Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Simple Simon

Stephanie Simon tries to employ a movie reference in a piece in today's WSJ called The United States of Mind (sub req):

And what of the unexpected finding that North Dakota is the most outgoing state in the union? Yes, North Dakota, the same state memorialized years ago in the movie "Fargo" as a frozen wasteland of taciturn souls. Turns out you can be a laconic extrovert, at least in the world of psychology. The trait is defined in part by strong social networks and tight community bonds, which are characteristic of small towns across the Great Plains. (Though not, apparently, small towns in New England, which ranks quite low on the extraversion scale.)

For the record, the frozen wasteland of taciturn souls depicted in "Fargo" was actually Minnesota (don't let the title confuse you). A common mistake for sure, but I expect more from the Journal.

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