
1 In 4 Americans Thinks The Sun Goes Around The Earth, Survey Says - ca98am79
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/02/14/277058739/1-in-4-americans-think-the-sun-goes-around-the-earth-survey-says
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jlafon
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.

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justintocci
I don't follow. Why would that be sad?

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eximius
Because it shows a fundamental disconnect between the populace at large and
basic science.

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ergoproxy
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).

