Time is asking you to draw the United States and, uh, it’s a lot harder than it sounds
Ready to put your patriotism to the test? Time is asking you to draw the United States map. Remember when BuzzFeed asked Brits to label the US States? Think about that, but ten times harder — even if you actually live here. Look, we can’t all be Al Franken freehanding the United States map from memory. We just that that maybe, so soon after the Fourth of July, we’d have been a little better at this. We’re blaming our artistic skills for the discrepancies.
The test sweeping the internet asks for its participants to draw each of the 50 U.S. states from memory, at random — Washington, D.C. included. After sketching the outline with your mouse or finger, the computer will grade your drawing against the actual state’s boundary — providing you with a letter grade. According to Time, the quiz’s algorithm “is forgiving of differences in minor undulations of the borders.” So, no need to make your drawings super defined. Aiming for an overall outline is key.
But don’t worry — if you’re not doing so hot, you’re not alone. Participants have taken to Twitter to share their final results. And, in good news for us but bad news for elementary school teachers, very few have been able to ace the test.
If this Time quiz has proven anything at all, it’s that we all could stand to take a few extra Geography 101 courses.
Quiz: See how well you can draw all 50 states https://t.co/AyFjWLfHS1
— TIME (@TIME) July 6, 2017
Some were completely fed up with the quiz’s grading strategy, so they just did their own thing. And the results are hilarious.
Hey @TIME @chriswilsondc I liked your draw the US feature but the "grading" is biased in favor of large land mass states pic.twitter.com/utWr6zmKPE
— Tea Berry-Blue (@teaberryblue) July 7, 2017
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So I redid my map from that @TIME @chriswilsondc draw the states feature I think I did well pic.twitter.com/drrZg1BXbZ
— Tea Berry-Blue (@teaberryblue) July 7, 2017
There was one overachiever, however.
Can you draw all 50 #states? Here’s how I did… Fact: it is very awkward to "draw" with a mouse! — https://t.co/TCkWEvASzn via .@TIME #USA pic.twitter.com/ODycMWzNfc
— 𝗔 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗟 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙀𝙉𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉 ✈ (@flyergil) July 6, 2017
There isn’t a prize for the top scorer, unfortunately. But, of course, bragging rights are enough to let everyone know who the real champ is. Instead of gloating about how much you know about your country, Time is asking us all to let our educational skills speak for themselves. And, oh did they do so.
In all fairness, trying to remember the geographical characteristics of each and every state — especially without the context of its neighbors — is no small feat. Here’s to hoping that most Americans will at least be able to draw their home state’s outline accurately.
