More Idiocy in America

Kevin Drum cites a 2001 study on basic science literacy by the National Science Federation.



Some tidbits:

• 48% of adults believe that the earliest humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs



• Only 53% of adults believe that humans as we know them developed from earlier species of animals



• 65% know that the father's gene decides whether a baby is a boy or a girl. This means that over one in three men may believe Henry VIII was right to blame his wives for his lack of male offspring.



• And here's the kicker: 22% of American adults believe the sun revolves around the earth.
  
  

Expect more cutting-edge thought like this as your kids start learning in school that an invisible man who lives in the clouds created everything on earth in six days just about 6000 years ago. Of course, when they're working as pool boys on the palatial estates of Bush family friends, what will they need science for?