I came across this article. Once there, just go to page 6. Do twenty percent of Americans really not know that the earth travels around the Sun?! I guess they may all just be true Creationists (cf. this article for an interesting (and short) angle on that).
Anyways, what am I missing here? Do people really believe that (or are they just joking, for goodness’ sakes)?
Thank you in advance to all who reply:)
FWIW, I’m coming to see ignorance as a kind of coping strategy in a world where there is too much knowledge and too little use for it all. Not being too bright might be a way to simplify your life, put bread on the table, and get right with God.
About that question of whether the Earth goes 'round the Sun, my guess is that most of those 20% who missed it just misunderstood the question.
Which is not a good thing either, but it’s not like 20% of us think the Earth is the center of the solar system.
Lets not say America. Lets say people. In Germany 74% got it right and in Great Britain 67% got it right. America was 79%. link
The American Physical Society puts out a survey like this every few years or so. The last one I remember was published in one of the Spring 2008 issues (sorry, no link to the online version) and stated some pretty egregious ones:
-only 40% of Americans accept evolution as definitely true (with 20% not sure),
-21% of Americans believe that the continents do not move over time, and
-47% (!) believe that the earliest humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs.
So if only 20% think the Sun goes around the Earth, we’re doing less poorly than I would’ve guessed!
Yeah, Americans really are THAT ignorant. I just don’t see any reason to believe it’s limited to Americans. I recall reading that in South Africa they believe sex with a virgin will cure AIDS, which is part of why there’s an epidemic of underaged girls with AIDS in the nation. A lot of non-Americans, especially those in the middle east, believe Jews murder babies or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is true. Parts of the world still believe in witch doctors. Much of Europe not only believes ‘extreme’ religions should be banned, but they go so far as to actually ban such extreme elements as a hard scarf or a style of building. Most people seem to be clueless on how their government works, at least I rarely can get a non-american to clearly explain their government system in anything but the vaguest of descriptions.
Anyway, point is, HUMANS are really that ignorant, not just Americans.
Yea sorry about us being ignorant…I’m assuming we were just a little busy being the world superpower.
As has been said in this thread, it’s not just Americans, its people all over the world
I think there are a lot of people who are ignorant about anything that doesn’t affect them in their daily lives. I’m not sure that I blame them.
The universe rotates around America, don’tcha know. 
And continents DO move over time. Just not our time (tell that to China).
How important is knowledge of heliocentrism, anyway? It’s not like Joe Sixpack is planning any ocean voyages or rocket launches. Beyond knowing that summer = longer days, what difference does knowing the mechanism make?
Yea… kinda like history, algebra, grammar…or anything really; it’s not like they have any actual use. As long as he knows what button turns the TV on, he’s good.
Well, for some 75% of the population… yes, actually. The best the state can do is make education available to all and hope some percentage of the population turns into scientists and engineers who can make significant advances that will benefit all.
Yeah, well I have a lot of stuff I need to remember. And then there’s a lot of stuff I don’t need to remember. In my daily life, I don’t ever need to know that the earth revolves around the sun (or whatever). And I have never needed algebra. Not once.
I do need to know whether to use lie or lay, quite often in my daily life, and I have to look it up. Every. Damn. Time.
25% of people have IQs of varying degrees below average (90-100 being the average) and most of those people are functional enough to take surveys considering only a tiny % of people with sub-average IQs are seriously impaired. So yes, when you also add in people smarter than that who didn’t pay attention to anything in their science classes, it’s possible that 20% might not understand this.
True - some large number of Europeans believe that toxic substances dissolved in water, then repeatedly diluted to the point that there is nothing but water left, will cure what ails you.
But they have a higher acceptance of how life evolved.
Seems like every society has its wacky beliefs.
The fuckers vote, too. Howbout that shit??!!
When the question is worded in the form of ‘do you believe’, it gives the person answering an opportunity to provide the answer they want, instead of what they have been learned. Even though very few adults rationally think that a guy in a red suit drops down chimneys to deliver presents to every boy and girl on Christmas Eve, if you take a poll asking ‘do you believe in Santa Claus’, you will get a large number of yes responses. The number goes up after Thanksgiving, and drops drastically by Jan. 1. When you factor in the people who don’t understand the question, deliberately give the wrong answer (who me?), and the truly ignorant, the numbers aren’t that surprising.
This kind of misses the point. It’s not a matter of taking the trouble to learn some obscure fact, it’s a matter of how the hell can 20% of the population somehow not be aware of this basic piece of common knowledge. I mean you really have to work at it to be that ignorant.
How do you know that? Did you do some research on these facts or are you just believing, what you are told? Please, answer me Jim B.
Oh, I doubt it. A few distractions during early schooling, a general disinterest in all things sciency, a preference for Desperate Housewives over Star Trek… it’s not like most people are ever tested on such knowledge in their post-academic years.