Sputnik Down

[Atheist-Lite]

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre71a ... n-science/

Third of Russians think sun spins round Earth

In a survey released this week, 32 percent of Russians believed the Earth was the center of the Solar system; 55 percent that all radioactivity is man-made; and 29 percent that the first humans lived when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth.

"It's really quite amazing," spokeswoman Olga Kamenchuk said of the survey that polled 1,600 people across Russia's regions in January, with a 3.4-percent margin of error.

"All of them (the questions) were absolutely obvious... the data speaks of the low levels of education in the country."

However, people tend to forget what they have been taught at school if it is not part of daily use, she added: "I wonder whether our colleagues in other countries would find any different."

The study also found that women were more likely than men to believe the scientific fallacies.

Daily Science - Link Above.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I wonder what the rural/urban break-down is there. ~95% of Russia is outside TV broadcast range, IIRC. So news, science and otherwise, is hard to come by there.

[Clinton Huxley]

I wonder what the rural/urban break-down is there. ~95% of Russia is outside TV broadcast range, IIRC. So news, science and otherwise, is hard to come by there.

They can't get Oprah then? Might even things out.

[PsychoSerenity]

If you go back to the original article on msnbc, it gives the results of some similar polls asked of Americans, who don't do any better.

Some of the questions are similar to those that were asked of Americans:

* Seventy-two percent of Americans agree with the scientific view that Earth goes around the sun, based on a 2008 poll cited in the National Science Foundation's Science and Engineering Indicators 2010.
* Sixty-three percent of Americans surveyed correctly answered that not all radioactivity is human-made, in a quiz conducted as part of a 2009 Pew Research Center study.
* And 59 percent of the respondents in a 2009 Harris poll agreed with the scientific view that the earliest humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time.

And yet most of the internet has either not looked that up, or deliberately reposted the first part of the article and not the second.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I wonder what the rural/urban break-down is there. ~95% of Russia is outside TV broadcast range, IIRC. So news, science and otherwise, is hard to come by there.

They can't get Oprah then? Might even things out.

Depends on the start point of their stupid. If it's above Oprah (i.e., not in negative numbers) then they don't loose points. (Watching Oprah on a regular basis has be shown to make rock willingly crumble into gravel if they think it will get them a new car.)

[Atheist-Lite]

The Russians have just landed on a man on Mars. I wonder how many Americans and Russians think it is real?

[Coito ergo sum]

If you go back to the original article on msnbc, it gives the results of some similar polls asked of Americans, who don't do any better.

Some of the questions are similar to those that were asked of Americans:

* Seventy-two percent of Americans agree with the scientific view that Earth goes around the sun, based on a 2008 poll cited in the National Science Foundation's Science and Engineering Indicators 2010.
* Sixty-three percent of Americans surveyed correctly answered that not all radioactivity is human-made, in a quiz conducted as part of a 2009 Pew Research Center study.
* And 59 percent of the respondents in a 2009 Harris poll agreed with the scientific view that the earliest humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time.

And yet most of the internet has either not looked that up, or deliberately reposted the first part of the article and not the second.

Why would they have to post that? People post plenty of stuff about Americans without posting any off-setting similar information about other countries. And, why would a post about Russian stupidity automatically need to be offset by information about Americans? Why not post the similar information available about Brits or other nationalities?

[Clinton Huxley]

Hehe, stoopid Merkins. Stoopid Rooshians.

[Coito ergo sum]

The Russians have just landed on a man on Mars. I wonder how many Americans and Russians think it is real?

If that ever happens, a good percentage of Americans will think it's fake because it's impossible for humans to cross the Van Allen radiation belts.

[Clinton Huxley]

Americans ARE the stupidest, this video proves it. Plus, I saw an online poll and 66% said Americans were the dumbest, so that's game over, really.

[Coito ergo sum]

You're all stupid.

[Clinton Huxley]

Yeah, but CES, 66% old chap. 66% You can't argue with statistics...

[Coito ergo sum]

Yeah, but CES, 66% old chap. 66% You can't argue with statistics...

66% of idiots polled say American idiots are the stupidest idiots. Hard to argue with that, yes.

[Clinton Huxley]

Yeah, but CES, 66% old chap. 66% You can't argue with statistics...

66% of idiots polled say American idiots are the stupidest idiots. Hard to argue with that, yes.

If your idiots are the most idiotic idiots, and there is no evidence to prove they aren't, then that's going to pull your bell curve to the left.

[PsychoSerenity]

Why would they have to post that? People post plenty of stuff about Americans without posting any off-setting similar information about other countries.

Well they probably shouldn't.

And, why would a post about Russian stupidity automatically need to be offset by information about Americans? Why not post the similar information available about Brits or other nationalities?

Sure, and any other nationality would probably have similar results. The more data the better, as far as I'm concerned. It's just annoying to see statistics that say "this country's scientific understanding is as bad as the rest of the world", manipulated by thousands of posts and comments to say "this country's scientific understanding is really bad, aren't they stupid, har har har". Same applies whichever country you're talking about.