One in four Americans 'do not know the Earth circles the Sun'

[Rapunzel]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10640518/One-in-four-Americans-do-not-know-the-Earth-circles-the-Sun.html


One in four Americans 'do not know the Earth circles the Sun'

Barney Henderson

10:30AM GMT 15 Feb 2014

One in four Americans are completely unfamiliar with Nicolaus Copernicus's 1543 theory that the Earth circles the Sun, according to a study by the National Science Foundation.

The survey, released on Friday at an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, asked 2,200 people nine factual questions about physical and biological science, with the average score being just 5.8 correct answers.

The question - "Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth" - was answered incorrectly by 26 per cent of respondents.

Fewer than half of the respondents - 48 per cent - are aware that humans evolved from earlier species of animals and just 39 percent answered correctly that "the universe began with a huge explosion".

A total of 42 per cent of Americans said that astrology is either "very scientific" or "sort of scientific".

Belief in astrology over science seems to be growing. In 2004, 66 per cent of Americans thought astrology was nonsense. "Fewer Americans rejected astrology in 2012 than in recent years," the 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators report said.

"The comparable percentage has not been this low since 1983."

In contrast, a study in China has shown that 92 per cent of people there believe horoscopes are unscientific.

John Besley of Michigan State University, the lead author of the report's chapter on public attitudes toward science, said there is a need to wait "to see if it's a real change" before assessing the significance of the results, but that the data "popped out to me when I saw it".

One in three respondents said science should get more funding from the government.

On a more encouraging note, nearly 90 per cent said the benefits of science outweigh any dangers, and about the same number expressed interest in learning about medical discoveries.

The study also asked people to state their primary sources of information. The results showed a decline in television and newspapers as a source for information on both current news events and science and technology since 2001 and an increase in the internet.

[mountaineer]

Someone of my acquaintance - a union steelworker -  had posted that on Facebook with a comment blaming Christians for the ignorance ("They don't believe in evolution either," he sniffed). I refrained from suggesting responsibility may lie with a lousy (unionized) public school system.

[raml]

What has Christianity got to do with whether the earth goes around the sun that can be proven so it isn't in question. Evolution is just a theory and no one can prove it so a Christians belief or no belief in evolution but a belief in creation has nothing to do with their belief in most things scientific that can be proven. I don't believe for a minute man was ever an ape and I don't see any other apes or monkeys turning into man so where is the proof. To equate public schools lack of teaching good science with a Christians religious beliefs is idiotic. Public Schools are so poorly run these days it is a miracle anybody gets a decent education except those who self teach themselves.

[EC]

What has Christianity got to do with whether the earth goes around the sun that can be proven so it isn't in question. Evolution is just a theory and no one can prove it so a Christians belief or no belief in evolution but a belief in creation has nothing to do with their belief in most things scientific that can be proven. I don't believe for a minute man was ever an ape and I don't see any other apes or monkeys turning into man so where is the proof. To equate public schools lack of teaching good science with a Christians religious beliefs is idiotic. Public Schools are so poorly run these days it is a miracle anybody gets a decent education except those who self teach themselves.

Gravity is just a theory. Levitated yet today?

Now stop doing that foolishness. The apes, and to a lesser extent the monkeys are our cousins, not our ancestors.
Several million years ago there was a monkey (actually, it was probably a lemur, but let that go). Some of it's kids stayed in the jungle. Some lived in the savannah. You are in the tall grass, you need to stand upright, to see threats. Legs get longer, arms get longer, because the short ones get eaten fast. Look at baboons. Same environment, very similar body shape. You learn how to warn others of threats, the beginnings of language.

[Rapunzel]

A really interesting hour on The Blaze yesterday with Will Cain re: public schools vs charter schools.  There was a lot of minorities on the program who pulled their kids out of public schools and put them into charter schools in NY because they were so dismayed at the education their kids were getting in public school. Will had a segment with a NY teacher who was upset by this because (he claimed) everyone should be getting the same education and for some reason he thought charter schools were unfair to public schools (uhhhh yes, they are giving a better education!)...

[Chieftain]

What has Christianity got to do with whether the earth goes around the sun that can be proven so it isn't in question. Evolution is just a theory and no one can prove it so a Christians belief or no belief in evolution but a belief in creation has nothing to do with their belief in most things scientific that can be proven. I don't believe for a minute man was ever an ape and I don't see any other apes or monkeys turning into man so where is the proof. To equate public schools lack of teaching good science with a Christians religious beliefs is idiotic. Public Schools are so poorly run these days it is a miracle anybody gets a decent education except those who self teach themselves.

Quick question for you...how old is the Earth??  Here's another:  how long has man been on Earth??

Your answers are important and could answer your own questions.....

 

[jmyrlefuller]

As stupid as Americans may be, I have a good feeling that the NSF is being trolled.