America on the map," the person who asked the question by saying 1 in 5 instead of 1 in 9 or 1 in 17 never suggested that most Americans CAN'T find the U.S. on a map.