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You'd be surprised.

100%

Looks like most of dakka is in that top 7%...

Corpses is right to question this survey I think.

To be fair the original survey was of 1006 people so our sample size isn't really relevant.

100%. But considering I teach science I'd be a little upset if it was lower!

Surprised that women did worse in almost all categories, and really shocked at how many people didn't know Nitrogen was the most common gas in the atmosphere!

12/13 got the one about radioactive elements wrong.

What's the UK equivalent to college?

University.

It's not surprising that a lot of Dakka are science/tech-savvy. We have a natural inclination to this sort of subject matter and being inquisitive in general.

Everyone that has completed compulsory education should be able to get 100% on that, it's hardly a high standard for scientific knowledge.

 Corpsesarefun wrote:
Everyone that has completed compulsory education should be able to get 100% on that, it's hardly a high standard for scientific knowledge.

Certainly not, but it's false that compulsory education should net you 100%. The fact that the majority of people are not scoring 100% is proof of this. 93% of people are not grade 10/11 dropouts.

That's why I used the word "should" rather than "will".

Since it's clear that 93% of 1006 people surveyed can't correctly answer these 13 basic questions, it's clear that there is either an issue with the education system (though all of that quiz is on the UK curriculum) or with the supposedly random survey.

 Corpsesarefun wrote:
That's why I used the word "should" rather than "will", there is either an issue with the education system (though all of that quiz is on the UK curriculum) or with the supposedly random survey.

A lot of people are still not aware of the fracking issue, to be fair.

13 out of 13.

I are da greetest of sientiffic jeanuses.

 Corpsesarefun wrote:
That's why I used the word "should" rather than "will".

Since it's clear that 93% of 1006 people surveyed can't correctly answer these 13 basic questions, it's clear that there is either an issue with the education system (though all of that quiz is on the UK curriculum) or with the supposedly random survey.

To be entirely fair, the target grades for GCSE are 5 C's - a target that personally I think is extremely low but which many people still fail to meet, or barely scrape through on. I remember sitting on a bus once a couple of years ago listening to some kids talking about what AS/A level results they got and they all seemed to be quite pleased with getting D's and E's in things like media studies...

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
13 out of 13.

I are da greetest of sientiffic jeanuses.

Don't you mean gene-iuses?

I got 13/13 correct. Was mildly disappointed the questions were so basic.

I'd be really curious to see the breakdown by age and gender. Keep in mind that for the longest time science was considered too difficult for delicate female sensibilities. Women were pushed to literature and such, if anything at all academic. Things have gotten better over time but it still is a real issue. It would be interesting to see if the older female cohorts did worse than younger females, and compare the younger females to equivalently aged males.

Edit - forgot to quote, and misstated my thoughts

I got the male/female one wrong.

I got 12/13, I accidentally put Oxygen instead of Nitrogen for the most abundant element and couldn't go back to it without restarting, so I'm counting it as 13 out of 13 because I knew the actual answer anyway

Some of those questions are kinda... iffy though... for example, the question about plate tectonics is presented as true/false, last I checked that one was still solidly a 'theory' which means an answer of 'true' would technically be incorrect as it implies a certain degree of absolute certainty that we don't actually have.

chaos0xomega wrote:
I got 12/13, I accidentally put Oxygen instead of Nitrogen for the most abundant element and couldn't go back to it without restarting, so I'm counting it as 13 out of 13 because I knew the actual answer anyway

Some of those questions are kinda... iffy though... for example, the question about plate tectonics is presented as true/false, last I checked that one was still solidly a 'theory' which means an answer of 'true' would technically be incorrect as it implies a certain degree of absolute certainty that we don't actually have.

Everything else we "know" is a theory too... plate tectonics is as much a "theory" as gravity is "just a theory".

Theory is the highest regard a hypothesis can receive. It means that despite rigorous testing the theory has held up.

So, folks, when people say, "Oh, it's just a theory" you can now say back "But that's the highest amount of certainty science can award an explanation!".

It's amazing how many people get theory and hypothesis mixed up.

Right, but answering 'True' to that question is still technically incorrect, because (again) it implies a degree of absolute truth that we don't have.

In regards to gravity, its amazing how many people like to use gravity as an analogy in conversation (for something thats absolute, real, etc.) when there is an entire group of mainstream physicists and scientists that don't believe it exists (at least not as we know it).

It's only a basic level science knowledge test, though. It can't have the rigour of a post-graduate philosophy course.

That's a good point. I was about to answer false since the plates will stop moving at a point in the future.

 TheCustomLime wrote:
That's a good point. I was about to answer false since the plates will stop moving at a point in the future.

Depending on whether or not you subscribe to that theory (evidently) ;P

chaos0xomega wrote:
Right, but answering 'True' to that question is still technically incorrect, because (again) it implies a degree of absolute truth that we don't have.

In regards to gravity, its amazing how many people like to use gravity as an analogy in conversation (for something thats absolute, real, etc.) when there is an entire group of mainstream physicists and scientists that don't believe it exists (at least not as we know it).

No physicist I have come into contact with as a part of my degree believes that gravity doesn't exist, though most believe that our current understanding of gravity is inadequate.

Seriously, gravity definitely exists.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Right, but answering 'True' to that question is still technically incorrect, because (again) it implies a degree of absolute truth that we don't have.

One cannot then answer whether anything is true or false, since nothing can be known for certain.

In regards to gravity, its amazing how many people like to use gravity as an analogy in conversation (for something thats absolute, real, etc.) when there is an entire group of mainstream physicists and scientists that don't believe it exists (at least not as we know it).

You realise of course that a general theory of something can explain things on a macro scale while specialist theories can explain the same phoenomena in specific situations?

Surely when the tectonic plates stop moving all life on Earth will be dead?

Wasn't the question also phrased as "...and continue to move in the future"

 Corpsesarefun wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:
Right, but answering 'True' to that question is still technically incorrect, because (again) it implies a degree of absolute truth that we don't have.

In regards to gravity, its amazing how many people like to use gravity as an analogy in conversation (for something thats absolute, real, etc.) when there is an entire group of mainstream physicists and scientists that don't believe it exists (at least not as we know it).

No physicist I have come into contact with as a part of my degree believes that gravity doesn't exist, though most believe that our current understanding of gravity is inadequate.

Seriously, gravity definitely exists.

GRAVITATION (the process under which two physical bodies attract one eachother) definitely exists, gravity (the fundamental force mediated by graviton particles) doesn't necessarily.

chaos0xomega wrote:
I got 12/13, I accidentally put Oxygen instead of Nitrogen for the most abundant element and couldn't go back to it without restarting, so I'm counting it as 13 out of 13 because I knew the actual answer anyway

Some of those questions are kinda... iffy though... for example, the question about plate tectonics is presented as true/false, last I checked that one was still solidly a 'theory' which means an answer of 'true' would technically be incorrect as it implies a certain degree of absolute certainty that we don't actually have.

Scientific theories are formed from hypotheses using the scientific method and are then tested for accuracy; they are testable and make falsifiable predictions. In science, things can be theories and facts: evolution, cell theory, plate tectonics, relativity, etc.

This whole thing reminds me of this:

Perfect score,woo!

I am not a science guy, I am a History guy and corporate wage slave with a college degree. I majored int eh dreaded liberal arts. I never have to think about science at all unless I choose to.




I scored 13/13.

You would think that anyone who ever did "Bar/Pub" trivia should be able to handle these.

Perfect score as well, only question I had to think over was the drug one but then remembered you need a control group to mark others progress agaisnt