tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148573551417578681.post3721364257973625764..comments2024-03-27T19:47:13.475-07:00Comments on Dark Buzz: Mercury enters retrograde motionRogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03474078324293158376noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8148573551417578681.post-63714134268858816992015-01-19T14:49:28.081-08:002015-01-19T14:49:28.081-08:00The two questions you criticise in the NSF 2012 st...The two questions you criticise in the NSF 2012 study are both examples of the authors simplifying an issue for a non-technical audience to such an extent that the question is no longer meaningful. Their fundamental error is to choose questions where the real answer is too complex to allow for the necessary simplification.<br /><br />They also fail to consider whether it actually matters if the average citizen is aware of these things. The question about antibiotics is relevant to individual health and public policy, so it is something that most people ought to know. The question of whether the Earth orbits the Sun or the Sun orbits the Earth is entirely irrelevant to the lives of most people and to all major social and political issues. It isn't something that an informed and conscientious citizen needs to care about at all.<br /><br />The question about the "Big Bang" assumes that the origin of the universe is something that can only be explained in scientific terms, and that this is the sole and uncontested scientific description of how it happened. Therefore it cannot provide an accurate measure of public knowledge unless the possible answers include "understand the concept but reject it on religious grounds" and "understand the concept but favour other interpretations of the evidence".<br /><br />You've also made a minor error in referring to it as an "NSA" study rather than "NSF". However, it could be argued that the former agency would actually know more about the current state of American public opinion on just about every topic, so an NSA study might be more useful.AndrewZnoreply@blogger.com