Actually, I would have gotten it anyway because I read about Derek Walcott not too long ago and knew he was from one of the Caribbean island nations, where having just one Nobel laureate would put the per capita number really high.
The nobel prizes seem to skip so many countries with innovative citizens, eg China, Japan, South Korea, many of the Aran states & the Indian subcontinent
Well, it's not that those countries aren't getting Nobel Prizes (check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country; if you click on [show] next to Countries under the Summary section, you get a sortable table), it's just that they have huge populations. So even though the US has more than three times the number of Nobel laureates than the second-place country (the UK), it does not place high on this list because of the large population.
Relevant question for the statistics, does a prize awarded to two people count as one prize or two? Usually one would say they share the prize, but wikipedia counts them separately.
This is false, but whatever. I didn't realize in 2020, people still believe this unfounded lie. All facts need to have references, and those without are flagged as such, or just straight up deleted, even if it's super obvious. They have very strict guidelines, and rules on how it runs, so the chances of false info are no more than usual, and if there is vandalism, it's swiftly removed.
Which is fine for objective facts like number of Nobel prizes, but once you get into the subjective, even where there are references they can be bad or questionable (part of knowing how to reference isn't just how to list sources, it's what sources to use). In all cases it's as well to check what the sources say as well as their validity.
I agree with this. The critique "Wikipedia is bad because anyone can edit it" is a poor one. One study showed that it was more accurate than Encyclopedia Brittanica!
But, I'd rate Wikipedia's accuracy as far less than 100% (although still quite good).
As Wikipedia became more popular, it has become a battle ground for people pushing their political viewpoints. I'd never trust Wikipedia to be accurate on a hot button issue like the Israel/Palestine conflict or transgenderism.
We need to accept that there is no objective source of truth. Certainly government bodies, non-profit groups, and journalists all make untrue statements and push agendas. Wikipedia will link and amplify those voices even when they are wrong. The best we can do is to hear from multiple sides and not be too overconfident about any of our beliefs.
Seriously the most mind-blowing fact remains how many laureates are from Saint Lucia.. ! Guess they didn't change nationality after being awarded the prize, right?
I think this quiz would be more interesting if the Nobel Peace prize was not included. It most often goes to extremely unworthy candidates and is a blight on the Nobel Prize overall. Yes, I know I could make my own quiz but I'm lazy and prefer to whinge, what :P
I visited St Lucia {very briefly!} and our guide told us about their Nobel prizes, of which they are very proud. She told us to make sure we remembered the fact, since it was a common question in quizzes!
From what I can tell, Aaron Krug is the only Lithuanian Nobel Laureate, winning the prize for Chemistry in 1982. Even on the wikipedia article "List of Nobel laureates by country" the only person listed under Lithuania is Aaron Krug despite the list claiming that Lithuania has 3 laureates.
Even when checking the related article "List of countries by Nobel laureates per capita," Lithuania is only shown as having one and having 3.476 laureates per 10 million or 0.3476 per million, making it far below the threshold for this quiz. The per capita article uses 2018 population.
However, even if the 2023 estimate for the UK's population is used, it would make the per million numer 2.03. I'm, not sure what metric was used for the populations of these countries but that and the faulty wikipedia article seem to be causing misleading figures.
Even according to the original wikipedia article though, the total number of laureates for the US is listed as both 411 and 413 yet this quiz uses 412
Looks like the East Timor entry is related to a peace prize in relation to an Indonesian invasion from 1975-2002, (US endorsed I guess, due to the submarine related location value), to overthrow some leftist government.
Or maybe Portugal pulled out in 74, and Indonesia saw an opportunity for annexation.
Looks like there was a vote for independence in 99. The peace prize was given to a Catholic bishop, and politician, in 96. So seems like everyone lost interest post-USSR and said screw it, give them a peace prize, signal they can have their autonomy.
I guessed everything in Europe, more or less, and then all the tiny and small countries of the world that seemed like they might have a chance.
That said I never would've gotten around to the Caribbean in time if not for the flag picture. :-)
But, I'd rate Wikipedia's accuracy as far less than 100% (although still quite good).
As Wikipedia became more popular, it has become a battle ground for people pushing their political viewpoints. I'd never trust Wikipedia to be accurate on a hot button issue like the Israel/Palestine conflict or transgenderism.
We need to accept that there is no objective source of truth. Certainly government bodies, non-profit groups, and journalists all make untrue statements and push agendas. Wikipedia will link and amplify those voices even when they are wrong. The best we can do is to hear from multiple sides and not be too overconfident about any of our beliefs.
Even when checking the related article "List of countries by Nobel laureates per capita," Lithuania is only shown as having one and having 3.476 laureates per 10 million or 0.3476 per million, making it far below the threshold for this quiz. The per capita article uses 2018 population.
However, even if the 2023 estimate for the UK's population is used, it would make the per million numer 2.03. I'm, not sure what metric was used for the populations of these countries but that and the faulty wikipedia article seem to be causing misleading figures.
Even according to the original wikipedia article though, the total number of laureates for the US is listed as both 411 and 413 yet this quiz uses 412
Czeslaw Milosz who was born in present day Lithuania, was of Lithuanian citizenship and was of Lithuanian descent (as well as Polish).
Nadine Gordimer, born in Transvaal (present day South Africa), who's father was a Lithuanian/Latvian immigrant.
Or maybe Portugal pulled out in 74, and Indonesia saw an opportunity for annexation.
Looks like there was a vote for independence in 99. The peace prize was given to a Catholic bishop, and politician, in 96. So seems like everyone lost interest post-USSR and said screw it, give them a peace prize, signal they can have their autonomy.