fredinno Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 http://time.com/7809/1-in-4-americans-thinks-sun-orbits-earth/ No joke. 1/4 of Americans believe the Sun revolves around the Earth. Also, it states that Europeans actually scored WORSE on that question, so it's not really a problem isolated in 'merica. http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/1-in-4-americans-dont-know-earth-orbits-the-sun-yes-really-140214.htm Here it also states that about halfway Americans believe Astrology is bunk science. No really. Guys, take your tin foil hats off. Please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchz95 Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I think (hope?) a lot of them are just trolling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Findthepin1 Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Oy vey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredinno Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 14 minutes ago, Mitchz95 said: I think (hope?) a lot of them are just trolling. The articles? Nope, Time is a pretty decent source. Not to mention this s*** is all over the net. The people? Doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Phil Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Idk about the survey size, so I can't really judge. But I think it's more accurate to say that they don't know. Most people probably don't need that information and thus, they forgot. So I think it means that most people don't care and that people guessed, resulting in that 1/4. So, maybe it's like 1/2 of Americans don't know. But that's completely conjecture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainDreamer Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Well, look at the bright side - that is a 75% of people that know basic things like this. We will still have to see the details of the survey to see how accurate it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 How can the Sun revolve around the Earth, when the Earth is a flat disk?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legoclone09 Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 9 minutes ago, kerbiloid said: How can the Sun revolve around the Earth, when the Earth is a flat disk?! No, no, no. The Earth is a toroid, not a flat disk. That's why the ROUND-8 looks like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredinno Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 50 minutes ago, RainDreamer said: Well, look at the bright side - that is a 75% of people that know basic things like this. We will still have to see the details of the survey to see how accurate it is. "A National Science Foundation study involving 2,200 participants find that about 25 percent of Americans got this question wrong: 'Does the Earth go around the sun, or does the sun go around the Earth?'" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Phil Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Just now, fredinno said: "A National Science Foundation study involving 2,200 participants find that about 25 percent of Americans got this question wrong: 'Does the Earth go around the sun, or does the sun go around the Earth?'" The trouble with that is that you can interpret that in many ways. Some thought it was right, while it seems that more just guessed wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigadier Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) 12 minutes ago, fredinno said: "A National Science Foundation study involving 2,200 participants find that about 25 percent of Americans got this question wrong: 'Does the Earth go around the sun, or does the sun go around the Earth?'" I guess some respondents might have interpreted that it all depends on your frame of reference. Since they live on Earth it must be the centre. The fact that, consequently, the entire universe must then also revolve around the Earth is another discussion, but likely fits in with some religious teachings of the last couple of millennia. Tongue firmly in cheek... P.S. I do realize that at least one Church has accepted the view that the Earth is not the centre of the universe. Edited December 29, 2015 by Brigadier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K^2 Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Laws of heavenly motion. Earth is at the center of creation, and heaven revolves around an axis passing through it at a constant rate. All bodies in heaven are attracted to each other by a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them. All bodies in heaven are attracted to Earth by a force proportional to their mass and inversely proportional to distance from Earth. All bodies in heaven are repelled from the axis of rotation by a force proportional to their mass and distance from the axis. All bodies in heaven are acted on by the force that is proportional to their mass and speed perpendicular to the axis and is directed on the line perpendicular both to their velocity and axis of rotation. All bodies in heaven are pushed along the line connecting Sun to Earth by a force proportional to the mass of the body. That covers the dominant forces. Should be sufficient to stand up to the test by any lay person with a telescope and a lot of spare time. Doesn't account for Sun's wobble or Earth Sun orbit's eccentricity, but that requires more careful observations done by scientific community, and these guys are obviously a part of the grand conspiracy to keep the truth hidden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotius Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 That's just sad. Copernicus is rolling in his grave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex_NL Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 2 hours ago, kerbiloid said: How can the Sun revolve around the Earth, when the Earth is a flat disk?! Earth isn't flat. It's as round as a pancake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Random Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Don't worry, I think I've seen similar results for Russia, and there was a funny screenshot from french (?) "Who wants to be a millionaire" where audience couldn't answer "what revolves around the Earth" question. Stupidity is like terrorism: it doesn't have a nationality, religion or citizenship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisk02 Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Well