About 25% of Americans Don't Know the Earth Revolves Around the Sun

[Zer0Saber]

There was a different survey a couple of years back, one of the questions was: If Earth revolves around the Sun, how much time does it take to make a full revolution? Around 30% answered one day.

Also, how does one "kill viruses" anyway? Virus is a single organic molecule, it's not even an organism of any description. It isn't even alive.

I was going to bring that up but if you really want to try it out just ask people you know and maybe some random ones as well, "How many years does it take for the earth to orbit the sun?" 4 seems to be the most common answer I get. I hate....

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I'll admit, I would have probably said that antibiotics kill viruses. I mean, they're a type of medicine, and you take medicine for viruses, and it's not like you're trapping the viruses and releasing them into the wild or something.

 

[Glaice]

I blame religion's hand in the lack of correct educational responses on this poll.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

*Remembers survey last year which found 1 in 3 UK <16s think cheese is made from plants*

Technically... it mostly is. Let's face it: a cow's digestive system does most of the hard work here.

Wait we can justify this.
Cheese comes from cows and goats etc, and they EAT PLANTS.
In a round about way it's right.

Like that kid who answered the question of "How do you keep milf fresh?" with "Keep it in the cow."

Ok, so cows do get their energy from plant-life, but most plant-life gets their energy from the sun, so if we go back that far cheese is made from sunlight.

Compressed, mouldy sunlight.

Mmm.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

*Prepares snarky comment ragging on American stupidity*

*Remembers survey last year which found 1 in 3 UK <16s think cheese is made from plants*

*Goes and sits quietly in corner*

Wait we can justify this.
Cheese comes from cows and goats etc, and they EAT PLANTS.
In a round about way it's right.

Like that kid who answered the question of "How do you keep milf fresh?" with "Keep it in the cow."

Somehow I don't think that is a good idea.

OT: I think a lot of people here really underestimate how little the average person cares about knowledge that doesn't affect their daily lives in a direct manner.

 

[Blunderboy]

*Remembers survey last year which found 1 in 3 UK <16s think cheese is made from plants*

Technically... it mostly is. Let's face it: a cow's digestive system does most of the hard work here.

Wait we can justify this.
Cheese comes from cows and goats etc, and they EAT PLANTS.
In a round about way it's right.

Like that kid who answered the question of "How do you keep milf fresh?" with "Keep it in the cow."

Ok, so cows do get their energy from plant-life, but most plant-life gets their energy from the sun, so if we go back that far cheese is made from sunlight.

Compressed, mouldy sunlight.

Mmm.

So us Brits actually do get plenty of sunlight, in the form of a glorious, strong, mature cheddar?

 

[Blunderboy]

*Prepares snarky comment ragging on American stupidity*

*Remembers survey last year which found 1 in 3 UK <16s think cheese is made from plants*

*Goes and sits quietly in corner*

Wait we can justify this.
Cheese comes from cows and goats etc, and they EAT PLANTS.
In a round about way it's right.

Like that kid who answered the question of "How do you keep milf fresh?" with "Keep it in the cow."

Somehow I don't think that is a good idea.

OT: I think a lot of people here really underestimate how little the average person cares about knowledge that doesn't affect their daily lives in a direct manner.

Oh my. Of all the typos.

 

[Synthetica]

Sounds like the survey was expecting the common, simplified answers. Because the earth orbits the sun only from the sun's frame of reference.

Also, the specifics of the Big Bang (which is a misnomer) is continuously revised. Last theory I recall stated that the Big Bang's energy was released everywhere simultaneously, an event which lacks many of the usual traits of an explosion.

Then again, I doubt that 25-39% of Americans are theoretical physicists.

It's just like the 1kg of lead vs 1 kg of feathers thing. Yes, technically the lead weights more (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes%27_principle), so what's the right answer?

