1 in 4 Americans think the sun orbits the earth? [View all]

[RussBLib]

We're in a deeper hole than I thought.

This article is from February of this year, but I must have missed it when it came out. Ouch.

Americans Were Asked A Simple Science Question, Their Answers Will Make You Laugh…Or Cry

A new report by the National Science Foundation has found some alarming truths about the state of science education in the U.S. Researchers asked 2,200 Americans a very simple science question:

“Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?”

Shockingly, 1 in 4 believed that the Sun orbits the earth.

While the survey was carried out back in 2012, the results were only presented on Friday at an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Held in Chicago, the meeting is conducted every two years and issues a National Science Foundation report to President Obama and lawmakers.

At the same meeting, a comparison of the views of scientists and members of the public on key issues such as energy, GM foods and vaccinations revealed an astonishing gulf.

It is little wonder that this is the case, with the rise of the Christian Right in America and the politicization of scientific education. Schools across the country are bringing God into the science classroom. In Florida, at least 164 state schools teach creationism.

The Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008 allows teachers to use “supplemental textbooks and other instructional materials to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner,” specifically theories regarding “evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.” The Discovery Institute, a creationist think tank, provides the “supplemental textbooks” to crowbar creationism into science class, and also helped write the bill.

Original.