1 in 4 unaware Earth revolves around Sun

[Jordanj6502]

The article in the OP worded that terribly then.

More info about the big bang and evolution questions.

A survey experiment showed that 48% of respondents said they thought it was true that “human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals,” but 72% gave this response when the same statement was prefaced by “according to the theory of evolution.” Similarly, 39% of respondents said that “the universe began with a huge explosion,” but 60% gave this response when the statement was prefaced by “according to astronomers.”

 

[00clone]

When given the statement "'the Big Bang' sucks", an internet slap fight broke out between several groups of respondants

 

[Pitt_Clone]

Well the point of the questions is that they are all supposed to be common scientific knowledge... I found a pdf of the results. And the US is no worse than any other country/region. Though the question about the big bang was "True or False: The universe began with a huge explosion." So it wasn't that people don't know the big bang, it is that they don't believe the theory.

Here on page 23 (pdf warning): http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/content/chapter-7/c07.pdf

Well if that's how they worded the question the answer should be false. The Big Bang wasn't really an explosion.

 

[Doc]

You would think that after enough of these studies they could conclude that a lot of people aren't that intelligent, and stop wasting money on studies.

 

[Farnsworth]

You would think that after enough of these studies they could conclude that a lot of people aren't that intelligent, and stop wasting money on studies.

No kidding. I think we need to find out if America likes Pizza or not.

oh wait, Government Pizza Study: 13 Percent of Americans Eat Pizza Any Given Day | TIME.com

 

[oldwiseman]

If you haven't figured out that most people are not very intelligent, you are likely one of those people. Sorry for the bad news.

In Iowa we are fortunate to have a fairly well educated population. It's unfathomable to most of us that a person could make it through high school not knowing how to read and write. However, it happens more often than you might think. Wait until you have kids and you find out as 3rd graders they are reading at a 12th grade level and the district average reads at a 10th grade level (or something like that). You realize how low the bar is really quick when you see how our kids compare to national averages.