 

[Remus]

Don't even get me started on that "Big Bang" crap. It's just a theory that hasn't been fully developed at ALL yet. But hey, let's all force undeveloped theories down each others throats. Same thing with Evolution. Some atheists blame us for having a narrow-minded viewpoint but then they turn around and do the exact same thing.

Heck, maybe that 1 in 4 might have just answered that to screw with the poll as well. It was a stupid question and perhaps it deserved a stupid answer. Also, I wonder how many just rushed through it to get the poll done, not even looking at the answers.

Infinite diversity in infinite combinations. It's not as narrow as you might think. There's far more evidence that the universe is 13.8 billion years old than that it might be a mere 6000. People are so willing to accept the simplest answer that they simply cannot comprehend they might be wrong. Sometimes the more complex answer is the right one, that the universe started from a singular point and then expanded in every direction, across multiple dimensions. Sorry if I find this far more likely than an old man in a cloud flipping a light switch. Remember, we have photographic evidence that the Earth does indeed revolve around the Sun, that other astral bodies follow a similar pattern, and that the Earth is in fact round and not flat. Tell me, do you float up into the sky when you get out of bed? Because gravity is just a theory too but somehow my feet remain firmly planted on the floor.

CAPTCHA: need a pina colada? Yes, yes I do.

 

[HanFyren]

wow, that first question would exclude out both those who are wrong and those who are exact/pedantic.
The Big Bang was not an explosion.

Evolution IS a fact that has been observed for centuries.
Natural selection is the theory of evolution.
Theory is an English word meaning explanation.
In common use the word theory has become synonymous with guess.

 

[shiajun]

wow, that first question would exclude out both those who are wrong and those who are exact/pedantic.
The Big Bang was not an explosion.

Evolution IS a fact that has been observed for centuries.
Natural selection is the theory of evolution.
Theory is an English word meaning explanation.
In common use the word theory has become synonymous with guess.

Just to clarify there, the theory of evolution involves a whole lot more mechanisms than natural selection (neutral drift, genetic draft, etc.). The fact that "evolution=natural selection" has permeated into culture, and that in some situations evolution is not driven by natural selection, is reason enough to understand why some people, when shown than natural selection is not at work jump back to say that therefore evolution is wrong. We need to be careful with that because you never know who is reading and how you might affect them.

 

[WanderingFool]

Would it be possible to see the rest of the questions? Cause something tells me that its not so much ignorance as it is answering questions based on beliefs (like the evolutionj and Big Bang questions.)

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Well antibiotics don't kill viruses. Antivirals do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiviral_drug

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

*Remembers survey last year which found 1 in 3 UK <16s think cheese is made from plants*

Technically... it mostly is. Let's face it: a cow's digestive system does most of the hard work here.

Wait we can justify this.
Cheese comes from cows and goats etc, and they EAT PLANTS.
In a round about way it's right.

Like that kid who answered the question of "How do you keep milf fresh?" with "Keep it in the cow."

Ok, so cows do get their energy from plant-life, but most plant-life gets their energy from the sun, so if we go back that far cheese is made from sunlight.

Compressed, mouldy sunlight.

Mmm.

So us Brits actually do get plenty of sunlight, in the form of a glorious, strong, mature cheddar?

Exactly. Whilst our summer may only last a few weeks, the discerning Englishman may be provisioned with an excellent cheese board all year round.

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

Americuh, Fuck Yeah!
Sorry if this sounds like a sterotype, but was this sample from Texas?

I honestly don't want to know how Australia fares, ignorance is bliss. Ironically.
Cue all the people going on about "theories" and "unconfirmed", blahty, blah.

Nothing infuriates me more than when people say something like "Well, evolution is just a theory!", completely oblivious to the meaning of the word theory in a scientific context. That the word theory means something that can be observed and reproduced, such as evolution.

