1 in 4 Americans Don't Know The Earth Orbits the Sun

[KevanG]

Interesting stats.

 

[Feenix]

They didn't exactly poll a wide variety of nations.

Not to mention that some of the data is 10 years old.

Hmm.

 

[redhawk23]

http://phys.org/news/2014-02-americans-unaware-earth-circles-sun.html



America, you have a major problem when it comes to your education system.

We actually scored hire than the European Union.

 

[Feenix]

See my answer to this on the previous page. You can't exactly compare the education systems of over 40 countries to one country. Like I said before, the education systems in Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, etc is different than the systems in Serbia, the Ukraine, Portugal, and so on.

 

[E-Man]

See my answer to this on the previous page. You can't exactly compare the education systems of over 40 countries to one country. Like I said before, the education systems in Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, etc is different than the systems in Serbia, the Ukraine, Portugal, and so on.

You can make the same argument here in the U.S. because our education system varies from state to state, and even city to city in some cases. Some states are better at teaching overall than others. Texas is a good example of this because I can name a few districts in my own metropolitan area that are very different in every way. Southlake's district is probably near the best in the world while Dallas' district varies between super horrid to super high depending on the school and area. Our country in a lot of ways resembles the EU in some cases.

But....Americans beat the Euros! America! **** yeah! Coming to save the muther****ing day yeah! Y'all are just jealous you don't have a theme as good as ours. Wooooo!!!! Spider-man, and Batman, and eagles, yeah!

*does DX crotch chops and runs around drunken and stupid*

 

[Feenix]

You can make the same argument here in the U.S. because our education system varies from state to state, and even city to city in some cases. Some states are better at teaching overall than others. Texas is a good example of this because I can name a few districts in my own metropolitan area that are very different in every way. Southlake's district is probably near the best in the world while Dallas' district varies between super horrid to super high depending on the school and area. Our country in a lot of ways resembles the EU in some cases.

But....Americans beat the Euros! America! **** yeah! Coming to save the muther****ing day yeah! Y'all are just jealous you don't have a theme as good as ours. Wooooo!!!! Spider-man, and Batman, and eagles, yeah!

*does DX crotch chops and runs around drunken and stupid*

Tastes like...FREEDOM!

*joins in drunken stupidity*

 

[zeroapoc]

See my answer to this on the previous page. You can't exactly compare the education systems of over 40 countries to one country. Like I said before, the education systems in Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, etc is different than the systems in Serbia, the Ukraine, Portugal, and so on.

Translation...

"I jumped into this thread to blast US education. Now that opposing data has been presented I'll rationalize it away."

 

[Feenix]

Translation...

"I jumped into this thread to blast US education. Now that opposing data has been presented I'll rationalize it away."

Uh, no. I read the study before I posted it. The issue is with the US' answers to these questions.

I don't know how you can think comparing an entire continent with one country is reasonable.

 

[Feenix]

Everything has a religious bias when it comes to you, PW.

 

[Doctor Evo]

The test has a built-in religious bias with regards to evolutionary Science. Likewise, the bias of SAT's come to mind when grading students from a Christian education background. They most often slam the objective Science, and then do poorly with regards to the subjective beliefs on things like macro-evolutionary concepts. To base a Science test's scoring level on what the student taking the test believes is true or false, instead of on testable, observable, and empirically derived scientific data, is really skewing the test's discriminate factors away from attained scientific knowledge towards more of a subjective and actually religiously based belief system.

Ken Ham? Is that you?

 

[zeroapoc]

Uh, no. I read the study before I posted it. The issue is with the US' answers to these questions.

No. That's what you want the issue to be.

I don't know how you can think comparing an entire continent with one country is reasonable.

Because it's comparable in size and diversity.


Look dude I get it. You weren't expecting the thread to take this turn and you've painted yourself into a corner. Admitting you were in error is completely out of the question. So the contrary data must be explained away as irrelevant. It's a standard human response. We've all seen it many times.

 

[E-Man]

And school to school even in my experiences. Just sayin...

Haha. Yeah. There's such a wide variety there. Some schools just don't give a damn while others put their all into it.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Uh, no. I read the study before I posted it. The issue is with the US' answers to these questions.

I don't know how you can think comparing an entire continent with one country is reasonable.

Because the US is as big as a continent and each state has a lot of autonomy. Massachusetts isn't anything like Mississippi, and that includes the education standards.

Just checked Google Maps. The distance between Boston, MA and Jackson, MS (the state capitals) is roughly the same distance as between London, England and Podgorica, Montenegro. The distance between Boston and Sacremento, CA is just slightly less than the distance between London and Baghdad, Iraq.

