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1 In 4 Americans Thinks The Sun Goes Around The Earth, Survey Says

• jlafon 13y ago
  How can this be? Perhaps, their sample is biased? It would really be sad if 25% of Americans really have this misconception - not to mention the similarly high percentages for other countries.
  • justintocci 13y ago
    I don't follow. Why would that be sad?
    • eximius 13y ago
      Because it shows a fundamental disconnect between the populace at large and basic science.
• ergoproxy 13y ago
  International comparisons were also done: US respondents answered the question about the Earth going around the Sun correctly (74%) more often than Europeans (66%). South Koreans answered this correctly 86% of the time. There were a couple of politically charged questions on the survey: 1. The universe began with a big bang: US answered True only 39% of the time. 2. Human beings evolved from earlier species: US answered True 48% of the time. Across all 9 survey questions, US respondents answered correctly 65% of the time. Education level was a major factor: "those who had not completed high school answered 45% of the nine questions correctly, and those who had completed a bachelor's degree answered 78% of the questions correctly. The average percentage correct rose to 83% among those who had taken three or more science and mathematics courses in college..." (page 7-20).