What does that have to do with the topic?CriticalMiss said:
You're just generalizing and putting up straw men, saying all religious people condemn gays is like saying all atheists are arrogant douchebags.
About 25% of Americans Don't Know the Earth Revolves Around the Sun
- Thread starter John Keefer
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You're just generalizing and putting up straw men, saying all religious people condemn gays is like saying all atheists are arrogant douchebags.
Careful with that bias there- you went up and stated that %25 of people living in the United States did not know the Earth revolves around the sun. There is no comparison here except an implied matter of fact statement that everyone should know this. What are these statistics in other parts of the world?
Actually there's ongoing debate as to whether or not a virus can be considered to be a life form or not. Simply put;Hawkeye21 said:
Arguments against - it is not alive because it doesn't possess the cellular machinery necessary to replicate itself unaided.
Arguments in favour - viruses are quite clearly a distinct species in their own right albeit not one that fits the classical definitions of life. Some would argue that since they do self replicate in the right circumstances they can be considered alive and an extreme example of obligate parasites.
A bit of nitpicking: Viruses are comprised of many, many molecules. A molecule is a term describing two or more atoms joined together in a chemical compound. Viruses are actually quite complex and consist of many molecules forming the structure of its RNA/DNA, protein coat, associated enzymes and other structural or functional elements.
Agreed. Now, I'm not opposed taking the piss out of der Amerikaner; when it is warranted. Like on the War On Terror, perhaps.rtazen said:
This particular case is just silly, because I'm prepared to bet that the figures will be very similar in whichever part of the world you'd run this survey in. It's meaningless, and is very poorly phrased. I wouldn't attach any real importance to this survey at all.
Not to mention, it's rather impossible to miss the fact that the United States is very, very big, and while there will be loads of poorly educated people, there will also be loads of very, very intelligent people. Something poorly done surveys like this one tend to miss.
Attributed to St. Holmes. Patron Saint of Wankers and True Face of Our Time.Objectable said:
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!
(Well, second to Dr. House)
(I must say, that's a lovely picture!)
also the universe DID NOT start with an explosion, the big bang wasnt an explosion per se, just an event in which the universe expanded drastically from an infinitely small point
Ok, so, while I appreciate the nature of a scientific survey as much as the next guy, I feel it's both misguided and arrogant to do this particular sort of test. For one, the origins of both our universe and our species are theories, which aren't -guesses- as some people like too assert, but also aren't ironclad, we don't -really- know, we create models of creation based on the best information we have. Second off, this questionnaire is super unprofessional if it didn't account for religious belief. I'm not religious myself, but I feel that categorizing them as "Wrong" about the foundations of the universe and our species is.. I don't want to say offensive, but definitely not something that should have been included in this study in my opinion.
This would be big if the study had a decent size of actual people tested to it... 2,200 people out of a population around 313.9 million estimated at the year of 2012 has absolutely no bearing on what the level of education or awareness of the average US citizen has... A study on this level is considered a complete waste of time if it is trying to evaluate the whole country or even the smallest state in the country. All this paper does is give people that skim read it the thought that most USA citizens are complete idiots which may or may not be true, but this polling is not one that proves either case.John Keefer said:About 25% of Americans Don't Know the Earth Revolves Around the Sun
Does the Earth go around the Sun or does the Sun go around the Earth? And while we are at it, do antibiotics kill viruses?
Do you know the answers to the above science questions? Apparently many Americans don't. About 1 in 4 people tested in a recent survey conducted by the National Science Foundation think the Sun revolves around the Earth. It looks like most of these folks are still living in the educational Dark Ages.
Lest you think the sample size was too small, 2,200 people were asked 10 science questions, and the average result was 6.5 correct, according to the poll released on Friday, and reported by Phys.org [http://phys.org/news/2014-02-americans-unaware-earth-circles-sun.html]. So the number or respondents was fairly substantial to pull numbers from. Other science questions that received mixed responses:
Did the universe begin with a huge explosion? Only 39% answered yes correctly.
Did human beings, as we know them today, develop from earlier species of animals? Only 48% correctly said yes.
Do antibiotics kill viruses? Only 51% correctly answered no.
There is hope, however, as most Americans really like science and seem to hold scientists in high regard. But then the results seem to indicate that while they may like science, they may not necessarily read enough about it.
Source: NPR [http://phys.org/news/2014-02-americans-unaware-earth-circles-sun.html]
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These crap pollings/statistics need to stop coming out as if they prove anything, but just propagate bs and waste time and money... The only actual way to do it somewhat correctly is to get at least enough people that can give some actual population percentage that is a whole number and not something ridiculous as 0.000000000000000001% of a population...
That's a good point. It's like stabbing a table in revenge because you hit your shin on it.Hawkeye21 said:
All in all, I hope this isn't true. Oh God, I hope it isn't.
And if it is I hope the only people asked were in the southern states. Then it's ok.
Nah, viruses are way more complex than being just one molecule. Look at this cute bugger:Hawkeye21 said:
As for viruses being alive or not, that's an interesting question because it gets to the definitions of life. They don't have their own metabolism, but they reproduce, mutate, evolve, contain genetic material etc.; that whole life-thing is pretty iffy to define in some areas.