a quarter of america is trollers... That would explain much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temstar Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 4 hours ago, Bill Phil said: Most people probably don't need that information I would think basic cosmological questions like "what does the world I stand on look like from a distance" come across most kid's head so I'm not sure if I buy that excuse. Besides, you can't argue on the one hand "Pluto was a planet according to mnemonics they taught us at school so change it back" and then on the other hand "well they never taught us that Earth went around the Sun", Americans are afterall the loudest bunch about Pluto's demotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A35K Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) 5 hours ago, Bill Phil said: Idk about the survey size, so I can't really judge. But I think it's more accurate to say that they don't know. Most people probably don't need that information and thus, they forgot. So I think it means that most people don't care and that people guessed, resulting in that 1/4. So, maybe it's like 1/2 of Americans don't know. But that's completely conjecture. Yes, but honestly, is it really hard to forget something as simple as 'Earth around the Sun with all other planets'? I mean sure, after you stop studying/caring about something, you forget most of it, but the simplest things should really stay in your mind. But the thing is, do all these people just avoid anything intelligent??? I mean, on pretty much all major online news that I read, such as BBC, there is a science section (which often has a few articles on the front page), and often these articles are about astronomy, (and make it pretty clear how the basics of the universe work.) So do the papers that these people read not have anything like that? Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't read any news at all. Edited December 29, 2015 by A35K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstah Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 7 hours ago, fredinno said: Here it also states that about halfway Americans believe Astrology is bunk science. No really. Guys, take your tin foil hats off. Please. So. Is it hard science to you? 3 hours ago, J.Random said: ...and there was a funny screenshot from french (?) "Who wants to be a millionaire" where audience couldn't answer "what revolves around the Earth" question. What? They didn't know just precisely how many operational satellites and pieces of debris currently orbit Earth? I thought that was common lore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 9 hours ago, legoclone09 said: No, no, no. The Earth is a toroid, not a flat disk. That's why the ROUND-8 looks like that. It can't be a toroid, that would make it possible to go all the way around one section. Everyone knows you fall off the edge if you go too far. Wasn't that how Magellan died? The ROUND-8 was made for looking cool on the sides of boats, it has nothing to do with the shape of the earth. It's been proven that Earth is a disk, just look around next time you're flying over the ocean. Is it a torus? No! Is it a square? No! Is it a disk? Yes! Obviously the Earth's shape is a flat disk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DECQ Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 What Americans differed amazing mind ??? How are they different from other people??? The whole world thinks so, and it does not prevent to live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jim Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I am not going to lie, as an American, I'm starting to find this thread quite insulting! I thought y'all were above this kind of garbage, and I seriously hope this thread gets shut down soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_v Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 5 minutes ago, Just Jim said: I am not going to lie, as an American, I'm starting to find this thread quite insulting! Well, the only reason it's Americans specifically is because it was an American survey. The disturbing thing is that I expect the same would be true of many other populations as well... if certain people I know are anything to go by. Once upon a time I assumed that basic facts like this were common knowledge, easily obtained by anyone who received even basic schooling... with age comes the realisation that ignorance is everywhere. I don't think it's stupidity either, some people just don't seem to care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredinno Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 15 minutes ago, steve_v said: Well, the only reason it's Americans specifically is because it was an American survey. The disturbing thing is that I expect the same would be true of many other populations as well... if certain people I know are anything to go by. Once upon a time I assumed that basic facts like this were common knowledge, easily obtained by anyone who received even basic schooling... with age comes the realisation that ignorance is everywhere. I don't think it's stupidity either, some people just don't seem to care. No, one of the articles says this was a similar problem for Euopeans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elthy Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) Dont forget that surverys can be manipulated easily even without using wrong numbers. You just have to ask the right people to get the results you want. This scientific foundation thing seems to get money from the government, of course its in their interest to make stuff sound worse than it its. Maybe they asked people around a congress of flat earthers or fundamental christians... Also i dont realy belive the cited number of 66% for europeans. Maybe in some of the less developed parts of poorer countrys, but not overall... Another interesting questons would be the reason for their belief: Were they never tought that in school? Or is it some kind of conspiracy repurposed bovine waste like chemtrails? Conspiracys are popular in right political groups, and those are on the rise in europe... Edit: "Bullsh it" gets converted to "repurposed bovine waste"? Is that such a bad word? Edited December 29, 2015 by Elthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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