Comments on: Scientific Knowledge Quiz

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:52:58 +0000

David:

I scored an approximate 83. I missed No. 5 and No. 10. As to No. 10, Astra is right — under certain circumstances, certain antibiotics can kill certain viruses. Makes sense, after all, it is known that some viruses cannot survive hostile environments more than a few minutes. Answering CO2 to number 5 is merely pandering to the UN and IPCC, who have an agenda. Most scientists strongly disagree with the CO2 response, but the politicians and those who lead promote otherwise. I could have done 12 for 12 if I simply dumped science and stuck with contemporary public “wisdom”.

John

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:33:34 +0000

Erik, yes, that is definitely why those questions are as they are, CO2 and antibiotics, they’re certainly politically motivated in a sense. Rather than being aimed at testing scientific knowledge this quiz has an underlying agenda, or at least the choice of questions has an underlying agenda, as you suggest.

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:20:12 +0000

Jim H:

“Also ,the supposition that “most scientists” believe in CO2 warming is blatantly false and biased.”

http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=20742

Replace “CO2″ with “greenhouse gasses” and replace “most scientists” with “most climatologists” and that statement becomes true and unbiased.

“These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 45 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries.”

Jeez! What’s going on with science understanding today?! Politics and Religion is and always will be the anti-science.

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:06:37 +0000

That was one of the easiest tests I have taken in my adult life. 12/12. The antibiotic question was easy…if an antibiotic killed viruses, it would be an antiviral as well. This is the same thinking that is creating super-resistant bacteria because people want to cure the cold with antibiotics. That’s why it’s on the test….people who are ignorant about what antibiotics do are ruining their effectiveness for all.

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:00:05 +0000

Yep, I thought there were antibiotics that also had antiviral activity and anticancer activity. But, in this simplistic quiz, I think they’re actually not testing scientific knowledge or understanding but the credibility of received wisdom…

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:59:04 +0000

That occurred to me re the aspirin question and the CO2 one too!

By: Jim H

Jim H — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:04:43 +0000

I got 12/12, but had to think twice about #1, as recent studies are saying taking aspirin should only be for people at high risk because of stomach bleeding.

I had just run out of my 81 mg generics and haven’t refilled, but should probably do so. Also ,the supposition that “most scientists” believe in CO2 warming is blatantly false and biased.

By: astra

astra — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:45:27 +0000

technically, you could argue that the true/false question about antibiotics was wrong. It galled me to have to put false, (the answer that is best known by the media and general public) when the more accurate answer as to whether they also kill viruses would have been ‘true’. Certain antibiotics when used in the long-term will kill off pretty much everything, even many viruses.

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:19:41 +0000

A few selected comments that followed my tweet of this post: From @wyattsgirl on Twitter: Think not rep of general public..most folks still got more than 50% From @suitti I got 100% on the quiz. Didn't even use Google. From @jonathanshrago Rather astounding that only 10% of people get all 12...

By: tavianne

tavianne — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:12:38 +0000

RT @sciencebase: Scientific Knowledge Quiz – http://tinyurl.com/mktwrj