Test Your Global IQ
November 20, 2009
What is your knowledge about global affairs, particularly in relation to India? I re-did some Pew quiz questions to suit India. The format is the same, but the questions are now India centered. So take the plunge and check your global IQ!
The answers to the questions are given below. It’s an upside down image. Save it and rotate it on your pc to get the correct answers. Most of the answers are from surveys carried out by Pew research and some are from news sources. All answers are subject to the limitations thereof.
After checking the answers what did you find out about your global IQ? I scored six on ten.
Read all posts based on Research Surveys
All posts on Pakistan
What Asian countries think of America
50 Comments
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A wide angle view of India 
Oh!! I scored 3…
But I am amazed at the “On average, what do people around the world like most about India? ” result… Democracy? Catch any tourist roaming around and democracy would not even feature on the list..
Another interesting thing.. In “Most people in China feel that India..” poll, all the answers are in the extreme!! 3 say India will overtake, 6 say India will never be able to!! I would say, India’s colorful democracy definitely keeps people satisfied, but keeps the red-tapism and bureaucratic system in a mess. Communism might break people’s hope, but sure does brings the best out of them.. 😀
Interesting questions.. and even varied answers!!
Nita, that is a very creative post! 🙂 grerat idea.
I scored very badly though 😦 strangely enough, because I am always interested in global matters and cultures…However since the answers represent some studies, they may not be very reliable…As a popular Austrian saying goes: “never belive any statistics which you have not falsified yourself”.
I am also surprised about the statement that people across the world amdire India’s democratic values. Sorry to say that, but most of the people I met in the West have no idea that India is a democracy at all! even educated people. this seems to be not a well known fact, and at the same time Indian culture and spirituality are very well known everywhere.
A few answers are rather surprising, few are expected 🙂
Rushme and Axinia, the democracy answer was not the result of the Pew study and there are studies which are less reliable. I think I picked up that democracy answer from a news article from a dubious study so it is likely that you all are right, and it was a mistake on my part to go by that. I should have just gone by my gut feel. There was just one more answer (about america’s vews of India) which was not from pew, it was from a gallup poll.All the other answers were from pew and I think pew is one of the best out there, but ofcourse all research has its limitations.
I got the democracy one wrong too. I made up some questions based on the original pew questionnaire and the answers that I had to hunt for, those were the answers I marked myself wrong on. But I had an advantage here, because I have written some posts on at least 2 of these subjects.
Oh yes, there was one more fact that I took from a reliable news source, but won’t mention it here!
Vishesh, you didn’t mention your score? 🙂
I did bad. There were some surprises. 🙂
A great idea…
I got a few wrong but I learnt a lot…
Nice one… Few answers surprised me as well…
Nice. But I was a 4 😦
My neck hurts!!!! 😀
I got six too. Need to improve. Where’s that dusty ol Manorama? 🙂
I scored a 4. Glad to learn more.
Me got only five. And I thought I was well read. 😦
***faints** I can’t believe that i scored 9/10..The only wrong one was “Where do most people believe that they were better off economically during their communist days?” of which i had no idea… Majority of them were guess work..
You made my day..lol…I just realized that i am not that stupid or unaware..
((hugs))
I am so happy 🙂
Me Only 3… but surveys are always misleading na 😉
Good info!
Scored a sixer! Could have got it up to 8 with the Israel and Indian democracy one, though..:( Was in two minds about the answers.
Nice fun, Nita!
I got six right but I don’t agree with the answer that most people in the West admire India for its democracy. In the West the image of India is that of a corrupt, bureaucratic country. But they admire India for its rich cultural diversity and tradition. So my score should be 7. I am also surprised at the answer that most people in the US view India favorably. I thought the answer would be Iran. Do you have any supporting references? I have links to old surveys dated 2008 and 2006 which indicate that India is viewed favorably in the US by 69% and in Iran by 71%. I don’t have the latest.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/104734/americans-most-least-favored-nations.aspx
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/views_on_countriesregions_bt/168.php#India
Thanks shaan. Me too read that gallup poll about america’s attitude (favourable or unfavourable) towards India. And yes I agree about the democracy thing. That democracy asnwer was a mistake on my part, after using that information after reading it on some trash site. However I am not sure whether to agree with you on the Iran thing. Sure, the survey itself is authentic, but the poll question is what is the country’s role in the world, or rather the influence of the country. This I think would give a slightly different reading because it would be very different from viewing a country favourably or unfavourably. One can view a country favourably even if one feels that the country does not have much influence in world affairs. – Nita
I am sure it is India and not Iran, definietly. There are lots of Indians in America, working on good positions. And with Iran it is alwas kind of a pre-war situtation (mening the image is not propagaded as polular), so it is very unlikely that USA population will have better attitude to Iran…I think it is surely towards India.
