Why Do Many People Think There Are 52 States?
Yeah, this is really a thing.
Growing up in Ireland, I remember a debate with a geography teacher.
The controversial topic in question? How many states America had.
Being a nerdy little kid who read Wikipedia articles and books, I knew there were 50, and (to my mind, at least) rather politely pointed this out when the teacher mentioned that the country was divided into 52 states.
I was told that I was wrong, at which point I insisted that she was, and suggested somebody look it up.
Alas, it was a less enlightened era, and I was told to shut up. At the next parent-teacher meeting, I was criticized as being loud and disruptive, surprising the parents of this otherwise well-behaved boy.
A couple of years later, while visiting America, I mentioned the phrase “the 50 states”, and my mother quickly corrected me, explaining that there were 52.
This time, at least, she agreed to ask a few Americans. She was stunned to hear that I was right, and duly handed over the $5 we’d bet on it.
