Thread: Ten Things Americans Don't Know About America

Originally Posted by Paul G.

"1. FEW PEOPLE ARE IMPRESSED BY US"

By the way, Deborah, that American guy we met in Cyprus didn't know what a water pipe (hookah) is. He's about 50 years old American man (game designer, so his profession implies some intellectual level), but this adult guy didn't know an elementary thing (even if you don't know what it exactly is, you could see it on the pictures etc).

So, me and my friends were very "impressed by US", honestly. If you want to get a cultural shock, meet an American.

Guess what Paul, the level of intellect, or IQ, means your ability to operate with the static knowledge you have, to process it effectively... It doesn't mean the amount of static knowledge you have; you know how a genius is different to a moron? They may just know the same sets of facts, but a moron won't be able to use them for anything while the genius will use them to generate some brilliant ideas or make some genius discoveries.

As for that guy, him not knowing what that thing is does not demean his intellectual abilities in any way, and besides, given his profession, one would doubt he needs that particular knowledge in the first place.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

Guess what Paul, the level of intellect, or IQ, means your ability to operate with the static knowledge you have, to process it effectively...

That's amazing. Eric, don't you know that I'm not a native English speaker? Did it surprise you? In Russian we have different words for that. "Intellectual" includes both terms: static knowledge and abilities.
As you couldn't guess, it explains everything. Also your ability to operate with that.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

As for that guy, him not knowing what that thing is does not demean his intellectual abilities in any way, and besides, given his profession, one would doubt he needs that particular knowledge in the first place.

That's a typical point of the ignorant American person, who wants to justify his ignorance. If you can't find Europe on the map or don't know what a water pipe is, it just means that you're an ignorant person, that's all. It has nothing to do with "particular knowledge", because it is NOT particular. It's just knowledge which everyone must know.

Originally Posted by Paul G.

That's amazing. Eric, don't you know that I'm not a native English speaker? Did it surprise you? In Russian we have different words for that. "Intellectual" includes both terms: static knowledge and abilities.
As you couldn't guess, it explains everything. Also your ability to operate with that.

Numbers of Russians would disagree with you, Paul. They call static knowledge "фактические знания", and the level of intellect "интеллект" or "уровень интеллекта", and both terms mean pretty much the same that the English ones do. Am I wrong?

Originally Posted by Eric C.

Am I wrong?

Of course, you are wrong. All depend on context. "Intellectual" means not only abilities, but rich knowledge too. In Russian you can't call "intellectual" a person, who doesn't know, for example, the history of the UK (I mean elementary facts about it) and so on. Only if you want to make fun of him. Although this person can be professional. Like a "professional plumber", for instance. Also in Russian "intellectual" often implies an "erudite person".