China Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 It says the survey is done every two years. If you look in the actual report, Figure 7-6 you can see that the number of correct responses has improved marginally over the last 10 years, so it's not like people are getting stupider, there has always been a % of the population that either doesn't know or doesn't care about these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacks 'n' Stuff Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Us Americans weren't too stupid to be able to beat the ass out of Vietnam after what they did to us at Pearl Harbor back in '63. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Lasers were old news in the 50s and 60s? Lasers weren't even invented until the early 60s, so consider me skeptical that they immediately made it into your elementary school science curriculum. I'd like to see a 1960s K-12 science text book featuring lasers. I said 60's, we were taught the difference between masers and lasers in elementary. our curriculum might have been different being next to the space center,but I doubt it varied much. there was a major push on getting kids into science then....we even delved into genetics and eugenics in elementary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I'd like to see a 1960s K-12 science text book featuring lasers. Would you settle for this: as evidence that lasers weren't exactly restricted information? in 1964? In 69, Apollo 11 set up a laser reflector, on the surface of the Moon, so that scientists could bounce a laser off the moon, to measure it's distance. I'm pretty certain that my elementary school mentioned Apollo once or twice. (See, you young types might not know it, but, back when the USA had a space program, it was kinda Big News.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Us Americans weren't too stupid to be able to beat the ass out of Vietnam after what they did to us at Pearl Harbor back in '63. C'mon we all know that the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherrardsd Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Us Americans weren't too stupid to be able to beat the ass out of Vietnam after what they did to us at Pearl Harbor back in '63. Is this serious? It made me laugh pretty hard hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkabong82 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I missed #8..but then again, my science is political. Same, 8 was the only one I missed because I couldn't remember. I wonder how much religion factors in to this survey. Only 48% got the last question right and religion plays a part in that one for sure, plus old religion did believe Earth was the center of solar system. What shocking is that people with college degrees only scored an average of 78% on these questions. On these questions, if your not getting 100% you need a refund from your college. Good thing they didn't have questions on grammar since you used that first "you're" wrong. So as you can see, everybody makes mistakes. Your response is IMO over the top. Missing 1 or 2 is understandable on that test. You honestly expect say a history major to remember if it's the father or mother who determines gender of child? Also, as shocking as the headline of the article is, if you look at the table results South Korea is the ONLY country that did better than us on that question. In fact, on average we did better than the rest of the countries on the chart save for South Korea. In fact, looking at the results, I'm surprised #8 was one of our better percentages. What's disturbing, IMO, is that the Big Bang Theory question scored the lowest by far and the 3rd lowest, by 1%, was the evolution question at 10. Disturbing IMO because it shows religion, or more specifically Christianity, is playing a part in holding the population back in terms of scientific knowledge. Didn't work out too ell for us in the Dark Ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poman Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Dam that is embarassing. Anyone that got the Earth circling the Sun question wrong should be slapped upside the head with a stapler and then forced to repeat every science class they ever took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkabong82 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Americans are stupid. Not as stupid as the rest of the countries who did worse, except for South Korea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySkinsFan Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Lasers were old news in the 50s and 60s? Lasers weren't even invented until the early 60s, so consider me skeptical that they immediately made it into your elementary school science curriculum. I'd like to see a 1960s K-12 science text book featuring lasers. Goldfiiiiinger! 1964. "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" Goldfinger was so polite! Love that movie and that quote. Bond is strapped to a gold table with a laser pointed at his crotch and Goldfinger turns of the laser (red beam) and the laser creeps up the table. Of course, Bond gets away. In 1964, I was in 8th grade. Thanks to Larry in Post #29 for the still from Goldfinger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I see I was late to the "We're still better than the other guys" party. When you actually look at the data presented in the article none of it is particularly shocking or disappointing beyond a basic level of, "Hmmm, a person should probably know that." Does any of it impact daily life though? No. (And I say this as a math and science teacher.) Also, gotta love the deep, hard-hitting analysis here: "In the United States, respondents' knowledge of science is "strongly related to people's level of formal schooling and the number of science and mathematics courses completed," the report said." Yay for sensational headlines I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 What's disturbing, IMO, is that the Big Bang Theory question scored the lowest by far and the 3rd lowest, by 1%, was the evolution question at 10. Disturbing IMO because it shows religion, or more specifically Christianity, is playing a part in holding the population back in terms of scientific knowledge. Didn't work out too ell for us in the Dark Ages. not to be contrary the Big Bang theory is questioned by reputable scientists, a alternative model that works better has not been developed yet I had no trouble with the quiz because it is plain what answers they wanted. Never understood why some people think it conflicts with religion either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 9 of 10. i also missed #8. Didn't know it, had to guess. (Probably knew it back when and didn't remember.) Thank you Suitland High School. