The rising sun revolves around Earth

[Taro Toporific]

40% of primary pupils think sun revolves around Earth
Yomiuri / Apr 13

[ramchop]

That's not too bad:

Given astronomy's relegation, astronomy educators are now as scarce as adults who know what a quasar is.

Is it any wonder, then, that misconceptions and misunderstandings in astronomical matters are rife? Surveys consistently show that half of American adults think the Sun revolves around Earth. It's one thing not to know, say, Lenz's law of electric currents, but how can we go through life not knowing what a year is, or how the most prominent object in the sky behaves, or where we stand in the cosmic scheme of things?

[Steve Bildermann]

Well who are we to judge? Could be just an honest difference of opinion.

http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

Ever since the official signing of the Flat Earth Society's charter, one of our most difficult goals was to understand the mindset of those we were trying to save. The complexities of Efimovich's theory, that theory's convoluted nature and dependence on flawed logic and the omission of obstructions make it nearly impossible to understand at all, let alone understand why anyone would believe such dribble.

[GomiGirl]

I know a few people who think that, in reality, the sun shines out of their arse..

but as we all know, that is bullshit as it would hurt like hell.

[ramchop]

Is that what it is? I was blaming last night's Vindaloo.

[Big Booger]

oh yeah... well I bet 75% of Japanese think KitKat (NEstle) is a Japanese company.

[DJEB]

A friend of mine recently got his phD in physics at Harvard. Apparently, he did his thesis in the field of astromony. I thought I'd save him some time with this little fact: The median density of space virtually zero. Therefore, astromony is nothing, give me my phD. He decided to take the hard route.

[Taro Toporific]

oh yeah... well I bet 75% of Japanese think KitKat (NEstle) is a Japanese company.

I bet 75% of Americans think 7-11 is a US company.

[Big Booger]

oh yeah... well I bet 75% of Japanese think KitKat (NEstle) is a Japanese company.

I bet 75% of Americans think 7-11 is a US company.

little do they know that it has been taken over by Japan.

[kamome]

oh yeah... well I bet 75% of Japanese think KitKat (NEstle) is a Japanese company.

I bet 75% of Americans think 7-11 is a US company.

What about Lawson's? Was that an American company at one time, then taken over by a Japanese company?

[mnine]

Look on the bright side, 40% know the earth isn't flat.

And it ain't any different when some news outfit surveys "ordinary americans", and finds that they think the US is fighting saddam hussein in afghanistan, they don't know if puerto rico is a state, etc etc.

[Snapped]

Well, personally I think it's shocking. This is basic knowledge. What's this country coming to?

[jingai]

I looked on their website. 7-11 was American, but things changed in the bubble years:

IYG Holding Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ito-Yokado Co., Ltd. and Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd., has owned a majority interest in 7-Eleven since 1991. Seven-Eleven Japan operates more than 10,000 7-Eleven stores in Japan and Hawaii under an area license agreement with 7-Eleven, Inc

[demoneyeskyo]

Well, personally I think it's shocking. This is basic knowledge. What's this country coming to?

I guess basic knowledge isn't basic enough for some people. Sad, but true.

[amdg]

40% of primary pupils think sun revolves around Earth
Yomiuri / Apr 13

I must have missed this thread a while back. This really shocks me. 40% of primary students have a better grasp of astrophysics than a Yomiuri reporter?

The sun and the earth revolve around a common barycenter. So, in a manner of speaking, the sun does revolve around the earth. These are two bodies in relative motion to each other.