The entire country of Germany is smaller than the state of California. Texas is larger than every country in Europe other than Russia. Europe is TINY.

 

[zeroapoc]

Actually looking at that chart there's one question I disagree with. "The Universe began with a huge explosion." I probably would have said "true" for the sake of the survey. But the Big Bang wasn't an explosion in the conventional sense. More like the expansion of space itself.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

1 in 10 Americans also believe the moon is made of cheese.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Actually looking at that chart there's one question I disagree with. "The Universe began with a huge explosion." I probably would have said "true" for the sake of the survey. But the Big Bang wasn't an explosion in the conventional sense. More like the expansion of space itself.

I noticed that too.

 

[NinjaSpeed]

Not to mention that some of the data is 10 years old.

I'm pretty sure the notion that earth revolves around the sun is more than a decade old.

 

[Feenix]

No. That's what you want the issue to be.



Because it's comparable in size and diversity.


Look dude I get it. You weren't expecting the thread to take this turn and you've painted yourself into a corner. Admitting you were in error is completely out of the question. So the contrary data must be explained away as irrelevant. It's a standard human response. We've all seen it many times.

That's not it at all. But good job thinking that you know me.


Size and distance between cities doesn't change the fact that the US is one country, with one federal government, and is one sovereign nation (with the same national language). There are differences within the country, sure, but it's all still under one federal government. In the EU, they try to come up with goals and ideals for the education systems between the countries, but given how radically different some of the economies are, the education systems have to take that into account. To compare one country's education system to a continent's (which is made up of completely different economies and educational systems) is ridiculous. The federal government still has some power concerning the education on a state level in the US. The different countries of the EU have no power over the education system of a separate country. The education systems in the EU can be completely different from one another. In the US, it's not so easy. There are always comparisons done between education systems in EU countries (because, you know, THEY'RE DIFFERENT) so to lump the countries all together and then compare them to one country like the US doesn't work.

 

[Feenix]

I'm pretty sure the notion that earth revolves around the sun is more than a decade old.

But education systems change. That's the point.

 

[Teelie]

I found it funny that when polled about the center of the Earth being very hot, Russia had N/A. Most likely because it's alway so damned cold there that "very hot" sounds ridiculous.

 

[Iron_Stark]

Well 3 out of 4 Americans are wrong! The sun does orbit the earth, Chuck Norris is American, and when he wakes up, he tells the sun to get above the horizon.

'Murica! F_ Yeah!

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

That's not it at all. But good job thinking that you know me.


Size and distance between cities doesn't change the fact that the US is one country, with one federal government, and is one sovereign nation (with the same national language). There are differences within the country, sure, but it's all still under one federal government. In the EU, they try to come up with goals and ideals for the education systems between the countries, but given how radically different some of the economies are, the education systems have to take that into account. To compare one country's education system to a continent's (which is made up of completely different economies and educational systems) is ridiculous. The federal government still has some power concerning the education on a state level in the US. The different countries of the EU have no power over the education system of a separate country. The education systems in the EU can be completely different from one another. In the US, it's not so easy. There are always comparisons done between education systems in EU countries (because, you know, THEY'RE DIFFERENT) so to lump the countries all together and then compare them to one country like the US doesn't work.

While the Federal Government does have some say, most of the educational system is run by the state governments. The most recent data that I could find (from 2011) has the top states (such as New York and the New England states) spending three times as much per pupil as the bottom states (such as Utah and the Deep South). It should be no surprise that you average student from Connecticut is better educated than your average student from Alabama. Culturally and economically those states are completely different.

The only reason the country is united now is because of the military strength of the federal government. Otherwise it would have been broken up for good in 1861.

 

[Doctor Evo]

Actually looking at that chart there's one question I disagree with. "The Universe began with a huge explosion." I probably would have said "true" for the sake of the survey. But the Big Bang wasn't an explosion in the conventional sense. More like the expansion of space itself.

...which is still technically an explosion. There are different types of explosions, and the Big Bang is actually one of them. The fact that the colloquial use of the word implies a specific definition doesn't invalidate its use here. Again: this ties in to scientific literacy, though perhaps in subtle fashion.

 

[Feenix]

While the Federal Government does have some say, most of the educational system is run by the state governments. The most recent data that I could find (from 2011) has the top states (such as New York and the New England states) spending three times as much per pupil as the bottom states (such as Utah and the Deep South). It should be no surprise that you average student from Connecticut is better educated than your average student from Alabama. Culturally and economically those states are completely different.

The only reason the country is united now is because of the military strength of the federal government. Otherwise it would have been broken up for good in 1861.

Fair enough.