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« Being there or knowing what? || Back to Blog | [berkman] Podcasting and News Media in the Classroom » October 03, 2006
If you were asked to list all of the states in the US, which would be the last one you'd think of? And care to say where you're from? [Added restriction, after the first three entries: You have to think of this state without actually listing them for yourself. That is, which would be the last you list, not which is the last you list.] [Tags: puzzle absurdities doep] Posted
by D. Weinberger at October 3, 2006 10:09 AM
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Comments
The last one I remembered was Tennessee, but I could only remember 38 before I gave up (and I would never have remembered West Virginia). Mind you, my education didn't include the geography of those United States.
Where am I from? Purley.
Posted by: Phil | October 3, 2006 10:52 AM
The three I couldn't recall after 5 minutes of trying, in no particular order:
wisconsin
iowa
nebraska
I'm from Toronto.
Posted by: Brent Ashley | October 3, 2006 10:56 AM
Can only be determined empirically. For most of us in the UK I suspect there would be no 'last one', but 'last several'.
For those that know all the states, the question immediately biases the respondent to start thinking of obscure states. I suspect the respondent is unable to provide an accurate answer, unless for example there are one or more rote methods for reciting the states, e.g. alphabetically.
Has the beginnings of a shibboleth...
Posted by: Crosbie Fitch | October 3, 2006 11:31 AM
Wyoming. I would try to list them alphabetically. (I'm from Chicago)
Posted by: Megan | October 3, 2006 12:06 PM
From New Jersey, I would probably list them starting on the Atlanic coast and work west. I would probably miss one of the big western non-Pacific coast states. My guess is that I'd probably forget Idaho or Wyoming on my way west. If not, Hawaii.
Posted by: Frank Patrick | October 3, 2006 12:55 PM
I think Maine would be last for me. I'd take a west to east , left to right approach, trying to visually work my way across the country. I'd probably miss many of them, but I figure I'd end up in Maine, or possibly Florida.
I'm from Vancouver, Canada.
Posted by: Gordon Withers | October 3, 2006 02:23 PM
I'd do it geographically, but would I start with the NE or the NW? I decided that I'd start with the NW because East Coasters tend to think the world revolves around them. Biased and unfair of me, but there you go. Given that, I'd probably skip over Delaware in my progression and have to come back to it.
I'm from Missouri and live in Alabama now.
Posted by: Eric | October 3, 2006 03:55 PM
"There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium..." oops, wrong list!
Wyoming is hard because its shape has no useful mnemonic squiggles--not to mention that the American history taught in my grade school never got past the Civil War before summer vacation hits that big RESTART button.
I'm from NH.
Posted by: Betsy Devine | October 3, 2006 07:57 PM
Hawaii - the 50th state of the US.
I am from Israel - the 51st.
Posted by: Hanan Cohen | October 3, 2006 08:21 PM
Hanan Choen! I love your posting. You're smack on. Concerning the US. I would start from Hawaii, Alaska and the three West Coast states. Then working my way east and list the states from North to South, like Montana, Wyoming etc.
I would miss a few on my way Eastbound, and the last one would probably be Delaware or maybe Maryland. But then again, what do I know, I am from NORWAY. Now, sombody out there, try to list all the Countries in the European Union!
Posted by: erling krange | October 4, 2006 05:57 AM
I would go east to west, and then roughly north to south, starting in Maine and ending in California. I would probably leave off Texas, but that's just hopeful thinking.
Posted by: Bill White | October 4, 2006 11:24 AM
Erling - I thought of that myself, but I don't think it's comparable. You have to remember to skip some countries (Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Norway for that matter) and remember to include others (Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria...) It gets easier year by year as the EU keeps growing - I think the plan is to keep going until they hit 50, or better still 51. (Not impossible - Wikipedia lists 25 current members and 29 candidates, future candidates, potential candidates and vaguely theoretically potential candidates (Russia? Morocco?).)
Posted by: Phil | October 5, 2006 09:02 AM
Phil, you're right. Norway, Lichtenstein Switzerland and Iceland are not fully members of the EU, but we are associated in a way that we have to obey all rules and regulations that are being issued by the EU HQ in Brussels. On the other hand, since we are not a full member, we don't have any representative in the EU parliament. That means no influence, but we still have to pay some sort of membership fee.
Turkey are applying for membership, but it'll be at least 12-15 years before they can join EU. I also know that some of the North African states are eager to become members, Morocco, Tunisia etc.
Posted by: Erling Krange | October 7, 2006 06:22 AM
Sorry for playing the wise guy, but Switzerland IS NOT associated with the EU in the way Erling thinks (i.e. a member of the European Economic Area), which doesn't mean, though, that the Swiss have much to say in the European Union ...
And, dear Phil, you need to skip a couple of contries, too, if you list all the states of the US. - I'm almost sounding like a Canadian now :-)
Posted by: Dan | October 10, 2006 04:31 PM
Delaware, definitely. I live in Oregon.
Posted by: Michael Swaine | October 14, 2006 05:12 PM