So us Brits actually do get plenty of sunlight, in the form of a glorious, strong, mature cheddar?Grouchy Imp said:
About 25% of Americans Don't Know the Earth Revolves Around the Sun
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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?MinionJoe said:
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.Arnoxthe1 said:
CAPTCHA: need a pina colada? Yes, yes I do.
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.
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.HanFyren said:
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.)
Exactly. Whilst our summer may only last a few weeks, the discerning Englishman may be provisioned with an excellent cheese board all year round.Blunderboy said:
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.VanQ said:
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.Elfgore said:
The orbit one is baffling, no doubt. Any word on how it was worded?
Not quite true. Macroevolution is why we have the bananas we have today, the dogs breeds we have, the corn...Keiichi Morisato said:
We've not seen anything change species without human intervention though, correct.
just want to point a few things outiseko said:
(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)
the examples you gave are micro evolution, macro evolution is a complete change, like from monkey's to human, from fish to whatever.lacktheknack said:
Gotta love the religion hate in this topic. Here, let's throw some more statistics into the mix:
76% of Americans identify themselves as "Christian". Whether they are "saved" by Christian standards is another matter entirely, but roughly 3/4 of Americans are devoted enough to the faith that they choose to be identified as such.
4% of Americans identify as other religions, the majority of which being Judaism and Islam. For the record, Christianity and Islam both stem from Judaism, meaning that all 3 religions believe the same or similar things about creation and the development of man, i.e. God spoke and it was done, and God sculpted us out of dust in his image specifically, respectively.
Only 15% of Americans identify as Atheist/Agnostic, with the remaining 5% refusing to identify either because they hate polling or they don't know where they stand.
If this sample size accurately represented America, and wasn't a sample out of some heavily Atheist populated areas, then that means that roughly 40% of people who identify themselves as beholden to creationist beliefs gladly answered "yes, evolution is fact" AND around 60% said "Yeah, the Big Bang is what started the universe".
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
On top of this, you have people like me, who believe that Creator-Guided Evolution is a very valid possibility. While I am open to evolution and in a general scientific setting will accept it as fact, had I received this poll, I likely would have marked that I don't believe in evolution as stated. The question seems to be somewhat predatory, and in a casual setting like most of these polls I would have said the easiest thing to say (in this case no).
So please, people, stop with the religion hate. Religion may be shaping the results of this poll, but the reasons are somewhat valid, and it's not as much of an influencer as you think. The fact that over half of Americans unquestionably accept evolution is a HUGE shift to science from religion in just the past decade.
EDIT: Another thing I just thought of. Note how many people screwed up the Earth's Orbit question. This is undeniable fact, Religion hasn't influenced that answer in the last 300+ years. Take into account the number of people who answered that question wrong (and are therefore COMPLETE imbeciles), then add that number in with the statistics above, and Religion plays even less and less of a picture than sheer stupidity does.
76% of Americans identify themselves as "Christian". Whether they are "saved" by Christian standards is another matter entirely, but roughly 3/4 of Americans are devoted enough to the faith that they choose to be identified as such.
4% of Americans identify as other religions, the majority of which being Judaism and Islam. For the record, Christianity and Islam both stem from Judaism, meaning that all 3 religions believe the same or similar things about creation and the development of man, i.e. God spoke and it was done, and God sculpted us out of dust in his image specifically, respectively.
Only 15% of Americans identify as Atheist/Agnostic, with the remaining 5% refusing to identify either because they hate polling or they don't know where they stand.
If this sample size accurately represented America, and wasn't a sample out of some heavily Atheist populated areas, then that means that roughly 40% of people who identify themselves as beholden to creationist beliefs gladly answered "yes, evolution is fact" AND around 60% said "Yeah, the Big Bang is what started the universe".
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
On top of this, you have people like me, who believe that Creator-Guided Evolution is a very valid possibility. While I am open to evolution and in a general scientific setting will accept it as fact, had I received this poll, I likely would have marked that I don't believe in evolution as stated. The question seems to be somewhat predatory, and in a casual setting like most of these polls I would have said the easiest thing to say (in this case no).
So please, people, stop with the religion hate. Religion may be shaping the results of this poll, but the reasons are somewhat valid, and it's not as much of an influencer as you think. The fact that over half of Americans unquestionably accept evolution is a HUGE shift to science from religion in just the past decade.
EDIT: Another thing I just thought of. Note how many people screwed up the Earth's Orbit question. This is undeniable fact, Religion hasn't influenced that answer in the last 300+ years. Take into account the number of people who answered that question wrong (and are therefore COMPLETE imbeciles), then add that number in with the statistics above, and Religion plays even less and less of a picture than sheer stupidity does.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the second one was a joke, but the first one likely was not.BigTuk said:
For someone who so quickly and snarkily comments on someone's inability to understand basic science questions, it surprises me you didn't know this one.
Basic body temperatures are high enough to kill sperm outright, thus their production and storage system is just slightly outside the body, allowing the sperm to survive.
If your balls weren't outside your body, YOU WOULD BE STERILE.
OT: It doesn't surprise me that people can be stupid. Not just in America, but everywhere.
Try asking other countries with a religious bias questions that could be influenced by opinion and you'll see stupidity is a commodity not only produced by the USA.
One thing kinda annoys me about that saying. If half of the people are dumber than the average, than the other half are smarter than the average. Averages are what you get when you add up everyone and divide by the number of people. If half of the population had an IQ of 100 and the others below, the average wouldn't be 100 IQ, it'd be lower than that. So truth be told, there can be only a few average people in the world and everyone else is above or below average.CriticKitten said:
I fail to see how poor knowledge of science leads to having bad taste in music. But I'd love to hear your theory!BigTuk said:
Indeed. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=croHtCzzDhQ]Grouchy Imp said:
And I'm sure you consider yourself to be in the top 50%, just like everyone else.CriticKitten said:
Just like how I'm sure you consider everyone else to be ignorant of how things really work, and that you have all the answers, just like everyone else.
Oh, hell! What does that matter?! So we go around the sun! If we went around the moon or round and round the garden like a teddy bear, it wouldn't make any difference! All that matters to me is the work! Without that, my brain rots. Put that in your blog - or better still, stop inflicting your opinions on the world!