In France, in the "Who wants to be a millionaire" show, they asked a fellow what revolves around the earth.

Check out the video:



Pretty amazing stuff heh?  It doesn't surprise me however.  I now know that the average guy in France isn't any smarter than the average guy here in the US.

Cindi

Thank you for this, I was both stunned and amused.

Quote from: Cindi Jones on July 23, 2007, 10:19:49 AM


It doesnt surprise me however.  I now know that the average guy in France isnt any smarter than the average guy here in the US.

Cindi

Forgive me for disagreeing with you but thats not entirely accurate.  There are dumb people everywhere but if you compare a European and an American highschool student, you will get your answer.  The difference is abismal.

That would be funnier if it wasnt so sad.   

Quote from: Lori on July 23, 2007, 05:48:45 PM
That would be funnier if it wasnt so sad.   

Exactly

I'd be willing to bet I could go to any sixth grade class where I live  and more than 50% of the kids will know the moon orbits the earth and the earth orbits the sun.

Love always,
Elizabeth

Thanks for posting this - if I didn't see the video I would have a hard time believing it.

Well, we live in a day and age where most Americans wouldn't pass a basic citizenship test, so I don't think we can be too critical. After all, what fool thinks that the moon revolves around the earth?

The earth revolves around me, after all!

:: runs :: 

QuoteThe difference is abismal.

It would appear to be so.  >

You know, if you ask around, you'll find that many people don't know the difference between our solar system, our galaxy, and the universe.  They just don't know or want to know basic science. No wonder we act like a bunch of spoiled brats.

Cindi

I am not surprised at all.

What gets me is the arrogance of "I'm Right" that goes along with these dumb and sometimes VERY costly mistakes, which only makes the trainwreck that much worse...

Karen

Well, it's really just a matter of choosing the right coordinate system. I mean, it's entirely possible to compile a consistent world-view where everything revolves around the tip of my left pinky finger, it would just be computationally quite a bit harder than the classical Copernican view. But it's possible, and from the point of view of general relativity both would simply be rough approximations.

>

  Nfr

Quote from: Thundra on August 04, 2007, 11:19:55 PM

QuoteThe difference is abismal.

It would appear to be so.  >

It is so.
I am from Russia and recently I had to take math exam to go to college... the questions there in "advanced algebra" were from the stuff I studied in 6th grade in my home country... I am not talking about that 9 people out of 10 I asked assume that the capital of Canada is Toronto...

Hey, I thought that Toronto was the capitol of Alaska! 

And isn't Ottawa the capitol of Maine... or perhaps Greenland?



Cindi

The guy seemed dumb-founded...........I didn't know what that meant until I saw this!