

Science Knowledge Quiz - tokenadult
http://pewresearch.org/sciencequiz/

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techiferous
As a former science teacher, this is the sort of thing that really bothers me
(no offense to the original poster).

Beyond the basics, people don't need science _facts_ as much as they need
science _thinking_. In other words, we need to be teaching people the
philosophy of science: science as a method of acquiring knowledge.

I don't care what you know--tell me why you know it.

~~~
pkulak
These facts are what allow you to make informed decisions. Democracy and
capitalism both work only as well as the population is able to make good
choices. I'd say science literacy is actually very important.

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techiferous
I'm arguing relative importance, so I'm not saying that the facts aren't
important. What I'm saying is that understanding the scientific method and
having decent critical thinking skills are more important. Science is more
than a bag of facts.

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ottbot
It's an interesting quiz, most of it was pop science stuff that you would pick
up if you've been following the news. Pluto/Aspirin/Tsunami's. Questions on
these topics were more correctly answered than basic science facts.

It's interesting that most common correct answer was that Asprin prevents
heart attacks, while the most common incorrect answer was that electrons are
not smaller atoms.

I wonder why that is? It it just short memory, something you saw in a Bayer
commercial vs something you learned in school.. Or frequency people talking
about aspirin and heart attacks.

Would people remember the aspirin fact because it might be important to their
health? Whereas most might not find utility in knowing the Standard Model.

~~~
JayJayECL
Strange fact is that the question about aspirin is the only one I failed on.
Maybe it is because english is not my native language and did not get the
whole idea of the question

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camccann
So according to the results summary at the end, about half the adult
population, and a quarter of college graduates, are under the impression that
antibiotics kill viruses.

The other questions, despite being rather basic scientific knowledge, are
arguably not relevant for most people, but that question worries me because of
the antibiotic resistance issue.

It is kind of depressing that apparently around a third of college graduates
think lasers work via sound waves, though. Sigh.

~~~
nash
Antibiotics is sad.

For lasers I'd be willing to bet a bit of confusion (ie yes, lasers are
focused waves... See something WAVE, click WAVE).

Overall result is depressing though.

