The crazy things people believe
June 9th, 2007 | 2 Comments | Politics, Science |
Orgtheory highlights the result of a poll done by a scientific group, including the questions “Now, does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?,” and “How long does it take for the Earth to go around the Sun: one day, one month, or one year?”
The surprising results: a little more than 26% think the sun goes around the earth, or aren’t sure. 28.7% thought that it was something other than one year.
With the president’s approval ratings hovering just above that, I guess we’ve got a pretty clear picture of where the floor is.
If I remember correctly, back in the days of Watergate, about one-third of people still thought Nixon was telling the truth, which is about Bush’s approval rating as well. So seems about a quarter to a third of people will believe anything.
Here’s an interesting graph of presidential approval ratings over time, since Truman: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html. His low ratings almost don’t count, coming in a pre-TV, less polarized age. Nixon’s hardly need explaining. Even during Carter’s years people were less polarized, and Democrats were more willing to say “this guy’s not doing the job” than Republicans are today.