Hmm… I thought the question meant the attitude of the countries(Japan, U.S. and Iran) towards India and not of the U.S. towards Iran.
Besides nita, I am kinda surprised at many of the choices which the others have pointed out. Well, I guess surveys are surveys and you can’t expect them to be consistent…
yes rags, that is right about the question. However I am not sure which answer you are referring to. I think there is consistency in most surveys. It depends on which question is asked. A different question will elicit a different type of answer. – Nita
I would disagree that people in the US have favorable opinion about India. Having lived in the Midwest US for the last 10 years, the opinion ranges from complete ignorance to complete hostility, especially after the recession of 09. Spurred by the mass media, India is seen as “job-snatcher” and that does not sit well with the people here.
On the other hand, on either coast, where there is a sizable Indian population, people may have slightly different ideas.
Overall, I have not found Americans to be as open to India as the Bollywood movies portray, that SRK lands in New York and starts singing with the locals…:-). There is a fair amount of suspicion, and xenophobia.
I have to travel a lot because of my work, and whenever I have been to these “tourist” desitination cities like Chicago, or LA, etc. , I am amzaed to see the number of Indians as tourists – this in itself is ironic. Unfortunately, India and by extension, Indians are seen as the cause of all misery (or atleast most of it), without realizing the fact, the tourists I just mentioned are the ones who are fueling this economy.
Hispanics and African-Americans have been recognized as high potential segments, whereas, Indians who are usually highly educated, and high earners, have yet to gain that recognization.
But if we were to believe the numerous economic studies and forecast, its matter of another 10 years, when Indians will be in a position to command respect in the US, just as Japanese did (Did they?).
Thanks all for voting! Improves one’s general knowledge anyway, even if one doesn’t do too well!
And Nimmy, 9 on ten. My jaw dropped! You are a smart girl! 🙂
Bharath, a very nice surprise to see you here. Whenever readers from the first year of my blog pop up, I am really happy!
Kima, you scored the same as me and some others too.
I broke all records above as I got only 2 correct! And even those two were not concerning India (Russia and the Turkey one). What an amazing performance by me!!!
Either there is something wrong with the survey or I dont know as much about what Indians and non-Indians think about India as I think I know.
My interaction with Chinese here in North America, most of the times, gave me an impression that they see India as a potential superpower and also a potential partner in future to surpass the economic and political might of US and the west. Not to mention that most Chinese I know also have a favorable opinion about Indians’ intellectual abilities. So, I’m bit surprised that Chinese in China have a completely different opinion.
Dev, the chinese in china are victims of their media. – Nita
Nita, aren’t we also victims of our media? – Vivek
Vivek, I think yours is a rhetorical question so I was wondering whether to take it seriously or not. But well, even if I do, there is a simple answer. It is all relative. All countries do not have their media controlled at the same level. – Nita
5 only.. I thought I was had a good GK
Maybe 30%. Interesting survey.
The poll format was little inconvenient.. I had to vote one by one, at the end of it, there wasn’t a correct way of knowing which option I’d selected (other than what I remembered mentally). Was manageable as there were only a few questions..
Anyway good idea to try this.
In which country is India viewed more favorably – Japan, Iran or USA ?
This question means “Is India viewed more favorably in Japan or in Iran or in USA”, right?
If that is the case then for sure India is viewed more favorably in Iran the views of politicians notwithstanding.
Did you mean to ask “Which country is viewed in India more favorably”?
@axinia,
The question is “In which country is India viewed more favorably?”. It is not “Which country is viewed in the USA more favorably?” or “Which country is viewed in India more favorably?”.
Shaan, I think I didn’t get across to you. I said that the way a question is worded in a poll affects the results considerably. Asking people about a country’s role and influence is different from asking about whether one views a country favourably or not. At the risk of repeating myself, let me say that I may view one country very favourably, but may not think of it very highly in terms of its influence in the world. I am sure you cannot disagree with that because the way a question is worded invariably give varied responses. – Nita
i got 4 right..
never knew China felt like this about us..
and most surprised that people like our Democracy best… LOL..! seriously…. 🙂
think i got 5 correct.
2!
Many many surprises… but very informative and in a new way!
While I enjoyed the quiz, I object to calling it “IQ”. Intelligence has very little to do with cramming facts or with reading newspapers. An average American Scientist or Professor is a duffer when it comes to global affairs. If anyone doubts their calibre or that of the institution where they work, they have to check the list of Nobel Prize winners in the last 25 years or check the daily list of patents.
