One in Five Americans Believes the Sun Revolves Around the Earth (toink!)

[pioneer]

By CORNELIA DEAN
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com">The New York Times</a>

CHICAGO - When Jon D. Miller looks out across America, which he can almost do from his 18th-floor office at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, he sees a landscape of haves and have-nots - in terms not of money, but of knowledge.

Dr. Miller, 63, a political scientist who directs the Center for Biomedical Communications at the medical school, studies how much Americans know about science and what they think about it. His findings are not encouraging.

While scientific literacy has doubled over the past two decades, only 20 to 25 percent of Americans are "scientifically savvy and alert," he said in an interview. Most of the rest "don't have a clue." At a time when science permeates debates on everything from global warming to stem cell research, he said, people's inability to understand basic scientific concepts undermines their ability to take part in the democratic process.

Over the last three decades, Dr. Miller has regularly surveyed his fellow citizens for clients as diverse as the National Science Foundation, European government agencies and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. People who track Americans' attitudes toward science routinely cite his deep knowledge and long track record.

"I think we should pay attention to him," said Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education, who cites Dr. Miller's work in her efforts to advance the cause of evolution in the classroom. "We ignore public understanding of science at our peril."

Rolf F. Lehming, who directs the science foundation's surveys on understanding of science, calls him "absolutely authoritative."

Dr. Miller's data reveal some yawning gaps in basic knowledge. American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century.

[kiamoy]

do you watch the program from Jack Tv street smart? asin..maka bantay mo nga ana kabugo mostly

[slackware]

di man sila bugo...dili lang sila updated...makigpustahan ko ninyo, naa sad na silay daghan nahibal-an na wala sad mo nakabalo

[kiamoy]

compared sa filipinos? hmm.. ang average? hmm.. i doubt..

[slackware]

adto ra gud ka sa carbon market kiamoy...sulay pangutana about astronomy sa mga mamaligya-ay ug bulad.

[kiamoy]

amft.. klaru mana nga walay education ... the program Street Smart to which my observation is based, interviews highschool and some college and some working americans

[slackware]

how about the flat earth theory kiamoy? do you know how many filipinos are still in this theory?

[slackware]

maybe most of you here dont know that geodetic and civil enginneers around the world are still using the Flat Earth Theory in their field of work...an idea science had abandoned many centuries ago.

[kiamoy]

how about the interviewees thinking the pyramid is a country...  and europe is an ocean.. that's funny

[Macky Ferniz]

This is a good evidence that conspirators have succeeded in dumbing down of America. Soon they will controll thier minds like robots.

[kiamoy]

haha.. true. im actually doing it right now im tech support.

[Macky Ferniz]

We Filipinos are smart. When I was in Mindanao, one of our farmers explained to me the mechanics of high-tech farming and he is speaking deep English technical terms. I thought he was an agriculture graduate. When we were drunk, I was astonished that he admitted he was only a grade four graduate.

[kiamoy]

the only call center for Filipinos that we have here are for customer service .. billigns, inquiries and all..
we read manuals. before we buy electronic, gadgets and the likes, we read and know the specs first..

apil napud na ang ka walay money..

[Macky Ferniz]

Karon pa ko kamatikod anang imong avatar Kiams. Nganong wala may dunggan imong Winnie the Pooh?

[kiamoy]

Karon pa ko kamatikod anang imong avatar Kiams. Nganong wala may dunggan imong Winnie the Pooh?

kay dako kaayu na cya ug ulo kuya hahaha! naa na sa likod ang dunggan niya

[Macky Ferniz]

Hahaha makatawa jud ko anang imong Pooh.

[The Charlatan]

By CORNELIA DEAN
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com">The New York Times</a>

CHICAGO - When Jon D. Miller looks out across America, which he can almost do from his 18th-floor office at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, he sees a landscape of haves and have-nots - in terms not of money, but of knowledge.

Dr. Miller, 63, a political scientist who directs the Center for Biomedical Communications at the medical school, studies how much Americans know about science and what they think about it. His findings are not encouraging.

While scientific literacy has doubled over the past two decades, only 20 to 25 percent of Americans are "scientifically savvy and alert," he said in an interview. Most of the rest "don't have a clue." At a time when science permeates debates on everything from global warming to stem cell research, he said, people's inability to understand basic scientific concepts undermines their ability to take part in the democratic process.

Over the last three decades, Dr. Miller has regularly surveyed his fellow citizens for clients as diverse as the National Science Foundation, European government agencies and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. People who track Americans' attitudes toward science routinely cite his deep knowledge and long track record.

"I think we should pay attention to him," said Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education, who cites Dr. Miller's work in her efforts to advance the cause of evolution in the classroom. "We ignore public understanding of science at our peril."

Rolf F. Lehming, who directs the science foundation's surveys on understanding of science, calls him "absolutely authoritative."

Dr. Miller's data reveal some yawning gaps in basic knowledge. American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century.

What the kerfuffle is going on in here?

I say, if the same survey will be done in the philippines I would not expect the ratio to be that different.

[Macky Ferniz]

American Society is too pre-occupied with too many things and there is no focus. Media is too saturated with vanity, falsehood and things that does not contribute good to humanity. They thought time is too precious that sitting on top of the hill to ponder is a mortal sin.

[mochajava]

kay dako kaayu na cya ug ulo kuya hahaha! naa na sa likod ang dunggan niya

ako mana tipayt!

[Lorenzo]

Interesting article.

I am hesitant to believe in its accuracy due to the ill-specifics of the statistic poll. In statistical polling, the manipulation of data depends on basis of ceiling effects and or floor effects, which is directly influenced by random sampling, random assignment procedurals.

The more the random sample, the more accurate the data based on the said population being observed. The article did not go into specifics of which kinds of Americans were polled. For all we know the group polled were non-scientists, artists, or in the said sub-category. For all we know the data accumulated depended on a minimal random sample--which translates to an defficient data. Massive random sampling data is the antithesis.

Any polling that suggests a generalization on a vast population of over 300 Million people, as in the case of the United States, will be vague and improbable.