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The ubiquitous stupidity of the Collective is failing to appreciate concepts in their elemental form: instead, proceeding with presumption. ‘Scientific’ belief in matterism is an exemplary failure. Once you know that matter is made of energy (as atrociously demonstrated by atomic bombs) and understand that energy in and of itself does not exist, then energyism is de facto proven. Once you comprehend energyism conceptually (in light of well-established facts), you can see why empiricism is a ruse.
(Matterism is the belief that the perception of physical actuality is reality. Matterism scientifically fails for not being able to explain the generation of most phenomena. Energyism is the comprehension that physical forces alone cannot explain all phenomena, and that actuality is a figment of the mind. In accounting for all facets of existence, only energyism can fully explain Nature.)
Only half of Americans see social sciences – sociology and economics – as scientific. More view computer programming, farming, and firefighting as scientific.
Only half of the British know that electrons are smaller than atoms. Almost half of Americans believe that astrology – horoscopes supposedly based upon celestial mechanics – has a scientific basis. The same goes for the quack cure called homeopathy (which can work, but only through the power of belief).
26% of Americans think that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Heliocentrism – that the Earth revolves around the Sun – was introduced by Aristarchus of Samos in the 3rd century bce. Declaring such was heresy for Catholics in the 16th century, but the fact eventually caught on as irrefutable, at least for those who cared to know.
It is bad news to science museums when 4 in 10 Americans believe humans lived with dinosaurs, and fewer than 2 in 10 understand the terms “molecule” and “DNA.” ~ American author Larry Witham
41% of Americans believe that aliens visited Earth in the ancient past. 57% believe that Atlantis and other technologically advanced ancient civilizations existed. Such myths are learned from movies and TV shows which watchers take as being based in fact.
Archeological finds may be twisted to racist ends. In the early 19th century, pre-Columbian burial mounds were found by archeologists who ascribed them to a lost “mound-builder race” which had been wiped out by the ancestors of native Americans. President Andrew Jackson used this fable to justify displacing the indigenes from their lands. In a similar vein, white nationalists now cite a short-lived medieval Viking settlement in eastern Canada to claim that white Europeans were the first Americans, and so should rule.
Over 40% of British and Americans are creationists: quite sure that “God created the Earth and all life on it.” Far fewer feel certain that evolution is a natural dynamic.
40% of Americans believe that “humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time,” which was (they reckon) ~10,000 years ago. This account is especially popular with white evangelical Protestants (64%); 50% of black Protestants concur.
46% of American Republicans grant no credence to the concept of evolution. But then, conservatives and reactionaries are a doltish lot. Only 27% of Republicans who claim “high” scientific knowledge believe that climate change is causing either rising sea levels or harm to habitats and wildlife.
If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts. ~ Albert Einstein
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Online users are more likely to pay for those digital products which provide entertainment (music) and solutions (software), but less likely to pay for knowledge (such as an online newspaper). ~ Spanish journalism academic Manuel Goyanes