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 ya'll never knew the origin of putting the stem on the apple? ......of course the male determines it, as he should everythi...... s'cuse me, the wife want's a word w/me for some reason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forehead Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I got 90%, sadly I missed #9. If I wasn't speeding through the test and thought about it, I probably would have gotten a perfect score, but alas, it was not to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Americans are stupid. Ignorant, not stupid. Most people can do what they have to in order to survive. And people are ignorant in general, it isn't just Americans. I think some of those questions are pretty problematic. The one about the Big Bang stands out. Is it generally taken as fact that the universe began at the Big Bang? That time travels in a linear fashion and that there is a finite temporal boundary to the universe? I don't think so. Also, how is the one about inheriting the tendency to have boys or girls through the male a well established, commonly known fact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Do most people understand how lasers work? Does knowing that it's at least not by sound waves really matter if you don't really know anything else about them? And the center of the Earth is very hot? Compared to what? North Dakota? The Sun? That's a dumb question. The wording on question four seems designed for obfuscation too. Radioactivity? I don't really know what they mean by that. Radiation? Radioactive decay? Why would they phrase it like you'd naturally assume radioactive decay is an artificial phenomenon in the first place? Seems like it's a gotcha quiz. "My word, look at all the dumb people that don't know science!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Us Americans weren't too stupid to be able to beat the ass out of Vietnam after what they did to us at Pearl Harbor back in '63. No you mean them slinky Japanese in the War of 1812. Tippecanoe and Reagan too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkabong82 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 not to be contrary the Big Bang theory is questioned by reputable scientists, a alternative model that works better has not been developed yet I had no trouble with the quiz because it is plain what answers they wanted. Never understood why some people think it conflicts with religion either that's the thing, when presented with the quiz and those specific answers, most know the answers they are looking for. It's just my opinion that some willingly chose false due to religious upbringing and that the number of those people far, far outweigh those who chose false based on questions within the scientific community, otherwise question 10 would have been higher too IMO. As a "modern day" very unorthodox Christian, I don't think it has to conflict with religion if one is willing to believe: 1. the Bible is fallible having been written by man and been subject to many, many interpretations and translations, 2. that man wasn't meant to know all about creation in ancient times but to discover it for themselves hence explanations are based on that time's thinking, and 3. that embracing science doesn't destroy religion but actually reaffirms it from the proper perspective. The biggest reason, IMO, why science conflicts with many Christians in the US is due to their misconception that the Bible is the exact word of God and is infallible despite all the evidence to the contrary. Do most people understand how lasers work? Does knowing that it's at least not by sound waves really matter if you don't really know anything else about them? And the center of the Earth is very hot? Compared to what? North Dakota? The Sun? That's a dumb question. The wording on question four seems designed for obfuscation too. Radioactivity? I don't really know what they mean by that. Radiation? Radioactive decay? Why would they phrase it like you'd naturally assume radioactive decay is an artificial phenomenon in the first place? Seems like it's a gotcha quiz. "My word, look at all the dumb people that don't know science!" True but I think if you're cognizant enough to ask such questions then you know the answers they're looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 True but I think if you're cognizant enough to ask such questions then you know the answers they're looking for. I agree with him, it is irritating in the same manner push polls are. and next to worthless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkabong82 Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I agree with him, it is irritating in the same manner push polls are. and next to worthless For us yes, but when looking at general population in a diverse country with a large population and doing a volunteer test, the questions do need to be very generalized and basic. The smart people will know the answers being sought even if they can see past/above the generalizations, average people will know most of the answers, and below average will simply get a bunch wrong. I think it has some merit in terms of generalized trivia, but agree that truly significant results would need much, much better and more thorough questioning. But who's going to actually volunteer for something like that for free? We do have school standardized tests, but that's a limited population with its own issues on questions, plus other countries tend to cheat on them even worse than we do since results tend to affect policies, curriculum, and jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 What shocking is that people with college degrees only scored an average of 78% on these questions. On these questions, if your not getting 100% you need a refund from your college. You only need a minor refund for any grammar-related courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 This test is dumber than the results "Big Bang THEORY, true or false?" Dumbassedness, rampant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 "You can't fix stupid. Stupid is forever...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinC Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 "The Earth circles the sun once every year" This is not entirely accurate. The Sun and the Earth orbit their center of mass, aka barycenter. And even this is an approximation, as the Earth actually orbits where the barycenter was about eight minutes ago as gravity propagates at approximately the speed of light. Thats what I was going to say. Well, sort of .... Seriously I would expect anyone who made it through High School to be able to get at least 9 out of 10 of those questions. I got 10 but I sort of guessed at the answer to if it was the fathers genes that caused a baby to be a boy or girl. Then again 46% of Americans believe God created humans as we are within the last 10,000 years .... This test is dumber than the results "Big Bang THEORY, true or false?" Dumbassedness, rampant I know - I mean the repeats are on like everyday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.