Lastly, that question about the universe stemming from an explosion seems kind of misleading to me when you consider it's apparently more viewed as an expansion of space and time than an actual explosion or anything. There was no space nor time for anything to explode in before it. In fact, the very idea of "before it" is supposedly nonsensical since there was no time, right? Now my head hurts. I like biology, but physics is a bit much for me.
[i/]And like that...[/i]
[i/]The news section became Religion and Politics[/i]
I do I agree that more data would be nice. These numbers are pretty vague.
That being said, I'm sorry, but belief does not change scientific data. In a battle of evidence, there is mountains more to support the big bang and evolution than any other concept someone could bring up.
[i/]The news section became Religion and Politics[/i]
I do I agree that more data would be nice. These numbers are pretty vague.
That being said, I'm sorry, but belief does not change scientific data. In a battle of evidence, there is mountains more to support the big bang and evolution than any other concept someone could bring up.
Yeah, but who cares about all of that when you can make another "lolMurrica" joke, right?tippy2k2 said:
Besides, the Big Bang? "Explosion"? Talk about simplification. While I don't doubt they caught people who simply believe God did it, it's equally plausible there were just skeptics or people who do keep up with modern science.
t amout of peopl polled does not show anything of what the majority of us americans actully know and not know. They could poll one wit 2 million people and have half of them have all answered wrong and still it would not prove even a fraction of how all americans think. Th best a survey of 2 million would do is be to analyse one of the bigger States in the USA if all the peple polled where from there and not multiple states tht have different leves of education and practices.BoogieManFL said:
That's silly. "In my opinion, the world is flat, has four corners and is hung in space." That doesn't become any less factually false just because it's "my opinion". Of course they can ask in this way to see whether the opinion people hold on the subject is correct or not. Also, according to the OP, it wasn't even phrased as an "in your opinion,..."-question.Blunderboy said:
You can say it's your right to be wrong and base your view of the world on your beliefs, sure, but you can't go all-out Solipsist on people and act like no objective reality exists out there that people can actually investigate. The moment you do that, everything you say becomes irrelevant.
First post!
My first thoughts when I read that: As a suburban American living roughly 30 miles east of San Francisco who went to a public school that taught Columbus was the first guy to propose a round Earth and that he was the first European in the Americas and got along perfectly well with the natives, I, too, have little faith in our education system and our overall collective knowledge*.
HOWEVER, I do have to wonder how many of those responses might have been due to getting the two mixed up. I have not been diagnosed with dyslexia, but when I first read "does the Earth circle the Sun or does the Sun circle the Earth", I still get initially confused, not because I don't know the correct answer (of course the Earth orbits the Sun in an imperfect circle, and in fact I'm also aware that the Earth used to have a lower orbit), but because I tend to get a bit confused by phrases like that and often have to take a minute in order to figure out which one is which (and I also have trouble differentiating left from right).
*Knowledge specifically, not intelligence; intelligence isn't a measure of how many random factoids a person knows, but how well a person can use what knowledge is had as a tool for furthering whatever is desired... a pet definition I developed from years of lonely thinking to myself about it based on some of the things I've read and seen; feel free to challenge it.
My first thoughts when I read that: As a suburban American living roughly 30 miles east of San Francisco who went to a public school that taught Columbus was the first guy to propose a round Earth and that he was the first European in the Americas and got along perfectly well with the natives, I, too, have little faith in our education system and our overall collective knowledge*.
HOWEVER, I do have to wonder how many of those responses might have been due to getting the two mixed up. I have not been diagnosed with dyslexia, but when I first read "does the Earth circle the Sun or does the Sun circle the Earth", I still get initially confused, not because I don't know the correct answer (of course the Earth orbits the Sun in an imperfect circle, and in fact I'm also aware that the Earth used to have a lower orbit), but because I tend to get a bit confused by phrases like that and often have to take a minute in order to figure out which one is which (and I also have trouble differentiating left from right).
*Knowledge specifically, not intelligence; intelligence isn't a measure of how many random factoids a person knows, but how well a person can use what knowledge is had as a tool for furthering whatever is desired... a pet definition I developed from years of lonely thinking to myself about it based on some of the things I've read and seen; feel free to challenge it.
So 39% were wrong, and so were the makers of this survey.John Keefer said:
Space expanded not exploded, there was no release of energy due to rapid oxidation of a chemical, or violent rupturing of a pressurized container.
A little annoyed at the "Did the universe begin with a huge explosion?" question.
While the big bang is the leading theory, and it's a pretty good one, we're still not really to the point where we should consider it absolute fact (or call it an explosion).
While the big bang is the leading theory, and it's a pretty good one, we're still not really to the point where we should consider it absolute fact (or call it an explosion).
Welcome, welcome! Even if it does feel like welcoming someone inside a house when an elephant has been sick all over the front room, welcome none the less!Riverwolf said:
That is a rather good philosophy, I must say. It's a bit like the old "I have an idea". Everyone, after all, has an idea. The tricky part is doing something with that idea. That is what's really impressive.
Cribdeath is leftist fascist gays fault!Sir Thomas Sean Connery said:[i/]And like that...[/i]
[i/]The news section became Religion and Politics[/i]
((It's been a while since I roleplayed.))
Well, c'mon, there are perfectly sensible Republicans as well. The basic Republican idea is, while not my cup of tea, perfectly sensible. As little government involvement into daily life as possible, amongst other things. The trouble is that the party leadership wants to cash in all those sweet extremist votes, as well.gamerguy20097 said:
