John-Paul wrote:
What a fucked-up thread.
Too many people seem to be confusing knowledge with intelligence. Having knowledge about a certain subject doesn't guarantee you're intelligent. Similarly, lacking knowledge about a certain subject doesn't mean you lack intelligence. This is why true IQ tests are not knowledge-based. Rather, they test cognitive capabilities so that, independent of factors such as age, the extent of one's education, etc. you can still demonstrate a very high IQ. Hell, I've got an old copy of The Guinness Book of Records that states the highest IQ ever recorded was demonstrated by a 4-year-old (210 on the Terman Index).
Well said, the exact nature of what constitutes intelligence and intellect is incredibly subjective and debatable. There are tons of nifty little quotes and theories but the fact remains that most measures of intelligence people seem to sue here or anywhere such as World War II knowledge, different IQ tests and scales, the SAT, any of that, can and have in the past been accused of things like regional bias, racism, sexism and classism.
The real problem with education in the United States is often environment and opportunity, not motivation or any lack of "intelligence". There are stupid and lazy/unmotivated people everywhere, but that does not mean that someone who lacks a certain piece of knowledge or is "uneducated" is one of those things. My guess would be that in Australia in World War II they focus on major battles and then stuff that pertains to them more like the coast watchers and a little about their leaders and maybe my namesake (not Nomer).
We attacked OP without knowing or taking into account relevant factors like location or age or if he'd played bf1942. That being said there was a time where everyone where everyone here didn't know just about everything they now know. From the incredibly important (like walking and talking) to the relatively unimportant (like American history topics such as Molly Pitcher or minor battles) there was a time when we had no knowledge of or clue how to do what we have since learned(with a few exceptions i.e. things that are involuntary or instinctual and not really knowledge).
Also, for all the internet dick-wagging in here I don't believe many people have mentioned the main reason that people remember Wake Island other than the fact that some Marines put up a hell of a fight while outnumbered and outgunned there. The Japanese officer in control ordered the execution of the American POW's there (I can't say 'the Japanese executed' because it is too simplistic and people would start hating the Japanese for something done over 60 years ago) and obviously in doing so went against the Geneva Code and just about every international law in existence. The Japanese leader on the island was tried for war crimes and executed and his chief subordinate was sentenced to life. Does anyone know if the famous rock engraving/makeshift tombstone appears in either version of the map, I haven't thought to look until this thread (it will have I believe the date of the slaughter and 98 for the number killed on that day and mark the location of the atrocity)?