Uh-Ohs

Dr.Seussicide · 09-26-2010, 03:01 PM

Exactly, just like how there's only 9 planets in the solar system.

Wait...

cardboard adolescent · 09-26-2010, 03:35 PM

^^ i think that's the real issue right there. first they tell us that there's no such thing as a brontosaurus, and then they tell us that pluto isn't a planet. i think after those two let-downs most americans have just decided "fuck scientists."

Dr.Seussicide · 09-26-2010, 03:42 PM

And the appendix has a purpose... They're toying with us.

chiron · 09-26-2010, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike*Spiegel

The point is that it's a matter of understanding basic knowledge.. I guess you fall into the majority.

More like accepting it, not that there is anything wrong with doing that.

CanwllCorfe · 09-27-2010, 12:21 AM

ivenever been into none of that macrology and sizemology stuff anyway, who need it i say

**Scarlett O'Hara** · 09-27-2010, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiron

no idea what you are talking about but I don't think knowing how much time the earth takes to go around the sun has ever had any positive influence at all in my life. plus the sun goes around the earth pretty much every day, isn't that more relevant.

Astronomer · 09-27-2010, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

Spaghetti-o's.

I can't speak to these results. I come from a generally informed part of America, and Im a Geophicalist.

Is that why you used an apostrophe in "Spaghetti-o's" when it wasn't possessive?

VEGANGELICA · 09-27-2010, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

I think the solution needs more people orientated science teachers in elementary, middle, and high school. There's a saying that goes that to every stereotype there can be found a little truth, and that does not change for the stereotypical scientist.

I agree, Pete...sometimes teachers do suck the life out of science and scare people away, I fear.

I wish Carl Sagan hadn't died! He was always so engaging and engaged in science. A poet-scientist. I've heard of some religious people in the U.S. calling him "Carl Satan" since he promoted actual understanding of the physical universe rather than subscribing to superstitions:

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardboard adolescent

^^ i think that's the real issue right there. first they tell us that there's no such thing as a brontosaurus, and then they tell us that pluto isn't a planet. i think after those two let-downs most americans have just decided "fuck scientists."

I remember my shock several years ago when I learned that my old friend the brontosaurus was now an apatosaurus!

And then I was shocked to learn that the official name apatosaurus has been official since 1903. So, in the U.S. it only took...107 years...for this information to trickle down to me.

This poor and slow dissemination of knowledge may explain why people here don't know about that sun thingy and what a year is.

Quote:

In 1903, Elmer Riggs pointed out that Brontosaurus excelsus was in fact so similar to Apatosaurus ajax that it belonged in the same genus, which Riggs re-classified as Apatosaurus excelsus. According to the rules of the ICZN (which governs the scientific names of animals), the name Apatosaurus, having been published first, had priority as the official name; Brontosaurus was a junior synonym and therefore discarded from formal use.

The length of time taken for Marsh's misclassification to be brought to public notice meant that the name Brontosaurus, associated as it was with one of the largest dinosaurs, became so famous that it persisted long after the name had officially been abandoned in scientific use.
Apatosaurus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spike*Spiegel · 09-27-2010, 10:16 AM

More fail:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/sc...726261&ei=5070

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.

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.

I find that second paragraph particularly disturbing.

FETCHER. · 09-27-2010, 11:54 AM

If someone doesn't have a slight idea which each of the things in that second paragraph is. Theyre a ****ing moron.

09-26-2010, 03:01 PM	#11 (permalink)
Dr.Seussicide FakingSuicideForApplause Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: I live in a van down by the river Posts: 1,365	Exactly, just like how there's only 9 planets in the solar system. Wait... __________________ I'll stay if I ever could, and pick up your pieces babe, because there's never a perfect day. Don't fret, baby, we're simply growing And my darling, I wouldn't mind to die like this.

09-26-2010, 03:42 PM	#13 (permalink)
Dr.Seussicide FakingSuicideForApplause Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: I live in a van down by the river Posts: 1,365	And the appendix has a purpose... They're toying with us. __________________ I'll stay if I ever could, and pick up your pieces babe, because there's never a perfect day. Don't fret, baby, we're simply growing And my darling, I wouldn't mind to die like this.

09-27-2010, 12:21 AM	#15 (permalink)
CanwllCorfe Quiet Man in the Corner Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Pocono Mountains Posts: 2,480	ivenever been into none of that macrology and sizemology stuff anyway, who need it i say __________________ Your eyes were never yet let in to see the majesty and riches of the mind, but dwell in darkness; for your God is blind.

09-26-2010, 03:35 PM	#12 (permalink)
cardboard adolescent ;) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: CA Posts: 3,503	^^ i think that's the real issue right there. first they tell us that there's no such thing as a brontosaurus, and then they tell us that pluto isn't a planet. i think after those two let-downs most americans have just decided "fuck scientists."

09-27-2010, 10:16 AM	#19 (permalink)
Spike*Spiegel Five Feet of Fury Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: suburbanite Posts: 761	More fail: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/sc...726261&ei=5070 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. 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. I find that second paragraph particularly disturbing.