pewresearch.org — Pew has released an extensive analysis of three decades of its news consumption data. Among the key findings, since the 1980s, the percentage of the public who say they follow news about science and technology "very closely" has dropped by half. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who say they follow personalities and entertainment has doubled.
Aug 25, 2007 View in Crawl 4
mirunitAug 26, 2007
Teachers Unions prevent bad teachers from being removed/fired thus creating many poor quality teachers. He is right about schools and religion 50 years ago, which totally disarms about 40% of the post here.
jigorokanoAug 26, 2007
Half the country believes Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs like horses.Half of digg chooses not to believe in the scientific consensus on climatology.Whether it's political ideology or religion, the American public lacks critical thinking skills. This is a country of believers.
hal3000Aug 26, 2007
Yup, our idols growing up were people that actually did something. The computer you are using most likely contains parts that were invented by someone I know who became an engineer after setting his mind to it when the Eagle landed. (And I guess I should not have to explain but the Eagle was a spacecraft, not a bird)
shishyanAug 26, 2007
Hate to break it to you. Despite having a high-quality facilities and faculties, the success of kids education here (USA) is far from exceptional. Kids in this decade think it's COOL to be playing next-gen games, winning achievements, WOW golds, and so many online activities that take away their main focus : Education, getting graduated.Fun is a must during education but that shouldn't become the only thing during the early ages. School kids hardly realize that it is a must to go to a college and earn a degree. Will it change anytime soon? No in this decade atleast.If you look at the other side hemisphere, every 3rd world country is now catching up and bettering USA. Don't think for a minute that the technicians/draftsmen are still equal to engineers of other countries. Gone are the days. Infact most of them go on and finish their Masters, Doctorate in the later years. As of one professors in Anna University, India said 'In this country, you are not considered educated if you don't own a 4-year degree". Not to say that how it should be here, but it can be lot better that what we see now.
conceptjunkieAug 30, 2007
Not if you go into management.
conceptjunkieAug 30, 2007
And her follow-up answer, when she wasn't flustered and had a chance to hear the question correctly was reasonable. In effect it was, "I can do that and everyone I know can do that but if it's true, then we need to focus on geography more."Sure, she sounded like a complete idiot, but she was under just a bit of pressure and supposedly misunderstood the question at first. Besides, she wasn't any less coherent than your average Congressthing on any given day.