Australia is considered one of the smarter nations, but I'm almost certain that it's just a few very bright people carrying the weight of a very dumb overall populace. Most people don't care to educate themselves on matters more difficult than the location of the nearest pub.

micro evolution can be observed and reproduced, not macro evolution. right now no one definitively knows anything about our origins, and for a true way to test it out, would take thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of years of observation. so right now arguing the validity of one theory or another is pointless. who know maybe we were simply created as stated in one of the many other religions. and being an atheist is a religion, just atheists practice science and what not, and believe that we are our own god so to speak.

 

[lacktheknack]

The belief based questions, like the evolution and start of the universe, is not fair to ask. They answered wrong because they believe differently. That's just a low-blow.

Now the earth rotating question is inexcusable.

Plus, the antibiotics question is a bit bait-and-switch too. It's not surprising that people know that bacteria/fungus/viruses/etc cause disease, but they don't care about the difference or how to treat each one. That's what doctors are for.

The orbit one is baffling, no doubt. Any word on how it was worded?

 

[lacktheknack]

Americuh, Fuck Yeah!
Sorry if this sounds like a sterotype, but was this sample from Texas?

I honestly don't want to know how Australia fares, ignorance is bliss. Ironically.
Cue all the people going on about "theories" and "unconfirmed", blahty, blah.

Nothing infuriates me more than when people say something like "Well, evolution is just a theory!", completely oblivious to the meaning of the word theory in a scientific context. That the word theory means something that can be observed and reproduced, such as evolution.

Australia is considered one of the smarter nations, but I'm almost certain that it's just a few very bright people carrying the weight of a very dumb overall populace. Most people don't care to educate themselves on matters more difficult than the location of the nearest pub.

micro evolution can be observed and reproduced, not macro evolution. right now no one definitively knows anything about our origins, and for a true way to test it out, would take thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of years of observation. so right now arguing the validity of one theory or another is pointless.

Not quite true. Macroevolution is why we have the bananas we have today, the dogs breeds we have, the corn...

We've not seen anything change species without human intervention though, correct.

 

[ryo02]

I believe in evolution but the evidence is not overwhelming if you break the rules.
1) Accept for a fact: god exists
2) some biological mechanisms are to hard to explain with evolution (as far as I know flagella fall under this categorie. Random mutation is a bit hard to believe to explain this one for the moment). This indicates intelligent design.
3) Accept for a fact: god created fossils etc to confuse non believers.

Bam. Evolution has been disproven. Offcourse you have to accept a few facts with no scientific proof whatsoever. I believe thats what they call having faith...

just want to point a few things out

(1)it's overwhelming compared to the evidence religion gives (magic man in the sky did it)
(2)"god created fossils to fool people"? so to prove god did it you also have to prove he/she/it is a dick?
(3)faith = "jump off a cliff you can fly I swear" that's "blind faith" real honest and true faith (see trust) allows and indeed welcomes questioning.

I'm not trying to be antagonistic or start an argument (full disclosure I'm an atheist and on evolution's side if you didn't guess)

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

Americuh, Fuck Yeah!
Sorry if this sounds like a sterotype, but was this sample from Texas?

I honestly don't want to know how Australia fares, ignorance is bliss. Ironically.
Cue all the people going on about "theories" and "unconfirmed", blahty, blah.

Nothing infuriates me more than when people say something like "Well, evolution is just a theory!", completely oblivious to the meaning of the word theory in a scientific context. That the word theory means something that can be observed and reproduced, such as evolution.

Australia is considered one of the smarter nations, but I'm almost certain that it's just a few very bright people carrying the weight of a very dumb overall populace. Most people don't care to educate themselves on matters more difficult than the location of the nearest pub.

micro evolution can be observed and reproduced, not macro evolution. right now no one definitively knows anything about our origins, and for a true way to test it out, would take thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of years of observation. so right now arguing the validity of one theory or another is pointless.

Not quite true. Macroevolution is why we have the bananas we have today, the dogs breeds we have, the corn...

We've not seen anything change species without human intervention though, correct.

the examples you gave are micro evolution, macro evolution is a complete change, like from monkey's to human, from fish to whatever.