A totally different topic, if you allow me: Both in Bangalore and Delhi, Dutch guys have shown missionary zeal in reviving bicycle culture. Europe has done a lot to promote bicycles in recent years. So much so that for this guy “one of the things he missed about home was bicycles.” Hope you will cover on your blog this sometime.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20091122/804/tnl-pedalling-down-delhi-s-streets.html
http://www.delhibycycle.com/
ofcourse maald I don’t think anyone really thinks that this actually tests intelligence. Otherwise you won’t have so many of them admitting their low marks! 🙂 In fact I personally don’t believe that even the so-called IQ tests test IQ, leave alone this one! So relax and enjoy!
Only 5! Surprised with some of the answers though 🙂
Nita,I scored 5 and I think it was quite a decent score?
More than your score of 6,what is important is the quality of the content of the post.Excellent.
Thanks BK Chowla. And well to me at least 5 seems okay! 🙂 – Nita
I got 5. I expected to get 2. Am happy as a clam.
Scored an 8 – got Indonesia wrong, and frankly shocked at 82% Indians supporting the US’ War on Terror.
same here! i got every other one right! and democratic values was an obvious one and is heralded all over tHE world as the worlds purest democracy!
Nita: Sad as it is, I scored 10 on 10 (not surprising to you, I know, for you know how much I read on international politics and political economy) but my answer on the democracy question was marked with a mix of scepticism and hesitation. In surveys people give answers they think the surveyor wishes to hear. Democracy can’t offend (m)any so is likely to be chosen often.
And why am I not surprised….! 🙂 🙂 – Nita
eeks I scored bad 😦
This was one of your best recent posts, Nita! I had bookmarked it to return when I had time.
I am not a keen observer of global public opinion, which is what I think this was all about. So not surprisingly, there were a couple of eye-openers for me. 🙂
Eeesh..I scored very badly!!! Nonetheless it was very informative. I have a lot to more learn though!! I have to admit though that I was surprised to know that people admired India’s democratic values. I always thought we were known more for our diverse culture and customs.
3 correct, but I am really happy and proud that India is respected for it’s Democratic values. I thought it was our music and movies 🙂
And I was sure Chinese fear we will be a bigger economic power someday… I mean how can they not see our obvious capacity to do brilliantly at everything 🙂
I am glad most Indians are fine with the way the US has controlled terror attacks, but I was sure we were unhappy with their relationship with Pakistan.
And I thought we still depended on Russian arms and not Hungary but Poland preferred their communist days 😉 Bad GK!!!
I scored 5!
I am really surprised that world sees india and likes for democratic ideas….the kind of opinion I hear is because of India’s diversity and spirituality 🙂
That was excellent one.My favorite one.
I believed I have a strong global IQ, but realised that I need to know more as I scored only 5 out of 10. Good exercise.
Being a chinese living in Au, I do believe India will be a great country and superpower, but never catch up with China. China will be the No.1 and India will be the No.2. All my friends living in China hold the same opinion.so, the survy is correct but not complete. Chinese think india can never catch up with China doesnt mean India is not a superpowe…
I am very surprised that indians support US anti terror efforts when it has been sponsoring them for over 40 years via the ISI. And the top secret files which now show the Archer Blood telegram in full, and the many efforts made to hinder Indias prosperity, like the ban on home grown HIV medicine! but i guess all the US does in come to india claim teh love curry and bobs your uncle friends for life!
I HAVE SCORED 6. NEED TO IMPROVE AND FEW WERE SURPRISING
I only could guess correctly about The concern between India and Pakistan’s mutual agony that began When Pakistan became a seperate Spiritual Region. I’m not saying it was a mistake- I believe it was a good attempt to solve a basic human trait- that one of clansmanship which in this example is manifestating itself along religious allegiances. However, I was spiritually influenced by one teacher I know, Amiya Chakravarty (a personal companion and secretarial aide to Rabindranath Tagore) -While being a student in some university class this Dr. Charkravarty was enthralling most of his student’s- one had the audacity to publically declare whether to which religion he aligned himself with (that being either Hindu-(Hindi?) or Moslem) and his only response was being an audible “tisk” and then a turning of his attention away from, and in a new and different direction. Also, being an average American citizen, I am particularly clueless as to the worldwide “climate” these days, especially since my shortwave radio-which a few years ago could tune in globally, seems of no more use than to tune in locally- (climate change interference or a paranoid thought of jamming?- I have no idea) I found this website by entering in where have all the sparrows gone? after looking for some confirmation of my own concerns, being situated in Brooklyn, New York City.
Good
Good test by the way. 🙂
Well, i achieved 8 out of 10. Proud of it, i guess 😀