A recent
report released by the National Science Foundation has garnered quite a bit of media attention after revealing a survey that found 25% of Americans couldn't correctly answer the question, "does the Earth go around the Sun or does the Sun go around the Earth?"
The results of the survey prompted a slew of snark from national media outlets such as
Time and
Yahoo!. Even the tech site
c|net felt the survey warranted some coverage.
But after the snark had settled, people began to seriously question how so many individuals in a country like the United States could be so wrong about a seemingly basic question. The popular but incorrect conclusion often arrived at was that it must be those “anti-science, bible-toting righties.”
A CNN Opinion piece by Sheril Kirshenbaum draws attention to my point. To be sure, I don’t think Kirshenbaum intentionally penned a hit piece on the Republican faithful. Indeed, the bulk of her article appropriately addresses the general need for improvement of science literacy. She also properly lauds the days when science was “cool,” recalling the public fascination with the Cold War space race.