Which Galaxy Is Earth In? Most Gen-Xers Don't Know It's The Milky Way, Report Shows

If you accept the thesis that an understanding of science and technology is important for a healthy and thriving economy, then stories like this are troubling. It is like a broken record, yet another survey shows that people in the United States do not understand science.

This time it was a survey of 4000 Americans between the ages of 37 and 40. Participants were shown a picture of a spiral galaxy and then asked a few questions.

Only 43% said that the picture showed a galaxy similar to our own galaxy. Men did slightly better than women, and people with a college education did better than those without a college education.

The author of the report, Jon D. Miller (the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research), has concluded that one of the factors that distinguish people with a good understanding of science is exposure to college level science classes.

For more details see Which Galaxy Is Earth In? Most Gen-Xers Don't Know It's The Milky Way, Report Shows.