Interesting Pew Research Center poll published this week. I am not sure if this is as much disagreement based on knowledge, or just another reflection of the fact that most adult Americans are unbelievably uninformed/dense/stupid about science and science matters. I turn off "entertainment news" entirely on any news site I visit regularly, but crank up the science settings. For our competitive future in the "real" flat world, more Americans should do the same. Maybe we should be doing more of this: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/skip-fairy-tales-tell-daughter-science-bedtime-stories/
Here is a very readable PBS summary: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/study-reveals-wide-opinion-differences-scientists-general-public/
And here is the original Pew poll - seeing the areas of agreement juxtaposed with the areas of disagreement is quite jarring. Americans see science and generally a 'good' thing and worthy of some investment, but the disagreement areas make me ask -- were they really paying attention at all, or glued to their favorite Hollywood or sports hero's Tweets?
